Breaking News Events - Page 219

homoe · 08-18-2020, 04:16 PM

The former Democratic presidential candidate’s response said volumes without saying a word.

Looks like a couple of male politicians chose to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment by being clueless.

To mark 100 years since women won the right to vote, Donald Trump pardoned Susan B. Anthony for attempting to vote in 1872 even as he attempts to disrupt the November election by preventing the U.S. Postal Service from processing election ballots.

Former FBI Director James Comey also chimed in with a celebratory tweet suggesting that America needs more female politicians.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hilla...b6835236032586

homoe · 08-19-2020, 07:48 AM

The Senate Intelligence Committee releases old correspondence between Trump and the Russian president.

President Donald Trump reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin several times in the years prior to running for election, according to new documents released by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The messages do not reveal collusion between Trump and Putin over the 2016 election. The links between his campaign and Moscow were detailed elsewhere in the report. But they do show Trump repeatedly flattering Putin, including one letter congratulating the strongman on being named Time’s “Person of the Year” in 2007. Trump told Putin: “You definitely deserve it.” He added: “I am a big fan of yours!”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump...b6835236037b4c

homoe · 08-20-2020, 07:08 AM

The Cincinnati Reds have announced the suspension of a broadcaster after he uttered an anti-gay slur on the air Wednesday. Play-by-play announcer Thom Brennaman could be heard saying on the Fox Sports Ohio broadcast, "One of the f*g capitals of the world," before then resuming his on-air duties. It's unknown what led to that remark and the context behind it.

Later in the broadcast, Brennaman apologized: “I’m so very, very sorry. I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith… I don’t know if I’m going to be putting on this headset again.” He went on to apologize “for the people who sign my paycheck, for the Reds, for Fox Sports Ohio, for the people I work with, for anyone I’ve offended here tonight. I can’t begin to tell you how deeply sorry I am. That is not who I am. It never has been, and I’d like to think maybe I could have some people that could back that up. I am very, very sorry, and I beg for your forgiveness.”

IMHO the only thing this dude is sorry about is getting caught!

If there was ever a candidate for someone living on the "down low" or a closet case he could be it, I mean how else might he know what is the f*g capital of the world if not from first hand experience, no pun intended.

homoe · 08-20-2020, 03:06 PM

Steve Bannon, a former chief strategist in President Donald Trump’s White House, was arrested on Thursday after a grand jury indicted him on federal charges for allegedly using hundreds of thousands of dollars from an online “We Build The Wall” fundraiser to cover his personal expenses.

He pleaded not guilty at a hearing Thursday afternoon.

Bannon and three others ― Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea ― were charged in connection with their roles in “defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors in connection with an online crowdfunding campaign known as ‘We Build the Wall’ that raised more than $25 million,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced Thursday morning. The four defendants are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Following news of the indictments, Trump on Thursday tried to distance himself from Bannon, who was a top aide on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

“Well, I feel very badly,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I haven’t been dealing with him for a long period of time. ... He worked for a lot of companies. But he was involved likewise in our campaign and for a small part of the administration very early on. I haven’t been dealing with him at all.”

Trump said he knows “nothing” about the “We Build the Wall” campaign.

“When I read about it, I didn’t like it,” he said. “I said, this is for government, this isn’t for private people. ... But you’ll have to see what happens. I think it’s a very sad thing for Mr. Bannon. I think it was surprising.”

homoe · 08-21-2020, 06:27 AM

Today (Friday) presents lawmakers their first opportunity to grill DeJoy in person after the changes sparked a political fight in Washington and raised broader questions over whether the Postal Service was up to the task of processing mail-in ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

Democrats worried the changes were part of an attempt by Trump to undermine the presidential election. DeJoy has insisted the changes were part of longer term measures to make the agency run more efficiently after years of financial losses

.https://news.yahoo.com/trumps-postma...090020596.html

homoe · 08-21-2020, 01:49 PM

On Friday, Lori Loughlin was sentenced to two months in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to federal charges connected to the college admissions cheating scandal.

U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton accepted Loughlin's plea agreement a few hours after he sentenced her husband, Mossimo Giannulli. Before sentencing Loughlin, the judge admonished the actress for her role in the college admission’s scandal, stating that while he believes she is remorseful he does not understand why somebody who already had a “fairytale life” needed to “grab even more.”

