McKinney Fire: Firefighters finally gain ground as containment grows to 10%
JORDAN PARKER and JULIE JOHNSON, Chronicle: "Firefighters battling the McKinney Fire in Klamath National Forest gained some ground on the nearly 92-square-mile blaze overnight, with Cal Fire maintaining 10% containment of the wildfire Thursday.
The wildfire, burning in Siskiyou County, torched 58,668 acres by Thursday evening, making it California’s largest fire of the year so far.
Firefighters were forced to contend with high temperatures for most of the week, in addition to thunderstorms that led to flash floods in areas scarred by the McKinney Fire and older blazes."
Abortions are widely available in California, but not for these women
LAT, JENNIFER HABERKORN/DANIA MAXWELL: “Jeni and her husband had already put together their baby nursery and drafted a list of names when she learned the baby she had been carrying for 33 weeks had a brain that had not developed properly.
A year later, Christina and her husband faced a similar diagnosis for their child at 28 weeks of gestation: excess fluid had built up in the skull, preventing the brain from growing correctly.
The two California women, both in their mid-30s, didn’t know each other but faced the same agonizing days between initial diagnosis and final confirmation of what’s called ventriculomegaly. Though no doctor could tell them exactly what their child might endure, they faced a spectrum of scenarios: death in utero, developmental delays, a short, seizure-filled life in the neonatal ICU.”
Wine, spirit bottles may be added –finally — to CA’s recycle rules
Capitol Weekly, STEVEN TRAN: “After a nice dinner with your loved ones, make sure to keep the wine and spirit containers alongside the recyclable bottles.
That’s because the state Senate passed Senate Bill 1013 on a 39-0 vote and sent it to the Assembly just before lawmakers left for their summer recess.
The bill, by Senate Leader Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa), would require wine and spirit bottles to be included in California’s decades-old recycling law, known as the Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, or “Bottle Bill,” which first went into effect in 1987. Atkins said her bill had been nearly “40 years in the making.””
Wrangling over renewables: Counties push back on Newsom administration usurping local control
CALMatters,JULIE CART: “Kings County Supervisor Joe Neves guided his pickup to a stop next to a long line of chain-link fencing. On one side of a gravel road stood row after row of glinting solar panels. The automated mirrors pivot and turn, following the sun in its daily path across the Central Valley sky.
Neves, a big man with a wispy Santa Claus beard, was showing off the county’s newest mega solar power project, still under construction on 1,600 acres. A state-of-the-art facility, it includes powerful batteries to store and deliver power after the sun sets.
This solar plant in King County is one of the scores of new renewable energy puzzle pieces across the state considered vital to California’s transition to cleaner electricity and its pursuit of climate change solutions.
Lawmakers, lobbyists gather in Napa ahead of key votes
CALMatters, EMILY HOEVEN: “Blockchain and cryptocurrency. Artificial intelligence. Facial recognition technology. Health care innovation. The energy industry. Building tech economies in “underestimated” cities such as Fresno. Understanding the benefits of remote work. Helping small businesses thrive online.
Those are among the topics that state lawmakers and tech industry lobbyists are set to discuss today at the luxurious four-star Carneros Resort and Spa in Napa Valley as part of an event dubbed the Technology Policy Summit, according to a draft copy of the agenda I obtained.
The two-day conference — which, according to the draft agenda, began Thursday night with a panel on how 5G technology can help address climate change and was followed by a reception and dinner — comes exactly a week before lawmakers are set to make do-or-die decisions on a slate of controversial tech bills, including proposals to significantly expand kids’ privacy rights online, allow public prosecutors to hold social media companies liable for intentionally addicting youth, and regulate the cryptocurrency industry.”
Saltwater toilets, desperate wildlife: Water-starved Catalina Island battles against drought
LAT, HAYLEY SMITH: “Island-dweller Lori Snell grimaced as she tallied her bill recently at the Avalon Laundry — nearly $50 for three large loads.
“It’s always an adventure to live in Catalina,” said Snell, 64. “It’s a joy, it’s a paradise, it’s a challenge.”
For Snell and Santa Catalina Island’s other 4,000 full-time residents, water is a bit of an obsession. When you live an hourlong ferry ride from Long Beach, a gallon of the stuff can cost six times more than it does “over town” — the islanders’ term for the mainland.”
YIMBY is as progressive as it gets
The Chronicle, BILAL MAHMOOD: “Pop quiz — which of these statements was made by a progressive?
Person A: “Ending single-family zoning ... is demolishing homes to put up rental units. (It’s just for) real estate developers to make more money.”
Person B: “What we need to know about our housing crisis, is that the reason why people are on the streets ... is because we’ve chosen not to build.””
Chesa Boudin says he won’t run this year to be D.A. in S.F. again
The Chronicle, MEGAN CASSIDY: “Former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin will not run for his former job this year, saying he will instead take time with his family after “more than three years of nearly non-stop campaigning” in a Twitter thread posted Thursday.
Boudin previously said he had not ruled out running for his former job, after his recall from office in June.
The announcement comes less than a month after the swearing-in of Boudin’s replacement, Brooke Jenkins, who was appointed to the role by Mayor London Breed. Jenkins, who worked under Boudin until she quit to help lead the recall effort against him, has announced her intent to run in the November special election.”
