latimes--2020-10-03--California wildfires on the cusp of burning 4 million acres so far this year

Wildfires have burned an unprecedented swath of destruction in California this year , scorching nearly 4 million acres — an area larger than Connecticut — and killing 31 people , according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection .
Previously , California ’ s worst year of fire was 2018 , when more than 1.8 million acres were burned and more than 100 people were killed , according to the National Interagency Coordination Center .
Fires this year have destroyed more than 8,200 structures and , as of Friday , had displaced more than 53,000 from their homes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yet approached that of 2018 , when more than 17,000 homes and 700 businesses were destroyed .
Still , the sheer magnitude is staggering .
Of the 20 largest wildfires in California ’ s history , five burned within the space of a couple months this year , consuming a combined total of nearly 2.4 million acres .
Lightning in August ignited many of California ’ s biggest blazes , but scientists say climate change has also contributed to the conflagrations .
August was the hottest month on record in California , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and combustible from the drought that plagued California from 2012-16 .
On Friday afternoon , two inmate firefighters were injured fighting the Zogg fire in Shasta County .
The firefighters were flown by helicopter from a steep area in the northern zone of the fire to a local hospital , incident commander Sean Kavanaugh said Saturday at a press conference .
One was released Friday night , while the other remained hospitalized Saturday , Kavanaugh said .
Cal Fire declined to provide more information about what happened .
Crews reported little growth on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for west-northwesterly winds to pick up later Saturday , said Christina Barkdull , public information officer for Cal Fire .
“ We ’ ve put a lot of resources out there on certain divisions , just to be on the safe side , ” she said .
People have returned to their homes in many areas at the southern edge of the fire over the last couple days , as containment rose to 57 % , she said .
“ The north end of the fire , that ’ s kind of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ burning in a lot of chaparral , the oak woodlands , ” she said .
“ But we put in a lot of contingency lines , where if something were to happen we ’ re able to box that fire in.
” The fire ignited early Sunday near the community of Igo , about nine miles southwest of Redding , and spread rapidly , killing four people and destroying at least 179 structures .
About 140 miles south in Northern California ’ s wine country , crews battling the Glass fire were breathing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expected strong winds failed to materialize overnight .
Other than a small spot fire that was quickly extinguished , the 62,360-acre fire ’ s footprint remained largely unchanged overnight , said Donna Sager , public information officer with Cal Fire .
Still , she said , hot , dry conditions are expected to remain a challenge .
Fire experts use a calculation called the probability of ignition that ’ s based on fuel moisture and weather condition , she said .
“ Right now , it ’ s at 90 , ” she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vegetation that has an emission source , a cigarette , whatever , has a 90 % chance of carrying fire through it .
Not that it will sit there , smolder and go out but that it will actually carry fire.
” Another challenge is that it has been too “ socked in , ” or smoky , to have aircraft drop water on the flames , she said , although there was hope that could change Saturday .
Help also arrived Saturday from Oregon , where wetter conditions have permitted fire crews @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blazes , freeing up resources to be sent elsewhere , she said .
Crews reported 10 % containment of the Glass fire , which started Sunday and quickly spread , gaining a foothold in a wedge of land north-northeast of Santa Rosa that hadn ’ t burned for 70 years .
The blaze has destroyed at least 173 homes and 264 commercial buildings in Napa County and 120 homes and eight commercial buildings in Sonoma County , Sager said .
The largest fire in the state ’ s history continued to burn in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Saturday , nearly 50 days after it was sparked by lightning in mid-August .
The August Complex fire was 979,386 acres and still just 51 % contained .
About 2:30 a.m. Saturday , flames made an aggressive downhill run in a rural area north and east of the Round Valley , spurring officials to change an existing evacuation warning to an order “ out of an abundance of caution , ” said A.J .
Lester , public information officer with Cal Fire Team 5 , which is handling the west zone of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ densely populated but is dotted with farms and ranches , he said .
Although a red-flag warning for the area due to the possibility of high winds expired Friday at 8 p.m. , winds and the terrain were continuing to push the fire toward containment lines , particularly above the Round Valley area , Lester said .
“ We ’ re really trying to reinforce those containment lines to make sure we don ’ t get any jumps or breaches , ” he said .
Crews were also working to protect the community @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after the fire made a run in that direction , he said .
Firefighters have strengthened containment lines along the fire ’ s northern flank , allaying some of the concern that the blaze could merge with the Zogg fire and form a monster conflagration well over 1 million acres in size , said Cody Norris , public information officer with U.S. Forest Service , on Saturday .
“ I ’ m not going to say never , but right now things are looking pretty good on those two fronts , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were mostly burning through big , dried-out conifers , which don ’ t quickly recover from drought and low humidity .
“ Something like a big tree takes roughly 1,000 hours to go from a high moisture content down to a very low moisture content so it ’ s not a very quick change , ” he said .
“ So even if we got heavy rain , it ’ s not going to immediately soak up all that water.
” There were more than 3,500 firefighters battling the fire , including firefighters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New Jersey , as well as 138 National Guard personnel , Lester said .
“ With such a large operation , there ’ s a lot of moving parts as far as evacuations go and trying to educate the public , ” he said .
Fire officials have reported 100 % containment of two other large complexes of fire that were sparked by lightning in mid-August — the 396,624-acre SCU Lightning Complex fire in Santa Clara , Alameda and Stanislaus counties , and the 363,220-acre LNU Lightning Complex fire in Napa , Sonoma @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Fire crews on Saturday reported progress against the Creek fire burning in the Sierra National Forest , which was 312,063 acres and 49 % contained .
The North Complex fire , which killed 15 people after it raced into the towns of Berry Creek and Feather Falls , was 317,459 acres and 83 % contained .
In the Los Angeles area , crews fighting the Bobcat fire in the Angeles National Forest said they were mostly focusing on mopping up and strengthening containment lines Saturday .
Fire officials said a 300-acre internal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Wilson was expected to burn throughout the day Saturday , possibly sending up a large cloud of smoke .
The fire had burned 114,963 acres , was 84 % contained and had destroyed 87 homes and 83 other structures Saturday , though that number could rise as teams continue to perform damage assessments , officials said .
The fire was continuing to wreak havoc on the region ’ s air quality , with officials forecasting it would be unhealthy Sunday for those in parts of the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mountains , and unhealthy for sensitive people in many other places in Los Angeles County .
Those with heart disease , asthma or other respiratory conditions were advised to limit outdoor activities , the county Department of Public Health said in a news release .

Wildfires have burned an unprecedented swath of California this year, scorching nearly 4 million acres — an area larger than Connecticut — and killing 31 people, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Previously, California’s worst year of fire was 2018, when more than 1.8 million acres were burned and more than 100 people were killed, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center.
Fires this year have destroyed more than 8,200 structures and, as of Friday, had displaced more than 53,000 from their homes.
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The property damage toll has not yet approached that of 2018, when more than 17,000 homes and 700 businesses were destroyed.
Still, the sheer magnitude is staggering. Of the 20 largest wildfires in California’s history, five burned within the space of a couple months this year, consuming a combined total of nearly 2.4 million acres.
Lightning in August ignited many of California’s biggest blazes, but scientists say climate change has also contributed to the conflagrations. It was the hottest August on record in California, and trees and brush were already abnormally dry and combustible after northern and central California saw exceptionally dry conditions last winter.
On Friday afternoon, two inmate firefighters were injured fighting the Zogg fire in Shasta County.
The firefighters were flown by helicopter from a steep area in the northern zone of the fire to a local hospital, incident commander Sean Kavanaugh said Saturday at a news conference.
One was released Friday night, while the other remained hospitalized Saturday, Kavanaugh said. Cal Fire declined to provide more information about what happened.
Crews reported little growth on the 56,305-acre fire overnight but were bracing for west-northwesterly winds to pick up later Saturday, said Christina Barkdull, public information officer for Cal Fire.
“We’ve put a lot of resources out there on certain divisions, just to be on the safe side,” she said.
People have returned to their homes in many areas at the southern edge of the fire over the last couple days, as containment rose to 66%, she said.
“The north end of the fire, that’s kind of the priority right now because it’s burning in a lot of chaparral, the oak woodlands,” she said. “But we put in a lot of contingency lines, where if something were to happen we’re able to box that fire in.”
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The fire ignited early Sunday near the community of Igo, about nine miles southwest of Redding, and spread rapidly, killing four people and destroying at least 179 structures.
About 140 miles south in Northern California’s wine country, crews battling the Glass fire were breathing a sigh of relief Saturday morning after expected strong winds failed to materialize overnight.
Other than a small spot fire that was quickly extinguished, the 62,360-acre fire’s footprint remained largely unchanged overnight, said Donna Sager, public information officer with Cal Fire.
Still, she said, hot, dry conditions are expected to remain a challenge.
Fire experts use a calculation called the probability of ignition that’s based on fuel moisture and weather condition, she said.
“Right now, it’s at 90,” she said, “which means any live vegetation that has an emission source, a cigarette, whatever, has a 90% chance of carrying fire through it. Not that it will sit there, smolder and go out but that it will actually carry fire.”
Another challenge is that it has been too “socked in,” or smoky, to have aircraft drop water on the flames, she said, although there was hope that could change Saturday.
Help also arrived Saturday from Oregon, where wetter conditions have permitted fire crews to get the upper hand on several blazes, freeing up resources to be sent elsewhere, she said.
Crews reported 15% containment of the 63,450-acre Glass fire, which started Sept. 27 and quickly spread, gaining a foothold in a wedge of land north-northeast of Santa Rosa that hadn’t burned for 70 years. The blaze has destroyed at least 173 homes and 264 commercial buildings in Napa County and 120 homes and eight commercial buildings in Sonoma County, Sager said.
The largest fire in the state’s history continued to burn in Mendocino County, prompting new evacuation orders Saturday, nearly 50 days after it was sparked by lightning in mid-August.
The August Complex fire was 984,804 acres and still just 51% contained.
About 2:30 a.m. Saturday, flames made an aggressive downhill run in a rural area north and east of the Round Valley, spurring officials to change an existing evacuation warning to an order “out of an abundance of caution,” said A.J. Lester, public information officer with Cal Fire Team 5, which is handling the west zone of the massive blaze.
The area is not densely populated but is dotted with farms and ranches, he said.
Although a red-flag warning for the area due to the possibility of high winds expired Friday at 8 p.m., winds and the terrain were continuing to push the fire toward containment lines, particularly above the Round Valley area, Lester said.
“We’re really trying to reinforce those containment lines to make sure we don’t get any jumps or breaches,” he said.
Crews were also working to protect the community of Zenia, to the north, after the fire made a run in that direction, he said.
Firefighters have strengthened containment lines along the fire’s northern flank, allaying some of the concern that the blaze could merge with the Zogg fire and form a monster conflagration well over 1 million acres in size, said Cody Norris, public information officer with U.S. Forest Service, on Saturday.
“I’m not going to say never, but right now things are looking pretty good on those two fronts,” he said.
One challenge was that flames were mostly burning through big, dried-out conifers, which don’t quickly recover from drought and low humidity.
“Something like a big tree takes roughly 1,000 hours to go from a high moisture content down to a very low moisture content so it’s not a very quick change,” he said. “So even if we got heavy rain, it’s not going to immediately soak up all that water.”
There were more than 3,500 firefighters battling the fire, including firefighters from Montana, Texas, Washington and New Jersey, as well as 138 National Guard personnel, Lester said.
“With such a large operation, there’s a lot of moving parts as far as evacuations go and trying to educate the public,” he said.
Fire officials have reported 100% containment of two other large complexes of fire that were sparked by lightning in mid-August — the 396,624-acre SCU Lightning Complex fire in Santa Clara, Alameda and Stanislaus counties, and the 363,220-acre LNU Lightning Complex fire in Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Yolo and Solano counties.
Fire crews on Saturday reported progress against the Creek fire burning in the Sierra National Forest, which was 312,063 acres and 49% contained.
The North Complex fire, which killed 15 people after it raced into the towns of Berry Creek and Feather Falls, was 317,459 acres and 83% contained.
In the Los Angeles area, crews fighting the Bobcat fire in the Angeles National Forest said they were mostly focusing on mopping up and strengthening containment lines Saturday. Fire officials said a 300-acre internal island of unburned fuel northeast of Mt. Wilson was expected to burn throughout the day Saturday, possibly sending up a large cloud of smoke.
The fire had burned 114,963 acres, was 84% contained and had destroyed 87 homes and 83 other structures Saturday, though that number could rise as teams continue to perform damage assessments, officials said.
The fire was continuing to wreak havoc on the region’s air quality, with officials forecasting it would be unhealthy Sunday for those in parts of the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, as well as the San Gabriel Mountains, and unhealthy for sensitive people in many other places in Los Angeles County.
Those with heart disease, asthma or other respiratory conditions were advised to limit outdoor activities, the county Department of Public Health said in a news release.


