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California fires rage from San Bernardino Mountains to Reagan Library, as wine country gets reprieve -- The Hillside fire was burning near the San Bernardino National Forest and quickly spread into neighborhoods early Thursday, consuming at least 200 acres and burning homes as authorities rushed to evacuate sleeping residents. Embers flew onto residential streets, igniting palm trees and setting homes ablaze. Leila Miller, Ruben Vives, Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

Hillside fire: At least six homes burn in San Bernardino amid strong winds -- Fierce winds that whipped up early Thursday sparked new fires across Southern California, including a destructive blaze that tore into neighborhoods in north San Bernardino, consuming homes and forcing residents to evacuate before dawn. Ruben Vives, Hannah Fry, Jennifer Lu in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

Kincade Fire: Worst of Sonoma County blaze appears to be over, 90,000 structures still threatened -- The fire, which ignited and quickly spread on Oct. 23, did not grow overnight after consuming 76,825 acres. Firefighters took advantage of the calmer weather to extend their containment lines around 60 percent of the fire. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/31/19

Getty fire: Some residents remain under evacuation as firefighters monitor winds -- Some residents remained under evacuation in Brentwood as firefighters continued to work on containment of the Getty fire, which broke out Monday near the Getty Center and burned 12 homes and 745 acres. Ruben Vives, Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

In Mendocino County, they see the light — after five days without -- Ukiah is the the county seat and largest town in Mendocino County, a 3,878-square-mile chunk of Northern California that had been without power since Saturday night. That’s when — at precisely 7:07 p.m. — Pacific Gas & Electric pulled the plug on just about the entire county. Ninety thousand people were plunged into the void. Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/31/19

Kincade Fire points out another advantage of tiny homes -- Tiny homes have taken off in popularity and have been widely touted as one of the solutions to the Bay Area’s housing crisis because of their affordability. But the Kincade Fire that’s engulfed Sonoma County revealed another advantage: the ability for people to evacuate from a wildfire — and take their home with them. Jon Kawamoto in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/31/19

Lazarus: California fires will result in higher insurance rates for homeowners -- As an independent insurance broker, she’s been fielding calls from clients asking what’s going to happen to their rates. “It’s not good,” Hamadani, 67, told me. “I tell them rates are going to skyrocket. I have a lot of unhappy clients.” David Lazarus in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

• California wildfires map via the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

GOP enemies wanted to beat Katie Hill. Then they got her nude photos -- Kenneth Heslep’s divorce from Katie Hill had grown nasty by the time he told a podcaster in late September that he was ready to talk publicly about his split with the Democratic congresswoman. Michael Finnegan, Matt Pearce in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

California GOP: Impeachment will help us flip those seats right back -- It’s no secret that President Trump will lose deep-blue California in 2020, but Republicans are betting they can grab back some of the congressional seats they lost last year by slamming Democratic freshmen who are calling for the president’s impeachment. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/31/19

Nearly 400 inmates quarantined after mumps outbreak at L.A. Men’s Central Jail -- The outbreak has infected 18 people in the jail since Oct. 22, when at least one inmate unaware he was infected with the virus was housed at the jail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which runs the lockup. Alene Tchekmedyian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

Quentin Kopp won’t run against Scott Wiener: State says he’s termed out -- The 91-year-old Kopp, who had filed papers to challenge San Francisco Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener in March, received a legal opinion from the state that said he wasn’t eligible to run. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/31/19

Rudy Giuliani needed Apple genius help to unlock his iPhone after being named Trump cybersecurity adviser -- Less than a month after he was named President Donald Trump’s cybersecurity adviser in 2017, Rudy Giuliani walked into an Apple store in downtown San Francisco. He wasn’t looking for a new gadget. Giuliani was looking for help. Rich Schapiro NBCNews -- 10/31/19

For California well owners, clean water is hard to get -- Private well owners confront financial challenges digging new wells to seek uncontaminated water, and connecting to a public water system involves a daunting local and state bureaucratic process. Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado Calmatters -- 10/31/19

CSU professor lost a cut of his CalPERS pension. 5 of his peers with the same deal kept theirs -- California State University Chico reduced a former professor’s pension after determining he rarely worked for 10 years, but did not trim the pensions of at least five other faculty members who took leave under similar circumstances, according to court records. Wes Venteicher in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/31/19

Sentence hearing in fatal Vasco Road crash moves everyone, including the judge -- At a sentencing hearing earlier this month, the family of Brentwood resident Castulo Loredo Jr. tearfully memorialized him in the courtroom, and offered forgiveness for the distracted driver behind the 2017 that crash that took Loredo’s life. Nate Gartrell in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/31/19

