The Brief

In a sport known for turf battles, SoCal surfing is facing perhaps its most epic turf challenge yet — all the way from the ski slopes of Utah. U.S. Ski and Snowboard, the Olympic organization for those sports, is making a bid to add surfing to its roster.

“When you look at the heart of what we do — supporting elite athletes and growing action sports — it makes complete sense,” Sophie Goldschmidt, the head of U.S. Ski and Snowboard, told LAist in an email. “Surfing is a natural extension of our mission.” (Goldschmidt also headed the World Surf League, a pro circuit, before taking the top job at U.S. Ski and Snowboard.)

Many surfers disagree. Ian Cairns, a former champion surfer and coach who helped develop the sport competitively, said the snow group is “ trying to ski-jack the crown jewels of surfing away from the surfing world.”

“ Effectively what they're doing is they’re skimming the cream off the top,” Cairns said of U.S. Ski and Snowboard’s bid to become what’s known as the National Governing Body for the U.S. Olympic surfing team. “They're going to take the commercial rights and they're going to put those dollars into their infrastructure.”

The backers of USA Surfing say they have proof that their rival U.S. Ski and Snowboard doesn't know anything about the sport of surfing: In a presentation to the Olympic committee, they used a surfing icon that appears to show a surfer facing backward on a board. The surfing organization has made it the centerpiece of their P.R. campaign against the group.

San Clemente native Sawyer Lindblad surfs in the 2024 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach on March 27, 2024 in Winkipop, Australia. Lindblad is backing USA Surfing in its bid to manage the U.S. Olympic surfing team.

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Cairns and a number of other pro surfers are throwing their weight behind USA Surfing, the comparatively scrappy organization that trains and develops young surfers with Olympic dreams. The San Clemente-based nonprofit — which helped make surfing an Olympic sport to begin with — is not giving up its chance to represent Olympic athletes without a fight.

They recently launched a public relations blitz in an effort to win over Olympic leaders, who will soon decide which organization will represent the U.S. Olympic surf team at the 2028 Games in L.A. At stake is whether that team will have its home base, and the accompanying money and prestige, on the shores of San Clemente or the slopes of Park City.

The backstory: A brief history of USA Surfing’s troubles

Why is an organization focused on snow sports even in the running to take over Olympic surfing? Because USA Surfing has had a tough run of late.

Back in 2017, USA Surfing became the national governing body for the sport of surfing, charged with training young surfers, developing the sport, and nominating athletes to compete on the Olympic stage. But they lost that status shortly after the sport made its Olympic debut, in the 2021 Tokyo summer games.

That’s because in 2019, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee audited USA Surfing and found numerous problems, including failing to disclose conflicts of interest. The audit also found minimal documentation and oversight of how the organization’s leaders were spending its money. As a result, USA Surfing voluntarily agreed to relinquish its control over the U.S. Olympic surf team until after the 2024 Paris games.

Despite the turmoil, the U.S. surfing team won gold medals at both games — Carissa Moore in Tokyo and Caroline Marks in Paris (in case you missed it, the actual surfing took place in Tahiti).

During all that time, and to date, USA Surfing has been training Olympic hopefuls and holding competitions at Lower Trestles in San Clemente — the same place surfers will compete in the LA28 games.

And USA Surfing now has entirely new management. CEO Becky Fleischauer told LAist the organization has done all the things the Olympic committee said it needed to in order to regain its role as the National Governing Body, including adopting financial best practices, improving transparency, and showing financial stability.

Fleischauer called the surfing competition at the 2028 games a “legacy building opportunity.” “We want the Olympics to provide the lift to the surfers, the community, the businesses, and our program,” she said.

Despite the high stakes, Fleischauer declined to diss on U.S. Ski and Snowboard and their bid to intrude on the local surf turf.

“ We never really wanted to be in an antagonistic position with another sport that athletes work really hard to do,” she said.

Ian Cairns, a former surfing champion and coach, is among those campaigning for USA Surfing to oversee the entire pipeline of U.S. competitive surfing, including the U.S. Olympic surfing team. (And yes, that neck brace is the result of a surfing accident.)

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What’s this really all about?

For most of the public, the Olympics are a national ego-boosting spectacle and a chance to watch athletes and sports that usually don’t get much play in the mainstream media. But the Olympics are also big business.