latimes--2020-10-03--Earthquake: Magnitude 3.0 quake hits near Brawley, Calif.

A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was reported Saturday at 1:21 p.m. two miles from Brawley , Calif. , according to the U.S. Geological Survey .
The earthquake occurred nine miles from Imperial , Calif. , 13 miles from El Centro , 21 miles from Calexico and 53 miles from Blythe .
In the last 10 days , there have been 65 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby .
An average of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur per year in California and Nevada , according to a recent three year data sample .
The earthquake occurred @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Did you feel this earthquake ?
Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS .
Even if you didn ’ t feel this small earthquake , you never know when the Big One is going to strike .
Ready yourself by following our five-step earthquake preparedness guide and building your own emergency kit .
This story was automatically generated by Quakebot , a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS .
A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published .
If you ’ re interested in learning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ list of frequently asked questions .

Two earthquakes were reported Saturday afternoon near Brawley, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was reported at 1:21 p.m. two miles from Brawley, and a magnitude 3.6 quake was reported at 4:27 p.m. three miles from the city, according to USGS.
The earthquakes occurred about nine miles from Imperial, Calif., about 13 miles from El Centro and about 21 miles from Calexico.
In the previous 10 days, there had been 65 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.
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An average of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur per year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three-year data sample.
The first earthquake occurred at a depth of 4.5 miles. The second earthquake occurred at a depth of 6.3 miles. Did you feel these earthquakes? Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS.
Even if you didn’t feel these small earthquakes, you never know when the Big One is going to strike. Ready yourself by following our five-step earthquake preparedness guide and building your own emergency kit.
This story was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published. If you’re interested in learning more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.


latimes--2020-10-03--Tahoe ski resort reverses parking policy after being hit by lawsuit, pandemic losses

Free parking , as precious to some skiers as virgin mountain powder , has returned to one Lake Tahoe resort but not before its corporate owner waged an expensive yearlong legal battle with two season pass holders .
An 80-year-old attorney and another man whose first job out of college was parking cars at the mountain ski center now owned by Vail Resorts filed separate lawsuits when Northstar California replaced traditional free parking with $ 20 daily fees ( $ 40 weekends ) — after they ’ d purchased their passes .
Unlike visitors from San Francisco , who may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like attorney Steven Kroll and Robert Grossman will often make a few quick runs in the morning then jump in their cars to head for work .
Both navigated the steep slopes that way for decades .
They never imagined the uphill battle they ’ d face when they learned months after they ’ d renewed their passes for 2019-20 that it would cost them $ 2,000 for the season to park in the lot they ’ d used for free for years .
Grossman eventually won a small claims court judgment for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Kroll came away with nothing after he was buried in an avalanche of opposition filings and agreed to dismiss his federal lawsuit for fear of being ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and expenses .
“ Never pick a fight with a big bully , ” said Kroll , of Crystal Bay .
Last October , Grossman started hearing rumors about an unannounced policy change .
So he called Northstar to see if it was true that the only free parking would be a mile-plus away , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ figured would add an hour to each visit .
“ I told them all you have to do to come out smelling great is give a parking pass to any season skier who asked for one , ” he recalled .
“ They told me to go pound sand.
” Vail defended the fees as a way to help ease traffic congestion and speed overall access to the slopes .
The company declined to comment on the lawsuits .
Grossman won in small claims court — where formal legal representation is prohibited — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for those who didn ’ t ski once all season .
Vail appealed in Placer County court “ and I start hearing from a whole bunch of attorneys , ” he said .
“ I ’ m like , ‘ Really ?
’ This is a $ 500 small claims case .
I ’ m not going to pay $ 20,000 for a lawyer to defend me.
” To his surprise , the district court upheld the judgment .
Grossman expected another appeal but recently received payment .
In his case , Kroll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clear during a court-ordered settlement teleconference that lasted 12 minutes that they would do whatever necessary to delay a hearing .
The tipping point came when the judge threatened him with sanctions for the first time in his career .
“ I thought , this does not look good , ” Kroll said .
“ They had a law firm with 80 lawyers and all I had was me and my secretary.
” Kroll dropped his case .
He and Grossman are skiing elsewhere .
Vail Resorts spokesman Russell Carlton said the parking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some days .
“ Guest feedback ” and COVID-19 contributed to the decision to reinstate previous free parking options , he said in an email to the Associated Press .
“ The ultimate goal of all operational decisions is to provide our guests the best overall experience when visiting our resort .
”

Free parking, as precious to some skiers as virgin mountain powder, has returned to one Lake Tahoe resort but not before its corporate owner waged an expensive yearlong legal battle with two season pass holders.
An 80-year-old attorney and another man whose first job out of college was parking cars at the mountain ski center now owned by Vail Resorts filed separate lawsuits when Northstar California replaced traditional free parking with $20 daily fees ($40 weekends) — after they’d purchased their passes.
Unlike visitors from San Francisco, who may spend the entire weekend skiing, locals like attorney Steven Kroll and Robert Grossman will often make a few quick runs in the morning then jump in their cars to head for work.
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Both navigated the steep slopes that way for decades. They never imagined the uphill battle they’d face when they learned months after they’d renewed their passes for 2019-20 that it would cost them $2,000 for the season to park in the lot they’d used for free for years.
Travel & Experiences Once podunk, now posh, Northstar at Lake Tahoe has come up in the downhill world Back in the day Northstar, a ski resort in the North Lake Tahoe area, was a country cousin to more hardcore Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows.
Grossman eventually won a small claims court judgment for $692 plus $135 in costs.
Kroll came away with nothing after he was buried in an avalanche of opposition filings and agreed to dismiss his federal lawsuit for fear of being ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and expenses.
“Never pick a fight with a big bully,” said Kroll, of Crystal Bay.
Last October, Grossman started hearing rumors about an unannounced policy change. So he called Northstar to see if it was true that the only free parking would be a mile-plus away, accessible via a shuttle bus that he figured would add an hour to each visit.
“I told them all you have to do to come out smelling great is give a parking pass to any season skier who asked for one,” he recalled. “They told me to go pound sand.”
Vail defended the fees as a way to help ease traffic congestion and speed overall access to the slopes. The company declined to comment on the lawsuits.
A cross-country skier strides on a trail at Northstar overlooking Lake Tahoe in a file photo. (Northstar at Tahoe)
Grossman won in small claims court — where formal legal representation is prohibited — because the pass said refunds were allowed for those who didn’t ski once all season.
Vail appealed in Placer County court “and I start hearing from a whole bunch of attorneys,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Really?’ This is a $500 small claims case. I’m not going to pay $20,000 for a lawyer to defend me.”
To his surprise, the district court upheld the judgment. Grossman expected another appeal but recently received payment.
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In his case, Kroll said Vail’s lawyers made it clear during a court-ordered settlement teleconference that lasted 12 minutes that they would do whatever necessary to delay a hearing.
The tipping point came when the judge threatened him with sanctions for the first time in his career.
“I thought, this does not look good,” Kroll said. “They had a law firm with 80 lawyers and all I had was me and my secretary.”
Kroll dropped his case. He and Grossman are skiing elsewhere.
Vail Resorts spokesman Russell Carlton said the parking fees helped ease congestion but proved unnecessary some days.
“Guest feedback” and COVID-19 contributed to the decision to reinstate previous free parking options, he said in an email to the Associated Press. “The ultimate goal of all operational decisions is to provide our guests the best overall experience when visiting our resort.”


latimes--2020-10-03--Column:  When his mom died of COVID, virus skeptics chimed in on social media. Will Trump's illness

Column:  When his mom died of COVID, virus skeptics chimed in on social media. Will Trump's illness convince them?