Fox: From a Historic Winery in the North to the Reagan Library in the South, California is Burning: Who Will Pay? -- The price for California’s plague of wildfires could be political or could be monetary, but political history dictates that someone pays a price for disaster. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 10/31/19

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

Kincade Fire: How these firefighters found redemption and relief -- It’s too soon to process: The helplessness then. The redemption now. Sonoma County firefighters, the ones who call this place home, still were on guard Wednesday, mopping up hot spots from the ferocious Kincade Fire. Julia Prodis Sulek in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/31/19

From Simi Valley to wine country, extreme winds and explosive fires maintain hold on California -- Buffeted by unusually strong winds, brush fires broke out across Southern California on Wednesday, sending thousands of people fleeing, closing major freeways and threatening the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Richard Winton, Jaclyn Cosgrove, Leila Miller, Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

Extremely critical fire weather will continue Thursday in Southern California -- Red-flag warnings, which expired late Wednesday in Northern California, will remain in effect through Thursday for much of the southern part of the state as strong Santa Ana winds continue. Paul Duginski in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

Cal Fire’s beatdown of Kincade intensifies, reaches 45% containment -- Sonoma County’s weeklong battle with the Kincade Fire appeared all but over Wednesday, after an army of firefighters held their hard-won perimeters overnight and evacuated residents began returning to their homes, many of which had been saved by brute force and luck. Jill Tucker, Evan Sernoffsky and Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Fiona Kelliher, Thy Vo, Maggie Angst, Nico Savidge in the San Jose Mercury$ Benjy Egel and Sam Stanton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/31/19

PG&E outages: Power restoration begins; 64,000 customer accounts still dark -- On Wednesday, following calmer-than-expected winds, utility officials said that the weather had cleared enough everywhere except in Kern County to inspect equipment and lines and turn power back on. Shwanika Narayan and Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Jonathan J. Cooper and Juliet Williams Associated Press -- 10/31/19

Easy fire, burning out of control in Ventura County, started near Edison line, utility says -- Southern California Edison confirmed Wednesday evening that the fire broke out in its service territory near one of its subtransmission lines, which was not de-energized at the time of the eruption. The exact cause of the fire remains unknown. Hannah Fry, Leila Miller, Richard Winton, Jaclyn Cosgrove, Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

PG&E equipment may have started fifth Bay Area fire Sunday, utility tells state regulators -- The utility filed two electrical incident reports Wednesday to the California Public Utilities Commission indicating its equipment may be linked to Oakley and Bethel Island fires early Sunday morning that led to evacuation orders in Eastern Contra Costa County. Matthias Gafni in the San Francisco Chronicle$ George Kelly and Annie Sciacca in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/31/19

Inside the battle to save the Reagan Library as fire laid siege to landmark -- When the Easy fire erupted early Wednesday morning in Simi Valley, the stakes of this particular firefight quickly came into focus: Save the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

Q&A: How a Times photographer got this Easy fire photo with Reagan’s Air Force One -- On a hill in Simi Valley overlooking Southern California, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the final resting place of the 40th president and his wife, and the site of his Air Force One aircraft. Diya Chacko, Wally Skalij in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

‘This is my worst nightmare’: As morning came, so did fire at a Simi Valley homeless camp near Easy Street -- As Joe Lautman woke up Wednesday morning, in the distance he spotted a fire dancing in the hills near the encampment he calls home not far from West Easy Street in Simi Valley. As the Santa Ana winds swirled, he picked up his dog Chula, stepped outside his tent and yelled, “Fire!” The flames were only 100 yards away, Lautman said. Olga Grigoryants in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 10/31/19

Easy fire: Volunteers band together to rescue horses spooked by blaze -- As the fast-moving Easy fire tore through Simi Valley on Wednesday, dozens of neighbors helped evacuate panicked horses from ranches in Ventura County’s rural Santa Rosa Valley, often struggling to push or coax the animals into trailers. Leila Miller in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

Skelton: Has any California governor dealt with more disasters at once than Gavin Newsom? Not likely -- It’s unlikely any previous California governor has faced such a cannonade of calamities — a grand slam of disasters. All at the same time: power blackouts in both Southern and Northern California, and devastating wildfires at both ends of the state. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

