Category: US

The Pacific Crest Trail is over 2,600 miles of varied, stunning hiking from the California-Mexico border up to the Washington-Canada border. It’s believed that hundreds of people attempt to complete the full hike each year, but it’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of people enjoy some section of the trail annually.

In response to the fire, the Forest Service has closed 110 miles of the PCT. The emergency closure order is in effect through August 30.

“The closure is from Etna Summit (mile 1600) in Northern California to Mt. Ashland Campground (~mile 1710) in Southern Oregon,” the PCT’s official website says. “If you are on the PCT in this area, please evacuate to the closest town.”

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The McKinney Fire broke out on Friday in the Klamath National Forest, about 15 miles south of the Oregon border, sending out a massive pyrocumulus cloud and triggering a flurry of evacuations in small forestland communities in the northern most part of the Golden State. The McKinney Fire was reported at 300 acres on Friday night with no containment, and exploded overnight, reaching 30,000 acres by Saturday evening, the US Forest Service said.

“Because of the erratic winds the fire is going all over the place,” Caroline Quintanilla, a public information officer with the US Forest Service, told SFGATE on Saturday afternoon.

For full updates on the McKinney Fire, click here.

SFGATE news editor Amy Graff contributed to this report.

He also made sure to credit Sinema with cajoling Democrats into that tax-skeptic position after many in her party weighed surtaxes on high earners and pushed for rate increases. Though Sinema’s stayed quiet since Manchin and Schumer announced the deal on Wednesday, Manchin said that he “would like to think she’d be favorable to it.”

“Kyrsten Sinema is a friend of mine, and we work very close together. She has a tremendous, tremendous input in this legislation,” Manchin said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “She basically insisted [on] no tax increases, [we’ve] do that. And she was very, very adamant about that, I agree with her. She was also very instrumental” on prescription drug reform.

Manchin and Sinema were aligned for months last year on pushing back against Democrats’ plans to spend as much as $3.5 trillion. Sinema worked on the prescription drug piece and helped shape the revenue package significantly late last year before Manchin rejected what was once called Build Back Better.

Now they are in different places. Manchin negotiated the deal one-on-one with Majority Leader Schumer while Sinema was caught completely off guard by its announcement, particularly the inclusion of a provision narrowing the so-called carried interest loophole, which brings in $14 billion of the bill’s $739 billion in new revenues.

Manchin said he didn’t brief Sinema or anyone else in the Democratic Caucus on his negotiations because of the very real possibility they would fall apart. He said on CNN that when Sinema “looks at the bill and sees the whole spectrum of what we’re doing and all of the energy we’re bringing in, all of the reduction of prices and fighting inflation by bringing prices down, by having more energy, hopefully, she will be positive about it.”

Sinema had no new public comments on Sunday as she studies the bill and waits for the Senate parliamentarian to rule on whether it meets the conditions to evade a GOP filibuster. Sinema’s always been cooler on changing the tax code than Manchin, citing concerns over changing tax policies that might restrict economic growth or competitiveness.

The legislation plows $369 billion into energy production and fighting climate change, $300 billion into deficit reduction, lowers some prescription drug prices and extends Affordable Care Act subsidies through 2024. It claws back revenue by increasing IRS enforcement, narrows the so-called carried interest loophole on investment gains and imposes a 15 percent corporate minimum tax on corporations worth $1 billion or more.

A Joint Committee on Taxation summary found that the bill would slightly increase tax rates on some people earning under $400,000, leading Sen. mike krapo (R-Idaho) to say that the legislation “will do nothing to bring the economy out of stagnation and recession, but it will raise billions of dollars in taxes on Americans making less than $400,000.”

But Ashley Schapitl, a spokesperson for Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said those families “will not pay one penny in additional taxes under this bill” and said the JCT analysis is not complete because “it doesn’t include the benefits to middle-class families of making health insurance premiums and prescription drugs more affordable. The same goes for clean energy incentives for families.”

