Caldor Fire 'knocking on the door' of Lake Tahoe Basin, Cal Fire says
LAUREN HEPLER, GREGORY THOMAS and JESSICA FLORES, Chronicle: "A scramble is on in the Sierra to seize on favorable weather conditions and keep the flames of the Caldor Fire out of the Lake Tahoe basin.
The 9-day-old blaze that has already destroyed 447 homes and consumed more than 114,000 acres is now the “No. 1 priority in the nation” for firefighting resources, Cal Fire Director Thom Porter said on Monday.
He warned that the fire was “knocking on the door” of the Lake Tahoe region, even after crews were encouraged by the progress of getting the fire 9% contained by Monday evening. Now, they’re just hoping the amenable weather lasts."
Caldor fire burns more than 440 homes as Lake Tahoe air quality ranks among worst in US
LA Times, LILA SEIDMAN/ALEX WIGGLESWORTH: "More than 440 homes have been destroyed by the raging Caldor fire, and smoke has created conditions so hazardous that the air quality around the blaze is the worst in the country.
Burning through rugged terrain east of Sacramento, the Caldor fire grew to more than 100,000 acres over the weekend as it creeps toward South Lake Tahoe. The fire was at 9% containment Monday night after spreading unchecked for more than a week.
Strong winds up to 40 mph spurred furious growth over the weekend, increasing the fire’s size by 15,000 acres Saturday and into Sunday morning."
Data breach at California college exposes student requests for COVID vacccine exemptions
Sacramento Bee, SAWSAN MORRAR: "Personal information from California State University, Chico, students who requested a religious exemption from the COVID vaccine has been posted online after an apparent data breach.
The requests from about 130 students were dumped on an anonymous Internet message board, documenting approved and denied requests from CSU Chico students between June 7 and Aug. 10.
A commenter on the site linked to an Excel spreadsheet with detailed explanations from students who had asked to be exempted from receiving the vaccine in order to attend the college. Student names and phone numbers were included in many of the entries."
READ MORE EDUCATION NEWS --- College life is back and loaded with COVID rules as students return to campuses -- LA Times, TERESA WATANABE/COLLEEN SHALBY; SF schools plan to spend $2.9M on air purifiers to combat wildfire smoke, coronavirus risk -- The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG; Cal accepts cryptocurrency for Memorial Stadium field naming rights -- The Chronicle, MICHAEL LERSETH
CA120: For Recall Redux, big changes since last time around
PAUL MITCHELL, Capitol Weekly: "We’re headed for another recall election, the first in nearly 20 years. A lot of things have changed, including the number of voters who will be casting their ballots by mail.
Looking back at 2003, there were only 3 million voters who received their ballots in the mail. This cycle, all 22 million voters are getting their ballots in the mail, and we’re likely to see the vast majority of those cast by mail prior to Election Day.
Who is voting early is really an open question. For decades, California’s vote-by-mail universe has skewed older, suburban, white, and more Republican. Only in the last few election cycles has this changed. Over the last decade, counties have been promoting vote-by-mail, and more than a dozen converted to the state’s Voters Choice Act system with ballots mailed to all voters."
Big donors helping Newsom fight California recall also have a big wish list in Sacramento
LA Times, PHIL WILLON: "The campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom has turned into a money magnet — for Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Newsom’s anti-recall campaign raked in more money in its first five months — $54 million — than the $50.2 million his 2018 gubernatorial campaign raised over four years.
Most of the money came in six- or seven-figure donations from longtime Democratic financial backers, including government employee and trade unions, as well as people and interest groups that stand to gain from a relationship with California’s governor. Even allies of the governor have expressed concern about the amount of money flooding in."
Chesa Boudin's father, David Gilbert, granted clemency by Cuomo
The Chronicle, MEGAN CASSIDY: "In his final hours Monday as New York governor, Andrew Cuomo granted clemency to David Gilbert, the father of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin. Gilbert is serving a 75-years-to-life sentence for his participation in the fatal robbery of a Brink’s armored truck in 1981.
Gilbert, 76, had his sentence commuted and will now be eligible for parole, and is one of six individuals who either received sentence commutations or a full pardon just before Cuomo’s resignation took effect after midnight.