On March 25 , John Paul Caire , 21 , went upstairs to check on his mother , Terese , a beloved La Canada Flintridge elementary school teacher who was seriously ill with COVID-19 .
He found his mother in a chair , her lips and fingers blue , her breathing strained .
His sister Maria , 22 , was downstairs , checking on her sick father and calling an advice nurse for guidance .
“ Get them to the emergency room immediately , ” Maria was told .
John Paul , a college baseball player , knew his mother @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on her own .
“ She couldn ’ t get up , ” said John Paul .
“ She said give me a minute , give me a minute , and I ’ ll get up .
She said it repeatedly , and she really was not making any sense.
” He put his mother over his shoulder and carried her downstairs .
Terese ’ s father John , despite being deathly ill , didn ’ t want his son or daughter to take the chance of getting sicker by driving their mother @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were COVID-positive themselves , with milder symptoms .
So John drove his wife to the emergency room in Verdugo Hills , and she was transferred to Keck Medical Center in grave condition .
For weeks , Terese — who was proud of her Greek heritage , loved teaching , dancing and cooking dinner for her family — fought for her life in the hospital .
Twice , she seemed to be rebounding , and the family thought she might make it back home .
But about a month after being hospitalized , she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Caires were among several people I reached out to who lost loved ones to COVID-19 , only to have to watch the president rejecting the advice of public health experts and serving as poster boy for those who defiantly refused to wear masks or keep a safe distance from others .
For John Paul Caire , the president ’ s rosy proclamations about the pandemic during the time his mother was sick had been grating enough .
Then , in the midst of his grief , shortly after his mother ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media posts by two friends who seemed to mirror the president ’ s views .
“ It is a hoax only old people r affected by it , ” wrote one of them .
“ Only 6 % of the COVID deaths were caused solely from COVID .
That ’ s only 11,000 deaths .
Not worth shutting down our country… ” “ My whole family had it , ” John Paul responded .
“ My mom died from it .
You are misunderstanding the data from the CDC .
There are nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knows who it will affect until it does .
It isn ’ t a hoax .
I would be careful about what you say.
” “ [ Look ] bro I ’ ve been praying for u and ur family , ” the friend responded .
“ I had it too .
But at the end of the day the survival rate is 99 % .
U don ’ t shut a country down for that.
” That ’ s not only heartless and clueless ; it ’ s also a good example @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the president and others on his team .
It ’ s never been as simple as deciding between opening and closing .
Rather , it ’ s about making a gradual reopening possible by taking common sense precautions and respecting the health of others .
President Trump “ made people think it wasn ’ t going to affect them , ” said John Paul .
And after the president defied sound medical advice on masks and distancing , it seemed to John Paul like only a matter of time before the president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he think when he heard the president was sick ?
“ I mean , I wasn ’ t surprised , ” he said .
So many people think it won ’ t affect them , “ But look what it did to us.
” And — with the death toll having surpassed 200,000 — what it did to thousands of families .
Inglewood resident Tony Wafford lost four relatives to COVID-19 in the span of a week early in May .
On Friday , he was glued to the television as a helicopter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Trump to the hospital .
“ Sometimes the universe can get your attention ” even when nothing else can , Wafford said of the news that Trump , after downplaying the threat of the coronavirus for months , had tested positive .
Wafford said there were times in recent months when it crossed his mind that if Trump got sick , the president might finally “ be able to see the legitimacy of it ” and act in the public interest rather than his own .
But as a Black man who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s brother and two nephews , Wafford said he couldn ’ t wish the disease or its ill effects on Trump or anyone else .
“ I had to wrestle with my humanity .
I think the guy is not a nice human being , ” Wafford said .
“ But maybe because he ’ s ill , it ’ s a call to us to come back to our best selves and to our humanity.
” As the Wafford family grieves , and copes , so too does the Arleta family of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ studying to be a nurse , lost her mother to COVID-19 in May , after she got sick at a nursing facility in Reseda .
Florentina Lopez , who died at 66 , had been a seamstress and worked in a slaughterhouse .
Nava , who has been extra cautious since losing her mother , told me she and her husband recently went out to dinner for the first time in months .
“ We ate outdoors and made sure to distance and stay safe , ” said Nava .
“ I don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to go grocery shopping , and I go early in the morning.
” Nava said she suspects that some people haven ’ t taken the threat seriously because they haven ’ t lost a loved one , or because they ’ ve been listening to the wrong messengers .
She ’ s betting the president has a better chance of beating the virus than people like her mother , because the best possible care will be available to him .
“ I think they may have some medical treatment that we in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Nava said .
In July , I wrote about the lonely crusade of Newport Beach resident and retired teacher Lynn Lorenz , who fired off letters to the editor in a crusade taking on coronavirus deniers .
Orange County had become a center of the resistance against advice on masks and distancing .
It was Lorenz who tipped me to emergency room doctor Eric Alcouloumre of Laguna Beach , whose daily Facebook posts try to set people straight on the best known ways to limit the spread of the deadly virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ distance and wear a mask .
When I caught up with Alcouloumre on Friday , he said that given Trump ’ s reckless behavior , the news of his positive test was unsurprising .
“ I don ’ t wish ill on him , but it ’ s not unexpected , ” Alcouloumre said .
“ I ’ m not a big believer in karma , but I am a believer in science and this was very predictable .
He ’ s out there not wearing masks , mingling with people , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country who are helping to get us through this .
At every turn , he ’ s done the wrong thing .
”

On March 25, John Paul Caire, 21, went upstairs to check on his mother, Terese, a beloved La Canada Flintridge elementary school teacher who was seriously ill with COVID-19. He found his mother in a chair, her lips and fingers blue, her breathing strained.
His sister Maria, 22, was downstairs, checking on her sick father and calling an advice nurse for guidance.
“Get them to the emergency room immediately,” Maria was told.
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John Paul, a college baseball player, knew his mother was too weak to make it downstairs on her own.
“She couldn’t get up,” said John Paul. “She said give me a minute, give me a minute, and I’ll get up. She said it repeatedly, and she really was not making any sense.”
He put his mother over his shoulder and carried her downstairs. Terese’s husband John, despite being deathly ill, didn’t want his son or daughter to take the chance of getting sicker by driving their mother to ER. The brother and sister were COVID-positive themselves, with milder symptoms. So John drove his wife to the emergency room in Verdugo Hills, and she was transferred to Keck Medical Center in grave condition.
For weeks, Terese — who was proud of her Greek heritage, loved teaching, dancing and cooking dinner for her family — fought for her life in the hospital. Twice, she seemed to be rebounding, and the family thought she might make it back home. But about a month after being hospitalized, she was gone, just 57 years old.
The Caire’s dogs, Petunia, left, and Roxie, walk near a portrait of Terese Caire at the family’s home in La Cañada. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
The Caires were among several people I reached out to who lost loved ones to COVID-19, only to have to watch the president rejecting the advice of public health experts and serving as poster boy for those who defiantly refused to wear masks or keep a safe distance from others.
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For John Paul Caire, the president’s rosy proclamations about the pandemic during the time his mother was sick had been grating enough. Then, in the midst of his grief, shortly after his mother’s death John Paul Caire saw social media posts by two friends who seemed to mirror the president’s views.
“It is a hoax only old people r affected by it,” wrote one of them. “Only 6% of the COVID deaths were caused solely from COVID. That’s only 11,000 deaths. Not worth shutting down our country…”
“My whole family had it,” John Paul responded. “My mom died from it. You are misunderstanding the data from the CDC. There are nearly 200,000 deaths from COVID, and nobody knows who it will affect until it does. It isn’t a hoax. I would be careful about what you say.”
“[Look] bro I’ve been praying for u and ur family,” the friend responded. “I had it too. But at the end of the day the survival rate is 99%. U don’t shut a country down for that.”
That’s not only heartless and clueless; it’s also a good example of the kind of false dichotomy presented by the president and others on his team. It’s never been as simple as deciding between opening and closing. Rather, it’s about making a gradual reopening possible by taking common sense precautions and respecting the health of others.
President Trump “made people think it wasn’t going to affect them,” said John Paul. And after the president defied sound medical advice on masks and distancing, it seemed to John Paul like only a matter of time before the president paid the price.
And what did he think when he heard the president was sick? “I mean, I wasn’t surprised,” he said. So many people think it won’t affect them, “But look what it did to us.”
And — with the death toll having surpassed 200,000 — what it did to thousands of families.
Inglewood resident Tony Wafford lost four relatives to COVID-19 in the span of a week early in May. On Friday, he was glued to the television as a helicopter waited at the White House to take President Trump to the hospital.
“Sometimes the universe can get your attention” even when nothing else can, Wafford said of the news that Trump, after downplaying the threat of the coronavirus for months, had tested positive.
Wafford said there were times in recent months when it crossed his mind that if Trump got sick, the president might finally “be able to see the legitimacy of it” and act in the public interest rather than his own. But as a Black man who lost his brother, his wife’s brother and two nephews, Wafford said he couldn’t wish the disease or its ill effects on Trump or anyone else.
“I had to wrestle with my humanity. I think the guy is not a nice human being,” Wafford said. “But maybe because he’s ill, it’s a call to us to come back to our best selves and to our humanity.”
As the Wafford family grieves, and copes, so too does the Arleta family of Griselda Nava. Nava, who is studying to be a nurse, lost her mother to COVID-19 in May, after she got sick at a nursing facility in Reseda. Florentina Lopez, who died at 66, had been a seamstress and worked in a slaughterhouse.
Nava, who has been extra cautious since losing her mother, told me she and her husband recently went out to dinner for the first time in months.
“We ate outdoors and made sure to distance and stay safe,” said Nava. “I don’t usually go out unless I have to go grocery shopping, and I go early in the morning.”
Nava said she suspects that some people haven’t taken the threat seriously because they haven’t lost a loved one, or because they’ve been listening to the wrong messengers. She’s betting the president has a better chance of beating the virus than people like her mother, because the best possible care will be available to him.
“I think they may have some medical treatment that we in the normal population don’t have,” Nava said.
In July, I wrote about the lonely crusade of Newport Beach resident and retired teacher Lynn Lorenz, who fired off letters to the editor in a crusade taking on coronavirus deniers. Orange County had become a center of the resistance against advice on masks and distancing.
It was Lorenz who tipped me to emergency room doctor Eric Alcouloumre of Laguna Beach, whose daily Facebook posts try to set people straight on the best known ways to limit the spread of the deadly virus — wash your hands, keep your distance and wear a mask.
When I caught up with Alcouloumre on Friday, he said that given Trump’s reckless behavior, the news of his positive test was unsurprising.
“I don’t wish ill on him, but it’s not unexpected,” Alcouloumre said. “I’m not a big believer in karma, but I am a believer in science and this was very predictable. He’s out there not wearing masks, mingling with people, and distancing himself from the smartest people in the country who are helping to get us through this. At every turn, he’s done the wrong thing.”
steve.lopez@latimes.com


