Today’s Headlines: Biden’s big bet on infrastructure

President Biden calls for big spending on infrastructure in the hope it will pay dividends.

TOP STORIES

Biden’s Big Bet on Infrastructure

After focusing on the country’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the distribution of vaccines, President Biden has launched a bold effort to reshape American life by repairing roads, installing electric car charging stations, renovating schools, expanding broadband connectivity and much more.

The ambitious proposal, with a price tag exceeding $2 trillion over eight years, reflects Biden’s belief that the country is ready for the federal government to play a larger role in providing for its citizens, tackling climate change and modernizing its public works. It evokes the expansive Democratic initiatives during the New Deal and the Great Society eras.

“It’s not a plan that tinkers around the edges,” Biden said in Pittsburgh, where he unveiled the plan. “It’s a once-in-a-generation investment in America, unlike anything we’ve seen or done since we built the interstate highway system, and the space race, decades ago.”

Some economists say the new spending for infrastructure, if done well, could provide huge economic benefits. The plan is also a blueprint for executing Biden’s ambitious goals of decarbonizing the country’s economy by 2050 and restoring America’s role as a leader on fighting climate change.

But the question of how to pay for it may be a stumbling block. Republicans have already criticized Biden’s proposals to finance the plan over 15 years with higher taxes on corporations, which would undo some of the tax cuts enacted by President Trump in 2017.

More Politics

— The Pentagon swept away Trump-era policies that largely banned transgender people from serving in the military, issuing new rules that offer them wider access to medical care and assistance with gender transition.

— The federal government’s pause on student loan payments is being extended to more than 1 million borrowers who have defaulted on student loans that are held by private lenders, the Education Department announced.

— Moving forward on a pledge to restore “scientific integrity,” the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency is reversing Trump administration actions that sidelined many academic scientists and removing industry figures from key advisory boards.

— Americans are broadly supportive of Biden’s early handling of the pandemic, a new poll finds, and approval of his stewardship of the economy has ticked up after passage of the $1.9-trillion relief bill.

Yet Another Mass Shooting

Four people, including a child, were killed Wednesday evening and a fifth person was injured in a mass shooting at an Orange office complex.

It’s the third mass shooting in the United States in two weeks, coming after incidents at three Atlanta-area spas that killed eight people, including six Asian women, and at a Boulder, Colo., supermarket that killed 10.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with a decline in mass shootings, which dropped to the lowest levels in nearly a decade, a recent series of them has left many Americans reeling and seeking answers from lawmakers.

A Huge Test in California

The expansion of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to everyone age 50 and older today will be the biggest test yet for California’s vaccine effort, which has stabilized recently but still faces questions about whether supply and appointments can keep pace with demand. In two weeks, all residents 16 and older will be eligible.

For most people, getting a dose will involve wading into California’s vast array of appointment websites run by local health departments, private health providers and clinics, several major pharmacy chains and the state, through a portal called My Turn.

Public health officials are urging newly eligible people to be patient while searching for an appointment because the supply of vaccine doses coming from the federal government is still constrained in some places. Officials in several major counties have said they could vaccinate far more people if they received more supplies.

More Top Coronavirus Headlines

— Pfizer said that its COVID-19 vaccine was safe and strongly protective in children as young as 12. It’s a step toward possibly beginning shots for young teens before they head back to school in the fall.

— Four out of five eligible Angelenos could be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of June, assuming a sufficient number of doses flows into Los Angeles County, a top health official said this week.

— With Mexico’s vaccination program lagging, wealthy Mexicans are flocking to the U.S. for a chance at getting a shot.

They’d Rather Zoom at Home

High school students have trudged through a year of isolation — and a year of lost milestone experiences. Studies have pointed to increasing mental health problems. A new report says L.A. Unified School District students have suffered “alarming” academic harm since campuses closed.

But high school students, more than any others, are opting in the greatest numbers to finish the year online.

In interviews with high school students throughout L.A. County, many said they have come to terms with the fact they would not return to the same campus experience they left behind. And while returning may assuage some of the isolation and difficulties of distance learning, they said it’s not worth the health risks when weighed against a vastly diminished schedule.

Sign up for 8 to 3, a newsletter about school, kids and parenting from the Los Angeles Times.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The Times archives are no joke, even on April 1. Speeding tickets from the LAPD? Definitely real.

