While the long-term effects are unclear, ash and soot are now coating the surface of the High Sierra lake and veiling the sun, which can disrupt the lake’s ecosystem and its clarity. More debris and sediment are likely to wash into the lake from runoff and rain this fall and winter.
“It’s not going to turn the lake green or anything like that, in my opinion. But certainly the clarity of the lake, how deep you can see in the lake, could be affected for several years,” said Randy Dahlgren, emeritus professor of soils and biogeochemistry at the University of California, Davis. “It all depends on Mother Nature.”"
We're more than 2 weeks in: What do we know about the origins of the Caldor Fire?
Sacramento Bee, MILA JASPER: "More than two weeks since the Caldor Fire exploded, the blaze has burned more than 500 homes across 204,390 acres, according to Cal Fire. So what do we know about the origins of the fire Gov. Gavin Newsom called California’s top priority?
The answer is nothing yet, actually. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to Cal Fire.
The fire started the evening of Aug. 14 in El Dorado County east of Omo Ranch and south of Grizzly Flats, and it has caused the evacuation of thousands in multiple counties."
Firefighters may steer the Caldor fire into the Tamarack fire. Here's why
LA Times, HAYLEY SMITH: "Crews battling the massive Caldor fire have used a variety of methods to try to herd flames away from South Lake Tahoe, Calif., and neighboring Nevada: They have scraped and dug fire lines with hand tools, they have dragged bulldozer blades across the terrain and, visibility permitting, they have bombed the blaze with water and fire retardant from above.
But as the fire grows to more than 200,000 acres, one solution to keeping it from entering populated areas may be to direct it straight into the path of another blaze: the Tamarack fire.
“We are going to try and steer it into the Tamarack fire,” said Eric Schwab, operations section chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “It’s a fresh burn, and if we get it steered into there, whatever portion we get turned into it, that basically stops the spread of the fire. That’s a very valid tactic that we’re actively trying to do.”
Larry Elder campaign ramps up efforts to attract Latino voters in California recall
Sacramento Bee, KIM BOJORQUEZ: "Two weeks ahead of the recall election deadline, leading Republican candidate Larry Elder is ramping up efforts to attract working-class Latino voters with Spanish-language ads and endorsements from two notable Latino figures.
He hosted an online event Wednesday with two Latino leaders who held political office during former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration: Former Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, a Democrat; and former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, a Republican.
Elder, a conservative talk radio host, courted Latino voters by appealing to their pocketbooks and hopes for their kids. He said he wants to cut taxes and support helping parents take their kids out of public schools in favor of private or charters schools."
COVID shutdown lawsuits cost California more than $4M for settlements
The Chronicle, ALEXEI KOSEFF: "The state of California has settled at least 10 lawsuits this year related to public health orders during the coronavirus pandemic, agreeing to pay more than $4 million to cover the costs of lawyers who sued over restrictions on religious services, schools, strip clubs and tattoo parlors.
The 10 settlements, which total nearly $4.36 million for attorneys’ fees and costs, all name Gov. Gavin Newsom as a defendant and were obtained through a public records request to his office by the First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit organization that promotes free speech and government transparency.
As the number of coronavirus cases began to rise in California last year, Newsom established the country’s first statewide shelter-in-place order in March 2020 that shut most activities but provided exceptions for some retailers and other essential services to keep operating. That order paved the way for months of legal battles over which businesses were forced to close, how to reopen schools and whether the governor had the authority to take these steps at all."
Families of 34 who died in Conception dive boat disaster sue Coast Guard
LA Times, RICHARD WINTON: "Family members of the 34 people who died in the Conception dive boat fire off the Channel Islands in 2019 are suing the U.S. Coast Guard, alleging it failed to enforce regulations and allowed the vessel to operate with substandard electrical and safety systems that led to the deaths.
The suit was filed Wednesday on the eve of the second anniversary of the fire, the worst maritime disaster in modern California history.
It also comes as the captain of the vessel, Jerry Boylan, is facing 34 counts of seaman’s manslaughter for his failure to have a required roving watch person who could have detected the fire sooner, possibly in time to save the 33 passengers and one crew member who were sleeping below deck during the Labor Day weekend dive excursion."
Most Californians support a COVID vaccine requirement for indoor businesses, poll shows
Sacramento Beem ANDREW SHEELER: "A majority of Californians supports requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination before entering large outdoor gatherings or certain indoor spaces such as restaurants, bars and gyms, according to a new poll.
The survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 61% of California adults favor that kind of vaccine mandate. The PPIC surveyed 1,706 adults, over both land lines and cellphones, between Aug. 20 and Aug. 29.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has already implemented a vaccine mandate among state workers, who must present proof of vaccination or submit to regular COVID-19 testing. His administration is also requiring health care workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus."
Is the mu variant in California? What to know about the new WHO 'variant of interest'
The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG: "This week, the World Health Organization upgraded another coronavirus strain to its “variants of interest” list — and while Bay Area health officials say a few isolated cases involving the newly named mu variant have cropped up locally, it “hasn’t gotten any kind of foothold” and they are not yet sounding any alarms.
The mu variant, or B.1.621, was first detected in Colombia in January. It was added to the WHO’s monitoring radar because the organization says it contains mutations that could allow it to escape vaccine immunity.
In its weekly COVID epidemiological update Tuesday, the WHO said the variant has been detected in at least 39 countries, including the U.S. According to the agency, mu’s prevalence among genetically sequenced cases worldwide has declined to below 0.1%, though it has increased to 39% in Colombia and 13% in Ecuador."
Judge knocks down challenge to Newom's death penalty moratorium
The Chronicle, BOB EGELKO: "A death penalty advocate’s court challenge to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s moratorium on executions in California was rejected Tuesday by a judge, who said the advocate would not be personally affected by Newsom’s action and thus lacked legal grounds to contest it.
Newsom ordered a halt to executions in March 2019, shortly after taking office, saying the death penalty was immoral and racially discriminatory. California has 699 condemned inmates, more than any other state, and has not executed anyone since 2006, when a judge found serious problems in the state’s lethal injection procedures.
The governor’s action was challenged in February by James Lacy, an attorney and Republican activist in Orange County. His lawsuit accused Newsom of exceeding his powers and interfering with the constitutional authority of state legislators and voters who approved the death penalty law, most recently in the defeat of a 2016 ballot measure that sought to repeal the death penalty."
SEIU Local 1000 board members move to strip union president of power, pick new leader
Sacramento Bee, WES VENTEICHER: "A leadership struggle at California’s largest state employee union could soon come to a head as board members push a proposal to strip the organization’s elected president of most of his powers and replace him with a leader chosen by the board.
The effort comes just two months into president Richard Louis Brown’s contentious term at SEIU Local 1000, a union representing nearly 100,000 state employees ranging from office assistants to prison nurses.
William Hall, a district labor council president who is a member of the board, emailed the proposal to the board’s 65 members last Tuesday."
Beverly Hills accused of creating police task force that disproportionately arrested Black people
MATTHEW ORMSETH, LA Times: "A Black couple have sued the city of Beverly Hills, alleging their arrest was part of a campaign by its police to arrest Black people for trivial reasons and at disproportionate rates.
The couple’s lawyers, Bradley Gage and Benjamin Crump, said the Beverly Hills police last year set up a task force — dubbed Operation Safe Streets and the Rodeo Drive Task Force — that arrested 106 people, 105 of whom were Black and one of whom was Latino. Gage said the sources of the arrest figures were unidentified retired Beverly Hills police officers who were appalled by the task force’s actions and so shared with him the alleged racial breakdown of who had been arrested.
The impetus for the task force, Gage said, was both the protests over the death of George Floyd and what Beverly Hills police believed were transactions at retail stores using suspected proceeds of unemployment benefit fraud. Gage described the Police Department’s approach to rooting out suspected fraud as, “Gee, that’s suspicious — Black people shopping in Beverly Hills.”
Mia Bonta leads in special election East Bay Assembly race
The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: "Mia Bonta was leading in a special election Tuesday for an East Bay Assembly seat vacated by her husband, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, according to early returns.
Bonta, president of the Alameda Unified School District board and CEO of the nonprofit Oakland Promise, received 55% of the early vote totals. Her opponent, social justice attorney Janani Ramachandran, received 45% and was trailing by roughly 4,500 votes. Every registered voter in the district received a mail-in ballot. Officials from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters said they will next update the vote totals Thursday afternoon.
The two candidates were vying to represent the heavily Democratic district that includes San Leandro, Alameda and 80% of Oakland. Regardless of who wins, they will help set an all-time record in Sacramento this year: 32.5% of the members of the Legislature are women, according to Close the Gap California, which recruits and trains women to run for state office."
