Some Bits of Good-ish News Among the Terribleness; Your Turkey Bacon May Include Listeria–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: July 3, 2025

Indy Digest: July 3, 2025

OK, so, yeah, the news is pretty bad. Whether it’s about the just-passed “Big Beautiful Bill,” Paramount capitulating and more or less paying a bribe to the president, or the U.S. Supreme Court saying it’s a-OK to deport people to South Sudan, things are getting mighty petrifying ’round these United States.

We will get to more of the bad news in the links below—but since we’re all sick and tired of bad news, I decided to use this intro to spotlight some GOOD news, as I do from time to time. I scoured many outlets for positive news (beyond arts/culture news, which is generally positive by nature), and … well, I managed to find three stories with good-ish news. Not OMG good, but good-ish.

1. The aforementioned “Big Beautiful Bill,” while god-awful in so many ways, does not include, as some on social media have claimed, a law allowing the president to cancel or delay elections. According to The Associated Press:

There is nothing in the legislation that would allow Trump, or any future president, to stop an election from going forward. According to legal experts, a constitutional amendment would have to pass for anyone to have the ability to cancel a federal election. The timing of elections for federal offices is stipulated in federal law and it is highly unlikely that Congress would pass a bill allowing the president to change that timing, experts said. …

(E)xperts agree that these allegations may stem from a misunderstanding of a section of the bill on judicial enforcement that was included in the version passed by the House. That section was removed from the bill after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that it violates the so-called Byrd Rule, which essentially bars policy matters in budget reconciliation bills.

Section 70302 could have made it easier for Trump to disregard federal court rulings, requiring parties seeking preliminary injunctions or temporary restraining orders to put down a ‘security,” such as a cash bond, before the court could issue contempt penalties.

So, the bill could have been worse. Even though it’s still stomach-churningly bad.

2. A new state law just went into affect requiring that bars offer patrons lids for their drinks upon request. The Independent (U.K.), via Yahoo! News, reports:

California law now requires bars and nightclubs to offer drink lids to customers upon request in an effort to prevent spiking.

The legislation builds on previous efforts to combat drink spiking in nightlife settings. Last year, Assembly Bill 1013 was passed which mandated prominent signage informing patrons that drug-testing kits are available.

Assembly Bill 2375 goes a step further by requiring establishments to post a sign reading, “Don’t get roofied! Drink spiking drug test kits available here. Ask a staff member for details.”

The same Assembly Bill, which went into effect on Tuesday, also requires any venue where alcohol is sold for on-site consumption to keep lids on hand and provide them when asked.

I mean, it would be better if people weren’t getting roofied, but, hey, this is a start.

3. A landmark restaurant badly damaged in the January wildfires is partially reopening. The Los Angeles Times says:

Perched along the Pacific Coast Highway with an oceanfront view, Gladstones Malibu has long served as a pit stop for residents and road trippers looking to refuel over mai tais and clam chowder. Now, following nearly six months of closure due to damage sustained in the Palisades fire, the iconic restaurant will reopen its outdoor deck for dining on July 4.

“We just wanted to have something where the community could gather and have a place to visit while they’re visiting their place of residence … and feel a bit of normalcy after such a devastating event,” said Jim Harris, the restaurant manager and chief executive of Gladstones Legacy Group. …

Gladstones received the green light from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to open its auxiliary kitchen and outdoor public deck in early June, said Harris. Since then, it’s been a sprint to reopen the public deck for the summer season, with construction ongoing right up until the launch. Harris hopes the main dining building—which has to undergo more extensive repairs—can reopen by next spring.

Healing. Progress.

Yeah, the news is terrible—but there are a handful of good-ish happenings to report. And that’s something.

—Jimmy Boegle

Schedule Note

I’ll be in Wisconsin next week for the AAN Publishers annual conference. As a result: Rather than the normal Monday and Thursday Indy Digest schedule, there will be just one Digest next week, on Tuesday. 11 Days a Week will come your way on Wednesday, per usual.

Have an amazing Fourth of July weekend—and look for the Indy Digest in your inbox on Tuesday!

More News

• While the California Legislature passed the aforementioned good-ish bill to require that bars offer lids, lawmakers again dropped the figurative ball regarding renters’ protections—or, as our partners at Calmatters put it, “California lawmakers side with landlords to kill renter eviction relief.” Details: “Sen. Aisha Wahab implored her colleagues to think of hospitalized patients and struggling families as she pitched a proposal to give tenants a full two weeks to pay their past due rent before their landlords could start the eviction process. ‘This is a very small ask from the state of California,’ Wahab, a Democrat representing the Fremont area, recently told her fellow lawmakers. ‘(It’s) very small to allow people 14 days to either ask for family members and loved ones to give them money to stay housed, to ask their cities or any of the other nonprofits that help people with rental assistance stay housed, or to even be able to wait for their check.’ Despite Wahab’s pleas, her Senate Bill 436 failed to advance out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee last week. It was the latest example of progressive Democrats’ struggles to add protections for California’s 17 million renters, despite lawmakers otherwise taking aggressive steps this year to address the state’s housing and homelessness crises.”

