Newsletter: Essential California: A forgotten veteran finally gets a new chance after a hard life

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Monday, May 29, and here’s what’s happening across California:

TOP STORIES

For one forgotten veteran, new hope

For Kenneth Salazar, the past came back as a series of scenes in a fractured chronology. Life after the Army had been one of dead-end jobs and episodes of sleeping in cars, each coming to an end when the vehicle was impounded. “I woke up in a motor vehicle in other people’s driveway wondering, ‘What in the hell am I doing here?’” Salazar said. Now he has a new home and a new chance. Los Angeles Times

California’s top judge emerges as a powerful voice

Skeptics dismissed Tani Cantil-Sakauye as a lightweight. But the chief justice of the state Supreme Court has found her voice — and she’s using it to call out President Trump’s policies. Legal analysts consider Cantil-Sakauye a centrist on civil matters but one of the more conservative justices on criminal law, an area in which she is considered deferential to decisions by trial judges. Some expect she will slowly move to the left, influenced by the new liberals on the court and the apparent shift of the California electorate away from harsh, punitive laws. Los Angeles Times

Helping with Trump depression

Protesting the Trump presidency will go on for years. Victor Narro is doing everything he can so activists on the front lines don’t burn out. In his workshops and webinars, Narro tells activists to unplug, garden, hike, dance, volunteer, build altars at their cubicles and look at photos that bring them joy. They’re in it for the long haul, after all. Trump still has nearly 200 more weeks in office. Los Angeles Times

MEMORIAL DAY

Home at last: After five decades, missing-in-action pilot Frederick Crosby’s remains finally came home to San Diego — thanks to the tenacity of his daughter, the long memory of the U.S. Defense Department and the will of the taxpayers to keep searching for troops missing in action. San Diego Union-Tribune

Storytelling project: A space for veterans to share their stories. Daily Pilot

The fallen: Remembering California’s war dead. Los Angeles Times

Moving photos: Celebrating Memorial Day through the years. Los Angeles Times

Barbecue question No. 1: Can you really have a meatless Memorial Day barbecue that is satisfying to meat lovers? Washington Post

Barbecue question No. 2: Which is better, charcoal grilling or gas? Experts settle the debate. Wired

L.A. STORIES

Life hangs in the balance: Terrified patients await the fate of Obamacare. “I don’t know what we would do if we lost insurance,” one house painter told columnist Steve Lopez. “Everyone I know is worried. Families with children, seniors, everyone.” Los Angeles Times

Fashion statement: The Atwater Village store that created the “pussyhat,” the pink cap worn by thousands of protesters at the women’s march, is being pushed out by rising rents. Los Angeles Times

A break: L.A. parking enforcement has a Memorial Day gift for you. Daily News

Close call: Despite some tense moments, there was no damage to property during a brush fire in Brentwood. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Secret plans: The City of Industry, which has been beset with government issues in recent years, wants to build a massive solar farm on undeveloped hills around Diamond Bar and Chino Hills. The plan has been top secret, raising concerns from neighboring cities. San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Road map needed: The tricky ethics of self-driving cars and how California needs to address these issues. Wired

Trump versus California: After years of the state being deep in debt to the federal government for a loan covering the unemployment benefits of millions of Californians, state government officials had been promising the system was well on its way to stability. Then came President Trump’s federal budget plan, with new rules and penalties for states whose jobless benefits outpace available dollars. Los Angeles Times

Big bill: Jerry Brown’s new budget shows the huge toll public employee retirement costs are having on the state. Sacramento Bee

Hate crime legislation: California lawmakers stalled measures meant to help report and track hate crimes. The proposals had been filed amid a wave of incidents reported after the 2016 presidential election. Los Angeles Times

CRIME AND COURTS

District attorney under fire: Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas and other officials interfered in multiple investigations and covered up criminal conduct by police, two investigators with the district attorney’s office alleged in claims filed Friday. Los Angeles Times

Editor gets prison: The editor of a Sunland-Tujunga community newspaper has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for illegally possessing firearms after advertising a “Guns for Haiti Quake Relief” drive. Los Angeles Times

ENVIRONMENT AND NATURE

Big fish: Big Bear Lake plans to produce much more trout in a new $3.5-million hatchery. Los Angeles Times

Whale’s death: A blue whale died off the coast of Marin County after colliding with a ship. SF Gate

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Tragedy for Uber co-founder: The mother of Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick died Friday in a boating accident in Fresno County. His father was injured and remains hospitalized. Los Angeles Times

Water park woes: A Bay Area water park made a scary debut when a 10-year-old boy was thrown off a water slide and onto concrete. A park official said the boy was “just shaken up.” Mercury News

Housing design crisis: Pottery Barn is an unlikely victim of rising rents. As people move into smaller apartments, they have less room for large-scale furniture. Los Angeles Times

Style guru: How Los Angeles’ Amanda Chantal Bacon became America’s hottest lifestyle guru, eating a diet of “ho shou wu, silver needle tea, pearl, reishi, cordyceps, quinton shots, bee pollen and chaga.” New York Times

Helping adults: A school for adults with autism is gaining notice in Hollywood. Orange County Register

Radio legend: It’s the end of an era as KROQ’s Rodney Bingenheimer is being taken off the air. “They said they were going through a lot of changes, a lot of cutbacks, and they’ve got new management people coming in.” Orange County Register

A big birthday: Celebrating the Golden Gate Bridge’s 80th birthday. San Francisco Chronicle

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Memorial Day will be partly cloudy in Los Angeles (highs in the mid-70s), San Diego (upper 60s) and San Francisco (lower 60s). In Sacramento, it’ll be mostly sunny and in the high 80s. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

This week’s birthdays for those who made their mark in California:

Actor-director and onetime Carmel mayor Clint Eastwood (May 31, 1930), Cal State Long Beach President Jane Close Conoley (May 31, 1947), former L.A. County supervisor Gloria Molina (May 31, 1948), actor Morgan Freeman (June 1, 1937), actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie (June 4, 1975) and Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel (June 4, 1990).

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.