Trump antagonist Newsom lavishes praise on president for fire response -- Gov. Gavin Newsom, who rarely misses an opportunity to criticize President Donald Trump, offered rare praise Wednesday for the president during a tour of areas affected by catastrophic fires and widespread power outages in Northern California. Newsom said Trump has been “a partner’’ and that his administration has been “extraordinary” in its response to a state in crisis. Carla Marinucci Politico -- 10/31/19

Gov. Newsom doles apples, apologies at emergency food distribution in Santa Rosa -- Though “Mother Nature has joined the conversation” and California suffers impacts of climate change, Newsom said, “that does not mean we have to live in these kinds of conditions where our lights are going off as often as they have been.” When he apologized to Rincon Valley resident Meggan Williams, a Kaiser Permanente medical assistant, for what she’s had to put up with, she assured him, “It’s not your fault.” Chris Smith in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- 10/31/19

In California Fires, Power Outages Knock Out Modern Phones -- While traditional copper landline phones typically continue working during power outages, newer internet-based voice-calling services that are cheaper for providers to offer and maintain don’t. Sarah Krouse in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 10/31/19

California blackouts: Cell service improving, but frustration mounts -- Cell service is coming back along with power across Northern California, but companies haven’t yet explained why their networks failed despite advance warning, pointed questions from regulators and claims in government filings by wireless operators that they were prepared. Mallory Moench in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/31/19

PG&E Isn’t Alone in Facing Liability Risk Over California Fires -- Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Edison International are among utilities that have disclosed possible responsibility for wildfires. Katherine Blunt and Russell Gold in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 10/31/19

PG&E Trade Punishes Hedge Funds as California Burns -- The Kincade Fire blazing north of San Francisco is wreaking havoc thousands of miles away: on Wall Street. Investors in PG&E Corp. stocks and bonds lost about $4.1 billion in the four trading days after the blaze in Sonoma County, Calif., started late Oct. 23, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal. Matt Wirz and Juliet Chung in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 10/31/19

Many Sonoma County residents invited Kincade evacuees to dinner, helped care for their pets -- As evacuees from the Kincade Fire flooded into Petaluma, software engineer Chase Olivieri wondered how he could help. He thought maybe those displaced by the blaze could use a home-cooked meal and those not displaced would want to cook it. Jill Tucker and Anna Bauman in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/31/19

Kincade Fire: Farmworkers flee without gas or cash and are stranded at makeshift shelter -- An immigrant worker at a vineyard north of Cloverdale, Alvarez understood that he and his family needed to leave, but because his English was limited, he did not understand what exactly was happening, how long they would be gone, or where they would go. Maggie Angst in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/31/19

Wildfires, power outages cause unprecedented healthcare disruption in California -- Healthcare leaders told The Bee that they are confronting a level of disruption to delivering care and running their businesses that they have never seen in their careers as a result of the California wildfires and Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s planned blackouts. Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/31/19

Goats help save California's Reagan library from wildfire -- A herd of 500 goats helped save California’s Ronald Reagan library from a wildfire on Wednesday, after the voracious animals earlier this year ate flammable scrub surrounding the hilltop complex. Omar Younis, Andrew Hay Reuters -- 10/31/19

 

This Guy Thought He Beat Facebook’s Controversial Political Ads Policy -- “Apparently, it’s only O.K. to lie on Facebook if you don’t tell them you’re lying,” said Adriel Hampton, who is running for California governor in protest of the site’s reluctance to fact-check politicians. Niraj Chokshi in the New York Times$ -- 10/31/19

Why Californians are donating millions to Senate candidates in other states -- Californians don’t have a U.S. Senate race on the ballot in 2020, but they have donated more than $13.2 million this year to senators or their challengers across the country, according to federal fundraising disclosures. Seema Mehta, Melissa Gomez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

Stone leaving California Senate for Trump administration -- State Sen. Jeff Stone is heading to the Trump administration, announcing on Wednesday that he had accepted an appointment as the U.S. Department of Labor’s western director. Jeremy B. White Politico Sam Metz in the Palm Springs Desert -- 10/31/19

Adam Schiff: From obscurity to center stage -- Throughout most of his political career, Adam Schiff has been low-key, laboring mostly in the background in the California Senate and then in Congress. Now, at age 59, he finds himself in the national spotlight as a major Donald Trump target amid the hot glare of impeachment furor. Chuck McFadden Capitol Weekly -- 10/31/19

Trump’s San Diego pick for 9th Circuit judge testifies in tense confirmation hearing -- Patrick Bumatay, a federal prosecutor, defended against criticism that he was too inexperienced to sit on the nation’s largest appellate court. Kristina Davis in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 10/31/19

