Topline:
As of Monday more than 23,000 acres have burned since the Line Fire ignited Thursday evening, threatening multiple mountain communities above San Bernardino.
Extreme weather: The fire has burned so hot and consumed so much fuel that it has generated its own weather, including erratic winds and lightning strikes which can make the fire extremely dangerous and difficult to fight.
Keep reading... for more on evacuations and weather conditions.
This story is no longer being updated. You can read the latest at: Strong winds may prove challenge for firefighters on Line Fire in San Bernardino mountains
As of Monday evening, the Line Fire in San Bernardino County has grown to 25,813 acres and is threatening mountain communities near Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear.
Multiple evacuation orders are in place for nearby residents. Authorities warn that more than 38,000 structures, including homes and businesses, are still threatened. Some, 8,800 structures are in places under mandatory evacuation orders and another 29,200 structures are under warnings, according to a Monday evening update.
The fire broke out last Thursday and has been a challenge for firefighters because off a mixture of high temperatures, steep terrain and dense brush. It has also created its own weather, generating erratic winds that cast embers far and wide.
The concern going into Tuesday: stronger winds, which could increase spotting, which happens when embers ignite more spot fires.
Fire officials say "the fire could remain active overnight as vegetation remains critically dry."
Cooler weather is on the way, and temperatures should drop back down to around normal later in the week.
On Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in San Bernardino County to secure federal assistance for firefighting efforts.
Terrifyingly awesome pyrocumulonimbus clouds formed on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, generating erratic winds and lightning strikes which threaten new fire starts. There's a good chance they'll show up again on Monday, according to the National Weather Service in San Diego.
Omg pic.twitter.com/nFl2wp7LlS
— FirePhotoGirl (@FirePhotoGirl) September 8, 2024
To form, the clouds need both a source of lift and a source of moisture. When the fire burns extremely hot, that hot air rises high into the atmosphere, carrying with it a whole lot of water released by live plants, primed to burn after months of extreme temperatures throughout Southern California.
The towering pyrocumulonimbus clouds can climb to 40,000 feet in the air.
Notable PyroCu plumes already on three significant SoCal fires this afternoon, as labeled, including #LineFire, #BridgeFire, and new #AirportFire. PyroCb possible later this PM, with lightning/outflow & downdraft winds as hazards. #CAwx #CAfire pic.twitter.com/f22jMqrE4c
— Dr. Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) September 9, 2024
A wildfire smoke advisory has been extended until Monday night as the smoky air will continue to impact San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles counties. We have a guide on how to keep yourself safe from wildfire smoke.
Evacuation orders have been issued by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department for the following areas:
Authorities say those who require additional time to evacuate and those with pets and livestock should leave immediately.
For people:
For animals: Devore Animal Shelter, 19777 Shelter Way, San Bernardino
The Line Fire broke out Thursday evening in the city of Highland at Baseline Road on the edge of open space and a residential neighborhood. The cause is under investigation.
Editors Fiona Ng and Megan Garvey, and reporter Erin Stone contributed to this report.
Topline:
Incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and her challenger City Councilmember Nithya Raman will appear at the Skirball Cultural Center in a forum Tuesday night.
The backstory: The forum, which starts at 6:30 p.m., is sponsored by a coalition of Jewish groups including Jewish Federation Los Angeles, Jewish Family Services and the Anti-Defamation League of L.A. LAist will broadcast the event at 8 p.m.
The details: Alex Cohen, a Spectrum News One host, will engage in separate conversations with Bass and Raman on a range of issues including homelessness, the cost of housing and basic city services like pothole and street light repair.
Timing: The debate comes at a critical time in the campaign, with ballots expected to go out to voters Oct. 1.
Fundraising: The forum occurs as the latest fundraising totals show each candidate had raised about two-and-a-half million dollars, with millions more being spent by outside groups on behalf of each candidate.
How to listen: Tune your radio to LAist 89.3 FM, listen in the LAist app, ask your smart speaker to play LAist 89.3 or click on the listen button at the top of this or any page on LAist.com. Need more help? We have additional tips.
