Frustration mounts as Comcast outages leave more than 100,000 California homes without Internet
The Chronicle's SHWANIKA NARAYAN: "Close to 100,000 homes and 6,000 businesses are without Comcast services due to Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s power shut-offs, the company told The Chronicle Monday.
Comcast didn’t immediately clarify cities and towns in the Bay Area that are impacted but said, “the locations would align with where PG&E power shutoffs are taking place.” Services affected include internet, landline and mobile phone services.
PG&E shut off power to 361,000 customers in 36 counties, including eight of nine Bay Area counties, beginning Sunday morning to brace for the strongest winds of the year. The utility sometimes shuts down power lines as a wildfire-prevention measure during highly dangerous wind conditions."
Bulldozers were ready to fight California fires. Why did Forest Service turn them away?
Sac Bee's DALE KASLER: "The Loyalton Fire was two days old and starting to pick up momentum in a heavily forested area 50 miles north of Lake Tahoe. That’s when Jeff Holland offered to help.
Holland’s logging company, CTL Forest Management Inc., happened to have an array of firefighting equipment — bulldozers, water trucks, a wood-chipping machine called a masticator — parked on a property he owns in Loyalton, just west of where the fire started in mid-August. He proposed hiring out the equipment to the U.S. Forest Service, which was in charge of fighting the fire.
He was turned down."
READ MORE related to Wildfire Season: Early wildfires were contained in NorCal but more high winds are coming -- Sac Bee's VINCENT MOLESKI/MOLLY BURKE/MICHAEL MCGOUGH; Silverado fire may have been sparked by SoCal utility equipment -- The Chronicle's MATTHIAS GAFNI
California's Prop. 22 to keep Uber, Lyft drivers as contractors falling short
The Chronicle's CAROLYN SAID: "With only eight days until the election. Proposition 22, the megabucks measure from Uber, Lyft and other gig companies to keep their workers as independent contractors, is running shy of the 50%-plus-one margin it needs to pass, according to an independent poll released Monday.
The Berkeley IGS poll showed that 46% of likely voters polled support Prop 22, while 42% oppose it and 12% were undecided. The Yes side has won more converts since a mid-September poll, which found 39% supporting it and 26% against it, with 25% undecided, it said.
“The relatively large proportions of undecided voters in both polls suggest that many voters were having a difficult time reaching a final decision on this initiative,” Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley IGS Poll, wrote in a report. “How these late deciding voters ultimately come to judgement will likely determine its fate.”"
A week before election, affirmative action measure Prop. 16 has Latinos divided, uncertain
LA Times's SELENE RIVERA: "If you’re a low-income Latino or Black student hoping to enter a competitive college, Carlos Cruz has some advice.
Your best option is to continue your studies with free instructional videos on YouTube or online classes in computer coding, carpentry or plumbing, says the Republican candidate for California Assembly District 28, in Silicon Valley.
Cruz, a real estate agent, also thinks that on Nov. 3 Latinos and other voters of color should reject Proposition 16, which would restore affirmative action in California by allowing ethnicity to be considered as a factor in public employment, education and the awarding of public contracts.
“Passing Proposition 16 would only mask a very big problem that we have in poor-quality public schools,” said Cruz, who is running against Democratic incumbent Evan Low."
California's building its COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan. When could you get your shots?
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered a disappointing message last week for anyone hoping to get a COVID-19 vaccine in 2020: the majority of Californians will likely have to wait to get vaccinated until the second half of 2021.
Though President Donald Trump has promised a vaccine in the coming weeks, the California Department of Public Health’s draft COVID-19 vaccination planning report pushes the general public into the last stages of its blueprint.
“Don’t anticipate or expect that you can go down to a local pharmacy anytime this year and get a vaccination,” Newsom said during an Oct. 19 press conference."
READ MORE related to Pandemic: Sacramento County and nonprofits partner to reach residents hit hardest by virus -- Sac Bee's CATHIE ANDERSON; Despite small surge, Bay Area coronavirus case numbers pale compared to soaring national outbreak -- The Chronicle's AIDIN VAZIRI/ERIN ALLDAY; Should you get the first vaccine available? A 60-year-old scientific doctrine may have the answer -- The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE; Will you get a vaccine? Many don't trust it, and low vaccination levels could hinder pandemic recovery -- The Chronicle's CATHERINE HO; Fires sweep through Orange County, driving tens of thousands from their homes -- LA Times's RUBEN VIVES/STEPHANIE LAI/ALEX WIGGLESWORTH/ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE
LA County supes to consider motion seeking options to remove Sheriff Villanueva
LA Times's ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN: "The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will consider a motion Tuesday seeking options for removing Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who in recent weeks has faced growing calls to step down because of what many describe as his resistance to oversight and transparency.
