AP: Pace Of California Wildfires Well Ahead Of Disastrous 2020
The number of wildfires and amount of land burned in parched California so far this year greatly exceed totals for the same period in the disastrous wildfire year of 2020.Between Jan. 1 and July 4, there were 4,599 fires that scorched 114.8 square miles (297 square kilometers), according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. In the same time frame last year, there were 3,847 fires that blackened 48.6 square miles (126 square kilometers). (7/8)

Sacramento Bee: Thursday Update: Here Are The Wildfires Burning Right Now In Northern California
Wildfires have burned in Northern California for more than a week. The three largest — the Salt, Lava and Tennant fires — are being brought under control after prompting evacuations, closing roads and destroying structures. South of those, the Beckwourth Complex of fires continues to burn in eastern Plumas County. The four fires have collectively burned around 50,000 acres across Northern California. Weather forecasts for hot temperatures beginning Thursday and lasting through the weekend could hamper firefighters’ efforts and spark new blazes. (Davidson and Shaikh, 7/8)

KQED: How To Keep Indoor Air Clean During A Wildfire 
Wildfire smoke is incredibly unhealthy for all people, and especially for those with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart disease. Children, pregnant women and firefighters are also extremely vulnerable to the negative health impacts of wildfire smoke. It’s best to stay indoors on days when smoke outside reaches unhealthy levels. As California and the Bay Area brace for what could be another severe fire season, KQED spoke with scientists and engineers about how to keep indoor air clean — both at home and in shared spaces. (Klivans, 7/8)

Los Angeles Times: Southern California Firefighters Confront Changing Landscape 
At Oak Flat Fire Station in the Angeles National Forest, veteran firefighters are already getting a bad feeling about this year. There has been so little rain, and rising temperatures caused by climate change have made the landscape drier than they’ve ever seen — ready to combust with the smallest spark. They’ve watched the rugged mountains of the forest around the Castaic station change before their eyes, from a place of seasons to a place that seems like it is in perpetual summer. And with homes encroaching farther into the terrain each year, there are more people in harm’s way. (Smith, 7/9)

CalMatters: Newsom Urges All Californians To Cut Water Use By 15% 
As extreme drought claims most of the state, California Gov. Gavin Newsom today asked Californians to voluntarily cut their water use by 15%. The request, Newsom said, applies to businesses and agriculture as well as residents. Meeting the target could save enough water to supply 1.7 million average households for one year, according to state officials. (Becker, 7/8)

Los Angeles Times: Drought: Newsom Asks Californians To Cut Water Use By 15% 
Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking Californians to voluntarily cut back on water consumption by 15% compared with last year as drought conditions worsen and temperatures continue to rise across the western United States. The governor on Thursday also expanded his regional drought state of emergency to apply to 50 California counties, or roughly 42% of the state’s population. (Luna, 7/8)

Los Angeles Times: What To Know About California's Drought States Of Emergency
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which imports water from the Colorado River and the north, says it has record reserves in regional reservoirs and groundwater banks — enough to carry it through this year and next. Los Angeles, which is partly supplied by the MWD, similarly doesn’t anticipate shortages, officials said last month. The governor and his aides have pushed back on the need for more drastic action, saying water resources vary in different parts of the state and not all 58 counties are in an emergency situation. (7/8)

