Rachel Becker

What a government shutdown will mean for Californians, from Social Security to national parks Critical benefits from the Social Security Administration and Medicare will keep flowing in a government shutdown. You could notice delays if it drags on.

What a federal government shutdown could mean for California, with reporting from @ra-becks.bsky.social @gauchoesque.bsky.social @jeannereporter.bsky.social and others (who are not on bluesky) calmatters.org/politics/202...

Trump raised $8 million for Hurricane Helene survivors. Where did it all go? On a dusty, warm day last October, nearly a month after Hurricane Helene tore across the southeastern United States, Donald Trump stood behind a podium in Swannanoa, North Carolina, to pledge funding ...

An important story from @grist.org about what happens when the President’s people turn to GoFundMe instead of FEMA after a disaster. grist.org/accountabili...

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Wherein @edithdeguzman.bsky.social & I continue to beat the drum for more system financing support which will indirectly help and customer assistance which will directly help affordability outcomes.

Or we could just keep the status quo of measuring and talking about the problem w/o addressing it

1970s black and white photo of Robert Redford leaning against a brick wall wearing sunglasses and reading High Country News magazine.

RIP GOAT

Be like Robert. Support badass journalism.

The primary obstacle to solar on farmland in California is arguably the Williamson Act, a law intended to stop suburban sprawl. A new bill proposes to allow ranchers and farmers to pause Williamson Act contracts for solar on fallowed, water-stressed farmland. This article unpacks the tensions.☀️🔌💡

It’s hard to trace Google’s full influence when it does not publicly share its position on some bills, instead paying groups like the California Chamber of Commerce to influence legislators on its behalf. Good story by @khari.bsky.social and @bystellayu.bsky.social.

This clerk is a good and kind neighbor, and the people running these machines - and these scams - are true villains

From this story: what they saw at ICE's Alexandria Staging Facility in Louisiana. Six months apart.

Newsom’s ‘zombie’ plan to fast-track Delta tunnel dies…for now A controversial $20 billion construction project that would funnel water from Lake Shasta towards thirsty cities and farms keeps moving forward. Slowly.

Also from me, yesterday -- in a blow to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ambitions to replumb the Delta, California lawmakers once again punted on his plan to fast-track a deeply controversial $20 billion tunnel project that would funnel more water to the south.

calmatters.org/environment/...

Crops to Kilowatts: A Solar Future for California's Fallowed Farmland? Farmers are divided over a bill that would loosen rules protecting farmland in an effort to seed more solar on fallowed fields.

The valley that was once a refuge for people fleeing the Dust Bowl is facing its own reckoning with dust and water scarcity. And it has prompted scientists and policy experts to wonder what to do with land left behind. Why not solar? they ask. Now, @buffywicks.bsky.social weighs in with a new bill.

A view of a lightning strike at Joshua Tree National Park on Aug. 26, 2025. Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu, via Getty Images Hed: Dozens of lightning strike fires are burning across California. A warming climate could bring more, according to new study

When lightning strikes are abundant, so are wildfires – some in remote places. Scientists warn there may be more in the future, in California and across the West. https://cal.news/4g51vZo

📸 Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu, via Getty

The study, published last week by @ucmerced.bsky.social scientists, builds on previous research by focusing on the risk for lightning-sparked fires across Western states with different geographies, weather patterns and vegetation. agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

More heat, more lightning, more flames: California’s fires are just a start, scientists say When lightning strikes are abundant, so are wildfires – some in remote places. Scientists warn there may be more in the future, in California and across the West.

As dozens of wildfires burn across California after a remarkable outbreak of dry lightning, a timely new study warns that a warming planet could bring more lightning-sparked wildfires to the West in the coming decades.

Toad's Market owner Memphis Perez stands behind the counter of his store in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles during a hot summer afternoon on Aug. 25, 2025. The store does not have a fan or an AC unit. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters HED: Why California backed down from forcing landlords to keep residents cool

A state report says residences should stay cooler than 82 degrees, but no rule will pass this year. Landlords aren't the only ones to blame. https://cal.news/4lV2bC2

📷 Jules Hotz

My plan:

Wear a smart suit to my meetings.

Keep my face and jaw relaxed all day.

Stand tall.

And as one of my leg besties always says “never fall in love with a bill!”