For one thing, there are sponsorships from companies that want their name associated with popular sports and winning athletes. For another, national governing bodies for Olympic sports get money directly from the Olympic committee. Both US Ski and Snowboard and USA Surfing acknowledge that money is part of their motivation.

For the winter sports group, adding surfing would free them from their seasonal confines. “From a commercial perspective adding a summer sport to our winter sport portfolio gives us year-round assets and programming to sell,” US Ski and Snowboarding wrote in its official bid to absorb Olympic surfing. (Goldschmidt told LAist that U.S. Ski and Snowboard also is interested in assuming control over Olympic skateboarding.)

If that happens, USA Surfing would essentially continue to do most of the work to develop and support the nation’s top surfers without reaping the benefits of representing them at the world’s most venerated competition.

“ It would siphon money and opportunity,” Fleischauer, from USA Surfing, said of the possibility of permanently losing control over Olympic surfing.

On the flip side, she said, “We've talked to sponsors who would support us at another level if we were the national governing body.”

Of course, there are those who wish surfing had remained the weird, counter-culture activity it once was, out of the limelight, anti-commercial. But that ship sailed long ago.

Today, surfing is a $9 billion industry, according to an article published earlier this year in the Orange County Business Journal. And many of the top brands have their roots in Orange County. They also stand to benefit if USA Surfing wins its Olympic bid, said Vipe Desai, executive director of the Surf Industry Members Association, a trade group.

“This is about local jobs, the local economy, local businesses,” Desai said. “If this money gets transferred out of state to another region, it's not going to support the business and the culture.”

Big snow, big money

Financially, U.S. Ski and Snowboard is a goliath compared to USA Surfing. The snow group took in over $38 million in revenue in 2024 compared to less than $900,000 for USA Surfing, according to tax statements. But that’s at least in part because U.S. Ski and Snowboard has 10 Olympic sports in its current portfolio with dozens of athletes.

Goldschmidt, the head of U.S. Ski and Snowboard, said the group’s robust infrastructure, including high-tech training facilities and “commercial support” for athletes (read: sponsorships) would benefit elite surfers.

“I respect the passion and pride that people have within the surf community," Goldschmidt wrote in an email to LAist. “This isn’t about taking anything away — it’s about adding to what’s already been built.”

Growing support for USA Surfing

As the date nears for a decision from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, USA Surfing has garnered some key support for its bid. In June, they announced a multi-million dollar investment from San Clemente-based businessman Kipling Sheppard, intended to kickstart an endowment for the organization.

“Our motivation is simple,” Sheppard said. “It's to keep surfing with the surf community and those that are involved in it day-to-day and make sure that the Olympic ‘lift’ that will occur here in San Clemente benefits the people and the community of San Clemente.”

The International Surfing Association, which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the authority on competitive surfing, is also backing USA Surfing. That’s key because surfers have to surf in ISA competitions to qualify for the Olympics. Perhaps an even bigger snub: The World Surf League, Goldschmidt’s former organization, is also backing USA Surfing.

USA Surfing has also clinched a bunch of letters of support from local leaders, including a group of U.S. Congress members, O.C. Supervisor Katrina Foley, and the San Clemente City Council. And they have support from some of the nation’s top surfers. Sawyer Lindblad was among a group of pro surfers who showed up at a San Clemente City Council meeting in August to ask for support for USA Surfing. Lindblad, a San Clemente native, was fresh off her first place win, two days earlier, at the 2025 US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach.

“ I don't think I would be as successful as I am without them,” Lindblad said of USA Surfing. “ It truly shaped me into the surfer I am today.”

 Kirra Pinkerton, another San Clemente native and the 2022 International Surfing Association World Champion, is also throwing her support behind USA Surfing.  “Obviously all of our goals eventually is to qualify for the Olympics,” she said. “I believe the best way to do that is to stick to what our roots are.”

Asked whether fellow athletes might appreciate the bigger platform and deeper coffers offered by U.S. Ski and Snowboard, Pinkerton said she doubted the snow sports group would find much support in the water.

“ Surfers will back surfers forever,” she said.

The ultimate decision about which of the two groups will represent surfers on the world stage is up to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. They’re expected to hold their second and final public hearing on the issue later this month, although the exact date hasn’t been set.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that USA Surfing had lost its status as the national governing body for Olympic surfing prior to the 2021 Tokyo games.

The federal government has drastically scaled back the number of recommended childhood immunizations, sidelining six routine vaccines that have safeguarded millions from serious diseases, long-term disability and death.

