Palm Springs, Thanks for Showing AAN Conference-Goers a Good Time; an Update on, Ew, the ‘Explosive Diarrhea Outbreak’–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: July 13, 2026

Indy Digest: July 13, 2026

Fourteen months or so ago, I agreed, on behalf of the Independent, to host the 2026 AAN (Association of Alternative Newsmedia) Conference in Palm Springs. As a result, 130 or so publishers, editors, vendors and speakers came to the valley last week for two days of learning, networking and, hopefully, inspiration.

I was a bit nervous about hosting the conference. For one thing, the Independent is one of the smallest publications—if not the smallest—ever to host the conference, which has taken place every year since 1978. Plus, July isn’t exactly the most dynamic and comfortable time to be in the Coachella Valley, as we all well know.

For another, AAN Publishers means a lot to me. I’ve been involved with the organization in one way or another since 2000, and I’ve attended these annual conferences every year, except for one, since then. The knowledge, mentorships, connections and friendships I’ve made via AAN played a massive role in giving me the confidence (and, perhaps, the complete insanity) to move here and start the Independent more than 13 years ago.

The primary duty of the AAN Conference host is to suggest locations for the host hotel and social events; the AAN staff then mostly does the rest. I suggested several hotels for our booker, Susan Torregrossa, to get bids; Susan worked out a great deal with my first choice, the almost-brand-new Thompson Palm Springs.

With the host hotel secured, it was then time to iron out those aforementioned social-events venues. Todd Stauffer, AAN’s executive director, made a site visit in November, during which we visited my picks for our board dinner, as well as our Thursday and Friday events. Amber Cliett White, AAN’s program manager, then reached out to said venues and started making arrangements, which were confirmed and finalized after a second site visit. The board dinner was on for Eight4Nine Restaurant and Lounge on Wednesday, with an awards event at the Palm Springs Cultural Center on Thursday (which wound up being the venue’s first event post-fire) and a mixer at the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway/Mountain Station on Friday.

Other than writing a guide for conference attendees, and some last-minute errands (picking up signs from Roadrunner Print and Ship, and some tote bags generously arranged for by Visit Greater Palm Springs), my work was done, until people arrived—when it was time for me to be The Host.

My nervousness was all for naught: Despite the heat, everything I have heard thus far from attendees—including the locals who were able to attend for free, thanks to the generosity of the Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation—has been overwhelmingly positive. They were charmed by the hotel, the venues, all of it. I’ve heard myriad comments about employees everywhere being so nice. And people were wowed by the Tramway—even those who are seriously afraid of heights.

Thank you, Palm Springs, for making my colleagues from around the country feel so welcome, and for showing them a great time.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• The New York Times today published a mind-blowing story regarding Israel’s efforts to turn former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad into an intelligence asset. Here’s a gift link. A snippet: “Mr. Ahmadinejad’s 2024 visit to (Budapest’s Ludovika University of Public Service) and a second one the following year were part of a yearslong Israeli effort to groom him as an intelligence asset who, when the time came, could be installed as Iran’s new leader, according to both American and Iranian officials familiar with the operation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive intelligence. … Israel’s decision to build a regime-change plan around Mr. Ahmadinejad is an extraordinary twist in the saga of the country’s relations with the former president, who was known for accelerating Iran’s nuclear program, calling regularly for the destruction of Israel and denying the Holocaust. In recent years, according to American officials, Israel secretly paid money to Mr. Ahmadinejad for housing and travel, and Israeli operatives met him abroad on several occasions, including during his trips to Budapest.”

• “Explosive diarrhea outbreak” is a term I really hate typing. The Los Angeles Times reports on the disease spreading across the country: “There have been cases of cyclosporiasis infection in California this year, but none has been linked to the current outbreak. Public health officials, however, have advice for residents to stave off illness. Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by several species of the microscopic parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis and is spread through the feces from an infected person that has contaminated food or water, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People become infected with the illness by consuming food or water that has been contaminated with the parasite—the infection is not transmitted from person to person. The epicenter of the current outbreak is in Michigan, which reported as of Friday more than 1,500 cases, including 44 people who were hospitalized. The state typically reports about 50 cases of cyclosporiasis annually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had reports of more than 800 domestic cases of the illness as of Friday and said over 1,500 ‘required further analysis to confirm.’ The CDC said 31 states had reported cases.”

• The Trump administration is again attempting to crack down on disclosures of information they don’t want disclosed. The Washington Post (gift link) reports: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Monday that the Pentagon and Justice Department have launched a joint task force to identify and prosecute people who leak sensitive government information. The announcement comes days after the Justice Department issued rare subpoenas to several New York Times reporters to appear before a grand jury over their reporting on inadequate security features of President Donald Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One plane. Law enforcement said the journalists are not under investigation, suggesting officials are attempting to seek the journalists’ testimony to determine the sources of that information. Hegseth said in a taped video posted on social media that he is dedicating more resources and personnel to identify leakers. He tasked the Defense Department’s general counsel with leading the probes within the Pentagon, saying each component within the department has 48 hours to respond to requests for information.”

• Also from The Washington Post (gift link): In an interview, the head of CVS Health/Aetna explained why his company does not want to cover GLP-1 meds: “Aetna’s corporate customers who pay for private employee health insurance are not ready to swallow the high costs of the enormously popular drugs, CEO David Joyner said. ‘Everybody intuitively believes these medications create long-term health benefits, but the evidence hasn’t yet demonstrated that paying today’s prices generates enough downstream savings,’ he said. ‘The economics simply aren’t there yet.’ When GLP-1 drugs will bend the health care cost curve downward is a much-debated question. There is no dispute that helping people lose weight reduces cholesterol, blood pressure and improves heart health. But the return on investment of covering the drugs—in terms of reduced costly medical procedures and hospitalizations—has not yet been proved. Joyner said another fundamental problem is the cost of the drugs, which are sold by Eli Lilly, which makes Zepbound and Foundayo, and Novo Nordisk, which makes Wegovy.“

• The SFGate headline: “United argues in SF court that ‘window seat’ doesn’t mean seat next to window.” Uh, what? Details: “According to a Reuters report, the suit was filed as a proposed class action seeking damages for hundreds of thousands of affected flyers. A similar suit against Delta Air Lines is pending in a Brooklyn, N.Y., federal court. The plaintiffs said they paid extra specifically to book a window seat, but when they boarded their flights, they were sitting next to a blank wall, not a window. In requesting a dismissal of the case, United told the court that in the airline industry, the term ‘window seat’ doesn’t mean a seat next to a window—it means a seat next to the wall of the fuselage, which may or may not have a window in it. (The same logic apparently doesn’t apply to aisle seats, which are always next to the aisle.) The passengers said they were never notified during the booking and seat selection process that their window seat didn’t have a window.”

• And finally … never piss off an elephant, because if you do, it may take vengeance on your entire family. That may not actually be true, but that’s the lesson I am taking from this bonkers story from Vice: “A man in Nepal crossed two rivers to escape the elephant that killed his parents. He sold his home, relocated his family, and started over in the Jagatpur region. Fourteen years later, the same elephant broke through the walls of his new house and killed his daughter-in-law and four-year-old grandson. The elephant’s name is Dhurbe, and he has his own Wikipedia page. According to Abinash Thapa Magar, information officer at Chitwan National Park, Dhurbe has killed at least 25 people since 2010—making him one of the most documented problem elephants in the world. … When young male elephants mature, dominant bulls drive them out of their herds and into solitary lives on the fringes of human settlements. Cut off from the herd and foraging where food exists, these males become the animals most likely to end up in fatal contact with people. Dhurbe has followed that path since at least 2009.”

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