Today’s Headlines: After Tucker Carlson’s ouster, where does Fox News go from here?

Hello, it’s Wednesday, April 26, and here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

After Tucker Carlson’s ouster, where does Fox News go from here?

The end of a long-running hit show can be a sobering moment for a TV network.

Fox News is facing that challenge as its most-watched prime-time personality, Tucker Carlson, was suddenly yanked from his perch Monday amid the scandals and lawsuits facing Rupert Murdoch’s conservative network.

Is it the beginning of the end of the successful run for the operation that has led the cable news ratings since 2002 and been a powerful and at times disrupting influence in political discourse? History shows its not likely.

More coverage

• Maybe this week, which has seen three high-profile firings, was actually a good one for media, representing the messy, imperfect pattern of change, writes columnist Mary McNamara.
  

Patients trying to hang on to Medi-Cal face long waits for help

As the federal government has rolled back rules that helped people hang on to Medicaid during the COVID-19 pandemic, health providers fear the fallout could be disastrous for patients. The federal rules had prevented states from booting people from the program, even if changes such as a bump in income would otherwise make them ineligible.

Now millions of people are expected to lose their Medicaid coverage — including many who still qualify — as California and other states go back to checking that people meet the requirements. Federal officials estimate that nearly three-fourths of children and teens who lose coverage will do so even though they remain eligible for the program.

Harry Belafonte, singer, actor and civil rights activist, dies

Long a symbol of what was right and decent in the world, Harry Belafonte died Tuesday at his home in New York of congestive heart failure with his wife, Pamela, at his side, his longtime spokesman Ken Sunshine said. Belafonte was 96.

Belafonte, who fueled an international calypso craze in the 1950s with his addictive version of the “Banana Boat Song,” squeezed so much into his decades-long career that it was difficult to fathom it all.

Some California downtowns are rebounding. Others not so much

One of the biggest questions facing California‘s largest cities in the last few years has been how their downtowns will rebound from the pandemic.

Early indications show that some regions are recovering much more quickly than others. And the stakes couldn’t be higher, as leaders and officials race to lure workers and tourists back to cities’ economic centers.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Christy Camara holds a portrait of her son, Wyland Gomes, in her home in Oceano, Calif. Wyland was 10 when his father shot and killed him before taking his own life. Read more: “He threatened to kill his son. He was still able to purchase a gun. Now, a bereaved mother asks how”

(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

CALIFORNIA

Anthony Avalos’ mother and her boyfriend were sentenced to life for the murder of the 10-year-old. Heather Barron and her boyfriend, Kareem Leiva, were sentenced to life in prison without parole for the torture and murder of her son, Anthony Avalos.

A 4.0 student beat all the odds. But he can’t afford a University of California campus. A growing share of low-income students admitted to the renowned UC system are choosing community college instead as skyrocketing housing costs and insufficient financial aid put their dream campuses out of reach.

To live and die in downtown Los Angeles: Drug addicts, homelessness and hawks. Life in downtown L.A. is a roulette wheel of homelessness, wealth, film shoots, murals and the promise and burden of an unfinished city.

Twitter star Yashar Ali still owes $230,000 to Getty heir. A debt collector now wants his income. A debt collector is seeking to seize Ali’s future income and money he gets through online payment platforms like Venmo.

NATION-WORLD

What’s behind the sexual assault lawsuit against Donald Trump? Jury selection started Tuesday in E. Jean Carroll’s rape lawsuit in a New York federal court. The former Elle magazine advice columnist alleges that Trump raped her in a luxury department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.

King Charles’ coronation boosts tourism in Britain, but its economy is still reeling. The weekend of events starting May 6 will bring a cash infusion to Central London businesses, but it won’t do much for British residents struggling with an economy on the precipice of recession.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

Nick Cannon says Jamie Foxx is awake and alert. “I was reluctant to go all the way there, and even talk about it, but he gave me the blessing, so it’s a beautiful thing,” Cannon said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “He’s awake. They say he’s alert, so we love it.”

Before Michelle Obama segment, Drew Barrymore is taped to her chair. (They still hold hands.) On Monday’s episode of “The Drew Barrymore Show” featuring Michelle Obama, the host addressed the internet fodder regarding her touchy-feely persona with a gimmick involving duct tape and the Secret Service.

BUSINESS

GM will stop making the low-priced Chevy Bolt EV to make way for electric pickups. GM’s decision to end Bolt production concludes a period when the company made small EVs largely to meet regulatory requirements, and ushers in an era of converting all models to electric drive.

SPORTS

Despite dramatic rally, Clippers cave to Suns in season-ending loss. Heads down, walking past fans in free orange T-shirts, the Clippers retreated to their locker room underneath Footprint Center’s stands knowing precisely where their season ended.

Coach Evan Yabu brings new-world football focus to old-school Notre Dame High. The Lancers program was in shambles, having lost its previous 25 games. In its first game under Yabu, Thousand Oaks defeated crosstown rival Newbury Park with a last-minute goal-line stand.

OPINION

Column: There’s no satisfaction in the fall of Tucker Carlson. Had he been fired for being Tucker Carlson — the white nationalist apologist known for his spitfire misinformation and shameless hypocrisy — I would probably be more cheerful. But this does not appear to be a firing for behaving poorly.

Opinion: How self-defense laws can allow violent racism to go unpunished. So long as Black boys and men draw racism-based fear, self-defense claims in the shooting of unarmed Black people will continue to be raised.

ONLY IN SoCAL

A passenger rides the monorail, a guest eats a corndog, and a person rides the teacups at night.

(Viktoria Cichoń / For The Times)

Attention Disneyland veterans! If you haven’t visited for a while, here’s a little heads-up: Everything you know is wrong.

To help you prepare for your trip, we’ve compiled a list of 41 Disneyland tips, tricks and food secrets from park fanatics.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The abandoned town of Pripyat near Chernobyl, Ukraine, on Jan. 24, 2006. Pripyat and the surrounding area will not be safe for human habitation for several centuries.

(Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images)

On April 26, 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine caused serious radiation sickness and contamination. Between 50 and 185 million curies of radionuclides escaped into the atmosphere, contaminating millions of acres of forests and farmland and forcing the resettlement of more than 350,000 people. Scientists estimate that the most dangerous radioactive elements will take up to 900 years to decay sufficiently to render the area safe.

Thirty years after the disaster, The Times republished some of our best coverage of the event. In this story, published on May 11, 1992, we take a look at what it was like to live in Chernobyl’s shadow.

We appreciate that you took the time to read Today’s Headlines! Comments or ideas? Feel free to drop us a note at headlines@latimes.com.