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U.S. NEWS Diahuebs 10 september 2020

Explosive wildfires across California stoked by fierce winds

(AP) — Wildfires raged un- to produce an increased risk burns and smoke inhalation,
checked across parts of the of fire danger.Diminish- and three were flown to a
western U.S. on Wednesday ing winds were possible by hospital in Fresno, the U.S.
amid gusty and dry condi- Thursday, “bringing some Forest Service said. Chris
tions, but forecasters said relief to the ongoing fires and Barth, a spokesman on the
some weather relief was in fire weather threat,” forecast- Dolan Fire, said the three
sight that could help fire- ers said. hospitalized firefighters were
fighters overwhelmed by the A massive cloud of smoke stabilized, with one in criti-
blazes.In California, winds covered much of California cal and the other two in fair
stoked unprecedented num- on Wednesday, dimming the condition. Barth said the fire-
bers of fires that have forced sun to an eerie orange glow fighters’ training and equip-
rescues and evacuations. over San Francisco.About ment had prevented a worse
In Washington, more acres 125 miles (200 kilometers) to disaster.
burned in a single day than the northeast, winds fanned a
firefighters usually see all huge fire in the Sierra Nevada Helicopters have been used
year. Fires also forced people foothills and forced authori- in recent days to rescue hun-
to flee in Oregon and Idaho. ties to order early morning dreds of people stranded in winds were weaker than pre- with nearly 2.3 million acres
evacuations and warn other the burning Sierra National dicted. “We're encouraged (930,800 hectares) burned
A temperature plunge of as residents to be ready to leave. Forest, where a fire has de- that the wind activity appears already this year, and histori-
much as 60 degrees (15 Cel- stroyed 365 buildings, in- to be dying down,” Gov. cally the worst of the wildfire
sius), caused by a dramatic The area is not far from the cluding at least 45 homes. Gavin Newsom said. “The season doesn't begin until fall.
intrusion of polar air, helped town of Paradise, where 85 About 5,000 buildings were rest of the week looks a little Pacific Gas & Electric was de-
slow wildfires in Colorado people were killed by a fire threatened, fire officials said. more favorable." ploying more than 3,000 em-
and Montana. two years ago, and Oroville Flames threatened the foot- After closing eight national ployees Wednesday to inspect
“The significantly colder air- Dam, where failing spillways hill community of Auberry forests in the southern half power lines before restoring
mass is helping reduce criti- forced a massive evacuation between Shaver Lake and of the state earlier in the energy to about 167,000 cus-
cal fire conditions across the in 2017. Fresno. In Southern Cali- week, the U.S. Forest Service tomers whose electricity was
West, however most of West On Tuesday, flames overtook fornia, fires burned in Los closed California's 10 other turned off to prevent fires
coastline and adjacent coun- 14 firefighters who had to Angeles, San Bernardino and national forests, citing “un- from being started by wind-
ties have Red Flag warnings deploy last-resort emergency San Diego counties. People precedented and historic fire damaged wires. Some aerial
in effect for part of today,” shelters and destroyed a fire in foothill communities east conditions throughout the inspections were paused be-
the National Weather Ser- station in Los Padres Na- of Los Angeles were warned state." cause of smoke limiting vis-
vice said. A warning is issued tional Forest on California’s to be ready to flee, but the ibility, said spokesman Jeff
when conditions combine central coast. They suffered region’s notorious Santa Ana California has set a record Smith. q

