Fire Crews See A Window To Gain Control Of Caldor Fire As Winds Decrease, Humidity Edges Higher
SCOTT RODD, CapRadio: "Calmer winds and slightly higher humidity are offering some relief to firefighters on the frontlines of the Caldor Fire, as the blaze edges past 210,000 acres and containment remains only 27%.
A red flag warning stretched from Monday through Wednesday, when high temperatures and gusting winds fueled the spread of the fire. Flames overran Echo Summit along Highway 50 and shot down into the Tahoe Basin earlier this week. But as of Thursday, crews have successfully kept the fire from edging into South Lake Tahoe, the densely-populated tourist destination under mandatory evacuation.
With more moderate weather conditions expected over the next few days, firefighters now have a crucial window to gain containment and shepherd the fire away from homes and neighborhoods. Meanwhile, some evacuation orders have been lifted in western El Dorado County."
Newsom: Biden still coming to California to fight recall
JEREMY WHITE, Politico: " President Joe Biden will campaign for Gov. Gavin Newsom in California ahead of the Sept. 14 recall vote, Newsom said Thursday.
“I'm humbled by the fact the president will be out here soon," Newsom told reporters during a campaign stop in San Francisco's Chinatown district.
While the White House pledged last month to offer Newsom campaign support with expected visits by Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the unraveling situation in Afghanistan upended those plans."
Newsom, Elder sharpen their attacks after poll shows support for recall effort waning
PHIL WILLON and JAMES QUEALLY, LA Times: "Gov. Gavin Newsom and Republican Larry Elder, the leading candidate trying to replace him in the upcoming recall election, on Thursday accused each other of putting the lives of Californians at risk, an increase in campaign hostilities that comes a day after a new poll showed the governor appeared likely to survive efforts to oust him from office.
Appearing in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Newsom attacked Elder for vowing to immediately rescind the state’s public school mask mandates and vaccine requirements for state and healthcare workers, a change the governor said would reverse California’s success in mitigating the spread of the coronavirus. COVID-19.
“That’s a life and death decision,” Newsom said of the Sept. 14 recall vote at a news conference with Asian American leaders supporting his campaign."
Housing bill approved by CA Legislature, awaits governor approval
Daily Californian, ASHLEY TSAI: "The California State Senate greenlighted Sen. Nancy Skinner’s SB 8 bill Wednesday, which extends the duration of the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, SB 330, from 2025 to 2030 and allows for the construction of more housing throughout California.
SB 8 is an assurance that the full provisions of the original SB 330 bill, which aimed to streamline housing development and protect low-income housing, can be properly met within its new time frame, according to a press release from Skinner’s office.
“Today’s passage of SB 8 will ensure that the Housing Crisis Act won’t expire before its benefits are fully realized,” Skinner said in a press release. “California can be assured that housing that meets existing local and state rules doesn’t face unnecessary delays or get bogged down in red tape."
Newsom and Elder are running to extremes in recall. What about the middle?
Sacramento Bee, SOPHIA BOLLAG: "With a new TV ad featuring liberal darling Bernie Sanders and press conferences highlighting vaccine requirements he’s imposed, Gov. Gavin Newsom is making a play for the left in his fight to hold on to his office.
His leading rival, Larry Elder, is leaning into the conservative credentials he developed as a longtime talk radio host, blasting COVID restrictions and mandated vaccines.
The hyper-partisan dynamic in California’s recall election will be on display this weekend."
Who exactly supports recalling Gavin Newsom? New polling data shows us
The Chronicle, NAMI SUMIDA: "Results from a poll published Wednesday from the Public Policy Institute of California show 39% of likely voters would vote “yes” to remove Governor Gavin Newsom, while 58% would vote “no” in the upcoming recall election.
These results are essentially unchanged from previous polls from the same organization published in May and March of this year. The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) is a nonpartisan think tank that conducts research on public policy issues in California. In their most recent poll, PPIC surveyed over 1,000 likely voters in California about their preference for removing or keeping Newsom in office, as well as their choice of who should replace him if recalled.
Beyond simply looking at the top line numbers, the Chronicle dove into what pollsters call the “crosstabs” of the poll results. The crosstabs are the document pollsters publish that show responses to survey questions by demographic groups — including party affiliation, gender, race, education, income and region. The data show that besides party affiliation, race, gender, and if a voter lives in the Bay Area are the best predictors of whether Californians want to recall Newsom."
