Newsletter: Today: Ted Cruz and the Unicorn. RIP Merle Haggard.

I’m Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don’t want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

‘No Gray Area’ for the Thin Blue Line

A federal jury took less than two hours before delivering the verdict: It found former L.A. County Undersheriff Paul Tanaka guilty of deliberately impeding an FBI investigation into jail abuse. Tanaka’s attorney said he planned to appeal the conviction, which could mean up to 15 years behind bars. Read on to see what some jurors had to say, including the foreperson, who stated: “Police have a thin blue line. You don’t cross that line. There is no gray area in policing.”

The Battle of New York

No one has gone after the other’s hands — yet — but the rhetoric between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders is heating up right on cue. After Sanders’ victory in Wisconsin, New York’s April 19 primary is becoming a must-win for each candidate. Clinton is questioning Sanders’ readiness to be president and his Democratic bona fides. Sanders has accused her of being cozy with Wall Street and supporting trade deals that have cost American jobs.

Ted Cruz and the Unicorn

It’s no secret the GOP establishment isn’t exactly wild about Ted Cruz but is still embracing him as the best antidote to Donald Trump. At least for now. That’s why he has been working at the state level to install his supporters as delegates at the convention in Cleveland — a methodical, painstaking strategy that’s brought him success before. Will it work this time, or is there a “magic unicorn,” as one strategist says, waiting in the wings?

He Fought the Law

Merle Haggard was a California original — a singer-songwriter who wrote about everyday Americans and was a straight shooter about his own struggles. Born in the Central Valley, he ended up in San Quentin prison, where he was among the inmates who saw Johnny Cash perform in 1958. Haggard had always written songs, but it provided a spark that propelled him into the pantheon of country music. He died on his 79th birthday. Take a look back at the man who was, as The Times’ Randy Lewis writes, “the most erudite and insightful voice of the Bakersfield sound.”

This Baseball Team Was Made for Walking

The High Desert Mavericks class-A baseball team provides a rare bit of entertainment amid the desert and prisons around Adelanto. So why is the City Council trying to get rid of it? The team leases a field for $1 a year from the city, which also pays for utilities and maintenance — a deal the current council says it can’t afford. Here’s how it took the unusual step of calling the contract unconstitutional.

CALIFORNIA

-- Southern California Gas Co. plans to resume injecting natural gas in its shuttered Aliso Canyon storage field as soon as late summer, using a small number of high-production wells.

-- Want a bike lane in your neighborhood? It’s not so simple.

-- L.A. takes a step toward legalizing bootlegged apartments.

-- California, Oregon and a private utility agreed to remove four hydroelectric dams that block salmon migrations on the Klamath River.

NATION-WORLD

-- What life is like on $7.25 per hour.

-- Scenes of desperation emerge among migrants stranded in Greek camps.

-- A look at melting ice sheets and the threat to sea levels.

-- Florida’s governor signs a bill removing the state’s 148-year-old prohibition against unwed couples living together.

-- Could supernovas have altered the development of life on Earth?

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- TV review: Al Jazeera America’s documentary “The Limits of Hope: Inside Obama’s White House” weighs the last seven years.

-- A judge has dismissed singer Kesha’s hate-crime and human-rights complaints against producer Dr. Luke.

-- Video game critic Anita Sarkeesian is working on a new Web series about little-known women in history.

-- Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki will become just the third person ever appointed principal guest conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic.

-- A new three-day music festival is in the works for the Rose Bowl.

-- Germany does a screen test for environmentally responsible movie and TV production.

-- Welcome aboard: Justin Chang, chief film critic for Variety, will be joining The Times as a film critic.

BUSINESS

-- Five things to know about the new rules for retirement advisors.

-- Snapchat is trying to show it’s a giver, not just a taker, in Venice.

SPORTS

-- The pressure is on golfers Jason Day and Rory McIlroy at this year’s Masters.

-- Manny Pacquiao seeks to end his boxing career with a bang, but Timothy Bradley has other ideas.

-- Chris Erskine: Ken Burns’ documentary on Jackie Robinson is full of surprise and fresh insight.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- #TonysSoWhite: Broadway’s diversity issue. (Forbes)

-- Two Muslim boys’ refusal to shake hands with their female teachers triggers a debate in Switzerland. (Associated Press)

-- How the Golden State Warriors changed basketball. (Wall Street Journal)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

Five decades ago, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory hired people to plot data for engineers using pencil and paper. Sylvia Miller, now 70, was among the last to be hired to do so in 1968. “When ‘computer’ tended to mean the electronic ones, they often called us computresses,” she said. “But more often, we were known as ‘Helen’s Girls.’” Who was Helen and who were the “Rocket Girls”? Find out here.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.