U.S. Supreme Clourt ends census-taking, suspending San Jose judge's order to keep counting
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the Trump administration’s request to halt the 2020 census, a decision that could reduce population counts critical for congressional representation and federal funding.
Without explanation, the court issued a one-paragraph order suspending decisions by a San Jose federal judge and a U.S. appeals court to continue census-taking through Oct. 31. The justices said they would lift their order after a final decision on the merits of the case, but such a ruling is unlikely for months, so Tuesday’s decision could mean an end to the counting of the current population.
The only published dissent came from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who said the court was allowing the administration to sacrifice an accurate census for the claimed need to complete it immediately."
PG&E says wildfire blackouts to begin late Wednesday. Winds coming in two waves
Sac Bee's DALE KASLER: "PG&E Corp. said Tuesday it expects to begin blacking out thousands of customers Wednesday evening as high winds raise the risk of wildfires.
With California’s worst-ever wildfire season continuing, the utility said its latest “public safety power shutoff” is expected to leave 54,000 homes and businesses without power through late Friday night across parts of the Sacramento Valley, Sierra foothills and Bay Area. The blackout will strike a slightly larger population than PG&E had predicted 24 hours earlier.
The risks will come in two waves. PG&E meteorologist Scott Strenfel said the “dry Diablo wind event” will begin Wednesday afternoon, with the first blackouts expected around 6 p.m. Winds are expected to blow fiercely through mid-day Thursday before subsiding for a few hours. Then the wind will pick up again Thursday evening, Strenfel said, before it dies down and PG&E issues the “all clear” sign, sometime Friday morning."
READ MORE related to Power Grid/Blackouts: Potential PG&E blackouts could leave California homes without power until Friday -- The Chronicle's JD MORRIS/MICHAEL CABANATUAN
Coronavirus outbreaks tied to gatherings, workplaces keep LA County from reopening
LA Times's COLLEEN SHALBY: "Los Angeles County public health officials said Tuesday that an uptick in coronavirus cases linked to social gatherings and workplace outbreaks is largely keeping the area from moving out of the state’s most restrictive tier for reopening.
While officials remain hopeful the county will be able to progress in California’s reopening plan in the coming weeks, the area is still firmly in Tier 1, or the purple zone — one of only 10 counties in the state still considered to have a widespread risk of community transmission.
Though the county’s positivity rate has dropped to 3.7%, it has been hindered by a high number of coronavirus cases. The metric has been driven largely by outbreaks from personal gatherings, Public Health Directors Barbara Ferrer said during a Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday."
READ MORE related to Pandemic: Placer County risk downgraded by state. Which businesses can now reopen? -- Sac Bee's MOLLY SULLIVAN; All nine Bay Area counties meet California's health equity metricc -- The Chronicle's TATIANA SANCHEZ; Alameda, Santa Clara counties will advance to less restrictive virus tier -- The Chronicle's CATHERINE HO
Trick-or-treating 'strongly discouraged' in California this Halloween
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "Trick-or-treating and Halloween parties are “strongly discouraged” in California this year because they present a high risk of spreading COVID-19, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced Tuesday.
Ghaly said it would be particularly difficult to trace infections for any outbreaks that happen related to trick-or-treating, which informed officials’ decision to discourage those activities.
The new California Halloween guidance, which also includes recommendations for safely celebrating Día de los Muertos, suggests that families find safer ways to celebrate. It suggests meeting up for a distanced outdoor meal with up to two other households, online costume contests and drive-in scary movies."
Meet L.A.'s firefighting robot. RS3 can battle flames too dangerous for humans
RICHARD WINTON, LA Times: "With its bright-yellow armored body, grippy tank-like treads, plow nose and water cannon, the Los Angeles Fire Department’s latest piece of equipment looks more like a Star Wars sidekick than a firefighting assistant.
But this mini robot tanker is an inferno buster that packs a powerful punch of water or foam and can go where firefighters otherwise can’t. The LAFD on Tuesday became the first fire department in the nation to acquire the Robotics Systems 3, a droid on steroids.
