Bees, Burritos and Water Wars

California’s summer news cycle is serving up a five-course feast of dysfunction, resilience, and the occasional French fry-stuffed burrito. ICE raids are hollowing out construction crews in the middle of a housing crisis, while a grieving family’s bridge project is stalled by endangered bees and bureaucratic hurdles that would make Kafka blush. In Sacramento, lawmakers are gearing up for another Delta water brawl that might actually make Republicans matter. San Francisco’s downtown mall is on life support while an across-town suburban-style arcade-and-sushi palace is consistently mobbed. And yes, California still rolls the world’s most exquisite burritos; we’re giving you the tools to understand their regional nuance.
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Cowabunga!

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ICE TROUBLE COMES FOR CALIFORNIA HOMEBUILDERS

Home Depot parking lots have become stage sets for ICE’s newest installment of immigration theater, with agents popping out of unmarked box trucks like a low-budget action movie. Despite a court order saying “don’t racially profile,” the feds are doing exactly that — with bonus theatrics for Fox News. It’s gutting a workforce California can’t afford to lose — 41% of the state’s construction labor is immigrant, and some job sites are down to one-fifth of their usual hands. This, in a state already facing a generational housing crisis and trying to rebuild 16,000+ homes torched by wildfires earlier this year. Meanwhile, dodgy contractors are dodging payroll with a new, “work or I call ICE” strategy, injecting further anxiety into the industry. Oh, and don’t forget about the tariffs that are raising material prices and threatening to disrupt delicate supply chains. California’s building industry isn’t just under pressure — it’s being choked out in plain sight.

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🤫 Everything you should know

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🐝 📃 🤯 - BRIDGE BLOCKED BY BEES, BUREAUCRATS — Max Lenail drowned in the San Diego River after trying to cross a makeshift path during a storm. His parents, devastated but determined, spent four years pushing to build a proper bridge at the site. They raised nearly $1 million, got community and tribal support, and wrangled a $1.5 million state grant. In return? Bureaucratic inertia, bumblebee studies, ADA mandates in the wilderness, and a Kafkaesque parade of 20 clueless bureaucrats. Inflation, tariffs, and red tape ballooned costs to $5.8M—leaving a grieving family stalled while officials debate design tweaks and the existential importance of bees. The bridge remains unbuilt. — San Diego Reader

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🐟 ⚖️ 🚰  - WATER WARS RAMP UP:  — California lawmakers are bracing for a familiar fight as they wade into the political rip currents of the Delta Conveyance Project. The Governor's long-delayed initiative to modernize the state’s north-to-south water system — needs a legislative carveout from California’s environmental review law (CEQA) to advance. That's a sticking point for critics who argue that the massive tunnel would wreak havoc on fragile delta ecosystems and farmland. But the facts on the ground make a compelling case for construction: climate change is making the state hotter and drier while accelerating our manic boom/bust cycles of moisture and drought. The political map is split by geography, not party — and with Democrats divided, Republicans may hold rare leverage in deciding the future of California’s water system. — CalMatters

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⬇️🏬⬆️  - A TALE OF TWO MALLS — Two San Francisco malls, two opposite fates. The downtown San Francisco Centre — once a retail crown jewel with Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, and ribbon-cuttings by then-CA First Lady Maria Shriver — is now a half-empty, billion-dollar write-down awaiting auction. Its echoing halls and shuttered storefronts mirror the city’s pandemic-hollowed core, which has left the mall in the dust as it enjoys an AI-fueled resurgence. Across town, Stonestown Galleria thrives as an 800,000-square-foot playground of Asian-inspired retail, packed restaurants, claw machines, karaoke rooms, and lines out the door. Its success shows that in the post-Covid era, urban vitality can migrate — downtown’s prestige replaced by suburban-style malls that deliver novelty, affordability, and, most of all, big crowds. — NY Times

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🎙️ 💬 🎧 - ON THE POD: THE REST IS HISTORY: CALIFORNIA

Is there a better podcast of any kind than The Rest is History? Hosted by super-historians Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland, TRIH is a global podcasting phenomenon, selling out live shows across continents while exploring everything from Alexander the Great’s military campaigns to the JFK assassination across their nearly 600-episode run (and counting). Early in their catalog they trained their sites on — what else? — California. Whether you’re an educated native or a Cal-curious midwesterner, it’s well worth a listen. — The Rest is History

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🌯 👑 🌯  - BEWARE THE TARANTULA HAWK!

If you think “a burrito is a burrito,” California would like a word — and probably a side of salsa. Up north, the Mission burrito is a rice-and-beans monolith wrapped in foil and myth. Down south, San Diego’s California burrito swaps the rice for french fries because, well, they can. In between: dozens of regional riffs born of immigrant kitchens, surfer appetites, and pure culinary showmanship. It’s not just food — it’s state pride, rolled tight. And if you’re still picturing Chipotle? I don’t know…maybe go back to Indiana? In 2023, Eater compiled a masterful tour of the world’s most perfect food item. It is a treasure. — EATER

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🏃‍♂️ 💨 ✋ FAST FIVE

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1. 🗺️ Leaked chart shows winners and losers in potential CA redistricting. POLITICO
2. 🦢 Move over nutria, there’s a new invasive pest in town. CalMatters
3. ⛑️ Man trapped behind waterfall for days rescued by helicopter. LA Times
4. 😡 GOP Congressman takes heat in ruby-red Red Bluff. Red Bluff Daily News

👋 So long, sugarbeets? KPBS News