Second story in this series from @jeremotographs.bsky.social looks at the high stakes of access to the Colorado River in Imperial Valley, as farmers, lithium companies and data centers all vie for access to its dwindling waters: capitalandmain.com/a-drying-col...

Communities across Imperial Valley are now contemplating what dwindling water resources might mean for their region and for the rest of the country, which relies heavily on the region’s water-intensive farms for winter vegetables. capitalandmain.com/a-drying-col...

A Drying Colorado River Threatens Imperial Valley's Future. My latest for @capitalandmain.bsky.social explores how declining water resources imperil the region's agriculture, emerging industries, residents and indigenous tribes. I also took all the photos. capitalandmain.com/a-drying-col...

'The state’s forests will dry out a month earlier than usual...Gleick said, which increases the risk of wildfires. “It could be a very bad fire year...rivers + streams are going to dry out sooner, + that has bad implications for natural ecosystems + our fisheries.”'

Some photos I made for @aaroncantu.bsky.social’s story about broken lithium promises in Imperial Valley for @capitalandmain.bsky.social

Check out Aaron's awesome reporting

NEW STORY! In 2023 @gavinnewsom.bsky.social stood on a vast landscape in Imperial Valley, declaring California's lithium revolution had arrived. But now the plans are mired by fighting, the feds are trying to kill renewables, and AI, not EVs, reigns. What's next? capitalandmain.com/newsom-promi...

This is the first in Imperial Divide, a series by @capitalandmain.bsky.social exploring competition over energy, public health and economic growth in one of California's poorest and most Latino counties. Also contributing is @jeremotographs.bsky.social, who took the incredible photos in the story.

NEW from me: After major pressure from the Teamsters union both at the shop floor and in NLRB-mediated negotiations, Amazon has agreed to stop retaliating against workers for exercising their right to strike. "This is a huge win for us," shop floor organizer Josh Black said.

Imperial Valley residents protesting the development of a data center just chanted the developer out of the County Board of Supervisors meeting.

Breaking News: Israel said it planned to expand the territory it controls in Lebanon, suggesting it might remain there beyond the fighting.

A recent college graduate was crossing the border from Tijuana to San Diego with a friend on vacation for Memorial Day weekend in 2010 when she heard a man screaming for help in Spanish.

As the leftist son of a Venezuelan Jewish mother and an ardently Zionist/anti-socialist Cuban & Jewish father, these past few years of American foreign policy feel like they were meticulously designed to make my family life as unbearable as possible.

As Los Angeles gears up for a surge of tourists for this year’s FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympics, vacation rental giant Airbnb is urging the city of Los Angeles to legalize thousands of new short-term rentals.

If Trump both: A. Thinks he’s “the chosen one” & B. Not getting into heaven, does that mean he thinks he’s the Antichrist?

I’m excited to help @shoton35mm.bsky.social launch LA Taco’s much needed investigative reporting desk. We’re already scheming on a couple of stories and I can’t wait to share what we find. Your donations support my work and LA Taco’s future investigations that are in the pipeline.

Agents with the Department of Homeland Security who have shot and killed people have histories of making racist, sexist remarks or celebrating violence new from me for @capitalandmain.bsky.social capitalandmain.com/agents-in-ic...

I can’t wait for companies to lower their prices now that tariffs are ending even though they have trained consumers to pay the higher prices. They’ll surely lower prices, right? RIGHT?!

How long until the New York Times publishes a sympathetic article like: The Mental Health Crisis inside ICE: How Federal Agents are Bringing the Frontline Battles Home. And then a follow up article like: A Cold Trip? How Ayahuasca is Helping ICE Agents Heal from their Trauma.

Film got exposed in transport. Pretty interesting results.

On a reporting trip to Imperial County, trying to work on my black and white photography.

Seems bad www.reuters.com/business/aut...

ICE HAS PURCHASED A WAREHOUSE NEAR EL PASO, TX. The cost of this warehouse was $123M. It will operate at an estimated cost of $620.5M per year. It removes $300K from the state’s annual tax revenue. It will hold up to 8,500 detainees.

HELL yea

Pattie Lopez, whose job is to help patients access public health coverage at Venice Family Clinic, says the volume and scope of cuts to Medi-Cal and Covered California are unlike anything else she’s seen in 23 years. capitalandmain.com/what-its-lik...

Wildfires are getting worse. Republicans are pushing legislation that would weaken environmental protections and open vast swaths of land to logging. Scientists say policies should focus on making infrastructure and landscapes fire-resilient.

