Working on a piece about Williams and our attempt to tag him on junket abuse

 

12-3: Another mysterious monolith pops up; Salmon death mystery solved; Doubts about going to college; Don't be a 'pandejo' about the pandemic!

✅ Silverado residents say this fire is different: ‘This one is the real McCoy’ 

—OC Reg 

✅ Gavin Newsom announces new California stay-at-home order, determined by regional ICU capacity -- On Thursday, Newsom announced a new, regional stay-at-home order, which will force additional restrictions in any of the five regions of the state where fewer than 15% of intensive care units remain available. None of the regions — defined as Northern California, the Bay Area, Greater Sacramento, the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California — currently meet the threshold but some could “in the next day or two,” Newsom said. Evan Webeck in the San Jose Mercury$ Adam Beam Associated Press John Myers, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Victoria Colliver and Jeremy B. White Politico -- 12/3/20 

✅ Arellano: Don’t be a ‘pandejo.’ Take the pandemic seriously -- Never heard of the term? It’s of recent coinage, a portmanteau of “pandemic” and “pendejo,” the Mexican Spanish term for a blockhead. Pandejo is an uncharitable — but sadly accurate — word to describe Latino covidiots who proudly flout coronavirus protocols. Gustavo Arellano in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/3/20

✅ Scientists solve mystery of mass coho salmon deaths. The killer? A chemical from car tires -- These mysterious die-offs — an alarming phenomenon that has been reported from Northern California to British Columbia — have stumped biologists and toxicologists for decades. Numerous tests ruled out pesticides, disease and other possible causes, such as hot temperatures and low dissolved oxygen. Rosanna Xia in the Los Angeles Times$ Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/3/20 

✅ Mysterious monolith pops up in SLO County — the first to appear in California -- A giant mystery awaits at the top of the Pine Mountain loop in Atascadero’s Stadium Park. The first glimpse of something unusual is the glint of sunlight off metal as you round a curve on one of the many trails hugging the hillside above the city. Kaytlyn Leslie in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 12/3/20

✅ Doubts About Going to College 

More than a third of prospective college students are reconsidering higher education. And 43 percent of prospective students for one- and two-year programs are looking to delay enrollment, survey finds. 

—Inside Higher Ed 

✅ Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump Visa Rules 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     A federal judge on Tuesday set aside two Trump administration rules that narrowed eligibility for H-1B skilled worker visas and substantially increased wages for many H-1B holders. Colleges joined with businesses in suing to roll back the rules, which the Trump administration promulgated without normal notice-and-comment procedures, citing emergency circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White ruled that the government failed to demonstrate that the rise in domestic unemployment caused by the COVID pandemic justified skipping normal rule-making processes, concluding that the administration “failed to show there was good cause to dispense with the rational and thoughtful discourse that is provided by the APA's [Administrative Procedures Act's] notice and comment requirements.”

✅ College Scorecard Now Includes Wage Data Based on Field 

—Inside Higher Ed 

     In a move they said will help students get a better idea of how much they can borrow and afford to pay back, Education Department officials are expanding the College Scorecard to show how much graduates at institutions make based on their areas of study. 

    The scorecard now provides new median income data for students two years out from their date of graduation. At Princeton University, for example, graduates with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering made $103,078 two years after graduation. Those who graduated with a bachelor’s in English language and literature, however, made $47,260. 

    “This is not to tell students not to pursue their jobs and passions,” but to give them the information they need to “borrow responsibly,” the department’s principal deputy under secretary, Diane Auer Jones said at the Federal Student Aid Training Conference Wednesday. 

✅ The 5 Biggest Lessons We’ve Learned About How Coronavirus Spreads on Campus 

The fall semester was chaotic, but a few revelations about controlling Covid-19 shone through. They could inform a safe spring semester. 

—CHE

Canyons burn in heavy wind; Wide area of evacuation

     Winds got started, late Monday, but not too strong at first. Hours later, my sister drove up (about 1:00 a.m.) to tell of a "big, fast-moving fire" headed our way. The winds were pretty strong by then. It didn't look good. (The fire came close enough to see and feel, back in 2007; we had to run.)

     Got a call from the Reb: the scariest fire yet, she said; everything on fire in this hellish wind. Their power had been cut; in darkness, they were informed by neighbors about the evacuation order. They were already evacuated, by the time they called, standing in a Mission Viejo parking lot worrying, with friends.

     Woke up to better news: the winds were dying down. No direct threat (to us, in Live Oak Cyn) for now, given the winds (moving to the Southwest, towards Loma Ridge). Under voluntary evacuation orders since last night. Still today. No appreciable winds, though; not here.

     In late afternoon, we were informed that our power would be cut some time in the next 24 hours. So I'll be out of commission as a blogger at that point. In communicado (lack of cell coverage) and nervous. Thank God for car radios and candles.

     All is well here, so far, however. The Reb and fam got to their cabin a hundred miles to the north. Their Modjeska home is likely OK for now. We're waiting for the dust to settle, find out what's happened exactly. Still don't know.

     It's been quite a year. And the craziness promises to continue. (5:00 p.m., 12-3-20)

Silverado Canyon Burns Again As Bond Fire Erupts Under High Winds 

—Voice of OC 

Article last updated at 11:31 a.m. 

     Evacuation zones for the rapidly-growing Bond Fire are being expanded to thousands of residents in communities near Orange County’s inland canyons, as the county’s third major wildfire of the season burns south from Silverado. 

     Officials announced mandatory evacuations mid-Thursday morning in the north Lake Forest communities of Portola Hills and Barrego Canyon, and evacuation warnings in nearby communities, including Trabuco Canyon. 

     Voluntary evacuation warnings also were issued for the North Tustin communities of Lemon Heights and Cowan Heights, as well as the northern Irvine neighborhood of Orchard Hills. That’s in addition to existing evacuation orders in the canyon communities of Silverado and Modjeska Canyon. 

     The fire spread rapidly overnight amid high winds, with 7,200 acres burned and 0% containment as of noon as hundreds of firefighters continued to battle the blaze. Multiple buildings are reported to have burned in the fire, which reportedly started as a structure fire. 

     “We have received reports that there may be multiple structures damaged from the fire. We are in the process of verifying the number involved and the extent of damage,” Orange County Fire Authority officials said via Twitter Thursday morning…. 

     It’s the second time in two months that a wildfire in Orange County’s residents are being urged to evacuate the inland canyons and nearby communities as a quickly-growing wildfire rages in the canyons....

Areas of evacuation

Actual fire area; see dot, bottom right; that's us