Just three of the six immunizations the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it will no longer routinely recommend — against hepatitis A, hepatitis B and rotavirus — have prevented nearly 2 million hospitalizations and more than 90,000 deaths in the past 30 years, according to the CDC's own publications.

Vaccines against the three diseases, as well as those against respiratory syncytial virus, meningococcal disease, flu, and COVID, are now recommended only for children at high risk of serious illness or after "shared clinical decision-making," or consultation between doctors and parents.

The CDC maintained its recommendations for 11 childhood vaccines: measles, mumps, and rubella; whooping cough, tetanus, and diphtheria; the bacterial disease known as Hib; pneumonia; polio; chickenpox; and human papillomavirus, or HPV.

Federal and private insurance will still cover vaccines for the diseases the CDC no longer recommends universally, according to a Department of Health and Human Services fact sheet; parents who want to vaccinate their children against those diseases will not have to pay out-of-pocket.

Experts on childhood disease were baffled by the change in guidance. HHS said the changes followed "a scientific review of the underlying science" and were in line with vaccination programs in other developed nations.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist, pointed to Denmark as a model. But the schedules of most European countries are closer to the U.S. standard upended by the new guidance.

For example, Denmark, which does not vaccinate against rotavirus, registers around 1,200 infant and toddler rotavirus hospitalizations a year. That rate, in a country of 6 million, is about the same as it was in the United States before vaccination.

"They're OK with having 1,200 or 1,300 hospitalized kids, which is the tip of the iceberg in terms of childhood suffering," said Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a co-inventor of a licensed rotavirus vaccine. "We weren't. They should be trying to emulate us, not the other way around."

Public health officials say the new guidance puts the onus on parents to research and understand each childhood vaccine and why it is important.

Here's a rundown of the diseases the sidelined vaccines prevent:

RSV. Respiratory syncytial virus is the most common cause of hospitalization for infants in the U.S.

The respiratory virus usually spreads in fall and winter and produces cold-like symptoms, though it can be deadly for young children, causing tens of thousands of hospitalizations and hundreds of deaths a year. According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, roughly 80% of children younger than 2 who are hospitalized with RSV have no identifiable risk factors. Long-awaited vaccines against the disease were introduced in 2023.

Hepatitis A. Hepatitis A vaccination, which was phased in beginning in the late 1990s and recommended for all toddlers starting in 2006, has led to a more than 90% drop in the disease since 1996. The foodborne virus, which causes a wretched illness, continues to plague adults, particularly people who are homeless or who abuse drugs or alcohol, with a total of 1,648 cases and 85 deaths reported in 2023.

Hepatitis B. The disease causes liver cancer, cirrhosis, and other serious illnesses and is particularly dangerous when contracted by babies and young children. The hepatitis B virus is transmitted through blood and other bodily fluids, even in microscopic amounts, and can survive on surfaces for a week. From 1990 to 2019, vaccination resulted in a 99% decline in reported cases of acute hepatitis B among children and teens. Liver cancer among American children has also plummeted as a result of universal childhood vaccination. But the hepatitis B virus is still around, with 2,000-3,000 acute cases reported annually among unvaccinated adults. More than 17,000 chronic hepatitis B diagnoses were reported in 2023. The CDC estimates about half of people infected don't know they have it.

Rotavirus. Before routine administration of the current rotavirus vaccines began in 2006, about 70,000 young children were hospitalized and 50 died every year from the virus. It was known as "winter vomiting syndrome," said Sean O'Leary, a pediatrician at the University of Colorado. "It was a miserable disease that we hardly see anymore."

The virus is still common on surfaces that babies touch, however, and "if you lower immunization rates it will once again hospitalize children," Offit said.

Meningococcal vaccines. These have been required mainly for teenagers and college students, who are notably vulnerable to critical illness caused by the bacteria. About 600 to 1,000 cases of meningococcal disease are reported in the U.S. each year, but it kills more than 10% of those it sickens, and 1 in 5 survivors have permanent disabilities.

Flu and covid. The two respiratory viruses have each killed hundreds of children in recent years — though both tend to be much more severe in older adults. Flu is currently on the upswing in the United States, and last flu season the virus killed 289 children.

What is shared clinical decision-making?

Under the changes, decisions about vaccinating children against influenza, covid, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, and hepatitis A and B will now rely on what officials call "shared clinical decision-making," meaning families will have to consult with a health care provider to determine whether a vaccine is appropriate.

