Updating . .
Firefighters lose ground as Bobcat fire moves closer to homes, Mt. Wilson Observatory -- The Bobcat fire in the Angeles National Forest has crossed containment lines and is moving closer to Mt. Wilson Observatory and threatened foothill communities, the U.S. Forest Service said Tuesday. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
California fires claim more lives as North Complex death toll rises -- The confirmed death toll from California’s unprecedented firestorm has risen to 25 as crews work to hem in some two dozen major blazes still burning statewide. Another fatality was confirmed Monday in the area of the North Complex fire near Oroville — boosting that fire’s death toll to 15, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
Two killed in West Zone fire didn’t evacuate Berry Creek due to ‘erroneous’ info -- Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said in a Monday news conference a pair of victims, both now identified, died after reportedly deciding not to evacuate despite the mandatory order, having received inaccurate information that the fire was mostly contained. Michael McGough and Rosalio Ahumada in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/15/20
California wildfires could deal second punch to struggling small businesses -- Michael Volpatt already knew what art, medicine and clothes he needed to take when he got an alert to evacuate his home west of Guerneville in Sonoma County ahead of the massive LNU Complex Fire. But there was one more decision to make — should he go to his store, Big Bottom Market, and try to prepare it for what could be a weeks-long evacuation? Leonardo Castañeda in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/15/20
California’s prison firefighters face grueling toil like never before in historic fire season -- As a wall of flames from the North Complex fires billowed toward them, firefighters Christian Sung and William Vanderhoef raced to thin a dense pine forest. Dustin Gardiner in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/20
Breathe
Smoke from California wildfires reaches Europe and East Coast -- The wildfires that have choked California’s skies with smoke in recent weeks — littering cities with ash, wreaking havoc on regional air quality and transforming the sun into an ominous red orb — have now stretched their sooty tendrils to the other side of the country and beyond. Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
Bay Area air quality improves, but smoke to linger for days -- The smoke-choked Bay Area woke Tuesday to noticeably clearer skies and somewhat easier breathing after light winds helped dispel smoke pouring from wildfires. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/20
Street
‘Been shot in the head’: Deputies’ struggle to survive after Compton attack -- A thick layer of blood covered her tan shirt, part of her Los Angeles County sheriff’s uniform. She was bleeding from her face. Minutes before, she and her partner working transit security were sitting in their patrol car at the Compton Metro station when a gunman approached and opened fire. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
Vanessa Bryant slams L.A. County sheriff for challenging LeBron James to match reward -- Vanessa Bryant is unhappy with comments made by Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva in the aftermath of the shooting of two sheriff’s deputies Saturday in Compton. During a radio interview Monday, Villanueva challenged Lakers star LeBron James to double a $175,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the assailant. Chuck Schilken in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
San Leandro police officer charged with Steven Taylor’s death taken into custody -- The San Leandro police officer charged with voluntary manslaughter for the death of a Black man inside a Walmart store in April, was put into handcuffs Tuesday morning in the courtroom and taken to jail. Angela Ruggiero in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/15/20
Virus and Hunger
Hunger rises in Bay Area as pandemic lingers -- Navy veteran Andy Cuevas has always prided himself on being self-sufficient. But when the pandemic hit and the Belmont resident was laid off from work as a veterans’ coordinator at Cañada College while his wife Nadia lost her job at the Gap, they turned to the Second Harvest of Silicon Valley food bank for a weekly grocery box to keep food on the table for their two children. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/20
Long Waits, Delays For Food, Health Care Benefits In Sacramento County During Pandemic -- Since the pandemic began in March, many new applicants for CalFresh “food stamps” or Medi-Cal have experienced long hold times over the phone and processing times of up to a month, as a result of both a backlog of new cases and a lack of county workers, according to recent data from the Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance. Sarah Mizes-Tan Capital Public Radio -- 9/15/20
Vaccine
NIH is ‘very concerned’ about serious side effect in coronavirus vaccine trial -- The National Institutes of Health has launched an investigation into the case of a patient who suffered spinal cord damage after joining AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine trial. Arthur Allen, Liz Szabo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
USPS & Politics
We mailed 100 letters to test the Postal Service. The verdict: Spotty at best, dismal at worst -- The letter — filled with stickers for a 5-year-old boy named William — was mailed at the post office in the Los Angeles community of Sylmar on Aug. 22. It was sent first class, at a cost of 55 cents, and with a promise, according to the U.S. Postal Service website, of “delivery in 1-3 business days.” The plain white envelope arrived at its destination, a ranch-style house in Austin, Texas, 11 days later. Maria L. La Ganga, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
Also . . .
