Food delivery robot goes rogue, causes property damage at L.A. home; KTLA5, February 22, 2026

Josh DuBose, KTLA5; Food delivery robot goes rogue, causes property damage at L.A. home

[Kip Currier: This news story highlights the kinds of negative consequences that can occur from delivery robots, also called Personal Delivery Devices (PDDs) in communities. My 2025 book Ethics, Information, and Technology examines the pros and cons of deploying PDDs to courier an array of items, such as a pilot program in Pittsburgh in which robots delivered books from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (CLP).]

[Excerpt]

"“We’ve got the Cocos, the Waymos and they’re coming for us,” Henson said, laughing.  

What concerns Reel, Henson and others is that this was not the first time there have been problems with food delivery robots. In a separate incident, a Coco robot was caught on camera running into an ambulance, while robot from another company was seen knocking over a parked motorcycle.  

Even more problematic was the time one of the autonomous robots came to an abrupt stop in front of man using a mobility scooter.  

“I think the part that worries me is that these companies can come in and dump their technology in our community and there’s no sense of accountability,” Reel said. “It just feels like an accident waiting to happen.”  

The East Hollywood resident said she’s now documenting all the robots in her neighborhood and that after reaching out to the company that runs the Coco robots, she’s going to get reimbursed for her garden, with a company official telling her that internal measures will be taken to ensure incidents like this do not happen again."

Missouri court strikes down 2022 law that pulled library books off shelves; Missouri Independent, November 18, 2025

ANNELISE HANSHAW, Missouri Independent ; Missouri court strikes down 2022 law that pulled library books off shelves

"A Jackson County Circuit Court judge struck down a state law criminalizing school employees for supplying “sexually explicit material” to students, ruling it unconstitutionally vague and overbroad in a five-page decision Monday.

“This is a real victory for all library professionals who are trained to select age-appropriate, developmentally appropriate material for students in both public and private schools,” Gillian Wilcox, the ACLU of Missouri’s director of litigation, told The Independent. “It is a real insult to their training and professionalism for the government to think that it knows better what books belong in those schools, and it’s an insult to parents as well.”

The now-void law, passed by Missouri lawmakers in 2022, expanded the state’s regulations on pornography to create the offense of providing explicit sexual material to a student. It applied only to those “affiliated with a public or private elementary or secondary school in an official capacity.”

The law is part of a larger trend placing higher scrutiny on what books are offered by libraries and schools. In Missouri, efforts earlier this year to place new restrictions on digital libraries and expand the officials who could face prosecution were debated but did not pass."

New California law bars schoolbook bans based on racial and LGBTQ topics; NPR, September 26, 2023

Jonathan Franklin , NPR; New California law bars schoolbook bans based on racial and LGBTQ topics

"California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law Monday prohibiting school boards across the state from banning books, instructional materials or curricula categorized as inclusive or diverse.

Under the new law, which went into effect immediately after its signing, the state can fine schools that would block textbooks and library books that allow students to learn about diverse communities.

The bill — formally known as AB 1078 — also authorizes Tony Thurmond, state superintendent of public instruction, to purchase instructional materials for school districts, regain costs from the purchases and determine whether to fine school boards if they do not abide by the state's updated instructional standards."