Kids in the tiny Imperial Valley town of Calipatria are pushing through their asthma to play Little League baseball, even as the dying Salton Sea spews more hazardous dust into the air: capitalandmain.com/near-the-sal... via @rebeccaplevin.bsky.social

Near the Salton Sea, Little League Players Struggle to Breathe

Pediatric asthma is common in Calipatria, where young athletes compete despite extreme heat and air pollution. Some worry a lithium boom could make things worse.

capitalandmain.com

Check out my latest dispatch from Imperial County for @capitalandmain.bsky.social, with photos and additional reporting by Zoe Meyers!

Capital & Main@capitalandmain.bsky.social · 2w ago

Among the Calipatria Little League athletes, asthma and allergies are common. Brothers Mark and Brayden know their mother, cheering from the bleachers, always has their inhalers in case either boy’s asthma flares. capitalandmain.com/near-the-sal...

How do you know if the fruits and vegetables you buy at the grocery store come from farms where workers were harmed? Read this thread by our reporter @maxblau.bsky.social 🧵

Max Blau@maxblau.bsky.social · 2w ago

I’ve reported at length about abuses of foreign farmworkers who come to the U.S. on H-2A visas: stolen wages, guns pointed in their faces. One woman I met was kidnapped, raped and nearly killed. I wanted to know: How do I tell if the produce I buy is part of the problem? 👇

Polluting mega-dairies continue to expand in California's Central Valley, often in conjunction with state policies that spur demand for manure biogas: insideclimatenews.org/news/0507202...

Dairy Farms’ Expansion Plan Worries California Families Who Once Had a ‘Little Piece of Heaven’ - Inside Climate News

The battle in the Central Valley is just one of many happening against dairy farms and new manure digester projects in the state. Farmers say they are trying to be better neighbors.

insideclimatenews.org

Great reporting and a great read from @sammyroth.bsky.social!

Ian James@ianjames.bsky.social · last mo.

"We have tens of thousands of dollars flowing through shadowy companies to elect some of the most consequential people in Western water." @sammyroth.bsky.social investigates dark money in elections for the powerful Imperial Irrigation District board: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/dark-money...

"We have tens of thousands of dollars flowing through shadowy companies to elect some of the most consequential people in Western water." @sammyroth.bsky.social investigates dark money in elections for the powerful Imperial Irrigation District board: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/dark-money...

Exclusive: Dark money floods the Colorado River

Follow me down an Imperial Valley rabbit hole, if you dare.

climatecoloredgoggles.com

Mental health professionals told Proof News there’s a difference between using AI transcription to record conversations about physical maladies and mental health struggles. My latest story for @proofnews.bsky.social: www.proofnews.org/why-ai-scrib...

Why AI Scribes, Widely Embraced By Doctors, Spook Therapists

As one of the nation’s largest health systems embraces AI scribes, some Kaiser Permanente therapists say the technology is a Trojan horse for potentially higher caseloads and privacy risks.

proofnews.org

"Saying goodbye to Moxi, the AI-powered robot" ICU Nurse Atalia Lapkin tells @proofnews.bsky.social about her experience with the robot that was so high maintenance that it required a human handler. Eventually the robot was retired and the nurses wrote an obituary for it.

What do the folks living closest to the Salton Sea think of "Lithium Valley"? Two great journalists (and lovely friends of mine) parked themselves at the only restaurant in Niland to find out: capitalandmain.com/californias-... via @rebeccaplevin.bsky.social

California’s Lithium Valley Dreams Meet Reality at the Only Restaurant in Town

How Vicky Hernandez and her customers at the Buckshot Deli & Diner in Niland view plans to turn Imperial Valley into a green energy hub.

capitalandmain.com

We spent two days at the Buckshot diner — the only restaurant in the desert hamlet of Niland, pop. 1,116 — to gauge residents’ sentiments about plans for Lithium Valley. Our dispatch for @capitalandmain.bsky.social Imperial Divide series: capitalandmain.com/californias-...

