Los Angeles Times: COVID-19 Restrictions May Have Played A Role In San Francisco Firefighter’s Death
The San Francisco Fire Department has revealed the circumstances leading to the death of a firefighter during a training exercise last week, noting that restrictions implemented to stem the spread of the coronavirus might have played a role. Jason Cortez, 42, was knocked off a third-floor fire escape Wednesday by an inadvertent water blast, the report said. He was alone on the fire escape of a training facility at 19th and Folsom streets when he opened the gate of a hose adapter that did not have a hose attached, and the stream of water struck him in the chest and pushed him backward. (Smith, 10/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: PG&E Outages Starting Wednesday Could Impact Most Bay Area Counties, Including Thousands In Oakland 
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on Monday said that about 50,000 homes and businesses across its service territory, nearly half of them in the Bay Area, could see their power shut off for a day or two starting Wednesday evening. High winds are expected, and the utility is seeking to prevent its equipment from sparking more wildfires. (Li and Morris, 10/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Hoping To Contain Coronavirus Spread As National Cases Surge 
As coronavirus cases swell across much of the United States and the nation lurches toward a uniquely tumultuous election day, California has held off another pandemic upswing. Public health experts, however, warn the state is still vulnerable. The United States topped 50,000 new cases on four of the past seven days, the highest numbers since August, after a two-month lull. Cases are spiking in several Midwest states such as Illinois and Wisconsin, which are reporting about as many new cases a day as places with much larger populations. (Allday, 10/12)

Los Angeles Times: Californians Hospitalized With COVID-19 At A 6-Month Low 
While the spread of the coronavirus accelerates in much of the nation, California is enjoying a moment of relief, as COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths have dropped to the lowest levels in months. The average number of deaths logged daily in the state is 57, the lowest since May, according to a rolling seven-day average calculated by The Times. In addition, fewer patients are in the hospital with COVID-19 — 2,209 as of Saturday — than there have been since April 2. (Karlamangla, 10/12)

Fresno Bee: Coronavirus Updates: As US Cases Spike, California COVID-19 Rates Still Trending Low
New coronavirus infections and fatalities have been spiking worldwide and across the United States, but COVID-19 activity has stayed comparatively low in California, where most key figures are either slowly declining or plateauing. Statewide rates of new infections and deaths are the lowest they’ve been in more than three months. Over the past two weeks, California averaged 69.8 deaths and 3,162 new cases per day, according to data updated Sunday by the state health department. Daily deaths hadn’t been below 70 since July 8, and infections are at their lowest point since June 19, the last day of spring. (McGough, 10/12)

Bay Area News Group: Coronavirus: California Hits Hospitalization Milestone, But Two Counties Provide Concern 
There were fewer Californians hospitalized from COVID-19 on Saturday than all but one day on record — and the fewest in more than six months, according to state health data compiled by this news organization. However, as the state nears a rare positive milestone, its curve of hospitalizations is beginning to mimic the plateau in cases that began about a month beforehand. And, in at least one county, a new outbreak is raging. (Webeck, 10/12)

The Bakersfield Californian: County Exploring How To Increase COVID-19 Testing, Keep Free Test Sites Open 
Ongoing, widespread testing for coronavirus is considered key to quickly finding and containing new clusters of infection. But how do you get lots of people to take a test when virus transmission is low and far fewer people are sick? That's a challenge Kern County is now facing. (Shepard, 10/12)

San Diego Union-Times: With Flu Season Ahead, GenMark Launches Single Test For COVID, Plus 20 Other Respiratory Ailments 
With flu season approaching, Carlsbad’s GenMark Diagnostics has received regulatory approval for a combination lab test that can detect COVID-19 along with 20 other common respiratory ailments from a single test. The multiplex — or syndromic — panel ferrets out infections with similar symptoms such as fever, cough and body aches. It delivers results within two hours and targets patients who come into hospitals with symptoms of a respiratory ailment, which on the surface are likely to be similar to COVID, influenza strains, bronchitis and common colds circulating this fall and winter. (Freeman, 10/13)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Sonoma County To Bolster COVID-19 Strategies; Looks To Successes Of Other Bay Area Counties
Concerned about the lack of progress in controlling the spread of COVID-19 in Sonoma County, local officials are considering a multi-pronged strategy to slow transmission rates, including trying to replicate some of the successes of other Bay Area counties. (Espinoza, 10/12)

Los Angeles Times: COVID Stimulus Checks Must Go To Prison Inmates, Judge Rules 
For months, incarcerated people across the country have received conflicting and confusing information about whether they can legally collect federal coronavirus stimulus funds, while the Internal Revenue Service flip-flopped on the question. A federal judge recently made clear that those behind bars do qualify for the $1,200 checks, approved by Congress earlier this year as part of the largest economic aid package in U.S. history. U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled the decision to exclude them was arbitrary and capricious. (Chabria, 10/12)