In California, the teen birth rate has hit a record low. How? -- Explanations include the state's comprehensive sex education, access to birth control, better contraception methods and even reality TV. Even so, the rates in some California counties remain very high. Elizabeth Castillo Calmatters -- 10/31/19

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Walters: A titanic battle over work looms -- It would be difficult to name an issue of more fundamental, far-reaching importance than how we earn our livings — and a titanic political battle is about to erupt. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 10/31/19

Juul put 1 million tainted pods into the market, former executive alleges in lawsuit -- Siddharth Breja, who had been the vice president of global finance, claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was “inappropriately terminated” in March, days after raising concerns about a shipment of mint-flavored refill kits and for protesting the company’s refusal to alert the public. The suit also alleges that Juul breached several California business regulations Taylor Telford in the Washington Post$ Sheila Kaplan and Jan Hoffman in the New York Times$ Catherine Ho in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/31/19

Valley congressmen push bill to give legal status to farm workers. Will Trump support? -- Several Valley congressional representatives helped introduce a bipartisan bill Wednesday they say is geared toward providing a path to legal status for more than 250,000 undocumented California farm workers. Brianna Calix in the Fresno Bee -- 10/31/19

Four commanding officers of California Navy base die in unusual string of cancers -- Four commanding officers at a premiere Navy weapons testing base in California have died of cancer, one of several alarming clusters in the military’s aviation community found by a McClatchy investigation. Tara Copp, Shirsho Dasgupta, and Ben Wieder in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/31/19

Latinos experience much lower economic well-being than the state's population as a whole, study suggests -- California's future depends on a strong Latino middle class, one researcher suggests, but the group has been struggling in categories such as income distribution, education, housing and employment and entrepreneurship. Ema Sasic in the Bakersfield Californian$ -- 10/31/19

Transit  

LAX apologizes for ‘unacceptable’ long waits for Uber and Lyft pickups -- Los Angeles International Airport officials apologized late Tuesday night for an “unacceptable level of service” after travelers using the new Uber, Lyft and taxi pickup system faced gridlock, packed shuttle buses and long wait times for rides. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

Homeless  

Homeless deaths in LA County doubled between 2013 and 2018 -- The number of deaths soared from 536 to 1,047. The death rate, which accounts for increases in the homeless population, also increased in that time period—by more than one-third, the report found. Jessica Flores Curbed LA -- 10/31/19

Housing  

L.A. renters facing big hikes could get help from the city -- Los Angeles will cushion the blow of rent hikes for some tenants facing big increases, under a new program approved Wednesday at City Hall. Emily Alpert Reyes, Andrew Khouri in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

More L.A. homes could be rented out on Airbnb. Tenant activists aren’t happy -- Los Angeles could loosen one of the key restrictions in its new rules clamping down on Airbnb-type rentals, allowing people to host travelers in some units covered by the Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

New SF fee on office buildings to pay for affordable housing sails through -- But in San Francisco, which has seen jobs grow 38% since 2010, legislation to double a fee on office development over the next few years breezed through the legislative process, winning unanimous support on Tuesday from the Board of Supervisors. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/31/19

Education 

L.A. Unified files lawsuit against vaping company Juul -- Los Angeles school officials on Tuesday joined a growing number of public agencies taking legal action against youth vaping, filing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of school districts throughout the state against San Francisco-based industry leader Juul. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez walks 3-mile route some San Ysidro students use to get to school -- Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez joined a San Ysidro High School student on a brisk, 3-mile walk to school Wednesday to understand what some students in the working-class community go through to get to school without bus transportation. David Hernandez in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 10/31/19

Landmark Middle School’s top leaders replaced, six weeks after Diego’s death -- Moreno Valley Unified has replaced both top administrators at Landmark Middle School, where a boy died after being assaulted by two other students in September. Beau Yarbrough in the Riverside Press Enterprise$ -- 10/31/19

Former Solana Beach surfing executive gets two months in prison in college admissions scandal -- Jeffrey Bizzack watched in March as 33 parents were arrested and charged with crimes he knew he had committed. Bizzack, a Solana Beach entrepreneur and well-known name in the surfing world, quit his job. He resigned from his board posts. Matthew Ormseth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/31/19

California parents and educators help students cope with fire trauma, again -- Rene Chavarria, a student at Santa Rosa Junior College, was supposed to take two tests this week. Instead, he’s taking shelter with his parents, sisters and grandmother at an evacuation center in Petaluma, about 30 miles south of where the Kincade fire has burned more than 76,000 acres in Sonoma County this week. Ashley A. Smith and Sydney Johnson EdSource -- 10/31/19

