Indy Digest: Jan. 19, 2026
The top stories on The New York Times homepage—all accurate, all real—as of this writing are stunning.
The same goes for The Washington Post’s top stories:
This is where we’re at now: The president of the United States is threatening—by force, if necessary—to seize land from a European ally, in part because another European ally didn’t give him an award. Meanwhile, he’s threatening our closest allies with tariffs if he does not get his way.
President Trump is now claiming that one reason he is pushing to acquire Greenland is that he didn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize, according to a text message he sent to Norway’s prime minister over the weekend.
Jonas Gahr Store, Norway’s leader, received the text message on Sunday, an official in the prime minister’s office said on Monday.
“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” Mr. Trump wrote in the message, which was first published by PBS.
Mr. Trump also questioned Denmark’s claim to Greenland, saying, “There are no written documents,” and adding, “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you!”
We have reached the point where Congress needs to act. This is not normal. Our president is not acting in the best interests of the country. He needs to be stopped.
The good news is some Republican members of Congress are speaking out against this complete narcissistic insanity. The bad news is that not enough of them are.
No matter your party affiliation or your political beliefs, it’s impossible to rationally deny: This is insane. This is serious. This needs to be stopped.
—Jimmy Boegle
From the Independent
Civic Solutions: Palm Desert Secures a Second Federal Grant to Improve Street Safety—and Save Lives
By Melissa Daniels
January 17, 2026
The city plans to begin project-design this year, including public outreach. Improvements could include additional sidewalks, curb ramps, pedestrian-level lighting, high visibility paint and driver-feedback signs.
Hiking With T: Tim’s Ladder Trail Is a Significant Challenge—but It’s Worth Every Step
By Theresa Sama
January 18, 2026
With more than 2,000 feet of elevation gain in less than 3 miles, the trail offers raw desert adventure for those who dare to take on the challenge. The reward: sweeping 360-degree scenic views from the high ridges.
Vaccine Vexation: Dezart Performs’ ‘Eureka Day’ Is a Terrific, Timely Production
By Bonnie Gilgallon
January 16, 2026
In Eureka Day, a child at a school contracts mumps, and it seems that requiring vaccinations for all students may be necessary. Many parents at the school—and some board members—adamantly oppose the move.
Killer Show: Revolution Stage’s Production of ‘Assassins’ Begins 2026 With a Literal Bang
By Terry Huber
January 19, 2026
The characters are based on real people who attempted, successfully or unsuccessfully, to assassinate a United States president. These nine men and women have their stories told with the help of a “Balladeer” who connects the characters with sung narration.
Bad People: In the Entertaining ’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,’ Humans Are Worse Than the Zombies
By Bob Grimm
January 19, 2026
The Bone Temple is definitely more twisted than the previous chapter, taking a deeper dive into the evil of man and the powers of Duran Duran and Iron Maiden. (The film does great things with music.)
CV History: The Salton Sea Has Gone From Massive Accident, to Resort Destination, to Pollution Threat, to Potential Lithium Bonanza
By Greg Niemann
January 16, 2026
Early in 1905, the first of five floods surged down the diversionary canal, and attempts to close it became futile. By the end of June, 14,000 cubic feet of water per second was settling into the below-sea-level Salton Sink.
More News
• Soooo what else is the president up to? Well, his administration is still threatening journalists who cover things they don’t like. NBC News says: “The Justice Department ‘will pursue charges’ related to a protest inside a St. Paul church, Harmeet Dhillon, the department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, said in an interview Monday while specifically calling out ex-CNN journalist Don Lemon for his coverage of the event. Speaking to conservative influencer Benny Johnson, Dhillon said journalism is not a ‘shield’ from a ‘criminal conspiracy.’ ‘Don Lemon himself has come out and said he knew exactly what was going to happen inside that facility,’ Dhillon said on ‘The Benny Show.’ ‘He went into the facility, and then he began—quote, unquote—’committing journalism,’ as if that’s sort of a shield from being a part, an embedded part, of a criminal conspiracy. It isn’t.’ Dhillon did not confirm whether the Justice Department would pursue charges against Lemon in particular. … Reached for a response to Dhillon’s remarks, Lemon said in an email that ‘it’s notable that I’ve been cast as the face of a protest I was covering as a journalist—especially since I wasn’t the only reporter there.”
