| Former counterterrorism chief: Trump defeat may prompt right-wing terror attacks Posted: 18 Aug 2020 12:09 PM PDT  The former head of the National Counterterrorism Center said he would not be surprised if right-wing domestic terrorist groups stage attacks in the United States around this November's presidential election.
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| Virginia state senator faces felony charges after protesters topple Confederate statue Posted: 18 Aug 2020 09:19 AM PDT  Sen. Louise Lucas is among six others charged in the June incident.
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| Barr announces 1,000 arrests, including suspects in 90 murders under Operation Legend Posted: 19 Aug 2020 01:02 PM PDT  Suspects in 90 homicides have been arrested under Operation Legend, the Trump administration deployment of federal officers to nine U.S. cities so far
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| Teens with nearly $2 million in narcotics arrested at border, feds say Posted: 18 Aug 2020 06:45 PM PDT  The 18-year-olds, who were not immediately identified, were caught after others loaded up the vehicle and then slipped away, authorities said.
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| Disappointed UNC students are making tragic TikToks about their dorm rooms, bills, and roommates after campus housing closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks Posted: 19 Aug 2020 09:27 AM PDT  After the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill switched to remote learning, its students took their frustrations to TikTok.
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| Austrian Airlines fires a flight attendant for chanting anti-Semitic slogans at a far-right rally Posted: 19 Aug 2020 08:26 AM PDT  The ousted flight attendant, Christina Kohl, is running for a seat on the Vienna municipal council on a far-right ticket.
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| Jill Biden says Trump attacks over husband Joe Biden's mental faculties are 'ridiculous' Posted: 19 Aug 2020 10:21 AM PDT  Jill Biden has dismissed as "ridiculous" suggestions that her husband Joe Biden, 77, is less sharp-minded than he was in the past as the Donald Trump campaign released an advert attacking his mental faculty. Mr Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, would be the oldest person ever elected to the US presidency if he wins in November and has faced relentless questions from his political opponents about his mental acuity given his age. Mrs Biden starred in the second night of the Democratic convention on Tuesday, giving the closing address and being featured in a short film about her life, and then did a round of TV interviews on Wednesday morning. Asked in one about Trump campaign claims that her husband has "lost a step or two in the last few years" and whether that was a fair issue to raise in an election race, Mrs Biden said: "No, it's ridiculous." She went on: "I mean, Joe's on the phone every single minute of the day talking to governors who are calling him and Nancy Pelosi [the House of Representatives speaker], he's on the Zoom, he's doing fundraisers. He's doing briefings. I mean he doesn't stop from nine in the morning to eleven at night."
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| Seized trawler had Australia's largest cocaine haul on board Posted: 18 Aug 2020 08:24 PM PDT  Cocaine pulled from a seized trawler was confirmed Wednesday to be Australia's largest haul of the illicit drug. The Coralynne was intercepted Saturday night after Australian intelligence officers saw it receive drugs transferred from a larger Chinese fishing boat that might have come from South America. The haul had been estimated at up to 1 metric ton (1.1 U.S. tons) of cocaine before it was weighed.
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| Wife headed for prison fell off WV cliff, man tells feds. Then cops checked the closet Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:50 AM PDT  Julie Wheeler had plans "to go into permanent hiding" after faking her own disappearance and subsequent death at a National Park in West Virginia, according to court filings.
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| Hiker rescued in New Mexico after being lost in the woods for two weeks Posted: 18 Aug 2020 12:57 PM PDT  The man suffered from chronic back pain and again injured his back while hiking and could not stand or walk," the Santa Fe Fire Department said.
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| Wuhan and Hubei Province officials tried to hide coronavirus information from China’s central leadership, US intelligence says Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:46 PM PDT  US intelligence officials claim that local officials in China kept the devastation caused by the coronavirus in its earliest days away from the broader Chinese government for weeks, slowing the nation's ability to respond to the virus before it began to spread.The intelligence report, detailed in a New York Times story, concluded that city officials in Wuhan and in Hubei Province, where the virus first emerged, attempted to hide the information from the central Chinese government.
