FRIDAY, Hurricane batters Carolinasfeeds.pressdemocrat.com/pdf/PD01A090619_120000.pdf · ican...
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AT THE MOVIES » Nonprofit takes developmentally disabled to watch film. A3 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL » Windsor looking to keep its winning streak going. C1 READY TO MOVE » Tap dancer, cancer survivor to perform at Gala Celebration. D1 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2019 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM WINNER OF THE 2018 PULITZER PRIZE SANTA ROSA High 84, Low 53 THE WEATHER, C8 Advice B7 Barber C1 Business B8 Classified D9 Comics B6 Crossword B7 Editorial A10 Horoscopes B5 Lotto A2 Movies D6 Nevius C1 Obituaries B3 ©2019 The Press Democrat CHEMICAL CULPRIT: Researchers find oil in cannabis products linked to outbreak of mysterious lung illnesses / B1 INSIDE PHOTOS BY KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Emergency coordinator Sam Wallis, foreground, watches returns from Healdsburg come in during a Thursday test of the emergency alert system at the Emergency Operations Center in Santa Rosa. No false alarms were raised during the second annual test. Alerts set county abuzz 2ND TRIAL RUN » Annual test of the emergency warning system goes smoothly as residents get texts, emails to prepare for future disasters PG&E opposes trial by jury PG&E is objecting to a judge’s decision that would allow a Cal- ifornia jury to weigh whether the utility is liable for damages caused by the 2017 Tubbs fire that destroyed some 4,600 homes in Sonoma and Napa counties and killed 22 people. Attorneys for the utility on Wednesday filed a notice of appeal related to U.S. Bank- ruptcy Judge Dennis Montali’s Aug. 16 order giving Tubbs fire plaintiffs a green light to move forward with their civil case against PG&E. PG&E has sought to avoid that legal battle amid its bankruptcy case, pointing to Cal Fire’s con- clusion this year that private power equipment, not PG&E’s, was to blame for the Tubbs fire, the state’s second-most destruc- tive wildfire on record. A successful appeal would stave off that trial and limit the utility’s exposure to billions of dollars in liability in the Tubbs fire alone. But fire survivors say it would deny them their day in court — and the chance to press their case that Cal Fire got it wrong in its January report on the fire’s cause. Will Abrams, who lost his Hidden Hills home in the Tubbs fire, said he felt the appeal was an example of PG&E “shirking responsibility and account- ability” for the wildfires. Aside from Tubbs, most of those sparked during the historic 2017 A Sonoma County Emer- gency Management official clicked a com- puter mouse a couple of times, reviewed the information on his screen, then clicked again. “Well that was easy,” Emer- gency Coordinator Sam Wallis said, leaning back in his chair about 10 a.m. Thursday in the aging Sonoma County Emer- gency Operations Center in northeast Santa Rosa. Thirty miles north, at Plank Coffee Shop in Cloverdale, cellphones began buzzing and ringing — a sudden burst of wireless activity triggered by the latest test of the county’s emergency notification sys- tems. “Our entire café went off with a bunch of alerts,” said worker Shianne Treankle. Most were caught unaware of the planned trial run, the second for the county in a year. But no false alarms were raised, Treankle said. “It said at the very end, ‘Test; no action required,’” she said. County Supervisor James Gore displays a notification received Thursday during the latest run of the emergency alert system. Utility seeks to avoid separate proceeding over Tubbs fire liability By WILL SCHMITT AND CHANTELLE LEE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT By TYLER SILVY THE PRESS DEMOCRAT TURN TO ALERTS » PAGE A2 TURN TO PG&E » PAGE A2 No convictions in 2016 warehouse fire trial SAN FRANCISCO — A jury in Oakland acquitted one man and could not reach a decision on a second man’s role in a 2016 warehouse blaze that killed 36 people, one of the deadliest structural fires in recent Amer- ican history. The fire tore through a late- night party in Oakland’s Fruit- vale neighborhood on Dec. 2, 2016, in a build- ing that had been trans- formed into a ramshackle artist collec- tive known as Ghost Ship. Many of the building’s resi- dents were liv- ing there in violation of zoning laws, and the tragedy highlight- ed the glaring failures of the city’s leaders to enforce building and fire codes. The inferno also became an emblem of the rising cost of living in the Bay Area, which led so many people to seek shelter in a rundown building. The two men on trial were Derick Almena, 49, the master tenant