Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Sept. 7.
- Multiple heat records are set across Northern California.
- Fast food council could lift minimum wage to $22 an hour.
- And L.A. principal tries to censor student newspaper.
Heat wave
1.
Tuesday wasn’t just another day in California’s prolonged heat wave. For several Northern California cities, it was the hottest day in their recorded history. Among them, Sacramento hit 116 degrees; Santa Rosa, 115 degrees; and San Jose, 109 degrees. Forecasters expected a bit of relief on Wednesday but said the searing temperatures would last into Friday. S.F. Chronicle | Sacramento Bee | Mercury News
2.
Another record set on Tuesday: The state’s electrical grid experienced its highest demand ever, 52,061 megawatts, breaking a record that stood since 2006. The grid teetered on the brink of outages into the evening but narrowly managed to handle the demand after the state implored residents to conserve power. Grid data showed demand plunged in response. Bloomberg | A.P.
3.
Late last week, as the heat wave was punishing the state’s interior, the reporter Hailey Branson-Potts visited a village along the North Coast, where the Pacific functions like a giant air conditioner. The high that afternoon was 56 degrees. “It does get extremely warm here,” said Don Hofacker, the docent of the Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum. “It gets up to 82 at times.” L.A. Times
4.
Founded in the late 1800s, Roseburg Forest Products became part of the economic backbone of the community of Weed in Siskiyou County. More recently, the lumber mill has been a source of ire for environmentalists and neighborhood groups. Now it is being investigated as the possible origin of the fire that tore through Weed on Friday, destroying 91 homes and killing two people. “It started here,” said Debbie Cummins, a neighbor, pointing toward the mill. “That building.” Sacramento Bee
Another deadly wildfire that erupted near Hemet in Riverside County began about the same time that Edison reported “circuit activity” on Monday. L.A. Times
Statewide
5.
Not long ago, it was considered risky politics to enforce state laws aimed at encouraging more development and denser housing. But that’s changed as California drops the hammer on cities like Woodside, which declared itself a mountain lion habitat and therefore unsuitable for development. “We are just getting started,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta. N.Y. Times
6.
Fast-food workers could see their minimum wage lifted to $22 an hour after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a measure Monday that establishes a council empowered to set wages, hours, and working conditions. The statewide minimum is $15.50 an hour. Supporters of the novel law now hope to replicate it across other industries. Opponents said the bill would cause price increases and complained that fast-food employers were unfairly singled out. Wall Street Journal | A.P.
Northern California
7.
Juul agreed to pay about $440 million in a settlement with more than 30 states to resolve allegations that it marketed its e-cigarettes to children. Founded in San Francisco in 2007, Juul has faced a gantlet of legal and regulatory hurdles in recent years. In June, the F.D.A. ordered it to stop selling e-cigarettes in the U.S. In July, Altria reported that its $13 billion investment in the company had lost 95% of its value since 2018. N.Y. Times | Wall Street Journal
8.
Santa Rosa, the long-time home of Charles Schulz, has dozens of “Peanuts” statues scattered about town, including “Rasta Charlie,” a Charlie Brown with dreadlocks and mocha-colored skin in front of the Sonoma Outfitters store. But the landlord has now ordered the statue removed after a customer said it was offensive. Debra Knick, the store’s owner, said she was “dumbfounded,” having gotten no complaints in 17 years. Press Democrat
9.
The wooden man has been burned. The nine-day Burning Man festival, the first since before the pandemic, ended Monday as tens of thousands of people streamed out of the temporary city of Black Rock to resume their normal routines. The photographer Jane Hu captured some gorgeous pictures. 👉 SFGATE
Southern California
10.
The Malaysian defense contractor at the center of a long-running Navy bribery scandal cut off his ankle monitor and fled house arrest in San Diego, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Neighbors reported seeing U-Haul trucks at the home of Leonard Glenn Francis, known as Fat Leonard, before he vanished. Nearly a dozen U.S. law enforcement agencies were searching for him. but officials acknowledged he could already be on his way to Asia. A.P. | N.Y. Times
11.
The Republican Ken Calvert has held his Riverside County congressional district for three decades, in part by opposing gay rights. But the state’s redrawn political map has reshaped his district this year, adding Palm Springs, sometimes called the gayest city in America. His opponent for reelection: Democrat Will Rollins, a gay former federal prosecutor. Calvert has lately been feeling more inclusive. “It’s a different country than it was 30 years ago,” he told the L.A. Times in July. N.Y. Times
12.
Last fall, students at a journalism magnet high school in the San Fernando Valley reported on how hundreds of staff members across the district chose to stay home rather than get a coronavirus vaccine. The article named one of the holdouts: their school’s librarian. In response, the principal told the students’ adviser, Adriana Chavira, to remove the librarian’s name from the article or face consequences. She refused, and last week she was suspended without pay. LAist
The students ran an editorial: “We will not be silent.” The Pearl Post
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