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| A 19-year-old who admitted to blackmail, revenge porn, and bullying won his primary race for the Kansas House and is now running unopposed Posted: 18 Aug 2020 10:15 AM PDT  Aaron Coleman, a 19-year-old who admitted to blackmail, revenge porn, and bullying, has won his primary race for the Kansas House of Representatives.
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| Airbus' new long-range single-aisle jet is reportedly moving full steam ahead – here's why it's the perfect plane for airlines post-pandemic Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:23 PM PDT  The Airbus A321XLR will soon be flying passengers on long-haul routes and replacing the wide-bodies that once dominated the skies above the Atlantic.
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| Biden says he picked Harris as his running mate because 'the government should look like the country' Posted: 18 Aug 2020 05:48 PM PDT  In their first joint interview together, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) shared with People how they see their partnership working, should they be elected in November.Harris said she and Biden have already agreed she will be "the last one in the room — and there to give him honest feedback. Being vice president to Joe Biden to me means supporting his agenda and supporting him in every way." Biden said it was important to him that he have someone like Harris on the ticket because she has an extraordinary "intellectual capacity, educational background, backbone, and stature. It's going to change a lot."While serving as attorney general in California, Harris became friends with Biden's late son, Beau Biden, who was attorney general of Delaware. Harris said that "this is how I got to really know Joe as a person, hearing about him through his son. But I also want to add this: Joe Biden had the audacity to say he was going to have a woman as his vice president. He didn't apologize for it. In a country where we still have so much to do to fight toward our ideals, he just fast-forwarded the whole thing."Biden says it just made sense for him to select a woman as his running mate. "The government should look like the country," he told People. "There's a new law of physics in politics: Any country that does not engage more than half their population in sharing the full responsibilities of governance and power is absolutely going to lose."More stories from theweek.com Joe Biden is already planning a failed presidency The elephant in the room at the DNC 5 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's assault on the Post Office
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| 8 Top-Rated Wireless Headphones Deals You Don’t Want to Miss Today Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:15 AM PDT |
| Hot, dry and dangerous: Firefighters are battling 29 wildfires across California amid triple-digit temperatures Posted: 17 Aug 2020 07:49 PM PDT  There are 29 active fires across the state as of Monday night, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
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| Senator: 'I will be vindicated' in Confederate monument case Posted: 18 Aug 2020 03:04 PM PDT  A Virginia state senator charged with damaging a Confederate monument said Tuesday that she will beat the case against her. Police in the city of Portsmouth said Monday that they charged Lucas and several others with conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument in excess of $1,000. The charges stem from a June 10 protest that drew hundreds of people to a Confederate monument in Portsmouth.
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| Lebanon's Hezbollah 'got power but lost the country' Posted: 19 Aug 2020 06:39 AM PDT  Fifteen years after the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, Hezbollah has risen to become the overarching power in a country that is now collapsing under its feet amid a series of devastating crises. A U.N.-backed tribunal on Tuesday convicted a member of the Iranian-backed group of conspiring to kill Hariri in a 2005 bombing and acquitted three others. The verdict came at a time when Lebanon's economy has collapsed.
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| 15 Home Decor Styles We’re Shopping at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Posted: 19 Aug 2020 06:45 AM PDT |
| Official who briefed Trump on Hurricane Florence said president was obsessed with which way storm was spinning 'like a 3rd grader' Posted: 19 Aug 2020 10:57 AM PDT  Former US Department of Homeland Security Chief Miles Taylor claimed Donald Trump was unfocused during security briefings, likening him to a distracted elementary school student.During an interview on CNN, Mr Taylor recounted a story about an interaction with Mr Trump during which he claimed the president became fascinated by the way hurricanes spin rather than staying focused on the potential damage and loss of life the storm could cause if the White House did not act.
