California’s Wine Country, one of the most famed and iconic tourist destinations in the state, is at a tipping point.
Gone is the three-Michelin-starred Restaurant at Meadowood, home to the region’s most celebrated fine dining. Gone are sections of well-known wineries, including Chateau Boswell, Castello di Amorosa, Hourglass Winery and Spring Mountain Vineyard. Gone are at least 113 structures, including homes. And potentially gone are Sonoma and Napa counties’ famed wine grapes, likely tainted by wildfire smoke, throwing a multibillion-dollar industry and the region’s economic future into free fall.
All are casualties of the Glass Fire, which more than quadrupled in size Monday to nearly 43,000 acres. The blaze remains 0% contained as it terrorizes a region still recovering from the nightmarish Tubbs and Nuns fires in 2017 and the monstrous Kincade Fire in 2019. And for Napa businesses struggling to stay afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic, it’s yet another massive blow. Still, many are forging ahead.
- Wesley Steffens, estate director at Vineyard 7 & 8: “As one of my favorite mottos states, ‘Fall down seven times, stand up eight.'”
Many of the affected wineries plan to rebuild, as does The Restaurant at Meadowood. But as fires barrage Wine Country year after year, “it’s difficult to imagine anyone else wanting to build other new restaurants of its caliber here,” San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic Soleil Ho writes — a sobering thought that throws into question the region’s long-term viability not only for food, wine and tourism, but also for the residents who call it home.
Meanwhile, in Shasta County, the Zogg Fire grew to more than 40,000 acres, remaining at 0% containment. The blaze has killed at least three people and destroyed nearly 150 structures. And the August Complex Fire in Tehama County — already the largest fire in California history at more than 938,000 acres — grew rapidly Tuesday amid powerful winds.
Wildfires this year have burned more than 3.8 million acres. That’s nearly twice the size of the 1.98 million acres burned in 2018, California’s previous modern-day record.
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The coronavirus bottom line: As of 9 p.m. Tuesday night, California had 807,425 confirmed coronavirus cases and 15,640 deaths from the virus, according to a CalMatters tracker.
Also: CalMatters regularly updates this pandemic timeline tracking the state’s daily actions. And we’re tracking the state’s coronavirus hospitalizations by county.
“I’m all for electric cars,” President Donald Trump said during Tuesday night’s presidential debate against former Vice President Joe Biden. “But what they’ve done in California is just crazy.” CalMatters’ Ben Christopher catches you up on the role California played during the debate. Hint: It was mainly Trump’s scapegoat.
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Other stories you should know
1. More counties can reopen businesses indoors
California is approaching yet another inflection point in its pandemic response. The statewide coronavirus positivity rate is the lowest it’s ever been at 2.8% over a 14-day period, but Gov. Gavin Newsom and public health leaders warned Monday that the rate of transmission is ticking up in several regions, potentially signaling a looming wave of cases that could result in further business restrictions. Nevertheless, seven counties — Sacramento, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Fresno, Contra Costa, Butte and Yolo — moved into the state’s red reopening tier Tuesday, allowing them to reopen restaurants, gyms and churches indoors with limited capacity. And San Francisco, Amador and Calaveras counties moved into the orange reopening tier, permitting businesses to reopen indoors at even greater capacity. Los Angeles County, by far California’s most populous, remains in the most-restrictive purple tier, along with 17 others. Twenty-three are in the red tier, 14 in orange and three in the least-restrictive yellow tier.
2. Newsom signs, vetoes bills
Today marks Newsom’s deadline to sign or veto the remaining bills of the legislative session — and he’s saved some of the most high-profile and controversial proposals for the final day. Here’s a look at some of the key bills he signed into law or vetoed Tuesday.
Signed into law:
- A stack of wildfire response legislation, including a bill to expedite permitting of emergency generators for cell towers and bills to increase home insurance protections.
- A bill expanding the scope of practice for nurse practitioners. Supporters say it will help solve the state’s health provider shortage; opponents say it puts patients at risk.
- A spate of bills to support survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child and elder abuse, including a bill requiring colleges that receive state money to clarify how they address campus sexual assault allegations.
- A bill requiring California to maintain a stockpile of personal protective equipment for future pandemics.