Protesters are turning to economic disruption to fight ICE. Last Friday, protesters across the U.S. missed work and school as part of an anti-ICE shutdown. Thousands showed up in Downtown LA to protest the agency, many—including City Councilmember Nithya Raman—supporting calls for a general strike.

Another bizarre Epstein files interaction (crazy part in 2nd post): Eman Moss (full name Emanuelle Karen Moss) tells Epstein about her new alternative/wellness company & asks to stay in his apt, where she has stayed before. Epstein says he likes the company, but that the apt is unavailable. (1/2)

Immigration officials in Minnesota arrested 100+ refugees and sent many of them to Texas detention centers where they faced long interviews to once again prove they qualified for protection. Thanks to a judge’s order, they must now be released. capitalandmain.com/amid-the-vio...

And he’s from McAllen. bsky.app/profile/theo...

Here’s a crazy email I found in the Epstein files. From Michele Reilly to Epstein. “I think we’re mostly starving for great conspiracies today.” “What are your thoughts on funding and constructing your own Intelligence Agency?” “High profile Island orgies come to mind…”

Has this been reported? Looks like Marsh Barnaby offered to introduce Patrick Soon-Shiong, current owner of the LA Times, to Jeffrey Epstein in 2014 and Epstein accepted the offer. Probably worth knowing if they ever linked up.

Management of CorePower Yoga seems to have sent management to a Minneapolis yoga studio telling them they can’t publicly oppose ICE at work, leading to a longtime teacher quitting in protest. www.tiktok.com/t/ZThf8QU5D/

1/ BREAKING: Government documents reviewed by ProPublica identify Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa, 43, and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez, 35, as the two who fired their weapons during the deadly encounter with Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

The agents that killed Alex Pretti are: Jesus Ochoa (Border Patrol) Raymundo Gutierrez (Customs and Border Protection) ProPublica with the critical scoop. www.propublica.org/article/alex...

DHS agents deploy irritant spray at protesters in downtown LA yesterday.

87-year-old Rep. Maxine Waters made an appearance at yesterday's anti-DHS protest in LA. In this clip you can hear her say "this is where they slammed the door in my face."

Anti-DHS protesters in LA moved a huge dumpster, partially blocking agents in their building.

The Justice Department releasing 3 million more Epstein files on the day of the national shutdown highlights how scared institutions are of organized labor. They want to distract from the growing momentum of working class solidarity, don't let them.

You can be happy Bovino lost his job, that the Trump admin may temporarily pull back on its maximalist violence in Minneapolis, but don't forget that until ICE is abolished, the infrastructure that facilitates and incentivizes such violence remains intact.

Influencer news aggregators like Ron and Aaron Parnas have made tons of money off the backs of other journalist's work.

This administration is cooked. Literally no one is scared of them.

ICE took the flower man in Echo Park 40 minutes ago. He’s at this corner every day. I’ve bought flowers from the man and woman here for anniversaries and birthdays. Lemmy loves to smell them whenever we walk by in the mornings. I was just at the street corner 15 minutes before it happened. Fuck.

Meatpacking giant JBS gave $5 million for Trump’s inauguration. Then the administration introduced policies that benefit the company. Reporter: Marcus Baram Producer: @cerisecastle.bsky.social Editor: @jeremotographs.bsky.social

Weekend in Antigua, Guatemala

It’s my least favorite season: local media layoffs. I’m blessed to have worked in a newsroom I *LOVE* for the past (almost) 2 years. If you’re looking for a journalism job and passionate about building audiences, please consider joining us @capitalandmain.bsky.social capitalandmain.com/careers

This is surreal. 4 Oglala Lakota men kidnapped by ICE in Minneapolis have finally been located. One of them was released but the other 3 are being held at Fort Snelling, a former concentration camp used to imprison Native people incl. the Dakota 38 during Dakota Wars. ictnews.org/news/north-c...

Capital & Main’s video reporting reached millions of viewers in 2025, expanding our coverage of the most pressing issues facing our readers. Here are some of our most viewed, memorable and impactful videos of 2025: capitalandmain.com/from-fire-to...

It’s been a wild year. Here are some of my favorite photos and videos I took while documenting 2025.

Here's a Christmas story. Trump's assault on immigrants has disproportionately affected a group he claims to be aligned with: Catholics. Despite making up just 19% of the US population, Catholics make up over 60% of the folks vulnerable to deportation. My latest: capitalandmain.com/trumps-war-o...