"The Tubbs fire, the most destructive wildfire in California history, had ripped through Sonoma County and incinerated more than 5,500 homes, including the middle school teacher’s own four-bedroom house in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa."
"That night, from an evacuation center at her daughter’s school, she called her insurance company and property manager. Right away, she knew she would rebuild."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: In California, Prop. 3 is a billion-dollar fix for stubborn water woes -- Water Deeply's JERRY MERAL; Plan to revive rivers pits SF against California -- The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER; Sacramento, your summer electricity bill is about to jump. Here's what to do about it -- Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK/SHARON OKADA; Fire risk prompts PG&E to cut power to 42,000 homes in Sierra foothills -- even more may go dark -- Sacramento Bee's DANIEL HUNT; 30-acre fire in Redding forces neighborhood evacuationsc -- Sacramento Bee's VINCENT MOLESKI; PG&E cuts power amid red flag wildfire conditions -- The Chronicle's JOAQUIN PALOMINO/PETER FIMRITE
Politics on Tap: Samantha Corbin and Caity Maple
Capitol Weekly STAFF: "A truly unusual anniversary: It’s been one year since an open letter was distributed in which scores of women detailed allegations of sexual misconduct over a period of years involving lawmakers, staffers, lobbyists and others in the state Capitol community."
"The disclosures rocked Sacramento. They came barely a week after the October 2017 allegations of sexual assault against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein – allegations that have since evolved into criminal investigations and inspired the national #metoo movement."
"Over the past the year, much has happened, and not only in New York and Hollywood."
SF taught Newsom crucial lessons he could use as governor
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "Gavin Newsom has long been caricatured — with some degree of accuracy — as a “fortunate son,” as his Republican gubernatorial opponent John Cox calls him. Even though Bay Area residents who have followed his career over two decades know Newsom is more of a “fortunate friend” than a son of privilege, the narrative has gone statewide in the governor’s campaign."
"Last week, 22 years after Newsom was appointed to the San Francisco Parking and Traffic Commission, that son turned 51, and polls say he is the front-runner to be California’s next governor. His experiences growing up in the Bay Area — both personally and politically — can give voters an idea of what he’d be like as the state’s chief executive."
Sen. Kamala Harris's US tour fuels talk about a 2020 presidential bid
LA Times's SARAH D WIRE: "sssMichelle Garrett craned to snap a photo of Sen. Kamala Harris amid the sea of cellphones and campaign signs at a get-out-the-vote rally for Ohio Democrats, sliding her "Sherrod Brown for Senate" lawn sign under a chair to protect it from jostling feet."
"I can't believe she's here. For us, it's like a rock star," Garrett, 52, of Worthington, Ohio, said. "I've gone to things for Sherrod before, but ... having her is like the cherry on top."
"Rookie senators aren't usually in such high demand to speak and raise money on behalf of colleagues in other parts of the country. But Harris' packed travel schedule is another sign of the freshman California senator's rising profile in the Democratic Party."
In East Bay Assembly race, differences in approach overshadow agreement on policy
The Chronicle's KIMBNERLY VEKLEROV: "An increasingly bitter contest in the East Bay’s Assembly District 15 pits a first-time candidate who has the backing of Democratic Party heavyweights against a political firebrand who has been in local government for years."
"The outcome will reveal which brand of progressive politics can persuade voters in this bright blue district, which stretches from North Oakland through Berkeley and Richmond to Hercules."
"Buffy Wicks and Jovanka Beckles were the top finishers to emerge from a crowded June primary to replace two-term Assemblyman Tony Thurmond, now running for state superintendent of public instruction."
Electric scoooters returning to SF streets as part of pilot program
The Chronicle's CAROLYN SAID: "Rental electric scooters, which were banned from San Francisco in June after controversies piled up, were set to return to the city streets early Monday as part of a yearlong pilot program."
"Employees of two local startups, Skip and Scoot, planned to drive vans through the predawn darkness depositing the motorized two-wheelers throughout the Financial District, South of Market, the Castro, Dogpatch, the Bayview, the Mission and, in the case of Skip, Golden Gate Park and the Excelsior."
"Each company has permits for 625 scooters, a number that the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency could let them double in six months. Scoot’s are red and black, while Skip’s are black, blue and yellow. Users can book them through the companies’ apps, paying $1 to unlock them and 15 cents a minute to use them."
