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Maria fire: Drone hinders firefighting efforts as blaze doubles in size overnight -- As flames rapidly spread along a hillside in Santa Paula on Thursday night, firefighters battling the blaze were faced with a potentially perilous dilemma. Officials were forced to ground a firefighting helicopter with night-flying capabilities several times as a drone circled the area, its pilot apparently trying to snap overhead photographs of the growing Maria fire. Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/1/19

Mass shooting at Airbnb in Orinda: 4 killed, others injured at Halloween house party -- Four people were killed and several more were injured when gunfire erupted at a chaotic gathering on Halloween night that was billed on social media as an “Airbnb Mansion Party” in an upscale neighborhood in Orinda. Matthias Gafni, Michael Cabanatuan and Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Martha Ross, Fiona Kelliher and George Kelly in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/1/19

University of California breaks law and own policies by outsourcing thousands of jobs, union claims -- Even after a state audit two years ago smacked the University of California for not fully following its own policy for outsourcing jobs, the statewide university system has been breaking state law as it secretly contracts out campus work, the union representing thousands of UC employees claims in filings with state regulators. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/1/19

Two Years Later, Loopholes Remain In California’s Sanctuary Law -- A new report looks at how local law enforcement is complying with California’s “sanctuary state” law, two years after its passage. The law, known as SB 54, was meant to limit local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Max Rivlin-Nadler KPBS -- 11/1/19

Who started California’s pro-immigrant movement? Democrats thank Republican Pete Wilson -- Latino lawmakers in the California Legislature released a tongue-in-cheek video Friday thanking former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson for running on an anti-immigration platform 25 years ago and inadvertently sparking a political movement among Latinos. Sophia Bollag in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/1/19

Lori Loughlin pleads not guilty to new charges in college admissions scandal -- Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded not guilty Friday to new bribery charges filed against them in the college admissions scandal, according to documents filed in federal court. Matthew Ormseth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/1/19

Sonoma Fairgrounds center of action for Kincade Fire, shows need for unplanned space -- The Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, which loosely fills 180 acres near the downtown of a robust city, fails every measure of good urban planning — until disaster strikes. John King in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/1/19

Across the Bay Area, generator etiquette and other lessons of the PG&E power shut-offs -- When talk of power shutdowns starts, there is a checklist. Get cash, gas and ice. Freeze as many water bottles as possible to keep refrigerators and freezers cold. Keep battery-operated headlamps, lanterns and flashlights at hand. Know generator etiquette: Shut off the noisy machines at night and offer to share them with neighbors. Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/1/19

Five things to know about microgrids -- Energy microgrids, which can power businesses, neighborhoods or even cities, are having a moment. They're touted as alternative ways to keep the lights on when California's big utility companies shut power to avert wildfires. Julie Cart Calmatters -- 11/1/19

The Tiny Radio Station Relaying Critical Kincade Fire Information in Indigenous Languages -- In 2017, the world around Xulio Soriano's family was burning. His mother, who has high blood pressure and diabetes, couldn't get critical information about the fires burning in the North Bay, where she lived. It wasn't because information wasn't being relayed — it just wasn't relayed in a language she understood. Ericka Cruz Guevarra, Marisol Medina-Cadena, Devin Katayama KQED -- 11/1/19

California fires were bad, but they could have been much worse -- Fire officials said they learned from catastrophic fires over the last two years, and that the public did too. More resources were on hand when the fires hit, the evacuations were more extensive and more people heeded the warnings. Ruben Vives, Matthew Ormseth, Leila Miller, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/1/19

California Fire Danger Continues to Worsen, Experts Say -- As California is living through the most dangerous time of the year for wildfires due to dry and windy conditions, experts say a trio of factors make America’s most populous state more at-risk than ever. Jim Carlton in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/1/19