Gilbert, along with Chesa Boudin’s mother, Kathy Boudin, were members of the radical leftist organization Weather Underground. On Oct. 20, 1981, they joined members of the Black Liberation Army in the botched robbery of a Brink’s armored truck in New York."
California congressional offices inundated with thousands of calls to help Afghan refugees
Sacramento Bee, DAVID LIGHTMAN: "The Sacarmento area districts of Reps. Ami Bera and Doris Matsui include one of the country’s largest Afghan populations.
Now thousands are calling their offices for help getting people out of Afghanistan as the Taliban seizes power.
More than 6,500 people have contacted Bera, an Elk Grove Democrat who has long been active in U.S.-Afghanistan affairs. The calls began even before the Taliban took control of most of the country last week, but the majority of requests have come since the takeover."
READ MORE FALL OF AFGHANISTAN NEWS --- A Bronzed Star recipient watches the fall of Afghanistan from Congress -- and wants answers -- LA Times, SARAH D WIRE
Landmark FDA approval could turbocharge COVID-19 vaccinations in California
LA Times, HAYLEY SMITH: "The formal approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine could be a key turning point in California’s pandemic response, opening the floodgates to even more mandates and — experts hope — a significant wave of vaccinations.
The state has already established an aggressive pandemic response, with a large number of agencies and institutions having instituted vaccination policies, including inoculation requirements for educators and healthcare workers.
But experts said Monday’s vaccine approval by the Food and Drug Administration could be a game changer that turbocharges the effort."
In Gold Country, PG&E fire victims have waited 6 years for payment
The Chronicle, J.D. MORRIS: "At the height of California’s last severe drought, a poorly maintained pine tree in the central Sierra Nevada foothills hit a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power line, sparking a wildfire that killed two people and destroyed more than 900 structures.
Six years, another drought and several disastrous fire seasons later, about 1,500 people who survived the 2015 Butte Fire are still waiting to be paid everything they’re owed from a PG&E settlement fund. And the company’s actions this year could determine how much money they get.
“I have friends that are living in camping trailers that are falling apart around their ears,” said Terry McBride, who, like many others in her Gold Country community, lost her home in the Butte Fire. “It’s beyond the word ‘struggling.’ They need help now.”"
Ordinary people, extraordinary ambition. Why 5 regular Californians are running for governor
Sacramento Bee, ANDREW SHEELER/KATHERINE SWARTZ: "Californians opening their mail-in ballots for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recall election might recognize a handful of the 46 candidates vying to replace if voters choose to oust him.
Reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner and conservative talk radio host Larry Elder. So are former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and 2018 gubernatorial candidate John Cox.
But many of the names on the ballot are likely to be unfamiliar to most voters. They are ordinary people who decided to do something extraordinary — run for governor."
Oakland illegal trash-dumping crisis is worse than ever. Here's why
The Chronicle, NOAH BAUSTIN: "At one hot spot for illegal dumping in East Oakland, someone rolled by in a stolen dump truck, lifting the bed and emptying the full load without stopping.
During another incident not far away, a dumper who had piled garbage onto a tarp in the back of a pickup fastened the tarp to a pole, then slammed on the gas pedal.
Oakland, a city long plagued by illegal dumping, has been especially trashed over the past year, thanks to a heap of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic."
Finally, California home prices are starting to drop. But not by much
Sacramento Bee, HANNAH WILEY: "The median price of a single-family home in California dipped to $811,170 in July, a minor shift from the month before in what could be the start of a cooling off period in a booming market.
The latest number is a 1% drop in median price from June, according to a Monday report from the state’s Department of Finance.
That’s still 21.7% higher than in July 2020."
LAFD captain attacks city's vaccination requirement, prompting internal investigation
LA Times, DAKOTA SMITH: "Wearing a Los Angeles Fire Department hat and T-shirt, the firefighter glares into the camera as he launches into a searing criticism of the city’s new COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
“I am done being silent on this matter,” said the man, who identifies himself as a Capt. Cristian Granucci, a 31-year veteran of the department. “And so are many of our members.”
It was a rare public outburst by a member of the Fire Department against the new COVID-19 vaccination requirement for city employees approved by the City Council. The ordinance is awaiting Mayor Eric Garcetti’s signature."
