Your roundup of stories you might have missed last week

Joe W. Bowers Jr. and Edward Henderson California Black Media

Rep. Barbara Lee PAC Launches “Rescue Mission” After Falling Behind in Polls, Fundraising

A Super PAC supporting Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12) is making a push for her to secure a spot among the top-two candidates in the close race to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) in the U.S. Senate.

The PAC’s organizers stated that they need to start introducing Lee to a broader statewide audience immediately and outlined an ambitious goal for a TV advertising budget.

So far, Lee’s outside group ‘She Speaks for Me’ has raised more than $1.5 million in the second quarter, which surpasses the $1.4 million the campaign has in the bank so far. However, that amount is lower than the fundraising totals of her Democratic rivals, Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA-30) and Katie Porter (D-CA-47). Schiff’s campaign has raised nearly $30 million while Porter’s campaign has netted over $10 million.

A recent poll placed Porter and Schiff ahead of Lee among likely voters.

PHOTO: YouTube screenshot Chino Valley Unified School Board Meeting July 20, 2023)/CBM STATE SUPERINTENDENT THURMOND

Forcibly Removed from School Board Meeting

Last week, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond was removed from a Chino Valley Unified School District board of education meeting after speaking out against a policy requiring school staff to notify parents if their child identifies as transgender.

Thurmond was invited to the meeting by students concerned about the policy. After Thurmond spoke, he was verbally attacked by the board president, Sonja Shaw. “You’re in Sacramento purposing things that pervert children,” she said.

Thurmond wrote in a series of tweets, "I don't mind being thrown out of a board meeting by extremists. I can take the heat - it's part

New California Law

Advocates to Gov. Newsom: Ban Cannabis Products Targeting Children

of the job. What I can't accept is the mistreatment of vulnerable students whose privacy is being taken away.”

Thurmond has been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and has spoken out against book bans.

The Chino Valley school board voted to approve the policy, which is similar to Assembly Bill 1314, authored by Assemblymember Bill Essayli (R-Riverside) which failed to get a hearing in the state Assembly. Essayli also spoke at the school board meeting and received mixed reactions from the attendees.

That evening, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a statement urging the school district to protect students’ privacy.