LAFD Chief Ralph Terrazas said firefighters put their lives on the line when battling blazes. This year, 11 LAFD crew members were severely injured when a fireball engulfed four downtown buildings after a massive explosion that was ignited by hazardous materials."
California tribe offered solution to wildfire management. Was US Forest Service listening?
The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE: "Leeon Hillman walked slowly, sadly, to a semicircle of piled rocks surrounded by blackened trees. He knelt there, turning away from the heap of ash, which was all the massive Slater Fire had left of his house.
The 53-year-old member of the Karuk Tribe was among dozens of Native Americans who lost their homes in the forested hillsides surrounding Happy Camp, in Siskiyou County. The fire, which is still burning across the border in Oregon, raced through the area in September.
“I used to make arrowheads right here,” said Hillman, who teaches the techniques his ancestors once used to make bows, arrows and other ceremonial regalia. “It’s going to take me forever to come back and try to create what I lost. It’s depressing, especially when you know all this stuff could be managed better.”"
READ MORE related to Wildfire Season/Climate Change: California hasn't needed this many firefighters since 2008. Here's why -- The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG
Should felons keep their state pensions? This court case could give a new answer
Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "A landmark state Supreme Court decision from July might have breathed new life into a felon’s four-year fight to get his full public pension back.
Contra Costa County firefighter Jon Wilmot retired in December 2012 and was later convicted of felony embezzlement for stealing from his employer for more than a decade. On Jan. 1, 2013, a new California law took effect that says public employees can’t accrue pensions while committing felonies in the course of their work.
Citing the 2013 law, the county recalculated Wilmot’s pension in 2016 to exclude 13 years’ worth of benefits earned during the time he was stealing, reducing it to $2,859 per month from about $8,800 per month."
California's equity metric aims to protect vulnerable communities. But will small businesses suffer?
The Chronicle's TATIANA SANCHEZ/SHWANIKA NARAYAN: "For public health leaders and community advocates across the Bay Area, California’s new health equity metric, which aims to tackle coronavirus disparities in communities of color, is a forward-thinking plan that will aid those hit hardest by the virus.
But for business owners like Danielle Rabkin, the metric is a potential new roadblock in a year full of them. Rabkin’s business is on the brink of closure. After months of uncertainty and evaporating revenue, she was allowed to reopen her San Francisco gym, CrossFit Golden Gate, in September, at limited indoor capacity.
A few weeks later, the state came out with the new health equity metric rule, adding another layer in determining when counties may advance reopening and roll back shelter-in-place restrictions, according to the state’s color-coded, tiered system for assessment."
What is 'ballot harvesting' and why is California fighting about it?
Sac Bee's LARA KORTE: "Ballot drop boxes appearing in California this week prompted state officials to issue cease and desist orders against the Republican Party organizations that set them up.
Yet California Republicans are refusing to remove the boxes, which Democratic officials say are illegal under state election law.
The dispute highlights a longstanding rift between parties over a practice known as ballot collecting, sometimes called ballot harvesting."
Trump refuses remote debate with Biden. Nixon and Kennedy did one 60 years ago today
LA Times's STEPHEN BATTAGLIO: "If President Trump does eventually agree to a virtual debate with his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, it won’t be the first showdown between two presidential candidates in different locations.
The Commission on Presidential Debates wanted the event that was originally scheduled for Thursday — now officially canceled — to have the candidates participate remotely because of Trump’s recent bout with COVID-19. The president refused, insisting his health was fine for an in-person appearance.
Trump and his surrogates also suggested that a remote setup would allow Biden to cheat and “read the answers off a computer screen.” Whether the two candidates will appear at the debate scheduled for Oct. 22, in person or virtually, remains uncertain."
Poll: Trump hasn't recovered from tailspin set off by raucous debate performance
LA Times's DAVID LAUTER: "With three weeks left until election day, President Trump has not recovered from the self-inflicted wounds of his first debate with Joe Biden and, instead, has sunk farther behind his challenger, a new USC Dornsife poll shows.