On my run today I ran into two guys doing a fuels project along the fire road. I stopped to ask them whether they worked for PG&E or the local water district because I always wonder who is doing what.

They immediately had fear in their eyes.

20 years ago, when I was just 11 years old, my family hunkered down for Hurricane Katrina in a trailer in south Mobile County, just a few miles from the Gulf. Read my latest, a #HurricaneKatrina remembrance, in @insideclimatenews.org. insideclimatenews.org/news/2808202...

The stench from the polluted Tijuana River is so bad it kept a researcher up at night Scientists have found high levels of air pollution near the sewage-filled Tijuana River, confirming the complaints of long-suffering residents.

People who live near the polluted Tijuana River and have long complained that its foul odors are making them sick. New research validates their concerns, showing they’re often exposed to high levels of the toxic gas hydrogen sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs. www.latimes.com/environment/...

Federal agents arrest firefighters working on WA wildfire Federal agents showed up northeast of Lake Cushman to check identification of crew members fighting Washington's largest active wildfire.

ICE is arresting contract firefighters on active wildfires.

This is especially significant for the fire workforce in the PNW because of the heavy reliance on contract workforce. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

Trump Shrank Staffing of National Parks. See How Many Are Struggling.

People will die. “But at least one-fifth of the country’s 433 parks have been significantly strained and understaffed because of steep cuts mandated by the Trump administration, according to internal government data obtained by The New York Times.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/u...

Napa County declares emergency as wildfire threatens water supply The Pickett wildfire in Napa County has scorched over 6,800 acres.

Emergency declared in Napa County over threat to water supply from wildfire #cawater www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...

Why should I write better when a machine can do it for me? Because actually no one can do it for you, because your voice is unique among all the people on earth. Siri never petted a horse's neck. Alexa has never been ghosted by the captain of the football team. But you have lived, your heart is beating, you have suffered, and you have something important to say. It's a human's job, to use words, and whatever job you give to a machine, that part of your brain goes dark. Maybe it's worth it when it comes to remembering phone numbers and directions, but when that part of your brain that uses words goes dark, that's a vast area that's very close to your soul. Don't let some internet platform convince you that what you have to say and create isn't worthwhile. Words are the echo of your soul. Honing that echo matters.

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

Alarmingly low Colorado River levels put water talks under pressure California shoots pointed words at states upriver, as negotiators struggle toward sharing supplies. Without a deal, the Trump Administration will step in.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation just released 'beyond awful' projections for the Colorado River's massive reservoirs — ratcheting up the stakes for already-tense negotiations over the future of the river.

No one better to listen to on this issue than Faith⬇️

Lawmakers' final weeks could decide fate of the Delta water tunnel | Opinion Gov. Gavin Newsom failed to fast-track the Delta tunnel proposal in the June budget bill. Now he hopes lawmakers approve it before the legislative session ends.

Commentary:

Gov. Gavin Newsom failed to fast-track the Delta tunnel proposal in the June budget bill. Now he hopes lawmakers approve it before the legislative session ends. cal.news/4ltjeL0

📝 Dan Walters

I'm going to publish the entirety of an exchange I just had with the press office of the DOJ. I want you to see how they are talking about truth.

You are not allowed to see inside immigration court. So we brought an illustrator At rarely seen hearings, families with toddlers and unaccompanied teenagers, face lawyers for the government.

You are not allowed to see inside immigration court. So @sfstandard.com brought an illustrator sfstandard.com/2025/08/11/a...

Could California prevent more blackouts by joining a Western power market? The state built a clean grid. Now lawmakers are eyeing opening its market to states that rely on coal. Critics say it’s a risky bet.

Huge props to @gauchoesque.bsky.social and @jeannereporter.bsky.social for giving me the layperson's understanding of a proposed shared power network in the West: calmatters.org/politics/202...

Decades ago, L.A. was ordered to take less water to save Mono Lake. But the city remains far from a key goal Los Angeles uses water from creeks that feed Mono Lake. Three decades after a decision that was intended to save the lake, environmental advocates say L.A. needs to do more.

Decades ago, Los Angeles was ordered to take less water to help save Mono Lake. But the city remains far from meeting a key commitment. www.latimes.com/environment/... @myungchun.bsky.social @latimesphotos.bsky.social