Good morning and welcome to Kidnews sponsored today by the Hopkins family of Roxbury, New Jersey to wish a happy 12th birthday to Nathan.

Not only does he turn 12 tomorrow, but it's St. Baldrick's Day at Lincoln Roosevelt School and Nathan is cutting his long locks and donating it to make wigs for kids with cancer.

Nathan, our entire team salute you.

Today is Friday, March 4, 2023, and we begin with California lawmakers getting skittish over Skittles.

A proposed bill would ban the sale of the uber popular multi-color candy right along with sour patch kids, hot tamales, pez, and double bubble bubble gum because they contain chemicals that have been linked to certain diseases as well as to behavioral issues and kids.

The chemicals in question, red dye number three, titanium dioxide, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil, and propyl paraben, three of which are already banned in the European Union.

Companies selling these products overseas have found substitute ingredients which lawmakers say are safer.

They're hoping this legislation encourages them to do the same in the US.

If the bill does become law, California would be the first state in the nation to crack down on the chemicals in candy and other food products.

Three minutes of glory and almost one giant leap for 3D.

A California-based aerospace startup called Relativity Space made history on Wednesday by launching Taran 1, a prototype rocket made from 85% 3D printed metal parts into space.

After successfully lifting off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and meeting what's known as Max Q, a state of maximum dynamic pressure, an engine issue ultimately doomed the mission.

Dubbed, good luck, have fun from making it all the way into orbit. Wednesday's launch was the third attempt it lift off, the first two were scrubbed due to mechanical and weather delays.

Company officials, however, are not flustered by the setback and are already analyzing flight data to prep for future attempts.

Their goal, making space travel more frequent, less expensive, and more efficient.

Tiktok's top guy took a bipartisan bruising on Capitol Hill yesterday for five hours Congressional Critics challenged CEO Shou Zichu over privacy and data security concerns.

It was his first public appearance in front of lawmakers and he tried to play down fears that Americans personal information is being shared with the Chinese government.

He also addressed Tiktok's efforts to limit the hours teens spend on the platform.

In the meantime, public sentiment against the app may be growing. A recent poll by the Washington Post found that 41% of Americans are in favor of the federal government banning the app.

Currently, the Biden administration is exploring the idea of forcing a sale to take the video app out of Chinese hands.

It's all in a day's work. The next time you find yourself in line at a Starbucks, you might want to check out the name tag of the barista behind the counter.

If it says, Laxman, then the worker making your drink could be none other than the coffee chains new CEO.

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