Here is what you need to know in the March 19, 2026, Streamline newsletter:
This morning, the reaction continues in San Diego and across the nation over the disturbing allegations made against labor rights leader Cesar Chavez. We’re looking at how many different groups are dealing with landmarks, statues and streets named after Chavez as his legacy comes into question.
Michael Chen is following through with a father’s fight for survival after he shielded his toddler son from a raging house fire.
Entertaining kids during spring break can be tough, but San Diego’s Public Library offers fun and free options to keep the learning going.
THE STREAMLINE
WATCH — ABC 10News brings you The Streamline for Thursday, March 19 -- everything you need to know in under 10 minutes:
TOP STORY
Fallout continued Thursday from an explosive New York Times report alleging that labor icon César Chávez sexually abused female followers, including minors, and raped United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, now 95, in 1966, as political leaders, labor groups and community organizations responded and called for accountability.
The story was published Wednesday, one day after the UFW and the César Chávez Foundation announced that they will abstain from honoring the late labor leader on this year's state holiday on March 31, citing "disturbing allegations."
The Times said its story was based on interviews with more than 60 people, including top Chavez aides at the time, and also his relatives and former members of the UFW.
The story quotes a woman who says Chávez took her into his office when he was 45 and she was 13, kissed her and pulled her pants down. She said dozens of sexual encounters followed over the next four years, though she says none involved intercourse.
Another woman says she was 12 when Chávez groped her breast, and 15 when he arranged to have her stay at a motel during a march through California and had sexual intercourse with her.
Both women were the daughters of organizers who had marched in rallies alongside Chávez, according to the Times. The story claims that Chávez used other women in the farm labor movement for "sexual gratification."
The Times said accounts of alleged abuse of the two then-minors were independently verified through interviews with those they confided in decades ago and also in more recent years. Elements of their stories were also corroborated in documents, emails, itineraries and other writings from union organizers, supporters of Chávez and historians, the story says.
Huerta, who will turn 96 on April 10, told the newspaper that Chávez drove her to a secluded grape field in Delano, California, in 1966 and raped her in the vehicle. She said she never reported the attack out of concerns for police hostility toward Chávez and the labor movement, and because she feared she wouldn't be believed.
Huerta confirmed the account in a statement Wednesday, saying she had two sexual encounters with Chávez -- the first of which involved her being "manipulated and pressured into having sex with him" -- and the other in which she "was forced against my will."
"I had experienced abuse and sexual violence before, and I convinced myself these were incidents that I had to ensure alone and in secret," Huerta said. "Both sexual encounters with César led to pregnancies. I chose to keep my pregnancies secret and, after the children were born, I arranged for them to be raised by other families that could give them stable lives."
Chávez's family issued a statement Wednesday saying they were "devastated" by the revelations.
"This is deeply painful for our family," the statement read. "We wish peace and healing to the survivors and commend their courage to come forward. As a family steeped in the values of equity and justice, we honor the voices of those who feel unheard and who report sexual abuse.
"We carry our own memories of the person we knew. Someone whose life included work and contributions that matter deeply to many people. We remain committed to farmworkers and the causes he and countless others championed and continue to champion. We ask for understanding and privacy as we continue to process this difficult information."
The San Diego Community College District, which has a César E. Chávez Campus in Barrio Logan, along César E. Chávez Parkway, said it is reviewing a potential renaming of the campus.
"These reports are deeply concerning, and our thoughts are with everyone impacted," a district statement read. "SDCCD is committed to providing a safe, respectful environment for all, and we do not tolerate sexual misconduct or abuse of any kind. As we assess current and new information, SDCCD will prioritize feedback from our community and upholding our values of safety, dignity, and respect for all."
San Diego not only has a major thoroughfare in Barrio Logan named after Chávez, but the San Diego Unified School District has an elementary school in Southcrest named after him.
SDUSD Superintendent Fabi Bagula told City News Service the allegations were "serious, concerning and deeply troubling."
"Our first responsibility is to acknowledge and support anyone who may have been harmed," she said. "As we move forward, including conversations about a school that bears his name, our focus will be on listening deeply to better understand the impact to the school community and how we might collectively move forward in a way that prioritizes student safety and a sense of belonging."
The charges came as a shock to admirers of Chávez, long considered one of the leading American civil rights figures of the 20th century, and a Latino icon.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said, "The farm workers movement and a labor movement are much bigger than one man."
He said he and his wife "stand with the courageous women, like Dolores Huerta, who have stepped forward after decades of concealing pain and abuse. We're for justice. We're for truth. We're for transparency. And we will have the backs of these survivors."
