If you are an expert on air quality and have 10-15 minutes to talk to me today or tomorrow about important things journalists should know while reporting on wildfires and smoke, my DMs are open, or you can email me at karen at OpenNews dot org.

More than 600 (likely homes) burned in and around Spokane County yesterday. The devastation is incomprehensible www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...

Wildfire in northwest Spokane destroys 640 structures

The Old Trails wildfire in northwest Spokane destroyed 640 structures Saturday, according to Cody Rohrbach, Spokane County Fire District 3 fire chief.

spokesman.com

One of best indy outlets in U.S., and they’re covering Kirk’s murder trial better than anybody else.

LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH@lcrw.news · 4d ago

Hey everyone! Reminder we’re raising funds to get back to Utah for the next round of coverage of Charlie Kirk’s alleged murderer’s trial. Please contribute if you can!

A story I wrote in 2022 www.huffpost.com/entry/cpac-a...

White Nationalists With Lanyards: Orlando Showed The Ugly Future Of The GOP

A weekend in Florida, a major conservative conference, a white nationalist "groyper" conference, and a doomed quest to determine the difference between the two.

huffpost.com

Michael Derby@michaelsderby.bsky.social · 4d ago

“‘Everyone knows what the problem is: The organizations that bring young staffers to Washington, D.C. have spent the last decade prioritizing blind ideological loyalty instead of competence or intelligence,’said a senior GOP congressional staffer.’”

just a devastating dispatch from @nysfocus.com about the acceleration of kids having to argue for asylum alone, without an attorney, and then most of them getting deported nysfocus.com/2026/07/31/t...

NY Lawyers Fear Trump Blitz Will Speed Up Child Deportations

The Trump administration is accelerating asylum proceedings as legal aid funding expires, leaving immigrant children less time to prepare.

nysfocus.com

The Trump administration has gone months without paying attorneys who represent unaccompanied immigrant children as part of a years-old, congressionally-funded effort. The latest in a series of temporary bridge contracts ends tomorrow, with no replacement in sight: www.huffpost.com/entry/unacco...

These Lawyers Make Sure Children Don’t Face Deportation Hearings Alone. Trump Hasn't Paid Them In Months.

“We know what happens when children go to court without an attorney,” a lawyer said. “One word: deportation.”

huffpost.com

lancasteronline.com/news/local/n...

Northwest Regional police requests $122,500 under ICE program

The Northwest Regional Police Department was the first in Lancaster County to sign a cooperation agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, and it is one of the

lancasteronline.com

"In just four months, the borough’s four police officers have pulled over and checked the status of dozens of motorists — mainly commercial truck drivers — and turned over 32 arrestees to ICE" important @willbunch.bsky.social dispatch from area where I grew up www.inquirer.com/opinion/moun...

This quaint Pa. borough is a ‘speed trap’ nabbing immigrants for ICE | Will Bunch

Police in Mount Holly Springs, a tiny borough in central Pennsylvania, have turned over 32 immigrants to ICE since March.

inquirer.com

On 🗨️ POLITE CONVERSATIONS 🗨️ ep116 journalist and ‘To Catch a Fascist’ author Christopher Mathias joins @nicemangos.bsky.social to discuss the state of the US far right and the role mainstream media and the Democrats have played in elevating modern American fascism podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/g...

I wrote about how immigration arrests are at all-time highs, even as ICE is trying to assume a lower public profile. How are they doing this? Look to your local police.

ICE’s Secret Weapon Is in Your Community

While attempting to maintain a relatively lower profile, ICE is managing to arrest record numbers of people. Here’s how it’s doing that.

newrepublic.com

“In terms of lifestyle, United States President is the worst job on earth, and asking a non-sociopath to seek the job because it is good for the movement is close to asking them to sacrifice their life for the cause.”

