Farmworkers

Day proposed

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is supporting a proposal to rename César Chavez Day following stunning abuse allegations against the revered labor leader. Newsom said Thursday he will move quickly on legislation if it passes to rename March 31 as Farmworkers Day.

Political leaders in states and cities are considering similar moves after the co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America union and others alleged Chavez sexually abused them. Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson’s office says he won’t issue a proclamation honoring César Chavez Day this year. There also are calls to alter memorials honoring the man who helped secure better wages and working conditions for farmworkers.

Student loan

change begins

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Education Department is handing off a portion of its student loan portfolio to the Treasury Department. It’s a first step toward shedding management of all student loans as Trump administration officials dismantle the federal education agency.

Under an agreement announced Thursday, the Treasury Department will take over management of student loans whose borrowers are in default, meaning they are months behind on payments. Those loans add up to about $180 billion, or 11% of the government’s $1.7 trillion student loan portfolio.

A second phase with no timeframe says Treasury will “assume operational responsibility” over non-defaulted loans, “to the extent practicable.”

Student’s body

found in Spain

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish authorities say they have found the body of missing college student from Illinois who was missing for more than two days. The body of 20-year-old James “Jimmy” Gracey was found Thursday evening in the waters off a Barcelona beach, near where he was last seen outside a nightclub with his friends early Tuesday.

He never returned to the room he was renting with friends. Police recovered his phone soon after he went missing. Gracey was a student at the University of Alabama, and was visiting friends in Barcelona for a spring break trip.

ABC cancels

‘Bachelorette’

LOS ANGELES (AP) — ABC has canceled its already filmed season of “The Bachelorette” starring Taylor Frankie Paul after a 2023 video surfaced.

On Thursday, Disney Entertainment Television said was focused on supporting the family. The network made the move just days before the Sunday premiere. TMZ published a video of Paul punching, kicking and throwing chairs at her ex Dakota Mortensen.

Police in Utah tell People magazine an investigation is open and allegations run both ways. Representatives for Paul and Mortensen didn’t immediately return requests for comment. Unlike previous leads, the 31-year-old had not appeared on the “Bachelor” franchise before