Trump Tests Positive for the Coronavirus
NYT's PETER BAKER and MAGGIE HABERMAN: " President Trump revealed early Friday morning that he and the first lady, Melania Trump, had tested positive for the coronavirus, throwing the nation’s leadership into uncertainty and escalating the crisis posed by a pandemic that has already killed more than 207,000 Americans and devastated the economy.
Mr. Trump, who for months has played down the seriousness of the virus and hours earlier on Thursday night told an audience that “the end of the pandemic is in sight,” will quarantine in the White House for an unspecified period of time, forcing him to withdraw at least temporarily from the campaign trail only 32 days before the election on Nov. 3.
The dramatic disclosure came in a Twitter message just before 1 a.m. after a suspenseful evening following reports that Mr. Trump’s close adviser Hope Hicks had tested positive. In her own tweet about 30 minutes later, Mrs. Trump wrote that the first couple were “feeling good,” but the White House did not say whether they were experiencing symptoms. The president’s physician said he could carry out his duties “without disruption” from the Executive Mansion."
Immigrant groups prep for ICE raids targeting California, other 'sanctuary' states
Sac Bee's YESENIA AMARO: "A spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that reported plans for immigration raids across California this week were “cruel” and urged undocumented residents to become educated about their rights.
On Thursday, an official for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not confirm or deny a report earlier this week in the Washington Post that described plans to target immigrants in communities that have adopted so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies.
The 2018 California Values Act, more commonly known as the state’s sanctuary law, limits local-level law enforcement cooperation with ICE."
Maps and resources to stay up-to-date and prepared for evacuations
The Chronicle's ANNIE VAINSHTEIN: "The Bay Area and California are suffering a record-shattering wildfire season this year. Most recently, the Glass Fire burning in Sonoma and Napa counties has burned more than 40,000 acres and forced the evacuation of more than 80,000 people.
If you have not yet assembled an emergency plan, now is the time. No matter where you are in California, it’s important to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.
When a wildfire evacuation is ordered, departing immediately and efficiently is paramount. If the crisis has already struck and you’re scrambling to respond, it can be hard to get the evacuation information you need. A matter of minutes can make a huge difference to your safe escape from a fire zone."
READ MORE related to Wildfire Season: Glass Fire still active amid red-flag winds; Zogg victims identified -- Sac Bee's MICHAEL MCGOUGH; Butte County residents scramble for shelter in wake of North Complex Fire -- The Chronicle's JK DINEEN; Napa's Spring Mountain avoided fires for years. Now the hill's boutique wineries face total destruction -- The Chronicle's ESTHER MOBLEY
Pete Wilson endorses Trump, says president has 'very good judgment'
CARLA MARINUCCI, Politico: "Former California Gov. Pete Wilson joined a list Thursday of prominent former Republican leaders who endorsed Donald Trump for reelection, arguing in an interview that the president has “brought a badly needed realism to American security policy.”
Wilson was among nearly seven dozen members of past GOP administrations and Congress who backed Trump in a signed letter that was released by the campaign Thursday and tweeted by the president with the words "THANK YOU! #MAGA."
Trump “has very good judgment, and very good people around him making honest calls — and alerting him and the rest of the country to the fact that we are facing greater dangers than at any time since Ronald Reagan dealt with the Cold War,’’ Wilson explained to POLITICO Thursday."
Why California chose color tiers for COVID-19 reopening
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "From air quality alerts to stoplights, governments use color-coded systems to keep people safe in many different settings. Last month, California added another color-based system to communicate about a public health threat: the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said his administration designed a new color-coded reopening structure to be easier to understand than the previous system, which included reopening phases and a county monitoring list. Under the new system, counties are sorted into four tiers based on the severity of the outbreak in their communities, with purple being the most widespread and yellow the least.
The state updates the rankings weekly, and posts them in an interactive map."
READ MORE related to Pandemic: UCSF testing promising new treatment that could lessen COVID-19 symptoms -- The Chronicle's CATHERINE HO; Leaders unveil tool aimed at reducing inequity in COVID-19 tests and deaths -- Sac Bee's CATHIE ANDERSON; Health chief predicts Sac County can 'manage' COVID-19 by Halloween. Here's how -- Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK
Air pollution from wildfire smoke creates crimson moon, worrying scientists
The Chronicle's NORA MISHANEC: "The waxing moon was cloaked in a haze of deep auburn Wednesday night. Last month, the darkened skies over the Bay Area turned an ominous shade of orange.
They’re part of the same deeply troubling climate trend, scientists said: climate change spurring intense wildfires spurring air pollution.
“That moon was a signpost that the fires are putting tremendous amounts of pollution into the air,” said Ronald C. Cohen, a professor of earth and planetary science at UC Berkeley."
