Today: The Nuclear ‘Tomb’ in the Pacific

May 28, 2019 5 AM PT

There are new concerns about radiation levels near a nuclear waste dump site in the Marshall Islands, but some U.S. officials say there’s nothing to worry about.

TOP STORIES

The Nuclear ‘Tomb’ in the Pacific

It’s called “The Tomb” — a giant concrete dome in the Marshall Islands that was built nearly 40 years ago to encase waste from nuclear weapons tests by the United States in the 1940s and ’50s. Researchers have found high levels of radiation in giant clams nearby, raising concerns the contamination is spreading from the dump site’s tainted groundwater into the central Pacific Ocean and the food chain. U.S. officials say radiation is not leaking from the waste site, more formally known as the Runit Dome. But those living in the Marshall Islands are skeptical, to say the least.

Trump Dials Down the Iran Talk

On a visit to Japan over the Memorial Day weekend, President Trump said the U.S. is “not looking for regime change” in Iran: Instead, “We’re looking for no nuclear weapons.” That’s a considerably more modest goal than top administration officials, including Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, have suggested. And it comes after the Trump administration sent an aircraft carrier to the waters near Iran, ordered 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East and tightened economic sanctions.

Meet Joe Sanberg

Never heard of him? He’s a Gen X liberal who rose from modest roots in L.A. to become a millionaire investor, and he just might be running for president. But what would set him apart from the roughly two dozen Democratic hopefuls already in the race? “I would uniquely talk about poverty,” Sanberg says of a potential presidential run. “About poverty every hour of every single day and in a different way, which is poverty [for] the eight out of 10 Americans [who] are living paycheck to paycheck.”

A Soldier’s Fight for the Future

Cathrine Schmid longed to be a soldier. To wear the uniform her grandfather wore. She had a secret reason too: “Maybe the Army will make these feelings go away,” she told herself. “The Army will make a man out of me.” That was 14 years ago, when, as a man, she enlisted. Now, the military that embraced Schmid has been directed once again to shun soldiers like her. A ban ordered by Trump went into effect April 12, overturning a 3-year-old Pentagon directive that said transgender soldiers would no longer be forced to hide.

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OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

-- Despite courts overturning their convictions, some exonerated people in California are denied restitution by the state because they can’t prove their innocence.

-- Casa Libre, a shelter for homeless migrant youths, has been cited by state officials 143 times for failing to meet standards for state-licensed group homes, a Times investigation found.

-- As he faked students’ resumes, college admissions scandal mastermind William “Rick” Singer appears to have fudged his credentials too.

-- When reporter Cindy Carcamo told her parents she was bringing her 3-year-old daughter on assignment to Guatemala City, she heard a gasp. “What? Are you crazy?” But the fears gave way to fun.

-- For generations, families on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border worked together to till fields of wheat, corn and rice. But one and a half years ago, the cross-border farming came to a stop because of new border barrier.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

At noon on this date in 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signaled by gold-key telegraph that the Golden Gate Bridge was open for automobile traffic, and military planes flew overhead. The day earlier, 200,000 people had walked or run across the bridge, with many stopping for picnics.

CALIFORNIA

-- On Memorial Day, alongside family barbecues and picnics on the beach, communities across Los Angeles County honored and remembered the nation’s fallen heroes.

-- Should L.A. curb charitable fundraising by politicians? Members of the City Council aren’t so sure.

-- A 6-week-old bald eagle whose birth was shown on a live webcam has died after enduring snow and cold temperatures in its nest near Big Bear Lake.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- The best three minutes of TV ever? It may be the soliloquy on menopause in “Fleabag,” the Amazon Prime show now in its second season, writes columnist Mary McNamara.

-- The writers of “Brightburn,” a superhero horror film, don’t want you to side with their antihero.

-- Ranked! The best (and worst) songs of the summer from the 21st century.

-- In this podcast, Times writers discuss what it means when a beloved TV show comes to end — and all the emotions that come with it.

NATION-WORLD

-- Lawmakers in gun-loving Texas have quietly gone around the National Rifle Assn. by slipping language into a massive spending bill that would fund a $1-million public safety campaign on gun storage.

-- North Dakota oil producers are wasting billions of cubic feet of natural gas.

-- Authorities say a man carrying a knife in each hand attacked schoolgirls waiting at a bus stop just outside Tokyo, wounding 16 people and leaving two dead. The assailant was killed.

-- With the deadline to form a new government coming up this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has put the onus on a last holdout of his potential coalition, his own former defense minister.

BUSINESS

-- Disneyland Paris will officially sponsor a gay pride event that’s been popular (but unofficial) for years. Will U.S. theme parks follow suit?

-- Airbnb is an awesome service, until the guest from hell shows up. Consumer columnist David Lazarus explores.

SPORT

-- Bill Buckner, a veteran of 22 Major League Baseball seasons who debuted with the Dodgers in 1969 and persevered after a calamitous fielding error in the 1986 World Series for the Boston Red Sox, has died at 69.

-- Kobe Bryant knows the truth: “The WNBA is a beautiful game to watch.”

OPINION

-- The latest state critique of L.A. County’s Department of Children and Family Services tells an old story of shortcomings in the management of child protection.

-- Trump blames a “witch hunt” for his lousy poll numbers. He should be blaming himself, writes columnist Jonah Goldberg.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- What are those unidentified flying objects spotted by U.S. Navy pilots? (New York Times)

-- How Google tracks you and how you can try to stop it. (Wired)

ONLY IN L.A.

Trying to find a parking spot? Forget it, Jake. It’s Koreatown. L.A. County’s densest area, with 40,000 people per square mile, has gained infamy for the scarcity of its street parking. At 5th and Catalina streets, two cars last month made national news when a video of their 90-minute standoff went viral. “Looking for parking here,” said Gimante Nichols, a filmmaker who lives nearby, “is like looking for Bigfoot.”

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