A grove of ancient redwood trees in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
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Greg Rosalsky
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NPR
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If you're in the middle of making summer plans consider visiting a California state park - for free. Through the California State Library Parks Pass program, each of the state’s libraries — of which there are over 1,180 — are offering cardholders a limited number of passes to most state parks.
What the pass gets you: If you’re a library cardholder, each pass gives you free day-entry to a California state park near you for one passenger vehicle (with up to nine people in it) — or one highway-licensed motorcycle. And depending on how your local library is handling the program, which launched in 2022, you’ll be able to keep and use that pass for a certain amount of time before having to return it.
California State Park Adventure Pass: Another free option is the CA State Park Adventure Pass. If there’s a fourth grader in your household, you’re eligible. It gives one family (up to three adults and other kids) and friends who can fit in the same car free entry to 54 participating state parks. The pass is valid for the one-year period during which the child is in the fourth grade, from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31.
Summer in the Bay Area is almost here. And if you’re itching to explore our state, and you have a library card, you can check out a free pass to over 200 state parks around California.
If you’re a library cardholder, each pass gives you free day-entry to a California state park near you for one passenger vehicle (with up to nine people in it) — or one highway-licensed motorcycle. And depending on how your local library is handling the program, which launched in 2022, you’ll be able to keep and use that pass for a certain amount of time before having to return it.
The pass is valid for use any day of the week, including holidays (but only if space in the park is available). Still, it’s important to note that not every state park in California will accept the California State Library Parks Pass.
The California Department of Parks and Recreation say the pass won’t be accepted “at units operated b
How do I check out the Parks Pass from my local library?
Each library may have different preferences for how you check out a pass, but your best bet is almost certainly by visiting in person.
Different public libraries have received different numbers of passes, with the minimum being three passes per library.
y federal and local government, private agencies or concessionaires.” In the Bay Area, for example, Angel Island, Pacifica State Beach and San Bruno Mountain State Park won’t accept a California State Library Parks Pass for free entry.
If you have a library card with a public library system that has multiple locations — like in San Francisco or Oakland, for example — the California State Library Parks Passes most likely will be spread out between these locations. Contact your local branch ahead of time to confirm the location of the pass.
Your library gets to decide how many days you can keep a pass, so make sure you know that return date when you check out a pass.
Your library may also allow you to place a hold on a pass, just like you would a book — this is, for example, what the San Francisco Public Library allows for cardholders. You may be able to place a hold on a pass in person at your local library, or online by logging into your library card account. Placing a hold on a pass could be a good way to plan in advance for an upcoming trip where you want to use the free pass.
That’ll really depend on your local library — because each library gets to decide how long a pass can be checked out.
Contact your local library to find out how long they’re loaning their passes for, and to make sure you return your pass in a timely manner so the next person can enjoy it.
Can I use the pass to enter multiple state parks?
Yes, you can use it to enter as many eligible state parks as you like during the loan period.
This is another reason placing a hold on a pass may be a helpful way to plan ahead for a few days of travel (or a road trip) to enable you to visit multiple state parks.
What’s the catch?
Remember that not all state parks are participating in this program, and the passes don’t cover camping fees. The Department of Parks and Recreation also says that the pass won’t cover “per-person entry or tour fees (such as museums), boat use, camping, group use or sites, special events, additional/extra vehicle fees, sanitation disposal use or … supplemental fees.”
Also, libraries can decide on the number of days a pass can be checked out, and each library will get a minimum of just three passes to give out. So if your local library doesn’t have many passes on offer, and they allow cardholders to keep a pass for several days, you may have to wait for your turn.
Mount Diablo State Park in Alamo, with the tallest mountain in the San Francisco Bay Area, July 2016.
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Smith Collection
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Gado/Getty Images
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What if I don’t have a library card?
Getting a library card is fairly simple, and will allow you to access not only a California State Library Parks Pass, but also the full range of your local library’s books, media, records and library services like laptop and internet access.
To apply for a library card, you must:
Be a California resident.
Provide a government-issued photo ID such as your valid driver’s license, state ID, passport, consulate ID card or active military ID.