Reuters: From The Air, Drone Footage Of Salton Sea Shows California Drought Impact 
Drone footage taken at the Salton Sea, California's largest inland lake, shows the dramatic effects of the state's worst drought since 1977. Its receding shoreline has caused an ecological crisis as exposed silt is carried into surrounding areas. (7/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: 6.0 Quake Rocks Northern California Followed By More Than 60 Aftershocks. Jolt Felt In Bay Area
A 6.0 quake followed by more than 60 aftershocks — including a 5.2 shaker — struck Thursday afternoon in California, close to the Nevada border but was felt in the Bay Area. The first quake hit at 3:49 p.m., registering a magnitude 6.0 in Coleville (Mono County), followed by a 5.2 shaker in the same location a minute later, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Those two quakes were followed by a series of more than 60 temblors ranging from magnitude 1.0 to 4.6 that hit Coleville and surrounding areas of Dardanelle (Tuolumne County), Walker (Mono County), Markleeville (Alpine County) and the Yosemite Valley. (Mishanec and Hernandez. 7/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: Downtown S.F., North Beach Included In New Bay Area Tsunami Hazard Zones
If a once-in-a-millennium tsunami hit the Bay Area, waves could inundate more of the waterfront than scientists previously feared. While alarming, new tsunami hazard maps created by the California Geological Survey are aimed at showing people how to find out if they’re in a vulnerable area and how to get to safety — that often means only walking a few blocks. On Thursday, the California Geological Survey released new tsunami hazard maps for San Francisco, Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties, along with several in Southern California, for the first time since 2009. (Duggan, 7/8)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Spread Worsens Across L.A. County As Delta Variant Brings Rising Alarm 
Coronavirus transmission is up across the board in Los Angeles County, a troubling trend officials say illustrates the new normal of the still-potent pandemic — one in which the virus continues to spread easily among residents who have yet to be inoculated. “Right now, people have the lowest levels of protection from this virus in the communities where transmission is the highest. But among all of our communities, transmission is going up,” county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer told reporters Thursday. (Money and Lin II, 7/9)

CNN: Los Angeles County Sees Exponential Growth In Covid-19 Cases As Delta Variant Becomes Dominant, Worrying Officials
Los Angeles County -- the most populous county in the US -- is seeing "exponential growth" of Covid-19 cases as Delta takes over as the dominant strain, according to local health officials. The jump mirrors upticks in other parts of the country over the past week, as experts warn of Delta's high transmissibility. "We do continue to see an uptick in cases and hospitalizations," Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Thursday. "Deaths, fortunately continue to be relatively low, but as hospitalizations continue to increase we anticipate that deaths might also increase." (Elamroussi, 7/9)

NPR: LA County Public Health Director: COVID-19 Cases Rise Among Black Residents
Black residents of Los Angeles County are dealing with a rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. The development comes shortly after California reopened its economy and the highly contagious Delta variant became the dominant strain in the U.S. Dr. Barbara Ferrer, LA County's public health director, tells NPR that in comparing data from two-week periods in May and June, the case incident rate for Black residents went from 39 cases per 100,000 people to 46 cases per 100,000 people. Ferrer says there was a significant but smaller increase in hospitalizations: from 8.4 hospitalizations per 100,000 Black residents to 9.3 hospitalizations per 100,000 Black residents. (Fadel, 7/8)

The Mercury News/The Beach Reporter: Steady Rise In Coronavirus Cases Rekindles LA County Officials’ Worries
As a result of people socializing more and the Delta variant circulating more widely, Los Angeles County public health officials reported Thursday the biggest increase in new COVID-19 cases since March. Public health officials reported 839 new COVID-19 positive cases Thursday, July 8, representing another startling increase as case rates began to rise earlier this week. (Rosenfeld, 7/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: Alameda County Sees 'Concerning' Jump In COVID Cases
Alameda County has seen an alarming spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations since lifting most pandemic restrictions last month, health officials said Thursday. The county hit pandemic lows for cases and hospitalizations in early June, with a reported average of 28 daily infections. But it is now seeing more than 70 new cases a day, and the total has topped 100 on some days recently, county data shows. (Vaziri, 7/8)

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat: 47 Test Positive For Delta Variant At Sonoma County’s Largest Homeless Center In Santa Rosa
A total of 47 residents at the Sam Jones L. Hall homeless shelter in Santa Rosa have tested positive for the delta variant of the coronavirus, making up about three-quarters of a recent spike in COVID-19 cases among Sonoma County’s homeless population, officials said Thursday. The outbreak at the county’s largest shelter comes amid a broader uptick in local COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, predominantly among unvaccinated people. (Varian, 7/8)

Bay Area News Group: Delta Variant Now Dominant In California, U.S.
The highly contagious Delta is now the dominant variant of the coronavirus in both California and across the U.S., hitting areas with low vaccination rates particularly hard and sparking concerns about what comes next in a pandemic that has dragged on for well over a year. The news came Thursday as Pfizer reported new evidence that its COVID vaccine was less effective after six months and said it plans to ask the U.S. Federal Drug Administration to authorize a booster shot. (DeRuy, 7/8)