latimes--2020-10-03--Wildfire ravaged this rancher's cattle and maybe his family legacy. He blames politics

Dave Daley stood recently on the edge of a barren ridge and bellowed out a guttural cry meant to call his cows home — if any remained alive after the North Complex wildfire decimated this national forest .
It was a long , mellifluous chant that sounded like “ Come Boss , ” taught to him by his own father and , he thinks , maybe originating with the genus of the species he hoped to find , Bos taurus , domesticated cattle .
When the sound finished bouncing off the far hills , miles across a plunging valley where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he waited in a silence so deep it can be made only by absence — of animals in underbrush , of leaves for wind to rustle , of life — hoping to hear the clanking of the bells each of his animals wears .
But the silence held .
“ You can replace a house , ” he said , his voice hoarse and sorrow crinkling the sun-baked lines around his eyes , their color a pale green-brown that mirrored the scorched pine needles nearby .
“ You can ’ t replace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ windy night turned the Bear fire into another California catastrophe , pulling embers off the ground and into the air , across the river , through treetops and down these mountains to the towns of Feather Falls and Berry Creek , where at least 15 people died .
Here , in dense woods , Daley ’ s 400 head of cows , many with calves in tow , ranged free in summer , as they had done for the six generations his family has ranched on this land .
In about 1882 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up into this high country , back before there was a National Forest system , and their brand has grandfathered access — though some environmentalists believe cattle have no place on public lands .
Now , only a bitter smell and ravens circling overhead could signal where many of their burned carcasses lay , blending into a dismal palette of ash and charcoaled timber .
Though Daley and his family search every day for survivors , only about 130 have turned up alive — some so badly injured , with udders , hooves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they have to be put down .
An additional 100 have been found dead .
Consumed by guilt that he couldn ’ t save them , and fear that some may still be suffering , he ’ s scouring what ’ s left of trails and tracks with names such as Lava Top and Bear Wallow that he probably knows better than any person alive , having roamed them since he was a boy .
Friday was Day 22 .
“ The live ones are live and the dead ones are dead , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ But the injured ones are missing.
” Daley ’ s fury and frustration is growing as the full brunt of the loss sets in .
This fire , he believes , and the dozens of others eating across the state could have been prevented — if it weren ’ t for the divisive politics that for decades have pitted agriculture against environmentalism , climate change against forest management , “ enviros ” against ranchers .
If nothing else comes of telling his story , he wants this : Compromise — a return @ @ @ @ @ @ @ uproar .
“ I am again angry at everyone and no one , ” Daley wrote a few days after the fire , in a message his daughter Kate put on Facebook and which quickly went viral .
“ I am absolutely tired of politicians and politics , from both the left and the right .
Shut up .
You use tragedies to fuel agendas and raise money to feed egos .
I am sick of it .
And it plays out on social media and cable news with ( distortion ) and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , DC is 3000 miles away and is filled with lobbyists , consultants and regulators who wouldn ’ t know a sugar pine from a fir .
Sacramento is 100 miles south and feels even more distant than DC.
” Though the majority of Californians agree that wildfires have worsened in recent years , they remain in political camps when it comes to why .
Nine in 10 Democrats believe climate change is a major factor , according to a recent poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies .
Only 19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and 46 % don ’ t think it plays any part .
In Daley ’ s world of ranchers , climate change is largely viewed as nonsense , he said , though he ’ s had enough of that position .
When an email screed against climate science popped up on his phone , he refused to read it .
But he also is exasperated by ranchers being demonized , as he sees it , and forests subject to litigation and inaction until they are dangerously overgrown .
“ Just maybe it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ climate change , ” he said , driving his Ford F350 on closed roads where hot spots still sent smoke curling upward and logs occasionally had to be chain-sawed away .
A dirty straw cowboy hat was pulled low on his forehead .
“ The fringe is leading the discussion , and we are unwilling to take it back from either side.
” A Republican who is contemplating switching to no party preference — he hopes he will be less marginalized in a state dominated by Democrats — Daley sees himself and others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part of the solution for managing wildlands , people with real-world experience .
A professor emeritus of animal science at Cal State Chico , he has a doctorate to back it up but still feels under attack in a dark blue state .
He doesn ’ t like everything President Trump says , but he appreciates his bent toward farmers , he said .
He isn ’ t fond of everything Gov .
Gavin Newsom does , either , but he ’ s raised money for him in the past .
Both , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” He ’ s made himself a political player , serving in leadership posts in the California Cattlemen ’ s Assn.
, the California Cattle Council and the National Cattlemen ’ s Beef Assn .
Such positions take him , with his bushy horseshoe mustache and gruff courtesies , to the halls of the state Legislature , as well as Congress .
“ I can disagree with both sides , but if I ’ m not in the room , who cares ?
” he said .
“ I ’ ve had to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not ... inflammatory and not angry , and it ’ s a constant effort.
” After all these decades of bringing Daley cows to this forest , he is heavy-hearted that his 3-month-old granddaughter Juniper — Juni for short — will never see it as he did .
He fears that her father , his son Kyle , is inheriting a family tragedy instead of a tradition .
He is grieving that his daughter Kate , a veterinarian , had to euthanize an injured cow , only to see its calf kicking inside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in time to save it .
“ This is a legacy and a history and really very personal , ” he said .
Once , about 6,500 cattle roamed this area , before it was federal land , along with 5,000 sheep , all herded on horseback .
“ Was it overgrazed ?
” Probably , Daley said .
“ Were there mega-fires ?
No.
” Those family ranches , with a few hundred cows each , are gone now , except for his .
“ We ended up with the whole range @ @ @ @ @ @ @ holds a permit for 400 pairs of cows and calves that roam over 90,000 acres of the Plumas National Forest and private lands owned by a timber company .
Daley says he is not giving up .
But it won ’ t be the same .
The cows won ’ t know the range , won ’ t know to come when he calls and , for decades to come , won ’ t wander nearly impenetrable thickets and meadows canopied by conifers .
Spring will bring grasses to graze — already ferns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ winter rains may bring mudslides and Daley is uncertain if the fire will change his government permit .
The herd wasn ’ t insured , and though there is a federal program that could pay for part of it , he doesn ’ t want handouts .
But money is always an issue .
Friday , Daley found more dead cows , a half dozen that had sought false safety near a creek .
He collected their trapezoidal bells , as he has done each time he finds a carcass .
Some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ biggest ones reserved for special “ ladies , ” as Daley calls them , the old-hand cows who knew their way around this range after years of wandering .
But he hasn ’ t found living cows in days , and the only sound in the forest was the hollow knock of metal on metal from the bells he held .
The time to end the search was nearing , the scope of the ruin settling in so that he sometimes wakes at night , mad at himself — for sticking with this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to his kids .
But in daylight , it ’ s clear this is the only place for the Daleys .
Here is where Dave ’ s grandmother taught in a one-room schoolhouse down the road .
Here is where he bumped along in the back of his grandfather ’ s pickup on cold fall mornings , hot chocolate his reward for taking part in the roundup .
Here is where his children played in spring-fed meadows , when the grass was an electric yellow-green and the calves still stood on wobbly legs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to know , ” he said .
“ Thirty years from now , Juni will be riding down a trail and probably find a bell .
”