Find your local library near you. You may be able to apply for a library card in person or online — but be sure to check whether the pandemic has changed your local library’s opening times if you go in person.
Except where otherwise noted, these passes can be used at every California state park, excluding units operated by federal and local government, private agencies or concessionaires (like Angel Island in the Bay Area).
Valid for the calendar year, this pass gives free vehicle day-use access to certain California state parks (PDF) for CalWORKs recipients, SSI recipients, and people whose incomes fall under a certain threshold.
A lifetime pass for honorably discharged veterans living in California who also meet certain requirements listed here. Pass holders can use all basic facilities (day-use, camping and boating) in California state parks for free.
A slew of Medicare Advantage plans are disappearing for next year, leaving seniors in many areas with fewer options. In 193 counties across the country, no plans are offered at all.
Why it matters: More than half of the 70 million Americans in Medicare choose Medicare Advantage. It's popular because it covers services like vision and dental, often with lower premiums than traditional Medicare. It also often folds in the "Part D" drug benefit, simplifying that decision.
Why now: Medicare's annual open enrollment period kicked off October 15 and runs until December 7, and seniors enrolled in those privatized Medicare plans that are closing in certain markets should carefully review their options.
Read on to learn about options if your Medicare Advantage plan is ending.
A slew of Medicare Advantage plans are disappearing for next year, leaving seniors in many areas with fewer options. In 193 counties across the country, no plans are offered at all.
Medicare's annual open enrollment period kicked off October 15 and runs until December 7, and seniors enrolled in those privatized Medicare plans that are closing in certain markets should carefully review their options.
Medicare Advantage means private insurers run Medicare for older Americans who choose it over traditional Medicare, where the federal government itself administers the program. More than half of the 70 million Americans in Medicare choose Medicare Advantage. It's popular because it covers services like vision and dental, often with lower premiums than traditional Medicare. It also often folds in the "Part D" drug benefit, simplifying that decision.
But a downside of Medicare Advantage is that companies can pick and choose where they offer plans. If a certain community is not profitable, a company can leave that market. And that has been happening on an increasingly large scale the last three years, according to research published in JAMA.
Who is affected
Big swaths of rural America are losing Medicare Advantage choices and so are some major metro areas.
Last year, 2.9 million seniors were in Medicare Advantage plans that closed up shop, according to JAMA. This year, an analysis of insurance company announcements by An Arm and A Leg podcast, shows at least 2 million people will be affected. Other preliminary estimates range from 3.2 million to 5 million seniors. About 35 million people are enrolled in Medicare Advantage.
According to an analysis of federal data by the health policy research organization KFF, the 193 counties that will have zero Medicare Advantage plans are mostly rural. Last year that number was about 120 counties without a plan offered.
KFF's numbers also show that there will be far fewer plans offered in some metro areas. Dallas, Minneapolis, Seattle, Houston and Portland all have between a quarter and a third fewer Medicare Advantage plans for seniors.
What happens next
If your plan is ending, and you don't choose another, the insurance company will assign you to another Medicare Advantage plan or the government will enroll you in traditional Medicare — but without a supplemental or drug plan.
If you want to switch from Medicare Advantage to traditional Medicare and your plan is ending, you can enroll in a Medicare supplemental plan — also known as Medigap — without the same restrictions that you would normally have. If you have a pre-existing condition that has prevented you from enrolling in Medigap before, that could be good news.
Another wrinkle this year is that insurance companies can cap enrollments on some of the Medicare Advantage plans that they do offer.
Which means: If you wait to sign up, a plan you want might already be full.
The companies are supposed to enroll people on a first-come, first-serve basis — and not cherry-pick customers based on health conditions, age, or demographics.
Another reason not to delay is that with so many people on the hunt for new plans, it may take longer than usual to get help.
How and where to find help
Here are some tips for navigating Medicare open enrollment this year:
Find out if your plan is still offered: First, check your mail. Medicare Advantage plans that are closing should have sent letters the first week in October. You can also log in to your account on Medicare.gov to check your plan's status for next year.
