 |  |  |  |
Updating . .
Fast-moving Glass Fire in Napa County scorches 1,000 acres, burns structures, forces hospital evacuation -- Firefighters were battling a rapidly growing wildfire north of St. Helena in Napa County early Sunday that burned structures and prompted evacuations, including at St. Helena hospital in the Angwin area. Kate Galbraith, Tatiana Sanchez, Matthias Gafni and Michael Williams in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/27/20
The Bear fire nearly wiped this town off the map. Miraculously, one landmark survived -- When the Bear fire barreled over the mountain ridge headed for the Butte County town of Feather Falls, Nancy Baker Preston and her daughter Kellie Swann made a pact: meet at the Gold Flake. Faith E. Pinho in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/27/20
Suspect in custody after LAPD officer is attacked inside police station -- A 29-year-old suspect was in custody Sunday after he allegedly took an officer’s weapon, pistol-whipped him and fired shots inside the Los Angeles Police Department Harbor Division station in San Pedro, police said. Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/27/20
“Lower-pay, higher-risk”: Coronavirus layoffs send middle-class workers down the economic ladder -- Californians need income and fast. Thousands of people who weathered the initial storm of pandemic shutdowns have started the hunt for new work. Faced with the most unforgiving job market in recent history, many are turning to the few industries hiring. Often, they’re the ones on the front lines. Laurence Du Sault in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/27/20
COVID-19 infection rates become weekly ‘nail-biter’ for local businesses: Can they outlast pandemic? -- On-again, off-again reopenings are taking a huge toll on restaurants, bars and gyms, whose owners say they are lucky to break even as they navigate changing rules for indoor operations. Lori Weisberg, Pam Kragen, Jennifer Van Grove in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/27/20
California Policy & Politics Sunday Morning
PG&E plans to cut power to 89,000 Northern California customers starting Sunday because of fire conditions -- Pacific Gas & Electric plans to cut power to 89,000 customers in parts of 16 counties beginning early Sunday as dry, unseasonably hot conditions and strong winds continue to increase fire danger across much of Northern California, officials announced Saturday evening. Luke Money, Maura Dolan, Carlos Lozano in the Los Angeles Times$ Vincent Moleski in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/27/20
Policy & Politics
Feinstein focus on Amy Coney Barrett’s Catholic faith backfired once. Biden backers are nervous -- The future of abortion rights is likely to be at stake with President Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court, and many will be watching California Sen. Dianne Feinstein to see if she reprises her focus on the conservative nominee’s Catholic beliefs in Senate confirmation hearings. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/27/20
Californians back racial justice but are not rushing to reinstate affirmative action -- Demographic shifts, social-justice activism suggested time was ripe for return to race-based considerations. Recent polls raise questions. John Wilkens in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/27/20
Willie Brown: Democrats need to forget about the court and concentrate on November -- Forget about it, it’s over. Democrats need to put the Supreme Court appointment fight behind them as quickly as possible and move on to the real battle in November. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/27/20
Walters: New housing goals stir opposition -- As this much-troubled year began, the twin crises of homelessness and a broader housing shortage were, by common consent, California’s most pressing political issues. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 9/27/20
Q&A: How California’s ban on gasoline-powered cars affects you -- Newsom order will phase out sales by 2035 of internal combustion engines in passenger vehicles. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/27/20
Reopen
The cable cars are back — but only for photos -- So you woke Saturday morning to the once-familiar ding-ding, rumble and rattle of a San Francisco cable car and figured it was just another strange shelter-in-place COVID-19 dream. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/27/20
Street
Driver arrested for attempted murder at Yorba Linda protest against police brutality -- A woman was arrested Saturday on suspicion of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon after driving her car into a crowd during a demonstration in Yorba Linda involving protesters against police brutality and counter-demonstrators, authorities said. Deborah Netburn in the Los Angeles Times$ Brian Rokos, Eric Licas in the Orange County Register -- 9/27/20
LAPD officer wounded during attack inside Harbor Division station in San Pedro, police say -- “Some individual came into the Harbor station, and when an officer went to speak with him, some type of confrontation occurred where we believe an officer was disarmed,” said LAPD Chief Michel Moore, who was on his way to the hospital where the officer was being treated. Kevin Rector, Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/27/20
Virus on Campus
Cal State Long Beach in lockdown after five students test positive for the coronavirus -- Just 33 days after fall classes began at Cal State Long Beach, the campus has been locked down because five students tested positive for the coronavirus, university President Jane Close Conoley announced Saturday. Maria L. La Ganga in the Los Angeles Times$ Nathaniel Percy in the Orange County Register -- 9/27/20
Back to School
Some Orange County teacher unions still negotiating with districts about safety as schools’ reopening approaches -- At least two Orange County teacher unions are negotiating with their school districts about classroom conditions as more campuses head toward reopening to in-person instruction amid the coronavirus pandemic. Dan Albano in the Orange County Register -- 9/27/20
Virus Workplace
Coronavirus takes wrenching toll on Orange County Latinos who have no choice but to work -- As the coronavirus swept through Orange County this summer, Huntington Beach became a national flashpoint because many residents and visitors refused to wear masks, and its streets saw several big protests opposing California’s stay-at-home order. Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Cindy Carcamo, Soudi Jiménez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/27/20