• And PBS News reports: “The Pentagon said Thursday that it is changing the independent military newspaper Stars and Stripes so it concentrates on ‘reporting for our warfighters’ and no longer includes ‘woke distractions.’ That message, in a social media post from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s spokesman, is short on specifics and does not mention the news outlet’s legacy of independence from government and military leadership. It comes a day after The Washington Post reported that applicants for jobs at Stars and Stripes were being asked what they would do to support President Donald Trump’s policies. Stars and Stripes traces its lineage to the Civil War and has reported news about the military either in its newspaper or online steadily since World War II, largely to an audience of service members stationed overseas. Roughly half of its budget comes from the Pentagon and its staff members are considered Defense Department employees.” Ugh!
• Today is Martin Luther King Jr. day, and Axios looks at the various ways in which the Trump administration has downplayed the holiday, as part of its anti-DEI fervor: “Free entry to national parks will now be granted on Trump’s birthday but no longer on MLK Day or Juneteenth, the White House announced last month. Beyond its elimination of a ‘fee-free’ MLK Day, the Trump administration is administering an extensive purge of exhibits across the nation’s parks that includes a substantial removal of materials related to MLK, said Kristen Brengel, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association.”
• Is ICE using data from Home Depot security cameras? Some investors in the company want to know. Reuters reports: “A group of Home Depot investors is asking the company to review its partnership with surveillance firm Flock Safety and state how its data is used and shared with law enforcement, following reports by an independent media outlet that the vendor’s data has been used in Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations. Home Depot locations have become hotbeds for ICE arrests, after U.S. Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller said the agency should target the home improvement chain, where migrant day laborers are known to gather. Investors in several companies are increasingly seeking answers to how U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and enforcement are affecting company operations and reputation. Zevin Asset Management, a sustainability-minded investor that owns more than $7 million in Home Depot stock, is leading a shareholder proposal with 17 co-filers asking Home Depot to evaluate and report the risks associated with sharing data with third-party surveillance vendors.”
• Meanwhile, California’s chief executive is reneging on yet another promise. Our partners at Calmatters report: “Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal includes no money for a fund formed last year to boost the state’s local newsrooms, casting doubt on whether a heralded effort to help California journalists will amount to anything and how serious Newsom is about supporting the struggling industry. It’s a significant walkback from an August 2024 deal between state leaders and Google in which they agreed to jointly spend $175 million over five years to fund local journalism. The deal, which Newsom hailed as a ‘major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms’ at the time, was reached after Google spent a record sum—$11 million—lobbying state lawmakers successfully to drop two proposals that would have forced Google to pay newsrooms for using their content. Under the agreement, the state would pay $70 million and Google $55 million into the newly established California Civic Media Fund for local news outlets. Google would also continue issuing its annual $10 million (in) newsroom grants. But in May 2025, citing budget restraints, Newsom slashed the state’s first-year commitment to just $10 million for fiscal year 2025-26, with no future state funding guaranteed. Google subsequently said it would match the state’s $10 million investment but no more. … ‘(Newsom) is more interested in the billionaires and his friends than he’s interested in journalists who are out on the street,” (California News Publishers Association President Chuck) Champion said. ‘He talks about democracy, he talks about how critically important it is, and then he allows our journalists to starve on the vine.’”
• And finally … Coachella Valley resident, teacher and scribe Tod Goldberg marked the 32nd anniversary of the Northridge quake by telling an incredible story in the Los Angeles Times about the bus driver who went to extraordinary measures to get worried Cal State Northridge students, on a ski trip to Lake Tahoe when the quake hit, back home. Goldberg was one of those students. The lede: “Californians all have our earthquake stories. Mine is of a man I’ve looked for since I missed the Northridge quake three decades ago, on Jan. 17, 1994, a bus driver we think was named Reggie. Reggie was a model of altruism that day. I wonder if he’s told this story, if he knows that my friends and I think about him every year around this time. Missing the quake likely saved my life. The fraternity house I lived in was a mere block from the Northridge Meadows, the apartment building that pancaked along Reseda Boulevard, killing 16. The ceiling above my bed collapsed into a million shards where my head would have been, but I wouldn’t learn that until much later. I woke up on the morning of the 17th in a hotel outside of Reno. I was with a group of fellow Cal State Northridge students on a ski trip to Lake Tahoe. My friend Dave was pounding on my door. ‘Turn on the TV,’ he said and then he was in my room, turning on the TV himself. It was 6:30 in the morning. On the screen we saw an aerial view of destroyed buildings, cratered streets, a bifurcated highway and then CSUN’s 2-year-old C-lot parking structure, which was bent hideously, like a broken leg. Many of the people on the ski trip had parked their cars in that structure. They’d never get them back.”
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