California's Preemptive Blackouts Put A Strain On People With Home Medical Needs -- Fern Brown, 81, sat in the rear of a tent on the windswept fairgrounds of the historic Gold Rush town of Auburn, Calif., this week, drawing deep breaths through the mouthpiece of a nebulizer plugged into a power strip atop a plastic folding table. Mark Kreidler NPR -- 11/1/19

Americans sharply divided over whether to impeach and remove Trump from office, Post-ABC poll finds -- As the House moves to a new, more public phase of its impeachment inquiry, the country is sharply divided along partisan lines over whether President Trump should be impeached and removed from office, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. Dan Balz and Emily Guskin in the Washington Post$ -- 11/1/19

Elizabeth Warren proposes new taxes to fund Medicare-for-all but says middle class would be spared -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Friday proposed a $20.5 trillion package of tax increases to pay for the Medicare-for-all plan she backs, a move that attempts to answer critics who question how she would pay for the proposal but could open her to fresh lines of attack. Annie Linskey and Jeff Stein in the Washington Post$ -- 11/1/19

Warren Leads Tight Iowa Race as Biden Fades, Poll Finds -- The top Democratic presidential candidates are locked in a close race in the 2020 Iowa caucuses, with Senator Elizabeth Warren slightly ahead of Senator Bernie Sanders, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to a New York Times/Siena College poll of likely Democratic caucusgoers. Alexander Burns in the New York Times$ -- 11/1/19

Fox: California the Bellwether -- Once again California set the pace on a policy issue that is influencing national debate when the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) declared its intention to find a way for college athletes to be compensated for the use of their name or likeness. The NCAA’s turn of mind is sure to confirm for many California politicians and activists that what they do here sets the trend for the rest of the country. But is the rest of the country ready to follow California’s progressive path? Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 11/1/19

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

Maria fire in Ventura County explodes to 7,400 acres, threatening Somis and Saticoy -- A brush fire exploded in Ventura County Thursday night, quickly consuming more than 7,400 acres and burning structures. The blaze, which has been dubbed the Maria fire, broke out atop South Mountain, just south of Santa Paula, and was moving toward the small agricultural towns of Somis and Saticoy. At least two stuctures have been lost, and 1,800 are threatened. Alex Wigglesworth, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ Cheri Carlson, Megan Diskin and Mo Najafian Jazi in the Ventura County Star -- 11/1/19

From Riverside to Ventura County, firefighters do battle -- As firefighters worked Thursday to get a handle on blazes across Southern California, fierce winds sparked new fires, including one in Ventura County that quickly exploded to 750 acres as it raced toward homes late in the evening. Alex Wigglesworth, Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/1/19

Kincade Fire: Firefighters make progress; residents, businesses survey damage -- Firefighters tightened their grip on the massive Kincade Fire on Thursday as wind speeds dropped and residents and business owners in Sonoma County began cleaning up and surveying the damage. Michael Cabanatuan and Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/1/19

Seniors at California complex ‘abandoned’ during blackout -- One woman in her 80s tripped over another resident who had fallen on the landing in a steep stairwell. Others got disoriented, even in their own apartments, and cried out for help. At least 20 seniors with wheelchairs and walkers were essentially trapped, in the dark, in a low-income apartment complex in Northern California during a two-day power shut-off aimed at warding off wildfires. Janie Har Associated Press -- 11/1/19

PG&E workers, families fear public anger amid outages; it’s ‘nerve-racking’ -- When Katie Barbier saw news reports about shots fired at Pacific Gas and Electric Co. trucks, her first worry was her loved ones. Barbier’s husband works for PG&E. So does his cousin. Mallory Moench in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/1/19

No heat, no light? Not so bad. No water? Much worse -- When the lights went out this week, Susan Illich of Sebastopol didn’t just lose power. She also lost water. That’s because, like thousands of residents in Sonoma County, she relies on a private well that operates with an electric pump. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/1/19

