In a rehearsal room at the Sarasota Opera House, dozens of young artists raise their voices together in support of a young boy who is forced to work as a chimney sweep to support his injured father and is treated cruelly by his employer.

The cast of Sarasota Youth Opera's new production of Benjamin Britten's “The Little Sweep” sings with verve, encouraged by music director Jesse Martins, who conducts from a chair and observes the action among the young singers, ages 8 to 18.

Director Martha Collins, who is bringing the show to its fourth year since 2005, occasionally jumps into the scene to replace a missing cast member and makes sure everyone has a partner to play and sing with. During a run-through of a wordless prologue in which the cast builds a child's room with building blocks, a rocking chair, a bed and toy horses, she encourages the performers to remember who they are and why they are on stage.

Anjou Burkmier plays Sammy, the title character in Benjamin Britten’s “The Little Sweep” at the Sarasota Youth Opera.

“It's a wonderful story, and the prologue we created gives the children a lot of opportunities,” said Collins, a former opera singer who stages at least one main production for the Sarasota Opera each season.

Years ago, the company received permission from Britten's estate to move the action from 19th-century England to Boston. “We rewrote some of the Britishisms,” Collins said. “We thought the kids might not understand them.” The original production began with a lengthy “Let's Put on an Opera” designed to teach audience members music, and Sarasota Opera wrote its own prologue.

“We have created a pantomime that is magical for non-theatregoers. It is amazing to see the children see the set come together,” Collins said.

Collins and Martens are working with 67 young singers and four adult performers, which marks a return to some kind of normality for the youth opera. The last production in 2018 featured 70 singers.

From left: Gabriel Magowan, Anjou Burkmier, Ara Martinez and Isabella Maltese star in the Sarasota Youth Opera production of “The Little Sweep.”

COVID “decimated our program,” but “we're really growing again. We missed a few years of continuity to have Maestro Jesse help develop their voices, but we have a wonderful new group of singers. This is a wonderful piece to grow that,” Collins said.

Among the cast is Sofia Scheck, a student at the Manatee School for the Arts, who sings the role of nanny Rowan, who is persuaded by her charges to help the little cleaner named Sammy.

Scheck, who has performed in youth opera productions since “Rootabaga Country” in 2017, said that in “The Little Sweep,” “the music is much more challenging to play.”

Singing a role normally played by adults was an educational experience, Scheck said.

“They treat me like an equal,” she said. “It's so nice to be treated like that and to feel respected by them. Usually I'm the one who has to respect my elders.”

Martens said Scheck took on a role that “requires a much more demanding vocal range, and the dramatic requirement requires a more mature voice. Her voice has those qualities.”

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Sarasota’s 2023-24 season: For the 65th season of well-known and rare works, the Sarasota Opera shortens its fall production

From left: Ara Martinez, Anjou Burkmier and Isabella Maltese are among the stars of the Sarasota Youth Opera production of “The Little Sweep” by Benjamin Britten.

Collins said it helps that Scheck is also physically larger than some of the other children. “It makes it a little more believable that she could be a governess.”

Scheck said she has made many friends in the Sarasota Youth Opera over the years. “I like the atmosphere and the opportunity to bring something to the stage. I love giving a character personality and emotion and understanding what they are saying and what it means to be that character.”

Two different casts will perform the opera over the weekend. The adult singers include Paul Hill, Jake Stamatis, Sarahann Duffy and Virginia Mims.

Collins said the show lasts just over an hour. “Because it's short and action-packed, it's a great opera to see with the family. Young children are fascinated by the colorful lighting and music.”

“The little sweeper”

By Benjamin Britten. Jesse Martens, music director; Martha Collins, stage director. Nov. 4, 5 p.m. and Nov. 5, 12:30 p.m., Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota. 941-328-1322; sarasotaopera.org

Follow Jay Handelman on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Contact him at jay.handelman@heraldtribune.com. And please support local journalism by subscribing to the Herald-Tribune.

This article originally appeared in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Youth Opera sings inspiring story “The Little Sweep”

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Part 1 of a 2-part article on the high-performance attributes of 350 Mission in San Francisco.

A very high level of sustainable design characterizes 350 Mission, a 30-story office tower on Mission Street in San Francisco. The building is certified LEED Platinum under LEED v2.2, and it also meets the 2011 California Green Building Code (CALGreen) and the San Francisco Green Building Code. To get to that point, the owner, Kilroy Realty Corp., and the design team explored a wide range of innovative high-performance MEP solutions.

The mechanical and lighting systems incorporate numerous energy conservation measures. As in all mechanical design, the primary drivers of the design were occupant comfort, space, resource efficiency, and cost. All occupied spaces must meet the thermal comfort criteria of ASHRAE Standard 55, which sets forth guidelines on temperature and air speed under various installation conditions, and acknowledges the benefits of users’ control over their local thermal environment.  