Topline:
A federal judge on Monday blocked the authority of President Donald Trump’s administration to withhold some federal counterterrorism funding from states that don’t meet its election administration demands.
Why it matters: Courts have largely rejected the administration’s previous efforts, which reflect untrue claims about widespread voting fraud and come ahead of November’s midterm elections where Democrats seek to take control of one or both chambers of Congress and check Trump’s power.
What the judge said: U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington, D.C., wrote in a 24-page opinion that federal agencies didn’t have the authority from Congress to add such conditions to the grants, and that the conditions didn’t meet legal thresholds requiring them to relate to the underlying grant purpose.
The backstory: Over the summer, a FEMA antiterrorism grant announcement included a list of election-related requirements, saying that 20% of grants for states and urban areas would be withheld until they comply.
A federal judge on Monday blocked the authority of President Donald Trump’s administration to withhold some federal counterterrorism funding from states that don’t meet its election administration demands.
Courts have largely rejected the administration’s previous efforts, which reflect untrue claims about widespread voting fraud and come ahead of November’s midterm elections where Democrats seek to take control of one or both chambers of Congress and check Trump’s power.
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington, D.C., wrote in a 24-page opinion that federal agencies didn’t have the authority from Congress to add such conditions to the grants, and that the conditions didn’t meet legal thresholds requiring them to relate to the underlying grant purpose.
Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor its subagency handling the grants, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, immediately responded to a request for comment. The grant conditions were the latest in a line of actions by Trump’s administration to shape how elections are run, a task that has long been the job of states.
The plaintiffs that sued were Columbus, Ohio; Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee; and El Paso and Harris counties in Texas.
Over the summer, a FEMA antiterrorism grant announcement included a list of election-related requirements, saying that 20% of grants for states and urban areas would be withheld until they comply.
The program includes more than $1 billion for states and local and tribal governments for a variety of programs aimed at preventing terror at crowded places, online, with border security — and around elections. FEMA expects to award 56 grants.
The list of items for states includes verifying the citizenship of all registered voters and election workers.
Places that use electronic voting systems that use barcodes or QR codes to count votes would have to submit plans to switch to hand-marked paper ballots. Every jurisdiction would have to show it audits results.
In the lawsuit, the cities and counties said FEMA had no authority to impose those conditions, “not under its governing statute and not under the Constitution.”
Congress authorized FEMA to help jurisdictions protect critical infrastructure from terrorism and cyberattacks, not to decide who can vote, how ballots must be counted or how states maintain voter rolls, the cities and counties wrote.
“Never before has FEMA purported to regulate how states and counties run elections,” they said in the lawsuit.
Topline:
The Orange County Transportation Authority board on Monday declared coastal erosion conditions an emergency, allowing the agency to speedily replenish sand at San Clemente’s disappearing beaches in an effort to protect the coastal rail line.
The details: The agency plans to place 690,000 cubic yards of sand across North Beach, Mariposa Point and San Clemente State Beach. The efforts will create between 80 and 130 feet of additional dry beach. By declaring the coastal erosion an emergency, the agency can waive normal bidding and contracting requirements.
The backstory: Erosion and landslides along the iconic rail corridor from South Orange County to the San Diego County line have caused several disruptions since 2021. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency last week in preparation for the El Niño storm, which is expected to severely impact California’s coast.
Officials said: O.C. Supervisor Katrina Foley said red tape has hindered the agency’s ability to proactively protect beaches. “By aligning OCTA with the County and State’s declarations of emergency, we can potentially advance approximately 690,000 cubic yards of sand along San Clemente years ahead of schedule to restore our beaches while protecting our coastal communities and rail corridor,” Foley said in a statement.
Topline:
Gov. Gavin Newsom has beefed up protections for reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights in his latest rebuke of what he and advocates say are attacks from the Trump administration.
Why it matters: The outgoing governor signed over a dozen bills into law, some authored by Bay Area lawmakers, that increase safeguards around LGBTQ+ identity data, change how health insurance companies reimburse for HIV prevention drugs and expand access to medication abortion on certain community college campuses.
