Highlights, lowlights from the week’s news
HIT >> It’s hard to find any good news surrounding the halfdozen or so huge fires all over the north state today. The skies remain filled with smoke, a frightening number of homes are still in jeopardy and worst of all, you get the feeling this isn’t going to end until there’s snow on the ground.
But there has been one thing worth celebrating, in addition to the dogged determination and bravery of our firefighters: The fact that no lives have been lost.
The Camp Fire and North Complex West Zone fires combined to leave more than 100 of our friends and neighbors dead. And a firefighter lost her life in the August Complex fire last year.
So far, we’ve had no loss of life from the Dixie Fire, which is rounding the corner on 700,000 acres burned with plenty of dry forestland still in its path.
Stopping these blazes in these conditions has been akin to send a wall of people to the ocean and expecting them to turn back a tidal wave. They have, however, been successful in protecting human lives and, other than a couple of tragic exceptions (notably the town of Greenville), they’ve been successful at keeping the fire away from populated areas.
Their work continues.
Again, they deserve our thanks, every day.
MISS >> On the other hand, our state’s Democrats didn’t even bother hiding it this week – Their main concern right now is doing whatever it takes to help Gov. Gavin Newsom win the recall vote.
On Wednesday, a State Assembly subcommittee was supposed to hold a hearing on wildfire prevention and forestry resiliency. With seemingly every square inch of northern California shrouded by smoke (if not actually on fire) for more than a month now, it seems like that’s something our state leaders would want to discuss, right? Especially with eight experts from all corners of wildfire prevention, forestry maintenance and state budgeting prepared to speak.
But … Democrats called it off.
If that wasn’t enough, Democrats also postponed a joint legislative hearing on the mismanagement of the Employment Development Department (EDD) scheduled for next week. You know, the same EDD that handed out billions of dollars in fraudulent claims like they were throwing candy to kids in a parade.
Not urgent enough? Or “bad timing” with a recall election Sept. 14?
Makes us wonder if all of this smoke is really from the fires, or if half of it is being blown by politicians in Sacramento.
HIT >> There hasn’t been a lot of things to cheer about in general the past few months — but, we have to give a big thumbs up to Major League Baseball for what has been an extremely entertaining 2021 season.
OK, maybe we’re spoiled, but those of us on the West Coast have plenty of reasons to cheer. The surprising San Francisco Giants have the best record in baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers are next in line and if the season ended today, four of California’s five teams would be in the postseason.
Arizona’s Tyler Gilbert recently thrilled the baseball world by pitching a no-hitter in the very first start of his career. And if you didn’t get goosebumps watching the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees emerge from the cornfield to play in the “Field of Dreams” game last week, you need a serious shot of Shoeless Joe Jackson in your soul.
And this weekend is the Bay Bridge Series — perhaps the most important regular-season meetings between the A’s and Giants in the history of interleague play.
It’s been a great, unpredictable and exciting season. We’ve even started to come around on that “start extra innings with a runner on second base” nonsense.
MISS >> Regardless of what side of the political aisle you’re on, and regardless of where you think the blame lies, we should all agree on one thing as Americans. What has unfolded in Afghanistan the past few days is sickening.
The worst-case scenario of many has come to pass. Weeks before our final pullout date, the country fell back into the hands of the same people we drove out of power in the weeks following 9/11.
Our heart aches for all of the veterans who fought bravely for so many years to keep the peace in that country, and for those who lost loved ones along the way. This has got to be impossibly painful for all of these people to stomach.
And now, our blood and sacrifices and money have apparently accomplished one thing: re-arming the Taliban with better weapons than they had when we arrived.
We accomplished our mission of driving the terrorists out of power and eliminating Osama Bin-Laden long ago. Our presence in that country also, without a doubt, played a hand in preventing future terrorist attacks in ours.
Now, we’re left to wonder what’s going to happen next, and to once again mourn an incredibly painful loss for our nation — and the people of Afghanistan.