What You Need to Know if You're Planning an Outdoor Adventure This Summer

Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, July 9, 2026

• July has officially started, and if you haven’t gone hiking or camping yet, you’re probably thinking about it. But California, the great state that it is, is brimming with possibilities, especially when it comes to outdoor adventures. Do you go to Yosemite and deal with the big crowds that park has seen after it dropped its reservation system this year? Or maybe you stay local. Or what about hike intensity? What about the heat, crowds, gear? 
• As California state employees begin to follow Governor Gavin Newsom’s return to office mandate, some workers in Sacramento are raising alarms about the conditions they’re facing, including bed bugs. 
• For years, tribal casinos in California have claimed they have exclusive rights to host blackjack and other Las-Vegas style gambling. But tribes are facing yet another defeat, in the wake of a new court ruling last week.

Tips on how to enjoy the outdoors in California  during the summer travel season

Yosemite National Park’s summertime crowds are already back in full force. And with the park’s vehicle reservation system to enter the park officially scrapped for 2026, visitors are reporting that finding parking and a peaceful place to soak in the iconic views on peak weekends is already proving challenging.

So whether it’s the traffic, the huge popularity of Yosemite’s campgrounds, the $100 fee for visitors from abroad or the widespread uncertainty caused by the Trump administration’s attacks on National Parks Service staffing last year, there are several reasons some people might be looking to other corners of California for a wilderness getaway this summer. And there are plenty of options all across the state – from other state and national parks, to regional ones, where  people can enjoy the outdoors.

If you’re looking to travel on a budget, there are a number of options, said KQED Outdoors Engagement Reporter Sarah Wright. “You can try to borrow or rent gear. The only things you truly need on a camping trip is a tent, a sleeping bag, and a sleeping pad. And those are things you can get at your local outdoors retailer and rent for the weekend. You could borrow from a friend,” she said. “You could find them on Facebook Marketplace. Beyond that, everything you wanna bring, you can bring from home. I brought my pots and pans from home, a spatula from home and the rest of it you can thrift. I went to a bunch of thrift stores in San Francisco. I found string lights. I found a headlamp. So, totally doable on a budget.”

‘Swarms’ of bed bugs force California Department of Education employees to work remotely

Bed bugs continue to be a problem for employees at the California Department of Education (CDE) who say the building at 1430 N St. in Sacramento has been infested.

“I saw with my own eyes at least 50 bugs,” said Gina Garcia-Smith, an education programs consultant at CDE.  Garcia-Smith said what began as an isolated incident in one area of the building has now spread to multiple floors, causing widespread anxiety about working conditions among staff, forcing them to work entirely remotely until at least July 13. It comes as state workers are beginning to return to the office following Governor Gavin Newsom’s mandate, which has been met with intense pushback.

The department isn’t under the RTO mandate and is still hybrid, coming into the office only two days a week. But a recent bill pushed through the legislature placing CDE under the Governor’s control could change that, potentially exposing more workers.

Service Employees International Union Local 1000 (SEIU), which represents 96,000 state workers, released a statement saying exposure to bed bugs risks workers having to replace their belongings or pay out of pocket to fumigate their own homes. “California’s affordability crisis is already crushing state workers, and now unsafe worksites threaten to pile on more unexpected costs,” said Ancia Walls, SEIU Local 1000 President.

In a statement to CapRadio, the Department of General Services (DGS), which manages the building, acknowledged the presence of bed bugs but denied there was an infestation. “When DGS was notified of the presence of bedbugs at the building, we acted immediately,” the statement said. “The building was closed to allow for a thorough inspection and implementation of industry standards by subject matter experts that help with the eradication of the bed bugs. All areas were inspected, and areas were treated as recommended by the subject matter experts.”

Judge rejects California tribes’ latest attempt to kill blackjack at cardrooms

California’s dozens of private gambling halls can continue offering blackjack and other table games after a San Francisco judge ruled last week that Attorney General Rob Bonta overstepped when he tried to ban them.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Darwin ruled that Bonta’s Bureau of Gambling Control didn’t have the legal authority to issue statewide rules severely restricting the games at cardrooms. The ruling, which followed Darwin’s temporary order in May, is the latest defeat for the state’s casino-owning Native American tribes. They have spent years and tens of millions of dollars unsuccessfully appealing to courts, voters, the Legislature and California regulators to put their only in-state competitors out of the blackjack business.

The tribes contend cardrooms have unscrupulously violated state laws prohibiting anyone but tribal casinos from offering “house-banked,” Las Vegas-style table games including blackjack, the most lucrative. Cardroom operators say the ruling once again proves their business model is legal. It also ensures taxes that cities receive from blackjack revenues will continue to support local government services and cardroom jobs.