Bay Area News Group: COVID: Delta Variant Now Dominant In California, U.S. Who Should Worry? 
The highly contagious Delta is now the dominant variant of the coronavirus in both California and across the U.S., hitting areas with low vaccination rates particularly hard and sparking concerns about what comes next in a pandemic that has dragged on for well over a year. The news came Thursday as Pfizer reported new evidence that its COVID vaccine was less effective after six months and said it plans to ask the U.S. Federal Drug Administration to authorize a booster shot. (DeRuy, 7/8)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Number Of Delta Variants In San Diego County More Than Doubles In A Week 
After weeks of relative stability, the number of coronavirus cases, Delta variants and hospitalizations tracked slightly upward in this week’s report from the county health department. To be sure, the trend visible in the region’s COVID-19 update is nothing remotely close to the spike that filled local hospitals this past winter. But experts are expressing concern that those who are not yet vaccinated or who are only partially vaccinated are vulnerable just as the Delta variant gains dominance in San Diego County, which has seen a slower path due to better-than-average overall vaccination rates. (Sisson, 7/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: How To Know If The Delta Variant Might Return COVID Restrictions To The Bay Area
The Bay Area appears to be holding its own against the delta coronavirus variant — but while experts say the region is unlikely to see major spikes like those occurring in less-vaccinated hot spots across the U.S., they are watching the key metrics that would spell trouble ahead. To those casting a worried eye toward places like Israel and Japan, which have tightened some restrictions due to the delta variant, experts say a return to widespread shutdowns in the Bay Area and California is unlikely — though indicators could reach levels that prompt some renewed health measures, such as mask mandates. (Hwang, 7/8)

Los Angeles Times: CSUN Gets The Most COVID Aid Of Any California University 
A visit to the Cal State Northridge health center shows how an unprecedented flow of federal dollars in pandemic relief is being spent at the campus. As the pandemic threat lingers, one office has been converted into a state-of-the-art, specially ventilated isolation room to test and treat patients possibly infected with COVID-19 or other airborne illnesses. Patients enter and exit to the outdoors, avoiding other areas and reducing exposure risks. The exam room cost $219,000. (Gordon, 7/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: Delta's Spread: Pfizer To Seek Third-Dose Approval As Study Shows Two Shots Work Well
A single dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine or previous coronavirus infection offer little protection from the delta variant that is spreading through California and the rest of the U.S. — but the standard two-shot regimen is highly effective, according to a study published Thursday in the scientific journal Nature. The peer-reviewed report from researchers at France’s Pasteur Institute found that the variant has mutations that allow it to evade some neutralizing antibodies, increasing the importance of getting both shots. (Vaziri, 7/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: Assembly Weighs Mandating Vaccines After Statehouse COVID Outbreak
The California Assembly is exploring whether to require its members and employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, following a small outbreak of COVID-19 cases in the state Capitol last week. “It’s something that’s under consideration,” Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said in an interview Thursday. “There’s a couple of different models that other entities have adopted. We have to talk it over, not only with our public health folks, but also with our employment attorneys as well.” (Koseff, 7/8)

CapRadio: Popular Facebook Post Distorts San Francisco Policy On Minors Getting COVID-19 Vaccine 
Misleading posts on Facebook and Twitter say minors in San Francisco are consenting to COVID-19 vaccines without their parent’s permission. San Francisco issued a health order allowing emancipated minors and those considered “self-sufficient” to consent to receive the Pfizer vaccine. San Francisco issued further guidance for healthcare providers administering COVID-19 vaccines to minors. The guidance says healthcare providers are required to do everything possible to get the consent from a parent or legal guardian before giving a vaccine. (Rascón, 7/8)

Orange County Register: Patient Of Nurse Accused Of Sexual Assault Sues Providence Mission Hospital 
A patient of a Providence Mission Hospital nurse accused of sexually assaulting her and two others filed a lawsuit Thursday, July 8 alleging that negligence on behalf of the medical facility gave the defendant the opportunity to violate her. The woman who came forward, 22-year-old Zoe Leigh Cooksey, was the first of three women who reported being assaulted by Paul Alden Miller, 56, of San Clemente. (Licas, 7/8)