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, called the allegations "heartbreaking" and "horrific."
"I stand with the survivors, commend them for their bravery in sharing their stories, and condemn the abhorrent actions they described," Padilla said in a statement. "The survivors deserve to be heard. They deserve to be supported. They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. There must be zero tolerance for abuse, exploitation, and the silencing of victims, no matter who is involved. Confronting painful truths and ensuring accountability is essential to honoring the very values the greater farm worker movement stands for -- values rooted in dignity and justice for all."
The League of United Latin American Citizens said it "unequivocally condemns any form of sexual violence against women and minors and strongly denounces the actions alleged involving the late César Chávez. No individual, regardless of stature or legacy, is above accountability when it comes to protecting and upholding the dignity of others. LULAC stands with all victims of sexual abuse and affirms that no one has the right to exploit or harm children or women under any circumstances. We extend our deepest concern and solidarity to those who have suffered.
"The actions of one person neither reflect nor diminish the integrity of the farmworker movement. LULAC remains unchanged in its support of the farmworker movement and the countless men and women who, for generations, have labored in the fields, often unseen and unheard, to sustain their families and feed this nation."
On Tuesday, the UFW and the César Chávez Foundation issued separate but related statements stating that they will not organize or participate in events celebrating César Chávez Day, which is typically observed on the same day as his birthday.
The UFW encouraged supporters to instead participate in immigration justice events and acts of service to support farmworkers or empower vulnerable people in their communities.
The union said it learned of allegations that Chávez behaved in ways that are incompatible with the organization's values.
"Some of the reports are family issues, and not our story to tell or our place to comment on. Far more troubling are allegations involving abuse of young women or minors," the UFW said in a statement. "Allegations that very young women or girls may have been victimized are crushing. We have not received any direct reports, and we do not have any firsthand knowledge of these allegations. However, the allegations are serious enough that we feel compelled to take urgent steps to learn more and provide space for people who may have been victimized to find support and to share their stories if that is what they choose."
The César Chávez Foundation echoed those sentiments, adding its members are "deeply shocked and saddened by what we are hearing."
Both organizations said they are developing a "safe and confidential process" for individuals to share their experiences of possible harm, and if they choose to, participate in efforts toward repair and reconciliation.
"In addition, we are investing time and resources to ensure the Foundation promotes and strengthens a workplace culture that is safe and welcoming for all," the Foundation said in its statement. "We ask for our community's patience as we learn more. Throughout this process, our organization and our partners in the movement will continue our work together to protect and uplift the families and communities that we serve."
The UFW added it will take time to get the process right, which is expected to include trauma-informed services to those who may need it.
"We understand this will be tremendously painful for many and we encourage our community to seek mental health support if they experience distress," UFW officials said. "Today's UFW is a modern and progressive labor union and we will seek to learn from our history."
Chávez died in 1993 at age 66.
The famed Delano Grape Strike by the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, a predominantly Filipino and AFL-CIO-backed labor organization, went against table grape growers in the Kern County city about 30 miles north of Bakersfield on Sept. 8, 1965.
The predominantly Mexican National Farmworkers Association, which Chávez founded alongside Huerta, joined the strike eight days later. The two groups merged in August 1966 to create United Farm Workers.
The strike and boycott ended in 1970 after 26 table grape growers signed contracts with UFW.
Story by City News Service
MICROCLIMATE FORECASTS
Coasts
Inland
Mountains
Deserts
BREAKING OVERNIGHT
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is facing perhaps the most daunting question of the war with Iran, one that could define his time in office: Will he put U.S. troops on the ground in Iran to secure some 970 pounds of enriched uranium that Tehran could potentially use to build nuclear weapons?
Trump has offered shifting reasons for launching the war, but he has been consistent in articulating that a primary objective in joining Israel in the military action is ensuring that Iran will “never have a nuclear weapon.”
The president has been more circumspect about how far he's willing to go to follow through on his pledge to destroy Iran's weapons program once and for all, including seizing or destroying the near-bomb-grade nuclear material that Iran possesses.
Much of it is believed to be buried under the rubble of a mountain facility pummeled in U.S. bombings Trump ordered last June that he had claimed “obliterated” Tehran's nuclear program.
It's a risky, complicated project that many nuclear experts say cannot be done without a sizable deployment of U.S. troops into Iran, a dangerous and politically fraught operation for the Republican president, who has vowed not to entangle the U.S. in the sort of extended and bloody Middle East conflicts that still loom large on America's psyche.