Shorter, clearer (but maybe not more transparent) school accountability plan coming -- With marching orders from the Legislature to create a parent-friendly document, the California Department of Education is in the final throes of designing another version — its fourth in 6 years — of the form that districts must use to explain how they’ll use funding from the Local Control Funding Formula. The formula covers about 80 percent of money they get from the state. John Fensterwald EdSource -- 10/31/19

Environment 

Green groups sue Trump administration over California drilling plan -- The lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity comes nearly four weeks after the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management approved a plan that would allow oil and gas leasing in 11 counties in the Central California coastal region. Nichola Groom Reuters -- 10/31/19

POTUS 45  

Trump lures GOP senators on impeachment with cold cash -- On Wednesday, the Trump reelection campaign sent a fundraising appeal to its massive email list urging donors to provide a contribution that would be divided between the president and Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. Each of the senators are supporting the anti-impeachment resolution despite being endangered in 2020. Alex Isenstadt Politico -- 10/31/19

Trump Team Hopes to Expand Base to New States Democrats Hold Now -- Flush with cash, Donald Trump’s re-election team envisions a greatly expanded campaign map in which he’ll challenge his Democratic opponent in blue states he narrowly lost in 2016, including Minnesota, Colorado and even New Mexico and Oregon. Mario Parker Bloomberg -- 10/31/19

White House lawyer moved transcript of Trump call to classified server after Ukraine adviser raised alarms -- Moments after President Trump ended his phone call with Ukraine’s president on July 25, an unsettled national security aide rushed to the office of White House lawyer John Eisenberg. Carol D. Leonnig, Tom Hamburger and Greg Miller in the Washington Post$ -- 10/31/19

Testimony: Nunes acolyte misrepresented himself to Trump as Ukraine expert -- The decorated Army officer who testified to House investigators on Tuesday told lawmakers that a close associate of Republican Rep. Devin Nunes “misrepresented” himself to President Donald Trump in an effort to involve himself further in Ukraine policy, according to two people familiar with his closed-door deposition. Natasha Bertrand Politico -- 10/31/19

Beltway 

Trump judicial nominee cries over scathing letter from the American Bar Association -- Colleagues found Lawrence VanDyke to be “arrogant, lazy, an ideologue, and lacking in knowledge of the day-to-day practice,” the chair of an ABA committee wrote in the scathing letter, the result of 60 interviews with lawyers, judges and others who worked with the Justice Department attorney. Hannah Knowles in the Washington Post$ -- 10/31/19

Former CIA Director Brennan: Votes were swayed by Russian influence operation -- Former CIA Director John Brennan said on Wednesday that at least some American voters were swayed as a result of Russia’s 2016 election interference operation, a statement that went further than the official assessments of U.S. intelligence agencies and lawmakers. Raphael Satter Reuters -- 10/31/19

Twitter to ban all political ads amid 2020 election uproar -- Twitter on Wednesday said it would ban all advertisements about political candidates, elections and hot-button policy issues such as abortion and immigration, a significant shift that comes in response to growing concerns that politicians are seizing on the vast reach of social media to deceive voters ahead of the 2020 election. Tony Romm and Isaac Stanley-Becker in the Washington Post$ -- 10/31/19

Facebook reports record revenue in third quarter amid continued scrutiny from regulators -- Facebook shrugged off months of criticism from regulators and privacy experts Wednesday with record quarterly revenue, revealing advertisers are still flocking to the site. Marie C. Baca in the Washington Post$ -- 10/31/19

Kamala Harris to slash staff, restructure campaign as she hemorrhages cash -- Kamala Harris is dramatically restructuring her campaign by redeploying staffers to Iowa and laying off dozens of aides at her Baltimore headquarters, according to campaign sources and a memo obtained Wednesday by Politico, as she struggles to resuscitate her beleaguered presidential bid. Christopher Cadelago and Scott Bland Politico -- 10/31/19

 

-- Wednesday Updates 

Firefighters battle to save Reagan Library as Easy fire reaches its doorstep -- Perched on a hill overlooking Simi Valley and Moorpark, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library offers sweeping views. But that location has long made it vulnerable to wildfires. On Wednesday, the fast-moving Easy fire had surrounded the library, which was closed to the public. Those in the library sheltered in place as helicopters dumped thousands of gallons of water on nearby flames and fire crews cut containment lines around the fast-moving blaze. Richard Winton, Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/30/19

