Weeks later, Lineage’s own data — buried in online reports — shows some unsafe ammonia levels in Boyle Heights.
Municipalities across Southern California are putting shelters in polluted industrial areas as the state pushes to increase the number of beds for unhoused people.
If Uber and Lyft resort to the stalling tactics corporations commonly use to block higher pay and better working conditions, gig workers will still have a fight on their hands.
Record heat, two rate hikes and a data center boom have turned utility bills — not climate — into the state’s most volatile issue.
Human rights organizations said the minors lack the resources to go home safely and that some may have died trying.
Historian Sheri Berman on the links between declining democracy, neoliberal economics and what’s driving radicalization on the right and left.
Trump’s reelection would be “game over” for multiracial democracy, veteran civil rights attorney Connie Rice predicted. She now thinks we need a new blueprint.
Workers and their families struggle in the aftermath of federal immigration raids that targeted more than 100 car washes in the region.
At Via Avanta in L.A., kids accompany their moms to treatment for substance abuse. But family-centered rehab remains uncommon.
A California health plan uses “Angelica,” an AI program, to keep people from losing coverage. It says it does the work of 40 employees at a fraction of the cost.
Refugees fleeing persecution only to be swept up by ICE win support of congregation, including some who voted for Trump.
Pennsylvania governor candidate Stacy Garrity makes money from fracking. We know from financial disclosures that are required in most states. Here’s how to use them.
Officials are turning to industrial and manufacturing zones to site shelters — and avoid public pushback — a Capital & Main review of 30 cities found.
Ending TPS would disrupt communities nationwide. In California, more than 60,000 immigrant workers could eventually lose legal protections.
A new documentary on playwright and filmmaker Luis Valdez comes at a moment of cultural reckoning over whose stories get told in the Trump era.
Voters angry about rising electricity bills have turned the fight over powering AI into the defining issue of the state’s 2026 elections.
From L.A. to Minneapolis, agents and officers improperly used tear gas, pepper balls and rubber bullets against protesters and journalists.
The affluent coastal city is a rare exception in L.A. County, where two-thirds of Section 8 voucher holders live in areas the state considers “low-resource.”
Pediatric asthma is common in Calipatria, where young athletes compete despite extreme heat and air pollution. Some worry a lithium boom could make things worse.
Economist Gabriel Zucman argues that a permanent 2% tax on the ultra rich could generate billions while addressing the state’s growing concentration of wealth.
As cash flows into Pennsylvania governor’s race, ethical questions over Stacy Garrity’s fracking income loom.
Climate-themed films matter more than ever as the Trump administration weakens environmental protections. Here are some of the best and most meaningful ones.
ICE raids have swept up thousands of immigrant men in L.A. County. Many are primary breadwinners whose families have been left to cope in their absence.
The Labor Department agency has lost a quarter of its staff and curtailed enforcement under a chief who once represented the industry it regulates.
Report details how the ultra-rich are pouring unprecedented sums into state politics to block a proposed billionaire tax and advance a tech-friendly agenda.
The outpouring of sympathy for Marie Marseille stands out at a time when even indisputable victimhood doesn’t guarantee universal support.
The GOP spent years circling the state as a key 2026 pickup opportunity. But after a lopsided election loss, doubts are creeping in.
Judges are issuing deportation orders before immigrants receive notice their hearing dates have been moved up.
Immigrant detainees say they pay $20 for tampons and nearly $19 for instant coffee while earning only $1 per day through a federal work program.
State and federal legislation could help clean cancer-causing contaminants from hundreds of California water systems. One bill was diluted under industry pressure.
Health impacts from the Lineage Inc. warehouse blaze could be severe and long-lasting, experts say. The company has a history of violations.
Local governments are pushing wages above the state’s already high minimum, even as many workers still can’t keep up with California’s cost of living.
Two-thirds of L.A. County voucher holders live in “low-resource” areas, a Capital & Main analysis finds. Santa Monica is a rare exception.
The glut of wastewater is so massive industry execs fear it will soon throttle production in the nation’s largest oil field.
The university has been fighting attempts at union organizing for years. Now it’s seeking help from an employer-friendly labor board.
The Los Angeles Press Club honored Capital & Main with 21 prizes in the annual journalism contest.
Anger over surging utility rates already toppled two Republicans on a powerful state commission. It may not stop there.
ALMA Backyard Farms seeks to feed the souls and stomachs of Compton residents with little access to healthy and affordable food.
