CZU fire destroys more homes than 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in Santa Cruz County
PAUL ROGERS and ETHAN BARON, Mercury News: "In a stunning milestone, the number of houses, commercial buildings and other structures destroyed in the CZU Lightning Complex fire still burning in the Santa Cruz Mountains has now surpassed the number destroyed in Santa Cruz County during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.
As of Tuesday night, 1,431 structures in Santa Cruz County had been destroyed in the massive fire, sparked by lightning on Aug. 16, compared with 1,084 destroyed there by the Loma Prieta earthquake 31 years ago.
The fire is now the 9th most destructive wildfire in California history, ranked by structures destroyed."
Coronavirus: California is about halfway to crushing its summer spike
From EVAN WEBECK, Mercury News: "California’s case count continued to plummet Tuesday, though there were the most deaths from COVID-19 reported around the state in nearly two weeks, according to data compiled by this news organization.
The 149 fatalities reported across California on Tuesday were the most since Aug. 21, 11 days ago, increasing the seven-day average slightly to about 109 deaths per day over the past week. But it remains about 25% lower than its peak in early August, which ended as the state’s deadliest month of the pandemic.
The 109-deaths-per-day average is lower than nearly any point in the past five weeks, and the number of new cases fell to its lowest mark since June 25 — two-and-a-half months ago — with 4,311 reported statewide Tuesday to bring the seven-day average down to about 5,000 per day."
Smoke could linger over Bay Area for months, even after fires are contained
The Chronicle's DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "The Bay Area’s air-quality woes are almost certain to continue through the weekend, as a ridge of high pressure brings a heat wave and low winds. But the ongoing wildfires mean that smoke could be here for months, even as the fires are contained — and it’s just the beginning of wildfire season.
A Spare the Air Alert, which bans wood burning, has been extended through Thursday in the Bay Area, adding to a string of alerts issued every day since Aug. 14. It is the longest stretch ever, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
“Whether we’re going to see bad air quality for the next few months or not depends entirely on how much containment is achieved with the current fires, and also going forward, what the outlook is for the next few months as far as the weather conditions,” said Charley Knoderer, meteorology manager at the Air Quality Management District."
Census document says cutting steps will be necessary to meet deadline, could result in errors
AP: "To meet an end-of-the-year deadline, some steps in the numbers-crunching phase of the 2020 census will need to be cut, and that could increase the risk for errors, according to an internal U.S. Census Bureau document made public Wednesday by House Democrats.
The internal document released by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform says that some efforts to meet the Dec. 31 deadline for turning in numbers used for redrawing congressional districts “represent abbreviated processes or eliminated activities that will reduce accuracy.”
The internal document was released as the House committee’s chairwoman, U.S. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, appealed to congressional leaders to extend deadlines that would give the Census Bureau more time to crunch the numbers used for apportionment, the process of redrawing congressional districts, and redistricting at the state and local levels."
Unemployment money is going to the wrong Californians. Is it fraud?
Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Hundreds of mailings purportedly from the state’s unemployment agency — some with valuable debit cards — are flooding the wrong homes and are addressed to the wrong people, and Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials are eyeing the possibility of a massive fraud scheme.
“Yes, we are concerned about fraud in this space,” Newsom said at a news conference Wednesday.
He said his office is working with state, local and federal officials to learn more, calling it a top priority at every level."
Pelosi calls salon visit fubar a 'setup,' refuses to apologize
The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN/RACHEL SWAN: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to apologize Wednesday for her visit to a San Francisco hair salon that was supposed to be closed under the city’s coronavirus pandemic rules, and suggested the business had tricked her.
Pelosi said she took responsibility for falling for the “setup” to have her hair done inside the salon Monday. But the San Francisco Democrat said that if anyone owes an apology, it’s the salon.
“I think that this salon owes me an apology, for setting me up,” she said at an event about school reopenings in San Francisco’s Noe Valley."
READ MORE related to Pelosi Salon Nontroversy: Here's who is behind the video of Pelosi without a mask in a California salon -- Sac Bee's THADDEUS MILLER; California beauty group 'appalled at the hypocrisy' of Pelosi's hair salon visit -- Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER
Delta on the edge
LA Times's KURTIS ALEXANDOR: "In spring and summer, when the skies are warm and the shadows thin, California’s snowy Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades unleash billions of gallons of fresh water each day, a melted bounty that nourishes the state’s mightiest rivers before converging slowly on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Here, across a sun-baked plain of rickety towns and sprawling countryside, the cool water winds through streams and sloughs. It fills irrigation ditches that feed cornfields and vineyards. It flows through shallow bays flanked by wooden fishing piers and riverside homes. Finally, it’s pumped off to the sinks and showers of two-thirds of Californians, many giving little thought to where the water came from — and just how vulnerable the supply has become.
The delta is an unlikely frontier, and an even more improbable battleground. So close to the Bay Area, but apart. Hidden beyond freeways and tucked beneath the wide open of the Central Valley. Vital to the future, yet wrapped in the past."
Chris Wallace returns as presidential debate moderator
LA Times's STEPHEN BATTAGLIO: "Fox News anchor Chris Wallace will be a moderator of the first debate between President Trump and his opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, on Sept. 29.
The Commission on Presidential Debates has named Wallace, who anchors the weekly Washington roundtable program “Fox News Sunday,” and three other journalists to handle the events that will be broadcast across the major networks and cable channels.
Wallace, 72, presided over the third debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016 and was widely praised for his handling of the event. He was the first Fox News anchor to ever moderate a presidential debate."
