Good morning. It’s Thursday, and I enjoyed these roommate horror stories. Onto the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

B students, rejoice: A “student commencement speaker” will deliver the address at this year’s graduation ceremony rather than the traditional valedictorian. The only requirement to apply is to be a senior with a 3.5 GPA — who, presumably, holds no strong views on the war in Gaza.

Grace Galante and Kailen Hicks / Annenberg Media

2.

USC General Counsel Beong-Soo Kim will serve as interim president after Carol Folt retires at the end of this semester. It could take until June 2026 to find a permanent successor, university officials said. The LA Times described Kim, an amateur cellist, as “calm and cerebral.”

Sean Campbell / Daily Trojan

3.

LA County faced a record number of lawsuits last year, spending a whopping $220 million on overall litigation costs. The deluge was driven in part by wrongful conviction lawsuits for long-ago trials and child sex abuse claims filed when California briefly extended the statute of limitations on such crimes.

Keri Blakinger and Rebecca Ellis / Los Angeles Times

4.

Children's Hospital LA will no longer initiate hormone therapy for transgender youth after Donald Trump banned the treatment, though current patients won’t be affected. California officials warned the hospital that it has a “legal obligation” to provide the treatment.

Paige Austin / Patch

5.

The seasonal flu is surging to levels not seen in California since before the pandemic. Experts say multiple factors could be at play, but noted that one of this year’s main strains can cause severe symptoms which likely drive more people to the hospital — and thus drives up the count.

Catherine Ho / San Francisco Chronicle