PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN

President Joe Biden’s plan for college student debt relief was rejected on Friday by the U.S. Supreme Court, but he countered with a new plan.

The New York Times reports that the court ruled on a 6-3 vote that Biden’s Education Department has overstepped its powers in seeking to wipe out $1.6 trillion in federal student loans for colleges and universities.

Biden lost little time in promising a new effort to offer student debt relief, according to the Associated Press. Biden may use the Higher Education Act of 1965 which gives the federal government wide powers to modify agreements related to its relations to colleges.

He might not be able to cancel the debt, but it might be possible to delay payments and make sure that people who fall behind wouldn’t face the penalties associated with default.

Web designer wins 1st Amendment case

UNITED STATES Supreme Court building (Flickr/Geoff Livingston).

On a 6-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an artist and website designer had a right to refuse to make designs supporting same-sex marriage.

United Press International reports that the court ruled that the artist was protected by the First Amendment based on freedom of expression.

“The First Amendment envisions the United States as a rich and complex place where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands,” wrote Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch in the majority opinion.

Report slams Afghanistan withdrawal

A State Department report issued on Friday criticized both the Trump and Biden administrations for failing to plan for “worst-case scenarios” in the run-up to the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021.

USA Today reports that the department failed to anticipate the possibility of disruptive acts by terrorist groups that prompted a sometimes chaotic evacuation of 150,000 Americans and Afghans from the capital city of Kabul.

Governor vetos ‘gender-affirming care’ ban

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards on Friday vetoed a ban on ‘gender-affirming care’ for most minors.

CNN reports that the Democrat’s veto could be overridden by the two-thirds Republican “supermajority” in the state legislature.

At issue are surgeries, puberty-blocking drugs and hormone therapy for minors who wish to change their gender from the sex with which they were born.

The bill calls for a penalty of two years loss of medical license for doctors found to violate that law.

Dodgers win in KC, Angels fall to D-backs

Having the home field advantage isn’t turning out to be much of a benefit for the Los Angeles Angels as they lost 6-2 in Anaheim to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. 

It was their third straight loss as they battle to get some traction heading into the All-Star Break. The loss dropped the Halos to 44-40, good for third place in the American League West.

The sole highlight of the game was Shohei Ohtani’s 493-foot home run, his 30th round-tripper of the season, and the 15th in the month of June. He remains the MLB leader in homers.

Off to a quick 5-0 start, the D-backs held off two one-run rallies and kept ahead of the surging Los Angeles Dodgers who won Friday and are two games back in the NL West.

Ohtani had a good day at the plate overall, getting two walks. His batting average is now .310. Mike Trout, who all also represent the Angels in the All-Star game, was 2-for-4 and improved his average to .263.

Mookie Betts homered twice on a 4-for-4 night as the Los Angeles Dodgers blasted the Kansas City Royals 9-3 in Kauffman Stadium on Friday night. He now has 22 home runs.

Jayson Heyward hit well also, going 3-for-4 and driving in two runs. The win – the Blue Crew’s seventh in nine games – lifted their record to 46-35, two games behind Arizona.

Bobby Miller (4-1) went 5.2 innings giving up five hits and three earned runs. He struck out four batters and walked one.

LAD led only 5-3 after six innings, but blew the game open with three runs in third.

The series continues on Saturday and Sunday and then back home to start a four-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Weather: Life in the Eighties

As we move into July, it looks like our West Orange County cities have warm days ahead, but partly cloudy for a while. The forecast for Saturday is for a daytime high of 80 with an overnight low 62. Sunday looks a bit warmer at 82 (62), with Monday rising to 83 (62), then falling to 80 (60).