California Celebrates First Dolly Parton Day

California celebrated its first Dolly Parton Day yesterday, one month after the country legend died at 80. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed bipartisan legislation making Sept. 25 an annual observance, with 9/25 nodding to her hit 9 to 5.

Fresno issued its own proclamation highlighting Parton’s Imagination Library, which has mailed more than 168,000 free books to over 15,000 Fresno County children since launching locally in 2025.

Southern California events included a lunchtime concert in downtown Los Angeles, storytimes at Vroman’s Bookstore and county libraries, and a rooftop screening of 9 to 5.

Celebrations nationwide featured a New Orleans parade, pink lights across Nashville, a San Francisco gathering, book drives, and Dolly-themed airport karaoke.

Stanford Mice Grow Millions of Human Neurons

Stanford researchers implanted lab-grown human cortical organoids into mice bred without most of their cerebral cortex. The tissue grew to occupy more than 90% of the animals’ cortical space.

About 4 million human neurons replaced roughly 14 million mouse neurons. The animals outperformed cortex-depleted mice on some tests, but researchers found no evidence of enhanced intelligence.

The model could help scientists study cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, severe epilepsy, and other brain disorders.

An outside ethics panel guided the study, which ended when the human cells reached six months old. Experts said ethical concerns would intensify if the technique were extended to pigs or primates.

Taft’s Historic Fox Theatre Goes Up for Sale

A for sale sign has gone up on Taft’s historic Fox Theatre, putting the downtown landmark and several adjoining Center Street properties on the market for $1.34 million and leaving the community wondering about its future.

The listing, marketed as a mixed-use investment, bundles the roughly 500-seat main theater with two smaller auditoriums, four apartments, and five commercial suites along Center Street. The West Side Recreation and Park District, which took over the Fox in 2023 to keep it from closing for good, says the theater remains open and operating as usual while the property is shopped around.

District Administrator Les Clark said the owner is selling for personal business reasons and that the district is committed to preserving the Fox, exploring its options and hoping any buyer keeps the landmark intact. Neighboring business owner Michael Long, who calls the theater downtown Taft’s anchor, pointed to Bakersfield’s revived Fox as a model for what community investment can accomplish.

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➤ Redding: An $870,000 Proterra electric bus is being sent to surplus just six years into a planned 12-year lifespan after spending more than 500 days out of service, with the Redding Area Bus Authority citing repeated malfunctions and a loss of warranty support after the manufacturer went bankrupt. (More)

➤ El Dorado County: Just before the new Mosquito Road Bridge opened over the South Fork American River, residents reported finding construction debris such as rebar and scrap metal in the water below, and the county has directed contractor Shimmick to remove project-related material after its transportation director acknowledged some fell during the build. (More)

➤ Trinity County: A couple who run a camping retreat in Burnt Ranch were seriously injured in a pre-dawn black bear attack outside their home on Sept. 19, and their French bulldog, Cassie, who threw herself between the bear and her owners, died from her wounds two days later. (More)

➤ Bakersfield: Pro barrel racers Pfeiffer Taylor, 20, and Stella Lawhorn, 23, are Bakersfield locals, best friends, and fierce competitors preparing for the PRCA rodeo at this year’s Kern County Fair. (More)

➤ Central Coast: An unusual influx of common murres has been washing up on Central Coast beaches, with Pacific Wildlife Care taking in more than 200 of the seabirds since Sept. 1, including a record 26 in a single day, in what officials suspect is a starvation event tied to warming ocean waters pushing prey fish out of reach. (More)

➤ Fresno: Cat Touch This, billed as Fresno’s first cat cafe, is preparing to open at the Valley Animal Center, pairing locally sourced coffee and baked goods with a cat lounge built mainly to get as many of the shelter’s cats adopted as possible. (More)

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➤ Hollywood: New court filings in a federal defamation suit accuse top crisis publicist Melissa Nathan of perjury and concealing evidence in connection with her alleged role in a network of anonymous celebrity smear sites connected to the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni feud, allegations Nathan denies. (More)

➤ San Fernando Valley: Two more homes were broken into overnight this week in Sherman Oaks and the Hollywood Hills, part of a string of five Valley break-ins over the past week in which suspects targeted glass doors in three of the cases. (More)

➤ Los Angeles: Angelina Jolie has sold her historic Los Feliz estate, the former Cecil B. DeMille mansion, for $24.75 million, freeing her to leave California and spend more time abroad now that the youngest of her six children have turned 18. (More)

➤ The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the National League’s No. 2 seed and a first-round bye Thursday, even as the San Diego Padres beat them 4-2. (More)

➤ Meanwhile, the Dodgers set a franchise attendance record with 4,034,219 fans at home games this season, topping 4 million for the second straight year. (More)

➤ The Golden State Valkyries rallied from 16 points down to beat the Los Angeles Sparks 76-75 on Thursday and secure the WNBA playoffs’ No. 2 seed. (More)

➤ No. 12 USC brings a 4-0 record into tonight’s Big Ten home opener against No. 20 Oregon. The Trojans and Ducks kick off at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum at 4:30 p.m. (See Preview)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: NCAAF | MLB | NHL | Soccer | Golf

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➤ Santa Paula hatmaker Rick De Leon is bringing his hands-on custom hat experience to the Kern County Fair through Oct. 4, where fairgoers can pick a hat, shape the brim, add feathers or horsehair bands, and brand it themselves. (More)

➤ Redding School of the Arts breaks ground Sept. 28 on a long-planned new high school campus on 5.9 acres donated by the McConnell Foundation, trading its temporary modular classrooms for a permanent building with room set aside for a future 650-seat community performing arts theater. (More)

➤ A Kern County man is running nearly 300 miles from Bakersfield to the state Capitol in Sacramento to raise awareness for men’s mental health, honoring a close friend he lost and urging others who are struggling to reach out. (More)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes, straight from the heart of the country. 

➤ Some American workers could start collecting full Social Security years early, but critics warn of fallout. (Hear Details)

➤ Coastal flood alerts cover 33 million people as a rare multiday nor’easter threatens the East Coast through the weekend. (Listen Now)

➤ The robotic spacecraft launched to save a failing NASA telescope has itself plunged back to Earth. (Podcast Available)

What was your main way of celebrating Dolly Parton Day?

1. Played her music
2. Watched a Dolly movie or show
3. Read or donated a book
4. Wore pink or attended an event
5. I didn’t celebrate

Yesterday’s Results:

How careful are you about the use-by dates on food in your cupboards?

1. I go by look and smell: 52%
2. I toss it the day it expires: 26%
3. I fear no expiration date: 22%

In 1923, the chef at a grand San Francisco hotel created a creamy, herb-green salad dressing to honor a famous actor appearing in a hit play, naming the dressing after the play. What is it, still sold in stores today?

Show me the answer