Utilities are shutting down power amid fire danger, but the DWP keeps the lights on. Should it? -- The utility, officials said, does not shut off service to customers during a high-wind event, in part because the utility serves an urban area where the fire risk is lower and because firefighters can rapidly respond to any blaze. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/1/19

In Healdsburg, a motel stayed open for first responders as fires scorched nearby hills -- Wanda Brester evacuated Healdsburg on Saturday night as the Kincade Fire, stoked by rising winds, bore down on the hills surrounding the tourist town in the heart of Wine Country. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/1/19

A spark on Burned Mountain: See where the Kincade Fire started and how it spread -- The Kincade Fire was reported Oct. 23 at 9:27 p.m. on a Sonoma County mountainside, amid precautionary power outages by PG&E, which has struggled to keep electrical lines from igniting fires during high winds. It quickly grew to become California’s biggest blaze of 2019. Matthias Gafni and Kazi Awal in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/1/19

Electric wires suspected in many fires that erupted during power shutdowns -- Power lines are suspected in nearly half of the more than dozen fires that erupted around the state amid strong October winds even as utilities unleashed unprecedented, widespread blackouts in an effort to avoid sparking blazes. Among them are the massive Kincade Fire still burning in Sonoma County Wine Country and Southern California fires this week near the Reagan library and Getty museum. John Woolfolk in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/1/19

No rain in sight for L.A. area for next few weeks; critical fire weather warnings extended -- The unusually long Santa Ana wind event is expected to ease Thursday evening. And with it, the fire risk will be reduced as well. But there is not much good news on the horizon, with forecasters seeing little chance of rain in the next few weeks. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/1/19

 

Trump can’t force L.A. to help catch immigrants to receive grant, court says -- A federal appeals court decided unanimously Thursday that the Trump administration may not force Los Angeles to help the government deport immigrants as a condition of receiving a federal police grant. Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/1/19

It’s not just Pelosi: These Bay Area lawmakers will play big impeachment roles -- As the House voted almost entirely along party lines Thursday to formalize its impeachment inquiry into President Trump, it was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wielding the gavel. Tal Kopan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/1/19

Cussing candidates drop F-bombs with aplomb -- Andrew Yang was rolling 43 minutes into his rally in front of San Francisco City Hall, his audience chanting, “Yang beats Trump! Yang beats Trump!” Then Yang cranked their energy up another level. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/1/19

Katie Hill: ‘I am leaving because of a misogynistic culture that gleefully consumed my naked pictures’ -- In a blistering, emotional final House speech, Rep. Katie Hill, the freshman Democrat from Santa Clarita, told colleagues Thursday that she is leaving Congress because of a double standard for female politicians, a ruthless political climate and a misogynistic culture that helped her estranged husband bring down her budding career. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/1/19

Greta Thunberg joins LA protest of oil drilling -- Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish girl who accused international leaders of standing idly by as global warming threatens to destroy the planet in a speech shared around the world is joining young activists in Los Angeles for a protest aimed at getting California out of the oil-drilling business. John Rogers Associated Press -- 11/1/19

Big automakers take risks in siding with Trump administration against California -- The move has sparked a backlash among congressional Democrats historically allied with the auto industry and has angered some consumers, one of whom tweeted, “Boycott time!” while another said, “GM to the planet: Drop dead.” Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis and Josh Dawsey in the Washington Post$ -- 11/1/19

Trump eyes compromise with Newsom on climate, cars. California says it isn’t enough -- The Trump administration is opening the door to a new climate change rule that would attempt to tamp down its rancorous fight with California over greenhouse gas emissions. Michael Wilner and Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/1/19

Climate Reality Clashes With California Dreams -- Thousands of people remain under mandatory evacuation orders in Northern California. Some have endured wildfires, smoke, floods, blackouts and evacuations many times. Now, even though the state’s population is predicted to top 40 million this year, some are wondering whether California is the dream they'd hoped for. Lesley McClurg KQED -- 11/1/19

