Takeaways From a Gathering of Local Journalists; a Local Bookstore Could Use Your Support–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: July 14, 2025

Indy Digest: July 14, 2025

I was fortunate enough to spend the last week in Wisconsin. After two days in Milwaukee (where I watched my beloved Los Angeles Dodgers get their butts handed to them by the Brewers), we headed to Madison for the annual AAN Publishers (Association of Alternative Newsmedia) Conference, hosted by Isthmus, Madison’s longtime alt newspaper (which will be turning 50 next year).

Here are a few takeaways from the AAN Conference:

• The dedication to truth and resistance among independent, local news publishers remains strong. In various sessions, and during both keynotes—by Katie Drummond, the global editorial director of Wired magazine, and Dan Perkins (aka Tom Tomorrow), the brains behind longtime cartoon This Modern World—the capitulations by Jeff Bezos, ABC News and Paramount to the demands of the Trump administration were discussed and soundly condemned.

By the way: As I’ve said before in this space, if you’re not reading Wired, you really should be. The publication’s political coverage has been second to none in recent months.

• It’s harder than ever to get information from the government—even records that should unquestionably be made public. There are public records and freedom of information laws at both state and national levels, but they have no teeth or means of enforcement—meaning government officials who ignore records requests are rarely punished.

Since Trump returned to the presidency, he’s been making it even harder for journalists and members of the public to get information. From laying off public records teams, to telling government employees they can’t speak to the media, to fighting public-information efforts in court, to even firing public records employees for doing their jobs, the Trump administration has made it clear that it wants to control all means of information dissemination, authoritarianism-style.

Yeah, journalists and members of the public can go to court to force the government to reveal information—but that’s time-consuming and expensive.

• While some local news outlets are doing well, others face significant challenges. While we were in Madison, we all learned that the 32-year-old Boulder (Colo.) Weekly had been shut down—perhaps for good—after a dispute between the owner and the editorial staff.

During uncertain economic times, one of the first things businesses cut is advertising budgets—and some AAN members are feeling pinched.

• It will be a tad warmer at next year’s AAN Conference. The weather in Madison was, outside of a rain storm on Friday, lovely, with highs in the 80s.

In Madison, AAN announced the site of the 2026 conference. It will take place July 8-10, 2026 … right here in Palm Springs, hosted by the Coachella Valley Independent.

Shameless Self Promotion

The results of the national 2025 AAN Awards, for work done last year, were announced in Madison—and the Independent won two awards!

I won first place in the News Story—Shorter Form category, for “Legal but Unethical: Rep. Ken Calvert Has a History of Sending Taxpayer-Funded Campaign Pieces in the Days Leading up to Elections, Using a Congressional-Rules Loophole” (Aug. 18. 2024). The judge noted: “Even though FOIA couldn’t help you on this one, you did lots of great digging to illustrate this franking loophole. It’s one of those stories that makes you shake your head in disbelief — both at the action itself and the public officials’ ambivalence toward it. Makes me wonder which congresspeople from my state do the same thing.”

We won second place in the Online Story Presentation for “True Stories: The American Documentary and Animation Film Festival Is Bringing an International Slate of Movies to the Palm Springs Cultural Center” (March 7, 2024)

If you have the means to support this national-award-winning publication, please consider clicking the button below. Thanks for reading!

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Our friends at the Best Bookstore in Palm Springs have been without air conditioning since the July 4 weekend—and their landlord is refusing to make repairs. The Desert Sun explains: “The independent bookseller on East Tahquitz Canyon Way has been dealing with a broken air conditioner since July 4, forcing shortened store hours as indoor temperatures approach 100 degrees. Paul Carr, who owns the shop alongside his partner Sarah Lacy, says the landlord has so far refused to fix the problem, causing dangerously hot conditions inside the building. … Summers in Palm Springs are notoriously slow for businesses. That’s no different for The Best Bookstore, which relies on the busy tourism season to turn stay financially afloat. In summer, with revenue down, an extra expense like a new air conditioner is hard to fathom. But that’s exactly what Carr and Lacy have been forced to do. In negotiations mediated by the property management company Lyle Commercial Properties, Carr says his landlord is insisting the air conditioner is his responsibility, a claim which he says is not reflected in his lease. But Lyle Commercial Properties, which has represented the landlord during this negotiation, says otherwise.” If you’re in the market for any books, or you can support a fantastic local business that needs your help … you know what to do.

• Victoria Flores, a former Riverside County Sheriff’s captain, is suing the county and Sheriff Chad Bianco, saying she was fired for speaking out against wrongdoing at the county’s jails. Black Voice News (Riverside) reports: “Flores claims she was targeted by Bianco due to what she described as her ‘unwavering commitment to honesty and accountability’ and further declared the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department to be rife with ‘corruption and unconstitutional conduct.’ Her lawsuit is a whistleblower-type indictment of intentional malfeasance by Bianco, first hand observations and accusations of issues already been made by local civil rights groups, family members of detained individuals, loved ones of detainees who died on Bianco’s watch, local news publications, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others. Concerns over Bianco’s management of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department have also already resulted in an ongoing patterns and practices investigation launched by California Attorney General Rob Bonta for possible civil rights violations in February 2023.”

