Debt Cancellation: President Biden yesterday cancelled  student debt for millions of Americans; $10,000 for people earning less than $125,000 a year and $20,000 for those who received Pell grants for low-income students.

  Biden did this despite some internal debate as well as Republican claims that cancelling student debt will feed inflation just before the midterm elections. People who have paid off their debt are also annoyed.

  But Biden said in remarks from the White House, “All of this means people can start finally to climb out from under that mountain of debt,” adding that, “To finally think about buying a home or starting a family or starting a business. And by the way, when this happens the whole economy is better off.”

Unplugged: The California Air Resources Board is expected today to issue an electrifying order, requiring that all new cars sold in the state by the year 2035 be free of the fossil fuel emissions. That’s up from just 12 percent now.

 The state will have to meet that standard gradually with 35 percent of new cars emission-free by 2026, and 68 percent by 2030.

  “The climate crisis is solvable if we focus on the big, bold steps necessary to stem the tide of carbon pollution,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

  California is the biggest car market in the country so this will likely speed the industry’s conversion to electric cars and encourage other states to follow. 

The War Zone: As Ukraine yesterday marked its 31st year of independence since the breakup of the Soviet Union, a Russian missile strike in the town of Chaplyne in the center of the country killed at least 22 people and wounded 50 more.

  President Volodomyr Zelensky said the number of dead may increase.  “There is no such war crime that the Russian occupiers have not yet committed on the territory of Ukraine,” he said.

  Ukraine was prepared for stepped up Russian attacks on its independence day, but Russia’s defense minister said Moscow intends to campaign to reduce civilian casualties. “We are doing this deliberately,” he said. Moscow has failed to honor previous pledges to protect civilians or to ease its assault.

The Reproduction Beat: It depends on what judge you get. A federal judge in Texas has blocked Biden administration efforts to make abortion legal for women in that state when their pregnancy might kill them.

  The administration was leaning on a law requiring hospitals that take federal money – and almost all of them do – to provide “stabilizing treatment” to any patients with an “emergency medical condition.”

  US District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, who was appointed by Donald Trump, ruled that Texas may enforce its abortion ban right up to the point when the woman is perceived to be dying.

  Just the opposite happened in Idaho, where a federal judge ruled that a doctor cannot be punished for performing an abortion to protect the health of a pregnant patient.

Fired: The Uvalde, Texas school board has fired its police chief for his failed response to the mass shooting in which 19 students and two teachers were shot. Chief Pete Arredondo, who was in charge, stood by doing nothing for an hour. His lawyer issued a statement saying, “Chief Arredondo will not participate in his own illegal and unconstitutional public lynching and respectfully requests the Board immediately reinstate him, with all backpay and benefits and close the complaint as unfounded.” 

 The Obit Page: Tim Page, a fearless photographer who was one of the graphic chroniclers of the Vietnam War, has died at age 78 in New South Wales, Australia.

  Author Michael Herr in his 1977 book “dispatches” wrote about Page as one of the wild characters who covered the war. Page was the model for the stoned and wigged out photographer played by Dennis Hopper in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now.”

  As the story goes, according to Herr, a publisher once asked Page to write a book that took the glamour out of war. Herr responded, “Take the glamour out of war! I mean, how the bloody hell can you do that?”

  Page once described his group of journalistic war buddies as “a hard core of photographers, writers and a few TV folks that were regulars in the field who understood the fear and the horror, yet who could still groove on its edge.”

  He was seriously wounded four times, once getting hit by a piece of shrapnel that carved out a chunk out of his brain. It took him months to recover.

The Spin Rack: A jury has ordered Los Angeles County to pay $31 million to Kobe Bryant’s widow for graphic photos taken at the scene of his fatal helicopter crash shared by sheriff’s deputies and firefighters  — The use of Marijuana and hallucinogens among young adults reached an all-time high – excuse us –  last year after having leveled off during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, according to new federal data.  The government’s annual survey of drug use among young Americans also found that nicotine vaping and drinking climbed in 2021 after a brief pause. — First Lady Jill Biden, like her husband Joe, tested positive for Covid 19 a second time in a classic “rebound” case. — A superyacht seized from a Russian billionaire as part of western sanctions over the Ukraine invasion has gone to auction and received 63 bids. The boat that can accommodate 12 guests in six cabins could sell for up to $75 million.

Celebrity Beat: Nothing here about the Kardashians. Actor/comedian Nick Cannon announced that he’s expecting another child, which would bring the head count to 10 children, some of whom he knows personally. One of the many mothers is singer Mariah Carey.

  And tough guy actor Sylvester Stallone of “Rocky” fame and his wife, Jennifer Flavin, announced they are divorcing after 25 years of marriage. The couple is currently filming a reality show together so this is good for ratings. 

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