UC Berkeley researchers help in large scale study on mask wearing
Daily Californian, RINA ROSSI: "Researchers from the nonprofit group Innovations for Poverty Action and several universities including UC Berkeley, Yale and Stanford Medical School took part in the first-ever large scale randomized controlled trial study examining the impact of mask wearing on COVID-19, which took place in Bangladesh.
The study, which began in June 2020, used a sample size of 341,830 adults from 600 Bangladeshi villages, according to Laura Kwong, campus assistant professor of environmental health science and a researcher for the study.
Kwong noted that while observational studies show that those who wore surgical masks had lower rates of COVID-19 than individuals who did not wear masks, such research is difficult to accurately interpret because mask-wearers may also be taking part in other initiatives to lower their risk of contracting the coronavirus."
Who is a crime victim? California recall election intensifies painful divide over reform
LA Times, ANITA CHABRIA and JAMES QUEALLY: "Marc Klaas remembers when victims’ advocates like him wielded unchallenged influence in California — courted by elected leaders of both parties, pivotal in the enactment of the state’s “three strikes” law in 1994 and decades of tough policies that followed.
“Our voices were loud and people were listening,” said Klaas, whose 12-year old-daughter, Polly, was taken from her home and strangled in 1993 by a convicted kidnapper out on parole for only three months, a murder that shocked the nation and propelled him into an anguishing spotlight. “It certainly had the politicians scrambling.”
Over the last decade, as crime rates dropped, the clout of established victims groups ebbed as reformers successfully rolled back tough statutes they blamed for disproportionately incarcerating people of color. But tough-on-crime traditionalists like Klaas are now feeling emboldened again in California. Some crime has surged during the pandemic, including homicides. Though the reasons are complex and not clearly understood, the spike is bolstering the arguments of incarceration hardliners that reform policies have failed."
Delta means we may never eradicate COVID. UCSF's Monica Gandhi on our only escape route left (OP-ED)
The Chronicle, MONICA GANDHI: "Since the delta variant became predominant in the United States, both scientists and the media have been full of mixed messages (“breakthrough infections rare,”; “breakthrough infections common”; “vaccines still work”; “vaccines losing their effectiveness”). But if we look at history, one thing is clear: Immunity is the only way to get through a pandemic.
The 1918 influenza pandemic was far the deadliest respiratory virus pandemic in recent human history with over 50 million deaths (perhaps even up to 3% of the global population) worldwide. Although some of the same measures we are using now for COVID-19 (masks, distancing, event closures) were employed, there was no vaccine, and the fatal consequences of this highly transmissible virus only slowed after enough of the population had either acquired immunity through infection or died.
As judged by the amount of suffering and death from 1918 influenza, natural immunity is a terrible way to get through a pandemic."
Losing your unemployment benefits in California? Here are ways to find jobs and get help
Sacramento Bee, DAVID LIGHTMAN and JEONG PARK: "Millions of Californians will suddenly find next week they no longer have federally funded unemployment benefits for the first time in months.
That could mean some of them will have to rely on other safety net programs, such as food stamps and cash assistance such as CalWORKs. It also could mean some workers are finding themselves in the job market for the first time in more than a year.
It won’t be easy. “It’s a perennial problem of the safety net. It’s really a patchwork of programs,” said Luke Pardue, economist at Gusto, a small business payroll and benefits provider.
Bonta claims victory in East Bay Assembly race as lead widens over Ramachandran
The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: "Mia Bonta widened her lead Thursday in a special election for an East Bay Assembly seat vacated by her husband, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, according to the latest returns.
Bonta, president of the Alameda Unified School District board and CEO of the nonprofit Oakland Promise, has received 56% of the vote, according to the latest results released Thursday by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters. Her opponent, Oakland social justice attorney Janani Ramachandran, has received 44% and was trailing by 7,761 votes. Every registered voter in the district received a mail-in ballot.
The Bonta campaign estimated that roughly 13,000 ballots remain to be counted and that Bonta’s lead was enough for the candidate to claim victory."
Drought threatens access to clean water in California communities, study finds
Sacramento Bee, MARGO ROSENBAUM: "Researchers have suspected for years that drought conditions worsen groundwater quality, but a study published this week provides strong evidence proving the long-held assumption.
