As evacuated Bay Area residents begin returning to their homes, officials urge vigilance, caution
The Chronicle's MICHAEL WILLIAMS/MALLORY MOENCH/JILL TUCKER: "Record-setting wildfires continued to burn across the Bay Area, but major headway on containment by the more than 15,000 firefighters on the lines allowed some residents to return home Thursday — albeit with a warning.
“You need to be ready,” said Cal Fire Unit Chief Shana Jones. “We have probably another few months of peak wildfire season, so it’s your duty — it’s your responsibility — to be prepared (and to) help us help you.”
More than 40 new fires sparked across the state since Wednesday, each quickly extinguished, but the high fire risk remains, officials said."
READ MORE related to Wildfires: Here are California's biggest fires burning right now, and where air quality is worst -- Sac Bee's MICHAEL MCGOUGH; 700 blazes. 1.6M acres burned. Can fire-scarred California catch a break? -- The Chronicle's MALLORY MOENCH/MICHAEL CABANATUAN/RACHEL SWAN/MICHAEL WILLIAMS; Will smoke return? More storms on the way? Here's the Bay Area's weekend forecast -- LA Timeds's ANNIE VAINSHTEIN; Firefighters save 1,400-year-old redwood at Armstrong park -- The Chronicle's LAUREN HERNANDEZ; The 2020 wildfires and California wine: what we know so far -- The Chronicle's ESTHER MOBLEY; More than a dozen California condors missing after wildfire destroys their Big Sur sanctuary -- The Chronicle's STEVE RUBENSTEIN
Nearly every California GOP state senator in quarantine after coronavirus exposure
The Chronicle's DUSTIN GARDINER: "Nearly every Republican in the California Senate was forced to stay away from the Capitol on Thursday as they quarantined after coming into close contact with a fellow senator who later tested positive for the coronavirus.
The unprecedented move, during legislators’ pivotal final week in session, came a day after Sen. Brian Jones, R-Santee (San Diego County), tweeted that he had been infected with the virus. The Senate canceled its session Wednesday while it conducted contact tracing and informed anyone who may have been exposed.
Republican senators gathered with Jones on Tuesday at a caucus lunch, where they removed their masks to eat, Capitol staffers said. Many also attended a Monday night social dinner where Jones was present."
READ MORE related to Govt Quarantine: California Republicans banned from Capitol after COVID-19 test; can vote from home -- Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY
Prop 14: There's much, much more than meets the eye
DAVID JENSEN in Capitol Weekly: "Proposition 14, the fall ballot measure to save California’s stem cell agency from financial extinction, contains much, much more than the $5.5 billion that it is seeking from the state’s voters.
Added to the agency’s charter would be research involving mental health, “therapy delivery,” personalized medicine and “aging as a pathology.“ That is not to mention a greater emphasis on supporting “vital research opportunities” that are not stem cell-related.
The measure would enlarge the board from 29 to 35 members. Even at 29, the board has been much criticized for its large size, which creates more possibilities for conflicts of interest, a long-standing issue for the agency."
California adopts major pollution cuts for diesel trucks and ships
LA Times's TONY BARBOZA: "California air quality officials have adopted their biggest pollution-cutting regulations in more than a decade, targeting diesel trucks and cargo ships that spew much of the state’s health-damaging pollution.
The pair of rules approved Thursday by the state Air Resources Board will be crucial in reducing smog and cancer risk to millions of Californians who, despite years of gradual improvement, still breathe the nation’s worst-polluted air. One establishes stringent new emissions standards for heavy-duty diesel trucks, and the other requires more ships docked at ports to plug into electric power or scrub their exhaust.
The measures are part of a multiyear push to clean up freight-moving industries that are both a lifeblood of California’s economy and its dominant source of harmful pollution. Diesel trucks emit nearly one-third of smog-forming nitrogen oxides and more than one-quarter of diesel particulate matter in the state. Oceangoing ships are projected to surpass trucks to become Southern California’s largest source of nitrogen oxides by 2023."
Sacramento protests over Kenosha shooting; damage at City Hall and sheriff’s, DA’s offices
Sacramento Bee's MOLLY SULLIVAN, DALE KASLER, TONY BIZJAK and THERESA CLIFT: "A demonstration got underway in downtown Sacramento on Thursday evening over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin — but it’s a second protest that began later in the evening had city officials on edge about potential violence.