Fast-moving Easy fire expands to 1,300 acres, forces thousands to flee in Simi Valley near Reagan Library -- A large brush fire erupted in Simi Valley early Wednesday and quickly burned toward neighborhoods, sending thousands fleeing from their homes before dawn amid strong Santa Ana winds. Hannah Fry, Leila Miller, Richard Winton, Jaclyn Cosgrove in the Los Angeles Times$ Marcio Sanchez and Gregory Bull Associated Press Alma Fausto in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 10/30/19

Multiple fires erupt in Calabasas, Riverside and Kern counties -- The Los Angeles County Fire Department is warning residents near Las Virgenes Road and the 101 freeway to prepare for evacuations as a brush fire in the Calabasas community of Hidden Hills has developed. Also in that area, the Mureau fire at Mureau and Mountain View has grown to five acres and is threatening structures. Aerial footage shows that the fire ignited in the area where the Woolsey fire took place last year. Nina Agrawal, Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 10/30/19

Cal Fire’s army of 5,000 wins overnight battle with Kincade Fire. But the war continues -- The firefighters were ready. The perimeter lines lay carved by bulldozers and hand crews. And by early Wednesday morning, the overnight battle against this year’s biggest wildfire appeared to be won. Sarah Ravani, Kevin Fagan, Megan Cassidy and Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Benjy Egel and Sam Stanton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/30/19

PG&E outages: Millions still without power; East Bay, Marin spared new blackouts -- With about 365,000 homes and businesses without power, PG&E officials said Wednesday that the weather is “all clear” to start inspecting equipment and lines everywhere except Kern County. Utility meterologists don’texpect anymore dangerous winds for the next seven days. Catherine Ho and Steve Rubenstein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/30/19

PG&E outages: Has my power been restored? Will it go out again? -- Pacific Gas & Electric Co. officials said they were working to restore power to about 365,000 homes and businesses affected by shut-offs that started Saturday because of high winds that threatened to damage the company’s equipment and spark fires. Alejandro Serrano in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 10/30/19

SDG&E cuts electricity to more than 25K customers as winds gust to near 70 mph -- San Diego Gas & Electric has notified an additional 15,409 customers that they could lose power during the wind storm, which is expected to remain strong Wednesday. Gary Robbins, Karen Kucher in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 10/30/19

10 years of California blackouts? Gavin Newsom says this is ‘not the new normal’ -- While he reminds audiences he’s been in office just nine months, Newsom’s stewardship of the crisis will be a key chapter in his political career. His determination, however, can’t erase the decades of financial and logistical missteps that have driven the utility to a breaking point. Hannah Wiley and Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 10/30/19

 

‘Bone-dry,’ freezing weather washes over Bay Area -- The Bay Area will experience a wave of unusually cold, dry weather over the next few days as winds calm down across the region, the National Weather Service said. Temperatures dipped to around 32 degrees across much of the North Bay going into Wednesday morning, including Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Novato, the NWS said. Fiona Kelliher in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/30/19

Amid torrent of speculation, Alex Padilla says he’s not running for Katie Hill’s Congressional seat -- Following several days of speculation that he might run for the District 25 Congressional seat scandal-singed representative Katie Hill is resigning, California secretary of state Alex Padilla said he is not throwing his hat into the ring. Bob Strauss in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 10/30/19

‘This jail runs on slave labor’: Inmates stage hunger strike, work stoppage over bad conditions -- Inmates at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin began a hunger strike and work stoppage Wednesday over alleged unsanitary conditions inside the jail, including insects and vermin on their food. Attorney Yolanda Huang, who represents the men, announced the strike Wednesday morning in front of the jail. Angela Ruggiero in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 10/30/19

Southern California hiring will see a 37% drop, forecast says -- Southern California bosses will hire 37% fewer workers in the next two years as part of a broad economic cooling, says a new forecast by economists at Cal State Fullerton. Jonathan Lansner in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 10/30/19

‘Rising tide’ of tenants getting 60-day move-out notices in advance of statewide rent cap -- Loophole that expires Thursday lets landlords raise rents by evicting tenants during the holiday season. Jeff Collins in the Orange County Register -- 10/30/19

Fox: City Finances Squeezed by Pensions -- Perhaps the most telling comment in response to the California State Auditor’s report on the financial health of the state’s cities came from a League of Cities official who complained that the auditor was working off old figures because cities have approved new taxes and other measures to improve finances. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 10/30/19