Manchin put it even more plainly on “Meet the Press.”

“I agree with my Republican friends that we should not increase taxes. And we did not increase taxes,” he said. “This is an all-American bill.”

The West Virginia Democrat also answered several questions about the second part of a deal: an agreement with Biden, Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi to increase energy production by implementing federal permitting reform. That piece was excluded from the party-line bill because it is likely to run afoul of the strict budget rules on reconciliation bills.

Asked how he can be so sure that will pass later, Manchin offered a warning on Fox News if it doesn’t happen: “There will be consequences.”

Manchin’s urgent push comes ahead of a critical week for the Democratic Party. With Covid infections still infiltrating their 50-seat majority, Democrats are trying to stick to a tricky landing ahead of the August recess. Democrats probably need all their members in town to pass the Manchin deal and still need to get the legislation cleared by the Senate parliamentarian.

On the attendance side, Sen. patrick leahy (D-Vt.) announced he would be available for votes this week, a critical boost for Democrats. Provided all Democrats show up this week, they can pass the Manchin-Schumer legislation with Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote, though first they’ll have to all stick together during an unlimited “vote-a-rama” to keep Republicans from gutting the carefully negotiated bill.

A group of Washington Post opinion writers ranked who they believe would be the Democratic nominee for president in 2024 on Friday if President Biden doesn’t run for reelection.

“Well, President Biden is who we’ve got, and he’s who the Democrats have got going into 2024. Unless …” the article said. The opinion columnists on the “Post Pundit Power Ranking” ranked Vice President Kamala Harris as most likely to win the Democratic nomination. They describe her as the most obvious choice of her, but columnist Megan McArdle said she was also “charmless, gaffe-prone and not particularly beloved by voters.”

Jennifer Rubin wrote that “it would be shocking if the incumbent vice president didn’t run.”

The second most likely to win the Democratic nomination, according to the Post columnists, is Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

BIDEN’S 2024 INTENTIONS DON’T STOP POTENTIAL DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDERS FROM RAISING THEIR PROFILES

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a meeting with Guatemalan justice sector leaders, in the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Wednesday, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
((AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta))

“Nobody is smarter, nobody is better in a debate. The deficiencies that hampered Buttigieg in 2020 — he was so young, he had never run anything bigger than a small Midwestern city — are taken care of,” Eugene Robinson wrote.

Hugh Hewitt praised Buttigieg’s ability to answer questions from the media.

“He’s still smooth as silk on air and online, and he has a campaign in waiting. Democrats need someone who can win arguments, not sputter through cliches and talking points, all while being under 60,” Hewitt wrote.

Democratic lawmakers have spoken out against the president’s bid for reelection in recent weeks as some are concerned with Biden’s age and plummeting approval rating. A New York Times/Siena College poll from June found that 64% of Democratic voters want a different nominee in 2024.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif, was next on the Washington Post columnists’ list.

“Given his state’s makeup, Newsom is free to sign all kinds of progressive legislation, contrasting the national party’s failures,” Greg Sargent wrote, adding that his efforts to respond to the Supreme Court’s abortion decision will appear to voters angered by recent decisions.

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 09: California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a bill signing ceremony. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

DEMOCRATS GRUMBLE OPENLY ABOUT BIDEN’S AGE, EFFECTIVENESS AS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION LOOMS

Columnist Matt Bai argued that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., was the party’s strongest candidate. She was ranked as the fourth choice, followed by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., Sen. Raphael Warnock, DG.A., Sen. Cory Booker, DN.J., and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

“If Biden doesn’t run (and I really think he won’t), hypothetically, the party’s strongest candidate would be Whitmer,” Bai said. “She’s media savvy and she has a record to run on. Only one person pushes every button. Nearly being kidnapped by crazy extremists does n’t hurt, either.”

Columnist Greg Abernathy said Ocasio-Cortez as a potential candidate should not be dismissed.

