THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2017 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM

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INSIDE

Senate rejects ‘clean repeal’

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday soundly rejected a measure that would repeal major parts of the Affordable Care Act without providing a re-placement, leaving Republicans still searching for a path for-ward to fulfill their promise of dismantling President Barack Obama’s signature health law.

Seven Republican sena-tors joined Democrats to vote against the measure, which had been embraced by conservatives but could have left millions of people without health coverage.

The rejection of “clean re-peal” pushed by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, laid bare the deep divisions within the Republican caucus about how best to pro-ceed. The night before, nine Re-publicans, including both con-servatives and moderates, voted against comprehensive legisla-tion to repeal the health law and

New signs warn of toxins at area beaches

Sonoma County officials post-ed caution signs at beaches up and down the Russian River on Wednesday alerting visitors to positive test results for a po-tentially dangerous, naturally occurring neurotoxin linked to harmful algae, a problem sur-facing around Northern Califor-nia this summer.

Water samples collected at three local beaches turned up very low levels of a substance called Anatoxin-a, which is pro-

duced by certain species of blue-green algae, Sonoma County health officials said.

It’s the third year in a row the algae-related toxin has been de-tected in the river.

The most-recent samples were taken Monday and the test results received Wednesday, Sonoma County Health Officer Karen Milman said.

Though the level of toxin in the water “was just at the abili-ty to detect it,” the finding trig-gers precautionary alerts under state guidelines, she said.

Rivergoers should be particu-larly watchful of dogs, which are actually attracted to harmful al-gae, according to studies, and,

KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Ashley Brown of the Sonoma County Department of Health Services staples a notice Wednesday cautioning visitors about high levels of a toxin found in blue-green algae at Healdsburg Memorial Beach.

GOP may try to remove several key provisions

HARMFUL ALGAE » Tests turn up Anatoxin-a at 3 Russian River spots

By THOMAS KAPLANNEW YORK TIMES

TURN TO HEALTH » PAGE A5

By MARY CALLAHANTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT

TURN TO ALGAE » PAGE A2

Gearing Up For The IronmanPHOTO BY CHRIS CHUNG THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Clif Briggs of Hagerstown, Maryland, takes his bike for a test ride Wednesday after picking it up from TriBike Transport in Old Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa, where

a tent city has sprung to life. Briggs will join some 2,200 triath-letes Saturday in the grueling 2017 Ironman endurance event taking over Sonoma County streets. Days before the actual

competition begins, event festivities will take place on Old Court-house Square. Races for children, the half- and one-mile United Healthcare Ironkids Fun Run, start at 5 p.m. today, followed by a welcome ceremony. Find information about Saturday road clo-sures and detours at https://srcity.org/2354/Detours-Road-Clo-sures.

HEALTH CARE LAW

Transgender ban stuns troops

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump abruptly an-nounced a ban on transgender people serving in the military on Wednesday, blindsiding his defense secretary and Republi-can congressional leaders with a snap decision that reversed a year-old policy reviled by social conservatives.

Trump made the surprise dec-laration on Twitter, saying that U.S. forces could not afford the “tremendous medical costs and

disruption” of transgender ser-vice members. He said he had consulted generals and military experts, but Jim Mattis, the de-fense secretary, was given only a day’s notice about the decision.

Trump elected to announce the ban in order to resolve a quietly brewing fight on Capi-tol Hill over whether taxpayer money should pay for gender transition and hormone ther-apy for transgender service members, which had threatened to kill a $790 billion defense and security spending package

Sonoma County’s Democratic congressmen voiced strong con-demnation Wednesday of Pres-ident Donald Trump’s surprise announcement that he would bar transgender people from serving in the U.S. military.

Rep. Mike Thompson and Rep. Jared Huffman both said they were opposed to the new policy, announced by Trump in Wednesday morning Twitter posts, where he said the gov-ernment would not “accept or allow” transgender people to

perform military service “in any capacity.”

Thompson, D-St. Helena, said he believed Trump’s decision was “not what he claims it to be” — policy pivot for the mili-tary — characterizing it instead as a distraction from the admin-istration’s “inability to get any-thing done.”

Thompson, an Army veter-an, co-chairman of the Military Veterans Caucus and a member of the Congressional Army Cau-cus, said he thought the White House was trying to divert

POLICY REVERSAL » In snap decision, Trump says restriction will avoid higher medical costs

NORTH COAST » Congressmen call turnaround ‘an embarrassment’ counter to civil rights

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS AND HELENE COOPERNEW YORK TIMES

By J.D. MORRISTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT

TURN TO BAN » PAGE A5 TURN TO REACTION » PAGE A5

ALEX BRANDON / ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Donald Trump pauses while speaking in the White House on Wednesday.