Bear Essentials May 13th: Tariffs, Troops & Trains
Tariffs, Troops & Trains
California’s plates are spinning — and wobbling. Container ships are vanishing from the Port of LA, National Guard troops are questioning the circumstances of their deployment, and a renegade fire scientist hands citizens torches to fight megablazes. Inland, Rancho Cucamonga pins its future on a $12-billion bullet train that actually appears to be on-track. Meanwhile Prop 13 stalks the housing debate, rusted hulks haunt the Golden Gate, and our ‘fast five’ sprint through AI seismology, a history-making CA Senate pick, the Marines’ Tinseltown deployment, Native Klamath paddlers, and a housing market stuck in park.
Let’s get to it…
PORT IN A STORM
The Port of Los Angeles, a cornerstone of America’s global trade machine, is grinding its gears under President Trump’s new tariff regime. Global cargo is evaporating — May saw a 25% drop, with 17 ships skipping port entirely. Longshoremen, once flush with work, are now fighting over 733 job orders per shift, a steep fall from the typical 1,700 to 2,000. “This is going to have an effect on the work opportunities for not just us, but for truck drivers, warehouse workers and logistics teams,” warned Gary Herrera, president of the longshoremen union ILWU Local 13. Indeed the ripple effect threatens the port’s $21.8 billion revenue stream and 165,000 dependent jobs. “Outside of COVID, this is the biggest drop I’ve seen in my career,” said port director Gene Seroka. And worse may still be coming.
🤫 Everything you should know
🪖 🎥 🤨 - THEATER OF THE ABSURD — It appears that the troops sent to Los Angeles aren’t thrilled to be extras in a political theater they didn’t audition for. National Guard and Marines grumble about sleeping on concrete, lacking food, and being stuck in a domestic policing mess they’re not trained to handle. One Guard member described the assignment as “shitty” – particularly compared with early secondments to help with wildfire relief or, during the Covid pandemic, vaccination outreach: “Both of those experiences were uncomplicatedly positive, a contribution back to the community. This is quite the opposite.” Families are nervous, troops feel exposed, and everyone wonders why the military is playing cop — a role that risks both mistakes and the military’s apolitical standing. — Guardian
🔥 🌲 🧑🚒 - TORCHING OLD FIRE MYTHS — Lenya Quinn-Davidson wants Californians to stop fearing fire and start using it — properly. As wildfires grow worse, she’s building a grassroots prescribed burn movement, putting torches into the hands of landowners, tribes, ranchers, and everyday people long sidelined by bureaucracy and outdated fire suppression dogma. Backed by new legislation and the Fire Network she now leads, Quinn-Davidson is dismantling a century-old mindset: fire isn’t always the enemy — sometimes it’s the cure. — California Magazine
🚗 🏠 🚄 - FROM FREEWAYS TO FAST TRAINS — Rancho Cucamonga — once citrus groves, now warehouses and suburban sprawl — is about to get a bullet train makeover. Brightline West’s $12 billion Las Vegas-to-California line will turn this freeway town into America’s first real high-speed rail hub. City leaders are dreaming big: dense neighborhoods, pedestrian zones, no more oceans of asphalt. If it works, Rancho Cucamonga could go from Looney Tunes punchline to prototype — and carve out a new identity that goes beyond its wonderful name. — Bloomberg
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🎧 🔊 🎧 - ON THE POD: PROP 13 AFTER 47 YEARS
This week, KQED’s California Report, marked the 47th anniversary of the passage of Proposition 13, with a special episode from their friends at the Lever Time podcast. Reporter Ariella Markowitz spent some time digging into the rise of the anti-tax movement, and how Howard Jarvis went on to influence decades of political thought here in California and across the country. — The California Report Magazine
🚢 🌉 😬 - THE SHIPWRECKS AT LAND’S END
SS Ohioan Runs Aground. Credit: NavSource
San Francisco’s Golden Gate has claimed over 300 ships, thanks to its deadly mix of fog, rocks, and vicious tides. The worst: the 1901 sinking of the SS City of Rio de Janeiro, which went down in eight minutes after hitting Mile Rock, killing 130. That disaster led to the construction of Mile Rock Light. Today, visitors to Land’s End can still spot the remains of three shipwrecks — Ohioan, Lyman Stewart, and Frank Buck — rusting reminders of the Bay’s brutal maritime history. - Atlas Obscura
🏃♂️ 💨 ✋ FAST FIVE
- 🌋 UC Irvine Launches $6M AI Project to Tackle Deep Earth Challenges. UC Irvine
- 🙋🏽♀️ CA Dems choose first Latina state Senate leader. CalMatters
- 💸 Hegseth says troops will stay in LA for 60 days, cost taxpayers $134M. A.P.
- 🚣 A group of Native teens will paddle the newly liberated Klamath River. SF Chronicle
🏠 A different CA housing crisis: No one is buying homes. Newsweek