The high-performance HVAC solution is an underfloor air delivery (UFAD) strategy. The primary drivers for this decision were reduced operating energy, improved indoor air quality (IAQ), individual occupant comfort and controllability, increased air economizer hours, and tenant space flexibility. The UFAD system, when coupled with a high-efficiency chiller plant and air-side economizer, provides a superior HVAC solution. In addition to air distribution, the UFAD plenum also provides for power, voice, and data distribution.

While other high-performance HVAC alternatives were considered, the project drivers pointed to UFAD. Some system alternatives provided even higher levels of energy savings, such as chilled beams with a dedicated outside air system (DOAS). Another option studied was an optimized overhead VAV system.

Ultimately, the comparative studies showed that the UFAD system achieved all the project goals, including the owner’s vision for a flexible office space, improved IAQ, and energy savings. The system also achieved the required cooling capacity output needed to offset the envelope thermal loads.

The building’s direct digital control (DDC) building management system is fully interoperable, controlling both the base building core-and-shell plant systems and the tenant systems. This includes the underfloor fan-powered boxes, chilled water temperature sensors, lighting system, carbon dioxide occupancy sensors, and demand control ventilation.

The HVAC system maximizes energy efficiency, providing conditioned air directly to the occupants at floor level, where it then stratifies and is returned above the occupied zone (via a ceiling plenum or open ceiling) back to the floor-by-floor unit.

The supply air can be warmer (60 to 62 F) with floor distribution than with an overhead distribution (55 F) because the intent is to cool only the zone that people occupy, not the entire volume of space up to the ceiling. Air temperature is allowed to rise closer to the ceiling as it leaves the occupied space. The reduced demand for cooling the supply air translates into a reduced energy demand on the chiller, which doesn’t have to make cooler chilled water.

What’s more, the UFAD is a low-pressure system. Because air is not forced through a network of ductwork and dampers, the system can achieve considerable fan energy savings. The interior zone of every space is one big open plenum. Only perimeter fan-powered boxes in exterior zones are required for UFAD.

In terms of IAQ, delivering air at the floor and returning at the ceiling takes advantage of the natural tendency of air to rise as it warms, drawing it through the occupants’ breathing zone in the process. This is the most effective ventilation distribution strategy under ASHRAE Standard 62.1. Manually adjustable floor diffusers are also provided, allowing the occupants to adjust the amount of air they receive and fine-tune their individual thermal comfort.

Other key energy conservation measures include low-energy LED lighting, daylighting controls, lighting occupancy sensors, and a high-efficiency domestic water heater. In addition to its use in the cooling tower, reclaimed storm water is also used for toilet flushing. 

Lead photo caption: 350 Mission is a LEED Platinum-certified, 30-story office tower on Mission Street in San Francisco, directly across from the new Transbay Transit Center in the city’s rapidly evolving South of Market district. • Completed in 2015, the $250 million project is sited on a tight 19,000-square-foot lot. The 420,000-square-foot building is Type 1 construction with a concrete structure and a total height of about 420 feet. • The tower is clad with a high-performance unitized curtain wall with alternating inward- and outward-tipping panels, giving the facade a “woven” appearance as light reflects off the surface. • The tower features a 50-foot tall lobby that also functions as a free-flowing open public space. The space uses a unique folding glass wall system that opens the lobby to the street while maintaining the interior climate with an energy-efficient radiant floor heating and cooling system. A real-time digital video canvas displays art. • All of the building’s Class A office space was pre-leased to Salesforce, a global cloud computing company.

Photo credit: © Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP | AJSNY, 2016. All rights reserved.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Heavy rains drenched parts of California on Wednesday, bringing the threat of flooding and mudslides as millions of people geared up for holiday travel, the National Weather Service said.

The Pacific storm centered offshore was moving gradually southeastward, sending bands of rain ashore and hitting particularly hard on the central coast after sweeping through the San Francisco Bay Area. Flood watches were posted all the way south to San Diego.

California’s rain came as the Northeast battled the effects of storms that brought floods and downed trees, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands and killing at least five people.

More than 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) of rain had fallen by late morning in the Santa Ynez Mountains — the steep backdrop to the south Santa Barbara County’s “American Riviera” communities — and more bands of heavy rain were expected to follow.

The stormy weather came as millions of Californians geared up for holiday travel and finished preparations for Christmas, with the Automobile Club of Southern California predicting 9.5 million people in that region would travel during the year-end holiday period.

However, so far the rain hadn’t drenched the shopping season.

Employees at Skylight Books, an independent bookstore in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, were worried about the impact of the storm. But on Wednesday, general manager Mary Williams said the store was packed.

“I think after last winter’s deluge, Angelenos have decided to go out in the rain after all,” she said. “I guess buying presents for the holidays is just that important.”

At Whiskey & Leather in Montecito, near coastal Santa Barbara northwest of Los Angeles, manager Karina Cota said Wednesday’s rain had prompted customers to start and finish their Christmas shopping at the boutique to avoid going to other places in the downpour.

