Newsletter: Today: Obamacare Vs. Trumpcare. This Man Fixed 20,000 Holes in the U.S. Border Fence.
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
Obamacare Vs. Trumpcare
Democrats, small-government conservatives and Republican moderates in Washington have at least one thing in common: They’re not liking the GOP plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, albeit for different reasons, even as President Trump and House leadership try to drum up support. Many questions about its effects on insurance coverage nationwide remain. In California, Gov. Jerry Brown said it was too soon to weigh in, but experts interviewed by The Times say millions in the state probably would lose health coverage under the replacement bill. Here’s a quick guide to how things work now and how they would change.
More Politics
-- Hawaii says it will sue over Trump’s new travel ban.
-- Thousands are expected to participate today in “A Day Without a Woman,” a spinoff of the women’s march. Schools may feel some of the biggest effects.
-- Trump has talked tough on Iran, but can he bring jailed Americans home?
L.A. Voted. Well, Some of It Did.
With the percentage of voter turnout not even expected to reach the teens, it wasn’t exactly a barn-burner. That in and of itself may have been as much of an endorsement of the status quo as the votes. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti declared victory in what appeared to be a landslide for what would be his second term. (Though who knows if bigger political ambitions will call later.) Meanwhile, anti-development Measure S was losing in the early voting. Here are the latest results.
Migrants on a Perilous Journey North — to Canada
They come from Ghana, Somali, Djibouti and beyond, making an arduous trip north in search for a better life. Not in the U.S., but in Canada. A small but rapidly growing number of asylum seekers have lost hope that America will accept them, so they travel in the dark of night and cold of winter to petition for protection in Canada. Reporter Alexandra Zavis and photographer Robert Gauthier spoke with some who underestimated the danger and lost fingers to frostbite.
This Man Fixed 20,000 Holes in the U.S. Border Fence
In 25 years with the U.S. Border Patrol maintenance crew, Albert Garcia fixed an estimated 20,000 holes in the steel fence along the border with Mexico. He’s retired now, but he has some thoughts on Trump’s “big, beautiful wall” idea. Yes, he voted for Trump. But he told columnist Steve Lopez, “I don’t think anything they make is going to hold them back.” Here’s what Garcia would do instead.
In the Company of Spies
WikiLeaks says it has the goods on how the CIA has conducted cyberespionage, and it has released nearly 9,000 documents detailing plans to hack into smartphones, laptops, TVs and even cars. The CIA won’t comment on the files’ authenticity, but cybersecurity experts are giving credence to them. How much damage they cause could depend on what else WikiLeaks publishes.
CALIFORNIA
-- Struggling San Bernardino wrote to President Trump for help, but that has ended up only raising local suspicions.
-- To avoid hecklers, protesters and the public, Central Valley Rep. David Valadao made his constituents schedule one-on one meetings.
-- A man who has been deported at least five times is awaiting trial in a fatal car crash that claimed the life of an L.A. woman last month, according to police and court records.
-- A state senator from La Cañada-Flintridge wants to limit Californians to buying no more than one gun a month.
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
-- Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has translated Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches into a dance program coming to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
-- A documentary about Ferguson prompts a discussion about the divide between black and white at a Missouri film festival.
-- How “Logan” director James Mangold transformed the end of Wolverine into a new beginning.
-- At two new movie theaters in Southern California, kids can play on a jungle gym next to their parents’ seats.
-- So where did he go? The podcast “Missing Richard Simmons” refuses to accept the official story.
CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD
Cyd Charisse was born on this date in 1922 in Texas. She trained as a ballerina in the Russian tradition and danced her way to stardom in movies like “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Silk Stockings.” To her, acting was a piece of cake compared to pointe work, but “if I had to give up either acting or dancing, I’d choose to keep dancing.” She died June 17, 2008.
NATION-WORLD
-- At the Made in America Store in New York, it’s a challenge to keep the aisles full.
-- North Korea barred all Malaysian citizens in the country from leaving, and Malaysia responded in kind, deepening a diplomatic crisis.
-- The teachers are unpaid and danger is ever present, but Mosul’s schools are reopening.
-- To catch a killer after two sleeping homeless men were slain, Las Vegas police set out a mannequin as bait.
-- As obesity keeps rising in the U.S., a study shows more Americans are just giving up on trying to lose the weight.
BUSINESS
-- Former 20th Century Fox Film chief Jim Gianopulos has emerged as the front-runner to rebuild the struggling Paramount Pictures movie studio.
-- Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick says he is looking for “a peer” who can run the company with him as chief operating officer.
SPORTS
-- Legal experts say a family trust document indicates that Jeanie Buss shall remain controlling owner of the Lakers.
-- New Angels second baseman Danny Espinosa shows that he has true grit. His nickname in college was “Dirtbag,” after all.
OPINION
-- If you thought the Obamacare backlash was bad, Trumpcare will give Democrats a whipping boy for the ages.
-- Can you be black without actually being biologically black? Rachel Dolezal is certainly trying.
WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING
-- Muslim American writer Fatimah Asghar offers a poem for our times. (Poetry Magazine)
-- The best and worst countries to be a working woman. (The Economist)
-- Two shows could change the way disability is represented on television. (Pacific Standard)
ONLY IN L.A.
L.A.’s City Hall has an enviable list of credits. It’s played the Vatican, a secret CIA center, the U.S. Capitol and, of course, the Daily Planet in the 1950s Superman series — not to mention all the times it has cameoed as itself. These days it hosts about 50 shoots a year, and not just for film and TV. More and more, productions from streaming services are finding out that you can’t fight City Hall, but you can certainly film it.
Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.
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