Dave Daley stood recently on the edge of a barren ridge and bellowed out a guttural cry meant to call his cows home — if any remained alive after the North Complex wildfire decimated this national forest.
It was a long, mellifluous chant that sounded like “Come Boss,” taught to him by his own father and, he thinks, maybe originating with the genus of the species he hoped to find, Bos taurus, domesticated cattle.
When the sound finished bouncing off the far hills, miles across a plunging valley where the Feather River meandered into Lake Oroville, he waited in a silence so deep it can be made only by absence — of animals in underbrush, of leaves for wind to rustle, of life — hoping to hear the clanking of the bells each of his animals wears. But the silence held.
“You can replace a house,” he said, his voice hoarse and sorrow crinkling the sun-baked lines around his eyes, their color a pale green-brown that mirrored the scorched pine needles nearby. “You can’t replace this.”
Three weeks ago, a windy night turned the Bear fire into another California catastrophe, pulling embers off the ground and into the air, across the river, through treetops and down these mountains to the towns of Feather Falls and Berry Creek, where at least 15 people died. Here, in dense woods, Daley’s 400 head of cows, many with calves in tow, ranged free in summer, as they had done for the six generations his family has ranched on this land.
Dave Daley and his dog, Newt, stand in the North Complex West Fire burn area in the Plumas National Forest in Butte County. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
In about 1882, Daley’s family started running cows up into this high country, back before there was a National Forest system, and their brand has grandfathered access — though some environmentalists believe cattle have no place on public lands.
Now, only a bitter smell and ravens circling overhead could signal where many of their burned carcasses lay, blending into a dismal palette of ash and charcoaled timber. Though Daley and his family search every day for survivors, only about 130 have turned up alive — some so badly injured, with udders, hooves and even legs seared off, that they have to be put down. An additional 100 have been found dead.
Consumed by guilt that he couldn’t save them, and fear that some may still be suffering, he’s scouring what’s left of trails and tracks with names such as Lava Top and Bear Wallow that he probably knows better than any person alive, having roamed them since he was a boy. Friday was Day 22.
“The live ones are live and the dead ones are dead,” he said with cowboy pragmatism. “But the injured ones are missing.”
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Daley’s fury and frustration is growing as the full brunt of the loss sets in.
A firefighter puts out hot spots in the town of Berry Creek, which was devastated by the North Complex fire. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
This fire, he believes, and the dozens of others eating across the state could have been prevented — if it weren’t for the divisive politics that for decades have pitted agriculture against environmentalism, climate change against forest management, “enviros” against ranchers.
If nothing else comes of telling his story, he wants this: Compromise — a return to centrist politics lost in the current uproar.
“I am again angry at everyone and no one,” Daley wrote a few days after the fire, in a message his daughter Kate put on Facebook and which quickly went viral. “I am absolutely tired of politicians and politics, from both the left and the right. Shut up. You use tragedies to fuel agendas and raise money to feed egos. I am sick of it. And it plays out on social media and cable news with (distortion) and half-truths. ON BOTH SIDES. Washington, DC is 3000 miles away and is filled with lobbyists, consultants and regulators who wouldn’t know a sugar pine from a fir. Sacramento is 100 miles south and feels even more distant than DC.”
Though the majority of Californians agree that wildfires have worsened in recent years, they remain in political camps when it comes to why. Nine in 10 Democrats believe climate change is a major factor, according to a recent poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies. Only 19% of Republicans believe the same, and 46% don’t think it plays any part.
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In Daley’s world of ranchers, climate change is largely viewed as nonsense, he said, though he’s had enough of that position. When an email screed against climate science popped up on his phone, he refused to read it. But he also is exasperated by ranchers being demonized, as he sees it, and forests subject to litigation and inaction until they are dangerously overgrown.
“Just maybe it’s both — horrible forest management and climate change,” he said, driving his Ford F350 on closed roads where hot spots still sent smoke curling upward and logs occasionally had to be chain-sawed away. A dirty straw cowboy hat was pulled low on his forehead. “The fringe is leading the discussion, and we are unwilling to take it back from either side.”
A Republican who is contemplating switching to no party preference — he hopes he will be less marginalized in a state dominated by Democrats — Daley sees himself and others who make a living off livestock as part of the solution for managing wildlands, people with real-world experience. A professor emeritus of animal science at Cal State Chico, he has a doctorate to back it up but still feels under attack in a dark blue state.
He doesn’t like everything President Trump says, but he appreciates his bent toward farmers, he said. He isn’t fond of everything Gov. Gavin Newsom does, either, but he’s raised money for him in the past.
Both, he said, can be “idiots.”
Dave Daley grabs a cow bell off of the carcass of a cow as he searches for cattle that were lost in the North Complex fire. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
He’s made himself a political player, serving in leadership posts in the California Cattlemen’s Assn., the California Cattle Council and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assn. Such positions take him, with his bushy horseshoe mustache and gruff courtesies, to the halls of the state Legislature, as well as Congress.
“I can disagree with both sides, but if I’m not in the room, who cares?” he said. “I’ve had to work really hard to learn to be not ... inflammatory and not angry, and it’s a constant effort.”
After all these decades of bringing Daley cows to this forest, he is heavy-hearted that his 3-month-old granddaughter Juniper — Juni for short — will never see it as he did. He fears that her father, his son Kyle, is inheriting a family tragedy instead of a tradition. He is grieving that his daughter Kate, a veterinarian, had to euthanize an injured cow, only to see its calf kicking inside her, unable to cut it out in time to save it.
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“This is a legacy and a history and really very personal,” he said.
Once, about 6,500 cattle roamed this area, before it was federal land, along with 5,000 sheep, all herded on horseback. “Was it overgrazed?” Probably, Daley said. “Were there mega-fires? No.”
Those family ranches, with a few hundred cows each, are gone now, except for his.
“We ended up with the whole range,” he said. His family holds a permit for 400 pairs of cows and calves that roam over 90,000 acres of the Plumas National Forest and private lands owned by a timber company.
Daley says he is not giving up. But it won’t be the same. The cows won’t know the range, won’t know to come when he calls and, for decades to come, won’t wander nearly impenetrable thickets and meadows canopied by conifers.
Spring will bring grasses to graze — already ferns and shoots are pushing up, but winter rains may bring mudslides and Daley is uncertain if the fire will change his government permit. The herd wasn’t insured, and though there is a federal program that could pay for part of it, he doesn’t want handouts. But money is always an issue.
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The sound of the two cowbells in the hand of Dave Daley ring out through the eerily quiet forest as the rancher searches for cattle that were lost in the North Complex fire. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Friday, Daley found more dead cows, a half dozen that had sought false safety near a creek. He collected their trapezoidal bells, as he has done each time he finds a carcass. Some of the bells go back generations, the biggest ones reserved for special “ladies,” as Daley calls them, the old-hand cows who knew their way around this range after years of wandering.
But he hasn’t found living cows in days, and the only sound in the forest was the hollow knock of metal on metal from the bells he held.
The time to end the search was nearing, the scope of the ruin settling in so that he sometimes wakes at night, mad at himself — for sticking with this unsparing endeavor, for passing it on to his kids. But in daylight, it’s clear this is the only place for the Daleys.
Here is where Dave’s grandmother taught in a one-room schoolhouse down the road. Here is where he bumped along in the back of his grandfather’s pickup on cold fall mornings, hot chocolate his reward for taking part in the roundup. Here is where his children played in spring-fed meadows, when the grass was an electric yellow-green and the calves still stood on wobbly legs.
“This is a hard country to know,” he said. “Thirty years from now, Juni will be riding down a trail and probably find a bell.”
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latimes--2020-10-03--After back-to-back wildfires, some Napa winemakers won't make a 2020 vintage

