In California: Making it on $8.40 an hour in a blazing housing market

How farmworkers survive on $17,500 per year living in one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. The love for Tulare's Devin Nunes runs deep — what's Ukraine got to do with it? And a family walk takes a terrifying turn when a mountain lion appears.

It's news for Tuesday.

But first, the City of Angels' elected officials have asked Major League Baseball to give the Dodgers the 2017 and 2018 World Series titles because the Houston Astros cheated and maybe so did the Boston Red Sox. Dodgers fans, is this how you want it to end?

I'm Arlene Martínez and I write In California, a daily roundup of news from across USA TODAY Network newsrooms and beyond. Signing up is fast, fun and free.

Nunes can't stop and he won't stop

Was Congressman Devin Nunes of Tulare intimately involved in getting a foreign government — Ukraine — to dig up dirt on President Trump's political opponents? Does it matter to supporters even if he was?

As the Central Valley Republican's role in the matters at the heart of the impeachment inquiry continues to be investigated, the answer to that second question appears to be a resounding no.

"Probably more lying media BS," Tulare resident Gary Mussen said. "They’ve been proven wrong every step of the way."

The latest revelation involves text messages that apparently show Nunes and his staff were aware of and part of the president's efforts to pressure Ukrainian prosecutors to get damaging information about Vice President Joe Biden and the 2016 U.S. election.

Voters could ask Nunes about that, or even what he's doing to better their lives in California's 22nd district, but he hasn't attended election forums or local town halls for more than a decade. And his office hasn't returned letters, phone calls, emails and faxes inviting him to attend an end-of-month primary election forum co-sponsored by the Tulare County League of Women Voters, the Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register, and several other groups.

Expect Nunes to win another re-election bid.

Rich people, taxes and name a new S.F. koala

It's good to be Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. The two rank among the top 5 billionaires who have gained the most since Trump took office.

So where do Golden Staters rank in the property tax world? At $1,559 per capita, we're No. 35. Can you guess where people pay the most? Answer's at the bottom.

The San Francisco Zoo's newest koala needs a name. Donate to have your pick considered and support Australia's emergency wildlife relief efforts at the same time (Note: the link has tidbits from the rest of the country).

Mountain lion attacks toddler in the O.C.

A mountain lion grabbed a 3-year-old boy by the neck and dragged him a short distance on Monday afternoon in Orange County, authorities said. The boy had been out walking with his family when the incident happened at the Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in the rugged foothills of the Cleveland National Forest.

The boy's father threw his backpack at the cougar, which let go of the child and sprinted up a nearby tree, the backpack in her mouth. The family ran out of the park, where they were met by paramedics who quickly treated the child and transported him to a nearby hospital. The boy was in stable condition as of Monday afternoon.

After receiving approval from California Fish and Wildlife, which deemed the animal a public threat, authorities euthanized the mountain lion.

What else we're talking about

Two California lawmakers ask Gov. Gavin Newsom for a posthumous pardon for civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, who was arrested for vagrancy after he was caught having sex with two men in a parked car. Rustin "fell victim to California's homophobic criminal justice system," state Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblymember Shirley Weber wrote.

Lawmakers pledge to revisit AB 5, California's "gig economy" labor law.

LAX begins enhanced health screenings to detect for coronavirus, 291 cases of which have been reported in China (and one in the U.S.). But before you panic, experts say you're more likely to get the flu or the measles (thanks, anti-vaxxers!).

A Corona driver intentionally rammed his vehicle into a car of six teenagers, police say, killing three of them.

More human remains are found at Joshua Tree National Park. In case you're wondering (like me) why it seems there are so many bodies and missing people there, here's something to consider: It's big, really big; 1,238 square miles big.

Amid an $8.5 billion farming industry, a struggle to get by

Salinas, the “Salad Bowl of the World,” exported nearly 400 million pounds of produce in 2018 and is home to an $8.5 billion farming industry. More than 90,000 farmworkers live in the region south of San Jose, earning an average of $17,500 a year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

That's the equivalent of roughly $8.40 an hour based on a traditional 40-hour workweek.

Yet Salinas is one of the most expensive places to live in the country, according to Harvard's State of the Nation's Housing 2016 study. It's only gotten worse in recent years. Silicon Valley's growth has exacerbated the housing crisis in Salinas as skyrocketing prices push commuters outward. Former farming towns have now largely become bedroom communities for San Jose, and commuters creep closer with every year.

A story of where dangerous living conditions, low wages and crowded spaces intersect with love and hope.

Lee este artículo en español: Trabajadores agrícolas de Salinas forman hogares en medio de la crisis de vivienda de California.

Note: The story was produced in collaboration with the Bay Area visual storytelling nonprofit Catchlight and support from the 2019 Impact Fund, a program of the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.

And lastly...

The answer to who pays the highest property taxes: New Jersey.

In California is a roundup of news from across USA TODAY Network newsrooms. Also contributing: Bay Area Reporter, Los Angeles Times, Forbes.

Who are outstanding California women who have inspired you? Learn more about our Women of the Century project here and then make your nomination here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California, housing, Nunes, Dodgers, coronavirus: Tuesday's news