California health clubs sue Newsom over COVID-19 restrictions: ‘We believe in science’ -- Numerous California churches have sued Gov. Gavin Newsom, challenging his COVID-19 shutdown orders, without success. Now the state’s health clubs are giving it a try. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/15/20
QAnon Followers Attack SF's Scott Wiener Over Sex Offender Law -- You might think the claim that California has legalized pedophilia wouldn’t pass the smell test with most people. Not in 2020, when certain Republican politicians have seized on the passage of a law regarding sex offenders as an opportunity to rally QAnon believers, a growing and active group of conspiracy theorists. Rachael Myrow KQED -- 9/15/20
In a small California town, a fight over desalination is now about environmental justice -- On a barren stretch of Monterey Bay, in a region desperate for fresh water, an oft-overlooked town has little say in whether a big water company can build a desalination operation right on its shore. Rosanna Xia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
Your diesel Mercedes-Benz might be illegally polluting. How carmaker is paying for cheating -- In another major scandal involving California and nationwide air-pollution standards, Mercedes-Benz and its German parent have been fined $1.5 billion for equipping their diesel cars with illegal software. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/15/20
These tiny apartments for Sacramento homeless will cost more to build than a luxury house -- Last year, Sacramento officials announced an extreme makeover for the Capitol Park Hotel, the century-old building just a few blocks from the Golden 1 Center and K Street restaurant scene, that would bring life to a dilapidated building with newly renovated rooms for the homeless. Matt Kreiser in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/15/20
After 86 days at sea, SF rower arrives in Hawaii -- Having endured three months alone, rowing across the Pacific Ocean in a small rowboat, Lia Ditton hauled her 21-foot craft into a slip at the Waikiki Yacht Club in Honolulu on Sept. 12, relieved to have made the 2,700-nautical-mile journey from San Francisco Bay in one piece. Gregory Thomas in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/20
California Policy & Politics This Morning
PG&E error at power plant may help explain California’s rolling blackouts -- A mistake by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. may have played a role on one of the two days that California experienced rolling blackouts during an extreme heat wave last month. On Aug. 15, one day after an energy supply shortage caused California’s first rolling blackouts in 19 years, PG&E erroneously directed a 400-megawatt power plant in Fresno County to scale back. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/20
Wildfire
More than 3.2 million acres have burned across California this year; death toll reaches at least 24 -- As the death toll in California’s wildfires swelled to 24, authorities continued to search for a number of people still missing and firefighters toiled to keep multiple blazes from reaching populated communities ahead of an expected uptick in winds. Alex Wigglesworth, Taryn Luna, Phil Willon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
Bobcat fire is just 1.6 miles from Mt. Wilson Observatory. Firefighters ready for battle -- It was 1 p.m., and flurries of ashes were falling like snow for the fourth consecutive day. David Cendejas looked toward massive clouds of smoke rising off the eastern flank of the Bobcat fire as it marched westward toward the Mt. Wilson Observatory and nearby thickets of broadcast spires stabbing hundreds of feet skyward. Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times$ Bradley Bermont in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/15/20
Death toll in North Complex West Zone Fire climbs to 15 -- Authorities on Monday night announced the recovery of additional human remains in the North Complex West Zone Fire and identified four of the victims. The death toll in the wildfire now stands at 15, said Butte County Sheriff-Coroner Kory Honea at a news conference. Jason Green in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/15/20
‘They knew people were in danger’: Trump honors Army crews for California wildfire rescues -- Crews of two California Army National Guard helicopters were awarded the nation’s highest flying honors Monday for their dangerous rescue of hundreds of Mammoth Pool campers trapped by the Creek Fire. President Donald Trump presented each of the seven crew members the Distinguished Flying Cross, which recognizes extraordinary heroism in flight. Tara Copp in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/15/20
Breathe
‘Boxed-in feeling’ as smoke from Bobcat fire blankets Southern California -- Smoke and ash from the Bobcat fire burning in the Angeles National Forest have blanketed the region for a week, contributing to poor air quality, hazy skies and burning odors. And residents, many of whom were already feeling confined amid stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, say it’s taking a toll. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
