Ukraine dam destroyed, Florida law against minor sex-rejection blocked by judge. Tuesday update.

Today’s Top Stories

Federal Judge Blocks Florida Law Prohibiting Sex-Rejection Procedures For Minors

A federal judge has temporarily blocked portions of a new Florida law that bans transgender medical treatment for minors. The Tuesday ruling says the state has no rational basis for denying patients this treatment. The preliminary injunction mainly focuses on the language surrounding children and allows three children whose parents brought the suit to continue their treatment. The judge claims that evidence shows that “gender identity is real” and that “banning these treatments for minors ignores risks patients might face.”

Major Dam In Ukraine Is Destroyed

A major dam was destroyed early Tuesday morning local time in Russian-occupied territory in southern Ukraine. Over 15,000 residents downstream of the dam were evacuated, as officials warned that the rising water levels would hit a critical point in just a few hours.

Russia and Ukraine are accusing each other of knocking out the Kakhovka (ka-hove-ka) dam and a nearby hydroelectric plant. In addition to the flooding, the dam’s failure is causing immediate concerns about water supplies in the region. The Kakhovka reservoir provided for almost all the water needs of the Crimean peninsula’s two million residents. The dam failure also has officials worried that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could run out of water in a few months. An artificial lake kept in reserve for the power plant will serve its water needs for now.

Insurance Companies Changing Policies In California

State Farm, one of California’s top insurance agencies, recently announced it would no longer be taking home insurance applications in the Golden State. The insurer says the reason for the move is the threat of wildfires, as well as the increasing costs of construction. Now, the state’s insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara is telling Californians that there’s nothing he can do to stop the company from following through on its decision.

“According to my legal team, I don’t have the authority to do that,” Lara said. “We’re going to focus on the things we can do, which is bringing companies together, having the conversation, making sure consumers are protected and don’t lose their coverage, and that’s what we’re going to focus on.”

State Farm’s decision to change its business practices in California comes after Allstate made a similar announcement.

Major San Francisco Owner Abandons Downtown Properties

Adding to California’s woes, one of San Francisco’s largest hotel owners announced that it would be dumping two of its downtown properties from its portfolio due to a range of issues including uncertainty regarding the city’s success in the future.

This week, the Virginia-based real estate conglomerate Park Hotels & Resorts announced that it would immediately stop making payments on its $725 million loan for two hotels in San Francisco — the Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Parc 55. The firm cited “record high office vacancy; concerns over street conditions; lower return to office than peer cities; and a weaker than expected citywide convention calendar through 2027” as reasons behind the decision. A Hilton Hotels spokesperson told SFGate.com that it does not plan to close the hotels and that they will remain operational under the management of Hilton Hotels & Resorts. The CEO of Park Hotels & Resorts added that forfeiting the two properties was “difficult but necessary.”

Dave Ramsey Sued

Financial guru and radio legend Dave Ramsey has been hit with a $150 million class-action lawsuit in connection with a failed timeshare company.

The suit claims that Ramsey endorsed “Timeshare Exit Team” to his listeners on “The Ramsey Show,” despite growing client complaints and government flags indicating the company was likely fraudulent. The company allegedly promised to help customers terminate their timeshare contracts, which are notoriously difficult to exit. Ramsey has reportedly received more than $30 million between 2015 and 2021 to promote the now-failed timeshare exit program, which went out of business last year.

LIV-PGA Merger

The PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf have signed an agreement to merge into an as-of-now unnamed company, squashing more than a year of lawsuits and attempts by both organizations to court the world’s most esteemed golfers.

The deal combines the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, along with DP World Tour, into one for-profit company, CNBC reported. Specifics of the merger have yet to be disclosed, but the deal will end all pending litigation between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

Olympic Medalist Dead At 76

Oakland native Jim Hines, a U.S. Olympic gold medalist and the first man to run 100 meters in under 10 seconds, died at 76. Hines won his Olympic medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City and was widely regarded as the fastest man alive while in his prime. Details of his death are unknown. Here’s the radio broadcast from Hines’ historic sprint:

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This article is adapted from today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click here.

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