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| Chinese politics students at Princeton 'will be given code names to protect identity from Beijing' Posted: 19 Aug 2020 10:54 AM PDT  American universities will reportedly offer Chinese students code names and the opportunity to opt-out of political discussions to protect them from being targeted under Beijing's new draconian national security law for Hong Kong. Several of America's top institutions will offer warning labels when their classes resume in the autumn, according to the Wall Street Journal, amid fears the new law could lead to students and teachers facing prosecution from Chinese authorities. Chinese politics students at Princeton University will be given codes to use instead of their names when submitting their work, while Harvard Business school will allow students to sit out class discussions on politically sensitive issues, the newspaper reported. The new national security law, aimed at stamping out anti-government protests in Hong Kong, gives the authorities the ability to impose lengthy jail terms for vaguely defined national security crimes, like subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces. Its reach has already been felt outside the city - with Beijing targeting Hong Kong activists based in the US earlier this month. The new rules also apply to those who are not Hong Kong residents, suggesting that foreigners who speak in support of the city's independence or criticise the administration could be prosecuted upon entering Hong Kong or mainland China.
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| A Yale administrator told students to prepare for 'possibly deaths' — and it shows what a predictable disaster reopening is Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:39 AM PDT  "We all should be emotionally prepared for widespread infections," a residential college head wrote in early July, the Yale Daily News reports.
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| Joe Biden embraces 'love of my life' Jill Biden after speech, probably doesn't say he's 'Joe Biden's husband' Posted: 18 Aug 2020 08:37 PM PDT  Newly minted Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden shared a sweet moment with his wife, Jill Biden, after she closed out Tuesday night's Democratic National Convention with her keynote speech about herself, her husband, and their life together. "Hi everyone, I'm Jill Biden's husband," the former vice president said after giving his wife a hug. Or maybe he said "I'm Joe Biden's husband"?> In tender moment, Joe Biden embraces Jill Biden following her keynote DemConvention remarks.> > "I'm Jill Biden's husband...You can see why she's the love of my life and the rock of our family." https://t.co/g2aifw44ZR pic.twitter.com/yEM18SMx2l> > — ABC News (@ABC) August 19, 2020If you listen closely, Biden said "Jill," maybe with the same slight regional accent Jill Biden sometimes showcased in her speech. "You can see why she's the love of my life and the rock of our family," he clearly added. "She never gives herself much credit, but the truth is she's the strongest person I know."More stories from theweek.com Joe Biden is already planning a failed presidency The elephant in the room at the DNC 5 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's assault on the Post Office
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| U.S. sailing near Taiwan 'extremely dangerous' says China Posted: 19 Aug 2020 05:17 AM PDT  China has told the U.S. Navy that its recent sailing near Taiwan is "extremely dangerous."
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| Toddler found wandering parking lot after car is stolen with her inside, TX cops say Posted: 19 Aug 2020 06:47 AM PDT  The 2-year-old girl was asleep in the backseat when the car was stolen, police say.
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| History Keeps Proving John Kerry Wrong Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:30 AM PDT  It took approximately 20 seconds for former secretary of state John Kerry to drop the first flagrant lie in his Democratic National Convention speech on Tuesday, when he claimed that the Obama administration's so-called Iran deal had "eliminated the threat of an Iran with a nuclear weapon." It didn't get any better from there.Kerry knows well that sunset provisions in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) provided Iran's government with a pathway to building nuclear weapons in a few years. He knows well that Israel uncovered a giant cache of documents with instructions on how to jumpstart a program to build a nuclear arsenal, which undermined both the spirit and the rationale of the nonproliferation agreement Iran signed. He knows that Iran was developing ballistic-missile programs meant to deliver nuclear weapons.Kerry's big accomplishment was to destroy a sanctions program that was working, thereby saving the Islamic Republic from economic ruin. This allowed the Islamist government to strengthen its proxies in Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Yemen, and Iraq.Now Kerry says Trump "doesn't know how to defend the troops"? Well, I'm not sure that the man who oversaw the billions in direct cash payments to a government that had a hand in murdering and maiming hundreds of American troops has the moral authority to level that criticism. Kerry himself acknowledged that sanctions relief would likely end up in the coffers of Iran's Revolutionary Guard -- now a designated terror group. Surely, then, he knew that the pallets of euros and Swiss francs he was shipping to Tehran in an unmarked cargo plane would also find their way to the groups triggering conflicts across the Middle East -- not to mention subjugating people at home.While many argued for a maximum-pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic, Kerry preferred the no-pressure route. The Iran deal, in fact, often seemed to be the Obama administration's top obsession. Nothing would stand in the way. And while the media echo chamber was misleading