Virus
Californians are testing positive for COVID-19 at the lowest rate on record -- As the Golden State faces a triple threat of respiratory risks — destructive wildfires, toxic air quality and a deadly pandemic — there is a faint glimmer of hope. Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
Bay Area coronavirus cases drop significantly from peak of summer surge -- The spread of coronavirus has slowed significantly since the peak of the Bay Area’s summer surge, with new cases falling over 60% since the difficult days of mid-August. Catherine Ho in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/20
Virus Economy
Brentwood’s Diesel bookstore launches a GoFundMe as more stores struggle through pandemic -- Next to a bottle of hand sanitizer, on a table at an entrance to Brentwood’s Diesel bookstore, is a message to customers describing an existential crisis induced by a pandemic. It says, in essence: We need your help. Dorany Pineda in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
Relief For Thousands Of San Diego Businesses Could Be Coming Soon -- The San Diego County Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday on how to allocate millions of dollars for businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 restrictions. Matt Hoffman KPBS -- 9/15/20
Virus Workplace
Silicon Valley startup Brex joins ‘remote first’ trend in response to pandemic -- Corporate card startup Brex’s ads began blanketing billboards and bus stops across San Francisco not long after its founding more than three years ago in the city, broadcasting its presence from the rooftops to the local startups it hoped to attract as customers. Despite its ubiquity, Brex is moving to become less physically centered in the Bay Area. Chase DiFeliciantonio in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/20
Virus on Campus
UC San Diego gets green light to launch cellphone-based COVID-19 notification system -- Health officials at the university have worked for months to persuade the state to sign off on a pilot program that harnesses a cellphone’s Bluetooth capabilities to quickly identify people who have come in contact with the novel coronavirus. On Friday, the state gave UC San Diego and University of California San Francisco the go-ahead to test the technology. Lyndsay Winkley in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/15/20
Policy & Politics
In California, Trump continues to deny climate change is real: ‘It will start getting cooler’ -- As wildfires raging through the West force millions of voters to confront the consequences of a warming planet, the presidential race became intensely focused Monday on climate change — an issue that has been overshadowed through much of the campaign. Evan Halper, Noah Bierman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
Fact check: Trump downplays climate change, says California must thin forests. What he got wrong -- President Donald Trump, arriving in Sacramento for a briefing on Western wildfires, continued to downplay the role of climate change in California’s horrific fire season, claimed the earth will soon begin cooling — and told California and other states to solve the problem by managing their forests more wisely. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/15/20
Fact check: Trump, Biden, Newsom talked climate change — what do scientists say? -- August 2020 was the second-warmest on record, the Northern Hemisphere just experienced its warmest summer yet, and the Earth as a whole recorded its third-hottest three-month season. That’s according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on an alarming warming trend. John Woolfolk in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/15/20
Climate Scientists Reject Trump’s Prediction “It’ll Start Getting Cooler” In California -- Scientists, and many Californians enduring this summer’s smoky and sweltering heat, wish President Donald Trump’s latest prediction — that “it’ll start getting cooler, just watch” — would come true. The problem? There’s nothing to back it up. Chris Nichols PolitiFact California via Capital Public Radio -- 9/15/20
Trump dismisses Newsom’s climate warning, Biden goes on attack over California fires -- President Trump resisted calls to confront the reality of climate change during a brief visit to California on Monday — a position that his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, signaled he may focus on as wildfires burn across the West. Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/20
Trump visit punctuates growing divide over main cause of historic wildfires in Western states -- California seems helpless to break a cycle of catastrophic wildfires as it suffers another year of massive destruction, and the fault lines over climate change and forest management are growing as the fall campaign season gets underway. Colby Bermel Politico -- 9/15/20