“You have participated in the corruption of the system of higher education in this country,” Gorton said. “I hope you will spend the rest of your charmed life making amends for the system you have harmed.”

The 56-year-old "Full House" star will have to pay a $150,000 fine and complete 100 hours of community service. She will have to self-surrender within 90 days from Friday, and will have supervised release for two years after completing her prison sentence.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...184943917.html

homoe · 08-21-2020, 01:55 PM

Tensions were high on Friday as Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee over fears that recent reforms DeJoy has pushed could sabotage the 2020 presidential election. In several heated exchanges between senators and DeJoy, the postmaster general claimed many of the service slowdowns were a result of COVID-19, despite such issues not occurring until July.

DeJoy repeatedly refused to commit to turning over written transcripts of his meetings with governors and other official documents related to service changes resulting in delayed mail deliveries.

“I don’t know, I don’t have the authority to do some of those things. And that is something that I would need to discuss with counsel and the board’s counsel, so I can’t commit to that,” DeJoy said when asked about meeting minutes. Though he did admit that some of the changes in operations since he took over had resulted in mail delays, DeJoy told the committee he would not restore mail sorting machines that have been removed from various locations nationwide. “There’s no intention to do that,” DeJoy said, arguing the machines are “not needed.”

DeJoy said that he feels “bad about the dip in our service.” But his testimony on the matter did not restore confidence in the postmaster general, as people took their concerns to Twitter and demanded he resign from his position.

FireSignFemme · 08-21-2020, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by homoe

On Friday, Lori Loughlin was sentenced to two months in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to federal charges connected to the college admissions cheating scandal.

U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton accepted Loughlin's plea agreement a few hours after he sentenced her husband, Mossimo Giannulli. Before sentencing Loughlin, the judge admonished the actress for her role in the college admission’s scandal, stating that while he believes she is remorseful he does not understand why somebody who already had a “fairytale life” needed to “grab even more.”

“You have participated in the corruption of the system of higher education in this country,” Gorton said. “I hope you will spend the rest of your charmed life making amends for the system you have harmed.”

The 56-year-old "Full House" star will have to pay a $150,000 fine and complete 100 hours of community service. She will have to self-surrender within 90 days from Friday, and will have supervised release for two years after completing her prison sentence.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...184943917.html

Oh she's beautiful. Why did she even have to pay a bribe, leave a paper trail.

C0LLETTE · 08-22-2020, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireSignFemme

Oh she's beautiful. Why did she even have to pay a bribe, leave a paper trail.

Don't know how to interpret this post.
Is it sarcasm or is it a serious question?

homoe · 08-22-2020, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by homoe

Tensions were high on Friday as Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee over fears that recent reforms DeJoy has pushed could sabotage the 2020 presidential election. In several heated exchanges between senators and DeJoy, the postmaster general claimed many of the service slowdowns were a result of COVID-19, despite such issues not occurring until July.

DeJoy repeatedly refused to commit to turning over written transcripts of his meetings with governors and other official documents related to service changes resulting in delayed mail deliveries.

“I don’t know, I don’t have the authority to do some of those things. And that is something that I would need to discuss with counsel and the board’s counsel, so I can’t commit to that,” DeJoy said when asked about meeting minutes. Though he did admit that some of the changes in operations since he took over had resulted in mail delays, DeJoy told the committee he would not restore mail sorting machines that have been removed from various locations nationwide. “There’s no intention to do that,” DeJoy said, arguing the machines are “not needed.”

DeJoy said that he feels “bad about the dip in our service.” But his testimony on the matter did not restore confidence in the postmaster general, as people took their concerns to Twitter and demanded he resign from his position.

Well IMHO and how I read him during his grilling!

homoe · 08-23-2020, 10:04 AM

The soon-to-be-published book by President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, will reveal multiple cases of criminality, backed by “evidence,” longtime Trump associate Anthony Scaramucci said Saturday.

Scaramucci, who served as White House director of communications for a week in 2017, said on MSNBC that Cohen’s book will expose Trump’s “rank criminality” and “steep, steep illegality and amorality.”

“It is not like Michael is going to say this and the White House is going to discredit him ... He is going to back it up with documentary evidence to show the level of illegality, the repetitiveness of the illegality,” said Scaramucci.

