Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Spare The Air Alert Extended To Monday Amid Increased Smoke From Glass Fire
Increased smoke from the nascent Glass fire in Napa County has prompted the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to warn about unhealthy conditions and extend air protections through Monday. The agency’s Spare the Air Alert, which bans wood burning and encourages residents to avoid unnecessary vehicle travel, was originally issued Saturday. It now will run through Monday. (Silvy, 9/27)

KATU: Mexico Sends 100 Firefighters To Help Fight California Wildfires 
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has announced that 100 wildland firefighters from across Mexico will be coming to help with suppression efforts in California. Officials say that the firefighters will arrive in Tulare County on Friday to begin their assignment battling the Castle Fire burning within the Sequoia Complex (SQF Complex). (9/27)

AP: Firefighters Return To Conn. After Battling Calif. Wildfires
A group of 10 firefighters from Connecticut and Massachusetts has returned home after spending the last several weeks helping to battle wildfires in northern California. The contingent left Connecticut on Sept. 4 and initially worked with the Hoopa Tribe on the Hoopa Valley Reservation, which is located in the northwestern part of the state. They later helped with the response to the “Red Salmon Complex” blaze, which had encompassed more than 172 square miles (446 square kilometers) as of Tuesday in the nearby Shasta-Trinity National Forest. (9/26)

Sacramento Bee: First Inmate COVID-19 Death At Folsom State Prison 
Folsom State Prison has reported its inmate first death due to COVID-19, according to data from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Until recently, viral activity at the Folsom facility has remained relatively low. But an outbreak in August skyrocketed infections at the prison, resulting in the death of one employee that month. (Moleski, 9/27)

LA Daily News: Coronavirus State Tracker: Cases And Hospitalizations In California Down More Than 60% From Their Previous Highs 
California agencies reported 4,159 new cases and 80 new deaths of the coronavirus as of Saturday,  according to unofficial totals from public health websites. The cumulative number of coronavirus cases is 805,133 and 15,556 deaths. (Goertzen, 9/26)

LA Daily News: Coronavirus State Tracker: Where Every California County Is In The State Tier System
According to the California Department of Public Health several counties could be lowered by a tier on Tuesday, Sept. 29. Once a county is lowered, or raised, a tier it must remain there for at least three weeks. A county must also meet criteria for the next tier in daily coronavirus positive cases per 100,000 and testing positivity – meaning the rate at which tests are coming back positive – for two consecutive weeks in order to progress down a level. (Snibbe, 9/27)

LA Daily News: Hospitalizations Dip Below 700 As LA County Reports Weekend Drop In Coronavirus Numbers 
Los Angeles County reported 815 new cases of COVID-19 and 10 additional deaths on Sunday, Sept. 27, bringing the county’s totals to 267,801 cases and 6,514 fatalities. Officials said the relatively lower number of cases and deaths reflects reporting delays over the weekend. (9/27)

The Bakersfield Californian: Kern Public Health Reports 47 New Coronavirus Cases Sunday 
The Kern County Public Health Services Department reported 47 new coronavirus cases Sunday morning, and no new deaths. This brings the case total to 32,004 since reporting began in mid-March. There have been 369 deaths from the virus in Kern County. (9/27)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Slow Start To Sonoma County Health Order Enforcement
Each day since Sonoma County opened a tip line for health order violations in early August, about 18 people on average have called or emailed with complaints about big gatherings in parks, people not wearing masks, businesses letting people inside through back doors and others flouting the rules aimed at stemming the spread of the highly contagious and dangerous new coronavirus. (Johnson, 9/27)

LA Daily News: CSULB Puts All On-Campus Students Under Quarantine After 5 Test Positive For COVID-19 
All on-campus students at Cal State Long Beach have been placed under quarantine starting Saturday, Sept. 26 after five students tested positive and school officials learned they “congregated socially” off-campus earlier this month, officials said. In addition, all in-person instruction will be paused for two weeks while officials perform contact tracing, University President Jane Close Conoley said in a statement released Saturday. (Percy, 9/27)

Fresno Bee: Some Parents Are Sending Kids With COVID-19 To Class. What Can Schools Do About It?
School officials across the country are sharing in frustration, disbelief, and worry over a problem many didn’t anticipate when reopening America’s classrooms — parents deliberately sending their COVID-19-infected kids to class. It’s a dangerous disruption of best-laid plans, a hazard to students and educators, their families and communities. But what can schools do about it? (Willetts, 9/25)