“They’re coming in and just want to get it over with,” she said. “They’re trying to do it all in one shot.”

In the coastal LA suburb of Long Beach, family-owned Todd’s Christmas Trees prepares each season for Southern California’s late-year heat waves and stores their trees under a giant tent to keep them from drying out. It was a coincidence that the tent also protected the trees during Wednesday’s rains.

“It kind of works out perfectly,” Mike Todd said. He expected to sell out again this year, even with the bad weather.

“People will come, as they say,” he said.

California is well aware of storm risks: In January 2018, a downpour on a wildfire burn scar unleashed massive debris flows through Montecito, destroying homes and killing 23 people.

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department increased staffing for the deluge but there were no evacuation orders for residents, said spokesperson Scott Safechuck.

“Our creeks are not showing any signs of having any issues (handling runoff) so we’re in a good position here, but we are expecting 5 to as much as 10 inches (12.7-25.4 centimeters) in the next 24 to 36 hours,” Safechuck said.

The storm, more powerful and widespread than one that blew in earlier in the week, was expected to jumpstart a laggard rainy season just a year after California was inundated by a series of atmospheric rivers that refilled reservoirs that had been emptied by a prolonged drought.

“It’s been balmily warm and unusually dry really throughout the state the past couple of weeks,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who spoke during an online briefing Tuesday.

Swain noted that the storm was very unstable, and at times on Wednesday, forecasters issued marine warnings for coastal waters due to severe thunderstorms capable of producing waterspouts.

The pace of the storm also was proving difficult to forecast. The San Diego-area weather office pushed back the timing of the heaviest rain there to Thursday and Friday.

Flood watches were issued from the central California coast to San Diego with warnings of a high risk of roadway flooding that could prompt travel delays, as well as rockslides, mudslides and debris flows from wildfire burn scars. The severe weather could pose a problem for some of the 9.5 million Southern Californians that the Auto Club predicts will be traveling for the holidays.

The relative warmth of the storm meant that snowfall would be mostly limited to high elevations in the southern Sierra Nevada and some Southern California ranges.

The California Highway Patrol office in South Lake Tahoe said in social media posts that the storm, nonetheless, was “making a mess,” producing rain, sleet, snow and icy roads.

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We’ve turned the corner into the holiday season, so last week Out There attended shows perfect for this time of year. On Saturday night we made a long overdue visit to Beach Blanket Babylon’s holiday edition, and earlier in the week, we were in the house for opening night of San Francisco Playhouse’s “Mary Poppins.”

Surely you know the BBB story by now. Snow White (sometimes called Snow Tires) searches the world for her Prince Charming, hot dudes available to young ladies being in short supply in San Francisco. Pop culture is sent up courtesy of musical riffs, outrageous caricatures, extravagant costumes and sky-high hats. As always, there are up-to-the-moment topical references galore, from Keebler elf Jeff Sessions still smarting from his ignominious end, to Vladimir Putin (“on the Ritz”), Kim Jong Un and other global villains. The Trump Crime Family gets a number, too, a la the Von Trapps; the Criminal-in-Chief remembers golden showers, while Melania reprises her famous Marie Antoinette line, “I really don’t care, do you?”

There’s Kanye, there’s Kim, there’s tired old Caitlyn Jenner, but the most current event of all is the holiday season, and the end-of-year BBB offers plenty of Xmas cheer, including Xmas King Louis, Mr. Peanut Santa, and a chorus line of Tap-Dancing Xmas Trees. The gigantic Yuletide Hat is a winter wonderland, complete with chugging toy train. The SF skyline hat now boasts a Salesforce tower, but it’s still the Transamerica pyramid that gets a rise out of all the excitement.

It’s been a while since OT visited BBB, and we’re happy to report the Old Girl still has it in her to amuse, delight and surprise, much like SF itself. Treat out-of-towners, family and loved ones for fail-safe holiday fun. “Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon Holiday Extravaganza” holds the Club Fugazi stage through Dec. 31. Tickets ($30-$155): www.beachblanketbabylon.com, (415) 421-4222, or at the box office, 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd., formerly Green St., SF.

Oh, Mary!

SF Playhouse’s “Mary Poppins” is a musical based both on the stories of openly bisexual author P.L. Travers and on the Walt Disney film she resisted and reviled. As artistic director Bill English points out in his program note, “The original Mary, like Ms. Travers, an immigrant from Australia, was from the underclass of London deplorables,” not posh like Julie Andrews’ version. The musical offers an intriguing and quite un-Disneylike critique of the English class structure. The heroes are lower-class sorceress Mary and the dirt-under-his-fingernails, working-class chimney sweep Bert. Upper-class banker Mr. Banks and out-of-touch Mrs. Banks need more than a spoonful of sugar to catch a clue on child-raising.