The book — “Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump” — will also reveal Trump’s “betrayal” of the country, he added.

All of this information is “going to come out in a waterfall” ahead of the presidential election, said Scaramucci.

Scaramucci has apparently seen Cohen’s manuscript, noting that it’s not “for me to reveal” details of what Cohen will expose. But Cohen has appeared to confirm Scaramucci’s characterization of his book.

homoe · 08-23-2020, 10:29 AM

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday accused the Trump White House of covering up the role Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin played in recruiting Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major Republican donor with no prior experience working for the U.S. Postal Service.

In a letter to Robert Duncan, chairman of the USPS Board of Governors, Schumer wrote that as part of his investigation into DeJoy's selection and unanimous appointment in May, his office "learned of the role Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had with the Postal Board of Governors, including through meetings with individual governors as well as phone calls with groups of governors, which has not been previously disclosed by the board."

"This administration has repeatedly pointed to the role of [executive search firm] Russell Reynolds to defend the selection of a Republican mega-donor with no prior postal experience as postmaster general while at the same time blocking the ability of Congress to obtain briefings from the firm and concealing the role of Secretary Mnuchin and the White House in its search process," the New York Democrat wrote.

Schumer demanded that the Board of Governors—which is completely controlled by Trump appointees—immediately release Russell Reynolds from any nondisclosure agreement barring the firm from providing details about its postmaster general search and provide a full "explanation of the role of President Trump and Secretary Mnuchin in the search process for a new postmaster and the selection of Mr. DeJoy."

Schumer's investigation into the process that resulted in DeJoy's appointment began in June, when he demanded that the Board of Governors turn over any communications with the White House related to the postmaster general's selection. Shortly after taking charge of USPS on June 15, DeJoy moved to impose operational changes that caused severe mail backlogs across the nation. DeJoy this week vowed to suspend, but not reverse, the changes.

PlatinumPearl · 08-23-2020, 03:31 PM

People in Munich, Germany, on May 12.

Germany is beginning a universal-basic-income trial with people getting $1,400 a month for 3 years.

* Starting this week, 120 Germans will receive a form of universal basic income every month for three years.

* The volunteers will get monthly payments of €1,200, or about $1,400, as part of a study testing a universal basic income.

* The study will compare the experiences of the 120 volunteers with 1,380 people who do not receive the payments.

* About 140,000 people have helped fund the study through donations.

* The concept of universal basic income has gained traction in recent years, and Finland tested a form of it in 2017.

* Supporters say it would reduce inequality and improve well-being, while opponents argue it would be too expensive and discourage work.

Germany is about to become the latest country to trial a universal basic income, starting a three-year study of how it affects the economy and recipients' well-being.

As part of the study, 120 people will receive €1,200, or about $1,430, each month for three years — an amount just above Germany's poverty line — and researchers will compare their experiences with another group of 1,380 people who will not receive the payments.

The study, conducted by the German Institute for Economic Research, has been funded by 140,000 private donations.

All participants will be asked to complete questionnaires about their lives, work, and emotional state to see whether a basic income has had a significant impact.

Universal basic income is the idea that a government should pay a lump sum of money to each of its citizens, usually once a month, regardless of their income or employment status, effectively replacing means-tested benefits.

Its proponents argue that it would reduce inequality and improve well-being by providing people more financial security. Its opponents say it would be too expensive and discourage people from going to work. The idea has gained traction in recent years amid financial crises and growing inequality in some Western countries.

Jürgen Schupp, who is leading the study, told the German newspaper Der Spiegel that it would improve the debate about universal basic income by producing new scientific evidence.

"The debate about the basic income has so far been like a philosophical salon in good moments and a war of faith in bad times," he told the newspaper.

"It is — on both sides — shaped by clichés: Opponents claim that with a basic income people would stop working in order to dull on the couch with fast food and streaming services. Proponents argue that people will continue to do fulfilling work, become more creative and charitable, and save democracy.

"Incidentally, these stereotypes also flow into economic simulations as assumptions about the supposed costs and benefits of a basic income.

"We can improve this if we replace these stereotypes with empirically proven knowledge and can therefore lead a more appropriate debate."

A pro-basic-income lobbying group called Mein Grundeinkommen is funding the experiment. The group has used donations from its supporters to fund monthly €1,000 payments for 668 people since 2014.