Fresno Bee: Education Lab: Fresno Students Deal With Trauma Fatigue As Schools Work To Reopen 
Hello education readers, Students all over the Fresno area are stressed. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic, coupled with the California wildfires, the frustration of distance learning, and possible economic insecurity has caused upticks in phone calls from students seeking mental health services. (Dieppa, 9/27)

Fresno Bee: Fresno Students Are ‘Already’ Falling Behind, Teachers Say Despite Good Attendance
Robert Vasquez seventh-graders have a shot at winning a $5 Starbucks gift card every week. Students only have to turn on their camera during math and science virtual lessons to qualify for the raffle. Still, the Tioga Middle School teacher said, most students keep their cameras off. “It’s been difficult. I don’t know at times if they’re participating,” the Fresno-native told The Bee. “I started doing this the second or third week of school. It’s been working a little better.” (Velez, 9/28)

LA Daily News: School-Issued Computers A Lifeline For Southern California Schoolchildren During Pandemic 
As this weird fall of distance learning unfolds, new data show that the great majority of schoolchildren in Southern California’s major metro areas are staring at computer screens issued by their school districts — not at devices belonging to their families. (Sforza, 9/27)

Bay Area News Group: Raiders Under NFL Investigation Over Coronavirus Protocol In Locker Room: Report 
The Raiders could face discipline from the NFL if the league finds they broke coronavirus protocol in the wake of Monday night’s win over the Saints. (Nowels, 9/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Back From Brink Of Death, Mark DeSaulnier Is Ready To Work And Run Again
The last thing Concord Rep. Mark DeSaulnier remembers is a voice telling the ambulance driver to turn on the sirens. He spent the next month unconscious. It was March 13. The Democrat was being rushed to a hospital in the nation’s capital, where he would be put on a ventilator as he battled pneumonia and a virulent infection. He suffered a mild heart attack and faced multiple organ failure. Doctors at one point gave him a 10% chance of surviving. (Kopan, 9/27)

Bay Area News Group: Coronavirus: Airlines Say Flying Is Safe, But New Study Reveals Potential For Superspreader Disaster
How risky is it to fly during the coronavirus pandemic? For clues, consider the travel histories of two of the country’s top infectious disease experts, each with parents on the other side of the country. One hasn’t flown since January when the new coronavirus was just emerging as a global threat. The other just flew back to San Francisco after visiting his 90-year-old father in Florida last month — wearing a face shield and removing his medical-grade N-95 respirator mask for just 30 seconds to chug some water and pretzels — and “felt pretty safe” to see everyone else wearing masks as well. “If the virus was able to get to me through that, it deserves it,” said Dr. Bob Wachter, chair of UC San Francisco’s Department of Medicine. “I was being as careful as I could.”(Woolfolk, 9/26)

The Bakersfield Californian: Six Months Into COVID-19, Change, Uncertainty, Fatigue Are The Norm For Many
In June, Hortencia Cabral was in favor of her twins going back to school if proper precautions were taken. She and her husband both work and a classroom seemed a better fit than remote learning for the 10-year-old boys. Today, she’s not sure what to think. In late June, Cabral lost a beloved uncle to COVID-19 and then her husband came down with the virus in July. He recovered in isolation at home but the grief and stress was difficult for Cabral. (Shepard, 9/27)

Bay Area News Group: “Lower-Pay, Higher-Risk”: Coronavirus Layoffs Send Middle-Class Workers Down The Economic Ladder 
Californians need income and fast. Thousands of people who weathered the initial storm of pandemic shutdowns have started the hunt for new work. Faced with the most unforgiving job market in recent history, many are turning to the few industries hiring. Often, they’re the ones on the front lines. A record number of Californians — more than 8 million — have filed first-time unemployment claims since March. (DuSault, 9/27)

Fresno Bee: California Prison Union Wants To Be ‘800 Pound Gorilla’ In Politics. Can It Win Over Voters?
The bad news keeps coming for California correctional officers. They took a pay cut amid a pandemic that has infected more than 3,500 prison employees, killing nine. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced Friday it will close a state prison in Tracy, affecting 469 correctional officers’ jobs, in what could be the first of two closures under Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Venteicher, 9/28)