Craig Becker walked among the vines of Somerston Estate in St. Helena and surveyed the rolling hills before him .
Less than two months ago , lightning storms sparked fires that lit the ridges around him and tore through the trees , bushes and crops that covered this sprawling piece of land .
The flames rendered the estate ’ s surviving vines unworkable , spoiled by the thick smoke that sat in the valley and seeped into grapes , turning their flavor to ash .
Like several other vineyards here , Somerston has decided not to harvest any fruit from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by smoke fumes .
“ All of them are tainted , ” Becker said as he chewed a grape , then spit it out .
“ I have it on my tongue right now.
” California has been under by wildfires for nearly two months as flames of historic size , intensity and destruction have ignited throughout the state .
Following large , consecutive wildfires in Napa — first the LNU Lightning Complex fire that burned more than 363,000 acres in August , and now the Glass fire that has chewed through more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ harvesting this year ’ s grapes isn ’ t worth the time or investment because they can ’ t be salvaged .
“ It ’ s terrible , ” Becker said , hopping into his buggy and driving down a hill to inspect another batch of vines .
“ You can taste it on the finish.
” It ’ s still too early to tell what the full extent of loss will be for winemakers across the state , but some vineyard managers are preparing for the worst .
In a traditional fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around mid-October , when for many vineyards , a majority of fruit had already been picked .
This year , more fruit remained vulnerable on the vine when smoke set in .
Smoke contains compounds that bind to the skin of grapes and get absorbed into the fruit .
The aroma releases throughout the fermentation and aging process , making a seemingly unaffected wine taste more ashy over time .
In general , red wines , especially ones made with thin-skinned grapes like Pinot Noir , tend to be most affected .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but it ’ s not something that consumers need to worry about .
The wineries simply won ’ t release bad wine , ” said Gladys Horiuchi of the Wine Institute .
During a normal fall season , Becker ’ s employees would be showing tourists and wine lovers around the property and pointing out the different varietals before taking them back inside for a tasting .
Somerston , which covers 1,682 acres of Napa Valley ’ s eastern Vaca mountain range , hosts 244 acres of vineyards .
Nearly 1,400 acres of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , part of the LNU Lightning Complex .
The estate also chose not to harvest most of its fruit after fires tore through the region in 2017 .
But the 2020 vintage has higher taint levels , Becker said , ranging from five to 15 times more smoke taint than 2017 .
“ We have enough wine to bridge the gap , ” he said .
But the vineyard will likely run out of white wine this year because it has only the 2019 vintage to draw on , he added .
Becker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said the estate is trying to recoup some of the costs of the August wreckage from insurance .
He estimates the vineyard sustained $ 1.1 million in infrastructure damage alone .
For smaller vineyards , the smoke damage to 2020 vines will be harder to stomach .
Lamborn Family Vineyards in Angwin announced last month it wouldn ’ t make a 2020 vintage after the LNU Lightning Complex fire choked its vines .
The vineyard produces about 1,800 cases of wine per year with grapes grown on just under 9 acres .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were to pick it from the vine , but the problem is the smoke taint shows itself after fermentation , ” said Brian Lamborn , who runs the vineyard with his parents and brother .
“ Our winemaker did some micro fermentation on fruit from different sections in the vineyard , and there was measurable smoke taint.
” Vineyards as far north as Mendocino County have been battling smoke taint issues for the last four years , said Lewis Perdue , publisher and executive editor of Wine Industry Insight .
“ In some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ buy from a lot of different vineyards would simply reject the grapes , and the vineyard owner is kind of stuck , ” Perdue said .
“ Right now , nobody really knows what the extent is going to be.
” Wednesday morning , Lamborn said flames from the Glass fire were the closest any blaze has come to the vineyard .
He hasn ’ t been able to drive into the area to check on the property .
“ We do have wines to sell over the next few years , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be really problematic , ” he said , referring to the year the winery ’ s 2020 vintage would have been sold .
“ When you ’ re in the business of selling wine , and you have a year of no wine to sell , it ’ s a big deal for a small winery like us .
With the whole pandemic going on , and now the wildfires , wine country has really taken a hit.
” The 45-year-old said the family lost its nearly $ 100,000 investment in this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they can ’ t easily recover .
“ That is something we feel immediately , ” he said .
“ We ’ re not a bigger vineyard .
We are a small family business , and that represents a significant investment for someone of our size.
” The vineyard is looking into alternatives for its sooty grapes , he added , including hand sanitizers , sauces and fruit essence .
Still , not every winery or vineyard is going to lose its 2020 crop , Lamborn said .
“ It ’ s not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ isn ’ t going to be making any wines from 2020 , ” he said .
“ There will be some wonderful wines .
It ’ s just that for us it was a tough decision , but one that needed to be made.
” To confirm the smoke damage , grapes have to be tested .
But the laboratories that perform tests are backlogged with an unprecedented volume of requests , experts say .
Jason Smith , president of vineyard management firm Valley Farm Management , said results that used to come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take about four to five weeks .
ETS Laboratory , a primary company California winemakers turn to for testing , is evacuating its St. Helena branch in the midst of the Glass fire , adding potential delays to results .
“ I mean , you can ’ t even make this up , ” said Smith .
“ It ’ s just crazy.
” Two weeks ago , a coalition of organizations advocating for California , Oregon and Washington winemakers requested support for disaster relief and continued research from Congress through the Wildfire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said they feared fires “ will result in the greatest economic loss , due to a natural disaster , ever suffered by the industry in our states , ” according to the letter they sent to officials .
Some winemakers have found creative ways to work with an otherwise spoiled product .
When Lindsay Hoopes tasted her 2017 vintage in 2019 , she was shocked by the profile that had become “ unsaleable ” since the last time she tested the batch .
“ The wine tasted like an absolute ash tray , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seemingly out of nowhere .
We would never have embarked on processing them if we had known.
” She is still fighting with insurance to cover the costs of some of the loss at Hoopes Vineyard , she said .
But a chance meeting with master distiller during a trip to Kentucky provided an unconventional solution that could help her recoup some of what she lost : using the smoky wine for spirits .
A second-generation grower , Hoopes leaned into the charred flavor profile of her wine and used it to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ additional investment on top of losing expensive crops , but she needed to salvage what she could .
With her brandy still aging in the barrel , she hopes to recover at least part of the $ 2 million she lost in 2017 .
“ 2017 wildfires started the trend of putting your entire year ’ s revenue at risk , ” said Hoopes , who was raised in Napa .
Sitting at a picnic table at her Yountville vineyard , Hoopes explained that the vines behind her were tainted by smoke again @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on using those grapes for brandy and vermouth too .
“ More people are affected now , ” she said .
Thick clouds of smoke hung in the air , migrating from the flames around Calistoga down into the valley where Hoopes has created her “ oasis ” — a space outfitted with Airstreams , a garden and an animal sanctuary .
“ Some people might escape it , but in theory you could be talking about an entire vintage gone.
” Emma Swain , chief executive of St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a loss of grapes due to smoke from the August fires and the Glass fire .
It was able to use grapes from its Rutherford property , Swain said , as well as grapes harvested from its Dollarhide vineyard in Napa ’ s northeastern hills before the LNU Lightning Complex fire broke out .
The rest showed “ significant taint.
” “ It ’ s like losing 90,000 cases of Napa Valley wine , ” Swain said , adding that the estate had not seen tainted grapes in previous years .
“ It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years , and I think that is true for everyone.
” The LNU Lightning Complex posed a bigger threat than the Glass fire , she added , because those fires burned on the estate while the Glass fire has remained miles away .
“ The reality is we can ’ t put something we ’ re unsure of out .
We ’ re not going to damage our reputation , and I think that ’ s true of all the reputable brands , ” she said .
“ It ’ s going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lot of wineries .
It ’ s serious .
”

The vineyards at the Somerston Estate Winery & Vineyards in St. Helena. Wineries including Somerston are forgoing a 2020 vintage due to the ongoing wildfire season, which has seen two major wildfires in the region.
Craig Becker walked among the vines of Somerston Estate in St. Helena and surveyed the rolling hills before him. Less than two months ago, lightning storms sparked fires that lit the ridges around him and tore through the trees, bushes and crops that covered this sprawling piece of land.
The flames rendered the estate’s surviving vines unworkable, spoiled by the thick smoke that sat in the valley and seeped into grapes, turning their flavor to ash. Like several other vineyards here, Somerston has decided not to harvest any fruit from its 2020 vintage due to damage caused by smoke fumes.
“All of them are tainted,” Becker said as he chewed a grape, then spit it out. “I have it on my tongue right now.”
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California has been under near-constant siege by wildfires for nearly two months as flames of historic size, intensity and destruction have ignited throughout the state.
Following large, consecutive wildfires in Napa — first the LNU Lightning Complex fire that burned more than 363,000 acres in August, and now the Glass fire that has chewed through more than 51,000 acres — some vintners say harvesting this year’s grapes isn’t worth the time or investment because they can’t be salvaged.
“It’s terrible,” Becker said, hopping into his buggy and driving down a hill to inspect another batch of vines. “You can taste it on the finish.”
Somerston Estate Winery & Vineyards decided that harvesting this year’s grapes isn’t worth the time or investment due to their smoke-tainted taste. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
It’s still too early to tell what the full extent of loss will be for winemakers across the state, but some vineyard managers are preparing for the worst. In a traditional fire season, wine country wildfires would occur around mid-October, when for many vineyards, a majority of fruit had already been picked. This year, more fruit remained vulnerable on the vine when smoke set in.
Smoke contains compounds that bind to the skin of grapes and get absorbed into the fruit. The aroma releases throughout the fermentation and aging process, making a seemingly unaffected wine taste more ashy over time. In general, red wines, especially ones made with thin-skinned grapes like Pinot Noir, tend to be most affected.
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“This is definitely an industry challenge, but it’s not something that consumers need to worry about. The wineries simply won’t release bad wine,” said Gladys Horiuchi of the Wine Institute.
During a normal fall season, Becker’s employees would be showing tourists and wine lovers around the property and pointing out the different varietals before taking them back inside for a tasting.
Somerston, which covers 1,682 acres of Napa Valley’s eastern Vaca mountain range, hosts 244 acres of vineyards. Nearly 1,400 acres of the estate burned in the Hennessey fire, part of the LNU Lightning Complex.
The estate also chose not to harvest most of its fruit after fires tore through the region in 2017. But the 2020 vintage has higher taint levels, Becker said, ranging from five to 15 times more smoke taint than 2017.
“We have enough wine to bridge the gap,” he said. But the vineyard will likely run out of white wine this year because it has only the 2019 vintage to draw on, he added.
Becker, Somerston’s general manager, said the estate is trying to recoup some of the costs of the August wreckage from insurance. He estimates the vineyard sustained $1.1 million in infrastructure damage alone.
For smaller vineyards, the smoke damage to 2020 vines will be harder to stomach.
The vineyards at the Somerston Estate Winery & Vineyards in St. Helena. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Lamborn Family Vineyards in Angwin announced last month it wouldn’t make a 2020 vintage after the LNU Lightning Complex fire choked its vines. The vineyard produces about 1,800 cases of wine per year with grapes grown on just under 9 acres.
“The fruit tastes really good if you were to pick it from the vine, but the problem is the smoke taint shows itself after fermentation,” said Brian Lamborn, who runs the vineyard with his parents and brother. “Our winemaker did some micro fermentation on fruit from different sections in the vineyard, and there was measurable smoke taint.”
Vineyards as far north as Mendocino County have been battling smoke taint issues for the last four years, said Lewis Perdue, publisher and executive editor of Wine Industry Insight.
“In some cases, the larger wineries which would buy from a lot of different vineyards would simply reject the grapes, and the vineyard owner is kind of stuck,” Perdue said. “Right now, nobody really knows what the extent is going to be.”
Wednesday morning, Lamborn said flames from the Glass fire were the closest any blaze has come to the vineyard. He hasn’t been able to drive into the area to check on the property.
“We do have wines to sell over the next few years, but it’s 2023 that is going to be really problematic,” he said, referring to the year the winery’s 2020 vintage would have been sold. “When you’re in the business of selling wine, and you have a year of no wine to sell, it’s a big deal for a small winery like us. With the whole pandemic going on, and now the wildfires, wine country has really taken a hit.”
The 45-year-old said the family lost its nearly $100,000 investment in this year’s grapes — a cost they can’t easily recover.
“That is something we feel immediately,” he said. “We’re not a bigger vineyard. We are a small family business, and that represents a significant investment for someone of our size.”
The vineyard is looking into alternatives for its sooty grapes, he added, including hand sanitizers, sauces and fruit essence. Still, not every winery or vineyard is going to lose its 2020 crop, Lamborn said.
“It’s not this doom and gloom where wine country isn’t going to be making any wines from 2020,” he said. “There will be some wonderful wines. It’s just that for us it was a tough decision, but one that needed to be made.”
To confirm the smoke damage, grapes have to be tested. But the laboratories that perform tests are backlogged with an unprecedented volume of requests, experts say.
Jason Smith, president of vineyard management firm Valley Farm Management, said results that used to come back within 24 to 72 hours now take about four to five weeks.
ETS Laboratory, a primary company California winemakers turn to for testing, is evacuating its St. Helena branch in the midst of the Glass fire, adding potential delays to results.
“I mean, you can’t even make this up,” said Smith. “It’s just crazy.”
Two weeks ago, a coalition of organizations advocating for California, Oregon and Washington winemakers requested support for disaster relief and continued research from Congress through the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program.
The group said they feared fires “will result in the greatest economic loss, due to a natural disaster, ever suffered by the industry in our states,” according to the letter they sent to officials.
Some winemakers have found creative ways to work with an otherwise spoiled product. When Lindsay Hoopes tasted her 2017 vintage in 2019, she was shocked by the profile that had become “unsaleable” since the last time she tested the batch.
“The wine tasted like an absolute ash tray,” Hoopes said. “It came seemingly out of nowhere. We would never have embarked on processing them if we had known.”
She is still fighting with insurance to cover the costs of some of the loss at Hoopes Vineyard, she said. But a chance meeting with master distiller during a trip to Kentucky provided an unconventional solution that could help her recoup some of what she lost: using the smoky wine for spirits.
A second-generation grower, Hoopes leaned into the charred flavor profile of her wine and used it to make brandy and vermouth. The pivot required additional investment on top of losing expensive crops, but she needed to salvage what she could. With her brandy still aging in the barrel, she hopes to recover at least part of the $2 million she lost in 2017.
“2017 wildfires started the trend of putting your entire year’s revenue at risk,” said Hoopes, who was raised in Napa.
Sitting at a picnic table at her Yountville vineyard, Hoopes explained that the vines behind her were tainted by smoke again this year. She said she plans on using those grapes for brandy and vermouth too.
“More people are affected now,” she said. Thick clouds of smoke hung in the air, migrating from the flames around Calistoga down into the valley where Hoopes has created her “oasis” — a space outfitted with Airstreams, a garden and an animal sanctuary.
“Some people might escape it, but in theory you could be talking about an entire vintage gone.”
Emma Swain, chief executive of St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery, said the estate is facing a loss of grapes due to smoke from the August fires and the Glass fire. It was able to use grapes from its Rutherford property, Swain said, as well as grapes harvested from its Dollarhide vineyard in Napa’s northeastern hills before the LNU Lightning Complex fire broke out. The rest showed “significant taint.”
“It’s like losing 90,000 cases of Napa Valley wine,” Swain said, adding that the estate had not seen tainted grapes in previous years. “It affects our business for the next three years, and I think that is true for everyone.”
The LNU Lightning Complex posed a bigger threat than the Glass fire, she added, because those fires burned on the estate while the Glass fire has remained miles away.
“The reality is we can’t put something we’re unsure of out. We’re not going to damage our reputation, and I think that’s true of all the reputable brands,” she said. “It’s going to be a big financial loss for a lot of wineries. It’s serious.”