California’s Lithium Valley Dreams Meet Reality at the Only Restaurant in Town

How Vicky Hernandez and her customers at the Buckshot Deli & Diner in Niland view plans to turn Imperial Valley into a green energy hub.

capitalandmain.com

Automation is creeping into the lives of hotel housekeepers, as hospitality industry leaders invest in workforce management software that pledges to increase profitability, reduce labor costs, and track worker productivity My first story for @proofnews.bsky.social: www.proofnews.org/hotel-housek...

More Stress, Fewer Breaks: Hotel Housekeepers Reveal What It's Like Working for an App

Promising productivity, HotSOS Housekeeping tells workers when and where to clean and is now used by most global hotel brands.

proofnews.org

If you’d like to see more groundbreaking reporting from the front lines of AI & the workplace then please consider donating to support our work. We’re aiming to show a groundswell of support from small donors who see this coverage as vital. Any amount helps! www.proofnews.org/donate/

So much AI coverage is about a speculative future. But we are focusing on how AI is transforming work right now. Today's story by @rebeccaplevin.bsky.social is about a loss of worker autonomy and a rise in worker surveillance. www.proofnews.org/ai-isnt-just...

AI Isn’t Just Taking Jobs. It’s Transforming Them.

Hello world, AI hasn’t taken Elsa Roldan’s job as a hotel housekeeper. But it has taken some of her autonomy.  Roldan began working as a hotel housekeeper nearly two decades ago, using a clipboard t...

proofnews.org

Hotel housekeepers used to track their work on a clipboard. Now they work for an app that docks points if a room cleaning takes too long. “You have a device telling you, ‘move here, move there,’ like if you were a robot." The latest from @proofnews.bsky.social: www.proofnews.org/hotel-housek...

More Stress, Fewer Breaks: Hotel Housekeepers Reveal What It's Like Working for an App

Promising productivity, HotSOS Housekeeping tells workers when and where to clean and is now used by most global hotel brands.

proofnews.org

She confided it to her therapist. Every word ended up in court. Proof investigates how a database of 140 million message exchanges on a telehealth platform is being used to build an AI therapy companion – and what that means for patients. www.proofnews.org/womans-talks...

Woman’s Talkspace therapy app sessions exposed in court

Talkspace has amassed “one of the largest mental health data banks in the world,” according to reports to investors, containing 140 million message exchanges. The end goal: training a soon-to-be-relea...

proofnews.org

I'm in the New York Times today with some opinions about the Colorado River crisis. Yes, we need to solve the alfalfa problem eventually. Also the climate crisis. But right now the biggest obstacle to sustainable solutions may be the state of Colorado. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/o...

Opinion | The Water Conflict a Century in the Making

nytimes.com

NPR's Adrian Florido has been buying fruit from the same fruit-cart vendor in his LA neighborhood for years. On Tuesday, Florido was there when federal immigration agents whisked him away.

Reporter's Notebook: He was my fruit vendor for years. I saw immigration agents take him

NPR's Adrian Florido has been buying fruit from the same fruit-cart vendor in his LA neighborhood for years. On Tuesday, Florido was there when federal immigration agents whisked him away.

n.pr

“It is no longer the same Mexico of my childhood,” said Ramírez, 45, one of those deported. “There was more joy, more freedom. But that’s not the case anymore.” www.latimes.com/world-nation...

Deported to danger: Returning migrants discover a Mexico transformed by cartels

Deportees returning to Mexico find they must learn how to live in a land often controlled by cartels.

latimes.com

Pretty weird for me how the guy I spent two years investigating at my first local newspaper job was just arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife, and it’s a national tabloid story… Appreciate everyone linking to my 2018 investigation, which you can read here: www.desertsun.com/in-depth/tec...

Btw, follow my newsletter for new reporting on Mike Abatti, and events preceding his wife’s death. I suspect I’m going to have stuff you won’t find elsewhere. Part 1 last week: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/mike-abatt...

Death in the Desert, Part 1: Who Killed Kerri Abatti?