The Bakersfield Californian: BC Offers More Courses That Allow Non-Health Workers To Obtain Public Health Certificate 
Due to popular demand, Bakersfield College is offering more sections of its two courses this summer that give participants the opportunity to earn a Certificate of Achievement in Public Health. It's free, and the first course begins Aug. 2. The two courses are being offered back-to-back and each is a week long, according to a BC news release. Students who take them together will earn their certificate. Through the courses, students learn about public health and the organizations that shape it in the United States. They will learn about health information and its communication and promotion. (7/8)

CapRadio: As California Pushes To Eliminate Immigrant Detention Centers, New Report Shines Light On Detainee Deaths 
Detainees at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in California and elsewhere are at risk of preventable deaths due to poor medical care, according to a new study from the University of Southern California. Advocates say the problem has gotten worse during the pandemic, and they’re pushing to eliminate private detention facilities in the state. Seventy-one detainees died while in ICE custody between 2011 and 2018, according to the study. Of the 55 deaths that the authors could review, they found 78% involved a violation of national standards for medical care in detention facilities. In some cases, that meant abnormal vital signs being documented at more than one medical check-up before the detainee was transferred to a hospital. (Caiola, 7/8)

Los Angeles Times: Block By Block, City Crews Remove Homeless Campers From Venice Beach 
For more than three hours, a crew of about a dozen Los Angeles sanitation and recreation and parks workers accompanied by several officers from the Los Angeles Police Department went to work on Ocean Front Walk, sweeping up detritus from one portion of a homeless encampment that has set Venice on edge for months. A tarp here, a blanket there. Bottles and cans and other consumer waste. But after all was said and done, after the eastern horizon had begun to glow with the impending dawn, they had moved only two people. The rest had left earlier in the week.It was a case study in how difficult, and complicated, it can be to move unhoused people when the goal is to avoid the kind of blunt-force dispersal that the city carried out this spring at Echo Park Lake. (Oreskes and Smith, 7/8)

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Sonoma County Ranks Among 500 Healthiest Communities In The US, According To US News
Sonoma County has made U.S. News & World Report’s 2021 list of the 500 Healthiest Communities in the country. The county is the 250th healthiest in the nation, according to the list, which analyzed 3,000 counties on 84 metrics within 10 health-related categories. (Chudwin, 7/8)

The Mercury News/Bloomberg: Following The Science Isn't Curing COVID-19 Confusion
The delta variant is the new pandemic scare story. Its spread into the United States hasn’t led to a surge in deaths or packed hospital wards, but the news of its existence rained on the Fourth of July parades. Public health specialists have responded with a baffling spray of contradictory recommendations, conflicting information and seemingly inconsistent scientific facts. The result, as in earlier phases of the COVID-19 scourge, has been needless confusion and rage. Should vaccinated people wear masks? It depends whom you ask. Can economic life return to normal? Expert opinions vary. (Faye Flam, 7/9)

Sacramento Bee: Require Vaccines For CA Capitol Staff, Sacramento Employees 
Face coverings are back on at the California State Capitol after a coronavirus outbreak prompted administrative officials to reimpose a mandatory mask rule. With the growing threat of the Delta variant and breakthrough infections becoming more common for those who are vaccinated, the return of masks at the Capitol is an ominous sign we must take seriously. Twenty-four states have seen at least a 10% uptick in COVID-19 cases over the past week. In Sacramento, the curve is bending upward again. The seven-day average rose to 110 new cases on Monday after recording double-digit lows last month that we hadn’t seen in a year. (7/9)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego County COVID-19 Stats Make Overwhelming Case For Vaccines 
When President Joe Biden set a goal in May of having at least 70 percent of adult Americans at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19 by the Fourth of July, it seemed possible it would be a day to really celebrate. But the pace of vaccinations has slowed dramatically since then, and today, only 67 percent of Americans have gotten at least one shot. Federal recommendations that states ease restrictions no doubt reduced the sense of urgency about the pandemic. And vaccine access is lagging in Black and Latino communities while acceptance lags in states that voted to re-elect ex-President Donald Trump. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that the main factor in vaccine hesitancy is political: only 49 percent of Republicans say they’ve either been vaccinated or plan to get vaccines versus 93 percent of Democrats. (7/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: My Husband Had A Stroke After His COVID Vaccine. We Gave Our Kid His Shot Anyway
A few days after receiving his second COVID vaccination, my husband woke up seeing double. He’d been feeling unwell, but this new symptom seemed odd. Should we come in to urgent care, we asked our doctor. No, the emergency room, we were told. Twelve hours later, a brain MRI showed a tiny white spot. My otherwise healthy 45-year-old husband had had a small stroke. (Michelle Mello, 7/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: Everything You Need To Know (And More) About The Delta Variant From UCSF's Monica Gandhi
You’ve probably heard a lot of talk lately about rising COVID-19 cases caused by the delta variant. In light of reports from the United Kingdom, Israel and now California, this news is indeed concerning. But it is also clouding our perspective on the progress made against COVID-19. Understanding the data surrounding the delta variant is essential. Here’s what you should know. (Monica Gandhi, 7/7)

