“It was just one fire after another… And it’s still like that today.” “I don’t want to stay at a park service that looks like this. But I don’t want to give up on it, either.” “Trump’s probably the best union organizer we have” www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Park service staff have long joked that they’re “paid in sunsets,” sometimes relying on food banks. Supervisor told one, “seasonals are to be seen, not heard.” Staff often have to share bedrooms with co-workers, or the mice who keep infesting the housing. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

The old joke in the National Park Service is that rangers are “paid in sunsets.” Spurred by the Trump administration’s chainsaw cuts to the federal workforce, now many workers are hoping to change that, by unionizing. My latest, with @josheidelson.bsky.social: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

New BW feature: While federal unions play defense elsewhere, a unionization wave is building in the National Park Service, driven by slash-and-burn Trump Admin. cuts, decades of prior bipartisan neglect, and worker-to-worker organizing www.bloomberg.com/news/feature... w/ @mslaurabliss.bsky.social

Scoop with @josheidelson.bsky.social: 24 US national parks (including Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree, Grand Teton and Olympic) are petitioning to unionize, following successful union elections in Yosemite earlier this summer. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

California has proposed new regulations to avoid landfill fires that would address some of the problems highlighted my and @rachaeldottle.bsky.social's investigation into America's hot garbage problem for @bloomberg.com. Read about our impact here: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Literal "hot garbage." @mslaurabliss.bsky.social (KSJ '23) and Rachael Dottle's reporting on US landfills is excellent, but what they found stinks www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202... (article from July)

National parks will remain open during the government shutdown, per NPS memo www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Holy shit: Stateline spoke to nearly a dozen firefighters, agency staffers and contractors, who said that top officials assigned to the fire deployed the crews to a remote location under false pretenses so federal agents could check their immigration status. www.hcn.org/articles/fir...

SCOOP: A federal employee at Yosemite National Park was fired last week after flying a trans pride flag from El Capitan earlier this year www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

US trash dumps produce emissions that endanger residents—due to physical & chemical processes that are not well understood—but that neither federal nor state regulations adequately address, explain @mslaurabliss.bsky.social & @rachaeldottle.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202... #sanitation

long loud 👏👏👏👏👏 to @mslaurabliss.bsky.social for this literal and figurative garbage fires ... "or the industry’s preferred phrase is 'elevated temperature landfill,' or ETLF, which operators say has nothing to do with fire." www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

As housing costs soar, running water has become a luxury in Portland, Phoenix and other wealthy US cities. Latest for @bloomberg.com with Klara Auerbach, gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Absolutely incredible, groundbreaking piece of investigative reporting— these reporters deserve every single journalism award coming their way (there will be many!) Gift link below in the QT (fyi kind of a long read, so save it for later if you must)

AMERICA HAS A HOT GARBAGE PROBLEM. LITERALLY. A THREAD 1/ Last year, I spotted some data on LinkedIn that caught my attention. Fires at recycling facilities were skyrocketing as more vape pens, smartphones and electric toothbrushes enter America’s blue bins

My colleagues @mslaurabliss.bsky.social and @rachaeldottle.bsky.social did a deep dive into the toxic landfill problem making communities across the US sick. Free gift link: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

Masterful, infuriating story from @mslaurabliss.bsky.social & @rachaeldottle.bsky.social. The insane part is the burning garbage & its impact on people. But they don't shy away from loads of important context, nuance & science! A+ explanatory journalism. Gift link www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

Missed this: the ghost of Gregory Ain may help some LA residents rebuild collectively, again

IT'S ABOUT TIME

Really great reporting by @mslaurabliss.bsky.social It seems the Park Planned homeowners intend to rebuild en masse fairly close to Ain's original plans. This will be amazing.

In the wake of major disasters, homeowners are largely left on their own to navigate the complicated roadmap to recovery -- if they can afford to rebuild. So when I happened to connect with Kim Yu on a reporting trip to LA in late January, I was immediately struck by her community-minded approach.

“On paper, I do school programs and run the visitor center,” says Alex Wild, who was fired on Feb. 14 from his role as an interpretive park ranger at Devils Postpile National Monument. “But I am also the only EMT, and I run the entire search and rescue and medical services program in the park.”

The US Army Corps is building an $1 billion underwater defense system complete with shock waves, bubble curtains and screeching acoustic noises to protect the Great Lakes against its arch nemesis: Invasive carp. New from me; gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

this. @mslaurabliss.bsky.social nails it tariffs will increase construction prices. developers will likely clamor to repeal energy codes updates too as high performance products (HVAC) $$ will go up + project 2025 is only going to exacerbate the housing crisis www.bloomberg.com/news/article...