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Christmas morning toy giveaway simply ‘grande’ A3
Solano businesses mark milestone years INSIDE
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Unemployment benefits for millions in limbo Trump delays signing economic stimulus bill Tribune Content Agency
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A sign marks a burned property as “unsafe” on Pleasants Valley Road after the LNU Lightning Complex Fire, Sept. 7.
Deadline shifts Property owners have until Jan. 15 to apply for fire cleanup program
Todd R. Hansen
thansen@dailyrepublic.net
FAIRFIELD — Property owners whose homes were damaged in the LNU Lightning Complex Fire have until Jan. 15 to sign up for the state debris removal program. The program is also available to property owners with fire-damaged trees in danger of falling on public roads and other infrastructure, the state Office of Emergency Services announced. “The state’s consolidated debris removal plan consists of two phases. As we wrap up Phase 1, which is the removal of hazardous household materials, and move into Phase 2, which removes the contaminated debris, the property owner becomes a critical part of the process,” Solano County Supervisor John Vasquez wrote in an update. “Before the debris removal can start, property owners must submit a Right of Entry form to the county Department of Resource Management, granting cleanup crews access to their property,” the update states. The work has started where property owners have submitted the forms, as well as in 23 other counties in which 5,700 homes were lost to wildfires. There were 309 in Solano County, plus more that 900 structures.
“This initial work includes documenting damage and debris, examining the danger of damaged trees along public rights of way, and sampling soils to ensure properties are restored to safe conditions,” Vasquez wrote. “Crews need signed agreements from homeowners to clean up the properties,” CalRecycle Chief Deputy Director Ken DaRosa said in a prepared vasquez statement this week. “Communities and neighborhoods with a higher number of right-of-entry agreements help California prioritize where to deploy crews.” Other property owners have opted to hire private contractors who are certified to do the cleanup. A workplan must be approved by the county for those properties. Forms can be submitted to the Department of Resource Management by email at LNU-ROE@ solanocounty.com; or in person by appointment at the fifth floor county Division of Environmental Health office, 675 Texas St., Suite 5500, in Fairfield. Call 784-6765 to make appointment. To opt-out of the governmentsponsored debris cleanup program, a Phase 2 application and Phase 2 workplan must be submitted and approved by Solano County Envi-
ronmental Health prior to the start of the work. The LNU Lightning Complex Fire started early Aug. 17 in Napa County and ultimately surrounded Lake Berryessa. The Hennessey Fire, the largest fire of the LNU complex that ultimately scorched portions of six counties, is the fire that burned into Solano County late Aug. 18 and early Aug. 19. Six people died as a result of the fire, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reports. Five people were injured, including one first responder. A total of 309 single-family homes were destroyed by the fire in rural Solano County. A total of 1,491 structures were destroyed across the larger fire complex. Hennessey, eight fires that sparked in Napa County and quickly merged into one megafire, also burned across portions of Yolo, Lake and Colusa counties, charring nearly 477.58 square miles (305,651 acres) – 65.62 square miles (42,000 acres) in Solano County. The larger fire complex includes two smaller fires in Sonoma County and charred more than 567.53 square miles (363,220 acres). See Deadline, Page A11
Can coronavirus vaccines get us to herd immunity? ‘The jury is definitely still out’ Tribune Content Agency L OS A NGEL ES — The aim of the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 is herd immunity – the point at which so few people are susceptible to infection that the virus runs out of places to go. In the early days of the pandemic, epidemiologists estimated that would require inoculating about two-thirds of the U.S. population. Now many of those same experts say that figure is almost certainly too low. “If you really want true herd immunity, where you get a blanket of protection over the
country . . . you want about 75 to 85% of the country to get vaccinated,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease official, told a reporter last week. “I would say even closer to 85%.” The shift reflects a deeper understanding of how the virus spreads – that it jumps from one person to another more easily than once thought. The question of how many people must be vaccinated is of crucial importance as the world embarks on the biggest inoculation campaign in decades. The goal of vaccination isn’t See Vaccines, Page A11
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, participates in the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, April 22. weather
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55 42 Partly sunny, then showers. Five-day forecast on B14.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Saturday again blasted a massive economic stimulus bill overwhelmingly approved by Congress this week as the ramifications of a last-minute veto threat came into greater focus for the millions of Americans set to lose enhanced unemployment benefits or face eviction from their homes without new legislation. The standoff between Trump and Congress grew deeper Saturday with no clarity on how they might come to resolution. Congressional Republicans and Democrats have expressed frustration since Trump on Tuesday, the day after the legislation passed both houses, sharply criticized the package in a White House video and on Twitter, despite having played little role in the long and diffi-
cult negotiations that led to its passage. Trump on Saturday repeated his opposition to the size of the checks, suggesting he would not sign the legislation without increasing them. “I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill,” Trump tweeted, referring to the stimulus checks that would go to millions of Americans. “Also, stop the billions of dollars in ‘pork.’ ” Enhanced unemployment benefits approved earlier this year stood to expire Saturday, threatening benefits for an estimated 12 million Americans, according to the Century Foundation. Even if Trump does eventually sign the bill, people eligible for unemployment benefits are likely to lose at least one of those weeks because the bill See Benefits, Page A11
Al Drago/Getty Images/TNS file
President Donald Trump waves as he departs on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., Dec. 12.
Police confirm person of interest identified in Nashville bombing Tribune Content Agency Authorities working in Nashville have officially identified a person of linked to the Christmas Day explosion that rattled the city early Friday. “The police chief [confirmed] to NBC News that they have identified a person of interest in connection with this bombing investigation,” NBC News Correspondent Shaquille Brewster said Saturday, a little over an hour after authorities wrapped up a briefing in the city. “This is a person of interest, not a formal suspect,” Brewster confirmed, pointing to a “large law enforcement presence” in the area of Antioch, about 12 miles southeast of Nashville.
‘Nashville is safe. . . . We have no known threats at this time against our city.’ — Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake
Following information related to the investigation, authorities have filtered in and out of an Antioch duplex for “court authorized activity,” FBI public affairs officer Darrell DeBusk told the Nashville Tennessean. DeBusk said he was unaware of any person
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See Bombing, Page A11