Getting tired

Nov 19, 2018

 

California firefighters battle exhaustion from perpetual blazes

 

From the Wall Street Journal's ERIN AILWORTH: "Many firefighters battling California’s deadliest wildfire in Paradise have spent the past year hopping from one major blaze to another—each worse than the last."

 

"For fire Captain Richard Hiatt and his crew from the Cosumnes Fire Department in California, they thought they were facing the worst blaze of their careers when they worked the deadly Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa in October 2017, then again when they battled the Thomas Fire in Southern California last December. And yet again as they helped snuff a pair of fires called the Mendocino Complex in July."

 

READ MORE related to Camp Fire Calamity: The unprecedented devastation of the Camp Fire -- The Chronicle's GABRIELLE LURIE; Finland's president rakes memory for source of Trump remark -- AP; Searchers step up efforts; 77 dead -- AP; Gavin Newsom wants to resdesign California's tax system. It's so hard, Jerry Brown didn't try -- Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF; PG&E reports second power line problem before Camp Fire. Paradise residents file lawsuits -- Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK; Butte County fire survivors lean on faith and on each other after deadly fire rages -- The Chronicle's SARAH RAVANI/RACHEL SWAN/PETER FIMRITE

 

California's hunt for political relevance

 

Capitol Weekly's JOHN HOWARD: "On election night, California’s closely watched congressional races, viewed as crucial to Democrats’ attempts to capture the House, were largely irrelevant, after all."

 

"Democrats needed to pick up 23 seats nationally to reach a House majority and they got 26 before Golden State voters even weighed in — far short of the number predicted by numerous campaign strategists but still enough to give Democrats control."

 

"But California’s performance solidified the Democrats’ edge in the House and startled the state’ political observers. And, as it turned out, the pre-election predictions of Democrats picking up 35 to 40 House seats nationally were right on the money."

 

Another House win caps Democratic rout in California

 

AP's MICHAEL R BLOOD: "Democrat Gil Cisneros captured a Republican-held U.S. House seat in Southern California, capping a Democratic rout in which the party picked up six congressional seats in the state."

 

"In what had been the last undecided House contest in California, Cisneros beat Republican Young Kim for the state's 39th District seat."

 

"The Cisneros victory Saturday cements a stunning political realignment that will leave a vast stretch of the Los Angeles metropolitan area under Democratic control in the House."

 

READ MORE related to Midterms: California's blue tsunami decimates weakened GOP -- The Chronicle's JOHNM WILDERMUTH/TAL KOPAN

 

Gavin Newsom wants to redesign California's tax system. It's so hard, Jerry Brown didn't try 

 

Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "California likes to tax the rich. A lot."

 

"The top 1 percent of earners provides about half of personal income tax revenue, by far the largest source of funding for the state government."

 

"The downside is that when the stock market goes bust, so does California’s budget. Experts, from Gov. Jerry Brown on down, are well aware of the problem, yet the politically perilous task of overhauling the volatile tax system has failed to gain traction for years."

 

SF unique in requiring only simple majority vote for tax measures

 

The Chronicle's DOMINIC FRACASSA: "It’s been almost two weeks since San Francisco voters passed Proposition C, and the expected threat of a legal challenge to it — potentially bankrolled by the business interests who opposed the measure — has yet to materialize."

 

"There’s a reason for that: It might not have to."

 

"Prop. C, which seeks to tax the city’s biggest businesses to fund services for the homeless, is already facing an existential threat that bloomed back in August."

 

Unhealthy air to plague NorCal until rain arrives Tuesday

 

The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "Relief is on the way for Bay Area residents sick of donning face masks and sucking in air thick enough to taste."

 

"It should arrive Tuesday night with winds slowly pushing out the smoke and ushering in the first of two rainstorms."

 

"It won’t be an instantaneous clearing, but it will gradually clear as the winds pick up,” said Steven Anderson, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “By Wednesday, when the main rain comes through, any remaining particulates in the air should be gone by then.”

 

Charter school backers spent millions on statewide races in 2018. They still lost twice

 

Sacramento Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "When former charter school executive Marshall Tuck called Assemblyman Tony Thurmond to concede over the weekend, it marked another defeat for charter-school advocates in California."

 

"Thurmond was elected California’s top education official in the wave that led more liberal-leaning voters to cast ballots. Although both are Democrats, Thurmond had the party’s endorsement."

 

"He also was backed by teachers unions, who were outspent more than two-to-one."

 

Plan to free Bay bridges from cash tolls will save money. But how much?

 

The Chronicle's MATIER & ROSS: "Saving money and saving drivers time are the two biggest arguments being put forth in the Bay Area Toll Authority’s plan to eliminate cash tolls on its seven bridges."

 

"But just how much money the changeover will actually save — and just how much time drivers will save as a result of the bridges getting rid of toll takers — is a bit hard to pin down at this point."

 

"For example, not having drivers stop and hand over money to toll takers is expected to pretty much eliminate the backups on the Antioch, Carquinez and Benicia-Martinez bridges. But, then again, none of them have significant backups."

 

China has 'taken the gloves off' in its thefts of US technology secrets

 

LA Times's DEL QUENTIN WILBER: "It was the great microchip heist — a stunning Chinese-backed effort that pilfered as much as $8.75 billion in patented American technology."