Finland experimented with a form of basic income for nearly two years: From January 2017 to December 2018, 2,000 unemployed Finns received €560 a month. But the researchers behind that trial concluded that while it led to people out of work feeling happier, it did not lead to increased employment, the BBC reported.

Source: businessinsider.com
Website: https://bit.ly/3aPaZq4
Date: August 19, 2020

PlatinumPearl · 08-23-2020, 03:42 PM

[Video - cannot display. Click on the website link below to view the video.]

Hillary Clinton doesn't have to testify in lawsuit over her emails, appeals court rules.

(CNN)Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cannot be compelled to appear for a deposition in a lawsuit about State Department emails, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

Right-leaning group Judicial Watch has sought to question Clinton in the years-long pursuit of Clinton's emails about State Department business on a private server.

A federal judge earlier this year said Clinton must appear for a deposition, but the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed that decision Friday.

Clinton's emails were already investigated by Congress, the State Department inspector general and the FBI, and she previously gave written answers in another lawsuit, the appeals court noted.

"The District Court has impermissibly ballooned the scope of its inquiry into allegations of bad faith to encompass a continued probe of Secretary Clinton's state of mind surrounding actions taken years before the at-issue searches were conducted by the State Department," the appeals court wrote in an opinion issued Friday. "Secretary Clinton has already answered interrogatories from Judicial Watch on these very questions ... explaining the sole reason she used the private account was for 'convenience.'"

The court added: "But more importantly, even if a deposition of Secretary Clinton were to somehow shake some novel explanation loose after all these years, this new information simply would have no effect on the rights of the parties in this FOIA case, making it 'an inappropriate avenue for additional discovery.'"

"We're disappointed by the decision and considering our options," Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, said in a statement Friday.

News broke in March 2015 that Clinton used personal email addresses connected to a privately owned server, rather than a government email, during her four years as President Barack Obama's first-term secretary of state. The email controversy became an issue that hounded Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

Last year, the State Department released details of an investigation saying that there was no "persuasive evidence" of widespread mishandling of classified information in the controversy surrounding Clinton's use of a private email server.

Source: cnn.com
Website: https://cnn.it/31mYOOf
Date: August 14, 2020

homoe · 08-23-2020, 06:15 PM

Attorney General William Barr met last year with media mogul Rupert Murdoch to pressure him to “muzzle” Donald Trump critic Andrew Napolitano on Fox News, according to a new book out Tuesday.

Napolitano’s air time has dwindled as his criticism of Trump has increased over the last year.

Barr’s meeting with Murdoch, the executive chairman of Fox News’ parent company, at his New York home was widely reported at the time, but its purpose was not revealed. One aim of the meeting was to shut up Napolitano, according to the book “Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth,” written by CNN media reporter Brian Stelter.

Trump “was so incensed” by Napolitano’s increasingly critical comments about him in Fox News broadcasts that he “implored Barr to send Rupert a message in person … about ‘muzzling the judge,’” according to the book, reported The Guardian, which obtained a copy. Trump “wanted the nation’s top law enforcement official to convey just how atrocious Napolitano’s legal analysis had been,” wrote Stelter, citing information from an unnamed source.

Napolitano, a former New Jersey superior court judge, reportedly told friends early in 2019 that he was on Trump’s “short list” for the U.S. Supreme Court. But when news emerged later that year of Trump’s phone call pressing Ukraine’s president to launch an investigation into baseless accusations against Joe Biden, Napolitano called the president’s actions both “criminal and impeachable.”

The judge also said that much of what was found in an investigation by former special counsel Robert Mueller concerning Russian interference in the 2016 election was “also impeachable.”

Barr’s words “carried a lot of weight” with Murdoch, Stelter reports, though it’s unclear how the pressure to silence Napolitano served taxpayers funding Barr’s salary.

Napolitano still appears on Fox News, though in a more limited role. He recently harshly criticized Trump for sending federal officers into Portland to snatch residents off the streets, calling it a dangerous slide into totalitarianism.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-...b697824f9991d7

PlatinumPearl · 08-24-2020, 09:26 AM

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 10: White House Senior Counselor Kellyanne Conway speaks to members of the media
at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House January 10, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Kellyanne Conway Announces White House Departure Amid Family Disputes.

