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And now for something completely different: A deep dive into a very fraught raisin situation.

My colleague Jonah Bromwich recently traveled to Fresno for the piece, and — despite stumbling upon a juicy story full of noirish intrigue — lived to tell the tale:

Raisins. They sound like a pretty dry subject.

But as I was preparing for an interview with Sun-Maid’s chief executive, I found two fertile pieces of information: One was that most of the major figures in the raisin industry had been on the job for decades.

The other was that the young chief executive, Harry Overly, had in his first year on the job pulled out of something called the Raisin Bargaining Association, an organization the company had been a part of for decades. I wondered if there had been any repercussions.

When I asked about it, Mr. Overly hesitated. “There was definitely some intimidation stuff that went down,” he said.

What did that mean? When he was pushed, the whole story came out. It involves menacing notes, death threats and the potential burning of Sun-Maid’s raisins. You can read all about it here.

On the invitation of one of my sources, the private detective Rocky Pipkin, I flew to Fresno in late March. (Mr. Pipkin, who was an extraordinarily gracious and helpful host, ended up being cut from the finished story.) By this point, I had been hearing stories about the so-called raisin mafia for months. I’m a neurotic person to begin with, and I can’t say I landed in Fresno in a calm state of mind. I was sure I was in danger. Furthermore, I had a bad head cold.

I checked into my hotel somewhere around midnight. I got into the elevator. I must have looked awful.

The burly man who followed me into the elevator must have noticed. “Long day?” he asked.

“Yep,” I said.

“Good thing it’s almost over,” he said, calmly.

The elevator doors opened and I sprint-walked to my room and locked and bolted the door.

Of course, nothing bad happened to me in Fresno. Everyone I talked to was helpful and interesting, and I’m grateful for their generosity and hospitality.

Mr. Pipkin told me enough amazing stories to inform five years of reporting, and arranged for me to be flown in a tiny plane above the Central Valley so I could see Raisin Town from above, as well as citrus and wheat and alfalfa and mansions and airstrips and a traffic jam on Highway 99.

Here’s what else we’re following

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• In a video posted on social media before she left for college, Yusi Zhao tells the camera, “I tested into Stanford through my own hard work.” In April, she was removed from the university because it came to light that her family paid $6.5 million to the man at the center of the sprawling college admissions scandal. Her mother said she thought it was a donation to the school. [The New York Times]

Also: Did you go to Stanford, or are you a student there now? What was the application process like and what did you do to prepare? And what was it like to go to school at one of the world’s most elite institutions? Let us know at [email protected].

• House Democrats’ feud with Attorney General William P. Barr boiled over on Thursday. “What is deadly serious about it is the attorney general of the United States of America was not telling the truth to the Congress of the United States,” Representative Nancy Pelosi told reporters, escalating a fight between the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. “That’s a crime.” [The New York Times]

• The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into Pacific Gas & Electric’s accounting for losses after devastating wildfires. It’s the latest in a series of investigations into the troubled utility’s practices and culture. [The New York Times]

• “You actually hear a frighteningly clear articulation of Christian theology in certain sentences and paragraphs.” Evangelical pastors are grappling with the suspected Poway gunman’s manifesto. To some, it’s dismissed as white supremacist drivel informed by dark corners of the internet. But others say it also shows the influence of a childhood in the pews — and leaders need to reckon with that. [The Washington Post]

• Facebook has banned Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist, and other high-profile right-wing figures from its services, saying that they violated policies against promoting or engaging in violence and hate. [The New York Times]

• Marc Benioff, the billionaire chief executive of Salesforce, donated $30 million to U.C. San Francisco to study homelessness. He also pumped millions into supporting a measure aimed at taxing large companies like Salesforce to pay for homeless services. [The Associated Press]

Only in California

• “I don’t want to move my left to the center. I want my left to stay where they are. But I want them to know that we need a center.” Ellen Tauscher was a centrist Democratic congresswoman and diplomat who helped negotiate a treaty with Russia that limited nuclear warheads. She died this week at 67. [The New York Times]

• An empty-nester in Piedmont invited a homeless couple to move into his $4 million home. Then, the frustrating, predictable police calls started, a columnist writes. The homeowner is white and the couple is black. [The San Francisco Chronicle]

• Need a real estate palate cleanser for your eyes? Or do you like to critique interior design? Scroll through this look at this year’s San Francisco Decorator Showcase, where Bay Area designers were unleashed on rooms in an 18,000-square-foot Presidio Heights mansion. [Curbed San Francisco]

And Finally …

I’ll be filling in for Tejal Rao today with your weekend recommendation. But it’s still inspired by her travels around the state.

This week, she wrote about how a Napa tomato grower, Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farms, completely rethought his work in light of a changing climate.

“A little struggle builds a tomato’s character, just like a person’s,” he told Tejal. “But it’s become a real roller-coaster ride out there.”

So, in addition to the fully grown tomatoes he once provided mostly to top restaurants like Chez Panisse in Berkeley, he started selling young plants and seeds. And he started breeding varieties not just for taste but also for hardiness.

Obviously, the recommendation here is tomatoes — colorful, “outrageous” ones, as Wild Boar describes its product. It’s almost summer, right?

California Today goes live at 6:30 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: [email protected]. Were you forwarded this email? Sign up for California Today here.

Jill Cowan grew up in Orange County, went to school at U.C. Berkeley and has reported all over the state, including the Bay Area, Bakersfield and Los Angeles — but she always wants to see more. Follow along here or on Twitter, @jillcowan.

California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley.

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