Three dead, 12 missing after Bear Fire rips through Butte County foothills
Sac Bee's SAM STANTON/BENJY EGEL: "Three people are reported dead in the Bear Fire that swept through Butte County late Tuesday, and at least 12 other people are unaccounted for, officials said late Wednesday.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said three people have been found dead – two in one location, a third in another – but said their identities have not been determined and gave no further details.
The California Highway Patrol said two victims were found Wednesday at about 11:40 a.m. at Bald Rock and Greystone roads in Berry Creek, where one person was found inside a vehicle and a second was outside of the vehicle."
READ MORE related to Wildfire Season: Monster firestorm brings death and devastation back to Butte County as the state burns -- LA Times's ANITA CHABRIA/JOSEPH SERNA/MATTHEW ORMSETH/JOE MOZINGO; Fire in Butte County explodes overnight, racing toward Oroville -- The Chronicle's JILL TUCKER; Wildfires have burned record acreage in the Golden State. Here's where the largest conflagrations are -- Sac Bee; Fires across the state could accelerate home insurance crisis in hotspots -- Sac Bee's DALE KASLER; Creek Fire's burned 166,965 acres and has yet to cease. Can residents return home? -- Sac Bee's BRYANT-JON ANTEOLA; 'Feeling panic': Paradise residents traumatized by the Camp Fire flee new wildfire threat -- The Chronicle's LIZZIE JOHNSON; Fire danger forces thousands of vacationers from Sierra campgrounds -- The Chronicle's TOM STIENSTRA; 'Utter devastation': Residents return to burned homes and shattered dreams -- LA Times's JOSEPH SERNA; After thousands evacuated, Yuba County's Willow Fire seems to come under control -- Sac Bee's MICHAEL MCGOUGH/JASON ANDERSON/JASON POHL; Worried about fires? California ballot initiative could help you sell your home in the hills -- Sac Bee's LARA KORTE
CA120: Voter registration at highest portion of eligibles in 80 years
From PAUL MITCHELL, Capitol Weekly: "California has now reached an historic high of over 21 million registered voters. The current PDI voter file, after a full refresh of county files, puts total voter registration at 21,086,077. As a share of eligible voters, this puts the state at 83%, a higher rate of registration than we have seen since the presidential election of 1940.
This landmark registration figure comes just 18 months after the state first hit 20 million in March of 2019, and less than two years since the state first hit 19 million in October of 2018.
In percentage terms, from 1988 through 2014, registration was increasing 2% during each presidential election cycle, but the average since 2016 has been 6% and in 2020 we are already at 8% with two more months of registration to go."
Pension cuts coming for some California retirees after court ruling on spiking
Sac Bee's WES VENTEICHER: "County-run pension systems up and down California are preparing to reduce some retirees’ income based on a recent state Supreme Court decision that disqualified certain kinds of pay from pension calculations.
The court’s July 30 decision upheld a 2012 state law intended to stop public workers from inflating their pensions by manipulating their pay at the end of their careers. The ruling is guiding decisions about what kinds of special pay, such as on-call pay and vacation cashouts, must be excluded from the calculations that set pension amounts.
Local pension boards and their attorneys have identified thousands of pensions that are based partly on the kinds of pay that must be excluded, and they are recalculating monthly payments as a result, according to interviews and public meeting agendas."
'Apocalypse on their mind': Californians transfixed by foreboding, orange, smoke-choked skies
The Chronicle's STEVE RUBENSTEIN/MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "The sun, which is usually reliable, slept in on Wednesday.
That’s the way it seemed throughout the Bay Area as the smoke from countless wildfires mixed with clouds and fog to tint the sky, and just about everything else, a dark burnt orange. Some folks said it felt like living on the next planet over, the red one.
Others said it was like a solar eclipse, but longer, or the apocalypse, but less biblical. Some called the darkness a metaphor for life in the days of global warming, of the pandemic, of social unrest, of endless electioneering."
READ MORE related to Air/Climate/Environment: Rarely have so many Californians been exposed to such gloomy, unhealthy air -- LA Times's SUSANNE RUST/TONY BARBOZA
State continues to see a decline in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, but will it last?
LA Times's COLLEEN SHALBY: "The number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continues to decline in California, but the virus’ full impact is on delay.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday reported a 24% decline in statewide hospitalizations over a 14-day period and said that the seven-day average for positive infections is now 3.8%.
That metric — which is the number of total tests divided by the number of positive infections — is the lowest the state has seen since late May and the state’s first attempt at reopening, according to a Times analysis. At that time, the positivity rate hovered around 4.0%, before spiking to 8% after an accelerated reopening of the state’s business sectors and mass holiday gatherings over Memorial Day and the Fourth of July."
READ MORE related to Pandemic: 'No going back' to racist past, LA civic leaders say of post-COVID future -- LA Times's DOUG SMITH; Placer health officer resigns in protest after supervisors lift COVID-19 state of emergency -- Sac Bee's MOLLY SULLIVAN/TONY BIZJAK; How COVID-19 is fueling a new wave of Bay Area transplants to the Sacramento region -- Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK
California's shift to vote-by-mail boosted turnout, but not for everyone
Sac Bee's KIM BOJORQUEZ: "Vote-by-mail elections tend to increase turnout in California — but not for everyone, according to a new study by the Public Policy Institute of California.