• Here’s something important to watch in the upcoming weeks and months: When the Trump administration’s actions and policies cause harm, some people being harmed refuse to believe Trump and co. are at fault. The Washington Post looks at one example of this, in Curtis, Neb. The lede: “The only health clinic here is shutting down, and the hospital CEO has blamed Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s signature legislation. But residents of Curtis—a one-stoplight town in deep-red farm country—aren’t buying that explanation. ‘Anyone who’s saying that Medicaid cuts is why they’re closing is a liar,’ April Roberts said as she oversaw lunch at the Curtis Area Senior Center. … Arriving for lunch, retired Navy veteran Jim Christensen said he’d read an op-ed that ‘tried to blame everything on Trump.’ ‘Horse feathers,’ he said, dismissing the idea. Curtis has become an early test case of the politics of Trump’s agenda in rural America, where voters vulnerable to Medicaid cuts in Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ law are reluctant to blame the president or congressional Republicans who approved it. Many people in Curtis have directed their frustration at their hospital system instead of their representatives in Washington.”

• A professor, writing for The Conversation, looks at how federal cuts are hampering efforts by cities to prepare for future heat waves: “In June 2021, a deadly heat wave pushed temperatures to 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) in Spokane, Washington, a northern city near the Idaho border where many homes weren’t built with central air conditioning. As the heat lingered for over a week, 19 people died in Spokane County and about 300 visited hospitals with signs of heat-related illnesses. Scientists say it’s not a matter of if, but when, another deadly heat wave descends on the region. To help save lives, the city teamed up with my university, Gonzaga, to start preparing for a hotter future. We were excited and relieved when the community was awarded a $19.9 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to help it take concrete steps to adapt to climate change and boost the local economy in the process. The grant would help establish resilience hubs with microgrids and help residents without air conditioning install energy-efficient cooling systems. … Less than a year later, the Trump administration abruptly terminated the funding. Spokane’s grant wasn’t the only one eliminated—about 350 similar grants that had been awarded to help communities across the country manage climate changes, from extreme heat and wildfire smoke to rising seas and flooding, were also terminated on the grounds that they don’t meet the White House’s priorities.”

• Humans are not the only creatures being harmed by the ICE raids in Southern California. The Los Angeles Times says: “Federal immigration agents raided a Home Depot in Barstow last month and arrested a man who had his 3-year-old pit bull, Chuco, with him. A friend managed to grab Chuco from the scene and bring the dog back to the garage where he lives. Chuco’s owner was deported to Mexico the next day. … It’s not an isolated incident. Since federal immigration raids, primarily targeting Latino communities, began roiling Los Angeles in early June, animal rescues and care providers across the county are hearing desperate pleas for help. At least 15 dogs were surrendered at L.A. County animal shelters due to deportations between June 10 and July 4, according to the county’s Department of Animal Care and Control.”

• Cruelty spans the political spectrum, as proven by this piece by a nonprofit CEO in Time magazine: “‘No! They voted for this to happen,’ a donor wrote in response to our call to give cash relief to Texas flood survivors. Normally, my organization GiveDirectly receives donations, not anger, when we respond to disasters. But this week, after at least 120 people, many of them children, died in the Texas floods, we’ve been inundated with messages implying that the victims had brought this on themselves by helping elect Donald Trump and that the politics of the state. ‘Future Trump voters. Oh well.’ ‘Go ask Elon for help.’ ‘Are you Texans feeling that you voted for the right man?’ A longtime donor said our Texas response has ‘shattered’ their image of our work. This has played out on social platforms as well, prompting some liberal commentators to speak out against the dehumanization of Texas communities. Political trolling online is nothing new, but its spillover into blaming victims and survivors of disaster is a dangerous new low.”

• And finally … today’s recall news involves … yogurt! Allrecipes reports: “Danone U.S. has announced a voluntary recall of YoCrunch yogurt products sold nationwide due to the potential presence of plastic pieces in the dome toppers. Small fragments of plastic found in the separately packaged yogurt toppings may pose a choking hazard. The issue was identified after consumers complained about the presence of plastic pieces inside the cookie, candy, and granola toppers that get mixed into the yogurt containers. These fragments are transparent, may have sharp edges, and range in size from 7 to 25 millimeters, posing a potential safety risk. … The recall affects all flavors and sizes of YoCrunch products currently available in stores, including those sold at Walmart, Dollar General, and Target, along with regional grocery chains.”