Sam Schulz
@sam-schulz.bsky.social
210 followers 280 following 36 posts
Watchdog & government editor at The San Diego Union-Tribune. New Yorker in California (now Sacramento). Priors: LA Times, Bloomberg, Politico, NBC, Forbes. Talk to me about transit, transparency & topographical maps.
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sam-schulz.bsky.social
It’s true. I still recall fondly perhaps my favorite headline I’ve ever written, one from probably a decade ago that resembled this lede, after a truck full of butter got wedged beneath an underpass on the Hutch: “Crashed butter truck clogs major NY artery.” Is there anything more satisfying?
sam-schulz.bsky.social
Beyond their own futures — a few are planning cross-country moves — they wonder what this means for a military already struggling to recruit & now losing experienced members.

“The DoD cannot, one for one, replace us overnight.”

(Photo: Ana Ramirez, U-T)
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/07/13/s...
A smiling, tattooed person with a mustache pushes a laughing blonde child in a swing on a playground. Photo is by Ana Ramirez, The San Diego Union-Tribune.
sam-schulz.bsky.social
They know they can be identified. But they're staying for now.

One has a mortgage to pay. One has a local community she loves. For another, it's a matter of "personal pride in being able to say that I completed all of the things that I set out to do."

www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/07/13/s...
A smiling person wearing a Sparta Pride T-shirt lifts weights in their home gym. A United States Marine Corps flag hands in the background.
sam-schulz.bsky.social
“I grew up in a military family. I grew up all around it … and I had a desire to do that,” she said. “If you were to sit down and ask me, ‘When you get out of the service, what’s your plan?’ I have no idea.”

(Photo: Ana Ramirez / San Diego Union-Tribune)
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/07/13/s...
A woman wearing an orange embroidered robe stands in her bedroom, holding a naval officer's bucket cover. Photo is by Ana Ramirez of The San Diego Union-Tribune.
sam-schulz.bsky.social
Who's ICE arresting in San Diego? Mainly people with no criminal records, our analysis found.

"While 20% of arrests in April were of individuals without criminal convictions or charges, it rose to 62% in May and 76% in early June, according to the data."
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/07/06/w...
What the data say about who ICE is arresting in San Diego
More than half the arrests locally this year were of people with no criminal record
www.sandiegouniontribune.com
sam-schulz.bsky.social
This is exactly what the data in San Diego bear out, per @sandiegouniontribune.com reporting.

"While 20% of arrests in April were of individuals without criminal convictions or charges, it rose to 62% in May and 76% in early June, according to the data."
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/07/06/w...
sam-schulz.bsky.social
“Palestinians arriving at the sites say they are caught between Israeli & American fire, said the contractor who shared videos with the AP.

‘We have come here to get food for our families. We have nothing,’ he recounted Palestinians telling him. ‘Why do you shoot at us?’”
apnews.com/article/pale...
US contractors say their colleagues are firing live ammo as Palestinians seek food in Gaza
American contractors guarding aid distribution sites in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scramble for food, according to accounts and videos obtained by The Asso...
apnews.com
sam-schulz.bsky.social
This is great—I don’t think I’ve seen baby stick sunscreen before. Have you tried Cetaphil sheer mineral liquid sunscreen? It’s not good for heavy activity, but it’s the only non-ghostly daily mineral face sunscreen I’ve used that doesn’t break me out or cause a rash around my eyes. I recommend it.
sam-schulz.bsky.social
It’s true!

As for the immigration stances of the candidates in the race that will decide which party controls San Diego County?

Lucas Robinson recently dug into what they’ve said — and refused to say — about ICE, legal aid & more. Check it out: www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/06/10/w...
sam-schulz.bsky.social
Kristen Taketa investigated a small charter school network with huge executive pay—& cozy ties with its top vendor.