Lineage transformed food supply chains and made its owners rich. Now it’s hired a crisis team in the wake of East L.A. warehouse fire.
A bill moving through the Legislature would improve eviction tracking and could help California better target homelessness prevention funding.
A new documentary connects the life and music of the Depression-era singer-songwriter to today’s struggles for social justice, equality and immigrant rights.
New analysis and firsthand accounts reveal the toll of the crackdown on immigrant communities in L.A. County and beyond.
Locked up after living in L.A., an immigrant has suffered rectal bleeding for months. “Sometimes I think they want to kill me here.”
The number of families struggling with food insecurity nearly tripled in last two years, survey finds.
Galveston County is home to 22 refineries and chemical plants. The level of emergency preparedness varies widely.
As county considers a $50.3 billion budget, a report tallies how much is going to legal payouts advocates say are preventable.
Business groups threatened a ballot measure targeting a key city revenue source, raising fears of layoffs and charges of “shakedown.”
A new California law may soon enable Uber and Lyft drivers to negotiate with rideshare companies for better working conditions.
A record pay gap with other professions and rising costs are making it increasingly difficult for schools to attract and retain talent.
Uber and Lyft drivers in both states say low pay, rising gas prices and a lack of transparency in how they’re compensated have fueled organizing efforts.
Across the nation, one of the dirtiest sources of power gets a lifeline from the Trump administration and state officials.
Alex Haley’s masterwork Roots turns 50 this year. But a school board’s move to ban the book has stoked outcry, including from family members like Anne Haley.
McFarland police don’t respond to calls at detention centers, citing agreement with GEO Group. Crimes go uninvestigated, say attorneys and alleged sexual abuse victim.
Election results in Los Angeles and Contra Costa counties suggest voters are wary of sales tax hikes, adding pressure for statewide solution.
As data centers grow as an election issue, a state House candidate hopes her opposition will finally propel her to victory.
Held indefinitely, immigrants imprisoned in Eswatini lack medical attention, food and clothing, according to complaint.
An interview with Time and Water director Sara Dosa on climate grief, memory and the films that actually move people.
The Glade Run Recreation Area is a destination for cyclists, hikers, birders and other outdoor enthusiasts in the middle of a declining oilfield.
Undocumented workers help fund public services, fill essential jobs and generate billions in economic activity, study finds.
How Vicky Hernandez and her customers at the Buckshot Deli & Diner in Niland view plans to turn Imperial Valley into a green energy hub.
Those who helped families cope with child care, financial instability and mental health are being replaced with uniformed service members.
Wildlife habitat, endangered animals and recreation could all be at risk in state’s biggest public land sale in modern history.
In the governor’s race, Steyer backs sweeping reforms and Becerra stresses enforcement.
The incurable lung disease has killed 31 countertop workers and sickened 560, numbers that are expected to keep climbing while regulators draft emergency rules.
A state Department of Justice inspection of seven California facilities found overcrowding, poor medical care, inadequate food and excessive force from guards.
While frontrunners Steyer and Becerra slug it out, they’re clashing over their commitment to clean energy.
Once an advocate for a universal system, he now focuses on incremental reforms and shielding Californians from federal cuts.
It’s a towering example of the contentious debate over what to do with the state’s ever-growing supply of oilfield waste.
The discussion missing from the primary campaign is how — and whether — Mayor Karen Bass has benefited L.A.’s Black community.
Market Match program could disappear — unless lawmakers step in to fund an initiative that boosts access to farmers’ markets and supports small farms.
Proposed hazardous waste oversight changes are years behind schedule and fail to account for a community’s health risks from pollution, environmental groups warn.
A hospital CEO says looming Medicaid reductions threaten vulnerable residents and the state’s health system.
Spouses of deployed military say they’re struggling with the costs of child care, groceries, housing.
Stuck in immigration limbo, the woman needs a Russian Sign Language translator for her pending asylum case.
As lakes, reservoirs and groundwater wither away, some Gulf Coast residents see costly desalination plants as the last hope.
The man believed he would be sent to supermax prison where the Salvadoran government, paid by the U.S., tortured Venezuelan deportees last year.
Silicosis has killed dozens of workers and sickened hundreds more. Public health experts say a product ban can prevent the illness.
As Trump-backed law threatens Medicaid and SNAP eligibility for millions, a proposed change to state data collection aims to preserve coverage.
A governor-appointed state board weighs whether to ban the use of engineered stone to protect workers from a deadly lung disease.