A rally “in solidarity for Jacob Blake” began quietly at Cesar E. Chavez Plaza, organized by activist group Justice Unites Individuals and Communities Everywhere, an activist group.
A second rally, which started after 8 p.m. at Chavez Plaza and was promoted on Facebook by Antifa Sacramento, prompted warnings about a resumption of the violence that hit the city in late May following protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis."
Here's who won't be getting an extra $300 a week in unemployment in California
The Chronicle's KATHLEEN PENDER: "The Employment Development Department will begin doling out $300 a week in federal Lost Wages Assistance the week of Sept. 7, but many unemployed Californians won’t get the extra money because their base unemployment benefit is too low.
President Trump authorized the assistance program after Congress adjourned in August without agreeing on a way to replace the $600-per-week supplement that everyone got on top of their regular state or federal pandemic unemployment benefits from April through July. Unlike the $600 supplement, the $300 boost will only go to those getting at least $100 a week in state or federal unemployment.
This new requirement “will disproportionately hurt people of color and underpaid workers,” the National Employment Law Project and 21 other groups said in a news release."
California unveils coronavirus testing plan that could speed school, business reopening
The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF/CATHERINE HO: "California has entered into an agreement worth up to $1.7 billion with a company that could process tens of thousands of coronavirus tests per day as soon as November, a step that could help the state return more quickly to normal life, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.
The diagnostics firm, PerkinElmer of Massachusetts, will set up a laboratory that will report test results within 24 to 48 hours, Newsom said at a news conference.
The lab would reach full capacity, 150,000 tests per day, by March 1. That would more than double the state’s current testing capacity, the governor said, allowing officials to respond more nimbly to the pandemic and making it easier for businesses and schools to bring back customers and students."
READ MORE related to Pandemic: LA hospital seeks vaccine trial subjects among its high-risk patients -- CHL's ARTHUR ALLEN California Nation podcast: Is enough being done to prepare for a COVID-19 economic fallout -- Sac Bee's GIL DURAN; August is Sacramento's deadliest month of pandemic, by far -- Sac Bee's MICHAEL MCGOUGH; California Foster Farms processing plant ordered to shut down over COVID-19 outbreak after 8 workers die from virus -- Sac Bee's MANUELA TOBIAS
Coaches, musicians and more to be exempted from California labor law under Democratic plan
Sac Bee's KIM BOJORQUEZ: "California Democrats on Thursday released a final package of exemptions to a new state labor law that requires businesses to give benefits to more employees, allowing more leeway for youth sports coaches, artists, appraisers and insurance field representatives to work as independent contractors.
The proposed exemptions come in the form of Assembly Bill 2257, a “clarification bill” to the 2019 labor law known as Assembly Bill 5. The bill with proposed exemptions is backed by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, who was the main advocate for the new labor law.
Gonzalez has said she knew AB 5 would have to be refined after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it last year. It’s been challenged in court by truck drivers and by gig economy tech titans like Uber and Lyft. A coalition of tech companies that includes Uber, Lyft and DoorDash is also seeking to exempt gig economy drivers from the law through a ballot initiative."
California to spend $35M on mail voting campaign run by firm with 'Team Biden' ties
Sac Bee's LARA KORTE: "A public affairs and consulting firm known for working with Democrats has been awarded a $35 million contract for a new California campaign to encouraging voting during the pandemic.
SKD Knickerbocker, which has crafted successful campaigns for many Democrats and has championed issues like same-sex marriage and police reform, was awarded the contract on Aug. 13 after an expedited approval process, said Paula Valle, chief communications officer for California Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s office.
The firm is run by CEO Josh Isay, who ran Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer’s 1998 campaign. Other notable employees include former Obama communications official Anita Dunn and Hillary Rosen, a longtime media figure who also worked with California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. On its site, the firm lists itself as supportive of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, saying it is “proud to be a part of Team Biden."
Trump paints Biden as would-be 'destroyer of American greatness'
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "In a dark declaration of war against Joe Biden and the Democrats, President Trump declared Thursday that the November election “will decide whether we save the American dream or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny.”
His speech accepting the Republican nomination before hundreds of supporters on the South Lawn of the White House — an unprecedented campaign setting that critics called an illegal use of government property — was a take-no-prisoners call to battle for the fall election.
In his 25-minute acceptance address to the Democratic convention last week, Biden never mentioned the president by name, but called him out because, he said, Trump “has failed to protect us."
Pelosi's advice to Biden: Skip debates with Trump
The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says if she were running Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, she would tell him to boycott debates with President Trump, calling any that include him an “exercise in skulduggery.”
