Good morning. It’s Thursday, March 19.
- Calls grow to erase Cesar Chavez name from landscape.
- Forecasters say the worst is yet to come from heat wave.
- And San Diego Zoo Safari Park welcomes cheetah cubs.
Cesar Chavez allegations
1.
“He locked the door, as he always did when he called her, and told her how lonely he had been. He brought her onto the yoga mat that he often used in his office for meditation, kissed her and pulled her pants down. ‘Don’t tell anyone,’ he told her afterward. ‘They’d get jealous.’ The man, Cesar Chavez, one of the most revered figures in the Latino civil rights movement, was 45. She was 13.”
A devastating New York Times investigation into sexual abuse allegations against labor icon Cesar Chavez shook California on Wednesday. Here are three takeaways:
- Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Chavez, said he raped her in 1966. That assault and another encounter resulted in pregnancies, which she hid. Huerta, 95, told no one until a few weeks ago, worried that her secret would harm the farmworker movement. “I have kept this secret long enough,” she said on Wednesday.
- Chavez sexually abused two underage girls in the 1970s, the Times found. Ana Murguia said Chavez summoned her for sexual encounters dozens of times, starting with the meeting recounted above. She was so traumatized that she tried to end her life. Debra Rojas said Chavez first groped her when she was 12 and raped her when she was 15, telling her they belonged together.
- Chavez fathered at least four children with three women outside of his marriage. He never publicly acknowledged them. At least a dozen women described being pursued, and some sexually harassed, by him.
2.
Across California, nearly 50 schools bear the name Cesar Chavez, more than for Martin Luther King Jr. After the Times story appeared on Wednesday, officials moved swiftly to scrub his name and likeness from campuses, streets, parks, community centers, and libraries. Fresno State University shrouded a statue of the Latino leader in plywood, pictured above. State lawmakers said they would rename Cesar Chavez Day, the state holiday observed on March 31. Some suggested “Farmworkers Day.” Fresno Bee | Politico | L.A. Times
Other targeted namesakes included:
- Cesar Chavez Plaza in Sacramento
- Cesar Chavez Street in San Francisco
- Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley
- Cesar E. Chavez High School in Delano
- Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in Los Angeles
3.
Politicians, union leaders, Latino writers, and others reacted with anguish on Wednesday:
- Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions and the daughter of a farmworker, said she wept as she read about the allegations. “Just devastated, that’s all,” she told the Times. “The work for farmworkers has to go on.”
- Speaking to reporters, Gov. Gavin Newsom noted that his family is close to Huerta and that he has photos of Chavez displayed in his home. “It’s been hard to absorb this,” he said.
- Antonio Villaraigosa, who in 2005 became the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles, called the allegations “shocking.” “These revelations are a punch in the gut for me and for so many who believed deeply in the cause of social justice,” he said in a statement.
- Gustavo Arellano, the Los Angeles Times columnist, wrote about the dread people felt as rumors circulated before the Times report. It was like waiting for a tsunami, he said: “And like a natural disaster, what emerged about Chavez was far worse than anyone could’ve expected.”
- The Chavez family issued a statement that read in part: “This is deeply painful to our family. We hope these matters are approached thoughtfully and fairly.”
Statewide
4.
California’s brutal winter heat wave broke all-time March highs in dozens of locations on Wednesday. The records included 76 degrees in South Lake Tahoe; 91 in Modesto; and 108 in the tiny Coachella Valley community of North Shore, which matched the hottest March temperature ever recorded in the U.S. But they are likely to be short-lived. Thursday and Friday could be even hotter. Mecca, near the Salton Sea, is forecast to hit 114 on Friday, which would be the hottest March temperature ever recorded in the U.S. It would also break the April record of 113 in Death Valley. Washington Post | S.F. Chronicle
- Melting snow has cut short the winter season for a growing number of ski resorts. As of Wednesday, at least five had announced premature closures. SFGATE
5.
A new poll found that two Republicans are leading the race for California governor, heightening anxiety among Democrats that their party could face a shutout in the June primary, which will advance the top two vote-getters regardless of party. The survey by UC Berkeley researchers found that 17% of likely voters back Steve Hilton, followed by 16% for Chad Bianco. The remaining support is spread among eight Democrats, including five polling in single digits who have defied calls to step aside for the sake of the party. L.A. Times
6.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan jumped in the race for governor in January on a wave of Silicon Valley support, quickly collecting more than $10 million in political donations. Seven weeks later, the centrist Democrat’s bid appears to have fallen flat. Recent polls have put his level of voter support at around 3%. “He completely overestimated his standing politically in the state of California as the sitting mayor of San Jose,” said Garry South, a Democratic consultant. “He’s gone. He might as well drop out.” Politico
7.
California lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill that would set a minimum age of 16 for social media accounts, curtailing access to TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and other platforms. The proposed rules would be among the toughest in the world and set up a clash with Silicon Valley, which failed to block similar legislation in Australia. The bill’s author, Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, said it has drawn support from politicians across the ideological spectrum, including Gov. Gavin Newsom. “It’s common sense and long overdue,” he said. Bloomberg
Northern California
8.
Emmanuel Saez speaks so softly in his French accent that colleagues have gotten used to leaning in to hear him. Tall and lean, he doesn’t look like a political provocateur. But the UC Berkeley economics professor has been radicalized by data showing runaway inequality. “We’re at a crossroads,” he said. “Will we reverse the trend, or continue to stand by and watch our democracy give way to a full-blown oligarchy?” The San Francisco Chronicle profiled the man behind the boldest state-level wealth tax proposal in U.S. history.
9.
Stanford researchers found that artificial intelligence chatbots frequently validate the delusions and suicidal thoughts of users. Their study analyzed 391,000 messages on AI systems, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The chatbots affirmed users’ messages in nearly two-thirds of responses, the Financial Times wrote: “In conversations in which users showed signs of delusional thinking, the pattern was stronger: AI systems frequently validated those beliefs and often attributed unique abilities or importance to the user.”
Southern California
10.
Edison, the utility blamed for failing to maintain equipment suspected of igniting the deadly Eaton fire, boosted the pay of its top executives last year. Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison’s parent company, received a pay package of $16.6 million, up 20% from 2024. Another executive saw his pay jump 65%. Edison ties its executive compensation not to safety, but to the company’s financial performance. Profits were up thanks in part to a 13% hike in customer electricity rates. L.A. Times
11.
An Orange County-born American citizen now appears to be in charge of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel after the killing of kingpin Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho,” in February. Juan Carlos Valencia González, 41, is a stepson of Oseguera. His citizenship poses a problem for President Trump, who has said he wants to carry out assassinations of Mexican drug lords. “Can the government kill a U.S. person overseas or even at home without a trial if they are perceived to be a threat to the U.S.?” said Steven Cash, a former CIA official. Wall Street Journal
12.
San Diego Zoo Safari Park announced the arrival of four ridiculously cute cheetah cubs. All males, the brothers were born to first-time mom Kelechi in late January, the zoo said. The births support the genetic diversity of the species, considered vulnerable in the wild. Video showed the rambunctious band of cubs running unsteadily, practicing their chirps, and pestering mom. KABC | NBC San Diego
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