Why now: Newsom’s package of new laws is only the latest instance in which California has been at odds with President Donald Trump over policies focused on transgender residents. The administration unsuccessfully sued the state over its refusal to ban transgender athletes from girls sports. The president banned transgender people in the military early into his second term, but one of the bills Newsom signed this weekend expands veteran benefits to service members who were discharged under that policy.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has beefed up protections for reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights in his latest rebuke of what he and advocates say are attacks from the Trump administration.
The outgoing governor signed over a dozen bills into law, some authored by Bay Area lawmakers, that increase safeguards around LGBTQ+ identity data, change how health insurance companies reimburse for HIV prevention drugs and expand access to medication abortion on certain community college campuses.
“The Trump administration has launched an all-out assault on the LGBTQ community, using medical records to target U.S. service members and civilians alike, hurting countless people and betraying hard-won trust,” Newsom said in a statement. “California will not stand for it.”
Newsom’s package of new laws is only the latest instance in which California has been at odds with President Donald Trump over policies focused on transgender residents. The administration unsuccessfully sued the state over its refusal to ban transgender athletes from girls sports. The president banned transgender people in the military early into his second term, but one of the bills Newsom signed this weekend expands veteran benefits to service members who were discharged under that policy.
Tony Hoang, executive director of Equality California, said the signings were yet another show of how the state responds to the dismantling of LGBTQ+ protections.
“California has spent decades building some of the strongest LGBTQ+ civil rights protections in the country, and we will continue building on that progress as long as our community remains under attack,” Hoang said in a statement.
The California Family Council, an advocacy group with a stated goal of “advancing God’s Design for Life, Family, & Liberty,” has opposed at least one of the signed bills, Senate Bill 1114, over what they say is a prioritization of ideological confidentiality over child welfare.
SB 1114 limits when sexual orientation, intersex and gender identity collected can be shared. Healthcare providers are also required to notify the attorney general when they receive subpoenas for protected healthcare activities.
“1114 does not protect children; it protects bureaucratic secrecy at the expense of parents and families,” the group said in opposition earlier this year.
Newsom also signed SB 934, authored by San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener. The law updates the state’s ban on conversion therapy in response to the U.S. Supreme Court striking down a conversion therapy ban in Colorado.
Newsom has long championed LGBTQ+ rights since he was mayor of San Francisco, including issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in defiance of a federal ban. But he’s also faced criticism for previous comments on transgender athletes and a recent veto on a bill that would have prevented future governors from honoring extradition requests for gender-affirming healthcare providers facing charges in other states.
In March of last year, Newsom said on his podcast while in conversation with late conservative activist Charlie Kirk that it was unfair for a transgender teenage girl to compete in a track and field competition.
Newsom told KQED’s Political Breakdown that he disagreed with “vitriol” in discussions surrounding the topic, but that it is “unfair in these circumstances.” Months later, Newsom said it needed to be more clear when transgender girl athletes can participate alongside cisgender girls.
Separately and in a veto message a week ago, Newsom said that he agreed with AB 2164’s authors about the importance of protecting gender-affirming healthcare. But he said he was “troubled by the precedent that would be set if an outgoing administration agreed with the Legislature to erode the executive authority of an incoming Governor.”
A Senate bill, co-sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, strengthens access to the HIV prevention drug PrEP by improving reimbursement practices for healthcare providers. The law requires health insurance companies to cover long-acting injectable PrEP through medical and outpatient prescription drug benefits, which Lara said will remove “unnecessary barriers” to the care.
“By enacting this first-of-its-kind state law, California is again leading the country in making sure insurance companies never stand in the way of people accessing HIV prevention,” said Tyler TerMeer, CEO of San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
Newsom’s signature on reproductive rights bills could include an expansion of abortion services to community college campuses.
Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, who represents San Francisco, authored AB 2540, which requires community colleges with student health centers to offer medication abortion services if lawmakers dedicate funding.
Stefani said in announcing the legislation in April that the services are “essential health care, full stop. Yet too many community college students face real barriers to accessing care.”
The state already requires schools in the University of California and California State University systems to offer the same services.