Hamilton Nolan@hamiltonnolan.bsky.social · 6d ago

The left needs a candidate it can unite around in the 2028 primaries and AOC is the only real choice. Nobody else checks all of the boxes. Every other option is worse. If she doesn't run, it's a missed opportunity of historic proportions. www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/aoc-must-r...

Stories from just the last week. As always, these are just the horrifying cruelties we *know about* and the scope/reality is even worse Every single story deserves widespread outrage & condemnation & mobilization, but their very ubiquity often leads to each story’s news cycle lasting a few days

"Also among those detained was a Ugandan woman in a wheelchair who has sickle cell anemia and an active asylum application, according to her lawyer." “It’s not people with criminal records” being targeted, Mr. Shamieh said. “You are talking about people with legitimate pending applications.”

Yonette Joseph@sugarcane99.bsky.social · last wk.

ICE agents have begun arresting foreign citizens with expired U.S. visas as they travel through airports, including spouses of Americans, according to documents obtained by The NYT and interviews with immigration lawyers — opening up a new pool of possible deportees www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/u...

Nearly all concentration camp regimes involve the government making what were previously simple tasks of daily life unlawful or impossible for the group they’ve targeted for detention, bit by bit eradicating any possibility of public existence.

ICE Arrests Surge at Airports, Opening New Front in Deportation Drive (Gift Article)

Federal agents are arresting spouses of Americans, tech workers and others whose visas have expired, including many who have active applications to stay in the country.

nytimes.com

ICE literally went into a national forest and arrested people who were swimming, etc. www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/n...

ICE agents target NC’s Pisgah National Forest and make multiple arrests, feds say

Immigration and Customs Enforcement extends its reach to western North Carolina’s wilderness areas and makes 13 arrests in Pisgah National Forest, feds say.

charlotteobserver.com

“Their 14-month-old daughter, Giovanni, was found crying beside her mother’s body” www.stlpr.org/law-order/20...

Overland couple shot dead in Guatemala after local ICE stop led to deportations

The couple’s 14-month-old daughter was found crying beside her mother’s body in a sugarcane field last week, according to Guatemalan authorities and media.

stlpr.org

really good reporting by @marisakabas.bsky.social (feels worth noting story like this is fraught/challenging even at big, traditional paper/media institution w/ a lot of money/lawyers etc — very impressive/brave to tackle as a smaller independent site) www.thehandbasket.co/p/exclusive-...

Exclusive: Political operative behind Graham Platner's rise accused of sexual assault

A spokesperson for Daniel Moraff said: “Any suggestion that he committed a criminal offence is false and without foundation."

thehandbasket.co

Author & Journalist @letsgomathias.bsky.social joined me to talk about the state of the far right in the US.. And what a wild ride it's been for someone who was covering 'extremism' that has now gone mainstream & is in the White House! open.spotify.com/episode/2f8x...

Global Far Right 7 - USA ft. Christopher Mathias

Polite Conversations · Episode

open.spotify.com

Another good day to read TO CATCH A FASCIST bookshop.org/p/books/to-c...

To Catch a Fascist: The Fight to Expose the Radical Right

“Absorbing.” —THE NEW YORKER, BEST BOOKS OF 2026 A searing, provocative investigation into the rise of white nationalist and neo-Nazi movements in the United States, centered on the anti-fascist grou...

bookshop.org

Avel Guénin--Carlut@fluffycyborgii.bsky.social · last wk.

Would assume everyone knows it by now, but just in case "First the traitors, then the invaders" is an explicit reference to The Turner Diaries, where a white supremacist revolution overruns "The System" and kills all their enemy during the evocatively named "Day of the Rope".

OUT NOW: Who the Hell is Andy Ngo? feat. @socialistdogmom.bsky.social Join us as we unpack the life and career of MAGA’s favorite anti-antifa propagandist. You can find it on all the podcast apps. Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/1JdY...

126: Who the Hell is Andy Ngo? feat. Molly Conger

Podcast Episode · Posting Through It · July 27 · 3h 1m

podcasts.apple.com

@letsgomathias.bsky.social I’m following you to let you know that I’m reading your book and there are numerous moments in it that are the antifascist equivalent of the big reveal scene in like… a Soderbergh movie where The Plan comes together and it is incredibly satisfying. It’s so engaging.

