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    ‘It’s been hard’: families await the return of the USS Abraham Lincoln

    After reports of suicide attempts and food shortages, the aircraft carrier is expected to dock in San Diego this week following a record-breaking 250-plus days at seaA mother in San Diego is counting down the days until her son comes home.“I had a big sign made, welcoming him back,” she said. “I can’t wait to see him.” Continue reading… More

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    The American dream remains elusive in the valley that inspired East of Eden

    John Steinbeck’s hometown of Salinas is the least affordable city in the US for the middle class, a recent Brookings Institution analysis found Nestled between two mountain ranges at the crook of central California’s coastline sits a valley known as the “salad bowl of the world”.Farm workers stoop over neatly lined rows of crops off Highway 101 to harvest more than half of the nation’s supply of lettuce and nearly a third of its strawberries. The soil here is so rich that author John Steinbeck made the Salinas valley the promised land in his literary depictions of people chasing the American dream: immigrants, farm workers, westward-moving hopefuls, hungering for a better life. Continue reading… More

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    California outlaws child marriage, joining 17 other US states

    Advocacy group that pushed for the legislation says 9,000 children are married in California every yearCalifornia has outlawed child marriage, joining 17 other US states where the taboo practice is also banned.Under past state law, minors of any age could obtain a court order for marriage with the consent of their parents. Continue reading… More