TOPLINE
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, one of President Trump’s longest serving political advisors, announced her resignation on Sunday – effective at the end of August – amid public feuding between her politically divergent family members.
Kellyanne Conway Speaks To The Media At The White House

KEY FACTS
Conway, who also served as Trump’s campaign manager in 2016, released a statement announcing that she will be “transitioning from the White House at the end of this month.”

Conway maintained her support for the president, stating that she is “deeply grateful” for the opportunity to serve and that she believes his leadership has had a “measurable, positive impact on the peace and prosperity of the nation.”

Conway’s husband George Conway also announced that he would step down from leading role at the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump PAC, and take a “Twitter hiatus,” adding that he continues to “passionately” support the Lincoln Project’s mission.

The announcements come after their 15-year-old daughter Claudia, a vocal leftist and Black Lives Matter supporter who has publicly disparaged both her parents on social media in recent months, tweeted that she was “pushing for emancipation” from her parents.

“We disagree about plenty but we are united on what matters most: the kids,” Kellyanne Conway said in her statement, noting that remote learning for her four teenage children “requires a level of attention and vigilance that is as unusual as these times.

KEY BACKGROUND
Conway joined the Trump campaign in August 2016 as he was struggling in the polls and is seen as a driving force in his victory. She is the first woman to head up a successful presidential campaign, and for that feat she was rewarded a post as a White House counselor. Though her power and influence ebbed and flowed, particularly in the early days of the administration, Conway is seen as having the president’s ear as one of his longest serving aides.

CRUCIAL QUOTE
Conway received effusive praise from her Republican allies on Twitter following her announcement. “There would be no President Trump without Kellyanne,” tweeted Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich. “She is a political pioneer and her keen guidance will surely be missed.”

CHIEF CRITIC
But naturally, opponents of the administration were not as keen to celebrate her on her way out. Walter Shaub, a former director of the Office of Government Ethics, took aim at a report by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel that claimed Conway “repeatedly” the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from performing campaign-related tasks in government buildings. “Tonight is a good night. Kellyanne Conway finally decided to make the White House a little more ethical,” Shaub tweeted.

CRUCIAL QUOTE
“In time, I will announce future plans,” Conway concluded her statement. “For now, and for my beloved children, it will be less drama, more mama.”

Source: Forbes.com
Website: https://bit.ly/2QiOQa3
Date: August 24, 2020

homoe · 08-24-2020, 05:49 PM

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida judge temporarily blocked Gov. Ron DeSantis and top education officials from forcing public schools to reopen brick-and-mortar classrooms amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, ruling that the state’s order “arbitrarily disregards safety.”

But the temporary injunction issued Monday by Leon County Judge Charles Dodson was immediately put on hold when the state appealed the ruling.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...orida-schools/

PlatinumPearl · 08-24-2020, 08:30 PM

Gold Ridge Fire Battalion Chief Gino DeGraffenreid manages a controlled burn to protect a park residence in
Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve on Friday near Guerneville, Calif. (Stuart W. Palley/for The Washington Post)

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Thousands of firefighters continued corralling two of the biggest wildfires in California history on Monday as dangerous weather that threatened to roll back recent gains turned out to be far milder than forecast.

As temperatures cooled and winds calmed over the weekend, firefighters gained ground on the LNU Lightning Complex fire, burning across a fatigued wine country north of San Francisco, and the SCU Lightning Complex, which has been threatening the eastern outskirts of San Jose and cities as far south as Gilroy.

[California wildfires send evacuees scrambling toward another threat: Covid-19]

But forecasts had predicted a new round of so-called dry lightning: thunderstorms that produce little if any rain but much electricity. By midday, though, those storm cells had blown past the Bay Area harmlessly and the National Weather Service canceled a “red flag” fire warning for the region.

The two complex fires, which comprise several blazes each, began 10 days ago when thousands of lightning strikes hit dry vegetation. The fires have grown to be the second- and third-largest fires in terms of acreage burned in state history. Of the more than 600 smaller fires burning in the state, 17 are designated as major, tugging fire crews in several directions simultaneously.

The fires already have charred 1.2 million acres — an area larger than Rhode Island — and have killed seven people and destroyed more than 1,200 buildings. More than 100,000 people have evacuated their homes over the course of the recent fires amid fears that gathering in shelters could increase the spread of the coronavirus in the state with the most reported cases.