At the same time, lawmakers and experts remain concerned that if Iran hard-liners emerge from the fighting, they'll be more motivated than ever to build nuclear weapons as they look to deter the U.S. and Israel from future military action, a dynamic that makes taking control of Iran's enriched uranium even more critical. That stockpile could allow Iran to build as many as 10 nuclear bombs, should it decide to weaponize its program.
Some lawmakers, like Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., say they remain deeply fearful that the president has put the nation on a path that will require putting troops inside Iran for what he called Trump’s confused and chaotic objectives.
“Some of the objectives that he continues to espouse simply cannot be achieved without a physical presence there -- securing the uranium cannot be done without a physical presence," said Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Meanwhile, Republican allies of Trump stress that there are plans in place to deal with the enriched uranium. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman James Risch, R-Idaho, on Wednesday cited “a number of plans that have been put on the table.” He declined to elaborate.
Others acknowledged the complications of deploying troops into Iran.
“No one has given me a briefing on how you would do it without boots on the ground,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “It doesn’t mean you can’t. But no one’s ever briefed me about it.”
Scott added it's not tenable to allow the stockpile to remain: “I think it would be helpful to get rid of it.”
Trump and his advisers are rigidly obtuse
Nearly three weeks into a conflict that's left hundreds of people dead, tested longtime alliances and brought pain to the global economy, Trump and his top advisers have been rigidly obtuse about their deliberations over Iran's uranium stockpile.
“I’m not going to talk about that,” Trump said last week when asked about the enriched uranium. “But we have hit them harder than virtually any country in history has been hit, and we’re not finished yet.”
Later that day, during an appearance in Kentucky, Trump appeared to claim the strikes had already neutralized the threat. “They don’t have nuclear potential," he said.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters earlier this week that the administration sees no point in telegraphing “what we’re willing to do or how far we’re willing to go" while asserting "we have options, for sure.”
Experts say it's doable but won't be easy
Richard Goldberg, who served as director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction for the National Security Council during Trump's first term, said that seizing or destroying the enriched uranium is certainly doable, if the president decides to go that route.
The U.S. and Israeli forces have been making strides toward creating the conditions — namely, establishing total air superiority — that would allow for special operations forces operators, who are trained in blowing up centrifuges and dealing with nuclear material, to conduct such an operation if the president decides to go that route.
To be certain, a troops-on-the-ground effort is expected to be far more complicated than other recent high-profile, lightning-strike insertion operations, such as the January capture of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro or the May 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden, Goldberg said. And the likely need to remove rubble to get to the canisters of enriched uranium adds another layer of complexity, because it would require heavy construction equipment.
"But if you actually own the airspace and you can have close air support and drones and everything else up in the sky for pretty wide perimeter, presumably you could do a lot,” said Goldberg, who is now a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think tank.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi told reporters in Washington this week that the assumption is much of the enriched uranium remains in the trio of Iranian nuclear sites bombarded last year by the U.S.
“The impression we have … is that it hasn’t been moved,” said Grossi, adding that a bulk of the material is beneath the rubble at Iran’s Isfahan facility while lesser amounts are at the Natanz and Fordow facilities that were destroyed in last year’s American strikes.
Testifying before a Senate committee on Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in her prepared remarks said that the U.S. attacks on Iran had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and buried underground facilities.
Gabbard said the U.S. has been monitoring whether Iran’s leaders will try to restart its nuclear program but said that they have not tried to rebuild their nuclear enrichment capability. She added that the clerical authority overseeing Iranian government has been degraded in Israel's strikes on its leadership but remains intact.
Brandan Buck, a senior foreign policy fellow at the Cato Institute, said that an effort to extract or dilute the enriched material would likely take more than 1,000 troops at each Iranian site and would take time to complete.
On the other hand, not acting to secure the enriched uranium also comes with risk. Should Iran's hard-liners remain in power, and with enriched material, they will now have greater motivation to build a nuclear weapon.
“Trump has put himself between a rock and a hard place,” Buck said. “Throughout this, he has had maximalist aims, but he’s wanted to maintain minimal effort in order to keep the costs low.”
Story by Aamer Madhani and Seung Min Kim, Associated Press
CONSUMER
Spring break is almost here, but keeping the kids entertained during the break from school doesn’t have to break the bank.
WATCH — Consumer reporter Marie Coronel goes over some of the programs available to keep kids learning over their break:
WE FOLLOW THROUGH
We’re getting new details about a family’s terrifying escape from a raging house fire in Mount Hope last weekend.
ABC 10News was on the scene as firefighters fought flames tearing through a condo on Carlos Street — a blaze that left a father and his 2-year-old son with burn injuries.
WATCH — A family member talks to reporter Michael Chen about Rich Dehnz’s heroic actions to protect his sun as an explosion rocked their home:
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