latimes--2020-10-04--Check your mailbox: 21 million California ballots are on their way to voters

For the first time in California history , a ballot will make its way in the mail this week to every registered California voter , a decision made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that will reshape the election experience as well as the strategies of campaigns and candidates .
More than 21 million ballots will be mailed , more than in any state in the nation .
Most will arrive this week , though some counties began the process almost two weeks ago .
State law requires absentee ballots to be mailed no later than Monday , 29 days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states have moved more decisively toward voting by mail over the last two decades than California , and the results have been striking .
At least two-thirds of the ballots cast in the three most recent statewide elections had been mailed to voters , peaking at 72 % of all votes recorded in the March primary .
Even so , millions of voters have bucked the trend and continued to vote in person on election day , and millions more don ’ t often participate or are newly registered .
Should those two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrives in the mail , they will have to abide by voting rules that might not be easily understood .
“ Yes , it ’ s a big convenience , ” said Kim Alexander , president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation .
“ But it shifts the responsibility for getting all the steps right from a poll worker to the voter.
” Researchers have estimated that the average California election in the last decade saw an average of 1.7 % of vote-by-mail ballots rejected for a variety of reasons .
Based on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — which some think will be surpassed this year — the historical average would translate into almost 250,000 ballots not being counted .
Last month , Alexander ’ s organization released a detailed review of rejected absentee ballots in three counties from the November 2018 election .
The top three reasons were that voters returned them too late , they didn ’ t sign the ballot envelope or the signature provided didn ’ t match the one on file .
“ We have this persistent , stubborn ballot rejection problem , ” she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when people ’ s ballots are rejected.
” Even though they are mailed a ballot , some Californians will undoubtedly insist on participating in person .
Voting by mail has not been popular everywhere — most notably in Los Angeles County , home to more than 5.6 million voters .
“ In L.A. County , the data shows that we can not rely on a single option for voting , ” said Dean Logan , the county ’ s registrar of voters .
“ Voting by mail is a great safeguard .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that there are communities and voters across L.A. County that prefer to vote in person or need the services provided by voting in person.
” In May , Gov .
Gavin Newsom took the unprecedented step of issuing a statewide order for voting by mail in November , making clear that the mandate was for only one election and necessary to limit the spread of the coronavirus .
The Legislature ratified the plan in June , and additional rules were put in place for those who will vote in person .
No @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that voting away from a polling place offers .
In 1979 , the state eliminated the need for an excuse to receive an absentee ballot , a system still used in some parts of the country .
The option to choose permanent absentee voting was created in 2002 .
The changes have proved popular ; in all but two statewide elections since 2008 , the majority of votes were not cast at a traditional polling place .
Some communities have gone much further .
Four rural counties had no in-person voting locations in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Orange , Sacramento and Santa Clara — have adopted the state Voter ’ s Choice Act , an optional state law that requires them to mail every voter a ballot while replacing traditional neighborhood polling places with multipurpose vote centers .
Those in-person locations offer multiple election services for up to 10 days before election day .
Los Angeles , the 15th county to adopt the new state law , was initially given special permission by the Legislature to implement it without mailing every voter a ballot .
Though Logan originally said that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that many ballots this year , he took action to do so in November after there were widespread problems at in-person vote centers in March .
The county has leased two large facilities at the Fairplex in Pomona to handle the initial intake of ballots this fall , a venue large enough to accommodate a large volume of ballots and for workers to maintain physical distancing .
Once sorted , the ballots will be counted at an election operations center in Downey .
Other counties are also adding additional capacity .
And elections @ @ @ @ @ @ @ equipment — both for their workers and for voters who show at in-person locations .
“ It ’ s a huge undertaking , ” Logan said of the changes , including the task of mailing every L.A. County voter a ballot .
“ This election is so unusual compared to what we ’ ve experienced before.
” Voter perceptions are also unusual , largely fueled by baseless accusations from President Trump about the legitimacy of voting by mail .
A recent UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll found 41 % of likely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ballots can be delivered safely and on time by the U.S .
Postal Service .
“ It ’ s going to be a wild election cycle because of that , ” said Paul Mitchell , an analyst whose firm Political Data Inc. consults with candidates on election trends .
“ It is crazy to me how much we ’ ve politicized the mechanics of the election.
” There have so far been no reports of widespread problems with California election deliveries .
Local officials have been able to clear up voter address errors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other items , hopefully avoiding problems with this week ’ s mailing of ballots .
But once the ballots arrive , it ’ s the voters who must avoid making mistakes .
Alexander , whose group focuses on voter education , said the checklist begins with realizing a ballot doesn ’ t have to be put back inside a mailbox .
“ People hear ‘ vote by mail ’ and think they have to return it by mail .
And they don ’ t , ” she said .
Every county offers an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the polls close on election night — either at a voting location or a local elections office .
Most counties will also offer secure drop boxes for ballots .
Alexander suggests voters have a plan about when and how they will return the ballot , and that they choose to drop it off in person if waiting to vote until the last week of the election .
Voters who still choose to vote in person should bring the ballot that arrived in the mail , so it can be scrubbed from the registration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Angeles have an electronic system to cancel the original ballot even if it isn ’ t handed over ; those that don ’ t will probably require the voter to cast a provisional ballot — counted once the voter ’ s eligibility can be verified after the election .
Other voter assistance procedures also exist for absentee ballots .
A state law approved in 2015 allows a voter eight days to sign the ballot envelope if that step is forgotten .
In 2018 , the law was expanded to allow extra time to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to match .
Lawmakers that year also approved sending voters a return ballot envelope with the postage prepaid .
For this election , California has put in place a statewide tracking system , in which voters can register to receive updates on their ballot ’ s delivery and when it ’ s counted .
One recent law remains controversial : a 2016 state statute allowing a voter to hand the sealed absentee ballot to anyone for delivery to elections officials , even if it ’ s collected with other ballots by a political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have also removed rules allowing only family members to deliver a voter ’ s completed ballot , but California law is the most generous — placing no limit on how many completed ballots one person can legally transport .
Republicans , in particular , have decried the practice , though GOP operatives admit their best response is to use the system better than rival Democrats .
Perhaps most striking for the Nov. 3 election was the decision to , just this once , more than quintuple the number of days a ballot has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As long as the absentee envelope is postmarked by election day , a ballot can arrive by the close of business on Nov. 20 — a 17-day grace period that surpasses the extended time being offered by any other state .
Understandably , elections watchers expect the final results this time to come in even later than the long counts that California has become known for in past elections .

