Good morning, Bay Area. It’s Monday, Sept. 14, and tales of both narrow escapes and tragedies are emerging from California’s wildfire zones. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
Wildfires still burning, but better air at last?
The thick, hazardous smoke that cloaked the Bay Area for several days amid a string of wildfires will begin to fade slowly this week as winds shift and temperatures drop, meteorologists say.
Winds blowing from the southwest today could make way for clearer skies and better air quality, particularly in the North Bay, said Ryan Walbrun of the National Weather Service.
“It’s going to take a while to flush things out. But there is some hope,” Walbrun said.
Read more from Tatiana Sánchez.
• California wildfires cooperated over the weekend, but winds could stir things up.
• West Coast fires: An overview of the deadly season in California, Oregon, Washington.
• California fire map: Our interactive map has local and statewide details.
• Air Quality Tracker: Ratings for Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes.
How wildfire trapped Butte County town
For years, residents of Berry Creek in Butte County had been ordered to evacuate to escape fires that never came. This year it was different.
The North Complex Fire roared through the small mountain town early last week, leaving death and destruction behind. The 12 fatalities confirmed Saturday, two identified from Berry Creek, were the result of a confluence of factors, according to locals. Strong winds pushed the fire straight toward the town, leaving little chance for warning. A planned shut-off by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. left some residents without TV or internet in an area where cell phone service is spotty.
Some residents shrugged off the evacuation orders they receive every year. “Every year about this time there’s been a question of, ‘Am I going to get burned out,’” said resident Chris Woolf. “This was the year it finally got me.”
Read more from Mallory Moench.
• ‘They should have just gotten out of there.’ Family stayed as North Complex Fire approached.
• Helicopter rescue in the High Sierra: Inside the mission to save hundreds trapped by the Creek Fire.
• ‘A miracle’: How 132-year-old Lick Observatory was saved from one of California’s largest wildfires.
Campaign 2020: Biden’s climate-change conundrum
Joe Biden is passing up a chance to make fighting climate change the centerpiece of his campaign, environmentalists say, at time when wildfires have incinerated 3 million-plus acres in California, a record hurricane season is battering the Southeast, and one of the worst windstorms ever to hit Iowa caused $4 billion in damage.
The reason he hasn’t, they say, is political.
Elevating climate change into a top priority doesn’t help the Democratic presidential nominee in states that are competitive in the November election — and those don’t include California or Oregon. In some swing states, going too green could damage Biden’s slim lead.
• ‘This is a climate damn emergency,’ California Gov. Gavin Newsom says.
• President Trump coming to Sacramento today for briefing on California wildfires as death toll climbs.
• California GOP is nearly No. 2 again among registered voters — but news isn’t all good.
• Voting in person? Bay Area polling sites will be staffed, but other states are worried.
Many Bay Area restaurants say the end is near
Thousands of beleaguered Bay Area restaurant owners used federal Paycheck Protection Program loans to survive the coronavirus pandemic’s initial shutdown orders. But for many, that money is gone, and now the industry appears as though it’s coming back full circle to its precarious position during March and April, when the local food scene was quickly collapsing.
Restaurateurs and industry advocates say that businesses will probably close this fall until there’s more government funding or the pandemic ends. Some closures will be temporary, but other restaurants will probably never reopen.
“Nothing has gotten better,” said restaurateur Laurie Thomas of Golden Gate Restaurant Association. “Honestly, it’s about to get worse.”
Read more from Janelle Bitker and Justin Phillips.
• S.F. had a $6 billion vision for Central SoMa. Then the pandemic hit, and tech pulled back.
• Even as S.F. gyms partially reopen, fitness companies face an uphill climb.
• Latest key S.F. dates to know: City to reopen more indoor businesses starting today.
• Bay Area reopening tracker: Where each county stands in color-coded system.
In Vallejo, police encounters often turn violent
Vallejo’s police killings have drawn attention and outrage, but they aren’t the full story.
At least 60 people since 2014 — most of them people of color — have said they were victims of heavy-handed tactics by city officers. Police stops that were initiated for minor infractions, or for unclear reasons, often turn into violent encounters in Vallejo, a Chronicle investigation found.
Residents, some backed by video evidence, accuse police of dragging them from cars, attacking them with dogs and pummeling them with batons, boots and fists. In claims filed at City Hall and lawsuits filed in county and federal courts, people describe coming away bruised and bloodied.
Read more from Otis R. Taylor Jr.
Around the Bay
• Investigation under way: Up to seven people hospitalized after suspected fentanyl exposure on Golden Gate Bridge.
• Shutdown weighed: Costly, nearly empty juvenile halls force Bay Area counties to consider closures.
• Season opener: 49ers’ surreal game has odd result — a 24-20 upset loss to the Cardinals. From Ann Killion: 49ers lose in an eerily familiar fashion to start a season unlike any other.
• Letdown after uncertainty: Giants overmatched by Clevinger, Padres in return from coronavirus-test postponements. Plus: Giants’ Alex Dickerson reveals stress of false-positive virus test for him, pregnant wife.
• Big transit glitch: BART restores full service after shutdown from “systemwide computer problem.”
• 7-0 is mostly how they roll: California Supreme Court consistently unanimous, even in contentious cases.
• In the spotlight: S.F.’s James Juanillo to discuss his viral “Karen” encounter on “Dr. Phil.”
• From Phil Matier: Shopping in SF’s Tenderloin is wide open — for illegal drugs, that is.
Amid one pandemic, S.F. confronts legacy of another
Thirty-six years after San Francisco officials closed gay bathhouses because of AIDS, the Board of Supervisors has voted to overturn the ban.
Nothing will actually change until the coronavirus pandemic has passed and broader restrictions on social distancing have been lifted, but supporters of the move say it’s long overdue — if it was ever necessary in the first place. As conversations around COVID-19 and best practices for reopening and curbing the spread of the virus unfold daily, the parallels are hard to ignore.
Read more from Ryan Kost about how activists closed the loop on a decades-long fight.
Bay Briefing is edited by Taylor Kate Brown and sent to readers’ email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here, and contact Brown at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com.
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Bay Briefing: Finally, ‘some hope’ that smoky air will start to clear - San Francisco Chronicle
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