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Capital & Main

@capitalandmain.bsky.social
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Investigating money, power and society. capitalandmain.com

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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 23h
This Pennsylvania river hasn’t always been orange.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
It’s not immediately apparent that there’s anything wrong with the red-rocked Tioga River. But while life teems along its banks, there is virtually nothing beneath the water’s surface.
capitalandmain.com
Once a Bucolic Pennsylvania River, the Tioga Is Now All but Dead
Two centuries after the coal miners arrived, residents are racing to save the stream and bring back the trout.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
OPINION: As the California Oligarch Index makes clear, a relatively tiny number of wealthy donors and corporations are exerting profound influence over who gets elected and which laws get passed in the Golden State.
capitalandmain.com
New ‘Oligarch Index’ Tracks California’s Biggest Political Spenders
Over two decades, the top 99 individuals and business organizations spent more on campaigns and lobbying than the bottom 99.9%.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
NEWS: The condition of the building — and the displacement of residents — has raised questions among tenants and housing activists about the St. George’s owners’ ability to manage their portfolio of more than 1,100 downtown residential hotel units. capitalandmain.com/downtown-l-a...
capitalandmain.com
Downtown L.A. Residential Hotel Closed by City, Leaving Some Tenants Homeless
A developer bet he could clean up the St. George Hotel. But former tenants describe mold, bedbugs and neglect. City records show conditions had deteriorated.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Damage wrought by the mountain pine beetle is already evident in thousands of dead and dying red-needled ponderosa pine knitted throughout these stands.
capitalandmain.com
In Colorado, the Majestic Ponderosa Pines Are Dying
A historic drought, climate change and a tiny beetle put 600,000 acres of pine at risk. Already, their gray skeletons line the highways.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The U.S. government has agreements with 36 countries to receive people who are not their citizens or residents, according to data gathered by Human Rights First and Refugees International.
capitalandmain.com
U.S. Sends Immigrants to Countries It Warns Americans Not to Visit
From kidnappings to torture, lawyers say third-country removals expose vulnerable people to the risks they fled in the first place.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This West Texas town is experiencing its driest days in hundreds of years.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
In a small border town in West Texas, ranchers and residents are struggling with a decades-long drought. The land has been cracking under the pressure of a sustained megadrought since 2000, bringing some of the driest days in hundreds of years to the region.
capitalandmain.com
The Driest Days in Hundreds of Years
In West Texas, the creeks dried up, cattle production struggled, and small towns like Candelaria slowly emptied out.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
El sistema normativo diseñado para proteger a los trabajadores agrícolas de los pesticidas se aplica de manera irregular en toda California. capitalandmain.com/arbitrarieda...
capitalandmain.com
Arbitrariedades en el control de pesticidas ponen en riesgo a trabajadores agrícolas de California
Hay discrepancias en cómo los condados sancionan las violaciones en materia de salud y seguridad, mientras que las medidas reglamentarias se aplican de forma inconsistente.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
OPINION: You have to scroll to the end of California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s statement about the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger to find the first — and only — mention of the massive settlement’s implications for freedom of the press.
capitalandmain.com
Press Freedom Becomes an Afterthought in Paramount-Warner Merger Deal
The settlement includes a vague vow to protect CNN and CBS journalism, and few details on how an “editorial independence board” might work.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
NEWS: In interviews, dozens of farmworkers reported suffering from nausea, burning eyes or irritated throats due to chemical-laced fields. Most said they didn’t report the problems because they feared retaliation or lacked confidence in the regulatory system.
capitalandmain.com
Haphazard Pesticide Enforcement puts Farmworkers in California at risk
Serious health and safety violations are penalized differently across counties, and regulatory actions are enforced inconsistently.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
NEWS: For Salud Garcia, the numbers still don’t add up. It isn’t for lack of trying on her part.
capitalandmain.com
She Leaves Home Before Dawn to Get to Her Low-Wage Job. She’s 83.
Salud Garcia’s struggles echo those of millions of low-wage workers across the nation, where mounting costs erode their already precarious footing.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
NEWS: Hurricane Helen flooded Jen and RJ Garbowicz’s home in St. Petersburg in September 2024. Hurricane Milton tore up the roof less than two weeks later. The couple had both flood and homeowners insurance.
capitalandmain.com
In Florida, the Climate Crisis Comes Due as a Higher Insurance Premium
The state’s voters aren’t arguing about fuel. They’re arguing about who pays when extreme weather hits.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
NEWS: Salud Garcia has been working full time at the same Los Angeles International Airport food service company for 33 years, trying to build financial stability for herself. But as an hourly employee, Garcia has never been able to out-earn her expenses.
capitalandmain.com
She Leaves Home Before Dawn to Get to Her Low-Wage Job. She’s 83.