the public at home, Kerry was placating Russia and allowing a humanitarian disaster to unfold in Syria in an effort to save the deal.Around the time the Obama administration was chasing an Iran deal, the Syrian government, backed by the Islamic Republic, was crossing the president's Red Line and gassing civilians. Michael Doran, a former senior director of the National Security Council, noted that from the beginning of the crisis Obama "showed deference to Iran on the nuclear front" and "the same deference to the Iranian interest in Syria." Even when the Unites States began funding rebel forces in Syria, the administration reportedly wouldn't allow Iranian's ally to be touched.When pressed on the matter by some Syrian civil-society workers in London, then Secretary Kerry snapped, "What do you want me to do, go to war with Russia?" Obama officials -- led by Kerry -- long peddled this false choice: the Iran deal or war. Well, we are no longer a party to Iran deal, and there is no war. Meanwhile, there is a highly weakened Iran, and there are growing alliances among our Sunni allies and Israel.Kerry would continue to entertain Iranian officials even after he was out of government. When Trump ordered a drone strike of the terrorist Qasem Soleimani, a man who masterminded the killing of American soldiers and thousands of Iraqi civilians, Kerry said the world was in "no way at all" safer, and claimed that Trump was risking an "outright war." All Iran did was launch a performative counterstrike.Kerry was wrong about Iran. Kerry was also wrong about Israel -- a nation he doesn't ever seem to consider an "ally" in his speeches about Obama's alleged foreign-policy successes. And when the U.S. embassy was about to be moved to Jerusalem, Kerry warned it would lead to "an explosion" in the Middle East -- more specifically, "an absolute explosion in the region, not just in the West Bank and perhaps even in Israel itself, but throughout the region." Moreover, Kerry declared, it would have a serious and negative repercussions on relations between Israel and the Arab world, making peace far less likely.Of course, outside of some typical Palestinian noise, the opposite has happened. Only recently, Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to a historic deal that normalized relations between them. They were no doubt partly brought together by the Obama administration's unprecedented coddling of the mullahs. Other Arab Gulf states are expected join the UAE, though it is well-known that many of them already have clandestine working relationships with Israel. This week, Sudan, the third-largest Arab nation, announced it was close to reaching its own peace deal with the Jewish state.All of this seems pretty significant. It would surely have been massive news if the Obama administration had helped forge the pacts. Right now, though, Obama has one more Nobel prize than he does a peace agreement. And time keeps proving John Kerry wrong.
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| Iowa governor's push to reopen schools descends into chaos Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:35 PM PDT  An aggressive push by Iowa's pro-Trump governor to reopen schools amid a worsening coronavirus outbreak has descended into chaos, with some districts and teachers rebelling and experts calling the scientific benchmarks used by the state arbitrary and unsafe. At issue is Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds' mandate in July that districts offer at least 50% classroom instruction. The conflict intensified Wednesday when the statewide teachers union announced a lawsuit challenging the governor's ability to make such decisions for local districts.
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| Italian police hunt tourist who posed for selfie on Pompeii ruins Posted: 18 Aug 2020 04:30 AM PDT  Italian police are searching for a tourist who climbed on top of the ruins of Pompeii to take a selfie. Massimo Osanna, until recently the head of the archeological site and now director- general of Italy's heritage sites, called the young woman's behaviour "deplorable". Officials said she not only risked damaging the 2,000-year-old site but had also put herself in danger. Police are trying to identify the name, age and nationality of the woman from images she posted on social media as well as CCTV footage. She was also photographed by other tourists, who were appalled to see her clamber onto the ruins of Pompeii's thermal baths. If found and prosecuted, she faces a prison sentence of up to a year and a fine of up to €3,000 (£2,715). The visitor's behaviour prompted outrage among many Italians, who are wearily familiar with tourists treating their cultural heritage with a cavalier attitude, from skinny-dipping in Baroque fountains to clambering over classical statues. "It is never nice to wish ill towards someone but in this case it is impossible not to hope that the Carabinieri will identify her and apply the law severely," said an editorial in Corriere della Sera newspaper. Tourists are regularly caught chipping off bits of mosaic or pocketing lumps of masonry at Pompeii, which was buried by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in AD 79. Bad behaviour by tourists is not confined to the ancient Roman site. Two weeks ago, an Austrian tourist accidentally snapped off the toes of a 200-year-old sculpture after lounging on it for a photograph. Security video footage from a museum in Possagno in northern Italy showed the 50-year-old nonchalantly resting on the statue of a woman by the 18th century sculptor Antonio Canova before realising with embarrassment that he had broken its toes:
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| People showed up at the home of a New York Times photographer after Tucker Carlson named him on Fox News, according to a 911 call log Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:58 AM PDT  Tristan Spinski had been assigned to cover Tucker Carlson's life in Maine, prompting an angry on-air response from the host.
