Essential California PRESENTED BY* Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Thursday, June 20, and I’m writing from Los Angeles. Every summer, tens of thousands of people descend on a dry lake bed two hours north of Reno and build a temporary city in the desert. Yes, I’m talking about Burning Man. The festival, which is now in its third decade, draws eccentrics, celebrities and some of the most powerful players in Silicon Valley for a week of all-out art, futurist jargon, free-ish love and — especially in recent years — an undercurrent of semi-clad class warfare. The festival is still two months away, but Bay Area media outlets and longtime burners alike have been aflutter over its future in recent days. Burning Man may be built on principles of “radical self-reliance,” but its pop-up city is erected on public land managed by the Nevada division of the Bureau of Land Management. And on Friday, the BLM released its final environmental impact statement on Burning Man, which stated that attendees could face drug screenings at entrances. It remains unclear whether these screenings would be instituted at this year’s festival or in 2020. (A BLM spokesperson told the Reno Gazette Journal that it may hire a private security firm to do it this year or potentially wait until 2020; the BLM has yet to return my call.) [See also: “Burning Man could start drug screening at all entrances, federal agency says” in the Sacramento Bee] Sure, some people may attend Burning Man sober, but drugs (particularly those of the powder, paper and pills variety) are central to the festival’s reputation as a 9½-day “anything goes” escape from reality. And “whatever reputational expectation anyone has, it’s not terribly inaccurate,” says Burning Man expert Brian Doherty, a senior editor at Reason magazine and author of the 2004 book “This Is Burning Man.” One quick thing to clarify before we go any further, as the festival is held in the Nevada desert and this is, of course, the Essential California newsletter: Even though Black Rock City is technically about 40 miles east of the California border, as the crow flies, I think it’s fair to say that Burning Man is (for better or worse) deeply California in every sense of the word — from its San Francisco roots (Burning Man began on Baker Beach in 1986) to the deep importance it has among Silicon Valley elites, to say nothing of the ethos of experimentation and artsy weirdness. Another thing to note: Illegal drugs are still illegal at Burning Man, and they always have been. Laws don’t dissipate willy-nilly in a cloud of playa dust, even if did you pay upwards of $425, not including fees, to spend Labor Day creating a new society in your underwear. But, as Doherty put it, “If you’re asking me to estimate, 99.8% of people who do illegal drugs there don’t get in trouble.” There were only 43 arrests, the majority of which were drug-related, during last year’s festival, which was attended by roughly 70,000 people. In this Aug. 31, 2012, photo, an old wooden yacht art car rolls through the playa at Burning Man. (Andy Barron / Associated Press) But drug screening at the entrances could change that equation and fundamentally alter the DNA of the festival. According to Doherty, it could also raise serious 4th Amendment concerns around warrantless searches. (He wrote about those concerns at length in a recent piece for Reason.) According to Capital Public Radio, festival-goers have also called the suggested drug searches unconstitutional, after the issue was initially raised in a draft report this spring. So, what comes next? The associate director of government affairs for the Burning Man Project — the San Francisco-based nonprofit that manages the event — authored a post before the release of the final impact report saying that the festival doesn’t believe that the big changes will be instituted this year. A 30-day review and appeal period began June 14, when the report was published, so we’ll probably be hearing plenty more in the coming days. The Burning Man Project’s communications manager told me that it would be issuing a “comprehensive statement” later this morning, and we’ll update the online version of the newsletter when it’s out. In Doherty’s view, the relationship between the festival and the BLM has never been simple, “but this is the first time something has exploded into anything that could publicly threaten the event continuing to happen at that location.” And now, here’s what’s happening across California: Advertisement by Gundry MD* Remove This Protein From Your Refrigerator Most Americans feel like no matter how many diets they go on or how much they exercise, they still struggle with weight gain, junk food cravings and even belly bloat. The blame is commonly pointed toward a bad metabolism, poor genetics and even old age. However, a new breakthrough discovery shows that the real culprit is linked to one extremely common protein that is likely in your refrigerator right now. While consuming the right protein can help you lose huge amounts of weight, the wrong protein can be a major risk to your health. Click here to find out this one common protein. P.S. Consuming this protein can lead to weight gain, junk food cravings and decreased energy levels, so watch this presentation right now. * This advertiser has no control over editorial decisions or content. End of advertisement. TOP STORIES A seismic storm unleashed more than 1,000 small earthquakes in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. How nervous should we be? Los Angeles Times Citing the homelessness crisis, activists are targeting Mayor Eric Garcetti with a recall campaign. Los Angeles Times L.A. STORIES Gentrification and the passage of time are wiping away some of Los Angeles’ weird texture — not the high culture exactly, just the anti-bland edges. Los Angeles Times The L.A. Unified school board has voted to end the school district’s “wanding” weapons search policy. Los Angeles Daily News L.A. could overhaul how homeless encampments are cleaned. Los Angeles Times The Cayton Children’s Museum at Santa Monica Place awaits its young visitors. 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(The councilman in question also had some choice, albeit less spicy, words for the mayor: He accused her of a “pattern of stifling dissent.”) Santa Barbara Independent CRIME AND COURTS Wildly different stories have emerged of the deadly shooting in a food line at a Corona Costco. Los Angeles Times THE ENVIRONMENT Yosemite National Park’s only road over the Sierra Nevada will reopen Friday, with limited access. Fresno Bee CALIFORNIA CULTURE An editor reflects on how the Long Beach Post became the most-read publication in Long Beach. Long Beach Post Monterey County is exploring potential reuse plans for a 1930s-era jail that famously housed civil rights activist Cesar Chavez for 20 days in 1970. Monterey County Weekly Amazon wants to start delivering alcohol in San Francisco. Mercury News How Redding became an unlikely epicenter of modern Christian culture. CALmatters/KQED Dimple Records, a Sacramento chain of independent record stores, will be closing all seven locations this year. It’ll be holding a “retirement sale” in the interim. Sacramento Bee CALIFORNIA ALMANAC Los Angeles: sunny, 71. San Diego: partly sunny, 68. San Francisco:partly sunny, 63. San Jose: partly sunny, 76. Sacramento: sunny, 88. More weather is here.