"It means a provider should have a conversation with the patient to lay out the risks and the benefits and make a decision for that individual person," said Lori Handy, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

In the past, the CDC used that term only in reference to narrow circumstances, like whether a person in a monogamous relationship needed the HPV vaccine, which prevents a sexually transmitted infection and certain cancers.

The CDC's new approach doesn't line up with the science because of the proven protective benefit the vaccines have for the vast majority of the population, Handy said.

In their report justifying the changes, HHS officials Tracy Beth Høeg and Martin Kulldorff said the U.S. vaccination system requires more safety research and more parental choice. Eroding trust in public health caused in part by an overly large vaccine schedule had led more parents to shun vaccination against major threats like measles, they said.

The vaccines on the schedule that the CDC has altered were backed up by extensive safety research when they were evaluated and approved by the FDA.

"They're held to a safety standard higher than any other medical intervention that we have," Handy said. "The value of routine recommendations is that it really helps the public understand that this has been vetted upside down and backwards in every which way."

Eric Ball, a pediatrician in Orange County, Calif., said the change in guidance will cause more confusion among parents who think it means a vaccine's safety is in question.

"It is critical for public health that recommendations for vaccines are very clear and concise," Ball said. "Anything to muddy the water is just going to lead to more children getting sick."

Ball said that instead of focusing on a child's individual health needs, he often has to spend limited clinic time reassuring parents that vaccines are safe. A "shared clinical decision-making" status for a vaccine has no relationship to safety concerns, but parents may think it does.

HHS' changes do not affect state vaccination laws and therefore should allow prudent medical practitioners to carry on as before, said Richard Hughes IV, an attorney and a George Washington University lecturer who is leading litigation against Kennedy over vaccine changes.

"You could expect that any pediatrician is going to follow sound evidence and recommend that their patients be vaccinated," he said. The law protects providers who follow professional care guidelines, he said, and "RSV, meningococcal, and hepatitis remain serious health threats for children in this country."

This story comes from NPR's health reporting partnership with KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. KFF Health News is one of the core operating programs at KFF, the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.

The National Park Service has updated its policy to discourage visitors from defacing a picture of President Donald Trump on this year's pass.

The use of an image of Trump on the 2026 pass — rather than the usual picture of nature — has sparked a backlash, sticker protests, and a lawsuit from a conservation group.

The $80 annual America the Beautiful pass gives visitors access to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites. Since 2004, the pass has typically showcased sweeping landscapes or iconic wildlife, selected through a public photo contest. Past winners have featured places like Arches National Park in Utah and images of bison roaming the plains.

Instead, of a picture of nature, this year's design shows side-by-side portraits of Presidents George Washington and Trump. The new design has drawn criticism from parkgoers and ignited a wave of "do-it-yourself" resistance.

Photos circulating online show that many national park cardholders have covered the image of Trump's face with stickers of wildlife, landscapes, and yellow smiley faces, while some have completely blocked out the whole card. The backlash has also inspired a growing sticker campaign.

Jenny McCarty, a longtime park volunteer and graphic designer, began selling custom stickers meant to fit directly over Trump's face — with 100% of proceeds going to conservation nonprofits.

"We made our first donation of $16,000 in December," McCarty said. "The power of community is incredible."

McCarty says the sticker movement is less about politics and more about preserving the neutrality of public lands. "The Interior's new guidance only shows they continue to disregard how strongly people feel about keeping politics out of national parks," she said.

The National Park Service card policy was updated this week to say that passes may no longer be valid if they've been "defaced or altered." The change, which was revealed in an internal email to National Park Service staff obtained by SFGATE, comes just as the sticker movement has gained traction across social media.

In a statement to NPR, the Interior Department said there was no new policy. Interagency passes have always been void if altered, as stated on the card itself. The agency said the recent update was meant to clarify that rule and help staff deal with confusion from visitors.

The Park Service has long said passes can be voided if the signature strip is altered, but the updated guidance now explicitly includes stickers or markings on the front of the card.

It will be left to the discretion of park service officials to determine whether a pass has been "defaced" or not. The update means park officials now have the leeway to reject a pass if a sticker leaves behind residue, even if the image underneath is intact.

In December, conservation group the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., opposing the new pass design.

The group argues that the image violates a federal requirement that the annual America the Beautiful pass display a winning photograph from a national parks photo contest. The 2026 winning image was a picture of Glacier National Park.