Climate clash hits 2020 race as California burns -- President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, on Monday offered a striking split screen on the role of climate change in raging wildfires on the West Coast, with each staking out dramatically different positions on what has caused the blazes that have consumed vast amounts of acreage in California in recent weeks. Kelsey Tamborrino, Caitlin Oprysko and Carla Marinucci Politico -- 9/15/20
Trump and Newsom: Political frenemies make nice amid California’s mounting disasters -- Gov. Gavin Newsom was in a hangar nearby, and promptly met with Trump and several fire officials. But his absence at the steps of Air Force One revealed the latest move in what’s become the Democratic governor’s delicate dance with the Republican president who is both a tantalizing political foil — and a key link to aid the state needs as disasters mount. Laurel Rosenhall CalMatters -- 9/15/20
New Political Party That Enlisted Voters Without Their Consent Is Now Suing State To Get On Ballot -- A new political party in California that KPBS found was signing up voters without their knowledge or consent is now suing the state to get on the ballot, even though it hasn't collected enough signatures. Meanwhile, party organizers have done little to correct the registration irregularities. Claire Trageser KPBS -- 9/15/20
A $1.1 billion project will mean thousands of jobs in Sacramento. Will renters be displaced? -- Guadalupe Del Angel-Garcia moved into her North Oak Park apartment 14 years ago and her rent was about $800 a month. Now it’s $1,100. Theresa Clift in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/15/20
Jerry Brown on a California Exodus: ‘Tell Me: Where Are You Going to Go?’ -- Jerry Brown, the former governor of California, could barely make out the mountains in the distance from his ranch in the city of Williams on Sunday. Every few minutes, he picked up his phone to check the latest air quality reading. “Unhealthy,” he said. Mr. Brown, who served over 45 years in state government and politics, has been warning about this day for years. Adam Nagourney in the New York Times$ -- 9/15/20
Walters: Newsom war on climate change vs. reality -- While visiting the scene of one of California’s many horrendous wildfires last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared that climate change is the culprit and promised to step up the state’s already vigorous effort to reduce greenhouse gases. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 9/15/20
SF to give $1,000 a month to Black, Pacific Islander expectant moms. Will it help bridge racial health gaps? -- San Francisco is launching a program that aims to improve health outcomes for new Black and Pacific Islander mothers and their babies by providing no-strings-attached funding that can help eliminate the manifold stresses of financial insecurity. Vanessa Arredondo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/20
Street
CHP cruiser drives through Trump crowd, flinging man off car and onto road -- As a crowd gathered Monday outside McClellan Airport in Sacramento following the arrival of President Trump, one man climbed atop a California Highway Patrol vehicle, which drove forward, throwing the man over the top of the cruiser and onto the pavement. Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ Michael McGough and Hannah Wiley in the Sacramento Bee$ Nora Mishanec in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/20
Reward for info in shooting of 2 L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies upped to $200K after Metro and anonymous contributions -- Anonymous donors and the region’s top transportation authority on Monday upped a reward to $200,000 for information leading to the arrest of the gunman who shot and injured two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies over the weekend. The item is in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/15/20
South L.A. activists seek dialogue with Sheriff’s Department after deputy shooting inflames tensions -- In the wake of Saturday night’s shooting of two L.A. County Sheriff’s Department deputies in Compton, several activists have come forward to denounce the violence and urge the department to engage in more dialogue with the community. Leila Miller in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
L.A. deputies tackled and arrested a reporter. Her videos contradict their claims about the incident -- As Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies tackled Josie Huang to the street on Saturday night, the reporter for NPR affiliate KPCC screamed repeatedly she was a journalist. Deputies arrested her anyway, leaving her with scrapes, bruises, a five-hour stay in custody — and an obstruction charge that carries up to a year in jail. Tim Elfrink in the Washington Post$ -- 9/15/20
Draft report on L.A.'s response to summer protests notes flaws in inter-agency coordination -- In the midst of rowdy protests, arsons and other property damage in Los Angeles this summer, officials from various city agencies that had been called into the field were requesting escorts from the already-overwhelmed Los Angeles Police without any centralized coordination and at times in areas where there was no unrest. Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