The show, with its typically-for-Playhouse elaborate set design and high production values, never fails to delight. Bay Area stage veteran El Beh makes for a formidable Mary, Wiley Naman Strasser is a spry and appealing Bert, and the entire cast, including two very game child actors, fill their characters with life and song. Special note must be made of trouper Katrina Lauren McGraw, who makes a meal out of two quite dissimilar parts: the nasty nanny Miss Andrew, always ready to inflict poisonous “Brimstone and Treacle” on misbehaving children; and the rumpled bag-lady Bird Woman, offering her cruddy parcels of crumbs for “tuppence a bag.” Exclaim the Banks children, “Oh, there’s that horrible woman Daddy warned us about!” But she, too, becomes a lower-class hero in this passion play.

So a most populist Mary Poppins and all sorts of fantastical San Francisco Beach Blanket characters await you this holiday season. Take the plunge and book some tickets! sfplayhouse.org

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Mary Poppins/Aurora Theatre

After an award-winning 2014 showing, Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins will soon become the second production in Aurora Theatre history to be remounted. The magical production will grace the iconic stage from Aug. 18 – Sept. 11.

Audiences will be dazzled as Mary and her chimney sweep sidekick Bert magically teach the Banks family the immeasurable benefits of love, joy and mutual respect.

Mary Poppins/Aurora Theatre

With all of the iconic moments and songs that captured audiences’ imaginations eight years ago, as well as new, magical surprises, the family-friendly musical will kick-off Aurora Theatre’s 27th season with heart and pure Broadway joy.

“When we opened the LAC, I said we were going to fly Mary Poppins over the audience if it kills me. Well, I’m still here,” said Co-Founder and Producing Artistic Director Ann-Carol Pence. “It was an easy choice to decide to produce this show again. It was an audience favorite and one of mine too. My intent is to lean into joy this season, and this musical does just that. This production will be full of magic and surprise!”

Aurora Theatre/Mary Poppins

The “practically perfect” Galen Crawley will reprise the title role, a performance that earned her the 2014 Suzi Bass Award for Outstanding Lead Female Actor in a Musical. The amazing sets, beautiful costumes and state-of-the-art effects that will allow Mary Poppins to soar through the sky are possible because of the talented professionals who create the magic behind the scenes.

Thursday through Saturday, the show will begin at 8 p.m. There’s also a matinee on Saturdays & Sundays at 2:30 p.m. The matinee on Sept. 10 will be sensory-friendly. And there’s an additional matinee performance taking place Wednesday, Aug 24. at 10 a.m. At this time, Aurora Theatre will allow full capacity seating and all patrons are required to wear a mask. The specific protocols for each performance are subject to change.

Mary Poppins/Aurora Theatre

Ideal for all ages, performances of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins will run Aug. 18 – Sept. 11. Tickets may be purchased online or by calling the Box Office at 678.226.6222. Click here to visit their website.

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You need a salary north of $300K in NYC, San Francisco and Honolulu just to bring home $100K — here’s why plus 3 easy ways to keep more of your paycheck

Many people find tax season to be a stressful time of year, but those living in some of the most popular cities in America may find paying taxes to be an even more discouraging experience — even when they’re wealthy.

SmartAsset, a financial research firm, analyzed the impact of taxes and living costs on individuals living in America’s biggest cities. Their research found that an annual salary north of $300,000 in New York City, San Francisco and Honolulu is required just to bring home $100,000 after taxes and cost-of-living adjustments.

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For context, the median American household income is $70,784, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But SmartAsset’s research shows that a family living in the Big Apple or Silicon Valley would need more than four times that amount to feel like they’re in the “middle class.”

Regardless of income level or location, it’s always a good idea to save money. With that in mind, here are five ways to stretch your paycheck.

Minimize housing costs

Housing expenses can be among the most significant drains on your finances. Making adjustments to these costs can be an effective way to stretch your paycheck further.

If you’re looking to buy a home, it’s important to stay well below your mortgage approval amount to ensure you don’t stretch your finances too thin. Locking in at a good interest rate can also save you money in the long run.

According to a study by Freddie Mac, borrowers who obtain at least five quotes when shopping for a mortgage save an average of $3,000 over the life of the loan.

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It’s important to ensure that your monthly payments are stable and less than one-third of your monthly income. This is known as the 30% rule and is widely recommended by financial experts. By adhering to the rule, you make sure that your housing costs aren’t eating up too much of your budget, leaving you with more money to save or invest.

Put simply: strive to live below your means.

Read more: ‘It makes an enormous difference’: Warren Buffett says this simple ‘trick’ is the key to earning a generous retirement nest egg

Maximize tax-advantaged retirement accounts

Contributing to a 401(k) or IRA can help to reduce your taxable income and thus lower your tax bill. It can also fuel your wealth-building over time.

You should also look to take advantage of employer-sponsored benefits. Many employers offer perks like commuter benefits and flexible spending accounts, which can help to reduce your out-of-pocket expenses and save you money.