While previous studies have focused on the risk of wells being overdrawn and run dry during drought, the study from the United States Geological Survey and the California State Water Resources Control Board is the first to directly link drought to deteriorating water quality on a regional scale.
The study looked at 30 years of data from California’s Central Valley."
Barbecue ban during wildfire season? Residents in this California county are demanding it
Sacramento Bee, MARGO ROSENBAUM/DALE KASLER: "Last Saturday, Janet Maineri saw the unthinkable: fresh coals littering the ground from an overflowing barbecue grill at Henningsen Lotus Park, on the South Fork of the American River in rural El Dorado County.
Maineri, a Coloma resident for over 20 years, snapped pictures of the barbecue and surrounding dead brush, completely baffled that someone would light a fire at the park with the Caldor Fire devouring more than 200,000 acres of the county.
“Why are we still allowing barbecues and campfires in our parks?” Maineri said."
'Religious' exemptions add legal thorns to looming vaccination mandates
LA Times, MARK KREIDLER: "In Northern California, the pastor of a megachurch hands out religious exemption forms to the faithful. A New Mexico state senator will “help you articulate a religious exemption” by pointing to misinformation about aborted fetal cells in vaccines. And a Texas-based evangelist offers exemption letters to anyone — for a suggested “donation” starting at $25.
With workplace vaccination mandates in the offing, opponents are turning to a tried-and-true recourse for avoiding a COVID-19 shot: the claim that vaccination interferes with religious beliefs.
No major denomination opposes vaccination. Even the Christian Science Church, whose adherents rely largely on prayer rather than medicine, does not impose an official policy. It counsels “respect for public health authorities and conscientious obedience to the laws of the land, including those requiring vaccination.”"
Feds alert colleges nationwide to financial aid scam under investigation at California Community Colleges
EdSource, THOMAS PEELE/ASHLEY A SMITH/LARRY-GORDON: "The type of fake-student scams designed to siphon off federal aid and pandemic relief money under scrutiny at California’s Community College system is now being investigated nationwide, federal officials said late Thursday.
The U.S. Department of Education “is working with law enforcement partners and postsecondary institutions to stop the suspected financial aid fraud,” Federal Student Aid Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray said in a statement.
“Financial aid administrators at thousands of institutions across the country” have been notified to take action, he said. The law enforcement agencies were not identified."
Hiding from the Taliban. Caught in crossfire. Sacramento children are trapped in Afghanistan
Sacramento Bee, JASON POHL and SAWSAN MORRAR: "Three students from the Sacramento City Unified School District went to Afghanistan to be with a family member who was having heart problems. The children – ages 6, 8 and 9 – and their mother flew there in February and attended school in distance learning through the spring. They spent seven days crammed outside an airport, trying to come home, before bombs ripped through a crowd last week.
Now they’re hiding in Kabul.
Two San Juan Unified students, ages 9 and 15, traveled with their mother in July to Afghanistan. Their father was dying of cancer. They went there on summer break to spend their father’s final days in his homeland. Their sister in Sacramento has been trying to get them home since."
What kind of leader should follow Austin Beutner at LA Unified?
EdSource's MATT KRUPNICK: "As the Los Angeles Unified School District searches for a superintendent for the fourth time in the past decade, many are wondering who is qualified to run a 710-square-mile district with a student population approximately the size of Wyoming – and who would want to.
Austin Beutner stepped down in June after three years leading the district. Board members are aiming to hire a replacement as soon as January, an ambitious timeline that comes as most of the nation’s largest districts — including New York, Chicago and San Diego — are also searching for chiefs.
Los Angeles superintendents have rarely stuck around more than two or three years since 1990, leading to constant leadership changes and questions about how to run an unwieldy district."
US hiring slows to just 235,000 jobs after 2 strong months
LA Times, CHRISTOPHER RUGABER: "America’s employers added just 235,000 jobs in August, a surprisingly weak gain after two months of robust hiring at a time when the Delta variant’s spread has discouraged some people from flying, shopping and eating out.
The unemployment rate dropped to 5.2% from 5.4% in July.
The August job gains the government reported Friday fell far short of the roughly 940,000 that employers had added in each of the previous two months, when widespread vaccinations allowed the economy to fully reopen from pandemic restrictions. Still, the number of job openings remains at record levels, and hiring is expected to stay solid in the coming months."