Back to School
School campuses in affluent areas plan to open quicker than those in poor Latino ones -- The Capistrano Unified School District is ready to go, preparing to start welcoming students back to class on Sept. 28, soon after Orange County is expected to meet the state’s COVID-19 requirements for reopening schools. Paloma Esquivel, Howard Blume, Andrew J. Campa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
More Sacramento County schools receive waivers to return to campus instruction -- The schools can reopen after Sacramento County began approving waivers for schools last week. Already, 19 schools have been approved — 16 of them from the Catholic Dioecese. Sawsan Morrar in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/15/20
Temperature checks. Spread out desks. How the first day went in a reopened Sacramento school -- There were temperature checks for students and desks spread out. Hallways marked so students would only walk in one direction, cutting down on congestion. Everyone was in masks. This was the school experience on Monday at St. John Vianney in Rancho Cordova, one of 19 campuses in Sacramento County that received a waiver last week to reopen classroom instruction with coronavirus safeguards in place. Sawsan Morrar in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/15/20
SF schools still closed, but city gives 800 kids a place to learn as parents cheer: ‘A big, big relief’ -- Single mom Shashona Holmon couldn’t stop smiling as she dropped off her daughter Brooklynn at the Merced Heights Playground on Monday morning. For the first time in six months, Brooklynn Holmon, 9 — and 800 other San Francisco students — got dressed, pulled on a backpack and left home to learn. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/20
Back to Business
San Francisco businesses shuttered for months reopen to eager customers -- Thrilled at the prospect of working out in a real gym after nearly six months of shelter in place, Blair Marley-Perez was knocking on the door of 24 Hour Fitness’ California Street gym in downtown San Francisco at 5 a.m. Monday. Shwanika Narayan and Rusty Simmons in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/20
Education
Fearing distance learning, many parents opt for preschool instead of kindergarten -- Many California parents are opting out of kindergarten this year, due to concerns about whether distance learning or attending school for the first time with strangers in masks will be good for children. Zaidee Stavely EdSource -- 9/15/20
Immigration / Border / ICE
Appeals court says Trump can deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants; challenge certain -- A federal appeals court decided 2 to 1 Monday that the Trump administration may deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants who previously received temporary protected status for humanitarian reasons. Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
Maker of Mercedes-Benz vehicles to pay $1.5 billion in emissions cheating settlement -- Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle government accusations that it equipped 250,000 diesel cars and vans sold in the United States with devices that cheated emissions tests and spewed pollutants into the air, California and U.S. Justice Department officials announced Monday. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/15/20
POTUS 45
Top Trump health appointee Michael Caputo warns of armed insurrection after election -- A top communications official for the administration’s coronavirus response urged President Trump’s supporters to prepare for an armed insurrection after a contested election and accused government scientists of “sedition” in a Facebook Live chat that he described in detail to The Washington Post on Monday. Yasmeen Abutaleb, Lena H. Sun, Josh Dawsey and Rosalind S. Helderman in the Washington Post$ Sharon LaFraniere in the New York Times$ -- 9/15/20
Beltway
News Analysis: Joe Biden doesn’t just feel your pain, he has lived it. Will that help him win? -- Joe Biden grieves. His voice thickens; his eyes mist over. He recounts his life’s many tragedies — death, near-death, crushing political defeat — in a way that makes them seem not only palpable but still raw. Mark Z. Barabak in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/15/20
-- Monday Updates
In California, Trump continues to deny climate change is real: “It will start getting cooler” -- As wildfires raging through the West force millions of voters to confront the consequences of a warming planet, the presidential race became intensely focused Monday on climate change — an issue that has been overshadowed through much of the campaign. Evan Halper, Noah Bierman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/20
Newsom tells Trump: ‘Something has happened to the plumbing of the world’ -- President Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom met for a briefing Monday on California’s wildfires, with the president renewing his concerns about forest management in the state and the governor trying to deliver a message that “the plumbing of the world has changed.” Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/14/20