Los Angeles Times: Connecting With Kafka During Our COVID Isolation 
This past fall, as Duke University faculty and students approached remote learning with uncertainty and apprehension, a past student of mine made a request. He had enjoyed my seminar on modernism last year, he said, but he was disappointed that it had not “changed his life.” He was looking for some kind of transformative experience through literature, and my class had failed him. Perhaps sustained immersion in the work of a single author, I suggested, would help him reflect on the very idea of “transformation” or “change,” and what that can mean. He asked if we could read Franz Kafka together. (Corina Stan, 7/8)

Los Angeles Times: Put Public Members In Charge Of The California Medical Board 
It’s become a common scene at the quarterly meetings of the California Medical Board, the 15-member state panel that oversees physicians and other healthcare professionals: Witnesses tell heartrending stories about loved ones maimed or killed by a routine medical procedure, then blast the board for imposing little or no penalty on the doctor responsible. Even the board admits that the public has lost a lot of faith in its ability to protect consumers from bad doctors. (7/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Heat Waves Could Become Downright Deadly Without Action
We’re barely a week into July, but the Bay Area has already broken record temperatures. And more heat waves are on the way. Wealthier neighborhoods have been shown to stay a few degrees cooler, thanks to the abundance of tree-lined streets, parks and green spaces that provide shade. Many single-family homes run energy efficient cooling systems, which are more likely to stay on during power outages thanks to solar panels and battery backup systems. For others, heat waves can be downright deadly. (Nooshin Razani and Amee Raval, 7/8)

Sacramento Bee: After COVID, CA Must Lead U.S. On ‘Medicare For All’ System 
As the birthplace of the United Farm Workers, the Black Panthers and the Disability Rights Movement, California has a proud tradition of leading the nation to confront injustice and live up to its ideals. Now, California can take the lead on making health care a human right. A study published earlier this year by healthcare advocacy group Families USA found that one-third of COVID-19 deaths have been linked to a lack of health insurance. (Dolores Huerta and Rep. Ro Khanna, 7/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area NIMBYs Are Saying The Racist Parts Out Loud Over Affordable Housing Developments
The term “affordable housing” often functions as California code for no housing. Thanks to a scarcity of homes driven by residents and officials who pretend to support housing subject to its affordability, along with all manner of other more transparently trivial specifications, affordable housing serves as a theoretical construct excusing opposition to all actual construction. On those relatively rare occasions when a real affordable housing development confronts a neighborhood that has and wants none of it, the usual result is what’s unfolding in San Francisco’s Sunset. (7/7)

Los Angeles Times: Anti-Camping Laws Tell Homeless People Where They Can't Sleep. So Where Can They Sleep? 
I don’t think the Los Angeles City Council’s new anti-camping ordinance is a knee-jerk, hide-the-homeless-people move. I think it was a desperate attempt to show constituents that council members heard their complaints about the profusion of tents on sidewalks. They do seem to realize an ordinance forbidding camping near schools, daycare centers, fire hydrants and designated areas of neighborhoods will not solve homelessness. Two days before the vote, the council also passed a motion containing a resolution, largely crafted by Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas, to create and implement an extensive street outreach effort to get homeless people into housing or shelter — or begin that process — ahead of the anti-camping rules taking effect. (Carla Hall, 7/2)