If your employer offers health insurance benefits, be sure to take advantage of them so you can reduce your health-care costs and save money on medical expenses.

Hire a professional accountant

If you make a lot of money, it’s a good idea to hire a professional accountant to help with your finances, including filing your taxes, to ensure you don’t make any costly mistakes.

Those of you who have a side gig might want an accountant to help you figure out how to deal with the income tax complications that come with being self-employed.

Even if you don’t make a lot of money, it might still be worth it to hire an accountant. They can help you get the most out of government subsidies and tax credits that you might qualify for. This could save you a lot of money in the long run and bring you peace of mind.

What to read next

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

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World got you down? A hit of “dopamine decor” might lift the spirits. The biggest trend in home decorating this…

World got you down? A hit of “dopamine decor” might lift the spirits.

The biggest trend in home decorating this fall is an emphasis on happiness, self-expression, color and creativity. Does orange make you smile? Dress your kitchen in the happy hue. Love a variety of styles? Do a mashup.

The look goes by many names. Fashion writer Dawnn Karen referenced the feel-good brain chemical in her book “Dress Your Best Life,” holding that “dopamine dressing” — wearing clothes in your own, individual style — gives you positive feelings.

Decorators and influencers say the same thing happens when we throw out old decor rules and step into a space adorned with personal touches. We’re more relaxed. More creative.

People are asking themselves what colors and patterns they really love, “and then bringing those features into their spaces — even if it goes against conventional decorating advice or what they might have seen online 10 years ago,” says Lauren Phillips, associate director of special projects at Better Homes & Gardens.

‘BARKITECTURE’ AND OTHER WAYS TO USE A ROOM

The trend toward making rooms more comfortable, functional and personal gained steam during the pandemic, when many people were homebound. And it continues to grow, Phillips says.

“Unused guest rooms are home offices. Formal dining rooms become craft spaces. And ‘barkitecture’ is having a moment — installing dog baths and other pet-specific features,” she says.

Decor is awash in aesthetic “cores” — Barbiecore, cottagecore, coastal grandma, mermaidcore.

“But I don’t take it to mean we’re bouncing from trend to trend super quickly. To me, it means people are defining their own style, and really getting to the root of the designs they love, even if that’s a little more colorful, kitschy or funky,” says Phillips.

SOCIAL MEDIA HAS LOOSENED THE CREATIVE REINS

There’s lots of inspiration on the internet. “If, 15 years ago, we all wanted the picture-perfect kitchen we saw online, today it’s all about taking a trend or beautiful interior that you see on TikTok or Instagram and pulling out the details you love,” says Phillips.

“Gen Z is on the cusp of becoming our new homeowner,” says Amanda Kruse of Upspring PR, a New York-based marketing firm for real estate, design and interiors.

And they’re more likely to mix styles for a personal spin, she says.

ARTSY ELEMENTS

Emilie Munroe began designing a San Francisco family’s Victorian home by leafing through a sheaf of torn-out magazine images from the client.

“We knew immediately our design should exude happiness and inspire curiosity,” says Munroe.

A tiny powder room got an exuberant pink-and-black, animal-print wallpaper. In a tight hallway next to a window, there’s a kaleidoscopic wallpaper, an abstract rug and a Basquiat-patterned chair.

London-based design editor Cara Gibbs, meanwhile, has noticed the free-wheeling use of paint.

“I feel like it used to be wacky to paint a room pink from top to bottom, but now the application of these bright, poppy palettes is chic, interesting and most importantly very livable. I’m here for it!” she says.

So is Massachusetts designer Nicole Hirsch. She’s put a zingy green — she calls it “alligator” — on a bathroom ceiling. Tangerine on a playroom ceiling. Cobalt blue, lipstick pink and chrome yellow add lively punches on furnishings.

HIDEAWAYS

In her own California home, designer Alison Pickart has the kind of roomy closet that storage-challenged homeowners would envy. But she saw value in a different use.

“It was a hall closet, but with its generous size and great natural light from a back window, I just felt like the space could be ‘more,’” she says.

So she turned it into a little “phone room” for herself. “It seemed like the perfect size and place to escape, with some privacy to make a call.”

Clara Jung of Banner Day Interiors worked with clients on a San Francisco ranch house that’s full of big, airy spaces. But nudge the secret panel in the living room bookcase and you’ll find a cozy, color-saturated, album-lined music den. There’s a vintage wood bar and a sprawl-worthy crimson rug.

“The homeowners are avid LP collectors,” she says, “and the husband’s a musician.”

Jung was ready to install a door when the clients suggested creating the secret entrance instead. “We loved the idea!” she says. “It’s the perfect escape for an audiophile.”

Maybe that’s the new decorating rule: Create your own “perfect escape.”

___

New York-based writer Kim Cook covers design and decor topics regularly for The Associated Press. Follow her on Instagram at @kimcookhome.

___

For more AP Lifestyles stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/lifestyle.