“AOC is a media darling and social media superstar with a knack for getting attention. She’s intelligent and well-spoken and a perfect fit for the selfie generation. In a culture that demonizes older leaders like never before, she’ll be just old enough , constitutionally, to be sworn in on Jan. 20, 2025,” he wrote.

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 26: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks during a news conference to discuss legislation that would strengthen Social Security benefits, on Capitol Hill October 26, 2021, in Washington, DC
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The president is reportedly annoyed by the growing questions surrounding his 2024 bid coming from members of his own party. His aides told the New York Times in June that they see it as a “lack of respect from their party and the press.”

“Yreka Police Department has issued an Evacuation Order for the area west of Fairchild Street and Shasta Street to include Oakridge Mobile Estates,” the Forest Service announced Saturday evening. “This area is being evacuated due to proximity to the fire and the need for additional time necessary for this group of residents to safely evacuate. Residents in the Evacuation Order area should evacuate immediately.

“An Evacuation Warning has been issued for all areas of Yreka west of I-5. Residents in the Evacuation Warning area should prepare to evacuate and should be ready if the area is changed to an order.”

Weather conditions are not favorable for fire crews. On Sunday, they’re expecting single-digit humidity, lightning, blazing temperatures and gusting winds, which “will continue to be the drivers for the extreme fire behavior.” The Forest Service expects “structure defense operations continue along the Highway 96 corridor [and] Beaver Creek community.” Over the next day, they’re projecting “fire growth… to spread in all directions as Red Flag Warning for thunderstorms and lightning are in the forecast. Fire could impact Gottville, Humbug Road area on the east flank. Movement towards Scott Bar is expected as the fire moves of Collins Baldy.”

ALSO READ: Dozens rescued from Pacific Crest Trail as McKinney Fire threatens

The McKinney Fire broke out on Friday in the Klamath National Forest, about 15 miles south of the Oregon border, sending out a massive pyrocumulus cloud and triggering a flurry of evacuations in small forestland communities in the northern most part of the Golden State. The McKinney Fire was reported at 300 acres on Friday night with no containment, and exploded overnight, reaching 18,000 acres by Saturday morning, the US Forest Service said.

“Because of the erratic winds the fire is going all over the place,” Caroline Quintanilla, a public information officer with the US Forest Service, told SFGATE on Saturday afternoon.

The blaze started at 2:38 pm in the Oak Knoll Ranger District west of the Walker Creek Bridge on the south side of the Klamath River, the US Forest Service said. Thunderstorms passed over the region Friday night and may have exacerbated the blaze.”We had 100 lightning strikes in western Siskiyou County last night,” said Brad Schaaf, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Medford, Ore.

“It looks like the fire definitely came first, before the thunderstorms,” ​​Schaaf said. “It looks like there was a wind gust from the fire that aided the thunderstorm development. The first lightning strikes happened after 7 pm”

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Schaaf said the fire put out a 39,000-foot-tall pyrocumulus cloud at 11:30 pm Friday. “It’s unusual for a fire to put out a fire cloud of that size late at night because usually fires stabilize after sunset,” he said.

Pyrocumulus clouds, also known as fire clouds, form when air heats up and moves upward, pushing smoke, ash and vapor up with it. They are a sign that fire activity on the ground is increasing.

Multiple roads were closed due to the blaze including Highway 96, Scott River Road, Highway 96, and Highway 263, the Siskiyou Office of Emergency Services said.

Two other smaller fires were reported near the McKinney Fire, the China Peak Fire and the Evans Peak Fire. The Klamath National Forest said at 11 am on Saturday that the China Fire had combined with the Evans Fire and was about 300 to 350 acres and 2 to 3 miles west of the town of Seiad Valley.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Volunteers from the local Mennonite community carry debris from flood-soaked houses at Ogden Hollar in Hindman, Ky., on Saturday.

Timothy D. Easley/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Timothy D. Easley/AP

Volunteers from the local Mennonite community carry debris from flood-soaked houses at Ogden Hollar in Hindman, Ky., on Saturday.

