In CA: One year anniversary of Conception boat fire that killed 34 people
I'm Erin Rode, housing reporter for the Ventura County Star, with Thursday's headlines.
But first, for the second (!) time in a little over a week, a bear walked into a Safeway grocery store in Lake Tahoe. The bear left with a tub of yogurt or dip in its mouth. It's not clear if the bear was the same visitor from a week before, who left with a bag of Tostitos.
If you're going camping over the long weekend, remember to practice bear-safety tips, like storing food in a bear-resistant container. As they say, "A fed bear is a dead bear:" in some cases bears must be euthanized after they start to associate humans with food.
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'1% is progress' on Sequoia fire
Many of the most majestic redwood trees in Big Basin Redwoods State Park survived the CZU Lightning Complex fire, although the state's oldest state park will be closed for at least a year before the public will be able to return.
But a fire further south is threatening another classic California tree: sequoias. A wildfire in Sequoia National Forest has burned over 45,000 acres and is only 1% contained, the Visalia Times-Delta reports.
"Nonetheless, 1% is progress,” Newsom said on Wednesday during a press briefing.
Newsom said the blaze is "precious in terms of the impact on the resources," noting that it is near "some of the world's most majestic sequoias."
One year anniversary of Conception boat fire
Family members gathered at the Santa Barbara Harbor on Wednesday morning to commemorate the one year anniversary of the Conception boat fire, the deadliest maritime disaster in California history. On Sept. 2, 2019, the Conception dive boat burned near Santa Cruz Island, killing all 33 passengers and one crew member who were sleeping below deck.
According to a preliminary National Transportation Safety Board investigation, crew members were asleep when the fire started with no one awake keeping watch, which is required by the U.S. Coast Guard when passengers are asleep below deck.
"We shouldn't be here," said Kathleen McIlvain, the mother of one of the victims, at the memorial. "This should have never happened."
Cities, counties race to turn hotels into permanent housing
Back in July, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced $600 million in available funding for jurisdictions to convert motels, hotels and other housing types into permanent housing through Project Homekey. This effort is an extension of the Project Roomkey, which aimed to reduce the spread of coronavirus among the state's vulnerable homeless residents by sheltering them in motel rooms.
Project Homekey comes with some tight deadlines. Priority applications were due about a month after funding was announced, and jurisdictions must purchase the hotels and motels by the end of December.
In Ventura County, a Vagabond Inn in Oxnard that was used for Project Roomkey is now under consideration for a Project Homekey conversion.
"This is an opportunity that allows us to both respond to COVID-19 and respond to homelessness and the long-term need to provide housing," Oxnard Housing Director Emilio Ramirez told the Ventura County Star.
Oxnard is just one of many cities that are racing to take advantage of Project Homekey funds, which is considered "the largest expansion of housing for people experiencing homelessness in recent history." Riverside County is seeking Project Homekey funding for affordable housing sites in Palm Springs, Thermal and Riverside. Other counties from Humboldt to Orange are also applying for funding.
Heat wave stops coronavirus testing
Our dystopian reality of a global pandemic and record high temperatures are converging this weekend. Drive-up coronavirus testing centers in Riverside County and the city of Los Angeles will close over the weekend due to extreme heat.
The weekend weather forecast predicts the 'hottest days of the year' over Labor Day weekend, even hotter than the heat wave we just experienced a few weeks ago.
More bad news is that wildfires in California are expected to continue to get worse, but not just because the number of extremely hot days are on the rise. Climate change and excess fuel are also major contributors, Capital Public Radio reports.
GoFundMe for viral Taco Bell photo raises controversy
Last week, a photo of two Salinas girls sitting in a Taco Bell parking lot to use the restaurant's WiFi for homework went viral, illustrating the state's digital divide. Now, two GoFundMe.com accounts that have raised over $300,000 for low-income families in Salinas — one for farmworker families and the other for the two Salinas girls — are under scrutiny. Salinas residents are pressuring the two organizers to share when and how much money from the fundraisers will be released to families.
Five litters of mountain lion kittens were born from May to August in the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills. A total of 13 kittens were born, with more dens found in that time span than any other time during a long-term study of local mountain lions.
If you've wondered what it's like to be a kindergartner starting school for the very first time during a global pandemic, check out this story from the Ventura County Star.
In California is a roundup of news from across USA TODAY Network newsrooms. Also contributing: Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Lost Coast Outpost, Voice of Orange County, Mercury News, Capital Public Radio.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: One year anniversary of Conception boat fire