Salud Garcia’s struggles echo those of millions of low-wage workers across the nation, where mounting costs erode their already precarious footing.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
In 2024, California adopted landmark rules intended to protect more than 1 million workers who toil in sweltering warehouses, kitchens, factories, and other indoor workplaces. capitalandmain.com/california-e...
capitalandmain.com
California Eyes Prison Heat Protections That Fall Short of Other Workplaces’
California is crafting weaker heat protections for prisons than for other workplaces, citing billions in costs to cool aging institutions as climate and health risks increase.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
NEWS: Rideshare giants Uber and Lyft each offer recourse for drivers facing deactivation, but drivers and their advocates across the country said that their appeals processes favor companies over drivers.
capitalandmain.com
Rideshare Drivers Want a Fair Hearing Before Losing Their Jobs
In Chicago, city data shows fewer than 4% of the more than 30,000 drivers removed from rideshare platforms were reinstated.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Coming soon from Capital & Main: High Costs, Low Wages This series explores how California’s low-wage workers are navigating the cost of living crisis in one of the nation’s most expensive states, and examines policy solutions that could ease the burden.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
NEWS: In 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration exempted state prisons from heat illness prevention rules, citing concerns over potentially billions of dollars in costs to the state. Now, his administration has refused to make the cost estimate public.
capitalandmain.com
California Cites Billions to Cool Prisons, But Won’t Disclose Figures
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has yet to make public the multibillion-dollar cost projection behind its 2024 decision to exempt state prisons from heat safety rules.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
OPINION: When supporters of Proposition 40 speak on the initiative, they do so with a passion and conviction that wealthy figures trying to protect their treasures — think of Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page, or Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg — never seem to match. capitalandmain.com/billionaires...
capitalandmain.com
‘Billionaires Shouldn’t Exist.’ Why California Unions Are Fighting for a Wealth Tax.
Cal Labor Federation president Lorena Gonzalez says Proposition 40 — opposed by the ultra-rich — is needed to maintain basic health care services after cuts by President Trump and Republicans.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
NEWS: Regulators with Cal/OSHA have proposed protections that wouldn’t kick in until temperatures reach 87 degrees — 5 degrees higher than for other indoor workplaces. This article was produced in collaboration with @kffhealthnews.org.
capitalandmain.com
California Eyes Prison Heat Protections That Fall Short of Other Workplaces’
California is crafting weaker heat protections for prisons than for other workplaces, citing billions in costs to cool aging institutions as climate and health risks increase.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
At least once a week, Aisha Torres arrives at her job as a technician at a CVS specialty pharmacy in Redlands, California, only to find that she’s already behind.
capitalandmain.com
Understaffed and Underpaid: Why CVS Pharmacists in Three States Authorized a Strike
The pressure on pharmacy staff to work quickly leads to high turnover and threatens patient safety, workers say.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
NEWS: At full buildout, the energy consumed would equal about 11 times the power used by Denver International Airport, about eight miles to the north. The 143-acre project proposal is little known to residents in Aurora, Colorado’s third-largest city.
capitalandmain.com
Colorado’s Largest Data Center Could Rise Next to Homes — Without a Public Hearing
The proposed campus would consume 11 times the power of Denver International Airport; as it has across the country, opposition mounts.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
In an interview with Capital & Main, author Naomi Klein describes tech oligarchs preparing for an apocalyptic end to life on Earth, fueled by the carbon emissions generated by the companies they own.
capitalandmain.com
‘We Are in a Moment of Unparalleled Peril’: An Interview With Naomi Klein
The author and academic spoke with Capital & Main about an apocalyptic future and strategies for survival.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
NEWS: John James Audubon, the author and artist of the foundational 1827-1838 work The Birds of America, is widely hailed as the father of American birding. capitalandmain.com/the-national...
capitalandmain.com
The National Audubon Society Kept Its Name. These Chapters Are Leaving It Behind.
From Seattle to Houston, more than 50 local chapters have renamed themselves as part of a reckoning over John James Audubon’s racist past.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
After vowing to spend $20 billion on data centers across Pennsylvania, Amazon is now quietly reaping the rewards of a controversial, yet lucrative state tax exemption.
capitalandmain.com
Pennsylvania’s Amazon Data Center Boom Is Fueled by a Lucrative Tax Break
Repealing the exemption, which could cost the state billions, has failed repeatedly despite bipartisan support.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
NEWS: At least once a week, Aisha Torres arrives at her job as a technician at a CVS specialty pharmacy in Redlands, California, only to find that she’s already behind.
capitalandmain.com
Understaffed and Underpaid: Why CVS Pharmacists in Three States Authorized A Strike
The pressure on pharmacy staff to work quickly leads to high turnover and threatens patient safety, workers say.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
John James Audubon is widely hailed as the father of American birding. Audubon was also an avowed racist who bought and sold enslaved people; robbed Native American grave sites to aid in eugenics research; and killed birds by the thousands.
capitalandmain.com
The National Audubon Society Kept Its Name. These Chapters Are Leaving It Behind.