• Trump is taking a lot of satellite data away from weather forecasters as hurricane season ramps up … and this is a very bad thing—but there are actually somewhat legit reasons for him doing so. A meteorologist, writing for The Conversation, explains why this is bad nonetheless: “About 600 miles off the west coast of Africa, large clusters of thunderstorms begin organizing into tropical storms every hurricane season. They aren’t yet in range of Hurricane Hunter flights, so forecasters at the National Hurricane Center rely on weather satellites to peer down on these storms and beam back information about their location, structure and intensity. The satellite data helps meteorologists create weather forecasts that keep planes and ships safe and prepare countries for a potential hurricane landfall. Now, meteorologists are about to lose access to three of those satellites. … NOAA’s Office of Satellite and Product Operations described the reason for turning off the flow of data as a need to mitigate ‘a significant cybersecurity risk.’ The three satellites have already operated for longer than planned. The DMSP satellites were launched between 1999 and 2009 and were designed to last for five years. They have now been operating for more than 15 years. The United States Space Force recently concluded that the DMSP satellites would reach the end of their lives between 2023 and 2026, so the data would likely have gone dark soon.”

• A Los Angeles-area activist has been indicted for … handling out face shields to protesters? Yes, really. The Los Angeles Times explains: “A local activist who handed out protective face shields to protesters last month during demonstrations against the Trump administration’s chaotic immigration raids was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday. Alejandro Orellana, a 29-year-old member of the Boyle Heights-based community organization Centro CSO, faces charges of conspiracy and aiding and abetting civil disorder, court records show. According to the indictment, Orellana and at least two others drove around downtown L.A. in a pickup truck distributing Uvex Bionic face shields and other items to a crowd engaged in a protest near the federal building on Los Angeles Street on June 9. Prosecutors allege Orellana was helping protesters withstand less-lethal munitions being deployed by Los Angeles police officers and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies after an unlawful assembly had been declared. … Asked how handing out defensive equipment was a crime during a news conference last month, (U.S. Atty. Bill) Essayli insisted Orellana was specifically handing out supplies to violent demonstrators.”

• Dozens of EPA employees signed a letter criticizing the Trump administration for dismantling and politicizing the agency. They’ve now been placed on leave. The New York Times reports: “The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday placed 144 employees on administrative leave and opened an investigation into their decision to sign a letter accusing the Trump administration of politicizing the agency. Current and former EPA employees, lawyers and advocates expressed alarm at the development, saying the agency appeared to be ignoring the employees’ First Amendment rights. The agency said its actions were warranted because the employees had signed the letter using their official titles and because the letter had denigrated the agency’s leadership. ‘The Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging and undercutting the administration’s agenda as voted for by the great people of this country last November,’ the EPA press secretary, Brigit Hirsch, wrote in an email.” The ways in which Trump’s press folks write and speak these days is terrifying.

• Well, here’s a disconcerting headline, via Wired: “Insurers Aren’t Saying Whether They’ll Cover Vaccines for Kids if Government Stops Recommending Them.” Ugh. The story says: “For 60 years ACIP has provided vaccine guidance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including on the timing and dosage of childhood immunizations. Insurers are required to cover the cost of most jabs on the recommended schedule for children. On Wednesday, June 25, ACIP announced it would review the schedule, just weeks after health secretary and longtime anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaced the entire committee with his own appointees. When WIRED then asked 21 of the country’s largest health insurance groups whether they would stop providing cost-free coverage of current routine immunizations in the event ACIP stops recommending them, only Blue Shield of California—a company in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association—confirmed it would continue coverage.”

• And finally … there are several vehicle-related recalls in the news in recent days (take note if you drive a Nissan/Infiniti or a Ford), but the one we’re focusing on today regards … Oscar Mayer turkey bacon! The Associated Press says: “Nearly 368,000 pounds of Oscar Mayer turkey bacon products are being recalled over possible contamination with listeria bacteria that can cause food poisoning, federal health officials said Wednesday. No illnesses have been confirmed to date, U.S. agriculture department officials said. Kraft Heinz Food Company of Newberry, South Carolina, announced the recall of the fully cooked turkey bacon that was produced from April 24 to June 11. The problem was discovered when the company’s laboratory testing indicated potential listeria contamination.”

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