Former President Donald Trump, Convicted Felon–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: May 30, 2024

Indy Digest: May 30, 2024

Some news-related thoughts regarding a historic day in U.S. history:

• I was truly shocked when Donald Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts by a New York jury in his hush-money trial.

Even fans of Donald Trump will admit that no matter what he does, it doesn’t seem to affect him, legally or politically. He mocks a disabled reporter … and goes on to become the Republican presidential nominee in 2016 anyway. The Access Hollywood “grab them by the pussy” tape is revealed … and he becomes the president. Jan. 6 happens … and he’s forgiven by enough of his party to again become the presidential nominee in 2024. He’s brought up on multiple felony charges in various venues … and he’s leading in the presidential polls.

But now there are consequences, finally. The only question is how severe those consequences will be. He may never go to jail, and it’s possible the case could be overturned on appeal. He may even win the presidency again. But it’s a fact: On this day, May 30, 2024, Donald J. Trump is a convicted felon.

• Donald Trump and his supporters are continuing to paint the trial as a Biden-driven sham, being pushed by a corrupt judge who has it out for Trump.

But that argument, even if you’re inclined to believe it for some reason, becomes nearly impossible for a rational person to accept now that the verdict is in. A dozen members of the public, vetted in court by Trump’s legal team, looked at the evidence and declared that Trump is guilty. Unanimously. On all counts.

• Given the rhetoric coming out of the mouths and social media accounts of Trump and his supporters, I worry about potential violence. Even before the jury came to a verdict, right-wing misinformation disseminators were already spreading falsehoods about Judge Juan Merchan’s jury instructions, leading some to make threats against him.

This is truly a historic day—for the first time ever, a former U.S. president has been convicted of a felony. But this chapter in our country’s history is just starting. Stay tuned.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Nissan has issued a rare “do not drive” order for some older vehicles because they include recalled airbags. NBC News says: “The warning affects certain model year 2002-2006 Nissan Sentra, 2002-2004 Nissan Pathfinder and 2002-2003 Infiniti QX4 vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration instructed drivers in a release not to drive an affected vehicle until a repair is completed and the defective air bag is replaced. First announced in 2013, the Takata air bag recall remains the largest, and one of the deadliest, in history. The NHTSA has confirmed 27 people in the U.S. have been killed by defective Takata air bags that exploded, while at least 400 people have been injured.”

• Also in today’s recall news: 1.5 million portable adult bed rails. The New York Times explains: “The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Thursday that users of the Medline Bed Assist Bar can become entrapped within the bed rail or between the product and the side of a mattress. ‘This poses a serious entrapment hazard and risk of death by asphyxiation,’ the agency said in a statement. ‘Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled bed rails and contact Medline for a refund.’ The commission said that Medline received two reports of deaths associated with the Bed Assist Bars. The deaths took place in July 2019 and November 2023 and involved the entrapment of a 76-year-old woman at a senior nursing facility in Iowa and an 87-year-old woman at a residential care facility in South Carolina, according to the agency.”

• Fentanyl is on the minds of many due to the news that an autopsy revealed fentanyl and cocaine contributed to the death of former Assemblymember Brian Nestande. Fentanyl is incredibly dangerous—if it’s injected or consumed. However, some police departments and media reports have depicted fentanyl as dangerous to the mere touch—and that’s just not true. Just Journalism explains: “Fentanyl is indeed a potent opioid responsible for tens of thousands of deaths annually. And small doses can be deadly. But the dangers of touching fentanyl or being in its presence have been greatly exaggerated by police and the news media, contributing to a distorted public perception that carries real world consequences. Misconceptions about fentanyl’s properties could result in delayed rescue breathing and aid to overdose victims, unnecessary stress and panic among police officers, wasteful budget expenditures and resource allocation, and excessively harsh and punitive criminal charges that do little to prevent substance use or substance-related harms.”

• A well-intended California law meant to curb greenhouse-gas emissions could have some unintended consequences for a program meant to keep farmworkers safe. Our partners at Calmatters report: “The Central Valley transit agency, conceived after a 1999 crash that killed 13 farmworkers, leases strictly monitored vehicles to workers and employers to form vanpools. It gives thousands of laborers a safe way to get to California’s vineyards, orchards and berry fields, and stands out as one solution to what regulators call a persistent problem: The agriculture industry transporting workers without authorization or safety checks. The two-decade-old program is so popular that it operates nearly a thousand farmworker vanpools across California each season and labor contractors compete to reserve vehicles. But CalVans now faces another regulatory hurdle—this time, state climate law. As part of its ambitious goals to slash emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, California is pushing an array of first-in-the-nation policies to go electric. Among them is a rule from the California Air Resources Board that will require all local government agencies to gradually replace their fleets with zero-emission vehicles. Operators would either have to purchase only electric vehicles starting in 2027 or ensure their vehicles are zero-emission over time.”

• A popular local hiking area will be closed this weekend for the next five months. From a Bureau of Land Management news release: “Due to dry conditions and high fire danger, the Bureau of Land Management will temporarily close public lands in and near Whitewater Canyon in Riverside County. The public safety closure, in coordination with Riverside County, will begin on Saturday, June 1 and will remain in place until October 31. ‘With only one public egress road in this area, a wildfire could cause significant risks to Whitewater Canyon residents and visitors if an evacuation is required,’ said Palm Springs-South Coast Acting Field Office Manager Brandon Anderson. ‘We rely on meteorologists and fire behavior experts in predictive services, which show above normal potential for significant wildland fires in the area due to the excessive dead and dry grasses from this winter’s rains.’ Approximately 4,000 of the 1.7 million acres of the public lands managed by the BLM’s Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office are affected by this closure.

• And finally … I am a big fan of avocados, and this story, written by an environmental researcher for The Conversation, really bummed me out. An excerpt: “Consumers’ love for avocados in the United States seems to know no bounds. From 2001 through 2020, consumption of this fruit laden with healthy fats tripled nationwide, rising to over 8 pounds per person yearly. On average, 90% of those avocados are grown in the southwest Mexican state of Michoacán. As with other foods that have become trendy, such as acai berries, or widely used, such as palm oil, intensive avocado production is causing significant environmental damage. … My research shows that raising avocados is economically beneficial in the short term for farmers, which in Latin America typically means medium-sized operators and agribusinesses. It also helps growers—people in rural areas who grow subsistence crops. Over time, though, every serving of avocado toast takes a toll on Michoacán’s land, forests and water supply. Rural growers, who lack the resources of large-scale farmers, feel those impacts most keenly.”

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