Wildfires continue to rage across northern California, with the Amador County Butte Fire only 25% contained and the even more devastating Valley Fire out of control, having burned over 500 homes. Drought conditions have left the region vulnerable, and last week’s triple digit temperatures created perfect conditions for a disaster. Evan Sernoffsky, Kale Williams and Kurtis Alexander have the stpry for SF Gate:
“The rate at which the fire spread, jumping from 400 acres around 1:30 p.m. Saturday to 50,000 acres on Sunday, was astonishing, said Cal Fire spokeswoman Veronica Barclay.
“’It’s moving incredibly fast,’ she said. ‘It’s very dry due to the ongoing drought, and there is just a lot of fuel up here.’
“The blaze came upon Ron Clark, 48, and his mother, Carol, 70, so quickly that they were forced to flee their home on Gifford Springs Road in the community of Cobb with their two dogs, Marley and Sly, as 50-foot flames consumed large pine trees on either side of the road.
“’The pines were exploding. The flames were close to the highway, and they were huge,’ Ron Clark said. ‘It was unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it. By then, it was get out or get burned.’”
The Lake County town of Middletown was directly in the path of the fast-moving Valley Fire. Paige St. John, Los Angeles Times:
“Hundreds of homes and other structures have been destroyed, according to California fire officials. While firefighters made stands to save homes and people -- and fought to establish fire lines -- the blaze itself raged uncontained Sunday.
“By the time the sun rose in Middletown, survivors of the overnight firestorm began to emerge -- some on foot, some on bicycle -- amid smoking rubble and downed power lines. “
Friday’s end-of-session madness has faded, and leaving the newsies and pundits to review and interpret the results. One thing is clear: the mods have left their mark. Jeremy White, Christopher Cadelago, Alexei Koseff at the Sacramento Bee:
“On the final day of the session Friday, Democrats who dominate the California Assembly labored to pass a watered-down measure expanding the state’s unpaid family leave policy…
“Ultimately, the bill cleared the Assembly by a single vote.
“But the level of persuasion needed to advance even weakened legislation underscores the influence of moderate Assembly Democrats – a loosely formed group elected with the help of corporate interests. Their mark was most indelible on the just-completed session, where time after time they thwarted liberal legislation, from climate change to minimum wage.”
Their influence was perhaps most keenly felt on SB350, Senate Pro Tem Kevin de León’s landmark greenhouse gas reduction bill, which originally sought to cut petroleum use by 50%. Facing opposition from moderates in his own party, the senate leader was forced to strip the provision from his own bill. Dan Morain at the Sacramento Bee:
“Faced with demands made by industry and well-greased Assembly members from his own Democratic Party, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León concluded last week that he had no choice but to gut the most significant part of his Senate Bill 350, the sections that sought to force a 50 percent reduction in oil use.
“Not having been in the room when negotiations were going on, I don’t know who said what. But the wish lists offer some insights into the pulls and tugs that led to the decision to limit SB 350. Though it won’t cut oil use, it will reduce electricity use and increase wind and solar power.”
With Democratic moderates gaining in clout, any potential changes to Prop 13 are more likely to go to the ballot than through the legislature. Or, to go nowhere at all. Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee:
“Make It Fair is a labor-union-backed organization that wants to change Proposition 13, California’s landmark property tax limit.
“It has been circulating a chart claiming that since it passed in 1978, the proportion of property taxes paid on “commercial” property has declined from 45 percent to 28 percent, while “residential” property’s burden has risen from 55 percent to 72 percent.
“This seeming disparity is the core of the coalition’s pitch for creating a “split roll” that would preserve Proposition 13’s tax limits for residential property but make commercial properties subject to assessment upgrades and raise their property taxes….”
But, “Tellingly, although Make It Fair announced its initiative campaign in May, no ballot measure has actually been submitted…."
The top-tier GOP presidential candidates will have their second debate of the campaign on Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Library. What would The Gipper think of the party’s front-runner? Not much, sez LA Times columnist George Skelton:
“Reagan, unlike Trump, definitely would not be calling any woman a fat pig, dog or slob. And unlike Trump, he would not question whether Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was a war hero. He idolized McCain's military service. Nor, unlike Trump, would he characterize Mexicans who migrated here illegally as rapists and drug runners, or vow to deport all 11 million. As president, after all, he signed an amnesty law.
“Reagan appealed to our better angels, offering inspiration and hope. Trump stirs our bitter juices and rouses our uglier instincts. Perhaps that reflects this cyberspace age of impersonal and caustic verbiage.”
California’s Republicans, however, are favoring Donald Trump, along with another political ‘outsider,’ neurosurgeon/author Dr. Ben Carson, as their candidate of choice. Cathleen Decker, LAT:
“Fueled by derision for politics as usual, Donald Trump has vaulted to the top of the Republican race for president among California voters, a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll has found.
“Trump won the support of 24% of California Republicans surveyed, while Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and lesser-known conservative favorite, was backed by 18%. More than a dozen other candidates, most of them elected politicians, resided in the single digits, far behind the leaders.”
And, last, a cautionary tale (well, a 4-second animated gif, actually) about that scourge of modern life, the selfie stick:
“Selfie sticks are catching a lot of flak these days, and rightfully so: it's impossible to use one without looking like an utter douche nozzle. Case in point, the [alligator hunter] above who tried to up his selfie game by snapping a sweet shot of himself in his Jeep, only to fail in the most spectacular fashion possible.
“Dude takes his eyes off the road for one second to check on his camera, and ends up with a faceful of canoe courtesy of the brake-checker in front of him -- it's a 10/10 for style, but minus several million for good thinking.”
And for the faint of heart, no worries, the only thing injured is the guy’s pride (and his jeep).