Indy Digest: Aug. 10, 2023
Climate change. It’s here. It’s real. It’s awful.
You’ve surely heard about the unprecedented fires in Hawaii right now, particularly Maui. As of this writing, 53 people are confirmed to have died—that number will almost certainly rise—and the town of Lahaina is, well, gone.
You can read the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s coverage here, and Maui Now’s coverage here.
NBC News’ coverage page is here. A snippet:
The catastrophic wildfires in Hawaii were fueled by severe drought conditions and fierce, hurricane-strength winds — a confluence of extremes amplified by climate change that experts say quickly turned a bad situation into a worst-case scenario.
The precise cause of the wildfires is not yet known, emergency officials said Wednesday, but they were exacerbated in part by strong easterly trade winds whipped up by Hurricane Dora.
“Our most disastrous wildfires in U.S. history have been associated with extremely strong wind events,” said Crystal Kolden, a pyrogeographer and associate professor at the University of California, Merced, who once worked as a wildland firefighter.
A fire researcher, writing for The Conversation, offers some context:
Fires have become an increasing risk in many areas of the U.S. that people once considered safe.
Over the past two decades, a staggering 21.8 million Americans found themselves living within 3 miles (5 kilometers) of a large wildfire. Nearly 600,000 of them were directly exposed to the fire, with their homes inside the wildfire perimeter. That number—people directly exposed to wildfires—more than doubled from 2000 to 2019, my team’s recent research shows.
But while commentators often blame the rising risk on homebuilders pushing deeper into the wildland areas, we found that the population growth in these high-risk areas explained only a small part of the increase in the number of people who were exposed to wildfires.
Instead, three-quarters of this trend was driven by intense fires growing out of control and encroaching on existing communities.
Listen up: There’s a good chance you live in an area that could be devastated by a wildfire. Do what you can to prepare—because climate change is not going away.
—Jimmy Boegle
From the Independent
Better Together: After Teaming Up During the Pandemic, Local United Way Affiliates Decide to Merge
By Kevin Fitzgerald
August 9th, 2023
The partnership between the Inland SoCal United Way and the United Way of the Desert during the pandemic wound up serving as a “proof-of-concept” for more dual efforts—eventually culminating in a merger of the two affiliates.
The Indy Endorsement: The Toffee Granucci Gelato at Gelato Granucci
By Jimmy Boegle
August 10th, 2023
The Toffee Granucci—toffee gelato with Brandini Toffee crumbles folded in—is packed with toffee flavor. It’s smooth, and it’s oh-so-good.
The Weekly Independent Comics Page for Aug. 10, 2023!
By Staff
August 10th, 2023
Topics touched upon this week include Big Legacy Newspapers, Shirley Chisholm, unscrupulous attorneys, prison guards—and more!
More News
• The stories about insurance companies’ hesitance to do business in California are getting increasingly bonkers. The latest, from ABC7 Bay Area/KGO: “It’s becoming harder and harder to get a homeowner insurance policy in California. State Farm and Allstate stopped writing new policies, citing wildfire risks. Others are limiting new customers. And now, several viewers tell 7 On Your Side that AAA is not renewing their longtime policies—and it has nothing to do with wildfires. These homeowners were surprised to find out aircraft and satellites were taking photos over their homes. They were baffled to find out the reasons AAA dropped their coverage—everything from clutter in the yard to draining a swimming pool to save water.”
• ProPublica continues to dig up news about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ unethical willingness to accept freebies from all sorts of rich people. The latest: “Like clockwork, Thomas’ leisure activities have been underwritten by benefactors who share the ideology that drives his jurisprudence. Their gifts include: At least 38 destination vacations, including a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas; 26 private jet flights, plus an additional eight by helicopter; a dozen VIP passes to professional and college sporting events, typically perched in the skybox; two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica; and one standing invitation to an uber-exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast. … While some of the hospitality, such as stays in personal homes, may not have required disclosure, Thomas appears to have violated the law by failing to disclose flights, yacht cruises and expensive sports tickets, according to ethics experts. Perhaps even more significant, the pattern exposes consistent violations of judicial norms, experts, including seven current and former federal judges appointed by both parties, told ProPublica.”
• Parents sending kids back to school are enduring the harsh effects of inflation. The Los Angeles Times says: “Families with children in elementary, middle, and high schools are spending an average of $890.07 this year on back-to-school items, such as accessories, electronics, and clothing. At the same time, prices for writing tools and supplies—including crayons, highlighters, pens, and pencils—have increased an average of 18.5% between August 2022 and June 2023. According to data provided to The Times by market analytics firm NielsenIQ, the cost of planners, binders and folders increased by an average of 48.5% in that same period. The price of ‘paper and forms’ for school and office has jumped 80%.”
• While I’m not a huge fan of anything having to do with credit ratings, I must admit this sounds kinda ominous. CNBC reports: “Moody’s cut the credit ratings of a host of small and midsized U.S. banks late Monday and placed several big Wall Street names on negative review. The firm lowered the ratings of 10 banks by one rung, while major lenders Bank of New York Mellon, U.S. Bancorp, State Street, Truist Financial, Cullen/Frost Bankers and Northern Trust are now under review for a potential downgrade. Moody’s also changed its outlook to negative for 11 banks, including Capital One, Citizens Financial and Fifth Third Bancorp. … ‘U.S. banks continue to contend with interest rate and asset-liability management risks with implications for liquidity and capital, as the wind-down of unconventional monetary policy drains systemwide deposits and higher interest rates depress the value of fixed-rate assets,’ Moody’s analysts Jill Cetina and Ana Arsov said in the accompanying research note. ‘Meanwhile, many banks’ Q2 results showed growing profitability pressures that will reduce their ability to generate internal capital. This comes as a mild U.S. recession is on the horizon for early 2024 and asset quality looks set to decline from solid but unsustainable levels, with particular risks in some banks’ commercial real estate portfolios.’” Um …
• Locally, CVRep is holding a casting call for high school-age actors this weekend. From a news release: “Coachella Valley Repertory’s Youth Outreach Program is holding auditions for high school-aged actors and actresses for a new production of OPHELIA LIVES! by Gillette Elvgren. The auditions will be held on Saturday, Aug. 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at CVRep, located at 68510 E. Palm Canyon Drive in Cathedral City, CA. In addition to the experience of performing on the CVRep mainstage, students who are selected will have the valuable opportunity of working with professional designers, directors, and backstage crew. … Actors should be prepared with a short monologue and may be asked to read from OPHELIA LIVES! For additional information and to secure an audition time, actors should contact Howard Shangraw … at HShangraw@CVRep.org.”
• And finally … the Canadian government recently started forcing tech giants Google and Meta to pay for the news on its platforms. (We’ll be covering this topic a LOT more in the coming months.) Meta responded by starting to remove news from Facebook and Instagram … and, well, there’s been an unintended consequence: Satirical websites, which wouldn’t qualify for the news payments anyway, are also being blocked. The Canadian Press reports: “Luke Gordon Field is trying to figure out how he can explain the concept of deadpan satire to an algorithm. … He said he started the Beaverton over a decade ago with a group of comedy writers who just wanted to put their funny jokes online for people to see. They don’t have major financial backing or wealthy owners, and they have relied heavily on Facebook to promote their content and grow their audience, he said. ‘I would equate (Facebook) as a drug dealer where the first taste is free, and they make you keep coming back for more.’ This week, Field said he discovered that their supply was getting cut off after he received messages from Canadian readers saying they could no longer see the Beaverton’s posts. ‘If traffic really decreases because of Facebook, and then by extension revenue decreases, then there’s a scenario where we can’t keep the lights on,’ Field said.”
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