Copyright
© 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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GATES, Ore. (Reuters) – Intermittently heavy showers brought some relief to flame-stricken western Oregon on Friday, helping firefighters to further subdue deadly blazes that have ravaged much of the state and choked its air with smoke for the better part of two weeks.

Smoke rises from the Brattain Fire in the Fremont National Forest in Paisley, Oregon, U.S., September 18, 2020. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Oregon was especially hard hit by scores of wind-driven wildfires that erupted all at once across the western United States earlier this month in the midst of catastrophic lightning storms, record-breaking heat and howling winds.

“We lost everything, but we will start all over again,” said Bill Kesselring, 73, pointing to the spot where the log cabin he shared with his wife had stood on the outskirts of Gates, Oregon, a Cascade Mountain village 80 miles south of Portland.

The cabin and a garage housing a beloved antique car Kesselring had just finished restoring were both reduced to charred rubble. Only the fireplace and chimney remained of the home.

“It breaks my heart. You work hard all your life and then get hit with a disaster like this,” he told Reuters.

Unaccustomed to the sheer scope and magnitude of the conflagrations, Oregon’s ill-equipped firefighters initially struggled for days to even keep pace with the blazes, before cooler, moister and less windy weather settled over the region, and reinforcements could arrive.

ANOTHER LIFE LOST IN CALIFORNIA

By Thursday, officials in Oregon, Washington state and California said they were making steady progress suppressing the fires. Brightening the outlook further, much-welcomed rains doused Oregon on Friday, even as the tri-state death toll from the fires rose to 35.

The U.S. Forest Service in California reported that a firefighter had perished on Thursday in a blaze still burning nearly two weeks after it was ignited by pyrotechnics at an outdoor gender-reveal party east of Los Angeles.

Authorities withheld the identify of the fallen firefighter pending notification of family members, and no details of the circumstances were released.

The death in the San Bernardino National Forest became the 26th fire-related fatality in California over the past month. That tally includes two other firefighters – a Forest Service contractor killed in a lightning-sparked fire in the Mendocino National Forest, and a private helicopter pilot whose chopper crashed on a water-dropping mission in Fresno County last month.

Wildfires have claimed at least eight other lives in Oregon and one in Washington state, all civilians.

Flames have blackened a record 3.2 million acres (1.3 million hectares) in California alone since mid-August. Another 1.7 million acres (650,000 hectares) have burned in Oregon and Washington state since Labor Day.

The blazes, described by scientists and officials as unprecedented in scope and ferocity, have largely incinerated several small towns, along with thousands of dwellings.

‘BEAUTY SCAR’

Thousands of evacuees, particularly in Oregon, remained huddled in emergency shelters, mobile trailers and hotel rooms. And Oregon emergency management officials have warned the death toll there could climb as search teams scour the ruins of homes engulfed in flames during chaotic evacuations early in the disaster.

Justin Gaskill, 28, a U.S. Army veteran leading a community watch organization that was also organizing food relief efforts, said residents in the fire-ravaged town of Estacada, Oregon, where he was born and raised, were still in a state of shock but resolved to rebuild.

“I like to say that this event is going to leave our community with a beauty scar,” he said. “We’ve been wounded but so many beautiful opportunities to share and show our strength as a town are coming out of this.”

Thundershowers brought drenching rains to the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains late Thursday and through Friday, helping a force of more than 6,000 firefighters make further headway against 10 major blazes still burning in Oregon.

The heavy rains also prompted flood and landslide warnings in areas where fire has stripped hillsides and canyons of vegetation.

Cooler, more favorable weather in the region since last week has already dispelled some of the smoky, polluted air and tempered the flames, enabling ground teams with axes and bulldozers to take the offensive while also allowing greater use of water-dropping helicopters and airplane tankers.

Higher humidity levels were likewise bolstering hopes for subduing blazes in the greater San Francisco Bay area.

“Milder weather is helping the fire fight as crews continue to gain ground on many of the major incidents,” the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said on Friday.

Reporting by Brad Brooks in Gates, Oregon; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman, Maria Caspani and Gabriella Borter; Writing by Will Dunham and Steve Gorman; Editing by Timothy Gardner, David Gregorio, Aurora Ellis and Daniel Wallis

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SAN FRANCISCO — Lynette Mackey stood on the steps of her childhood home — a sleek but stately Victorian house shaded by an evergreen pear tree — and evoked a photo of a family reunion from nearly 50 years ago. The men wore suits and the women wore skirts. Ms. Mackey, a teenager in red bell bottoms, stretched her arms wide and smiled brightly.

Soon after, in the 1960s and 1970s, Ms. Mackey watched the slow erasure of black culture from the Fillmore District, once hailed as the “Harlem of the West.” The jazz clubs that drew artists like Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington disappeared, and so did the soul food restaurants.