Coronavirus takes a toll on Latinos -- and the funeral homes that serve them
LA Times's RUBEN VIVES: "The novel coronavirus has ravaged California’s Latino communities, with many people who are front-line workers catching COVID-19 and then spreading the disease to family and neighbors.
This grim cycle of illness and death ends at places like Continental Funeral Home. Mortuaries that serve Latino communities have been overwhelmed by families in need of help since March, with bodies in some cases stacking up as operators tried to improvise funerals that previously might have drawn extended family and mourners from far and wide.
“It’s been so difficult for the families,” said Magda Maldonado, director of Continental Funeral Home. “They have been unable to express their condolences properly or participate in service."
San Leandro cop who shot Steven Taylor charged with manslaughter
The Chronicle's MICHAEL WILLIAMS/MEGAN CASSIDY: "Alameda County’s district attorney charged a San Leandro police officer Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a Black man at a Walmart in April, among the first such cases filed under a new, more restrictive, California law on police shootings.
The decision by District Attorney Nancy O’Malley’s office to file a felony charge of voluntary manslaughter comes more than four months after Officer Jason Fletcher shot and killed Steven Taylor, 33. Prosecutors claim that Taylor — who was holding a bat and stumbling after Fletcher shocked him with his Taser — posed no immediate threat to police or the public when Fletcher shot him with his service weapon.
“The decision to file the criminal complaint was made after an intensive investigation and thorough analysis of the evidence and the current law,” O’Malley said in a statement. “The work of police officers is critical to the health, safety and well-being of our communities. Their job is one of the most demanding in our society, especially in these current challenging times. They are sworn to uphold and enforce the laws.”"
Some Bay Area counties could progress to 'red' reopening tier next week -- here's why
The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG: "California made a big change Friday when it said goodbye to the coronavirus watch list and hello to a new, tiered “blueprint” governing coronavirus restrictions. And several counties, including two in the Bay Area, may see more changes as soon as Sept. 8, when they could move into less restrictive tiers.
Under the new system, instead of moving on and off the watch list, counties are placed in one of four color-coded tiers representing coronavirus risk levels: Purple is widespread risk, red is substantial risk, orange is a moderate and yellow is minimal. Each tier has restrictions on which businesses are allowed to open.
As of the Aug. 28 launch, all but two of the Bay Area’s nine counties are in the purple tier, the highest risk category. Only San Francisco and Napa counties are in the next level down, the red tier."
At Monterey Bay Aquarium, the sea animals are doing great, but business is tanking
LA Times's HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS: "A solitary African penguin waddled through an empty foyer at the famed Monterey Bay Aquarium, peeking curiously under an unoccupied bench.
As a glittery school of silver sardines glided through the 1-million-gallon Open Sea exhibit, soft atmospheric music played to an empty viewing room. No families were there to watch the sharks get fed. The jellyfish shimmered alone in the dark.
Crowds would normally be filling the aquarium corridors in these waning days of summer. But the aquarium on Cannery Row has been closed to the public for five months now because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Inside, it is quiet."
Sports social media was changed by the pandemic. The new norms are here to stay
LA Times's JACK HARRIS: "Kenny Smith got the idea while watching his son in the backyard.
It happened earlier this summer, when the two-time NBA champion and TNT broadcaster saw his son, K.J., a senior guard at North Carolina, dribbling a ball outside in front of his laptop.
“I just thought he was doing a YouTube video or something,” Smith recalled. “He says, ‘I’m on a [live video] call with my middle school and high school.’ He had about 100 kids."
How will the COVID-19 pandemic affect my college financial aid package?
LA Times's MARY FORGIONE: "Understanding how financial aid works at colleges and universities can be daunting for students and their families, even without a pandemic. For basic information, Federal Student Aid at studentaid.gov explains different types of aid (scholarships, loans, grants, work study, etc.) and who’s eligible for what.
The current crisis shouldn’t affect your aid package, provided you still meet eligibility requirements, according to Linda Brignoni, director of financial aid and scholarships at Cal State Northridge. But if the pandemic upended your life or your family’s life, you may need more money."
"Brignoni explains, in an email: “If a family’s financial situation has drastically changed from the time the student filed their financial aid application due to circumstances such as loss of employment, death or disability or marital changes, the student should contact their college. Each college has a process for reviewing special circumstances that may require submission of a form or documentation to support the review. The college will reassess the financial aid application, along with submitted documentation and on a case-by-case basis, they may be able to exercise ‘professional judgement’ to more accurately reflect the family’s current financial need. In some cases, aid may be increased.”
READ MORE related to Education: Alameda school district cuts ties with online learning program that parents argued included racist and sexist content -- The Chronicle's VANESSA ARREDONDO; A week after Chico State reopened, Butte County saw hundreds of new coronavirus cases -- The Chronicle's CATHERINE HO
Fauci breaks with Trump on COVID-19 herd immunity: 'That's certainly not my approach'
Sac Bee's SUMMER LIN: "Dr. Anthony Fauci said the U.S. shouldn’t pursue herd immunity to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, breaking with President Donald Trump, who invoked the strategy earlier this week.
Herd immunity occurs when enough of a population becomes immune to a disease through vaccine or already getting sick to make the spread unlikely between people in the community, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Herd immunity also protects newborns and people who can’t be vaccinated because it helps decrease person-to-person spread, the CDC said.
“We’re not there yet. That’s not a fundamental strategy that we’re using,” Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told MSNBC on Wednesday."