Lopez: Column: The California haters are back. And once again, they get us all wrong -- If you live in California, here’s a news bulletin: We are done. We are history. Pack up and leave now, while you still can. I’m not just talking about the fact that half the state is on fire, which is tragic and frightening enough all on its own. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/1/19

Will California’s “revenge porn” law really help Rep. Katie Hill? -- But lawyers who specialize in cyber-harassment and the First Amendment say Hill’s case may be complicated by the limits of California’s law, the inherent difficulties of criminalizing speech of any kind and the fact that she is a public figure. Ben Christopher Calmatters -- 11/1/19

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions  

Lost wages, lost homes, uncertainty for migrant vineyard workers after Kincade Fire -- The parking lot at Cloverdale Citrus Fairgrounds was never meant to be an evacuation shelter. Amid a widespread power outage, it was billed as a place to charge a phone and pick up a bottle of water. Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/1/19

California Attorney General Is a No-Show on Tech Investigations -- Attorney General Xavier Becerra is in Google and Facebook’s backyard. But unlike nearly all other state attorneys general, he won’t say whether he’s investigating them. David McCabe in the New York Times$ -- 11/1/19

Juul’s value plunges $14 billion after Altria slashes its investment -- Altria executives said they would take a $4.5 billion write-down on the stake, attributing the charge to several factors, including a slowdown in the growth of overall vaping sales, the Food and Drug Administration signaling it will ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, the spate of vaping-related lung illnesses that have stricken about 1,600 people, and stricter regulations being passed in other countries that are expected to curtail Juul’s international growth. Catherine Ho in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/1/19

Fear is big business: This store sells protection from fires, earthquakes, shooters and more -- Attorney Arezou Diarian thought she was ready for anything. The 49-year-old mother of two had stocked her home’s bedroom closets with emergency kits, each capable of sustaining a family of four for three days should a fire, earthquake or other calamity strike. Ronald D. White in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/1/19

Housing  

San Bruno rejected plan for 425 homes. Now developer wants to build 600 instead -- Last summer, San Bruno took heat after its City Council unexpectedly killed a 425-unit complex that followed exactly what voters said they wanted built in the area. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/1/19

Education 

Berkeley Unified Reaches Agreement With Teachers Union for 12% Raise and More -- After months of rallies, teary testimonials and a final 11-hour negotiation session, the Berkeley Unified School District and the Berkeley Federation of Teachers have finally reached a tentative agreement on the union’s new contract. Natalie Orenstein KQED -- 11/1/19

As fires rage, pressure mounts to train California’s next generation of forest stewards -- While some California schools shut their doors in October during a blackout intended to prevent wildfires, lessons continued outdoors for a group of students tucked away high in the Santa Cruz mountains. Sydney Johnson EdSource -- 11/1/19

Health 

Measles infection causes ‘immune amnesia,’ leaving kids vulnerable to other illnesses -- It’s an article of faith for many parents who refuse to vaccinate their children: When healthy kids get and recover from an infection naturally, their immune systems come out stronger. But when it comes to measles, the opposite is true, new research shows. Melissa Healy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/1/19

Environment 

Keystone Pipeline leaks 383,000 gallons of oil in second big spill in two years -- Approximately 383,000 gallons of crude oil have spilled into a North Dakota wetland this week in the latest leak from the Keystone Pipeline, further fueling long-standing opposition to plans for the pipeline network’s extension. Hannah Knowles in the Washington Post$ -- 11/1/19

POTUS 45  

Trump invites Republican senators for lunch and makes his case against impeachment -- President Trump, in a private lunch Thursday with Senate Republicans, repeatedly praised his own decision to release a rough transcript of the July 25 call with the Ukrainian president that has become a central focus of the House’s impeachment inquiry, according to the senators who attended. Seung Min Kim and Rachael Bade in the Washington Post$ -- 11/1/19

 

-- Thursday Updates 

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