Try calling your SHIP: There's a State Health Insurance Assistance Program — known as a "SHIP" — in every state to help seniors with Medicare. The name's not easy to remember or particularly descriptive, but it's free, mandated by the federal government, and the staff and volunteers are required to give you unbiased information on all available options. Find your state in the directory at shiphelp.org. Your county may have a specific number that you can find on your state's SHIP website.
Look for local Medicare counseling services: Friends, family, leaders at your place of worship, and the constituent services of your local elected officials may have the scoop on where you can get one-on-one help. The nonprofit Medicare Rights Center also has a national helpline, and a well-organized library of online guides.
Brokers can be helpful, but be savvy: You want a broker who's going to talk with you about all your options — including switching to traditional Medicare and a supplemental plan. Ask if they sell plans from all available insurance carriers. And ask if they answer questions about your plan year-round, because insurance never stops being confusing.
Double check what you see on Medicare.gov:Medicare's Plan Finder allows you to search plans online. But lists of doctors and drugs that are covered can sometimes be wrong. To be safe, double check with your doctor's office or a SHIP counselor, broker, or other Medicare assistor.
Don't share your personal information with services you find online: Be careful where you share your personal information like your phone number. Some online agencies will sell your information, leading to spam calls and potentially even scam artists.
Be mindful of the deadlines: Open enrollment for Medicare runs October 15, 2026 through December 7, 2026. The coverage starts January 1, 2027. If your plan is ending, you qualify for a "special enrollment period" to give you a little more time — until February 28, 2027. (For coverage that starts January 1, 2027, enroll by December 31.)
People wait in line to cast ballots during early voting at a polling station in Black Mountain, North Carolina, on Friday.
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Allison Joyce
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AFP via Getty Images
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Topline:
Federal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California on Friday demanding that local officials set aside and verify ballots that the Department of Justice said may belong to noncitizens, according to the Los Angeles County registrar and a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
Why now: The letters are the latest escalation in a legal battle between California and President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, which has recently focused on the state in its efforts to root out noncitizen voting ahead of the midterm elections. Data shows illegal voting by people who aren’t U.S. citizens is incredibly rare, difficult to prove and has not been shown to change the outcome of races.
The backstory: The letters on Friday came on the heels of statewide sweep by federal authorities earlier in the week, where 28 people from the list of 20,000 were charged with illegally registering to vote. Some were also charged with illegally voting and lying on naturalization paperwork. Those charges could lead to years in prison.
Federal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California on Friday demanding that local officials set aside and verify ballots that the Department of Justice said may belong to noncitizens, according to the Los Angeles County registrar and a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
The letters are the latest escalation in a legal battle between California and President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, which has recently focused on the state in its efforts to root out noncitizen voting ahead of the midterm elections. Data shows illegal voting by people who aren’t U.S. citizens is incredibly rare, difficult to prove and has not been shown to change the outcome of races.
Earlier this month, the federal government targeted Los Angeles County and the California Secretary of State’s office in a lawsuit that aimed to block them from counting the votes of roughly 20,000 people who are “likely” noncitizen voters. A hearing on the case is scheduled for Tuesday.
The Trump administration asked the 9th Circuit court of appeals to rule on the lawsuit barring a decision from the district judge assigned to the case. They set a deadline for Saturday.
Now, according to the LA County registrar’s office, at least 18 counties across the state have received similar letters. They have been given a 48 hour deadline to provide identifying information corresponding with ballots that the federal government believes were sent to noncitizens illegally registered to vote. The letter requests that county officials also sequester any ballots where citizenship cannot be verified.
“Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.
The Justice Department is asking counties to send information about the voters it suspects are noncitizens including social security numbers, ID information, a copy of their registration and more.
That information can help the government and state quickly assess each person suspected of illegally registering to vote, said the letter sent to San Bernardino County voting officials. The letter says the government’s list of suspected noncitizen voters includes 1,133 people from the inland Southern California county.
California’s secretary of state and the Los Angeles County registrar have opposed the federal government’s demands. In legal filings, lawyers for California say the request threatens to delay the certification of the vote and undermine the legitimacy of the November midterms. They have also argued that the federal government’s data is unreliable and that their demands risk disenfranchisement of citizens.