The economy is booming. Why do so many Central Valley cities want to raise taxes?
Sacramento Bee's RYAN LILLIS: "In the once tiny farming town of Kerman, the population is growing rapidly but the police department can’t afford to hire new cops."
"Los Banos is adding hundreds of new residents each year and median home values have nearly tripled since bottoming out in 2010. But the city is struggling to afford services for its growing population."
"And in Folsom, one of the wealthiest cities in the Central Valley, local officials boast about their city’s amenities – including bike trails and other outdoor activities – but acknowledge their aspirations to do more will be difficult to pull off without another steady revenue stream."
California's family doctors say Trump's proposed immigration rule threatens public health
Sacramento Bee's CATHIE ANDERSON: "California’s family physicians are warning federal officials that a proposed change in immigration rules will put public health at risk because it weakens “herd” immunity, especially in the Golden State where one in every two children has a foreign-born parent."
"The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed changes to a federal rule that, immigration experts say, creates ambiguity about what it means to be an immigrant who depends on the government for their support. In the parlance of immigration, such a person is called a “public charge,” and getting saddled with that label can ruin a shot at permanent U.S. residency for many immigrants."
"The new rule would make it difficult for any temporary visitor to adjust his or her status to get a green card if he or she had lawfully or otherwise used health and other public benefits,” said Kevin Johnson, the dean of the King Hall law school at UC Davis. “Immigrant rights advocates fear that it will discourage all non-citizens from using public benefits, even ones they are lawfully entitled to."
Berkeley's homeless may have to scaled back under plan to curb accumulation
The Chronicle's OTIS R. TAYLOR JR: "Think about it: If you were suddenly forced to live on the streets for an extended period of time, what would you take with you to make homelessness bearable and less extreme?"
"You’d probably take plenty of shirts, pants, underwear, shoes, toiletries and personal keepsakes, of course. That’ll probably fit in a large suitcase. You can roll that around all day, no problem."
"But what are you going to sleep on or in? Is a blanket more necessary for survival than a winter coat? Well, it gets cold at night in the winter, so you’ll probably need both."
Latino motorists describe anger at being stopped on I-5 by sheriff's unit seeking drugs
LA Times's BEN POSTON/ANDREA CASTILLO/JOEL RUBIN: "Roni Salguero Casasola had heard from friends in Bakersfield that L.A. County sheriff’s deputies were pulling over Latino motorists on the 5 Freeway heading into Los Angeles. But even those warnings hadn’t prepared him for what happened next."
"As he and a friend drove toward a Glendale car dealership, Salguero said, a sheriff’s deputy pulled them over on the 5 Freeway and asked if they were carrying drugs. The deputy, he said, handcuffed them, placed them in the back seat of a sheriff’s SUV and thoroughly searched their vehicle before releasing them after finding nothing."
#MeToo movement spurs #HimToo backlash: 'People don't want to believe'
The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "Even as a Bay Area professor’s accusation against a U.S. Supreme Court candidate invigorated the movement against sexual abuse, it intensified a backlash that casts men as the real victims of #MeToo — a reaction that traces its recent roots to college campuses and has found a vocal backer in the nation’s leader."
"President Trump not only mocked Christine Blasey Ford for her testimony that Justice Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens, but the president — who himself faces allegations of sexual misconduct from more than a dozen women — sought to redefine the era as “a very scary time for young men in America.” His son, Donald Trump Jr., said he’s more worriedabout his three sons than his two daughters."
"The reaction against women who report being harassed or assaulted gained a hashtag of its own, #HimToo; was cheered by many in Trump’s base; and won support from like-minded lawmakers like Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, who called #MeToo a “movement toward victimization.” Even before she testified Sept. 27, Ford received death threats and had to move out of her Palo Alto home."
Screened at US border, Canadians who are honest about cannabis use could be banned from America
LA Times's KURTIS LEE: "Bill Powers flipped through the sworn statement he gave to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the printed pages taking him back to that August afternoon — back to the border checkpoint into Washington state where agents asked if he had ever smoked marijuana."
LA TImes's MARK Z BARABAK: "When the Great Recession hit, it walloped Nevada like no other state, claiming Corry Castaneda among its many victims."