Without funding and policy interventions, rebuilt homes will rent at market rates, pricing out long-term residents.
The sportswear company is one of the few that hasn’t caved to Trump on diversity, equity and inclusion. Now it’s under investigation.
At an urban farm in Compton, the formerly incarcerated nourish residents hit by rising costs and cuts. Their “pay what you can” markets draw hundreds.
A living wage analyst challenges rosy claims about rising standard of living, and shows that for millions of Americans, their pay doesn’t cover the basics.
Pipeline would cross 234 miles of tribal land in New Mexico and Arizona. Committee hearing schedule catches community group off guard.
Unions join community groups in planning marches, walkouts and economic actions on May 1 as a show of worker power ahead of the midterm elections.
The rising cost of gas and higher utility rates are hurting farmers, ride-sharing workers and consumers from coast to coast.
Naseer Paktiawal just returned from burying his brother in Afghanistan. “I didn’t want to bury him here.”
The district’s teachers’ union staged its first walkout in 154 years over larger class sizes, health care costs and support for special education students.
At the worst-performing refineries, report finds operators are not tackling recurring and harmful leaks, leading to public health risk.
Losses in government positions are undermining a critical engine of economic mobility for the Black middle class.
The state’s failure to reduce driving and to stockpile fuel led to dependence on sanctioned oil refined elsewhere.
Experts say he would likely face a recall, but could still wield power through appointments, vetoes and regulatory boards.
Coordinated bargaining — echoing Hollywood labor fights — helped thousands of workers settle contracts.
California’s 2011 FAIR Education Act requires that history and social science educators in public schools teach about the contributions of LGBTQ+ people.
Author Ibram X. Kendi on the Great Replacement Theory’s threat to generations of racial progress, and how he stays hopeful in perilous times.
Advocates warn immigrants to avoid military bases when working for apps like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash.
Republicans in Congress want to ban lawsuits against quartz manufacturers, including a company whose CEO is a major Trump donor.
African countries beef up lobbying to influence Trump’s transactional approach. Some see U.S. tactics as “colonialist.”
UC Berkeley study finds employment held steady — and only pennies were added to menu prices.
Imperial Valley’s only water source continues to decline due to overuse, drought and climate change, leaving industries and residents grappling with the implications.
Companies are seeking refunds from the federal government following the Supreme Court ruling — but consumers may still be stuck with higher prices.
Legislators debate a possible moratorium while residents take their demands and health fears directly to a data center developer.
Suit claims ExxonMobil and others underreported debts by $194 million, calling it “a playbook” for how companies dump old wells and expenses on states.
Sunrise Movement and environmental groups see fighting “a fascist government” as a first step to halting the climate crisis.
Declining flows and the warming climate imperil farms, green energy projects and the economy of one of California’s poorest counties.
As the April 14 strike deadline looms, teachers and support staff remain at an impasse with a district strained by high housing costs and declining enrollment.
Local officials blame environmentalists for long delays, but politics, technology and markets are the culprits.
Labor lawyer Ana Avendaño says unions must do more to protect women.
Findhelp is a public benefit corporation that wants the structure of the National Labor Relations Board held unconstitutional. Critics say those things don’t square.
Bay Area and L.A. residents weigh a regressive fix as funding cuts threaten basic care for the uninsured.
An investigation into California’s failure to protect underage farmworkers was among the entries that won prizes from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.
California law requires public schools to teach about the contributions of LGBTQ people. Teachers say that’s only getting harder under Trump.
Health care workers say the system’s push for growth is undermining a once-vaunted partnership — and affecting patients.
As inequality grows, states are stepping up where the federal government hasn’t. “It’s a movement,” says Patriotic Millionaire’s Chuck Collins.
A Minnesota journalist, arrested for covering a protest, reflects on standing up to power and how the Black press keeps the U.S. honest about its history.
Ashley Young became part of a growing legion to bear witness to state violence at the hands of U.S. immigration officials.
Menopause is an inevitable life stage for women, but many don’t receive adequate medical care. New California legislation aims to expand access, but excludes millions on Medi-Cal.
A new California law aims to protect workers from silicosis, an incurable lung disease that has killed 29 people in the state and sickened hundreds. Experts say it isn’t enough.
Regulators are again fining the health care giant for inadequate investment in mental health care.
In the face of death and disease, global health workers struggle to keep hope alive.
Thanks to bills that did pass, state will divert money to pay for industry problems: abandoned wells and induced earthquakes.
