Deaths as Wine Country fires burn at least 1,500 structures, force evacuations
The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE/JILL TUCKER/KURTIS ALEXANDER/DEMIAN BULWA: "A swarm of fires supercharged by powerful winds ripped through Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties Monday, killing at least 10 people, injuring dozens of others, destroying more than 1,500 homes and businesses, and turning prominent wineries to ash."
"Starting in the middle of the night, the fires hopscotched across neighborhoods, raced across fields and jumped freeways. Wind gusts up to 70 mph pushed walls of flames nearly 100 feet high, throwing embers ahead like hot fingers into strip malls and subdivisions. Many people who fled the surge had enough time to grab car keys, perhaps a pet, but not much more."
"And some didn’t get out. Sonoma County sheriff’s officials said seven people had died in that county. Two people died in a blaze in Napa, state fire officials said. At least one person was killed in Mendocino County."
READ MORE related to The West is Burning: Northern California death toll rises to 11 as fires continue statewide -- LA Times' SONALI KOHLI
'Guns kill people,' and leading doctors want to treat them like any other threat to public health
LA Times' MELISSA HEALY: "The doctors who lead the medical profession’s debates on how best to preserve and restore our health are done with moments of silence in the face of gun-related violence."
"In the wake of a mass shooting that killed 59 people and wounded hundreds more in Las Vegas, they neither minced words nor observed political niceties in describing the threat that firearms pose to Americans’ health."
"“Guns kill people,” Dr. Howard Bauchner, editor in chief of the influential Journal of the American Medical Assn., and a team of colleagues wrote in an editorial published online Monday. “Guns do not make individuals, their families, or homes safer and they result in far more deaths to loved ones than to an intruder intending to cause harm."
READ MORE related to Route 91 Music Festival Massacre: Las Vegas gunman shot security guard a full six minutes before opening fire on concertgoers, police reveal -- LA Times' MATT PEARCE/DAVID MONTERO/RICHARD WINTON
Sen. Feinstein's announcement that she'll run again gets mixed reception
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein found herself in a strange position Monday when she announced plans to seek re-election to a sixth term. While California voters generally approve of the job she’s doing, many are itching for change, and a bolder voice, in a time when the state is a hub of anti-Trump resistance."
“Is she the right person for this moment?” asked Aram Fischer, a leader of Indivisible San Francisco, which at 4,500 members is one of the largest local resistance groups in the nation. “There are parts of her legacy we all respect. At the same time, she has a preternatural preference for compromise, and she’s operating at a time of bomb throwers. And you can’t compromise when people aren’t making offers"
"So the question for us is: Who will be the best senator for California over the next six years? Not who has been the best in the past,” Fischer said."
After alleged 'moron' comment, Trump suggests he's smarter than Rex Tillerson
AP: "President Trump suggested he's smarter than Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, saying in an interview published Tuesday that if Tillerson did call him a moron, as reported, the two should "compare IQ tests."
"And I can tell you who is going to win," Trump said to Forbes magazine."
"Trump's tense relationship with Tillerson burst into public view last week. An NBC News story claimed Vice President Mike Pence had to talk Tillerson out of resigning this past summer, and that Tillerson had called Trump a "moron."
READ MORE related to POTUS45/Beltway: Trump's deal with Democrats over 'Dreamers' now in question -- LA Times; Michigan helped make Donald Trump president. Is it ready to elect the nation's first Muslim governor? -- LA Times' MARK Z. BARABAK
Lafayette station stabber was an apparent robbery victim, BART says.
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "Two men who were stabbed Sunday on a BART platform in Lafayette had just stolen some items from the stabber’s backpack as he slept on the train, the transit agency said Monday."
Surveillance video shed new light on the stabbings and the robbery that apparently precipitated them, said BART spokesman Chris Filippi. He added that only two people had been stabbed, not three as previously reported."
Earthquake hits near San Jose
The Chronicle's HAMED ALEAZIZ: "A 4.1 magnitude earthquake struck near San Jose Monday afternoon, officials said."
"The earthquake, which was reported at around 5:53 p.m. hit more than 10 miles east of San Jose, according to the U.S. Geological Survey."
Bad medicine: California lags other states in empowering nurse practitioners
LA Times' DAVID LAZARUS: "California doesn’t have enough doctors."
"By 2025, the state will be short about 4,700 primary-care physicians, according to a recent report from the UC San Francisco Healthforce Center. This will result in more people turning to costly emergency-room visits for routine care, it predicts."
Can the Weinstein Co. survive without Harvey Weinstein?
LA Times' DAVID NG/RYAN FAUGHNDER: "As the public face and pugnacious spirit behind his company, Harvey Weinstein made himself synonymous with a kind of prestige cinema that was designed to attract discerning audiences and scoop up Oscars by the armful."
"Weinstein Co.’s decision to fire him Sunday after explosive allegations that he sexually harassed numerous women over a course of more than two decades now raises the question of whether the Weinstein brand can survive without Harvey Weinstein, and who will take the reins of the indie film company that bears the family name."
Turkey's Erdogan says arrested US consolute staffer is spy
AP's SUZAN FRASER/DUSAN STOJANOVIC: "Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday branded a U.S. consulate staffer who was arrested by Turkish authorities a spy and said it was Turkey's rights to take steps against "an internal threat," in the latest swipe in an escalating feud with the United States."
"Speaking at a news conference in Belgrade, Serbia, Erdogan also accused the U.S. ambassador to Turkey of wrecking ties between the NATO allies by suspending the issuing of visas to Turkish citizens at U.S. diplomatic missions following the arrest of Metin Topuz, a Turkish citizen employed at the U.S. consulate in Istanbul."
"The U.S. suspended considering visa applications on Sunday saying it wanted to reassess Turkey's commitment to the safety of U.S. personnel. Turkey retaliated by halting visas services in the U.S."