Voting is underway in California, with the state’s more than 23 million registered voters receiving ballots in the mail earlier this month. The state said in legal filings that over 330,000 mail-in ballots have already been counted.
The letters on Friday came on the heels of statewide sweep by federal authorities earlier in the week, where 28 people from the list of 20,000 were charged with illegally registering to vote. Some were also charged with illegally voting and lying on naturalization paperwork. Those charges could lead to years in prison.
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A cyclist rides through campus at Cal State Long Beach in Long Beach on July 25, 2022.
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Pablo Unzueta
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CalMatters
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Topline:
The California State University faculty union is asking its members to authorize a strike.
Why now: This summer, the California Faculty Association declared an impasse after 16 months of negotiation with the CSU. The union’s president said university officials negotiating with the union have “not been honest agents.”
Why it matters: The union, which represents 29,000 professors and other university employees, is seeking salary increases, changes to faculty workloads and protections related to the use of artificial intelligence.
The California State University faculty union is asking its members to authorize a strike, as negotiations with the California State University system remain stalled.
This summer, the California Faculty Association declared an impasse after 16 months of negotiation with the CSU. The union’s president said university officials negotiating with the union have “not been honest agents.”
If a majority of members approve the strike authorization, voting from Oct. 26 through Nov. 19, CFA leadership would be authorized to call a strike.
The union, which represents 29,000 professors and other university employees, is seeking salary increases, changes to faculty workloads and protections related to the use of artificial intelligence.
In recent weeks, CSU has reached tentative agreements with three unions: the Statewide University Police Association, the United Auto Workers Local 4123 and Academic Professionals of California. Together, the agreements cover 14,000 university employees.
The tentative agreements, which must be approved by union members and CSU’s Board of Trustees, include an 8% salary increase over two years, along with one-time raises negotiated by each bargaining unit.
Attendees of the 2026 Tall Clubs International convention in front of Universal City Walk.
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Courtesy Michele Cripps and William Walter Wiseman II
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Topline:
There's an international club for tall people that started in Los Angeles. It's also a little bit of a support group. And yes, it can be tough to be tall. I am 6 feet, hear me out.
Why it matters: Complaining about being able to see over a crowd may sound silly, but height can be a love-hate relationship for many people, particularly towering women and children who feel like they just don’t fit in.
Why now: Well, that’s where a worldwide social club for tall people comes in, but whether it'll survive to its 100th birthday is in question.
Read on ... to learn more, including how to join.
It can be tough to be tall. I am 6 feet, hear me out.
And yes, complaining about being able to see over a crowd may sound silly. But height can be a love-hate relationship for many people, particularly towering women and children who feel like they just don’t fit in.
Well, that’s where a worldwide social club for tall people comes in, but whether it’ll reach its 100th birthday is in question.
Tall Clubs International is an organization spanning more than a dozen states and several countries that offers tall adults a chance to connect and commiserate. The original chapter, founded in Los Angeles in 1938, is called the California Tip Toppers.
Tall Clubs International
How to get involved
You can learn more about Tall Clubs International here, including the original 1938 article that sparked the organization.
You can find your nearest chapter and contact information here.
California Tip Toppers have higher height requirements than some of the other chapters.
You can learn more about becoming a “member-at-large” or starting a new tall club in your town here.
Tall Clubs International also does philanthropic work.
You can learn more about scholarship opportunities for tall students here.
Tall Clubs International raises money for the Marfan Foundation. Marfan syndrome is a genetic connective tissue disorder that club officials say typically comes with tall people. You can learn more here.
To get into the L.A. group, men have to be 6 feet 4 inches or taller, and women have to be at least 6 feet. One of the tallest members of the organization is 7 feet 2 inches, and honestly, I couldn’t help but perk up at the opportunity to feel short for once in my life.
At 13, I was still growing at 5 feet 10, towering over almost every kid in my freshman high school class. One of the first questions people still ask me is whether I played volleyball or basketball, and I’ve learned to laugh at the look they get when I say I preferred theater.