Stricter enforcement could bring in millions as Olympics approach, housing advocates counter.
Assemblymember Ash Kalra says attacks on the Affordable Care Act underscore the urgency of creating state-run health insurance.
In Texas, environmental activists and experts raise the alarm about the impact on the state’s petrochemical industry.
The state has spent $225,000 in staff time fighting Targa over emission infractions, some that the company reported itself.
To activists, the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti echo two controversial killings in San Diego under Rodney Scott’s watch.
U.S. immigration agents involved in three shootings since June have been recorded or accused of using derogatory language about women or people of color.
Fear of aggressive deportation raids is deterring foreign visitors, leading to a reduction in hours for workers and lost revenue.
Watching from the sky, researchers find planet-warming pollutants leaking into the atmosphere are undercounted by at least two times.
Sluggish labor market swells ranks of long-term unemployed, leaving some job seekers frustrated with an ever-shifting hiring landscape.
Powerful photos capture the lives and work of California immigrants whose contributions often go unseen or underappreciated. A selection of images from an exhibition at Los Angeles County libraries shows the range of visual stories on display through March.
When an international organization sought to create guidelines on climate risk, insurance lobbying groups pushed back.
Emergency state support for Planned Parenthood can’t fully offset lost Medicaid dollars, and patients are paying the price.
Lawsuit over Micron’s massive Syracuse project raises concerns about toxic risks and alleges a rushed environmental review.
A small clutch of Democratic legislators once again sinks a plan to dramatically reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Visions of a booming hub that would bring jobs and prosperity to Appalachia faded, but the plastic “nurdles” remain.
Black Lives Matter leaders recount their arrests last month after a Minnesota anti-ICE protest.
Community groups are pushing back on an impending HUD rule that would force undocumented immigrants from public housing, splitting families.
Lawmakers table bill to expand use of oilfield wastewater and shoot down another that would restrict drone use around “critical” infrastructure.
Carbon capture hasn’t delivered major climate benefits — and the plants would still emit thousands of tons of pollution.
The arrests of two Black journalists for doing their jobs mark a new chapter of an age-old struggle for democracy, inclusion and unflinching truth that traces back to the pioneering journalism of Ida B. Wells.
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.
Unions, small businesses, states sue to stop the administration from punishing blue states by withholding $10 billion in funding.
A nationwide shutdown, inspired by a one-day general strike in response to the killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis last month, shows the evolving tactics of groups from Minnesota to Los Angeles mobilizing against Trump’s immigration agenda.
Federal judge ordered the Trump administration to release those detained; lawsuit called the mass arrest “a Kafkaesque deprivation of liberty.”
State law that prioritizes public health over fossil fuel extraction could win the day for suburban activists fighting drilling plan.
States and consumers accuse insurance giants of using technology to slow payouts and drop homeowners.
Uber-rich say they’ll flee if wealth tax proposal passes. History suggests otherwise.
Despite Trump’s best efforts to wipe out the legacy of George Floyd, history reasserts itself.
Trump has attacked renewable power from every angle, but energy justice scholar Sanya Carley envisions an affordable green future.
Chris Martin is the only Black candidate in the race to replace City Councilmember Curren Price. It’s a pivotal moment for a South L.A. community that has had a Black councilmember since the 1960s but is now the city’s most Latino district.
In candid interview, New Mexico Oil and Gas Association leader says the industry is good for the state’s economy … and environment.
More than 31,000 nurses and health care workers plan to walk out next week following months-long stalemate with Kaiser.
New Mexico’s lawsuit accuses three Texas oil executives of pocketing revenue from oil and gas wells and offloading cleanup costs to the public. An investigation in 2024 by ProPublica and Capital & Main uncovered some of these business dealings.
Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz is one of six people to die in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody less than three weeks into 2026.
Since Trump returned to office, dozens of environmental, wildlife and public access rules have been waived to make way for the border wall.
As the legislative session opens, lawmakers again will weigh a pledge to reduce emissions. Last year, two Democrats joined the GOP to sink it.
Testing of homes in communities surrounding the Eaton and Palisades fires has found dangerous levels of lead and asbestos — even after remediation.
A new California bill aims to rein in mental health coverage denials that leave kids without care.
Social worker Jackie Parra intervenes at L.A.’s busiest animal shelter to help people in crisis keep their pets and housing.
The president denied involvement in the far right game plan, but he has followed it like a script. Here’s what might be next.