READ MORE related to Air/Climate/Environment: Fire-stricken Bay Area desperately needs rain. We might get some soon -- The Chronicle's ANNIE VAINSHTEIN; Tension mounts as forecasts show powerful winds pummeling region near Glass Fire -- The Chronicle's NORA MISHANEC; Crews battling fires in California's wine country brace for dangerously dry, windy conditions -- LA Times's LUKE MONEY/RONG-GONG LIN II/MAURA DOLAN
US appeals court upholds California's coronavirus restrictions on churches
LA Times's MAURA DOLAN: "A federal appeals court decided 2 to 1 Thursday to uphold Gov. Gavin Newsom’s coronavirus restrictions on indoor worship during the pandemic.
The majority of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel said California’s health orders on churches did not discriminate against religious expression.
Health orders apply “the same restrictions to worship services as they do to other indoor congregate events, such as lectures and movie theaters,” the majority wrote. “Some congregate activities are completely prohibited in every county, such as attending concerts and spectating sporting events."
Voters of color react to Trump's debate comments
LA Times's JENNY JARVIE/BRITTNY MEJIA: "When Derrick Dillard tuned in to watch the presidential debate and heard President Trump deflect when asked to condemn far-right white supremacists, he was not shocked.
Listening to Trump tell the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, to “stand by,” the 49-year-old writer of motivational books felt Trump had simply confirmed the stakes of the November election.
“That is what white supremacists do to maintain power,” Dillard said Wednesday as he walked through Atlanta’s historically Black West End neighborhood, past a Caribbean restaurant, a braid store and a stall hawking Black Lives Matter T-shirts. “As African Americans, this is nothing new to us. This is a modern-day expression of what has been happening for 400 years."
California Prop. 20 would up punishments for a variety of crimes, restrict parole
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "Proposition 20 on the Nov. 3 ballot would increase punishment for theft crimes and make some prisoners ineligible for early parole consideration, repealing more-lenient measures approved by the voters. From a broader perspective, the initiative can be seen as a referendum on California’s shifting crime-and-punishment policies of the last four decades.
Starting in the early 1980s, state voters and lawmakers passed a series of victims’ bills of rights, justice reform acts, and laws named after crime victims that mandated and increased prison terms for various offenses and gave California some of the nation’s lengthiest sentences and most crowded prisons.
In the past decade, with prodding from courts in lawsuits over prison health care, the voters have changed course."
Here's how SF voters can vote in person, starting Monday
The Chronicle's TRISHA THADANI: "San Francisco voters who want to cast their ballots in person may do so under a massive tent at the Civic Center starting Monday. It’s one of 588 locations in the city where people can vote, in addition to mailing in their ballots before or on Nov. 3.
“Although we can’t do what we’ve done in the past and provide early voting in City Hall, we are going to be doing early voting right outside ... in what looks like a beautiful party tent,” Mayor London Breed said Thursday, standing outside the new Voting Center at 99 Grove St., next to the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.
The Department of Elections has been meticulously preparing for this year’s election, as it anticipates a record turnout and a surge in mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Voting Center is just one of many options San Francisco residents have before election day."
Pelosi, Buttar don't have statements in SF voter guide. Here's why
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "What’s left out is as interesting as what’s put into San Francisco’s new voter information pamphlet, which has arrived in mailboxes in advance of the start of mail voting next week for the Nov. 3 election.
While the pamphlet contains the usual information on the city’s 13 ballot measures and candidates for state, local and federal offices, there are some notable omissions.
Neither Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi nor Shahid Buttar, the Democratic attorney who is challenging her, filed the voluntary candidate statement in their congressional race. Neither did Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener, although his opponent, Democrat Jackie Fielder, is in the voter guide."
Newsom vetoes ethnic studies bill. What will that mean for the curriculum being planned?
Sac Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have required students to take an ethnic studies class to graduate high school.
Newsom said that while he supports the concept of ethnic studies, he had concern about requiring a high school course when “there is much uncertainty about the appropriate K-12 model curriculum for ethnic studies.”
Despite the veto, the state will continue to develop recommended ethnic studies curricula for schools and districts that choose to teach it."
Newsom vetoes bill that would have further protected journalists covering protests
LA Times's COLLEEN SHALBY: "Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have further protected journalists covering demonstrations from physical or verbal obstruction by a law enforcement officer.
The state Senate bill proposed to protect “a duly authorized member of any news service” from intentional assault, interference or obstruction from law enforcement. The bill also would have protected a journalist from citation over “the failure to disperse, a violation of a curfew, or a violation of paragraph” while reporting in an area closed to the public.
Newsom vetoed the bill Wednesday, the last day for him to take action on bills passed by the Legislature this year."
