"But in Los Angeles, the Department of Water and Power continues to keep the switch on, permitting electricity to course through its 6,000 miles of power lines, even when the fire threat grows."
"The long-held policy could come under increasing scrutiny, however, as fire seasons grow longer and damage tolls keep rising. This week’s blaze near the Getty Center, for some residents, was reason enough to re-evaluate the approach."
In Mendocino County, they see the light — after five days without
From PETER FIMRITE, Chronicle: "After five days of darkness, the lights came back on in Ukiah on Wednesday."
"Residents switched off their flashlights, stopped feeding the wood-burning stove and began planning for the important things in life, like the beloved tradition of trick-or-treating through the downtown business district."
"Ukiah is the the county seat and largest town in Mendocino County, a 3,878-square-mile chunk of Northern California that had been without power since Saturday night. That’s when — at precisely 7:07 p.m. — Pacific Gas & Electric pulled the plug on just about the entire county. Ninety thousand people were plunged into the void."
Seniors at California complex ‘abandoned’ during blackout
From the AP's JANIE HAR: "One woman in her 80s tripped over another resident who had fallen on the landing in a steep stairwell. Others got disoriented, even in their own apartments, and cried out for help."
"At least 20 seniors with wheelchairs and walkers were essentially trapped, in the dark, in a low-income apartment complex in Northern California during a two-day power shut-off aimed at warding off wildfires."
"Residents of the Villas at Hamilton in Novato, north of San Francisco, say they were without guidance from their property management company or the utility behind the blackout as they faced pitch-black stairwells and hallways and elevators that shut down."
No rain in sight for L.A. area for next few weeks; critical fire weather warnings extended
From the LAT's RONG-GONG LIN II: "The unusually long Santa Ana wind event is expected to ease Thursday evening. And with it, the fire risk will be reduced as well."
"But there is not much good news on the horizon, with forecasters seeing little chance of rain in the next few weeks."
"Critical fire weather warnings have been extended through Friday night for the windiest spots of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, continuing red-flag conditions for an additional 24 hours. The red-flag warnings, which sound the alarm for high winds, dry air and parched vegetation, will persist for inland mountains and valleys in Los Angeles and Ventura counties and the Santa Clarita Valley because of ongoing winds from the northeast and very dry air. Other areas were expected to see red-flag warnings expire as gusts ease Thursday evening to 25 mph to 35 mph."
As fires rage, pressure mounts to train California’s next generation of forest stewards
From SYDNEY JOHNSON, EdSource: "While some California schools shut their doors in October during a blackout intended to prevent wildfires, lessons continued outdoors for a group of students tucked away high in the Santa Cruz mountains."
"There, high school students from Sacramento to Los Angeles gathered at Forestry Challenge, a statewide program and competition that aims to train students in technical forest skills and management."
"California has adopted new academic standards in math and science to help grow the number of students prepared for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. Similar to other STEM fields, employers in California’s forestry and natural resources industries are in need of a larger and more diverse pool of qualified applicants."
Trump eyes compromise with Newsom on climate, cars. California says it isn’t enough
From the Bee's MICHAEL WILNER and DALE KASLER: "The Trump administration is opening the door to a new climate change rule that would attempt to tamp down its rancorous fight with California over greenhouse gas emissions."
"The Environmental Protection Agency may issue a rule by year’s end requiring automakers to sell new cars that reduce carbon emissions by 1.5 percent a year through 2025."
"Until now, the administration wanted to freeze the standards at 2020 levels for the next five years. But a White House official and an EPA official told McClatchy on Thursday that the Trump administration had not ruled out the 1.5 percent standard, and was still considering its options in the rule making process."
Juul’s value plunges $14 billion after Altria slashes its investment
From the Chronicle's CATHERINE HO: "Tobacco company Altria slashed the value of its Juul investment by a third, lowering the San Francisco vaping startup’s valuation from $38 billion to $24 billion."
"Altria executives said they would take a $4.5 billion write-down on the stake, attributing the charge to several factors, including a slowdown in the growth of overall vaping sales, the Food and Drug Administration signaling it will ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, the spate of vaping-related lung illnesses that have stricken about 1,600 people, and stricter regulations being passed in other countries that are expected to curtail Juul’s international growth."
“We’re not pleased to take an impairment charge,” Altria CEO Howard Willard said during a quarterly earnings call with analysts Thursday. “We didn’t anticipate this dramatic of a change in the e-vapor category. The lung injury was something we had not predicted. The dramatic potential for regulatory change that may occur next year was on the extreme end of what we might have expected.”