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| Cindy McCain makes the jump her husband flirted with in 2001 Posted: 18 Aug 2020 08:40 PM PDT  Before his rivalry with President Trump — and even before his loss to Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election — there was a time when Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was seen as such a "maverick" that it seemed conceivable he might jump to the Democrats. He met secretly with Senator Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) in 2001 to plot the move. "He was furious over the way the party establishment had treated him in the 2000 race for the Republican presidential nomination against the eventually victorious George W. Bush," Philip Shenon reported in 2017. "We came very close," Daschle said.McCain probably never would've been a good fit with Democrats — his "Bomb, bomb Iran" hawkishness would've been anathema to a party base that had turned decidedly anti-war by 2004. But he nearly chose Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) as his running mate when he won the Republican nomination in 2008. (Whatever you think of Lieberman, the choice would've spared America from the proto-Trumpism of Sarah Palin.) And his final great act on the public stage was to cast the deciding vote to save ObamaCare from a Republican repeal bill in 2017.Given that legacy — and given the clear disdain President Trump and Sen. McCain had for each other — it was no surprise Tuesday when Cindy McCain honored her late husband's legacy by participating in a Democratic National Convention video about the two men's friendship."They would just sit and joke," she said of the relationship between the two men. "It was like a comedy show, sometimes, to watch the two of them."It wasn't an endorsement. But it wasn't not an endorsement, either. Instead, Cindy McCain's video offered more reassurance to any wavering Republican voters out there that it is okay to vote for Biden. It has been two years since John McCain died. Thanks to his wife, he remains a thorn in President Trump's side.More stories from theweek.com Joe Biden is already planning a failed presidency The elephant in the room at the DNC 5 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's assault on the Post Office
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| Coronavirus case at Sturgis Motorcycle Rally prompts health department warning Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:37 AM PDT  A person visited One-Eyed Jack's Saloon in Sturgis "while able to transmit the virus to others," officials said.
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| NY AG Letitia James called the NRA a 'terrorist organization.' Will it hurt her case? Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:47 AM PDT  NY AG Letitia James said investigating the NRA would be her "top issue" if elected. She made good on her pledge, but will her comments hurt her case?
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| The Air Force Recovered a Live French Missile in Florida Posted: 19 Aug 2020 05:45 AM PDT  The missile was "like having a gun with a bullet in the chamber, but on safety."
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| A video shows a Palm Beach sheriff's deputy shoving a handcuffed teen into a wall and threatening to show him 'what freedom of speech is' Posted: 19 Aug 2020 09:39 AM PDT  The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office told Insider in a statement that Sheriff Ric Bradshaw "does not condone the behavior of our deputy."
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| US tells Russia that China has secret and rapidly expanding nuclear warhead arsenal Posted: 19 Aug 2020 10:01 AM PDT  Arms control discussions between the US and Russia concluded Tuesday in Vienna, with both countries walking away from the table with concerns unaddressed.The most contentious element of the discussions involved China, and whether or not the country should be included in any future arms treaties.
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| California fires: Helicopter pilot killed while battling blaze Posted: 19 Aug 2020 05:40 PM PDT  The pilot was fighting fires which have forced thousands to flee their homes in central California.
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| Pakistan's PM Khan plays down differences with ally Saudi Arabia Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:04 AM PDT  Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has played down differences with longtime ally Saudi Arabia after his army chief visited Riyadh in a bid to ease a row over policy towards the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. The dispute, brought on by Pakistani demands for Saudi Arabia to take a firmer line against India for what Pakistan says are its human rights violations in Kashmir, has threatened Riyadh's financial support for Islamabad. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had no differences, Khan said in a late Tuesday interview, backing away from criticism by his foreign minister this month who suggested Saudi Arabia was indifferent on Kashmir.