The San Francisco Democrat argued that a debate with the president would “legitimize a conversation” that Trump has not earned. She suggested that Biden and Trump could answer questions separately instead.
“I don’t think that there should be any debates,” Pelosi said at her weekly news conference Thursday. “I do not think the president of the United States has comported himself in a way that (resembles) anybody who has any association with truth, evidence, data and facts. I wouldn’t legitimize a conversation with him, nor a debate in terms of the presidency of the United States."
Five takeaways from the final night of the RNC
LA Times's MARK Z BARABAK: "With a blaze of fireworks and a burst of heated rhetoric, President Trump closed out the Republican National Convention on Thursday night in characteristic fashion.
There was spectacle, an adoring (largely unmasked, socially undistanced) crowd and the chance for Trump to address, without filter, a national audience in the millions.
By delivering his acceptance speech from the South Lawn of the White House in violation of tradition and protocol — but with low energy by his usual standards — Trump once again outraged critics and delighted supporters by trampling assorted do’s and don’ts."
READ MORE related to RNC: It's a different type of GOP convention, but Cal ifornia Republicans say it's working -- The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH; Is California criticism justified? GOP convention delegates who live here agree with Donald Trump -- Sac Bee's LARA KORTE; Trump stands alone at the RNC, atop a party remade in his image -- LA Times's DAVID LAUTER
Three female VP candidates who cleared the way for Kamala Harris
The Chronicle's MCARDLE HANKIN: "Kamala Harris made history this year as the first Black woman and Asian American person to be nominated for vice president on a major party ticket. She follows in the footsteps of a number of past female vice presidential candidates.
In 1972, Theodora Nathalia "Tonie" Nathan became the first woman and the first Jewish candidate to receive an electoral vote in a presidential election, as the vice presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party. She and John Hospers ran against Republicans Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew.
Nathan was a founding member and former vice chair of the Libertarian Party and a founding member of the Association of Libertarian Feminists."
Officer alleges LAPD had quotas, silenced whistleblowers in gang-labeling scandal
LA Times's KEVIN RECTOR/BEN POSTON: "An officer in the Los Angeles Police Department’s elite Metropolitan Division has alleged in a new lawsuit that commanders have for years enforced a de facto quota system that rewarded officers who identified and arrested a lot of alleged gang members and punished those who didn’t.
“Minimums had to be met,” Officer Samantha Fiedler alleged in a lawsuit filed against the LAPD and the city of L.A. in California Superior Court this week.
Metro officers who didn’t make a gang or gun arrest or identify gang members on field interview cards for two days were told their “production” wasn’t good enough, she said. Some were reassigned to undesirable administrative jobs."
Newsom on ex-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle's fiery speech: 'Next question'
The Chronicle's DUSTIN GARDINER: "Gov. Gavin Newsom declined to comment Wednesday about ex-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle’s fiery speech on the opening night of the Republican National Convention, when she portrayed the state as a dystopia presided over by Democrats.
“This may leave you wanting,” Newsom told reporters during a news conference when he was asked for his reaction. “I respectfully defer to the next question.”
Guilfoyle, a top fundraiser for President Trump’s re-election campaign and partner of Donald Trump Jr., called her former home state a “a land of discarded heroin needles in parks, riots in streets and blackouts in homes.” She called it a preview of the “socialist ... future for our country” that she said was envisioned by the Democratic ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris."
Fiscal crunch threatens CSU's ability to meet higher ed. demands
PPIC in Capitol Weekly: "California State University (CSU) is an engine of economic mobility for Californians, particularly those from historically underrepresented communities. The system’s 23 campuses are also vital in helping the state meet labor market demands for highly educated workers. But despite annual funding increases, CSU has struggled to enroll all eligible students in the face of increased financial pressures, including a lack of bond funding and ballooning costs for deferred maintenance.
The COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate these challenges as state and local tax revenues fall, other sources of revenue become scarce, and more students require financial aid.
In this report, we examine enrollment growth at CSU and the factors that contribute to the system’s capacity constraints. We find:"
State Supreme Court orders Newsom to respond OC Board of Education petition to reopen schools
LA Times's SARA CARDINE: "The Orange County Board of Education’s legal battle to reopen school campuses for in-person learning gained steam this week when the state Supreme Court ordered Gov. Gavin Newsom to defend his executive authority to keep students at home during the pandemic.