By the mid-1970s, many of her friends had also disappeared, driven out by city officials who were confiscating homes in the name of so-called “urban renewal.” Then her family eventually lost the house she bought in the 1940s after migrating from Texas. In many cases the old Victorian houses were demolished and replaced by housing projects, but the town kept the stock of Mrs Mackey’s house and has since been converted into government subsidized housing.

Her grandfather suffered a heart attack while fighting to save their home. “He died saying, ‘I’m not going to sell this house,'” she said.

Today, against this backdrop of loss and displacement, San Francisco is considering reparations that would compensate black residents for policies that displaced them and impacted their economic opportunities. Cities across the country are considering similar refunds, but none have been as ambitious as San Francisco, whose 15-person task force issued 111 recommendations in a preliminary report to city leaders.

To close the racial wealth gap that has long been a central argument for redress, the task force has declared a moonshot: a one-time payment of $5 million to all beneficiaries. By comparison, the California State’s Reparations Task Force has recommended a staggering rate that’s around $1.2 million for older black residents.

The amount of cash has made headlines but is widely considered unrealistic in a city facing mounting budgetary problems and a lack of political consensus on the issue. The $5 million payments could exceed $100 billion — multiples of San Francisco’s annual budget of $14 billion — and London Breed, the city’s mayor, has not committed to any cash compensation.

Ms. Mackey, 63, who stayed in the city, is working on a more likely way to incentivize other former black residents and their descendants to return to San Francisco. One idea is for the city to give them housing grants, access to affordable housing, and relocation grants.

San Francisco’s black population has shrunk from 13 percent in 1970 to about 5 percent today, due first to cycles of redevelopment and then to the gentrifying forces of tech employers. Black residents were pushed into remote Bay Area suburbs with cheaper housing and long commutes, if not into other cities and states.

When thousands of black migrants arrived to work the shipyards in the 1940s, housing conditions confined them to either the Fillmore District or Bayview-Hunters Point, a blustery southeast corner of San Francisco. The center of black cultural life in Fillmore no longer exists and today most of San Francisco’s black population resides in Bayview-Hunters Point. But even in that neighborhood, about 30 percent are black today, compared to more than 75 percent in 1980.

“There aren’t too many people who were born here and are still here,” said Oscar James, 77, who has lived in Bayview-Hunters Point all his life and bought a house in 1978. “Many people have either died or been moved away.”

When the city confiscated homes in Fillmore, it issued certificates to families that enabled them to move into public housing. Since then, the documents “have not been prosecuted and have rarely been recognized,” the Reparations Task Force wrote. The story of the black expulsion was the subject of the 2019 film The Last Black Man in San Francisco, in which the main character mourns the loss of his family’s Victorian home.

Ms Mackey, who now rents a subsidized apartment at the Fillmore, recently joined a city program that uses a private investigator to track down people who lost their homes to redevelopment in the 1960s and 1970s and advise them of their housing rights elucidate social benefits for housing.

“Everyone knows the effects of slavery,” said Majeid Crawford, whose nonprofit New Community Leadership Foundation works with the city to locate former residents. “But we also had our own apartheid, which took place in San Francisco through urban renewal.”

Aliciea Walker was forced to leave San Francisco as a child when her family’s three-story Victorian building at the Fillmore was lost to redevelopment. She finished her schooling in nearby Half Moon Bay and eventually settled in Sacramento.

Walker, now 63, said she hadn’t paid much attention to the reparations debate but hoped San Francisco would make it easier for former black residents to return.

“My bags are ready to go back to San Francisco because this is my children’s childhood and this is my childhood,” said Ms. Walker, who lived part of her adulthood in a San Francisco rental apartment where she raised young children.

Beyond the remediation effort, the reparations task force cited several factors that have left black residents behind, from a statewide ban on affirmative action to discriminatory barriers that have led to poorer access to health care. So how can a city compensate them for the loss?

Task force members believed the $5 million would “fix decades of damage,” said Eric McDonnell, a management consultant and longtime San Francisco resident who chairs the panel.

“Our mission was not a proof of concept,” he said. “It was about assessing the damage and assigning the value.”

The big question, however, is what is feasible. Each member of the oversight panel who will deliberate on the legislation later this year after receiving the task force’s final report has expressed support for some form of redress, although not all are convinced it must come in the form of cash payments .

Mayor Breed, who would be entitled to redress as a black resident who grew up in the city, was noncommittal and said she would evaluate the task force’s final report. Jeff Cretan, her spokesman, said the mayor is focused on her Dream Keeper initiative, a grant program launched in 2020 that he says is “making money available to the African American community right now.” Last month, Ms Breed said she has no plans to support a proposal to spend $50 million on a city reparations office.

Rev. Amos Brown, who has led the Third Baptist Church at Fillmore since 1976, has faced similar discussions over the decades. Sitting in a conference room at his church, Mr Brown referenced the rich history of his neighborhood — Maya Angelou worked in a record store, the Black Panthers distributed books and food — and the many commissions to black San Francisco’s demise he’s been a part of over the years of that.