An Imperial Valley murder mystery, with a helping of climate change.

climatecoloredgoggles.com

The Imperial Valley grows your winter vegetables, drains the Colorado River and generates tons of solar. Also public corruption runs rampant and a farm baron's wife just got killed under mysterious circumstances. Did someone say climate murder mystery? www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/mike-abatt...

Death in the Desert, Part 1: Who Killed Kerri Abatti?

An Imperial Valley murder mystery, with a helping of climate change.

climatecoloredgoggles.com

"ICE officers had begun stopping staff members, all of whom have legal status, and school officials worried about drawing more unwelcome attention. In California...child-care facilities have experienced months of increased absences among students and staff." www.latimes.com/world-nation...

Trump immigration raids take toll on child-care workers in California and nationwide

President Trump’s crackdown has had an outsize effect on the child-care field, which is heavily reliant on immigrants and already strained by a worker shortage.

latimes.com

“If you want to gauge the health of California's economy, start with its community colleges.” calmatters.org/education/hi...

More adults return to college in California as inflation and job fears rise

With unemployment and consumer prices climbing, community college enrollment is increasing as students look to gain new job skills.

calmatters.org

Prompted by ProPublica’s reporting, an investigation by Senate Democrats documented the experiences of nearly two dozen citizens wrongly detained by immigration agents, contradicting the Trump administration’s claims that it only detains immigrants. @nicolefoy.bsky.social

Immigration Agents Have Often Grabbed and Mistreated Citizens, Congressional Investigators Find

Prompted by ProPublica’s reporting, an investigation by Senate Democrats documented the experiences of nearly two dozen citizens wrongly detained by immigration agents, contradicting the Trump adminis...

propublica.org

NEW: Trump’s chief immigration enforcer honed his controversial tactics in California -- w/ @saralibby.bsky.social www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...

Trump’s chief immigration enforcer honed his controversial tactics in California

Gregory Bovino’s efforts have landed him at the center of multiple lawsuits accusing him and his officers of excessive force and violating the rights of residents in Illinois, Oregon and...

sfchronicle.com

NEW: ‘I’m terrified’: Hunger looms as millions prepare to lose food aid amid shutdown California and other states are suing to free funds as local officials, advocates brace for deluge of need (w/ @jennyagold.bsky.social Ana Ceballos @rebeccaplevin.bsky.social): www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

'I'm terrified': Hunger looms as millions prepare to lose food aid amid shutdown

Federal and state officials warn that November SNAP funds will not be issued without a resolution to the ongoing federal shutdown and there is no sign of a breakthrough in Congress.

latimes.com

In Altadena, a grassroots dining club to help restaurants has grown to more than 1,300 online followers, helping local businesses while giving neighbors a chance to meet and discuss recovery from the Eaton fire. my latest --> www.latimes.com/california/s...

Restaurants that survived the Eaton fire are struggling. This club hopes to change that

The Altadena Dining Club was formed to help local restaurants stay afloat after the Eaton fire, while simultaneously bringing neighbors together to discuss the recovery.

latimes.com

“This area is important for the long-term survival of the Joshua trees,” Rockwell said. “It’s that last refuge.”

Wildfire threatens Joshua trees in area considered a 'last refuge' for the species

The 20-acre fire is burning in the Covington Flats area of Joshua Tree National Park, an important region where experts say the trees are best suited to survive and reproduce in a warming climate.

latimes.com

The government’s own data, which was obtained by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and a team of journalists from Venezuela, showed that officials knew that only 32 of the deportees had been convicted of U.S. crimes and that most were nonviolent offenses, such as retail theft or traffic violations.

Trump Administration Knew Vast Majority of Venezuelans Sent to Salvadoran Prison Had Not Been Convicted of U.S. Crimes

Homeland Security records reveal that officials knew that more than half of the 238 deportees were labeled as having no criminal record in the U.S. and had only violated immigration laws.

propublica.org

President Trump may seek to deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants who recently entered the United States under a two-year grant of parole, the Supreme Court decided Friday.

Supreme Court says Trump may end legal parole given to 532,000 migrants from four countries

Trump revoked two large-scale Biden policies that extended temporary protection to migrants. "The court plainly botched this," Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a dissent.

latimes.com