The court compelled Newsom to respond to two legal petitions questioning the constitutionality of a July 17 mandate that ordered schools in counties on a statewide coronavirus watchlist to resume distance learning in the 2020-21 school year.
One of the documents filed Friday by Murrieta-based law firm Tyler & Bursch represents the Board of Education, an Anaheim public charter school and three public school parents. A second filed at the same time speaks on behalf of private-school petitioners."
READ MORE related to Education: Money for schools must not come at expense of those in low-income areas, SF judge rules -- The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO
Bay Area life is incredibly stressful right now: Seven easy strategies to help you cope
The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI: "The coronavirus pandemic is taking a massive toll on our mental health.
More than 40% of American adults are experiencing depression, anxiety, and substance abuse issues associated with the COVID-19 outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control said in a new report.
Throw in wildfires, election season, financial distress, school, and the isolation created by shelter-in-place orders, and it is little wonder that Bay Area behavioral crisis agencies have reported a considerable uptick in distress calls."
State orders Sacramento-area hazardous waste plant to close, after fires and explosion
Sac Bee's DALE KASLER: "California officials Thursday ordered the closure of a hazardous waste facility near Sacramento that had been the site of three fires and an explosion.
The state Department of Toxic Substance Control refused to renew the permit for the Rancho Cordova facility owned by Stericycle Environmental Solutions Inc., a national waste-management company.
The decision means the facility must close in 30 days. But Stericycle has the right to appeal, and the plant, which employs 92 workers, would stay open while the appeal is pending."
Chinese researcher may win release on bail after couple offers home equity as security
Sac Bee's SAM STANTON: "Following an emotional hearing over whether a Chinese scientist accused of lying about her ties to China’s military should win release on bail, a federal magistrate judge said he is strongly inclined to let her out of jail under strict monitoring conditions.
But U.S. Magistrate Judge Kendall Newman put off a final decision until Friday to give a lawyer and his wife who have offered to put up their home as a surety bond and keep watch over her more time to consider the risk they are taking.
Dr. Juan Tang, a cancer researcher who was scheduled to conduct studies at UC Davis until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, is accused of lying about her ties to China’s military and Communist Party and has been in jail in Sacramento since the FBI arrested her last month in San Francisco."
Thousands expected at March on Washington commemorations
AP: "Capping a week of protests and outrage over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., civil rights advocates will highlight the scourge of police and vigilante violence against Black Americans at a commemoration Friday of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Thousands are expected at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic “I Have A Dream” address, a vision of racial equality that remains elusive for millions of Americans.
And they are gathering on the heels of yet another shooting by a white police officer of a Black man that has sparked days of protests and violence in Kenosha as well as demonstrations in cities around the country."
Trump's possible violations of federal law during GOP convention unlikely to haunt him
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "Among the many things on display at this week’s Republican National Convention is the current toothlessness of a 1939 law called the Hatch Act, which prohibits employees in the executive branch of the federal government from taking part in partisan political activity.
On Tuesday, Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, conducted a citizenship ceremony for five immigrants at the White House, followed by remarks from President Trump, who presided over the ceremony. It was televised nationally as part of the Republican National Convention.
Also on Tuesday, the convention audience heard taped remarks by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was on an official trip to the Middle East, praising Trump’s “America First” foreign policy."
Russia says no signs of crime so far in Alexei Navalny's sudden illness
AP: "Russian authorities say they have found no indication so far that opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s coma, which his supporters and the German doctors treating him suspect was induced by poisoning, was caused by a criminal act.
A preliminary inquiry launched last week hasn’t found any indication of “deliberate criminal acts committed against” Navalny, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s office said Thursday. The statement comes amid growing pressure from the West to investigate the sudden illness of the Kremlin’s most vocal critic and Russian authorities’ apparent reluctance to do so.
Navalny, an opposition politician and corruption investigator who is a longtime foe of President Vladimir Putin, fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on Aug. 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing."
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to resign because of illness
AP: "Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, said Friday that he intends to step down because a chronic health problem has resurfaced, even though it was “gut-wrenching” to leave so many of his goals unfinished.
Abe has had ulcerative colitis since he was a teenager and has said the condition was controlled with treatment. But concerns about his health sprang up this summer and grew this month when he visited a Tokyo hospital two weeks in a row for unspecified reasons.
He is now on a new treatment that requires intravenous injections, he said. While there is some improvement, there is no guarantee that it will cure his condition and so he decided to step down after treatment Monday, he said."