Donald Trump blames ‘matchstick’ trees and dead leaves for California wildfires -- Presidential Donald Trump, touching down Monday morning at McClellan Park for a briefing on the California wildfires, blamed uncleared dead trees and leaves for flames that have burned more than 3 million acres and killed 24 in the state. Sophia Bollag and Hannah Wiley in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/14/20
As California burns, Trump visits state, Biden calls president “climate arsonist” -- California’s plight took center stage Monday in the race for the White House as President Donald Trump visited the the Golden State in the midst of an epic wildfire season that has ravaged Western states, blaming “forest management” while his Democratic rival called him a “climate arsonist.” John Woolfolk, Emily DeRuy, Julia Prodis Sulek in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/14/20
As California fire death toll hits 24, firefighters scramble ahead of winds -- As the death toll in California’s wildfires swelled to 24, authorities continued to search for a number of people still missing and firefighters toiled to keep multiple blazes from reaching populated communities ahead of an expected uptick in winds. Together, the firestorm has destroyed at least 4,100 structures and forced more than 60,000 people from their homes. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/20
‘Unpredictable’ Bobcat fire shifts and grows as local emergency is declared -- More than 350 households in Arcadia and Sierra Madre remain under evacuation orders Monday as flames from the Bobcat fire creep toward San Gabriel Valley foothill communities. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ Alma Fausto in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/14/20
Her sister was lost in a California firestorm. How they were finally reunited -- For Michelle Rancour-Aldridge, the panic began Tuesday night. After she left her pottery class that evening, she heard that residents of Berry Creek — a hilly area not far from Paradise, Calif., the town largely destroyed by flames in the 2018 Camp fire — had been ordered to evacuate. She immediately dialed her sister’s landline. Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/20
Is climate change worsening California fires, or is it poor forest management? Both, experts say -- Long before climate change severely parched California, priming it to burn at a record scale, federal foresters made an inventory of trees in the southern Sierra Nevada. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/14/20
California’s testy relationship with Trump overshadows president’s visit to check on wildfires -- Newsom did not meet Trump on the airfield when Air Force One landed shortly before 11 a.m. at McClellan Park just outside Sacramento as firefighters across California continue to battle wildfires that have killed at least 24 people in the last month. Despite his ongoing political feud with Newsom, Trump told reporters that he and the Democratic governor have worked well together. Taryn Luna, Phil Willon in the Los Angeles Times$ Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/14/20
Wildfires intensify economic pain in the West -- Wildfires are destroying property, running up huge losses for property insurers and putting a strain on economic activity along the West Coast that could linger for a year or more. The credit rating agency A.M. Best estimates that insured losses from the blazes in California could top the unprecedented $13 billion recorded in 2017 when the state was hit by three of the five costliest fires in U.S. history. Paul Wiseman Associated Press -- 9/14/20
See West Coast wildfire smoke get sucked into a cyclone over the Pacific Ocean -- The historic wildfires raging across the West Coast have produced so much smoke that it has billowed more than 1,000 miles across the Pacific and gotten pulled into a cyclone over the ocean. Anna Buchmann in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/14/20
Virus
Coronavirus: Fewest COVID-19 hospitalizations in California since start of pandemic -- Statewide hospitalizations reach lowest level since April 10, down 60% from peak. Evan Webeck in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/14/20
Open anyway
Defying county, judge’s order, Grace Community Church in Sun Valley hosts packed Sunday service -- Grace Community Church in Sun Valley held a packed morning service on Sunday, Sept. 13, defying a court order directing them to refrain from holding indoor services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pastor John MacArthur prefaced the service by complaining about the many health measures required by local and state authorities to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. The item is in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 9/14/20
Staying Afloat