and leaseholder, and Max Harris, 29, described by prose- cutors as Almena’s right hand in managing the warehouse, who collected rent from tenants and arranged events. They each were charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter and faced a maximum of 39 years in prison. Harris was acquitted, and the jury told Alameda County Supe- rior Court Judge Trina Thomp- son that they could not reach a BY THOMAS FULLER AND LAUREN HEPLER NEW YORK TIMES TURN TO GHOST » PAGE A7 Max Harris Derick Almena Hurricane batters Carolinas MIC SMITH / ASSOCIATED PRESS Residents look at a downed tree on Thursday in Charleston, South Carolina. CHARLESTON, South Carolina — After its deadly rampage across the Bahamas and brush of the Florida coast, Hurricane Dorian pounded the coastal Carolinas on Thursday, sow- ing fear and worry from the elegant streets of downtown Charleston to the jigsaw puzzle that is North Carolina’s barrier islands. Though thousands of residents had evacuated the region at the urging of government officials, many others stayed behind, where they endured tornadoes, power outages, flooding and tree-toppling winds. In low-lying Charles- ton, the water was knee-high in some streets, though by late afternoon, Shannon Scaff, the director of emergency management, said that the city of 136,000 had largely avoided major catastrophe. “We got hit more than we have in other storms, but anybody familiar with Charleston would probably agree that we got very fortunate yet again,” Scaff said. Further north, where the Cate- gory 2 hurricane’s bands were just starting to be felt, there was lingering concern over winds that reached 105 mph, as well as a kind of war-weari- ness for a region still rebuild- ing from last year’s Hurricane Florence. In the South Carolina coast- al fishing village of McClel- lanville, oysterman and bar- tender Pete Kornack had been taking Dorian seriously as it churned closer to him Thursday morning. But this time, unlike in other hurricanes, he decided to stay put. “I’m not running anymore,” said Kornack, 52, whose mother-in-law is in her 80s and does not travel as well DORIAN » Vacationers flee, many residents stay put as coastal areas hit hard BY RICHARD FAUSSET AND NICHOLAS BOGEL-BURROUGHS NEW YORK TIMES TURN TO CAROLINAS » PAGE A9 INSIDE More coverage on Hurricane Dorian / A8,9
Transcript of FRIDAY, Hurricane batters Carolinasfeeds.pressdemocrat.com/pdf/PD01A090619_120000.pdf · ican...
AT THE MOVIES » Nonprofit takes developmentally disabled to watch film. A3
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL » Windsor looking to keep its winning streak going. C1
READY TO MOVE » Tap dancer, cancer survivor to perform at Gala Celebration. D1
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2019 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM
W I N N E R O F T H E 2 0 1 8 P U L I T Z E R P R I Z E
SANTA ROSAHigh 84, Low 53
THE WEATHER, C8
Advice B7Barber C1Business B8Classified D9Comics B6Crossword B7
Editorial A10Horoscopes B5Lotto A2Movies D6Nevius C1Obituaries B3
©2019 The Press Democrat
CHEMICAL CULPRIT: Researchers find oil in cannabis products linked to outbreak of mysterious lung illnesses / B1
INSIDE
PHOTOS BY KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Emergency coordinator Sam Wallis, foreground, watches returns from Healdsburg come in during a Thursday test of the emergency alert system at the Emergency Operations Center in Santa Rosa. No false alarms were raised during the second annual test.
Alerts set county abuzz2ND TRIAL RUN » Annual test of the emergency warning system goes smoothly as residents get texts, emails to prepare for future disasters
PG&E opposes trial by jury
PG&E is objecting to a judge’s decision that would allow a Cal-ifornia jury to weigh whether the utility is liable for damages caused by the 2017 Tubbs fire that destroyed some 4,600 homes in Sonoma and Napa counties and killed 22 people.
Attorneys for the utility on Wednesday filed a notice of appeal related to U.S. Bank-ruptcy Judge Dennis Montali’s Aug. 16 order giving Tubbs fire plaintiffs a green light to move forward with their civil case against PG&E.
PG&E has sought to avoid that legal battle amid its bankruptcy case, pointing to Cal Fire’s con-clusion this year that private power equipment, not PG&E’s, was to blame for the Tubbs fire, the state’s second-most destruc-tive wildfire on record.
A successful appeal would stave off that trial and limit the utility’s exposure to billions of dollars in liability in the Tubbs fire alone. But fire survivors say it would deny them their day in court — and the chance to press their case that Cal Fire got it wrong in its January report on the fire’s cause.
