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California teetered on the edge of rolling blackouts Tuesday, as the state entered the most sweltering stretch of a heat wave that Gov. Gavin Newsom described in a video message as “the hottest and the longest on record for this state and many parts of the West for the month of September.”
As high-temperature records fell across the state — downtown Sacramento reached 116 degrees, surpassing the previous record of 114 degrees set in 1925 — it was clear that state officials were pulling out all the stops to avoid another round of power outages just two years after California experienced its first in nearly two decades.
The persistent drumbeat of warnings and pleas for residents to save energy hinted at the stark political, economic and health repercussions of air conditioners, refrigerators, lights and medical devices abruptly turning off.
Among the measures taken Tuesday:
Many Republican lawmakers tied the looming threat of blackouts to “a failed energy policy championed by the Democrat super-majority in Sacramento,” as Assembly GOP Leader James Gallagher of Yuba City put it. “It’s rich to watch them now scramble to keep the lights on by firing up brand-new natural gas plants and extending the life of California’s only remaining nuclear power plant, which they previously advocated for closing,” Gallagher said in a statement. “This crisis was both avoidable and predictable.”
Meanwhile, firefighters continued to battle a series of wildfires in Siskiyou County, as well as the Fairview Fire in Riverside County, which as of Tuesday evening had seared 4,500 acres, killed at least two people, injured at least one more, prompted thousands of evacuations and remained just 5% contained, according to state fire officials. Southern California Edison reported “circuit activity” at about the same time the fire exploded, but it’s unclear whether the utility’s equipment played a role in starting it.
Newsom announced Tuesday the state had secured federal support to help cover the costs of fighting the Fairview Fire.
The coronavirus bottom line: As of Monday, California had 10,314,717 confirmed cases (+1.8% from previous day) and 94,351 deaths (+0.01% from previous day), according to state data now updated just twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays. CalMatters is also tracking coronavirus hospitalizations by county.
California has administered 79,642,984 vaccine doses, and 72% of eligible Californians are fully vaccinated.
California’s Nov. 8 general election might seem like a long way away, but consider this: Mail-in ballots will be sent to every active, registered voter by Oct. 10 — just a little more than a month from now. Here to help you make sense of it all is CalMatters’ comprehensive, award-winning, nonpartisan Voter Guide — a newly revamped version of which we’re launching today. Here’s a look at some of the guide’s noteworthy features, courtesy of CalMatters’ Membership Manager Sonya Quick:
In related news: One of the more confusing aspects of California’s November ballot: Voters will decide the outcome of two separate initiatives to legalize sports betting, the result of a pitched battle between gaming companies, Native American tribes, card rooms and others that’s already broken campaign cash records.
But what does California’s gambling landscape currently look like, and how would sports betting fit into that? How much money do Native American tribes earn from casinos? How many people suffer from gambling addiction? And what even is a card room? CalMatters’ Grace Gedye answers all of those questions and more in this comprehensive explainer.
Here’s the latest snapshot of interesting bills on Newsom’s desk awaiting his signature or veto:
Speaking of bills: A federal judge recently struck down a portion of California’s law allowing terminally ill patients to end their own lives, finding unconstitutional its provision requiring physicians — regardless of moral or religious objections — to report patients’ requests for life-ending medication, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The news comes about a year after state lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill to speed up the aid-in-dying process, citing studies that found some died while waiting for their requests to be approved.
Deciding to place a loved one in an assisted living facility is tough — and that’s without taking into account the often arduous process of finding the right program, figuring out insurance coverage and dealing with other complex logistics. And then there’s the question of money: Assisting living and memory care centers cost about $5,000 to $7,000 per month — a sizable price tag for families even with comfortable incomes. Medi-Cal, the state’s health care insurance program for the poor, covers assisted living costs for eligible low-income residents and disabled people in 15 of California’s 58 counties, but there aren’t nearly enough slots to keep up with demand. According to the state’s most recent data, there are 6,301 people enrolled in Medi-Cal’s assisted living program and 4,754 people waiting to get in.
Although the federal government recently greenlighted an additional 7,000 slots in California, some families are still facing years-long waits, CalMatters’ Ana B. Ibarra reports. The state says it plans to clear the waitlist or at least reduce it substantively by Feb. 28, 2024.
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: California’s unions had a lot to celebrate on Labor Day.
Paid family leave isn’t an option for California’s low-income workers: If new parents want to take bonding leave, or adult children want to care for an ill parent, they need to be able to afford a 40% pay cut. Newsom needs to sign my bill to change that, argues state Sen. María Elena Durazo, a Los Angeles Democrat.
Salas, Valadao trade gas tax charges as TV ad war launches. // GV Wire
Inside the Sacramento Police Department’s new approach to seizing illegal guns. // Sacramento Bee
San Francisco considers ambitious new approach to tackle deadly drug crisis. // San Francisco Chronicle
Post-tragedy, Santa Cruz cops are embracing a mental health culture shift. // Lookout Santa Cruz
California’s gang outreach workers are wrestling with their own trauma. // Los Angeles Times
Kaiser will return to contract talks with union of 2,000-plus mental health workers in California. // Sacramento Bee
FBI joins probe into LAUSD cyberattack as school goes on. // Los Angeles Times
49ers data breach may have exposed more than 20,000 people to ID theft, documents say. // San Francisco Chronicle
Congress mulls privacy bill that would void California law. // Los Angeles Times
Rihanna’s lingerie firm Savage X Fenty sued by Santa Clara County over alleged fraud. // Mercury News
‘Fat Leonard,’ set to finally be sentenced in long-running Navy bribery scheme, is on the lam. // San Diego Union-Tribune
Stockton Unified trustees’ backroom deal broke the law, officials say. // Stocktonia
What the Los Angeles Times-USC scandal says about L.A. today. // Capital & Main
S.F. just got its first royal visit in 17 years. Here’s what Queen Máxima of the Netherlands did in the Castro. // San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco braces for epic commercial real estate crash. // San Francisco Standard
How one San Diego man is clinging to the middle class. // San Diego Union-Tribune
Vacant San Jose school land to turn into housing. // San José Spotlight
Can California deliver on its zero-emission car goal? // Los Angeles Times
15-day watering ban begins for parts of L.A. County. // Los Angeles Times
Is Orange County’s fire authority on fire? // Voice of OC
The terrifying choices created by California wildfires. // New Yorker
Paradise contractor indicted, accused of preying on Camp Fire victims. // Sacramento Bee
The end of California’s meteorological superiority. // The Atlantic
Why California’s beavers can help the state fight climate change. // San Francisco Chronicle
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