I overhear Kevin Stark say something about a fat bear contest, and think to myself that it sounds like a fun web post. On my way to a meeting, I stop at his desk and he shows me the highlight reel from webcam videos of Alaska bears swimming, wrestling, fishing, eating, leaping. One bear leaps from a rock ledge in the middle of the river, dives under, and leaps up again, arcing across the water almost like a dolphin. I want to dive into a river as I watch them. Imagine, as you read the story, a day punctuated with fat bear videos, debates over which bear will win, and a raucous headline brainstorm aimed at capturing the sheer frivolity of the thing.

A few days earlier, it was another scene entirely. Me, Molly Peterson and Cheryl Devall pouring over every word of Molly's tale of how heat affects Californians. We had to take out two minutes and 40 seconds. Her storytelling makes rising heat a visceral presence, carries us into warehouses and homes to feel how this presence shapes fear and desolation in people's lives, and how very simple things can make a difference. Do we take out the fact that the laborer is a citizen? Do we tighten the section that described the foggy San Francisco neighborhood where a woman died of heat? We suggest. We pause, feel the loss. Debate. Decide. 

Every story you hear has a backstory like this. These are only two windows to offer you a glimpse into our newsroom.