Despite first running in January 1934, a story about mythical “lizard people” is decidedly a farce. A local mining engineer named G. Warren Shufelt told The Times about a 5,000-year-old civilization where Los Angeles now stands, claiming to have X-ray images of tunnels they left behind. The Times ran a front page story with the headline (and typo), “LIZARD PEOLPE’S CATACOMB CITY HUNTED.”

The story was a more creative version of older myths about long-lost Spanish gold. Despite years of attempts, no one has found gold, tunnels or evidence of lizard people.

The Los Angeles Times ran a front page feature about a search for a 5,000-year-old city inhabited by Lizard People in January 1934.

(Los Angeles Times)

CALIFORNIA

— Democrat Christy Smith announced that she will challenge GOP Rep. Mike Garcia in 2022 for a seat representing northern Los Angeles County, setting up a rematch that could be key to determining which party controls Congress.

— Vice President Kamala Harris plans to return to her home state of California this weekend for the third time since taking office, a trip that will combine a personal Easter visit to Los Angeles with an official trip to Northern California.

— A Fontana man was arrested by the FBI on charges of assaulting a police officer during the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Trump.

— An Eagle Rock man has been charged with setting fire to a homeless encampment in 2019. The blaze set off a brush fire that left three people injured and threatened homes in Los Angeles and Glendale, prosecutors said.

NATION-WORLD

— Those seeking to overturn Roe vs. Wade believed they had won a historic victory when Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed. But the Supreme Court is stalling on whether to take up a Mississippi abortion rights case, a delay that has conservatives fretting.

— Some of Georgia’s most prominent corporate leaders have begun to more forcefully criticize the state’s sweeping new election law, acknowledging concerns of civil rights activists and Black business executives.

— After an ambulance took George Floyd away, Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis officer who had pinned his knee on the Black man’s neck, defended himself to a bystander by saying Floyd was “a sizable guy” and “probably on something,” according to police video played in court.

— Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin expressed his frustration with the country’s deadlocked political system, saying he’ll choose a candidate for prime minister he believes can overcome past grievances and is most likely to form a government.

— Grizzly bears are slowly expanding the turf where they roam in parts of the northern Rocky Mountains but need continued protections, according to government scientists.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— Amy Sherald is known for her portraits of Black people in gray, set against vibrant backgrounds or wearing colorful outfits. With the opening of her first solo West Coast show, she celebrates the beauty in mundane moments.

— For the crew of “Mank,” it wasn’t impossible to track down L.A.’s history and old Hollywood landmarks. But it sure wasn’t easy.

— Hard Summer, a staple music festival for EDM and hip-hop, is pushing ahead with plans for a July return. Will other festivals follow?

BUSINESS

— Some 18 months after Endeavor withdrew its highly anticipated IPO, the owner of talent agency WME, the Miss Universe Pageant and sports league UFC is once again heading for an initial public offering of stock.

— Rustic Kitchen, a small wine bar and restaurant in Mar Vista, was in bad shape. A group of sommeliers banded together to save it.

SPORTS

— It’s UCLA’s first trip to the Final Four in 13 years — and the most unexpected in forever, writes columnist Bill Plaschke.

— After a strong showing at the Freeway Series, the Dodgers are carrying some hot bats into opening day today.

OPINION

— Dear Hollywood, the GOP in Georgia is threatening democracy. Silence is not an option, culture critic and columnist Mary McNamara writes.

—Barring access to autopsy records hurts public safety and accountability, writes Regina Brown Wilson, executive director of California Black Media.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

— The Suez Canal is open, but another bottleneck in the supply chain remains. Tens of thousands of containers holding millions of dollars’ worth of goods are stuck off the coast of Southern California. (Wall Street Journal)

— Architecture criticism is alive and well in the form of a Vancouver teenager on TikTok. (Curbed)

ONLY IN L.A.

A reader wants to know: Where is the geographic center of L.A.? As columnist Patt Morrison explains, there’s no easy answer in “a city whose silhouette resembles some comic-book alien — a huge, misshapen head and body, and one spindly leg anchored by a single, clumsy foot.” Here’s how it got that way — and why it’s more important to think about the heart of L.A. than its center.

Comments or ideas? Email us at headlines@latimes.com.