Twenty-one million California ballots, like these collected in San Francisco in 2008, will be mailed to voters this week.
For the first time in California history, a ballot will make its way in the mail this week to every registered California voter, a decision made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that will reshape the election experience as well as the strategies of campaigns and candidates.
More than 21 million ballots will be mailed, more than in any state in the nation. Most will arrive this week, though some counties began the process almost two weeks ago. State law requires absentee ballots to be mailed no later than Monday, 29 days before the Nov. 3 election.
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Few states have moved more decisively toward voting by mail over the last two decades than California, and the results have been striking. At least two-thirds of the ballots cast in the three most recent statewide elections had been mailed to voters, peaking at 72% of all votes recorded in the March primary.
Even so, millions of voters have bucked the trend and continued to vote in person on election day, and millions more don’t often participate or are newly registered. Should those two groups decide to use the ballot that arrives in the mail, they will have to abide by voting rules that might not be easily understood.
“Yes, it’s a big convenience,” said Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation. “But it shifts the responsibility for getting all the steps right from a poll worker to the voter.”
Researchers have estimated that the average California election in the last decade saw an average of 1.7% of vote-by-mail ballots
rejected for a variety of reasons. Based on voter turnout in the 2016 presidential election — which some think will be surpassed this year — the historical average would translate into almost 250,000 ballots not being counted.
Last month, Alexander’s organization released a detailed review of rejected absentee ballots in three counties from the November 2018 election. The top three reasons were that voters returned them too late, they didn’t sign the ballot envelope or the signature provided didn’t match the one on file.
Advertisement
“We have this persistent, stubborn ballot rejection problem,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking when people’s ballots are rejected.”
Even though they are mailed a ballot, some Californians will undoubtedly insist on participating in person. Voting by mail has not been popular everywhere — most notably in Los Angeles County, home to more than 5.6 million voters.
“In L.A. County, the data shows that we cannot rely on a single option for voting,” said Dean Logan, the county’s registrar of voters. “Voting by mail is a great safeguard. But we know, based on the data, that there are communities and voters across L.A. County that prefer to vote in person or need the services provided by voting in person.”
In May, Gov. Gavin Newsom took the unprecedented step of issuing a statewide order for voting by mail in November, making clear that the mandate was for only one election and necessary to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The Legislature ratified the plan in June, and additional rules were put in place for those who will vote in person.
No doubt some Californians will embrace the flexibility that voting away from a polling place offers. In 1979, the state eliminated the need for an excuse to receive an absentee ballot, a system still used in some parts of the country. The option to choose permanent absentee voting was created in 2002. The changes have proved popular; in all but two statewide elections since 2008, the majority of votes were not cast at a traditional polling place.
Some communities have gone much further. Four rural counties had no in-person voting locations in March. Fourteen more counties — including Orange, Sacramento and Santa Clara — have adopted the state Voter’s Choice Act, an optional state law that requires them to mail every voter a ballot while replacing traditional neighborhood polling places with multipurpose vote centers. Those in-person locations offer multiple election services for up to 10 days before election day.
Los Angeles, the 15th county to adopt the new state law, was initially given special permission by the Legislature to implement it without mailing every voter a ballot. Though Logan originally said that L.A. County couldn’t handle mailing that many ballots this year, he took action to do so in November after there were widespread problems at in-person vote centers in March.
The county has leased two large facilities at the Fairplex in Pomona to handle the initial intake of ballots this fall, a venue large enough to accommodate a large volume of ballots and for workers to maintain physical distancing. Once sorted, the ballots will be counted at an election operations center in Downey.
Other counties are also adding additional capacity. And elections officials across California are stockpiling personal protective equipment — both for their workers and for voters who show at in-person locations.
“It’s a huge undertaking,” Logan said of the changes, including the task of mailing every L.A. County voter a ballot. “This election is so unusual compared to what we’ve experienced before.”
Voter perceptions are also unusual, largely fueled by baseless accusations from President Trump about the legitimacy of voting by mail. A recent UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll found 41% of likely California voters don’t believe that ballots can be delivered safely and on time by the U.S. Postal Service.
“It’s going to be a wild election cycle because of that,” said Paul Mitchell, an analyst whose firm Political Data Inc. consults with candidates on election trends. “It is crazy to me how much we’ve politicized the mechanics of the election.”
There have so far been no reports of widespread problems with California election deliveries. Local officials have been able to clear up voter address errors during the distribution of voter guides and other items, hopefully avoiding problems with this week’s mailing of ballots.
But once the ballots arrive, it’s the voters who must avoid making mistakes. Alexander, whose group focuses on voter education, said the checklist begins with realizing a ballot doesn’t have to be put back inside a mailbox.
“People hear ‘vote by mail’ and think they have to return it by mail. And they don’t,” she said.
Every county offers an option to return ballots in person before the polls close on election night — either at a voting location or a local elections office. Most counties will also offer secure drop boxes for ballots.
Alexander suggests voters have a plan about when and how they will return the ballot, and that they choose to drop it off in person if waiting to vote until the last week of the election.
Voters who still choose to vote in person should bring the ballot that arrived in the mail, so it can be scrubbed from the registration files. Some counties such as Los Angeles have an electronic system to cancel the original ballot even if it isn’t handed over; those that don’t will probably require the voter to cast a provisional ballot — counted once the voter’s eligibility can be verified after the election.
Other voter assistance procedures also exist for absentee ballots. A state law approved in 2015 allows a voter eight days to sign the ballot envelope if that step is forgotten. In 2018, the law was expanded to allow extra time to resolve signatures that don’t appear to match. Lawmakers that year also approved sending voters a return ballot envelope with the postage prepaid.
For this election, California has put in place a statewide tracking system, in which voters can register to receive updates on their ballot’s delivery and when it’s counted.
One recent law remains controversial: a 2016 state statute allowing a voter to hand the sealed absentee ballot to anyone for delivery to elections officials, even if it’s collected with other ballots by a political campaign or advocacy group. Other states have also removed rules allowing only family members to deliver a voter’s completed ballot, but California law is the most generous — placing no limit on how many completed ballots one person can legally transport.
Republicans, in particular, have decried the practice, though GOP operatives admit their best response is to use the system better than rival Democrats.
Perhaps most striking for the Nov. 3 election was the decision to, just this once, more than quintuple the number of days a ballot has to arrive at an election office. As long as the absentee envelope is postmarked by election day, a ballot can arrive by the close of business on Nov. 20 — a 17-day grace period that surpasses the extended time being offered by any other state.
Understandably, elections watchers expect the final results this time to come in even later than the long counts that California has become known for in past elections.


latimes--2020-10-03--Police arrest 2 men on suspicion of battery at Beverly Hills rally for President Trump

Beverly Hills police arrested two men on suspicion of battery Saturday at a rally of Trump supporters at Beverly Gardens @ @ @ @ @ available involving the afternoon arrest of a man who police said was wearing a Trump @ @ @ @ @ posted to Twitter Saturday evening by a Beverly Hills Courier reporter shows police officers handcuffing @ @ @ @ @ appears to push a counterprotester .
Supporters of President Trump have been holding weekend rallies @ @ @ @ @ .
More than 50 police officers from Beverly Hills and nearby cities were on hand @ @ @ @ @ by roughly 250 Trump fans .
They lined Santa Monica Boulevard , waving large American @ @ @ @ @ ” banners and then marched down Cañon Drive .
About 60 counterprotesters , some holding @ @ @ @ @ Power to the People ” banners , later marched down the boulevard and gathered at @ @ @

Anti-Trump protesters rally in Beverly Hills on Sept. 17, 2019. A group of Trump supporters lined Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills on Saturday.
Beverly Hills police arrested two men on suspicion of battery Saturday at a rally of Trump supporters at Beverly Gardens Park.
No details were available involving the afternoon arrest of a man who police said was wearing a Trump hat.
A video clip posted to Twitter Saturday evening by a Beverly Hills Courier reporter shows police officers handcuffing a Trump supporter after he appears to push a counterprotester.
Supporters of President Trump have been holding weekend rallies in Beverly Hills for weeks.
More than 50 police officers from Beverly Hills and nearby cities were on hand for Saturday’s demonstration by roughly 250 Trump fans. They lined Santa Monica Boulevard, waving large American flags and “Trump 2020” banners and then marched down Cañon Drive.
About 60 counterprotesters, some holding Black Lives Matter and “Power to the People” banners, later marched down the boulevard and gathered at Roxbury Park.


latimes--2020-10-04--Long Beach city flag replaced with Trump political flag at police headquarters

A City of Long Beach flag was reportedly stolen from a secure construction area outside police headquarters and replaced with a campaign flag for President Trump .
Someone gained access to a secured construction area of the Long Beach Police Department , removed a city flag from a flagpole , hoisted aloft a “ political flag ” and then padlocked the pole so the flag was difficult to remove , police said in a tweet .
The flag was noticed on Sunday morning , Video taken by a bystander and local media reports revealed that a flag supporting Trump was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ site .
Police used bolt cutters to remove the flag and a criminal investigation has been initiated , the department said .
The flagpole is accessible from a small , secured parking lot that houses a construction trailer , police said .
Access to the area is limited to only construction workers due to the ongoing construction of a parking lot at police headquarters .
“ The LBPD is an apolitical organization and does not participate in any political activity that promotes one political party over another , ” the department said in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ depicting political activity are not authorized or endorsed by the LBPD .
”

A City of Long Beach flag was reportedly stolen from a secure construction area outside police headquarters and replaced with a campaign flag for President Trump.
Someone gained access to a secured construction area of the Long Beach Police Department, removed a city flag from a flagpole, hoisted aloft a “political flag” and then padlocked the pole so the flag was difficult to remove, police said in a tweet. The flag was noticed on Sunday morning,
🚨A message from the Long Beach Police Department: pic.twitter.com/8w7kOpY8J7 — Long Beach PD (CA) (@LBPD) October 4, 2020
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Video taken by a bystander and local media reports revealed that a flag supporting Trump was atop one of the flagpoles at the site.
Long Beach police said a city flag was reportedly stolen from a secure construction area outside police headquarters and replaced with a campaign flag for President Trump. (Courtesy of Ian Thomas Malone)
Police used bolt cutters to remove the flag and a criminal investigation has been initiated, the department said.
The flagpole is accessible from a small, secured parking lot that houses a construction trailer, police said. Access to the area is limited to only construction workers due to the ongoing construction of a parking lot at police headquarters.
“The LBPD is an apolitical organization and does not participate in any political activity that promotes one political party over another,” the department said in its statement. “Flags or images depicting political activity are not authorized or endorsed by the LBPD.”