When You Hear ‘Remigration,’ Know That It Means Ethnic Cleansing talkingpointsmemo.com/news/when-yo... by @letsgomathias.bsky.social

When You Hear ‘Remigration,’ Know That It Means Ethnic Cleansing

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis....

talkingpointsmemo.com

“I don’t really care about those labels nowadays,” Kelly said. “I like that he stands for making sure nobody seems to feel marginalized, like we’re all in this together, we all win together. “If that’s what socialism is,” she added, “I’m all for it!” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

‘I’m over the moon’: New York’s small business owners rejoice as Mamdani cuts red tape

Initiatives including cutting permits just to serve ice-cream amount to a sweeping program of deregulation

theguardian.com

New: Amidst a new Red Scare, New York’s democratic socialist mayor cuts red tape for small businesses My look, for the @us.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

‘I’m over the moon’: New York’s small business owners rejoice as Mamdani cuts red tape

Initiatives including cutting permits just to serve ice-cream amount to a sweeping program of deregulation

theguardian.com

Earlier this week, Biddeford City Council had their first meeting since ICE agent David Brouillette shot and killed 25-year-old Johan Sebastian Guerrero.

"It’s not a game for us here in Biddeford"

On Tuesday, Biddeford, Maine’s city council held its first meeting since ICE agent David Brouillette shot and killed 25-year-old Johan Sebastian Guerrero.

turtlediaries.net

At the straight-up fascist “Remigration” - aka Ethnic Cleansing - summit in Portugal 6 wks ago, Bovino spoke of ongoing dialogue/friendship w/ neo-Nazi Martin Sellner should be a giant scandal, w/ congressional hearings etc, that an actual Nazi oversaw ICE sweeps/murders in Minneapolis & elsewhere

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2w ago

Jake Tapper reports that Greg Bovino on a call with the office of the US Attorney in Minnesota during Metro Surge made an antisemitic remark about the Trump-friendly US Attorney in Minnesota

I’ve been doing some in-depth reporting on the Prairieland cases, and had to get this out first as I continue to dig: I spoke with Ana Bell, sister of Des, who it turns out co-owns and runs an indie bookstore. We talked about the case, the judge, book banning, ICE killings, and living through this:

My Brother Was Sentenced to 30 Years for Moving a Box of Zines

The sister of a defendant in the Prairieland case, which targeted Texas ICE protesters, speaks out.

newrepublic.com

I wrote about a new legal brief today in @prospect.org that contains the testimonies of scores of immigrant parents and children locked up in the Dilley, TX detention camp. I hope you'll give it a read. We have to get people out of there.

Trump Administration Routinely Violating Immigrant Children’s Rights - The American Prospect

The 1997 Flores ruling requires immigrant children be released from detention after 20 days. Trump is keeping some for as long as 323 days, new filings in a lawsuit state.

prospect.org

This is why pushing Bovino out was always ruse to briefly placate public outrage: this admin ultimately believes in the same murderous, unapologetic ethnic cleansing as Bovino - a belief Bovino has since promoted at straight-up Nazi conferences/podcasts forums.talkingpointsmemo.com/t/greg-bovin...

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2w ago

Homan on people getting killed by ICE: "It comes down to one simple fact -- these people failed to comply with law enforcement ... all they had to do is comply. If they did, they'd be alive today."

This week's That's Marvelous is a lot about life's small pleasures and a little bit about explosive diarrhea. Why not check it out and tell someone if you enjoy it (the newsletter, not diarrhea)! :)

#193. Taco Bell and You

I'd love if you shared and subscribed to the newsletter if you're enjoying it! I'd double love if you paid a couple of bucks for it, but if not that's okay too! Also, if you got a charge on your credi...

thatsmarvelousnewsletter.com