Extra, Extra

When It Rains, It Pours: “As much needed rain falls across Los Angeles and Ventura Counties and gives firefighters relief from ongoing wildfires, officials are warning residents of hazardous waste, toxic ash runoff and mudslides.”

+ Maximum Minerals: “It’s endowed with the eighth largest reserves of so-called rare earth elements, which are vital for making everything from mobile phones to batteries and electric motors. It also has large amounts of other key metals, such as lithium and cobalt.” Oh, it has oil and gas too. To understand all the talk about Greenland, go inside the race for Greenland’s mineral wealth.

+ Bird’s Eye View: “When bird flu first struck dairy cattle a year ago, it seemed possible that it might affect a few isolated herds and disappear as quickly as it had appeared. Instead, the virus has infected more than 900 herds and dozens of people, killing one, and the outbreak shows no signs of abating. A human pandemic is not inevitable, even now, more than a dozen experts said in interviews. But a series of developments over the past few weeks indicates that the possibility is no longer remote.” NYT (Gift Article): ‘A Dangerous Virus’: Bird Flu Enters a New Phase.

+ Inflation Ration: “Food banks across the nation are seeing a similar story: A post-pandemic wave of demand for food driven by working people caught in America’s cost-of-living crunch.” Working Americans Turn to Food Banks as Fed Inflation Battle Drags On. And those egg prices? They’re not coming down anytime soon.

+ Stunt Doubletake: NY Mag gives you a look at The Third Annual Stunt Award Nominees. (In 2025, opening more than 50 news tabs should definitely qualify.)

+ Ladies and Gentlemen… For some fun, check out Questlove’s Fantastic Video Mix of 50 Years of SNL Music.