AP fact check : Biden on autos, virus; Trump on drug prices

(AP) — President Donald recession and U.S. auto sales that dropped to 171,800 in immediately acknowledged would authorize Medicare to
Trump exaggerated his ad- were falling sharply, in part February, according to Labor the former vice president had negotiate prices for expensive
ministration’s efforts to low- because the 2008-2009 finan- Department statistics. While misspoken, accidentally cit- medications and use savings
er prescription drug prices cial crisis made it harder for most plants shuttered for ing numbers in his notes for from lower drug costs to es-
while Democratic rival Joe would-be auto buyers to get about eight weeks after the Michigan deaths. tablish Medicare coverage for
Biden claimed too much a car loan. GM, Chrysler and coronavirus pandemic hit, ___ dental care, hearing and vi-
credit for reviving the U.S. Ford requested government many are back running near HEALTH CARE sion.
auto industry and misstated aid, but Congress voted it capacity again, at least for TRUMP: “We will be sub-
the number of military deaths down. now. In July, the most recent stantially LOWERING She would cap Medicare re-
from COVID-19. figures available, there were Medicare Premiums and Pre- cipients’ out-of-pocket costs
A look at some of their With barely a month left in 154,400 auto and parts man- scription Drug Prices, bring- for medicines at $2,000 a
claims in the 2020 campaign office, Bush authorized $25 ufacturing jobs in Michigan. ing them down to levels that year. No limit exists on those
Wednesday and how they billion in loans to GM and were not thought possible!” annual costs now. The vast
stack up with the facts: Chrysler from the $700 bil- Michigan Gov. Gretchen — tweet. majority of Medicare recipi-
lion bailout fund that was Whitmer, a Democrat, re- THE FACTS: To be clear, ents have low drug costs, but
AUTOS initially intended to save cently said the state's econo- no massive, across-the-board the Kaiser Family Foundation
BIDEN: “President Obama the largest U.S. banks. Ford my was operating now at 87% cuts are in the offing for drug estimated that in 2017, about
and I rescued the auto indus- decided against taking any of what it was since March, prices. 1 million Medicare recipients
try and helped Michigan’s money. After Obama was citing figures from Moody’s Efforts announced in July by paid much more, averaging
economy come roaring back. inaugurated, he appointed Analytics and CNN. the president — such as al- $3,200 in a year.
Donald Trump squandered it a task force to oversee GM ___ lowing importation of medi- White House actions, while
— and hardworking Michi- and Chrysler, both of which TROOPS cines from countries where not insignificant, don’t
ganders are paying the price eventually declared bank- BIDEN: “Troops died in prices are lower — take time amount to the massive
every day.” — tweet. ruptcy, took an additional Iraq and Afghanistan: 6,922. to roll out. It remains to be changes Trump brags about.
THE FACTS: He’s assign- roughly $55 billion in aid, ... Military COVID deaths: seen how much they’ll move One major initiative would
ing too much credit to the and were forced to close 6,114. Folks, every one of the needle on prices. Drug give people on Medicare
Obama administration for many factories and overhaul these lives mattered.” — re- importation, for example, re- the option of limiting their
saving the auto industry and their operations. All three marks in Warren, Michigan. quires regulatory actions to out-of-pocket costs for in-
overstating it when assert- companies recovered and THE FACTS: He’s way off be taken and supply chains sulin to $35 a month starting
ing that Trump “squandered” eventually started adding jobs on the number of coronavi- to be established, a tall order next year, by picking an “en-
Michigan’s economy. again. Trump did not squan- rus deaths among the U.S. when the election is just two hanced” prescription drug
As an initial matter, what der Michigan’s economy, al- military. months away. plan for a slightly higher pre-
Obama did was an expan- though the number of auto According to the Defense Trump has taken actions to mium.
sion of the initial, pivotal and parts manufacturing jobs Department, just 7 mem- reduce patient costs for some
steps taken by Obama’s pre- in the state fell slightly be- bers of the military have died drugs, such as insulin, but Democratic attacks on Re-
decessor, George W. Bush. tween his inauguration and from COVID, including re- the steps have been less am- publicans efforts on the issue
In December 2008, General February of this year, before servists and those in the Na- bitious than those in a bill of health care proved suc-
Motors and Chrysler were the coronavirus took hold. tional Guard. from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, cessful in the 2018 midterms,
on the brink of financial col- When Trump took office Asked to explain the discrep- D-Calif., that the House when Democrats won back
lapse. The U.S. was in a deep there were 174,200 jobs, and ancy, the Biden campaign passed last year. Her proposal control of the House.