"This is part of a larger pattern of Trump branding government materials with his name and image," Kierán Suckling, the executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, told NPR. "But this kind of cartoonish authoritarianism won't fly in the United States."

The lawsuit asks a federal court to pull the current pass design and replace it with the original contest winner — the Glacier National Park image. It also seeks to block the government from featuring a president's face on future passes.

Not everyone sees a problem with the new design. Vince Vanata, the GOP chairman of Park County, Wyoming, told the Cowboy State Daily that Trump detractors should "suck it up" and accept the park passes, saying they are a fitting tribute to America's 250th birthday this July 4.

"The 250th anniversary of our country only comes once. This pass is showing the first president of the United States and the current president of the United States," Vanata said.

But for many longtime visitors, the backlash goes beyond design.

Erin Quinn Gery, who buys an annual pass each year, compared the image to "a mug shot slapped onto natural beauty."

She also likened the decision to self-glorification.

"It's akin to throwing yourself a parade or putting yourself on currency," she said. "Let someone else tell you you're great — or worth celebrating and commemorating."

When asked if she plans to remove her protest sticker, Gery replied: "I'll take the sticker off my pass after Trump takes his name off the Kennedy Center."

The 83rd annual Golden Globe Awards take place Sunday evening beginning at 5 p.m. at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and that means parking restrictions and street closures in the city.

Here are places to avoid, as well as some alternative routes:

North Santa Monica Boulevard:

• Westbound lane closures: Complete lane closures, from Wilshire Boulevard to Century Park East through 6 a.m. Monday.
  
• Eastbound lane closures: Complete lane closures, from Century Park East to Wilshire Boulevard from 2 p.m. Saturday through 6 a.m. Monday. 

The city suggests using South Santa Monica Boulevard, which will remain open in both directions. There also are alternative east-west routes such as Olympic, Sunset and Pico boulevards.

Wilshire Boulevard:

• Eastbound/Westbound lane reduction: Lane reductions are in effect and will last through 9 p.m. Wednesday.
  
• Eastbound/Westbound full closure: All of Wilshire Boulevard between Comstock Avenue and North Santa Monica Boulevard will be closed from 10 p.m. Saturday through 6 a.m. Monday.
  
• Eastbound lanes of Wilshire Boulevard: An eastbound closure from Comstock to North Santa Monica Boulevard will occur between 10 p.m. Monday through 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Other streets:

Several other streets like Whittier Drive, Carmelita Avenue, Elevado Avenue and Lomitas Avenue, as well as Trenton Drive and adjacent alleys will have limited closures with local access available only to residents. Closures begin at 10 p.m. Saturday and last through 6 a.m. Monday.

Parking notices:

Residential streets surrounding the venue will be completely restricted, no exceptions made, from 6 a.m. Sunday until 6 a.m. Monday on the following streets:

• Whittier Drive — from Wilshire Boulevard to Elevado Avenue
• Carmelita Avenue — from Wilshire Boulevard to Walden Drive
• Elevado Avenue — from Wilshire Boulevard to Walden Drive
• Trenton Drive — from Whittier Drive to Wilshire Boulevard
• Walden Drive — from Santa Monica Boulevard to Elevado Avenue
• Lomitas Avenue — from Wilshire Boulevard to Walden Drive

Residents without permit parking can obtain parking exemptions by contacting the city of Beverly Hills’ parking exemption line at (310) 285-2548 or online at beverlyhills.org/parkingexemptions.

Demonstrations against this week’s deadly ICE shooting in Minneapolis are planned this weekend across Los Angeles. The protests are being organized by the “ICE Out For Good Coalition” — a network of several groups including the ACLU and 50501.

Here are a some of the planned actions across the city:

Saturday

• Pasadena: Noon to 2 p.m. at Garfield and Colorado Boulevard, across from the Paseo Mall
• Eagle Rock: 1 to 2 p.m. at Colorado and Eagle Rock boulevards
• City of Los Angeles: 2 to 4:30 p.m. in Pershing Square

Sunday

• West Hollywood: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 647 N. San Vicente Blvd., across from the Pacific Design Center.
• City of Los Angeles: Noon to 2 p.m. at The Home Depot on 2055 N. Figueroa St.
• Beverly Hills: 2 and 4 p.m. at 9439 Santa Monica Blvd., between Beverly and Canon drives