Timothy D. Easley/AP

PRESTONBURG, Ky. — Some residents of Appalachia returned to flood-ravaged homes and communities on Saturday to shovel mud and debris and to salvage what they could, while Kentucky’s governor said search and rescue operations were ongoing in the region swamped by torrential rains days earlier that led to deadly flash flooding.

Rescue crews were continuing the struggle to get into hard-hit areas, some of them among the poorest places in America. Dozens of deaths have been confirmed and the number is expected to grow.

In the tiny community of Wayland, Phillip Michael Caudill was working Saturday to clean up debris and recover what he could from the home he shares with his wife and three children. The waters had receded from the house but left a mess behind along with questions about what he and his family will do next.

“We’re just hoping we can get some help,” said Caudill, who is staying with his family at Jenny Wiley State Park in a free room, for now.

Caudill, a firefighter in the nearby Garrett community, went out on rescues around 1 am Thursday but had to ask to leave around 3 am so he could go home, where waters were rapidly rising.

“That’s what made it so tough for me,” he said. “Here I am, sitting there, watching my house become immersed in water and you got people begging for help. And I could n’t help,” because he was tending to his own family from him.

The water was up to his knees when he arrived home and he had to wade across the yard and carry two of his kids out to the car. He could barely shut the door of his SUV as they were leaving.

Cleanup efforts are under way in eastern Kentucky.

Timothy D. Easley/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Timothy D. Easley/AP

Cleanup efforts are under way in eastern Kentucky.

Timothy D. Easley/AP

In Garrett on Saturday, couches, tables and pillows soaked by flooding were stacked in yards along the foothills of the mountainous region as people worked to clear out debris and shovel mud from driveways and roads under now-blue skies.

Hubert Thomas, 60, and his nephew Harvey, 37, fled to Jenny Wiley State Resort Park in Prestonburg after floodwaters destroyed their home in Pine Top late Wednesday night. The two were able to rescue their dog, CJ, but fear the damages to the home are beyond repair. Hubert Thomas, a retired coal miner, said his entire life savings was invested in his home.

“I’ve got nothing now,” he said.

Harvey Thomas, an EMT, said he fell asleep to the sound of light rain, and it wasn’t long until his uncle woke him up warning him that water was getting dangerously close to the house.

“It was coming inside and it just kept getting worse,” he said, “like there was, at one point, we looked at the front door and mine and his cars were playing bumper cars, like bumper boats in the middle of our front yard.”

As for what’s next, Harvey Thomas said he doesn’t know, but he’s thankful to be alive.

“Mountain people are strong,” he said. “And like I said it’s not going to be tomorrow, probably not next month, but I think everybody’s going to be okay. It’s just going to be a long process.”

Kentucky is the latest state to be hit by severe flooding this summer

At least 25 people have died — including four children — in the flooding, Kentucky’s governor said Saturday.

“We continue to pray for the families that have suffered an unfathomable loss,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “Some have lost almost everyone in their household.”

Beshear said the number would likely rise significantly and it could take weeks to find all the victims of the record flash flooding. Crews have made more than 1,200 rescues from helicopters and boats, the governor said.

“I’m worried that we’re going to be finding bodies for weeks to come,” Beshear said during a midday briefing.

The rain let up early Friday after parts of eastern Kentucky received between 8 and 10 1/2 inches (20-27 centimeters) over 48 hours. But some waterways were not expected to crest until Saturday. About 18,000 utility customers in Kentucky remained without power Saturday, poweroutage.us reported.

It’s the latest in a string of catastrophic deluges that have pounded parts of the US this summer, including St. Louis earlier this week and again on Friday. Scientists warn climate change is making weather disasters more common.

As rainfall hammered Appalachia this week, water tumbled down hillsides and into valleys and hollows where it swelled creeks and streams coursing through small towns. The torrent engulfed homes and businesses and trashed vehicles. Mudslides marooned some people on steep slopes.

