Newsletter: Today: California Is Burning

At least 10 people have died and nearly 100,000 acres have burned as California deals with 17 large wildfires, mostly in the northern part of the state.

TOP STORIES

Wine Country Under Siege

The fires came with devastating speed, driven by the Diablo winds in some of Northern California’s most picturesque territory. Authorities say seven people died in Sonoma County, two in Napa County and one in Mendocino County and that 1,500 structures were destroyed across eight counties. In Santa Rosa, the Tubbs fire leveled an entire neighborhood, burned a hotel and prompted the evacuation of two hospitals. And while the heart of wine country mourns its losses, tough times loom ahead for the wine industry. “We are a resilient county,” Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane said. “We will come back from this. But right now we need to grieve.”

A Santa Rosa homeowner returns to survey what’s left of his house of four years.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times )

Fire in the Anaheim Hills

In Southern California, Orange County officials evacuated more than 5,000 homes in three cities as a wind-fed wildfire surged over the Anaheim Hills, destroying two dozen structures. After breaking out near the 91 Freeway and Gypsum Canyon Road, it quickly spread — and cast a pall that caused officials to issue air quality warnings in parts of Los Angeles County. Given the fires up north, “we’re gonna be as stretched as we can be,” said Steven Beech, an incident commander with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Here is the latest on the fires across the state.

One More Try for DiFi

In California political circles, speculating about Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s future has become a proverbial parlor game. Now, she’s made her intentions clear: Feinstein will run for a sixth term in 2018. But the game continues, as some wonder if the 84-year-old Democrat is vulnerable to challengers who stand further to the left. As Cathleen Decker writes in her analysis, Feinstein is betting that Californians want someone who can appeal to liberals and the middle — and still work with conservatives too.

More Politics

-- Some lawmakers hope to drive a wedge between President Trump and immigration hard-liners on his staff over the so-called Dreamers by appealing directly to Trump.

-- Twenty-nine states have legalized pot, but Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions wants to stamp it out. Thanks to an obscure 85-word budget clause, he’s closer than you might think.

-- Sen. Bob Corker is saying what other Republicans will only whisper about President Trump, despite their growing discomfort at what’s going on in the White House.

The Las Vegas Shooting Timeline Changes

Six minutes. That’s the gap between when a security guard at the Mandalay Bay hotel was shot and the gunman started firing at the crowd in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, according to a new account by authorities that altered their previous timeline. That the guard was shot before the fatal assault and not 10 minutes after it began raises new questions about police response time and why the killer stopped shooting.

A New Editor in Chief for The Times

“I have been training 40 years for this job.” Starting Nov. 1, Lewis D’Vorkin will be the new editor in chief of the Los Angeles Times. As Forbes Media’s top news executive, D’Vorkin introduced online initiatives designed to boost readership and save money, alongside the usual in-depth articles. What might we see in L.A.? “I firmly believe the traditional reporting model is critical and I also believe there are other kinds of content creation models that can work,” he said. “New kinds of models are definitely important.”

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- Satellite images show fires popping up overnight across California.

-- The fast-moving Anaheim Hills brush fire claims homes.

-- For this homeless man, playing Union Station’s free piano brings respect and an appreciative crowd.

CALIFORNIA

-- Despite assurances to nervous immigrants, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has given assistance to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in county jails.

-- Vice President Mike Pence has been visiting California. He stopped in Newport Beach for a fundraiser and went to Sacramento to pitch Trump’s tax reform plan.

-- Los Angeles schools chief Michelle King is recuperating from surgery and has appointed a subordinate to run the school system in her stead.

-- With cannabis legalization around the corner, columnist Robin Abcarian says Los Angeles is contemplating another dumb move.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Julianne Moore, Kevin Smith and other A-listers with professional connections to Harvey Weinstein are publicly decrying the producer’s alleged abuses of power. Meanwhile, others are asking: Can the Weinstein Co. survive without him?

-- The Las Vegas concert massacre has prompted FX to edit an episode of “American Horror Story: Cult,” which included a scene involving gun violence.

-- At the Hollywood Bowl, Janet Jackson weaved her hits into a narrative that touched on modern turmoil and communal healing.

-- Have you seen it? The new “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” trailer digs into Rey’s past.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Christopher Reeve was perfectly suited for his role as the Man of Steel in the “Superman” films of the ’70s and ’80s, though his acting range was much wider. After a 1995 horseback riding accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, he became an advocate for the disabled and medical research. On this date in 2004, Reeve died at age 52.

NATION-WORLD

-- Police apprehended a 19-year-old student suspected of fatally shooting a Texas Tech University police officer at the campus police station Monday night.

-- The Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda wants the U.S. to lift restrictions on online gambling, which would restore a key source of income to help rebuild after Hurricane Irma.

-- Israel opposed the Iran nuclear deal. But how happy will Israel be if Trump really scraps it?

-- When a Kenyan woman took up a “man’s job” as a motorcycle taxi driver, people said she’d be cursed. Nevertheless, she persisted.

-- The Nobel Prize winner in economics may have nudged you to make better choices, and you didn’t even know it.

BUSINESS

-- Columnist Michael Hiltzik says Trump reportedly is plotting a backdoor attack aimed at gutting the Affordable Care Act’s most important consumer protections.

-- A new California law aims to give consumers more information on what’s driving prescription drug prices.

SPORTS

-- The brooms are out: The Dodgers swept the Arizona Diamondbacks to advance in the postseason, and much credit goes to Dave Roberts, manager extraordinaire.

-- ESPN has suspended “SportsCenter” host Jemele Hill over her tweets about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ stance on players during the national anthem.

OPINION

-- Trump’s decisions to end DACA and the Clean Power Plan are all about negating Obama.

-- That time Tom Petty wouldn’t back down.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Baron Trump is the protagonist in a series of Victorian novels, but no, it’s not the president’s son Barron. Or is it? (Politico)

-- An excerpt from the book “The Long Haul” on what it’s like to drive a giant moving van across long distances and through the mountains for a living. (Longreads)

-- Are smartphones sapping our brainpower? Some research suggests they are. (Wall Street Journal)

ONLY IN L.A.

Would you pay $20 to watch holograms of Billie Holiday, Jackie Wilson and Bernie Mac perform? There are a handful of digital companies that believe you will, but one is opening the first theater in the country dedicated to holographic entertainment — in Hollywood, of course. Yet there are more dimensions to this story than meet the eye, including lawsuits, harassment allegations, TMZ and the fact these aren’t even true holograms.

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