“People see how tall you are, they expect ‘Oh, you're going to be great on the basketball court,’” said Michele Cripps, a 6-foot-1 member of the California Tip Toppers, who joined in 1996. She's married to William Walter Wiseman II, a fellow member. “Well, I'm sorry, white girls can't jump sometimes, and I'm one of them.”
Some of the tall club members are generational, encouraged to join by their parents or older relatives, which has started to pose its own problems as the chapters get older.
What’s the big deal anyways?
William Walter Wiseman II and Michele Cripps at the 2026 Tall Clubs International convention in Hollywood.
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Courtesy Michele Cripps and William Walter Wiseman II
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The chapters became a way for tall people to trade practical tips, like which stores sold pants that actually covered your ankles or shoes that didn’t need to be specially made.
“I was always being kidded about my pants being too short or my clothes not fitting correctly,” said Wiseman, who's nearly 6 feet 9 and also wasn’t much of a basketball player. “And as I grew as an adult, people are a little bit afraid to approach people that are tall.”
Wiseman has a good sense of humor about his height, cracking jokes that I’ve added to my arsenal when answering “how’s the weather up there?” But he doesn’t gloss over the pain points either — Wiseman can’t fit into cars or roller coasters, hotel beds are never long enough, and airplanes can be an expensive nightmare.
“It's not just the socialization of being tall, but it's also the physicality of it,” he said. “It's almost a handicap to be tall.”
Members of the Tall Club of Orange County at the 2026 convention.
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Courtesy Michele Cripps and William Walter Wiseman II
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Cripps said she was a skinny kid, but she couldn’t help but feel “huge” growing up a head above everyone else, which hurt her young self-esteem and made dating more difficult.
The clubs gave them both a chance to see eye to eye with a room full of people for the first time, and potentially even find a partner. Wiseman’s parents met in the Dayton Altitudians tall club in Ohio, decades before Wiseman and Cripps met through their own California clubs.
“The people that married inside the club stayed married,” said Wiseman, who lives in Torrance with Cripps. “The people that married outside of the club got divorced.”
A Dayton Daily News clipping of William Walter Wiseman II's father measuring tall teens in the Dayton, Ohio area from November 19, 1958.
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Courtesy William Walter Wiseman II
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Future of the club in question
But now, the California Tip Toppers is having trouble bringing in new, younger members — a recruitment crisis that’s essentially dissolved groups in other areas, Wiseman said.
Members of the California Tip Toppers at the 2026 convention.
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Courtesy Michele Cripps and William Walter Wiseman II
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“We're facing the same challenges like all other clubs,” Cripps and Wiseman said, jumping in to finish each other’s thoughts. “Some of it could be generational. Some of it's that since COVID, the clubs have not been quite as active as they used to be. Some people [don’t have] homes to open up anymore … and we're all getting older.”
The club is at a crossroads: Get new members on board or fade away. The couple seems to have made it a mission to rejuvenate the California Tip Toppers, but Cripps was frank when she said they’re not sure how to get more people involved, whether it's fresh events or outreach opportunities.
At the end of the day, they’re hoping the club and the community it fosters can help others learn how to “stand tall” and be proud.
The clubs crown a new Miss Tall International at a formal pageant held during the annual convention. The former Miss Tall Clubs International that were at the 2026 convention from left to right: Susan Hopkins, 2019, from the Tall Club of Orange County, Martine Whitford, 1959, from the Los Angeles Higher Ups, Norma Forrest, 1996, from the Tall Club of Toronto and Mary Eleman, 2022, from the Central Arizona Tall Society.
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Courtesy Michele Cripps and William Walter Wiseman II
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Members of the Tall Clubs International convention committee. From left to right: Barry Umbs from Milwaukee, William Walter Wiseman II from the California Tip Toppers, Jim Nelson from the Paramount Tall Club-Chicago and Michele Cripps from the California Tip Toppers.
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Courtesy Michele Cripps and William Walter Wiseman II
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“It’s a challenge, but it’s something that was given to us,” Cripps said. “I say as I've aged, I should have listened to my mother, I should have stood up tall.”
Moms everywhere, mine included, rejoice.
“Everybody wants to be something different than they have,” Cripps continued. “So, try and embrace what you have. Life is too short, and it goes too quick.”