- A bill aimed at adding more people of color to California juries.
Vetoed:
- A bill that would have set up a new disaster food-assistance program aimed at undocumented immigrants. “My Administration has advanced efforts to provide relief that is both inclusive of and directed to undocumented Californians,” Newsom wrote in a veto message. “Given the significant General Fund impact annually that this bill would have, I am unable to sign this measure.”
3. Homelessness remains top of mind for Californians
Although Newsom has one of the highest approval ratings of any California governor in the past 50 years at the same point in their first term, many voters disapprove of the way he has handled the state’s homelessness and housing affordability crises, a Tuesday poll from UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies found. Sixty-four percent of voters said they approve of Newsom’s overall performance, comparable to the 59% approval rating voters gave Newsom in a recent Public Policy Institute of California survey. But 55% said Newsom has done a poor or very poor job of addressing homelessness, and 46% gave him low marks for handling housing costs. With voters naming homelessness and housing costs as their No. 1 and 2 issues, this signals an ongoing challenge for the governor.
Newsom on Monday asked lawmakers to approve an additional $200 million for local governments to convert properties into permanent supportive housing for homeless Californians, many of whom are moving out of temporary pandemic housing. The state currently has $600 million for Project Homekey, which has received 138 applications requesting more than $1 billion.
4. California sues feds over gun policy
In his 92nd lawsuit against the Trump administration, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra sued the federal government Tuesday, arguing it should regulate “ghost guns,” or those built from unfinished frames and receivers, like other firearms. Ghost guns were used in several high-profile shootings in California, including one at a Santa Clarita high school last year. The Golden State is home to 18 of 80 known online ghost-gun retailers, the most in the nation, according to the lawsuit.
- Hannah Shearer of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which is suing alongside California: “If you can assemble Ikea furniture, you can definitely build a ghost gun. … Yet for no reason at all, the parts used to build ghost guns aren’t treated as firearms under federal law.”
- Brandon Combs of the Firearms Policy Coalition: “Under Becerra’s utterly absurd interpretation of law, flat pieces of metal at Home Depot would be treated as firearms and chunks of aluminum would be so-called ‘ghost guns.’”
The lawsuit comes the same day UC Davis researchers secured three of 18 grants for gun violence research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among the first such grants in decades. The agency was banned from funding gun violence research from 1996 to 2019.
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Upcoming events
Oct. 3: How Prop. 22 Could Affect the Future of Work, a debate moderated by CalMatters economy reporter Lauren Hepler. Register here.
Oct. 6-14: CalMatters is hosting five “Props to You” events — virtual Q&As for you to ask all of your burning questions about the 12 propositions on California’s November ballot. Register here. Each event runs from 6-7pm.
- Oct. 6: Changing Prop. 13. Register | Submit Your Questions
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- Oct. 8: Race and Civil Rights. Register | Submit Your Questions
- Oct. 13: Tech Battles. Register | Submit Your Questions
- Oct. 14: Wait, Didn’t We Vote On These Already? Register | Submit Your Questions
CalMatters commentary
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: Is California’s Prop. 19 a tax reform or a tax increase? Voters will decide.
Reopen all museums: Museums in 25 counties are closed even though retailers and shopping malls are open, revealing inconsistencies in California’s COVID-19 response, argues Julie Perlin Lee of Catalina Island Museum.
Time for all-electric building codes: Indoor pollution from gas furnaces, heaters, dryers and gas stoves can cause asthma in children, writes Dr. Lisa Patel, a Bay Area pediatrician.
Other things worth your time
Newsom talks to Kara Swisher about handling the pandemic and an environmental crisis. // New York Times (podcast)
California Democrats are spending public money on voter outreach. Are they breaking the rules? // Sacramento Bee
California’s largest-ever fire threatens cannabis farms worth millions. Many won’t evacuate. // Los Angeles Times
Limited reopening of Los Angeles County elementary schools allowed if waivers are approved. // Los Angeles Times
State allows playgrounds to reopen — with lots of new rules. // San Francisco Chronicle
Los Angeles County backs a controversial crime app to track coronavirus spread. // Los Angeles Daily News
Disney to lay off 28,000 workers at domestic theme parks and other units. // Los Angeles Times
See you tomorrow.
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