Wildfires

Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, August 25. Lots on the line This week will be decisive for California’s battles against crises ranging from wildfires to the pandemic to a looming eviction cliff. Here’s a look at what lies ahead. —Wildfires. More than 14,000 firefighters are fighting about 625 fires, including two of the three largest […]

Two of the three largest fires in California history are raging across the state alongside about 600 others, burning more than 1.3 million acres — an area about the size of Delaware — and forcing more than 100,000 people to evacuate. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Dry lightning storms and gusty winds […]

Despite some political bickering, Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed there will be “no politics in this space” as he thanked the Trump administration for emergency assistance.

The dangerous trio has Californians unable to escape unhealthful air and reluctant to leave home.

Good morning, California. It’s Friday, August 21. From prime time to Santa Cruz forest Gov. Gavin Newsom was set to make the biggest appearance of his political career Thursday night — but things didn’t go as planned. Newsom backed out of his prime-time speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention Thursday morning, citing the need […]

In an online discussion hosted by CalMatters, three prominent child health experts offered suggestions for families struggling with the multiple crises confronting the state and nation.

2020 just keeps getting better. As many as 2 million Californians experienced one-hour blackouts on Friday and Saturday nights as the state triggered rolling power outages for the first time in nearly two decades amid a record-breaking heat wave. The sky-high temperatures, paired with gusty winds and dry conditions, exacerbated fires across the state, contributed […]

Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, August 11. But war rages on The California vs. Uber/Lyft war is far from over — but Big Tech lost the first battle. A San Francisco Superior Court judge issued a preliminary injunction Monday requiring the gig-economy companies to reclassify their drivers as full-fledged employees entitled to minimum wage, unemployment […]

This guide is part of our “Older and overlooked” series on the danger wildfires pose to California’s older population, especially during COVID-19. Skip straight to: How to research a care home The questions experts recommend asking The coronavirus pandemic is a sudden, new threat to assisted living and skilled nursing homes — and those facilities […]

When the ominous beep of an emergency alert roused Mark and Kathy Allen out of bed in Sebastopol on Oct. 9, 2017, the Tubbs Fire was heading toward Santa Rosa.  So the Allens did too. They knew the assisted living facility where Mark’s mother lived was in the path of fast-moving flames. They sped toward […]