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| FDA halts emergency approval of blood plasma COVID-19 treatment Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:03 PM PDT  The emergency approval of blood plasma as a potential COVID-19 treatment by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has now been put on hold, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing two senior administration officials.
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| A new Trump campaign ad painting Biden as senile is at the top of YouTube's homepage and getting lots of play on Fox News during the Democrats' convention Posted: 18 Aug 2020 10:47 AM PDT  The Trump campaign ad uses clips of Biden stuttering or losing his train of thought. The video — on YouTube's homepage — has nearly 2 million views.
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| He turned his concrete patio in East L.A. into an edible garden with fruit trees Posted: 19 Aug 2020 07:15 AM PDT  His terraced backyard in East L.A. is primarily concrete but Ken Sparks has managed to transform the hardscape into something alive and soft with chickens, a butterfly garden and a surplus of organic vegetables that he has planted in raised beds installed on top of concrete.
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| Breonna Taylor billboard in Louisville, one of 26 placed by The Oprah Magazine, vandalized with red paint Posted: 18 Aug 2020 06:31 PM PDT  A Breonna Taylor billboard in Louisville's Irish Hill neighborhood has been vandalized with red paint across the forehead of her image.
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| Kemp defends coronavirus response after White House report Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:55 PM PDT  Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp defended his administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic in fiery remarks Wednesday after a report from the White House coronavirus task force said Georgia led the nation last week in new cases per capita. The White House report, dated Aug. 16, recommends several steps to curb the virus that Kemp has declined to take, including closing bars and issuing mask mandates in counties with 50 or more active cases. Kemp was among the first governors to ease earlier restrictions this spring, and while infections declined for weeks afterwards, they began to rise in June and peaked in late July.
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| Notre Dame reports record spike in Covid-19 cases as universities bring students back amid pandemic Posted: 18 Aug 2020 10:19 AM PDT  The University of Notre Dame has reported a record spike in Covid-19 cases as students began returning to the Indiana campus for fall classes despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.It was the largest single-day spike in cases reported by the university: On Tuesday, Notre Dame confirmed at least 147 Covid-19 cases on its campus, after just 58 cases were reported the day earlier.
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| ‘Historic Lightning Siege’: Thousands Forced to Flee as Over 360 Fires Scorch California Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:45 PM PDT  Thousands of California residents were under evacuation orders Wednesday as dozens of wildfires continued to tear through the state, sparked by lightning storms and an unrelenting heatwave.As of Wednesday afternoon, there were about 367 fires raging across California—23 of them considered major blazes—Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a press briefing. After more than 100,000 residents were ordered to flee their homes in one northern California city, Newsom has declared a state of emergency and called on the California National Guard to help with relief efforts. "This fire season has been very active," Newsom said, calling Wednesday "another challenging day." He confirmed that two lightning fires are still burning out of control. "What has happened in the last 72 hours in this state has stretched our resources."> No words. CZUAugustLightningComplex https://t.co/Cphk196afS> > — CAL FIRE CZU (@CALFIRECZU) August 19, 2020Newsom stressed that the state is prepared to handle the crisis and emergency responders have enough force and equipment to soon contain the blazes. He added that every firefighting resource is being utilized across the state, and officials have also asked for additional support from other states like Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. On Wednesday, residents in several northern California areas, including Napa, Sonoma County, and Santa Cruz, were under strict evacuation orders. Sonoma County has also warned of an "immediate threat to life" from the ongoing fires as residents across the state endure rolling blackouts due to the heat and the ongoing blazes.The Pandemic Plays Hell With Fighting Wildfires and HurricanesThe forced evacuations put a strain on a state already under siege from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. To date, 11,523 people have died and 638,831 more have been infected in California—a number that could grow as residents are forced into evacuation centers and fire camps. "This is an incredibly emotional and stressful time for many of us who have endured many fires and natural disasters over the last couple of years," Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said Wednesday. "We realize this is a trigger point for many in the public and we ask you that you please go to your plan, we've all been working on this for the last couple of years, be ready and follow the plan when it comes time to evacuate."In Vacaville, a city of about 100,000 residents near Sacramento, people were ordered to flee after uncontrollable fires began to overtake the area. Vacaville police officers were going door-to-door on Wednesday to get residents out of their homes, and dispatchers were using a reverse 911 system to ensure no one is left behind. The neighborhood is now under a "red flag" warning by the National Weather Service—a notification issued when conditions are perfect for wildfires."I go outside and see the big, red, orange glow on the hill and then I see tons of light," Clayton Jack, 31, a professional wrestler who lives in Vacaville and was evacuated Tuesday night, told The New York Times. "And then I see a bunch of cop cars that were driving up and down the street."> Houses on fire at Vacaville fire off Pleasants Valley Road. No firefighters able to handle LightningComplex pic.twitter.com/izsnXrziTc> > — Matthias Gafni (@mgafni) August 19, 2020A spokesperson for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said Wednesday that there have been about 10,846 lightning strikes in California over the last 72 hours, a "historic lightning siege" that caused a majority of the fires. Officials say a group of fires, known as the LNU Lightning Complex Fire, has already burned 46,225 acres in Vacaville, Sonoma, Lake, Napa, and Solano Counties—destroying nearly 50 homes and leaving behind a blanket of smoke in its wake. The fires, which grew more than 14,000 acres overnight, have now burned an area larger than the size of Washington, D.C., authorities said. At least four people have been injured in the blazes.4,000+ People Trapped on Pristine Australia Beach as Wildfires Close InAnother cluster of 20 fires, dubbed the SCU Lightning Complex Fire, has consumed about 85,000 acres, Cal Fire said. These blazes, which also prompted evacuation orders, are located near Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus. About five fires in the San Mateo and Santa Cruz area, named the CZU August Lightning Complex, scorched about 10,000 acres as of Wednesday morning—forcing about 22,000 people out of their homes. Cal Fire also reported Wednesday that eight of the nine counties that make up the Bay Area are now fighting fires—excluding San Francisco. A helicopter pilot assigned to a water dropping mission on a Bay Area fire died in a crash Wednesday morning."If you have a 'go bag,' have some stuff packed up, ready to go, if you feel any type of threat whatsoever, make that decision, make that decision to please leave your home," Cal Fire Deputy Chief Sean Kavanaugh said Wednesday. "The last thing we want is for people to be trapped in their homes and not be able to get out."Authorities say that more than two dozen other fires raging across the state have only gotten worse due to the extreme heat wave that started over the weekend. In California's Death Valley, residents endured record-breaking heat of 130 degrees, the hottest temperature in the U.S. in over a century. The mercury hit 102 degrees in Sacramento on Wednesday, while temperatures in Napa and Vacaville soared to 98 degrees.> Benecia firefighters monitor a grass fire near a home along Cantelow Road in Vacaville amid the LNU LightningComplex Fire. > > ��: @ScottStrazzante > Read more: https://t.co/JgMVsWyPQH pic.twitter.com/7z1GmEhGJz> > — San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) August 19, 2020Those high temperatures, combined with arid conditions in a state often plagued by droughts, made conditions ripe for lightning-sparked blazes. As of Wednesday morning, nearly 45 million people across the West Coast were under excessive heart warnings or heat advisories."I got out of the house in pretty much what I had on," Philip Galbraith, 52, told The New York Times after he and his 20-year-old son fled their home overnight. "I got my son and we left."San Jose State University has already taken steps to shut down all classes and meetings due to fires, as residents in the area were asked to stay indoors by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. > Yeah, it's summer, and summer is hot, but this is different. These are record high temperatures in what is typically one the hottest times of the year anyways. These are dangerous conditions that should be taken seriously to avoid heat-related illness.https://t.co/asAP108BNk pic.twitter.com/jch1uVbycp> > — National Weather Service (@NWS) August 18, 2020"This decision is based on air quality levels that are expected to rise to unhealthy levels throughout the day and health concerns already heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic for our SJSU community, including for those who are facing evacuations due to fires near their homes," San Jose State Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Vincent J. Del Casino Jr. said in a statement. "With wildfires raging directly east and west of San José, we are monitoring air quality on and around the San José State University campus."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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