The latest data show the unusual extent to which the Sept. 29 debate continues to shape the campaign’s final stretch.
The encounter in Cleveland, dominated by Trump’s repeated interruptions and his cryptic statement that seemingly welcomed a right-wing extremist group, appears to be the exception to the usual rule that the impact of debates fades quickly."
Vallejo mayoral candidate Hakeem Brown has a history of violence against women
The Chronicle's OTIS R TAYLOR JR: "Vallejo council member Hakeem Brown, who is running for mayor in a city that has been convulsed by police abuse allegations, acknowledged in an open letter to the community this past weekend that he had been arrested multiple times, saying the cases involved “drugs, possession of a firearm, and a scuffle with a domestic partner.”
Brown, who grew up in Vallejo and was elected to the council in 2018, wrote on Facebook that he “took full responsibility for these actions and pleaded guilty, serving four years in jail. During that time, I vowed to reach the standard that others expected of me.”
But public records reviewed by The Chronicle, and interviews with Brown’s first wife, show that the candidate appears to be downplaying his criminal history, the extent of which has never been publicly revealed. Some of the records were first obtained by the news site Open Vallejo."
Sacramento community leaders demand distance learning plan for schools
Sac Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR: "Community leaders and business and labor representatives, along with Sacramento parents, stood outside the Sacramento City Unified School District office Tuesday morning to call for school leaders and the teachers union to work together in creating a distance learning plan, and preventing the cash-strapped district from going insolvent.
Representatives from the Sacramento Metro Chamber, the Hispanic Chamber, Teamsters, Region Business, Greater Sacramento Urban League and others demanded that the two sides meet regularly, stating that the district and teachers union had failed to develop a proper distance learning agreement, a plan to safely return to campus amid the pandemic, and a strategy to prevent the district from running out of cash in 2021.
“We have three pandemics,” said Richard Owen, executive director for United Professional Educators, which represents school administrators. “The first pandemic happened prior to COVID, and that was a learning pandemic. Let’s not kid ourselves that we were doing well prior to this pandemic. We weren’t. Our kids were failing prior to COVID."
READ MORE related to Education: Court hearing for former Guiding Hands staffers in boy's death at school moves to January -- Sac Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR; SF school board meeting on Lowell admissions turns ugly -- The Chronicle's JILL TUCKER
Michelin won't be awarding California restaurants stars after all
The Chronicle's JUSTIN PHILLIPS: "Two months after stating it planned to give stars to California restaurants based on pre-pandemic dining inspections, the influential Michelin Guide backtracked on Tuesday and decided against giving out industry awards in 2020.
In a press release, officials at the French tire company’s restaurant guide said the decision was based on “feedback from restaurants severely impacted by COVID-19 and tragic wildfires across the state.”
This means the California Michelin Guide will not announce the winners of its highest honor, stars; or its Bib Gourmand selections, which are restaurants the guide recommends as a good value; and it will not reveal the recipients of the Michelin Plate, which is the symbol the guide uses for restaurants that offer “very good food” but do not have the star or Bib Gourmand status."
READ MORE related to Economy: SF rent prices plunge as much as 31% -- steepest decline in US, new report says -- The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG
Dianne Feinstein tries to pin down Barrett on abortion, LGBT rights and guns, without success
The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN/JOHN WILDERMUTH: "If Sen. Dianne Feinstein was hoping to get Judge Amy Coney Barrett to telegraph her opinions Tuesday on such legal hot buttons as abortion, LGBT rights and guns, she was disappointed.
The Supreme Court nominee cited two women who were confirmed to the high court, Justice Elena Kagan and the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in saying it would be inappropriate for her to comment on any issue that could come before her on the bench. Both justices, Barrett said, refused to weigh in on specific case law during their confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
California Sen. Kamala Harris, who had watched Feinstein and other Democrats try and fail either to rile Barrett or get her to hint of how she would rule as a Supreme Court justice, asked the judge only a handful of questions during her 30 minutes near the end of the day’s hearing."