Newsletter: Winds bring fire danger across the state

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Monday, Oct. 26, and here’s a quick look at the week ahead:

The Senate is expected to vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court on Monday.

Game 6 of the World Series will be played on Tuesday. The Dodgers are now a single win from their first World Series title in 32 years after defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 in Game 5 on Sunday night.

Tuesday also kicks off the final week before the election. We’d love to hear from some of our readers about the election for a newsletter later this week. You can share your thoughts here.

Wednesday will bring Silicon Valley to the Capitol, at least virtually speaking. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai are expected to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee in what is likely to be a contentious hearing focusing on how their platforms moderate content.

Game 7 of the World Series will be played Wednesday, if needed. Whatever happens, we can at least rejoice in the fact that the Houston Astros never made it out of the ALCS.

Saturday is Halloween, and Día de Muertos begins on Sunday.

Daylight saving time ends on Sunday. Don’t forget to set your clocks back an hour.

Sunday is also the first day of November. Or the 246th day of March, depending on how one chooses to categorize time.

And now, here’s what’s happening across California:

PG&E began to cut power to nearly 1 million people in Northern and Central California on Sunday amid conditions described as the most dangerous fire weather of the season. The National Weather Service’s wind advisory and red flag warning for the area, which stretches all the way from the North Bay to the Santa Cruz mountains, is expected to expire late Monday morning for much of the area. However, the North Bay mountains and East Bay hills will remain under a red flag warning into Tuesday evening. Los Angeles Times

In Los Angeles County, emergency management officials are sounding the alarm about potential wildfires and power outages over the next couple of days during an abrupt change from cool fall weather to extreme dry winds. A red flag warning will be place from Sunday night through Tuesday afternoon in the area. Los Angeles Times

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L.A. STORIES

Early voting centers opened across Los Angeles County on Saturday and will remain open through election day. Los Angeles Times

A women raises her arms in celebration after casting her vote on the first day of in-person early voting at the Beverly Hills City Hall in the City Hall Crescent Parking Garage on Saturday.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Several L.A. City Council members back a law to ban homeless camps near city shelters: The proposed law would make it illegal for homeless people to set up camps near freeway overpasses and the city’s new temporary “bridge” shelters. Los Angeles Times

Sen. Kamala Harris’ L.A. neighborhood of Brentwood feels less insulated after a year of turbulence. (Consider this your periodic reminder that Harris lives in Brentwood, a fact that remains surprising to many Angelenos.) Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

With just over a week to go before the election, President Trump faces two adversaries: Joe Biden and the pandemic. Trump’s repeated claim that the country had turned the corner on the coronavirus was undercut by news that members of Vice President Mike Pence’s inner circle had tested positive — and by a senior Trump advisor who said the White House was “not going to control” the pandemic. Los Angeles Times

Santa Clara politicians have gone on the offensive about the millions that 49ers CEO Jed York has poured into local races. “Just say No to #JedYork buying Council seats and controlling Santa Clara! No #Yorkville,” Santa Clara’s mayor tweeted last week. SF Gate

HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

How San Francisco became a COVID-19 success story as other cities stumbled: San Francisco shut down early in the pandemic and later limited reopening. Now the city is the first urban center in California where the risk of infection is rated as minimal. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

“In many places, presidential politics have upended the special trust between hairdresser and client.” In beauty salons and barbershops from West Hollywood to the East Bay, Californians are unloading about the election. Mercury News

An astronaut and UC San Diego graduate cast her vote from the International Space Station. Kate Rubins, currently the only American in space, filled out an electronic ballot and emailed it down to Earth. San Diego Union-Tribune

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles: sunny, 75. San Diego: partly sunny, 75. San Francisco: windy, 73. San Jose: partly sunny, 75. Fresno: sunny, 69. Sacramento: windy, 75. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

This week’s birthdays for those who made a mark in California:

TV personality Caitlyn Jenner (Oct. 28, 1949), actress Tracee Ellis Ross (Oct. 29, 1972), former Rep. Darrell Issa (Nov. 1, 1952), Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela (Nov. 1, 1960) and Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook (Nov. 1, 1960).

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints, ideas and unrelated book recommendations to Julia Wick. Follow her on Twitter @Sherlyholmes.