President Joe Biden declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to more than a dozen Kentucky counties.

As climate change affects weather patterns, officials will have to grapple with plans on how to handle the impact

The flooding extended into western Virginia and southern West Virginia.

Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for six counties in West Virginia where the flooding downed trees, power outages and blocked roads. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin also made an emergency declaration, enabling officials to mobilize resources across the flooded southwest of the state.

The deluge came two days after record rains around St. Louis dropped more than 12 inches (31 centimeters) and killed at least two people. Last month, heavy rain on mountain snow in Yellowstone National Park triggered historic flooding and the evacuation of more than 10,000 people. In both instances, the rain flooding far exceeded what forecasters predicted.

Extreme rain events have become more common as climate change bakes the planet and alters weather patterns, according to scientists. That’s a growing challenge for officials during disasters, because models used to predict storm impacts are in part based on past events and can’t keep up with increasingly devastating flash floods and heat waves like those that have recently hit the Pacific Northwest and southern Plains.

“It’s a battle of extremes going on right now in the United States,” said University of Oklahoma meteorologist Jason Furtado. “These are things we expect to happen because of climate change. … A warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor and that means you can produce increased heavy rainfall.”

Gov. Andy Beshear is expected to visit flood-devastated areas of eastern Kentucky on Sunday, after more than two dozen people were confirmed dead and rescue efforts continued.

As of Sunday, at least 26 people had died as a result of severe storms that caused record flash flooding as well as mudslides and landslides, Beshear said. In a YouTube video posted on Sunday, the governor said that his office was aware of additional bodies but could “not confirm those deaths at this time.”

“We want to make sure we wrap our arms around our eastern Kentucky brothers and sisters. The next couple days are going to be hard,” he said.

Beshear warned that more rain was expected in the upcoming days, and conditions could worsen.

Beshear had previously said six children were among the dead, but brought the number down to four during a press conference early Saturday afternoon after confirming two of the victims were actually adults.

“I’m worried we’re going to be finding bodies in weeks to come,” Beshear said. “Keep praying.”

Officials have not yet been able to get an accurate count of missing people as rescue crews struggle to get into hard-hit areas, some of them among the poorest places in the nation.

Making the task more difficult is the fact that many affected areas remain without cell service, limiting people’s ability to establish contact with affected loved ones, Beshear said.

More than 700 individuals have been rescued so far by helicopters and boats from the Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia National Guards as well as several other agencies aiding with rescue efforts, Beshear said.

“Our goal today is to get as many people to safety as possible,” he said, while also urging people in impacted areas to prepare for more rain in the coming days.

Flood warning alerts are expected to remain in place in parts of Kentucky until Sunday and Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

“It’s not fair it’s going to rain again,” Beshear said. “I don’t want to lose one more person.”

Just over the past two days, affected areas received between 8 and 10 1/2 inches of rain. Still, some waterways were not expected to crest until Saturday.

About 16,000 power customers remained without electricity Saturday morning, according to Kentucky Power.

Fifteen emergency shelters have already been established in the area to help anyone affected by the floods, Beshear said.

Federal disaster assistance has been made available to Kentucky after President Joe Biden issued a major disaster declaration, FEMA announced Friday.

On Saturday, Biden said he added Individual Assistance to the Major Disaster declaration in hopes of further helping displaced families.

Kahan Rosenblatt and Associated Press contributed.

A week ago, President Biden seemed down on his luck.

He had just been diagnosed with COVID-19, after dodging it for more than two years.

He was being bashed by people in his own party for appearing flat-footed on abortion.

The all-important climate legislation he had been pushing seemed dead in the water.

And as if things couldn’t appear any worse, The New York Times had recently released a poll showing that most Democrats wanted someone else to run for their party’s nomination in 2024.

But a lot changed in a week.

Biden defeated his COVID-19 symptoms, and despite testing positive on Saturday after days of testing negative in what his doctor deemed a rebound case, it looks like the president has avoided any severe illness.

