If you’re thinking that the detention arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are the centerpieces of the Trump administration’s immigration policy, you might be missing the bigger story: The New York Times reports that the administration also has a carefully crafted strategy to deny jobs, health care and housing to immigrants – even those with legal status. As you would expect, Trump aide Stephen Miller is overseeing the effort, and he’s learned from mistakes made during the first Trump administration. 

In a very much related story, Gov. Tina Kotek is among the Democratic governors pushing back on the Trump administration’s rollout of work requirements for Medicaid. The context here, as The Oregonian’s Kristine de Leon explains, involves major Medicaid changes called for by the Republican tax-and-spending law passed last year. De Leon reports that the law is expected to reduce federal funding for Medicaid – which provides health coverage to about 1 out of every 3 Oregon residents. Previous attempts elsewhere to tighten work requirements for Medicaid have resulted in thousands of eligible people losing coverage.

Here’s another related story, and it doesn’t take much work to connect the dots: Many of the Oregon residents who reported receiving federal assistance to buy food work for some of the nation’s biggest companies – grocery stores like Safeway and its parent company, Albertsons, along with Walmart and Amazon. The Oregon Capital Chronicle’s Alex Baumhardt analyzed data from application forms for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Other frequent employers of SNAP beneficiaries include the Oregon Department of Human Services and Oregon State University. 

Let’s do a lightning round here before we turn to other (somewhat happier) matters:

• The Trump administration’s war on science is continuing, and this time, social sciences are in the crosshairs, The Atlantic reports. 

• A record high number of Oregon kindergarten students entered school this year without required vaccinations, the state Health Authority reported this week. The Capital Chronicle has the story. 

• The rise of AI is causing a crisis of human agency, Charlie Warzel (no fan of AI) argues in The Atlantic – a sense that “across so many levels of culture, there’s a feeling of control slipping ever so slightly away.” I might argue with Warzel’s “ever so slightly” characterization.

• Also in The Atlantic, Eve Fairbanks explains why so many writers are embracing AI as a “writing tool” – and demonstrates what we’re at risk of losing. 

(By the way, I understand that one of the telltale signs that AI has written something is overuse of the em dash. I need to point out here that I have been proudly overusing the em dash for decades now, well before ChatGBT first showed its shiny little face. I have tried to cut down, because – to be honest – it’s kind of a lazy writing trick. Now, I guess I have no choice but to cut down some more.) 

Jazz master Sonny Rollins, who lived up to his billing as the “Saxophone Colossus,” died Monday at age 95. Rollins, who was well-known for his artistic restlessness, was rarely satisfied with his own playing – this is the man, after all, who withdrew from the jazz scene for two years to practice, often late at night, on New York City’s Williamsburg Bridge. (He liked the acoustics there.) If you’re just starting to listen to Rollins (an almost unthinkable proposition if you listen to any jazz at all), let me recommend 2011’s “Road Shows, Vol. 2,” which includes live material from his spectacular 80th birthday concert.  

In a sobering counterpoint to World Cup fever, the owners of the Corvallis Sports Park – the only place in town where you can play soccer indoors – have sold the facility to a new company that plans to replace the pitch with seven pickleball courts. The owners of the Sports Park cited changing demographics as one of the reasons to sell: These days, Corvallis residents seem to be more interested in pickleball than soccer. 

In other real estate news, the Corvallis Advocate reports that Gathering Together Farm is for sale. Here’s a story about the iconic Philomath-area farm that a colleague at Lookout Eugene-Springfield wrote almost exactly a year ago. 

For this weekend’s edition of “The Interview,” the Times’ Lulu Garcia-Navarro interviews Laurie Santos, the scientist whose class on happiness is the most popular in the history of Yale University. The two discuss the dangers of what they call “toxic positivity” and the paradox of happiness – that “the simple act of pursuing happiness often makes us feel unhappy.” You can listen to the interview or read a transcript. I am fond of “The Interview,” and particularly like the way that the interviewer (Garcia-Navarro or David Marchese) will go back to their subject a day or two after the initial interview to ask follow-up questions.

Musicians are tripping over themselves to pull out of Donald Trump’s “Great American State Fair,” a three-week festival on the National Mall set to begin in late June to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. But, no problem, The Associated Press reports: Trump says he himself be the headliner. Meanwhile, Trump foe Bruce Springsteen has announced a one-day protest festival, set for Oct. 3 near Washington, D.C. 

I’m a fan of the HBO comedy “Hacks,” which finished its five-season run this week. (I’m not quite done with the series, so – please – no spoilers about the finale.) In this appreciation for the show, The Atlantic’s Sophie Gilbert argues that “Hacks”  has offered a humane answer for this question: What does it mean to succeed creatively? (The article does include a spoiler for the next-to-last episode, so beware.)

OK, let’s be sure we have this right: Weather experts (OK, climatologists) say an El Niño event – caused by unusually warm Pacific Ocean temperatures – is developing now. And that’s probably bad news, because typical El Niño years result in warmer and drier fall and winter conditions in Oregon, the last thing this drought-ridden state needs. But there’s a catch, The Oregonian reports: If it’s an unusually strong El Niño, the result could be a wetter winter in Oregon. Scientists are still assessing whether the developing El Niño will qualify for what they call – and this is technical talk here – “super” status.

That’s it for this weekend. Let’s gather here next week to share more gossip about the weather.