From Seattle to Houston, more than 50 local chapters have renamed themselves as part of a reckoning over John James Audubon’s racist past.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
NEWS: When Sara Ramirez started as an interpreter for Monterey, California-based LanguageLine Solutions, in October 2020, she saw it as “a regular company.”
capitalandmain.com
AI Hasn’t Replaced These Interpreters — But It Has Degraded Their Working Conditions
Employees at LanguageLine Solutions report heavier workloads, erratic schedules and burnout since the $1.1 billion company shifted to AI-powered workforce software.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
OPINION: California Gov. Gavin Newsom has an opportunity this month to do two things at once: reaffirm his support of higher wages for low-paid workers, and stick his thumb in the eye of President Donald Trump’s systematic attack on immigrants.
capitalandmain.com
Newsom Has the Chance to Stand Up for Farmworker Wages
A bill on the California governor’s desk would restore the wage floor for 35,000 seasonal workers, whose pay was slashed by a U.S. Labor Department rule.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
A Colombian asylum seeker who has spent a year in immigration custody at Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego said that she has a serious infection in her urinary tract and kidneys and is not receiving proper medical treatment.
capitalandmain.com
Months of Pain, Delayed Care: An Asylum Seeker’s Health Crisis in ICE Custody
Mother held at San Diego immigration facility says months of delayed and inadequate medical care have left her with serious kidney infection and worsening pain.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
NEWS: In January, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wisconsin) called data centers “exciting new technology” and voted for a federal bill to speed their construction. But by May, he was promising to repeal the state tax breaks that lure them.
capitalandmain.com
Wisconsin GOP Candidate Is Exploiting the Data Center Backlash to Hit Solar, Wind
Gubernatorial nominee Tom Tiffany flipped on data centers, outflanked his Democratic rival and tied the issue to renewable projects he has opposed for years.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Baristas nationwide have reported experiencing headaches, coughing, sore throats, hives and other health problems in recent weeks after working with a new blending powder used in Starbucks Blended Refreshers.
capitalandmain.com
Starbucks Removes Drink Powder that Baristas Say Was Making Them Sick
Workers have reported headaches, coughing, sneezing, sore throats and hives after using the powder. Their union says the company has not addressed the health risks of inhalation.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
ICE hasn’t paid for medical care for people in its custody since the beginning of October last year, which has caused cases of delayed and denied treatment across the country.
capitalandmain.com
Months of Pain, Delayed Care: An Asylum Seeker’s Health Crisis in ICE Custody
Mother held at San Diego immigration facility says months of delayed and inadequate medical care have left her with serious kidney infection and worsening pain.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Interpreters are often listed among the workers at the highest risk of replacement by AI. But interviews with a half dozen LanguageLine employees reveal a different phenomenon: AI is not so much eliminating as eroding the quality of their work. capitalandmain.com/ai-hasnt-rep...
capitalandmain.com
AI Hasn’t Replaced These Interpreters — But It Has Degraded Their Working Conditions
Employees at LanguageLine Solutions report heavier workloads, erratic schedules and burnout since the $1.1 billion company shifted to AI-powered workforce software.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
In 1973, I was in sewing class in seventh grade and having a miserable time. I couldn’t sew and wasn’t interested in learning. capitalandmain.com/decades-long...
capitalandmain.com
A Decades-Long Friendship, Tested by Trumpism
I dreaded talking politics with a longtime friend whose conservative beliefs are at odds with mine. But I had to.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
A recently published scientific paper ties oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin to radioactive airborne plumes near the small New Mexico town of Loving. capitalandmain.com/studies-link...
capitalandmain.com
Studies Link New Mexico Drilling to Radiation, Air Pollution, Health Risks
Small towns in the Permian Basin have become a petri dish for the perils of living amid the nation's largest oil fields.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Were there unsafe levels of ammonia in the air after the Lineage warehouse fire in Los Angeles? #losangeles #boyleheights #lineage #warehouse #fire #news
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
In the climactic scene of Martin Ritt’s 1979 drama Norma Rae, Sally Field’s character climbs onto a cutting table in a textile mill, writes “UNION” in marker on a scrap of cardboard, and holds up the makeshift sign in silence. capitalandmain.com/ten-films-fo...
capitalandmain.com
Ten Films for a Labor Day Under New Management
While the Trump administration attacks workers’ rights, here are some of the most influential films about labor from the last 50 years.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
There’s little evidence that tying public assistance to work requirements actually increases employment in an area or state. In fact, what data there is on the topic points the other direction. capitalandmain.com/california-l...