President Trump declared a major disaster in the state over the weekend, which freed up federal aid that he once threatened to withhold because of what he has described as poor forest management. Many of the state’s woodlands, including some areas burning now, are managed by the federal government.

In a midday briefing, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Monday thanked Trump for the declaration. He described this as “a critical week” for firefighting efforts, with forecasts calling for considerably cooler weather but unpredictable winds.

“We’re deploying every resource we have right now,” Newsom said.

Firefighters from across the state, as well as the National Guard, have been stretched thin by the number of blazes, which have come well before the state’s traditional peak fire season in the fall. A climate of extremes here in recent years — wet winters and springs followed suddenly by hot, dry summers — has virtually erased the time frame for what had for decades constituted fire season.

In his briefing, Newsom said the state had experienced 4,292 fires, which burned a total of 56,000 acres, by this time last year. This year the total acreage charred so far is 1.4 million. There have been 7,002 fires, a 63 percent increase from the previous year.

The Walbridge Fire burns between Guerneville and Healdsburg, Calif. (Stuart W. Palley/for The Washington Post)

Though more than 14,000 firefighters are confronting the flames, the sheer number of outbreaks and sweeping, ember-carrying winds have left crews playing catch-up for days. Seven states have sent fire engines to California despite their own worries that dry, hot and windy conditions at home will spark similar blazes.

California also is somewhat shorthanded because crews of prison inmates, numbering 28 each, usually help fight such fires by clearing brush ahead of the flames to create breaks and carrying out other essential tasks.

More than 8,000 inmates have been released early this year because of a severe covid-19 outbreak in the state prison system. Inmate crews have been reduced in size, state fire officials say. The work, while sometimes hazardous, is voluntary, pays nominally, and goes toward a prisoner’s credit for early release.

As Monday began, fire officials appeared most worried about the shifting winds, which in the northern LNU fire threatened to push flames toward the Sonoma County towns of Healdsburg and Guerneville, both popular wine-country tourist destinations. That fire is now nearly a quarter contained.

The same was true of the smaller CZU Lightning Complex fire that is the southwestern-most of three major Bay Area fires, having burned more than 50,000 acres in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties, including historic coastal Redwood groves.

Newsom said such “dense forests . . . are historically immune from significant fires along our coast.”

Redwoods shrouded in smoke and threatened by fire in Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve.
Redwoods are fire-adapted and resistant to fire up to a certain level of intensity. (Stuart W. Palley/for The Washington Post)

“This is a region that has simply never seen forest fires because of the weather conditions,” said Newsom, who spent part of the weekend visiting that area. “It is a proof point that we are in a different climate and we are dealing with different climate conditions that are precipitating fires the likes of which we haven’t seen in modern recorded history.”

Although lighter than predicted, winds threatened to push embers and flames through forests toward several small mountain and coastal communities. A heavy fog layer that persisted for much of the weekend helped moisten the fire’s fuel and curtail its spread.

Many residents of the mountainside town of Bonny Doon, north of Santa Cruz, have defied evacuation orders to remain in threatened areas to protect their homes. The fire is 13 percent contained.

Fire officials have warned that, while they are optimistic about the changing weather, they will likely be fighting the largest blazes for weeks. Many crews are working 72-hour shifts, three times longer than normal between rests.

Those not directly threatened by the fires are still suffering from the effects of smoke, which has drifted at least as far east as Nebraska.

Many parts of California are experiencing hazardous air quality conditions, and local health officials have warned residents in several counties to remain indoors as much as possible.

In the Central Valley, scorching hot this time of year, smoke is complicating efforts to treat covid-19 cases in what remains the state’s hardest-hit region.

Newsom said most of the fire evacuees are staying in hotel rooms, family homes and other places outside official shelters, where people are screened for the virus and required to wear masks. He said the state faces a shortage of air purifiers that help circulate the air inside the shelters and lessen the risk of the virus’s spread.

“This makes some of our wildfire fighting efforts a little more challenging,” Newsom said. “But we are up to the task.”

A structure destroyed by the Walbridge Fire off Big Ridge Road near Healdsburg, Calif. (Stuart W. Palley/for The Washington Post)

Source: washingtonpost.com
Website: https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...b15_story.html
Date: August 24, 2020

Vincent · 08-25-2020, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlatinumPearl