Thursday, 28 Mar 2024

PG&E’s Power Outages: What You Need to Know

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Pacific Gas & Electric is cutting service for as many as 800,000 customers in 34 counties over fire danger from high winds forecast for today and tomorrow. It is the most extreme step the utility has taken to prevent wildfires after its equipment was determined to have sparked dozens of blazes in recent years.

PG&E anticipates that it will begin turning power back on starting Thursday, when winds subside. But it could take as long as five days to check all the lines and restore power. Our San Francisco bureau chief, Thomas Fuller, gave us an overview of what to expect.

See more coverage from the Chico Enterprise-Record, Half Moon Bay Review, KQED, The Mercury News, Napa Valley Register, The Press Democrat, The Sacramento Bee, the San Francisco Chronicle and more.

Will you lose electricity? Check if your address falls in a shut-off zone with this interactive map. [San Francisco Chronicle]

Beginning at 8 a.m., PG&E is opening more than two dozen resource centers in affected counties. The centers will have restrooms, bottled water, electronic-device charging and air-conditioned seating. Here’s a full list of the locations.

Also: Here’s how to prepare for power outages. [The New York Times] [The Press Democrat]

And help us learn more: If you are affected by a planned outage, how are you dealing with it? What kinds of challenges have you faced? Email us at [email protected].

‘As a fan, as a player, you live for moments like this’

Tyler Kepner, who covers baseball for The Times, has a dispatch about this evening’s matchup in Los Angeles:

Ahead of the action today, Dave Roberts could appreciate the scene that is set to unfold at Dodger Stadium: two ace pitchers, one for his Dodgers and one for the Washington Nationals, in the decisive game of the best-of-five National League division series.

“Game 5, win or go home, Buehler-Strasburg — those guys are premier pitchers in this league,” said Roberts, the Dodgers’ manager. “As a fan, as a player, you live for moments like this.”

The Dodgers and the Nationals have alternated victories in this series, with Walker Buehler winning the opener for Los Angeles and Stephen Strasburg the second game for Washington. Both aces rested as the teams split in D.C., setting up a finale in the shadows (first pitch: 5:37 p.m. P.S.T., televised by TBS).

The winner will meet the Atlanta Braves or the St. Louis Cardinals in the best-of-seven N.L. Championship Series starting Friday. The Dodgers, who had the N.L.’s best record at 106-56, will host Game 1 if they advance.

Strasburg has given up one run in nine innings this October, with 14 strikeouts and no walks. Buehler has fired 13 shutout innings in his last two postseason starts, allowing only three hits. If he falters, Clayton Kershaw will be ready in relief.

“The thing that’s kind of lost in playoff baseball is that it’s really fun,” Buehler said. “The pressure and things like that, if you spin it in your head the right way, it can make it more fun.”

As fun as baseball can be, it has also been cruel to the Dodgers and the Nationals, consistent winners in the regular season who always fall short in October. The Dodgers have the most victories in the majors across the last eight seasons, with 757. The Nationals rank second, with 730. Yet neither franchise has captured a championship in that time.

The Dodgers have come close, at least, losing the 2017 World Series to Houston and last year to Boston. The Nationals, though, have never even survived the division series. This is their fifth visit to this round in eight seasons, and they are seeking their first appearance in N.L.C.S. since 1981, when they were the Montreal Expos.

In that series, the fifth and final game was tied in the ninth inning until the Expos surrendered a home run and lost. The hitter was Rick Monday — then the Dodgers’ right fielder, now their longtime radio broadcaster. He will call the action on KLAC-570 AM, with Charley Steiner, for another tense playoff finale.

[Read more of Tyler’s work here.]

And here’s what else we’re following

We often link to sites that limit access for nonsubscribers. We appreciate your reading Times coverage, but we also encourage you to support local news if you can.

The White House declared war on the House impeachment inquiry, announcing that it would not cooperate with what it called an illegitimate and partisan effort “to overturn the results of the 2016 election.” [The New York Times]

President Trump took aim at California over high gas prices. Gov. Gavin Newsom fired back, saying, “You have no credibility on this issue.” [Twitter]

Here’s more about California’s fight with the president over the state’s vehicle emissions rules. [The New York Times]

California will become the first state in the nation to allow pharmacies to dispense H.I.V.-prevention drugs over the counter. [The New York Times]

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping rent cap bill that would limit how much landlords can raise rents beginning in January. [Pasadena Star-News]

The state introduced its first toll-free mental health line to assist those struggling with mental and emotional well-being. [KTLA]

A Santa Ana man was convicted of cyberstalking and threatening relatives of those killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. [The New York Times]

Building Salesforce Park 70 feet in the air in San Francisco showed how complex it can be to piggyback green space onto active infrastructure. [The New York Times]

Church leaders boasted that their well water was the cleanest in Sacramento. But test results showed that it contained toxic chemicals from firefighting foam on a nearby Air Force base. [The Los Angeles Times]

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey is Christian — but that has not stopped him from leaning on his decades of Jewish learning as he runs for president. “I think of Cory as Jew-ish,” Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles said. [The New York Times]

A new gospel is spreading in start-up land: Turning a profit is now the priority over fast growth. [The New York Times]

A gabled Laurel Canyon home, an Irvine townhouse, a Sonoma County Victorian: Here’s what $1 million gets you around California. [The New York Times]

And finally …

Walter Thompson-Hernández, a reporter for our Styles desk in Los Angeles, wrote about CicLAvia’s Heart of L.A. event, which aims to give carless Angelenos free rein over different parts of the city:

While Los Angeles continues to be known for its car culture, CicLAvia’s celebration of bikes in the city gave some residents hope.

Thousands of cyclists, walkers and joggers turned out on Sunday along a six-mile route that began in MacArthur Park and ended in Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights. This year’s event commemorated the 100th anniversary of U.C.L.A.

Elisa Hernandez, a resident of Huntington Park, took a bus to the event to walk among the crowds. “I came here because my doctor told me to exercise,” she said. “But I also love seeing bikes all over the city.”

[Read more of Walter’s work here.]

California Today goes live at 6:30 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: [email protected]. Were you forwarded this email? Sign up for California Today here.

California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley.

Inyoung Kang is an editor and producer on the News Desk. @inyoungk

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