“Week after week, there’s a new problem with the sheriff,” Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who authored the proposal, told the Los Angeles Times on Monday. “Increasingly, he’s being viewed as a liability.”
If approved at Tuesday’s board meeting, the motion would direct county lawyers to look into how to impeach Villanueva or take away some of his responsibilities, and explore legislative changes that could make the position of sheriff an appointed one. It seeks a report back in 30 days."
Biden headed for historic margin in California, poll shows
LA Times's DAVID LAUTER: "With one week to go before the 2020 campaign ends, California remains on track to hand former Vice President Joe Biden a victory by the largest margin for a Democratic presidential candidate in state history, the final UC Berkeley Institute for Governmental Studies poll indicates.
Biden leads President Trump 65%-29%, the poll finds. That 36-point margin would top the 30-point advantage that Hillary Clinton amassed against Trump in 2016, the previous record for a Democrat. The only larger victory in state history came exactly a century ago, in 1920, when Warren G. Harding, the Republican, beat James Cox, the Democratic candidate, by 42 points.
The likely outcome in California has never been in much doubt. The former vice president consistently has led Trump by huge margins in statewide polls for the past two years. The Republican ticket has never pretended to contest the race in the state, despite California’s large trove of 55 electoral votes, visiting for fundraising but not much else."
Will Kamala Harris increase turnout among Black voters? Democrats see encouraging signs
Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN/JOE KOVAC JR: "Last Friday, Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris hosted a drive-in rally at Morehouse College, an historic Black school.
On Saturday, she visited Cleveland, where she gave a rousing shout-out to Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, a former Congressional Black Caucus chair.
Sunday, she spoke at the service at the Triumph Church in a Detroit suburb. She also urged people to vote early in a video message just before the Soul of the Nation Gospel Concert."
A procrastinator's guide to the 2020 California general election
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "Millions of Californians have already turned in their ballots, so it appears there are fewer procrastinators this election year. But if you’re still on the fence about a ballot initiative or a candidate, we’re here to help you do your civic duty.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to vote and who and what is on the ballot:
The coronavirus outbreak upended daily life this year and set conditions for an election that will be unlike any other. You can vote at a polling place on Election Day or leave your ballot at a drop-off box. We have more information on how to find those sites below."
Three CalPERS health plans are in a 'death spiral.' Saving them could involve price hikes
Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "Three of the best health plans California state workers and retirees can buy are speeding toward collapse, according to CalPERS insurance experts.
The plans may be salvaged, but a proposed solution likely will involve price increases for young, healthy workers, Health Plan Research and Administration Division Chief Marta Green has told the CalPERS board.
The board is expected to hear details of the proposal, including projected prices, at a meeting in three weeks."
Sacramento considers tax break for UC Davis project. Some worry it will fuel gentrification
Sac Bee's THERESA CLIFT: "The city of Sacramento is planning to give a $30 million tax break to the developers of a controversial UC Davis project that critics say will accelerate gentrification in the city’s Oak Park and Tahoe Park neighborhoods.
The proposal, which the City Council will consider Tuesday, would also include a $37 million plan to spark more affordable housing in the neighborhoods surrounding Aggie Square, said John Dangberg, a consultant for the city on the project.
The university is planning to break ground on four buildings next year, including classroom and research space, and 285 units of student housing that will rent for about $1,900 a month per unit, according to a July report."
SF condos are the Bay Area's weakest market. So why aren't prices dropping more?
The Chronicle's KATHLEEN PENDER: "San Francisco is the softest spot in the Bay Area’s mostly booming real estate market, and its condo segment is weakest of all.
Inventory has been growing faster than sales, and price reductions — mostly in the condo segment — “have hit very high numbers,” said Patrick Carlisle, chief market analyst for the Compass real estate brokerage firm. So why hasn’t the median price for a San Francisco condo shown a bigger drop?
The median price paid for a San Francisco condo fell to $1.25 million in the third quarter, down just 2% from the third quarter of 2019, according to Carlisle. The median price for a single-family home rose 5.2% to $1.66 million."
Barrett's presence on SCOTUS could change course of several decisions
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "Newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett can weigh in soon on the law providing health insurance for millions of Americans. Also on religion vs. gay rights, access to abortion, states’ coronavirus restrictions on churches and public gatherings, and congressional access to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on President Trump.
But first on the docket is next week’s presidential election. And the first stop is in Pennsylvania.
Last week, the Supreme Court, in a 4-4 deadlock, left intact a ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that relied on the state’s Constitution to allow election officials to count ballots postmarked by election day and received three days later. But the case remained on the docket of the nation’s high court, and on Monday, Republicans asked the justices to review the issues and issue a ruling before election day."