California’s extra $300 unemployment payments are ending. Will they ever return? -- That $300 a week extra unemployment money jobless Californians are getting? The five weeks you’re being paid for are now over. And while you may get another week sometime soon, there’s little hope for any more $300 weekly benefits beyond that. David Lightman in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/14/20
Bill’s defeat keeps undocumented garment workers in meager wages -- SB 1399 sought to change how workers are paid in the underground Los Angeles garment industry. But this legislative cycle it failed in the face of strong business opposition. Nigel Duara CalMatters -- 9/14/20
Policy & Politics
Suburban blues: Where Democrats have gained most in California -- Republicans are in rough shape in California, still trailing in third place behind not just Democrats but also those with no party. The GOP gained a bit on independents this summer, but primarily because more independents were re-registering as Dems. Ben Christopher CalMatters -- 9/14/20
The young Republican lawyer taking on California’s governor -- Assemblymember Kevin Kiley, a 35-year-old Rocklin Republican with degrees from Harvard and Yale, left a promising law career to run for a state Legislature so heavily dominated by Democrats as to render Republican votes almost meaningless. Emily Hoeven CalMatters -- 9/14/20
How secure is Orange County’s election, and other questions for Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley -- Some people may only think of elections when one is coming up soon. For Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley, it’s his job to think of them, and try to ensure they run smoothly, every day. Alicia Robinson in the Orange County Register -- 9/14/20
Trump, Biden face off on West Coast wildfire, climate change -- President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden focused their presidential battle on the wildfire-scorched West Coast Monday, with Trump again blaming poor forest management for the apocalyptic destruction while Biden declared the fires and recent extreme weather underscore an urgent need to address climate change. Will Weissert, Jonathan Lemire, Ellen Knickmeyer and Aamer Madhani Associated Press -- 9/14/20
Fox: Facing Fire Danger; Moving Toward Solutions -- With newspapers from California to Texas to the nation’s capital running stories over the weekend that Californians are thinking of leaving the state, there could be a plus if they actually do go – reducing the population to reduce fire danger. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 9/14/20
Transit
Sacramento and West Sacramento are trying again to build a rail line over Tower Bridge -- Weeks after the Sacramento Regional Transit board voted down a $130 million proposal for a passenger rail line over Tower Bridge, the agency board is scheduled for a redo of that vote this week, a surprise move, according to some board members. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/14/20
Street
Shooting of L.A. deputies new flashpoint in a ‘tinderbox moment’ -- The video showed a shooting that shocked the conscience: a cold-blooded attempt to kill two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies at close range in Compton. Immediately, unequivocal condemnations flooded in from law enforcement officials, city leaders and the nation’s most prominent politicians. Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/20
‘Insane’: At up to $2 million per youth, skyrocketing costs at juvenile halls renew push for closures -- The coronavirus pandemic has emptied juvenile halls across the Bay Area, but spending on the facilities remains stubbornly high, spurring renewed debate over whether it’s time to shutter the jail-like facilities once and for all. Jill Tucker and Joaquin Palomino in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/14/20
School
L.A. public school parents will be able to find out if anyone has coronavirus in their child’s class -- Although students and parents will not be returning to their Los Angeles public school anytime soon, when campuses do reopen, L.A. Unified plans to operate a website that will provide detailed information about coronavirus outbreaks at an individual campus and even each classroom. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/20
School campuses in affluent areas plan to open quicker than those in poor Latino ones -- The Capistrano Unified School District is ready to go, preparing to start welcoming students back to class on Sept. 28, soon after Orange County is expected to meet the state’s COVID-19 requirements for reopening schools. Paloma Esquivel, Howard Blume, Andrew J. Campa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/20
Homeless
Some Bay Area homeless sweeps continue, despite coronavirus moratorium -- Homeless residents living in tents along Cupertino’s Wolfe Road thought they were safe. Following federal health guidelines adopted around the Bay Area, city officials promised not to force them to move until the coronavirus pandemic abated. Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/14/20
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