capitalandmain.com
California Lawmakers Push Back on Trump’s Attack on Renters
First-of-its-kind law would prohibit work requirements or time limits on low-income tenants who receive federal assistance.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
What seemed to be a typical Friday morning for the San Francisco Bay Area family quickly became a nightmare when about a dozen armed and masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents surrounded Ulises Peña Lopez’s truck. capitalandmain.com/disabled-fat...
capitalandmain.com
Disabled Father Says He Was Beaten by ICE Agents, Denied Medical Care in Detention
Detainee was stripped of his cane, hearing aids and medication; case highlights pattern of mistreatment of those with disabilities, attorney says.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Movies have been picking a side in the fight for workers’ rights for almost as long as films have existed. Here are ten impactful films about labor from the last 50 years and where you can watch them. capitalandmain.com/ten-films-fo...
capitalandmain.com
Ten Films for a Labor Day Under New Management
While the Trump administration attacks workers’ rights, here are some of the most influential films about labor from the last 50 years.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Soon after Starbucks introduced a new blending powder, Destiny Valencia, a barista in San Jose, California, began experiencing headaches and feeling fatigued after mixing drinks that use the new ingredient. capitalandmain.com/starbucks-re...
capitalandmain.com
Starbucks Removes Drink Powder that Baristas Say Was Making Them Sick
Workers have reported headaches, coughing, sneezing, sore throats and hives after using the powder. Their union says the company has not addressed the health risks of inhalation.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
NEWS: Ulises Peña Lopez, who was 30 at the time of the incident, says in a lawsuit filed by his family that he was detained by ICE agents and beaten in a secluded alley until he was unconscious. capitalandmain.com/disabled-fat...
capitalandmain.com
Disabled Father Says He Was Beaten by ICE Agents, Denied Medical Care in Detention
Detainee was stripped of his cane, hearing aids and medication; case highlights pattern of mistreatment of those with disabilities, attorney says.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I was going to Tennessee to answer a question that for over 50 years had never been in doubt: Was it possible for us to remain friends? capitalandmain.com/decades-long...
capitalandmain.com
A Decades-Long Friendship, Tested by Trumpism
I dreaded talking politics with a longtime friend whose conservative beliefs are at odds with mine. But I had to.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Baristas nationwide have reported experiencing headaches, coughing, sore throats, hives and other health problems in recent weeks after working with a new blending powder used in Starbucks Blended Refreshers. capitalandmain.com/starbucks-re...
capitalandmain.com
Starbucks Removes Drink Powder that Baristas Say Was Making Them Sick
Workers have reported headaches, coughing, sneezing, sore throats and hives after using the powder. Their union says the company has not addressed the health risks of inhalation.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
In Alicia Yu’s first post-college apartment, a studio in Burbank, monthly utility costs were calculated through a process she’d never heard of. capitalandmain.com/l-a-renters-...
capitalandmain.com
L.A. Renters Push to Ban a Utility Billing System They Say Leaves Them Guessing
Tenants and advocates are calling for an end to a utility billing practice that they say lacks transparency and causes them anxiety by making monthly bills unpredictable.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
In Ohio, the Republican-controlled Legislature is trying to redefine “clean energy” to include coal and gas, explicitly to the benefit of data centers, through a little noticed proposal. capitalandmain.com/candidates-r...
capitalandmain.com
Candidates Run Against Data Centers, but Ohio Legislature Didn’t Get the Memo
Candidates in both parties turn on the industry while a bill redefining coal and gas as “clean” energy moves quietly in the statehouse.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
When Maria Titova filed her asylum application soon after fleeing Russia to San Diego where her husband was a flight school student, she thought the process would take a matter of months. That was the beginning of 2016. She’s still waiting.
capitalandmain.com
She Fled Russia for Freedom in the U.S. Ten Years Later, She’s Still Waiting.
Persecuted in her homeland, a mother asked for protection but ran into a perfect storm of policy changes instead.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
NEWS: Los Angeles tenants are calling on the city to ban the use of Ratio Utility Billing Systems, following a December 2025 recommendation from the city’s housing department to eliminate the practice in rent-stabilized units.
capitalandmain.com
L.A. Renters Push to Ban a Utility Billing System They Say Leaves Them Guessing
Tenants and advocates are calling for an end to a utility billing practice that they say lacks transparency and causes them anxiety by making monthly bills unpredictable.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Before people settled along the bayous, when Houston was not yet Houston, the wetlands stretching across the Southeastern Texas coast were covered with prairie potholes and pimple mounds. capitalandmain.com/as-texas-des...
capitalandmain.com
As Texas Destroys Its Wetlands, the Risk of Devastating Flooding Increases
Thousands of acres have been decimated to make room for development and urban sprawl, alarming residents and climate experts.
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