Nurses and other union workers authorize Oct. 7 strike against East Bay hospitals --Employees in the Alameda Health System — which largely serves minority communities — plan to beg in a five-day strike on Oct. 7, the California Nurses Association announced Saturday. Lizzie Johnson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/27/20
Homeless
S.F. to begin moving homeless out of hotels soon. Some might get housing, others ‘safe’ tent sites -- San Francisco’s program to house the homeless in hotels is stretching its already strapped budget, with monthly costs topping $18 million, although the federal government is expected to pay for 75% of it. Trisha Thadani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/27/20
POTUS 45
Trump caps judiciary remake with choice of Barrett for court -- President Donald Trump has nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, capping a dramatic reshaping of the federal judiciary that will resonate for a generation and that he hopes will provide a needed boost to his reelection effort. Zeke Miller, Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick Associated Press -- 9/27/20
Beltway
‘He’s sort of like Goebbels’: Biden compares Trump to Nazi propagandist -- When Biden was asked during an interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle how he would combat Trump’s repeated claim that he was pushing a socialist agenda, the former vice president didn’t mince words. Trump is “sort of like Goebbels,” Biden said, invoking the name of Joseph Goebbels, the mastermind of Nazi Germany’s propaganda machine. “You say the lie long enough, keep repeating it, repeating it, repeating it, it becomes common knowledge” among voters. Evan Semones Politico -- 9/27/20
-- Saturday Updates
300-foot flames coming at us': The battle to save Mt. Wilson from the Bobcat fire -- This was the moment firefighters and observatory officials had been fearing: the fire striking a direct blow to the complex. Glowing red embers chewed through brush and trees, and thick smoke billowed into dark skies typically reserved for stargazing. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/26/20
Bracing for fire weather, PG&E notifies 100,000 customers, including some in Napa County, of potential blackouts -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on Friday expanded the area of potential fire-prevention power shut-offs for Sunday and Monday as hot, windy weather approached, notifying nearly 100,000 customers, including a handful in Napa County, that they could lose power. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Luke Money, Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/26/20
Can technology predict wildfires? New systems attempt to better forecast their spread -- When freak lightning storms passed over Northern California’s wine country last month and sparked hundreds of wildfires, a newly established network of remote weather stations, orbiting satellites and supercomputers spun into action and attempted to predict the spread of what is now known as the LNU Lightning Complex fire. Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/26/20
Street
Video shows sheriff’s deputy striking person with shield as West Hollywood protest ends in 6 arrests -- Six people were arrested in West Hollywood on Friday night during a protest decrying the police killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky., with video posted on social media showing a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy striking a person with a riot shield while the individual was pinned to the ground. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/26/20
Elections
Northern California county strikes back after conservative pundit implies ballot dumping -- Sonoma County election officials say they are setting the record straight after a popular conservative pundit suggested that they had dumped mail-in ballots ahead of the 2020 election. The county’s official social media accounts published a statement Friday saying that pictures circulating on the internet of election envelopes in dumpsters were actually from 2018 — not, as many Twitter users had claimed, 2020. Officials said the ballots pictured were empty and had been disposed of legally. Vincent Moleski in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/26/20
Virus on Campus
Faculty sharply question Adela de la Torre’s handling of SDSU’s COVID-19 crisis -- Professors say she has shown poor judgment and failed to deeply involve the faculty in running SDSU. Gary Robbins in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/26/20
Virus at 30,000 feet
Coronavirus: Airlines say flying is safe, but new study reveals potential for superspreader disaster -- How risky is it to fly during the coronavirus pandemic? For clues, consider the travel histories of two of the country’s top infectious disease experts, each with parents on the other side of the country. One hasn’t flown since January when the new coronavirus was just emerging as a global threat. John Woolfolk in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/26/20
Environment
California mayor, Mexican governor launch war of words over cross-border sewage spills -- The mayor of Imperial Beach, Calif., and the governor of Baja California are engaged in an ongoing public feud over cross-border sewage spills, which have been a problem for years and resulted in polluting local communities in the United States and making people ill. Gustavo Solis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/26/20
Education Dollars
San Diego charter schools sue state seeking funding for thousands of students -- Thousands of students are leaving school districts for independent study charter schools, but state funding isn’t following them, charter leaders say. Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 9/26/20
Homeless
Lopez: Column: She died on a sidewalk near where she grew up. She was L.A.'s 959th homeless death this year -- Sylvia Maglia, 63, was well on her way to becoming a statistic in a region where, each year, we break records for the number of people who die on our streets. She was deteriorating quickly in Granada Hills, anchored in her regular spot outside a real estate office on Balboa Boulevard, just south of San Fernando Mission Boulevard. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/26/20
Employers and Workers
Wildfire, climate, virus pose triple-threat to key California tourism, wine industries -- -- In San Diego, tourism industry watchers are bracing for a bleak fall after a shut-in summer that has crushed that city’s businesses. Up the coast in Monterey County, once-optimistic wine growers now must contend with the smoky fallout of nearby wildfires and its effect on that county’s multi-million dollar industry. Darrell Smith in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/26/20
Tesla referral code for you to use -- john93948 to get 1000 free Supercharger miles.