Homer City embraces the prospect of jobs but worries the profits and power from a new gas plant will flow to faraway tech companies.
Keith Porter, 43, had been firing a gun into the air to celebrate before he was killed, family members say. If the shooter weren’t an ICE agent, “We would expect that there would be an arrest,” a community leader says.
Experts are watching whether state protections can help shield immigrants from Trump’s crackdown and survive legal challenges.
Meatpacking giant JBS gave $5 million; industry soon celebrated a decision to make those on the assembly line work faster.
American foreign policy complicates an already difficult situation for those reporting on the civil war in Myanmar.
David G. Brown, political cartoonist for the Los Angeles Sentinel, the city’s oldest Black newspaper, reflects on the art of racial dissent. An exhibit at the Watts Towers showcases his work.
Financial inequality, homelessness and the highest unemployment in the nation — for all its riches, California still has some big problems for lawmakers to address in 2026.
Capital & Main’s video reporting reached millions of viewers in 2025, expanding our coverage of the most pressing issues facing our readers.
A selection of some of our most memorable, revealing and impactful journalism of the year.
As he heads into his final year in Sacramento — and mulls a presidential campaign — some in the Golden State have gained access to more care, others not so much.
Trump and Republican lawmakers want steep funding cuts, while new eligibility rules from HUD would imperil housing for millions of people.
A president with strong Christian support is driving an aggressive crackdown on immigrants who are disproportionately Catholic. How is this playing out in the pews?
In ways subtle and extreme, the warming climate is hitting those with the least the hardest.
The actor-director-producer’s legacy includes succeeding in passing a tax on tobacco products to bolster early childhood development in California.
California prohibits the use of credit history to reject applicants with housing assistance without considering pay stubs and other alternatives. Big landlords keep doing it anyway.
In October, Michigan home care workers formed a statewide union of 32,000. Experts say it’s a template for protecting rights in 2026.
Apartment hunters with rental assistance were not welcome at many Jamison buildings, in apparent violation of California law, a Capital & Main investigation found.
Capital & Main investigated seven of the city’s largest rental property owners and found most skirted anti-discrimination laws. Here’s how each landlord fared.
We have to call out the increasingly blatant bigotry of the right — like President Trump’s calling Somali Americans “garbage” — or risk accepting it as the new normal.
Health insurance costs will skyrocket for millions of Americans if certain tax credits expire. Small business owners and the self-employed will be hit especially hard.
San Jose is delivering low-cost tiny homes for people living on the streets of California’s third-largest city — as long as the state continues to fund it.
A two-part series investigating California’s failure to protect underage farmworkers won the December Sidney Award from the Sidney Hillman Foundation.
Many migrants who were hoping to reach the U.S. are now stuck in a backlog with Mexico’s refugee agency; others are going home.
The Japanese American National Museum stands out among cultural institutions by refusing to bend to President Trump’s attacks on diversity, history and the truth.
State agencies to join forces to crack down on child labor violations after Capital & Main found enforcement breakdowns.
Trump’s “Beautiful Bill” is set to drive millions of Americans from Medicaid. The Golden State’s leaders are trying to lessen the damage.
Three million care workers, many of them Black and Latina women, could be classified as “companions” instead of professionals.
Tariffs, extreme weather events and the president’s funding cuts are contributing to increasing rates, sometimes by double digits.
Plan puts costs of new solar farms on New Mexicans and extends lives of coal-fired plants. Critics call it “profound greenwashing.”
Danny Goldberg, whose new book chronicles the post-Rodney King push to remove LAPD Chief Daryl Gates, talks about parallels between 1992 and the Trump era.
New Mexico’s fourth largest city is integrating the average rent into calculations of its lowest pay rate.
A new Black Friday campaign against Amazon, Home Depot and Target says diversity is the best value.
A program in Los Angeles County is recycling unused food to feed hungry residents — and offering a model for other cities.
Cubans and other third-country nationals are dropped off on the streets of Villahermosa where they struggle to survive.
Data and aid to fight landslides fueled by bigger fires and intense storms are imperiled under Trump
Despite a burst of new housing laws, buying a home in California is increasingly unattainable – especially for lower-income earners, a new report shows.
State officials are failing to protect the health and safety of thousands of young field laborers, an investigation has found.
Child laborers and other farmworkers in California are being exposed to toxic pesticides, in part because of splintered enforcement of safety regulations.
Según revela una investigación, las autoridades estatales evaden proteger la salud y seguridad de miles de trabajadores agrícolas jóvenes.