One group of tourists haven’t yet returned to S.F. And it’s costing the city billions
The Chronicle, CHASE DIFELICIANTONIO/YURI AVILA: “If you’ve been hearing more snatches of French and German around San Francisco this summer than in recent years, there’s a reason. International flight data show more nonstop inbound trips to San Francisco International Airport are coming from Europe than Asia so far this summer, compared to before the pandemic when Asian visitors made up the bulk of overseas travelers to the city.
During the summer of 2019, 455,581 visitors from Asia arrived at SFO, outpacing the 359,383 European travelers who showed up during the same period. Those numbers were a fraction of that during 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic hit, but tourism from Asia appeared to bounce back stronger in the summer of 2021. Data show travelers from Asia into SFO were more than double entrances from Europe, according to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
In June 2022, 53,000 travelers came from Asia while European travelers clocked in at more than 73,000 in the month. The June data were the most recent numbers available.”
Hope, frustration and hard lessons as youth try to lower voting age for school board
EdSource, CAROLYN JONES: “Three years ago, Melissa Rodriguez and dozens of her peers in Oakland Unified had a bold idea. Unhappy with the civics education at their schools, among other issues, they decided to enact their own real-life civics lesson: by fighting for 16- and 17-year-olds to have the right to vote in school board elections.
They circulated petitions. They went door to door in every neighborhood of the city. They collected endorsements and raised money for advertising. They did email blasts, social media campaigns and phone banking. And in the fall 2020 election, they won. Measure QQ passed with almost 68% of the vote.
Melissa Rodriguez and her peers campaigned for months to pass Alameda County Measure QQ.But that, so far, is where the story ends. The Alameda County Registrar of Voters has yet to implement Measure QQ, nor a similar measure, Y1, that passed in Berkeley in 2016.”
America’s hiring boom continues as employers add 528,000 jobs in July
LAT, PAUL WISEMAN: “Defying anxiety about a possible recession and raging inflation, America’s employers added a stunning 528,000 jobs last month, restoring all the jobs lost in the coronavirus-induced recession. Unemployment fell to 3.5%, the lowest rate since the pandemic struck in early 2020.
July’s job creation was up from 398,000 in June and was the most since February.
Friday’s red-hot jobs numbers from the Labor Department arrive amid a growing consensus that the U.S. economy is losing momentum. The economy shrank in the first two quarters of 2022 — an informal definition of recession. But most economists believe the strong jobs market has kept the economy from slipping into a downturn.”
The standoff over People’s Park could be a defining moment for Berkeley
The Chronicle, RACHEL SWAN/MICHAEL CABANATUAN: “To any longtime resident of Berkeley, the scene at People’s Park Thursday morning might seem uncannily familiar: felled tree branches piled at the edge of the grass, a torn-down steel fence, a protest banner hanging between two damaged bulldozers.
It wasn’t the first time the 2.8-acre site east of Telegraph Avenue had come to resemble a war zone, amid an ongoing standoff between UC Berkeley — which owns the park and seeks to quilt it with desperately needed housing for students and formerly homeless people — and demonstrators who claim People’s Park as a gathering space and sacred symbol of Berkeley counterculture.
Debates over the park’s fate have stewed for more than 50 years, but it wasn’t until the construction crews arrived Wednesday that a dramatic change began taking shape.
California Road Trip: 5 scenic routes for an unforgettable summer”
The Chronicle, GREGORY THOMAS/DEB WANDELL: “Road tripping has exploded in California since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic two years ago. With some travelers hitting pause on their bucket-list vacation plans, more people are opting to load up the car and explore their home states instead.
Luckily, California is top-to-bottom lousy with natural beauty, historic towns, scenic back roads and first-rate national parks. From remote stretches of rugged shoreline to the volcanic mountains peppering the state’s far north, and from High Sierra hideaways to Southern California’s best beach camping, here are five driving itineraries for unforgettable summer road trips.
The remote stretches of shoreline between Mendocino and the Oregon border show a dramatic side of the California coast few people have seen. The wave-torn sea stacks and sea caves, hidden glass-sand beaches, soaring redwoods and rich tidepools here show road trippers how to properly engage with Highway 1’s rugged appeal.”
Horrific crash leaves 5 dead, 8 hurt in Windsor Hills as speeding Mercedes slams into cars
LAT, NOAH GOLDBERG/GREOGRY YEE: “Authorities on Friday were investigating a fiery multi-car crash left five dead, including a pregnant woman and an infant, in Windsor Hills neighborhood Thursday.
Eight people were also injured in the crash at La Brea and Slauson avenues. The L.A. County Fire Department responded to the crash just after 1:40 p.m.
Surveillance video of the crash shows a Mercedes-Benz barreling down La Brea at high speed as dozens of cars cross the intersection on Slauson. The Mercedes runs a red light and slams into cars in the intersection, then bursts into flames and hurtles into a light pole, where it comes to rest.”
Russia says any prisoner swap for Griner must be discussed out of the public eye
AP, VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV: “The Kremlin said Friday that it’s open to talking about a possible prisoner exchange involving WNBA star Brittney Griner but strongly warned Washington against publicizing the issue.
Griner, a two-time U.S. Olympic champion and an eight-time all-star with the Phoenix Mercury, has been detained in Russia since Feb. 17 after police at Moscow’s airport said they found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.
A judge convicted the 31-year-old athlete Thursday of drug possession and smuggling, and sentenced her to nine years in prison. The politically charged case comes amid high tensions between Moscow and Washington over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”