In California: The state's housing crunch is literally making people sick

Wednesday's news includes a new use for cow poop, a Trump fundraiser in Southern California, and a study that indicates a connection between car commuting and chemicals that may cause cancer.

Gabrielle Canon here, filling in for Arlene Martinez who will be back tomorrow.

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But first, there's still time to make big plans for the upcoming three-day weekend — especially if you are looking for a quick getaway to romance your Valentine without all the pink and red decor. The Desert Sun has you covered with a list of the best adventure ideas that will have you day-dreaming through the next two workdays. (And I won't tell anyone if you use the inspiration to take yourself out — let's hear it for self-love, am I right?)

Now, today's news.

The housing crisis is making people sick

A room infested with mice, rats and cockroaches. Showers under a cold drip of water amid moldy walls impenetrable by bleach. Fierce asthma attacks, induced by rodent feces. These are hallmarks of California's housing crisis. Health officials are now warning that the substandard and often overcrowded conditions are becoming a crisis of their own.

The Californian tells the story of a single mother, Tanya Harris, who is working two jobs while she tries to keep a roof over her children's heads. The family of four has had to navigate new health risks that come with housing instability, issues doctors are now seeing across the state.

Along with a rise in asthma attacks, the housing crisis has produced a surge in health problems, including communicable diseases, viruses and head lice. Diseases like tuberculosis and the flu spread more easily in cramped housing and can be a death sentence for the uninsured and low-income people who live there.

Deceit, disrepair and death in a SoCal rental empire

Landlord Mike Nijjar lives in a mansion in one of the most expensive districts of Los Angeles. Tucked in a community behind gates, his six-bedroom, 12,000-square-foot home features a waterfall, a tennis court, vineyard and reflecting pool. But Nijjar earned his millions running an empire of low-income rentals across California — many of which are "dirty, dilapidated, and even deadly," according to a new striking story from LAist.

Diving into code-enforcement documents, lawsuits and public data, and interviewing housing advocates, tenants and former employees of Nijjar's company, PAMA Management, reporter Aaron Mendelson took a deep look into Nijjar's businesses and the devastating conditions affecting tens of thousands of the poorest residents.

What else we are reading today

• California’s oldest weekly newspaper was on the verge of going under — until this retiree stepped up.

• Mayhem erupts after officials mistakenly release a patient infected with the deadly coronavirus into a group of evacuees quarantined at a Marine Corps base in San Diego.

• California lawmakers will consider a new bill that could mean prison time for porch pirates.

• Inside the battle to reclaim 'California,' the original name of Baja California Sur

• A new report from California's Legislative Analysts Office finds Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to address the homeless crisis falls short.

Ellison to host Trump fundraiser in SoCal

President Donald Trump's approval rating in California is at 31%, according to a January poll by the Public Policy Institute of California. In 2018, the GOP lost seven congressional seats in the Golden State. But California still has almost 5 million registered Republicans and a bounty of conservative campaign financiers who, in the past, haven't hesitated to open their wallets for the GOP's presidential candidates.

Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison will host Trump at a campaign fundraising event at his Coachella Valley estate on Feb. 19, less than two weeks before California's Super Tuesday primary election.

Plans call for a golf outing at Ellison's lux Porcupine Creek home in Rancho Mirage. For $100,000, supporters get golf outing and photo with the president. For $250,000, contributors get a photo, golf outing and participate in a round table.

Riverside County Republican Party Chair Jonathan Ingram said having the president visit the region has "immense" meaning for local Republicans. "It's showing that he understands that California actually matters in respect to being a Republican and a conservative," Ingram said.

Is car commuting exposing you to cancer-causing chemicals?

Californians spend more time commuting in their cars than do residents in other states, an issue that's only gotten worse as high rents have pushed people out to cheaper cities farther from their jobs. Twenty percent of Golden Staters spend two hours in the car getting to work or school each day.

According to a new study out of the University of California, Riverside, these commuters may be exposing themselves to chemicals suspected of causing cancer.

Researchers found that driving is linked to exposure to chemicals used as flame retardants, which are likely inhaled. More time in the car means more time spent with these chemicals.

“We think the possible source of exposure is dust in the vehicle, but we don’t know that for sure," said David Volz, an associate professor of environmental toxicology at the university. "So in the interim, it’s probably a good idea to wipe the dust off your dashboard or vacuum.”

A new use for poop?

Dairy is one of California's biggest industries, adding roughly $20 billion to the state economy despite a recent downturn. But cows produce more than cash — they are also big methane producers and, well, big mess makers. There's a lot of poop.

The Visalia Times-Delta reports, however, there might be a new eco-friendly way to use all that manure — and it could fuel dairy production further. Western Milling, a company that sells agricultural products, has started running 30 of its 100 trucks on "Cow Natural Gas," produced from poop.

The move has been a big topic of discussion at the World Ag Expo, currently being held in Tulare. "We think it's a great thing for the environment, a great thing for California and a win-win all the way around," CEO Kevin Kruse said.

I'll leave you with proof that data can be beautiful. Today, NASA's Landsat program — which has collected satellite imagery of the Earth since 1972 — tweeted a photo of California farmland that can be used to predict when crops are ready to harvest.

Read the rest of their thread about the data (and how it helps grow our food) here.

Thanks for spending your Wednesday evening with me! Arlene will be back in action tomorrow.

In California is a roundup of news compiled from across USA TODAY Network newsrooms. Also contributing: LAist, New York Times, Daily Beast, Fresno Bee, and Los Angeles Times.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The state's housing crunch is literally making people sick