Young voters, Latinos and Asian Americans may require special outreach to ensure they have a chance to cast ballots, the study says.
The study looked at how a 2016 law allowing counties to hold all-mail elections and consolidate in-person voting locations affected turnout in 2018 and 2020."
Newsom directs CHP to change permit rules in aftermath of Capitol Christian concert
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday said that he is directing the California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Public Health to develop new protocols for public safety in the aftermath of Christian concert at the Capitol that drew thousands of mostly unmasked participants.
The governor said that there is real concern that people who attended the event may not only get sick themselves, but spread COVID-19 to others who were not in attendance.
Newsom said that it’s important to avoid large mixing events, which he called “simply irresponsible."
Newsom just signed a bill to help struggling small businesses
Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced the signing of a Senate bill aimed at providing financial relief to struggling small businesses in the state.
Senate Bill 1447, now law, allows businesses with fewer than 100 employees to claim a credit against their personal and corporate income taxes each taxable year, beginning this year, of $1,000 for each net increase in qualified employees, up to $100,000.
To qualify for the credit, the business’ gross income must have declined at least 50% over this time last year, Newsom said, a component that he said is critical to making sure that the money goes to actual struggling small businesses."
Twitter seeks subtenants for its SF HQ, as its own employees stay home'
The Chronicle's ROLAND LI: "Twitter has listed 104,850 square feet for sublease at its San Francisco headquarters after adopting a permanent work-from-home policy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The company is offering space that includes 878 work stations on the third, sixth and seventh floors at 1 10th St., which is attached to Twitter’s main building at 1355 Market St., according to marketing materials reviewed by The Chronicle. The space is available starting in December for two to five years.
“Our focus on prioritizing decentralization has allowed us to flex our active leased spaces as needed. San Francisco is where a majority of our employees will be based for the foreseeable future, and we will continue to maintain our footprint here,” said Twitter, which has 5,200 workers globally."
How the Postal Service helped shape a California town named Peanut
LA Times's HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS: "The people who lived in the rugged Northern California mountain hamlet called Salt Creek wanted their very own U.S. post office.
It was the early 1900s, and getting the mail had become such a chore for this speck of a town deep in forest, about 100 miles south, as the crow flies, of the Oregon border. The journey to the nearest post office in Hayfork — a seven-mile horseback trail ride near the eponymous creek — could take several hours.
Besides, a bona fide post office would, quite literally, put the community on the map."
The first day of kindergarten means going back to preschool for some Bay Area kids
The Chroniccle's RACHEL SWAN: "September was supposed to mark a rite of passage for thousands of Bay Area kindergartners: Classrooms with tall cubbies and sparkling desks. Big, colorful ABC posters. Lunch in the cafeteria.
Instead, most public schools released plans for indefinite remote learning, often requiring parents to sacrifice several hours a day to oversee a 5-year-old at a computer. Many parents recoiled, fearing they would have to radically shift work schedules, leave their kids unsupervised at home or quit their jobs altogether if they had the wherewithal. Some took what seemed like a drastic measure: They opted to keep their kids in preschool.
As it turned out, preschools were eager to meet the demand. After six months of long closures and start-stop attempts to reopen, much of the Bay Area’s early education industry was on the edge of financial ruin. COVID-19 had forced closures, triggered social distancing rules that limited enrollment and chased away families who feared exposure to the virus."
How LA architect Paul Murdoch designed a 9/11 memorial that literally sings
LA Times's CAROLINA A MIRANDA: "When Paul Murdoch received the commission to design the Flight 93 National Memorial in 2005, he never imagined the job’s final stages would be taken up with figuring out how to build a massive — and massively complex — musical instrument.
The memorial marks the site in Western Pennsylvania where United Flight 93 struck the earth on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, killing everyone aboard. Flight 93 was originally destined to travel to San Francisco from Newark, N.J., but Al Qaeda hijackers seized control of the aircraft after takeoff and redirected the plane toward Washington, D.C., where it is believed they planned to attack the U.S. Capitol.
The flight’s passengers and crew, however, banded together to overtake the four hijackers, and the plane never hit its intended target. Instead, it crashed into a decommissioned coal mine outside of Shanksville, Penn., a tiny hamlet in the Allegheny Mountains that lies about 30 miles south of Johnstown."
A Gucci family secret: Heiress alleges she was sexually abused from age 6 onward
LA Times's MATT HAMILTON: "For nearly a century, the Italian fashion house of Gucci has supplied the world’s affluent with the clothing and leather accessories to cultivate a beautiful, luxurious life. Along the way, the family behind the fashion dynasty prospered, but saw its share of acrimony and scandal: infighting over inheritances, a murder-for-hire plot, federal tax charges, and for a time, Aldo Gucci’s secret second family.
One of Aldo Gucci’s granddaughters, Alexandra Zarini, this week spotlighted another horror in the family history with a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Zarini, 35, alleged that from the time she was 6, her former stepfather, Joseph Ruffalo, sexually assaulted her at home in Beverly Hills — abuse that she typically knew was coming when she heard the ice clinking in his glass of scotch as he made his way toward her bedroom, according to court papers."
Longtime journalist Bob Woodward’s new book, “Rage,” quotes Trump as acknowledging in February that the coronavirus was “deadly stuff” that was “more deadly than even your strenuous flus,” even as he was telling the American people that there was nothing to worry about."
