11
DROPPED
Charges against
Curtis Flowers,
50, a Black man
accused of a 1996
quadruple homicide
in Mississippi, on
Sept. 4, after six
trials and 23 years
behind bars.HALTED
Press-credential
renewals for foreign
journalists with U.S.
media outlets, by the
Chinese government.
The Foreign Ministry
said the action was
a response to the
Trump Administra-
tion’s visa restrictions
on Chinese media
workers in the U.S.KILLED
Michael Reinoehl,
48, a suspect in the
Aug. 29 death of a
far-right activist in
Portland, Ore., by
police on Sept. 3.
Officials allege he
threatened them as
they attempted to
arrest him.SUNK
Five boats in a boat
parade in support
of President Trump
on Lake Travis
near Austin on
Sept. 5. The local
sheriff blamed the
combined wakes of
hundreds of vessels
circling the lake.ORDERED
An end to racial-
sensitivity training
by federal agencies,
on topics such as
critical race theory
and white privilege,
by the Trump
Administration
on Sept. 4.WON
The 2020 Kentucky
Derby—which was
run Sept. 5 after
being postponed
from May—by
Authentic and jockey
John Velazquez,
beating out favorite
Tiz the Law.The Creek Fire—one of several blazing across California in early
September —burns near Huntington Lake, Calif., on Sept. 5SET
A record for California’s fire season
2.2 million acres burned—and countingFor the past Few years, Fall in CaliFornia has given
residents a glimpse of the apocalypse. Fires burn around us, the air
smells like a campfire, and the sharp edges of landmarks like Alca-
traz and the Golden Gate Bridge blur in the hazy air. We close our
windows to avoid breathing smoke, stop going outside and wear
N95 masks even without a pandemic. But if the past few years have
been alarming, 2020 has felt impossible. More than 2.2 million
acres have burned so far this season, a record announced by Cal
Fire on Sept. 8—and fire season often lasts into November.
Before the pandemic, San Francisco was one of the most pros-
perous cities in the world, but this year’s fire season has made
one thing clear: no amount of prosperity can save us from climate
change that is sending temperatures soaring and fueling fires.
Hardware stores across the region are sold out of AC units, and
the smoke has spread so far that driving to cleaner air is no solu-
tion. People without means, like San Francisco’s homeless, can’t
heed warnings to limit outdoor activities, and air quality in more
affordable inland areas was so hazardous on Sept. 8 that one me-
teorologist labeled it the worst he’d ever seen in the U.S.
I love California. From the first year I lived in the state, in
2006, I could not believe that there was a place of such natural
beauty, where people grew lemons in their backyards and I could
jump in the ocean in December. But this year, the worst in a string
of catastrophic years, the smoke is projected to hover for months,
and it’s hard to imagine an optimistic future for a state that once
looked like paradise. —alana semuels/san FranCisCoMilestonesDIED
Lou Brock
Base-stealing star
By Tim Raines
i was always a sports Fan,
and when it came to baseball,
guys like Lou Brock, who for
years held the league record
for career stolen bases, were
my favorite players. Not be-
cause my game was like theirs
but, being the player I was,
I was more similar to them.
And Lou, who died Sept. 6
at 81, was one of those play-
ers people could not stop.
When I first got called up
to the big leagues in 1979,
I was in Montreal with the
Expos, and Lou, who would
retire at the end of that sea-
son, was on a trip with the
St. Louis Cardinals. We
ended up taking a picture to-
gether. Lou was a guy who
no one really knew at first,
and he became one of the
best players in the game.
But what made Lou spe-
cial was how great a guy he
was; he was someone any-
one could approach. He
seemed like he always had a
smile on his face, and he just
enjoyed playing the game.
—As told to anna purna
KamBhampatyRaines was inducted into the Baseball
Hall of Fame in 2017Brock was inducted into the
CALIFORNIA: ERIC PAUL ZAMORA—THE FRESNO BEE/AP; BROCK: FILE PHOTO/HULTON ARCHIVES/MLB PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985