Clear Lake communities evacuated as Mendociono Complex Fire pushes east through Lake County
Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER: "A rapidly expanding wildfire that originated in Mendocino County pushed its way deep into neighboring Lake County on Sunday, forcing evacuations from the small resort communities along Clear Lake and multiple areas in the western part of the county."
"The Mendocino Complex Fire, consisting of the Ranch and River fires, grew five-fold in barely a day and had consumed a total of 30,500 acres by Sunday night. Surging eastward, it got close enough to Clear Lake to prompt a round of new evacuation orders Sunday afternoon."
READ MORE related to Carr Fire: Another family, fire spills into Trinity County, evacuations remain in Redding -- Sacramneto Bee';s MOLLY SULLIVAN/TONY BIZJAK/RYAN SABALOW/DALE KASLER
Feinstein, other Senate Dems have plan on Brett Kavanaugh nomination: Stall
The Chroenicle's BOB EGELKO: "Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to fill a crucial U.S. Supreme Court seat is headed toward a Senate confirmation vote — but how fast it gets there will be determined by whether outnumbered Democrats succeed in a tactic that could postpone a decision until after the midterm elections."
"Those elections could maintain Republican control of the Senate, virtually guaranteeing confirmation of Kavanaugh and solidifying conservative control of the high court for years to come."
"But if Democrats succeed in both putting off a vote on Kavanaugh and prevailing in an election in which they’re defending more Senate seats than Republicans, the nomination could be in trouble."
California's $290M tax-filing system stumbling in first big test
Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON/CAITLIN CHEN: "The state has been developing the program since 2010, when the Board of Equalization sought to better manage the 36 taxes and fees it collected at the time. The agency contended it would increase tax revenue by creating an easier-to-use system."
"It hired contractor Fast Enterprises to build it in August 2016, and the California Department of Tax and Fee administration took over the project last year when the Legislature stripped the Board of Equalization of almost all of its powers."
"Tax department Deputy Director Stacie Spector said the tax collection program launched on-time and on budget in May. The department tried to notify users to expect changes with emails, mail, banner advertisements on its website and messages that people heard when they called the department."
This republican could hold onto his blue district seat even if Dems sweep it
McClatchy DC's KATIE GLUECK: "A rapidly expanding wildfire that originated in Mendocino County pushed its way deep into neighboring Lake County on Sunday, forcing evacuations from the small resort communities along Clear Lake and multiple areas in the western part of the county."
"The Mendocino Complex Fire, consisting of the Ranch and River fires, grew five-fold in barely a day and had consumed a total of 30,500 acres by Sunday night. Surging eastward, it got close enough to Clear Lake to prompt a round of new evacuation orders Sunday afternoon.
Calculations show bullet train can complete route within 2 hours and 40 minutes. Reality may prove slower
LA Times's RALPH VARTABEDIAN: "When California voters approved construction of a bullet train in 2008, they had a legal promise that passengers would be able to speed from Los Angeles to San Francisco in two hours and 40 minutes."
"But over the next decade, the state rail authority made a series of political and financial compromises that slowed speeds on long stretches of the track."
"The authority says it can still meet its trip time commitments, though not by much."
Major medical errors associated with high levels of physician burnout, study says
Sacramento Bee's HANNAH HOLZER: "zhysicians in this country experience extremely high levels of burnout - and that’s contributing to medical errors."
"That’s the conclusion of a new Mayo Clinic study that found more than half of the physicians nationwide experience burnout, defined as either emotional exhaustion or a feeling of distance from a one’s job and colleagues, said Dr. Christine Sinsky, the vice president of professional satisfaction at the American Medical Association and a researcher on the study."
"Those findings resonate with Dr. Albert Chan, the chief of digital patient experience for Sutter Health and a family medicine doctor."
Jerry Brown found reform is complicated, California watchdog learns that, too
The Chronicle's LAUREL ROSENHALL/ROBBIE SHORT: "When he first ran for governor in 1974, Jerry Brown was an ambitious young man with a full head of hair and a head full of ideas about how to reform government and combat corruption. As fallout from the Watergate scandal swept the nation, he promised to clean up the California Capitol — describing it as “a frat house” full of backroom deals between legislators and the lobbyists who wined and dined them."
He found 15 books in a Sierra dumpster. Then he found out they belonged to Thomas Jefferson.
Sacramento Bee's JORDAN CUTLER-TIETJEN: "In December 2014, Max Brown was picking through an Incline Village dumpster for a community service project when a collection of 1980s cassettes caught his eye. Fancying himself a collector, he pulled them out and inspected them."
"Then he noticed the substantial pile of worn books buried beneath them."
"Then it started raining."
Trump urged by NYT publisher to stop his inflammatory rhetoric against the media
LA Times's LAURA KING: "The meeting was off the record; the topic was fraught."
"And in what has become a hallmark of Donald Trump’s presidency, two very different versions emerged Sunday of a face-to-face discussion behind closed doors — this one held July 20 between Trump and A.G. Sulzberger, the publisher of the New York Times."
