SCOTUS weighs future of late mail-in ballots, Riverside sheriff seizes over half a million ballots

SCOTUS weighs future of late mail-in ballots, Riverside sheriff seizes over half a million ballots

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments over whether states can continue to count late-arriving mail ballots — an election issue targeted by President Donald Trump. All 50 states require ballots to be cast or postmarked on or before Election Day, but 14 states have grace periods for receiving and counting regular mailed ballots, ranging from a day to several weeks after the election. A final ruling will almost certainly come by late June, early enough to govern the counting of ballots in the 2026 midterm congressional elections. Also late last week, Riverside County Sheriff and candidate for the California governorship this year, Chad Bianco, announced his department had seized more than 650,000 ballots from the November election. Bianco said the move was to investigate whether they were fraudulently counted, a claim that local election officials have refuted. The move has drawn criticism from California Attorney General Rob Bonta as well. Joining AirTalk this morning to discuss these ballot-related issues is Vikram Amar, distinguished professor of law at UC Davis, and Jeff Horseman, reporter for Southern California News Group.

Should schools, days, and places be named after notable figures in the first place?

Public officials across California are contemplating what to do with dozens of streets, parks and libraries named in honor of civil rights icon César Chávez in the wake of allegations he sexually assaulted two girls and a woman decades ago. The allegations surfaced in an investigation by the New York Times published earlier LAST week that sent shock waves across the country. Chávez, who was head of the United Farm Workers union, is widely recognized as one of the most influential labor leaders in U.S. history, known for founding the union and for leading national boycotts of grapes to improve working conditions for farmworkers. Chávez died in 1993. As part of this conversation, what to do with “César Chávez day,” which is enshrined on multiple levels of government as a day honoring the work of Chávez. Last week on AirTalk, we asked listeners what they thought the day should be renamed to. Today, we want to hear from you again: do you think schools, days, places, and things in general should be named after notable figures, living or dead, in the first place? Give us a call at 866-893-5722 or you can email us at atcomments@laist.com.

SoCal History: How the CA State Parks came to be

The industrial revolution led to a boom in development across the country, but by the mid-1800s, there was growing interest in the United States to maintain large swaths of nature for public interest. In 1864, California was able to take formal steps to make Yosemite its first state park, receiving full ownership from the federal government, although it’d later switch hands again when the National Park Service was established in 1916. During the 20th century, the state would continue to build up its collection of natural parks, using this as an opportunity to preserve its native redwoods and other ecosystems. For this week’s SoCal History segment, we’ll dig into the inception of the state’s parks with Stephanie Campbell, program manager for California State Parks, and Jim Newland, planning division chief for California State Parks.

What are the solutions for the Central Valley land subsidence?

In January, the California Department of Water Resources released an outline on how agencies should manage aquifers to avoid further subsidence, or land sinking from excessive groundwater pumping. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, SGMA was passed back in 2014 to help protect groundwater resources using a grassroots approach of creating local agencies and a goal of groundwater levels to be sustainable by 2040. Farmers and government officials both agree that subsidence is a major concern for the region. However, growers are struggling with losing land for production and further slashes of water pumping allocations. Joining us today to talk about subsidence is the deputy director for Sustainable Water Management at California Department of Water Resources, Paul Gosselin, and the executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition, Michelle Paul.

Are peptides the future of self-service medication?

For as long as health-conscious remedies and proactive lifestyle decisions have struck a chord with the American public, perhaps the heaviest focus of all these wellness marketing campaigns has been on losing weight. Americans equate thinness to health, happiness, attractiveness, and even worthiness. But, despite our $30 billion annual investment in “diet culture” products, wouldn’t it just be easier to precisely target and lose weight without a diet and exercise? Enter GLP-1s or peptides, an injectable form of short-chain amino acids that can signal cellular processes in your body—like collagen production, fat loss, or muscle recovery. Peptides have been hailed as a “wonder drug.” They are widely considered to be a new and effective way to curb appetite and slow digestion. But the promise of peptides also comes with the internet’s pseudo-wellness movements. Today, the FDA has approved some forms of GLP-1s. But that has not stopped online health influencers from marketing synthetic peptides as health optimizers, without addressing the underlying risks of using substances that are not approved by the FDA. Today on AirTalk, we take a look at just what GLP-1s are and how they have taken over the health influencer marketplace. We are joined by Nicholas Florko, health writer for the Atlantic, andPinchas Cohen, professor of gerontology, medicine, and biological sciences and dean of the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at USC. We also want to hear from you! Have you used peptides for weight loss? What has been your experience? Give us a call at 866-893-5722 or email us at atcomments@laist.com.

Triple Play: Dodgers set their sights on a 3-peat

The Major League Baseball season kicks off this Wednesday, with the New York Yankees going up against the San Francisco Giants. For our reigning world champs, the Dodgers, their home opener is on Thursday, when they play the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chavez Ravine. There are also two new names folks will want to watch. One is slugging outfielder Kyle Tucker, to whom the Dodgers gave a four-year deal worth a whopping $240 million. He's a four-time All-Star who can hit 30 home runs and is a strong defensive outfielder with a Gold Glove (2022) under his belt. Other than Tucker, almost the entire 2025 World Series team is returning, with a couple of major additions in the outfield and bullpen. The Dodgers are Vegas' favorites to win it all at +230, far ahead of the next team up — the New York Yankees at +1000. The Dodgers remain the team to beat in the National League West, and really in all of baseball. They are a blueprint for what can go right when you have a lot of money to spend and invest right. Joining us this morning to preview what the Dodgers have in store is Nick Roman, host of Roman on the Radio, and Molly Knight, sportswriter and author of The Long Game baseball newsletter.

With files from LAist.