The CEO quit 2 days after our story ran. But public records reveal how she & her predecessor built a lavish lifestyle running the network.
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/06/22/e...
Elite charter schools CEO resigns just after Union-Tribune investigation
Records show just-departed CEO Meghan Freeman and founder Brent Woodard built a wealthy lifestyle while running the small charter school network.
www.sandiegouniontribune.com
sam-schulz.bsky.social
"For at least the part of the day that the religious leaders were inside courtrooms, there were no arrests outside. Pham and others said they witnessed ICE agents in the hallway as they entered the courtrooms, but said they then left."
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/06/20/f...
Faith leaders stand in solidarity with immigrants at San Diego federal building
San Diego Bishop-Designate Michael Pham called on the federal government to treat migrants with “kindness, compassion, dignity and respect.”
www.sandiegouniontribune.com
sam-schulz.bsky.social
“Obviously, [the New York Times editorial board] decided they didn’t care enough about New York City to make an editorial endorsement, and then they show up with this wimpy, disingenuous editorial basically justifying why people should vote for someone corrupt in Andrew Cuomo.”
sam-schulz.bsky.social
“If you go into coverage with the resources of the NYT looking for people to tell you there’s a problem, you’ll find a problem … & if you’re the NYT, more people will flock to you to ask you to tell that story — no matter how contorted the focus of your reporting becomes because of that.” Read this:
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
NEW: "Where is the outrage over Skrmetti?"

On the far right's campaign to create uncertainty over gender-affirming medical care for minors — and the powerful institutions that helped along the way.

Tonight, at Law Dork, my written equivalent of a direct-to-camera address.
Where is the outrage over Skrmetti?
On the far right's campaign to create uncertainty. And the powerful institutions that helped along the way.
www.lawdork.com
Reposted by Sam Schulz
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
If an 11,000-word story has a major, factual error in the fifth graf, it probably should be seen for the biased, hit-piece it is.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court delivered a new, crushing blow, upholding Tennessee's ban in a 6-to-3 decision. In allowing Tennessee to outlaw blockers and hormones, the court not only shielded similar laws on the books in some two dozen states. It effectively closed the door on extending new constitutional protections to trans people. Some advocates fear that Skrmetti could open the door to banning medical transition for adults and perhaps other health care that some conservatives oppose, like birth control or in vitro fertilization - even vaccines. The fate of a once-obscure medical treatment could have profound consequences for American law.
sam-schulz.bsky.social
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria & local Jewish groups are backing away from the city’s Pride festival over headliner Kehlani’s remarks on Israel.

Gloria also told the groups that SD Pride revised the singer’s contract to bar “engaging in political speech.”
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/06/06/g...
Gloria, Jewish groups back away from San Diego Pride over headliner Kehlani’s Gaza stance
In a letter to the groups, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria called the event’s headliner ‘disappointing’ and said organizers had revised the singer’s contract to bar them from &#…
www.sandiegouniontribune.com
sam-schulz.bsky.social
On top of the speculation about top officials’ inner lives, there’s that “you can see this just by looking at him” line. That kind of language is always a red flag, but for a journalist to use it — especially about somebody Jewish — is especially troubling.
Reposted by Sam Schulz
maggieastor.bsky.social
A huge step from HHS that is at odds with science showing significant risks for young children and pregnant women — and that directly contradicts *the FDA's own publication* from last week listing pregnancy as a high-risk condition that would qualify people for this fall's Covid vaccine
A tweet from HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.:

Today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from @CDCgov recommended immunization schedule. Bottom line: it's common sense and it's good science. We are now one step closer to realizing @POTUS's promise to Make America Healthy Again.
sam-schulz.bsky.social
and because you could drive so scarily fast in it, since so few drivers dared use it
sam-schulz.bsky.social
“The subtext of this rhetoric is menacing. It suggests that the loyalty of noncitizens should be seen as inherently suspect—and that they should be seen … as a fifth column of potential spies and saboteurs, whose sleeper-cell progeny shouldn’t be given citizenship for the security of the republic.”
ourobororoboruo.bsky.social
This smart & comprehensive commentary on Trump’s attack on and very real threat to birthright citizenship by @originalsp.in is as timely and important as when we first ran it this January.

A really important point he makes is how this not only hurts immigrants but also divides communities of color.
Citizenship must remain our birthright
Trump's racist anti-immigration crusade is eroding what it means to be an American
theemancipator.org