Though previous promises have not been kept, he said he is “very, very cautiously optimistic” that the city will make some form of redress, though he fears the $5 million idea will give black residents false hope could.

“You could set up a reparations fund from all these billionaires in San Francisco,” he said.

Reparations for black Americans have been discussed since the end of the Civil War. In recent years, the idea gained traction as influential voices spoke out in favor of redress, and momentum picked up during the 2020 racial justice protests following the police killing of George Floyd.

The movement has spread to a number of local governments. Modest programs offering compensation to black residents have been established in Evanston, Illinois, Providence, Rhode Island, and Asheville, NC

In San Francisco, the task force focused particularly on redevelopment in the 1960s and 1970s, when authorities declared entire city blocks “derelict” and used significant tracts of land for business and home purchases. The panel called it the “most significant example of how the city and county of San Francisco as an institution has helped erode black wealth and actively displace the city’s black population.”

Ms. Mackey is now speaking to people who left San Francisco several decades ago to track down housing certificate holders in Hawaii, Alaska and elsewhere. Often they are still angry about the eviction, she said. Many of the original certificate holders have died, and their descendants are often unaware of their family’s history of loss in San Francisco.

She dreams of a black renewal in her city. Housing reparations may persuade some to return, but she knows how difficult that dream is today.

“Almost everyone says the same thing,” she said. “That they can’t afford to live in San Francisco.”

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• A group of around 100 motorcyclists illegally staged a sideshow on the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland
• It caused all westbound lanes to come to a standstill as drivers performed stunts including wheelies – there were similar incidents last year
• Traffic was disrupted for about two minutes before resuming

A group of about 100 motorcyclists brought traffic onto the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Saturday afternoon when they engaged in an illegal sideshow.

The bikers were caught on camera performing dangerous stunts including slamming wheelies that brought all westbound lanes of the bridge to a standstill.

The uncomfortable spectacle led to a traffic jam. Some drivers stuck in traffic got out of their cars to capture the chaos.

The bikers could be seen performing donuts while smoke from the burned rubber filled the air.

Others revved their engines intimidatingly and drove in circles while trying the patience of other motorists who could do nothing but watch.

A group of about 100 motorcyclists illegally staged a sideshow on the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland. The motorcycles’ tires could be seen squeaking, generating smoke from the burned rubber. A motorcyclist was seen performing donuts on his motorcycle in the middle of the road causing all westbound lanes to come to a standstill as riders performed stunts including wheelies – similar incidents occurred last year

Drivers stuck in their cars watching remained surprisingly calm with no honking to be heard.

A woman who recorded the scene explained how common such depictions are after she was caught up in something similar last month.

‘I just got caught by another guy on the bridge last month…Bay culture for sure!’ User lalasantola wrote on her Instagram.

This is not the first time such an event has occurred on the Bay Bridge, as several incidental events have been reported on the bridge in the past year alone.

At one point, ATVs were also involved in the incident.

The California Highway Patrol confirmed the disruption lasted about two minutes before traffic was able to move again.

So far, it’s unclear if there have been any arrests or subpoenas in connection with the stunt.

Other motorists could only watch until the mob of motorcycles drove on. Bikers blocked traffic across the bridge for several minutes while performing stunts. Bikers seemed in no hurry to move on as they caused disruption on Saturday afternoon The city of Oakland isn’t the first time such an event has happened on the Bay Bridge, with several sideshows on the bridge in the past year alone were reported. The situation took a dangerous turn after dark when a group of about 15 bikers entered the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland and headed eastA biker weaved into and out of traffic on the bridge and Oakland

The lawlessness displayed on the bridge is emblematic of the city’s drug and crime problems elsewhere.

San Francisco is still riddled with crime – especially against property – in part because the police are too weak.

It doesn’t help that the city is being ravaged by fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid.

Addicts say users flock to San Francisco because drugs are readily available and the police just watch them get high. An estimated 620 people died there last year from an overdose.

Add to this the constant fear of crime, committed in large part by addicts who are frighteningly unpredictable.

The number of homeless people in San Francisco was nearly 8,000 as of February last year, the second highest number since 2005, according to the official government census, which takes place every three years.

Drug addicts and homeless in SOMA (South of Market) neighborhood, San Francisco Drug addicts and homeless in SOMA (South of Market) neighborhood, San Francisco Tents are surrounded by modern skyscrapers in an affluent neighborhood of the city

Various liberal politicians and city leaders have tried to implement numerous policies to stem the many problems created by the growing homeless and drug addicted population.

One specific harm reduction policy that failed was the opening of the Tenderloin Center last year to help alleviate the city’s drug and homelessness crises.

It cost taxpayers a whopping $22 million and was intended to be a “safe place” for addicts to “get high without getting mugged” and without fear of a fatal overdose.

Users should also be directed to help centers, although in the first four months of operation it only referred 18 of the more than 23,000 people welcomed to the site.

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