LA Daily News: Newsom Sends Team To Disney World To Inspect Reopening Protocols
A team from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration traveled to Florida to inspect the reopening protocols of Walt Disney World ahead of issuing COVID-19 health and safety guidelines for Disneyland and other California theme parks. Newsom commented on amusement parks reopening guidelines during a news conference on Monday, Oct. 12. Newsom administration officials went to Florida last week to visit Disney World and other Florida theme parks. (MacDonald, 10/12)

EdSource: California School Districts Struggled To Prepare Teachers For Distance Learning This Fall 
Many California school districts offered a wide variety of training over the summer to prepare teachers for distance learning in the fall, but some struggled to offer enough to meet the needs of all teachers, leaving many to find training on their own. Many districts offered in-house trainers or hired teaching consultants. But in many places, training focused only on teleconferencing tools like Zoom and educational platforms like Google Classroom. In other districts teachers were largely on their own to convert lessons from in-person to virtual, according to a recent EdSource survey. (Lambert and Marquez Rosales, 10/13)

Fresno Bee: Fresno Student Suffered Brain Damage At Football Practice. Now His Dad Is Suing District
The father of a 16-year-old Edison High School football player is suing Fresno Unified School District for injuries his son suffered while practicing in triple-digit temperatures this summer. Moses Stovall alleges in his lawsuit that the school district along with one of Edison’s football coaches failed to provide his son with immediate medical care after he collapsed on the field. Christian Stovall suffered severe brain and organ damage, according to the lawsuit. Stovall accuses the coach and district of being negligent and is seeking damages to be determined at a jury trial. (Rodriguez, 10/13)

Fresno Bee: West Fresno Community Center Closed Over Toxic Chemicals 
The Maxie Parks Community Center in southwest Fresno has been evacuated and barred to the public since Sept. 3, after testing found contamination in and around the building, likely from toxic chemicals used by Imperial Cleaners, a former dry cleaning business. (Ugwu-oju and Vaughan, 10/12)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Rio Nido Roadhouse Wins Reversal In Costly, 7-Year Disability Access Case
A Russian River tavern owner has secured relief from a nearly $250,000 obligation to a Guerneville disability rights advocate stemming from a seven-year legal battle over access to the business, a social fixture for the Rio Nido community. Ruling in favor of the Rio Nido Roadhouse on an appeal filed ... (Kovner, 10/13)

The Bakersfield Californian: Halloween 2020: Families Mull Whether To Modify Traditions Or Skip Them Altogether
The Marshes have the right idea, according to Dr. Nimisha Amin, a pediatrician with Southwest Pediatrics and a parent of two elementary school-aged children. Seven months into the pandemic in Bakersfield, kids have had to miss out on a lot and need special events to look forward to, Amin said. There is no need to cancel Halloween entirely, she said; families just need to get creative and celebrate in a way that won't allow the virus to spread. (Shepard, 10/12)

SF Gate: San Francisco Birds Have Changed The Way They Sing In The Shutdown
Your ears are not deceiving you: Songbirds in San Francisco have changed the way they sing this year, and in unexpected ways. Throughout the shutdown San Franciscans reported an unusual amount of birdsong ringing through the city streets, and a scientific study has now shown that birds have indeed changed their singing habits. ... Scientists discovered that while the songbirds of San Francisco increased the frequency of song, they did so at a lower volume than usual, as there was less noise to compete with. However, to residents' ears this resulted in a perceived increase in birdsong volume. (Chamings, 10/12)

SF Gate: San Francisco Tennis Club Was Supposed To Be Turned Into A Homeless Shelter. That Never Happened.
Bay Club S.F. Tennis, known to many as San Francisco Tennis Club, is once again in limbo. The now-closed warehouse in SoMa, originally constructed in 1974, has been the subject of intense arguments and debates between developers, tenants, tennis players and, lately, the city itself. Back in late March, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the warehouse was to be converted into a temporary homeless shelter. That information was apparently communicated from Alexandria Real Estate Equities, the developer that owns Bay Club S.F. Tennis, to a Bay Club tennis member who passed it along to others. (Shultz, 10/13)

Bay Area News Group: Bay Area Housing Insecurity Deepens With Covid Pandemic 
Half the renters in San Francisco and the East Bay said in an August U.S. Census survey that they had lost income during the pandemic, with about 1 in 10 of all renters and homeowners falling behind on payments — a blow felt hardest in Black, Latinx and Asian communities. (Hansen, 10/13)