Disney chairman quits Gavin Newsom's economic task force as company announces layoffs
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "Walt Disney Co. chairman Bob Iger has quit Gov. Gavin Newsom’s economic recovery task force, a Disney spokesperson confirmed Thursday evening.
The spokesperson would not say why or precisely when Iger left the task force, but the news comes as the Newsom administration is preparing to release guidance on theme park reopening that the industry is criticizing.
In a Thursday afternoon statement, the California Attractions and Parks Association urged the governor not to finalize a draft of the reopening guidance that the association saw earlier that day."
READ MORE related to Economy: Facing deep racial disparities, California unveils equity road map counties must follow to reopen -- The Chronicle's TATIANA SANCHEZ/ERIN ALLDAY/CATHERINE HO; Workers are quietly trickling back to LA offices -- LA Times's ROGER VINCENT; COVID pushes LA's small theaters to unite. Survival starts with this festival -- LA Times's DARYL H MILLER
Rancho Cordova cop wants his job back after being fired for punching teen
Sac Bee's MOLLY SULLIVAN: "Officer Brian Fowell, who was fired from the Rancho Cordova Police Department after an investigation into a use-of-force incident earlier this year, has appealed his termination in an effort to get his job back, his attorney told The Bee.
Fowell was terminated by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office — which has a contract to provide law enforcement for the city of Rancho Cordova — when a professional standards unit investigation concluded Fowell used excessive force against a 14-year-old boy.
The incident was captured in a cellphone video less than a minute long and spread like wildfire across social media, garnering over 9 million views, and at one point even retweeted by California Senator and Vice President nominee Kamala Harris."
Bay Area rents keep plummeting, especially in SF. Here are the latest data by city
The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG: "Housing rents continue to decline in the Bay Area amid the coronavirus pandemic, especially in San Francisco, which has notoriously had the country’s highest rental prices.
According to the most recent reports from private listing websites Apartment List and Zumper, rental prices have plummeted 20% in the city so far this year compared to the same time last year.
Zumper found the median cost of a one-bedroom in San Francisco last month was $2,830. The company analyzes rental data from more than 1 million active listings across the country. It includes new construction and excludes listings that are currently occupied or no longer available."
Here are the mega-donors and police unions pouring millions into the LA County district attorney race
LA Times's MALOY MOORE/RYAN MENEZES/JAMES QUEALLY: "More than $12 million has been pumped into November’s contentious Los Angeles County district attorney race, with donors lining up on opposing sides of a stark ideological divide between incumbent Jackie Lacey and challenger George Gascón.
Spending in the race has intensified in recent weeks, with New York billionaire George Soros putting $1.5 million behind Gascón, helping to push him into the overall fundraising lead. Just days earlier, a pair of law enforcement unions contributed $1 million to support Lacey.
Campaign consultants say the high dollar figures highlight the stakes in the race, which has for some become the latest battleground in the larger nationwide debate over police reform."
Free from prison, but still on parole means no voting rights -- Prop 17 would change that
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "John Windham spent 30 years in prison for aiding in a murder in Sacramento as a teenager. Disconnected from society, by his own description, in his life before imprisonment, he became obsessed with politics and public affairs while behind bars, gathering all the news he could about polls and elections.
“Voting became my Super Bowl,” Windham, 50, said from his home in Waterford (Stanislaus County). Since his release on parole in the past year, he has founded a nonprofit to help former inmates rejoin society and worked as a community organizer.
But one thing neither Windham nor his 50,000 fellow parolees can do is vote in the November election. That will change if voters approve Proposition 17, which would add California to 19 states and the District of Columbia that allow former prisoners to vote while on parole."
Trump tested for coronavirus after top aide who attended debate is positive
Sac Bee's MICHAEL WILNER: "President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump took tests for COVID-19 Thursday evening and began a “quarantine process” after one of the president’s closest aides, Hope Hicks, tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
On Twitter, the president said that he and his wife are awaiting their test results and that, “in the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process,” just over one month out from the Nov. 3 presidential election.
He did not specify what quarantine procedures he would take, but public health officials advise individuals who have been in contact with those who test positive for the coronavirus to self-isolate up to two weeks."
Trump Supreme Court pick already ruled on pending Obamacare case -- in a moot exercise
LA Times's JENNIFER HABERKORN: "Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, has already weighed in on one of the most significant and controversial cases it is scheduled to consider this fall — albeit in a mock exercise.
And, contrary to what many Democrats fear, her position on the moot court that considered the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, went mostly against the Trump administration’s stance.
One week after the election, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case in which Republican officials of Texas and a coalition of other conservative states have asked the justices to strike down the entire law. The Trump administration has joined them. California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, joined by officials of a number of Democratic-led states, is defending the law."