Will Abrams, who lost his Hidden Hills home in the Tubbs fire, said he felt the appeal was an example of PG&E “shirking responsibility and account-ability” for the wildfires. Aside from Tubbs, most of those sparked during the historic 2017
A Sonoma County Emer-gency Management official clicked a com-
puter mouse a couple of times, reviewed the information on his screen, then clicked again.
“Well that was easy,” Emer-gency Coordinator Sam Wallis said, leaning back in his chair about 10 a.m. Thursday in the aging Sonoma County Emer-gency Operations Center in northeast Santa Rosa.
Thirty miles north, at Plank Coffee Shop in Cloverdale,
cellphones began buzzing and ringing — a sudden burst of wireless activity triggered by the latest test of the county’s emergency notification sys-tems.
“Our entire café went off with a bunch of alerts,” said worker Shianne Treankle.
Most were caught unaware of the planned trial run, the second for the county in a year. But no false alarms were raised, Treankle said.
“It said at the very end, ‘Test; no action required,’ ” she said.
County Supervisor James Gore displays a notification received Thursday during the latest run of the emergency alert system.
Utility seeks to avoid separate proceeding over Tubbs fire liabilityBy WILL SCHMITT AND CHANTELLE LEETHE PRESS DEMOCRAT
By TYLER SILVYTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT
TURN TO ALERTS » PAGE A2
TURN TO PG&E » PAGE A2
No convictions in 2016 warehouse fire trial
SAN FRANCISCO — A jury in Oakland acquitted one man and could not reach a decision on a second man’s role in a 2016 warehouse blaze that killed 36 people, one of the deadliest structural fires in recent Amer-ican history.
The fire tore through a late-night party in Oakland’s Fruit-vale neighborhood on Dec. 2,
2016, in a build-ing that had been trans-formed into a r a m s h a c k l e artist collec-tive known as Ghost Ship.
Many of the building’s resi-dents were liv-ing there in violation of zoning laws, and the tragedy highlight-ed the glaring failures of the city’s leaders to enforce building
and fire codes. The inferno also became an emblem of the rising cost of living in the Bay Area, which led so many people to seek shelter in a rundown
building.The two men on trial were
Derick Almena, 49, the master tenant and leaseholder, and Max
Harris, 29, described by prose-cutors as Almena’s right hand in managing the warehouse, who collected rent from tenants and arranged events. They each were charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter and faced a maximum of 39 years in prison.
Harris was acquitted, and the jury told Alameda County Supe-rior Court Judge Trina Thomp-son that they could not reach a
BY THOMAS FULLER AND LAUREN HEPLERNEW YORK TIMES
TURN TO GHOST » PAGE A7
MaxHarris
DerickAlmena
Hurricane batters Carolinas
MIC SMITH / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Residents look at a downed tree on Thursday in Charleston, South Carolina.
CHARLESTON, South Carolina — After its deadly rampage across the Bahamas and brush of the Florida coast, Hurricane Dorian pounded the coastal Carolinas on Thursday, sow-ing fear and worry from the elegant streets of downtown Charleston to the jigsaw puzzle that is North Carolina’s barrier islands.
Though thousands of residents had
evacuated the region at the urging of government officials, many others stayed behind, where they endured tornadoes, power outages, flooding and tree-toppling winds. In low-lying Charles-ton, the water was knee-high in some streets, though by late afternoon, Shannon Scaff, the director of emergency management, said that the city of 136,000 had largely avoided major catastrophe.
“We got hit more than we have in other storms, but anybody familiar with Charleston would probably agree that we got very fortunate yet again,” Scaff said.
Further north, where the Cate-gory 2 hurricane’s bands were just
starting to be felt, there was lingering concern over winds that reached 105 mph, as well as a kind of war-weari-
ness for a region still rebuild-ing from last year’s Hurricane Florence.
In the South Carolina coast-al fishing village of McClel-lanville, oysterman and bar-
tender Pete Kornack had been taking Dorian seriously as it churned closer to him Thursday morning. But this time, unlike in other hurricanes, he decided to stay put.
“I’m not running anymore,” said Kornack, 52, whose mother-in-law is in her 80s and does not travel as well
DORIAN » Vacationers flee, many residents stay put as coastal areas hit hardBY RICHARD FAUSSET AND NICHOLAS BOGEL-BURROUGHSNEW YORK TIMES
TURN TO CAROLINAS » PAGE A9
INSIDEMore coverage on Hurricane Dorian / A8,9