Gas prices are at the lowest they’ve been in weeks.

He’ll soon sign a bipartisan bill to boost the domestic chip industry, which has been a major priority.

And there’s an emerging deal in the Senate on his domestic climate and health agenda that caught almost all of Washington off guard this week.

But it’s not all good for Biden. The Commerce Department on Thursday said the economy shrank for a second straight quarter, raising fears of a recession.

But overall, it was the best week in some time for the president. He even got some props from his old boss on his bout of good news.

“This has been a big week for the Biden Administration and Democrats in Congress,” former President Obama said on Thursday, highlighting the movement on legislation. “Progress doesn’t always happen all at once, but it does happen – and this is what it looks like.”

Even Democrats who had questioned Biden’s leadership days earlier were feeling more optimistic.

“He had a really good f—ing week,” said one Democratic strategist, who acknowledged doubting the White House’s strategy– or lack thereof – earlier this month. “And it’s a good reminder that things can change so quickly in politics. Remember when everyone was writing those OMG Biden has COVID stories? That was a week ago.”

The legislative victories, while not set in stone just yet, are potentially game-changing for Biden and the Democrats, after more than a year of wrangling in Congress — much of it messy and public — over Biden’s economic agenda.

Jim Kessler, executive vice president for policy at the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way, said that if both the semiconductor bill and the reconciliation package succeed, “the first two years of the Biden administration are probably the biggest of any Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson .”

“That shows competence,” he said.

Progressives hungry for climate action and frustrated by months of inaction have a reason to look up because of the deal announced this past week.

“If this bill passes, not only is it historic, it’s going to help drive up youth voter turnout for the election,” said Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, president and executive director of the youth voting group NexGen America, noting that policy to fight climate change was a major motivator for young voters in 2020 who turned out to support Biden.

However, it’s unclear whether that enthusiasm will translate into more support for Biden among young voters, who polls have shown souring on Biden.

“At the end of the day, what I think people have to remember is, Biden was never the youth candidate,” said Tzintzún Ramirez. “If [Democrats are] able to get this done, it shows young people their vote really does help deliver the policy agenda that they want.”

Biden is contending with record high inflation and remains underwater in the polls, with his national approval average around 38 percent.

But Democratic strategist Rodell Mollineau said Biden has been “unfairly plagued” by what he hasn’t accomplished versus what he has and the legislative deals are sure to re-energize him, particularly when it comes to the base.

Mollineau acknowledged that it will continue to be a roller coaster ride for Biden.

“He’s gonna have good weeks and bad weeks between now and the midterms and between now and his reelection,” he said.

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) said in a local radio interview on Thursday that he would not support Biden running again in 2024, instead calling for a “generational change” at the top of the ticket

“I think the country would be well-served by a new generation of compelling, well-prepared, dynamic Democrats who step up,” he said on Chad Hartman’s radio show.

Those comments came after news of the deal on a sweeping reconciliation package that had most corners of the Democratic Party swimming with excitement.

“The president intends to run in 2024. We are ways away from 2024,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday when asked about Phillips’s remarks. “We are going to continue to focus on doing the business of the American people, by delivering for families, by lowering costs for families.”

A CNN poll this week found that 75 percent of Democrats want someone other than Biden to run in 2024, following up on a similar poll earlier in the month from The New York Times and Siena College.

That leaves some skeptical Biden can turn it around.

“At the end of the day, people that don’t like Biden are still not going to like Biden if they’re concerned about everything from his age to his political acumen, I don’t think this changes the needle that much,” said Basil Smikle, a Democratic strategist and director of the public policy program at Hunter College.

But Mollineau said he thinks that often times, journalists and talking heads “look at the last piece of data and make long term assumptions” about Biden’s viability.

He added that Biden is skilled at playing the long game.

“How many times was he written off as dead during the 2020 primary?” he said. “So many folks have been ready and willing to write him off but he’s playing a much larger game than one news cycle.”