Lucky Come Hawaii

It's a good time to be in Hawaii, which sounds inane because as my Mainland friends say, it's always a good time to be in Hawaii. But look what's happening back in Northern California.

Lava Fire at Weed, CA, 10 mi. from Mr. Shasta (Chron)

California's burning again. Lava Fire explodes to more than 13,000 acres

The Lava Fire, ravaging through steep and rugged terrain near Mount Shasta and Lake Shastina in Siskiyou County, tripled in size over the last 12 hours and was burning across 13,300 acres as of Tuesday morning.

Wind gusts as high as 50 mph contributed to the wildfire’s spread Monday to the east and southeast toward Mount Shasta, said Michelle Carbonaro, spokesperson for the inter-agency team managing the fire.

Lake Shastina is 300 miles from the Peninsula, but the high winds will not only make the fire difficult to control but will degrade the air quality throughout the region. Those of us with respiratory problems will have to stay indoors and run the filters.

Assault and robbery reached their lows in August
and October, respectively, and are nearly back
to their 2019 levels. (Chronicle graph)

Violent crime is coming back: San Francisco crime is starting to look more like it did before the pandemic

The violent crimes we analyzed, robbery and assault, declined for the first six months or so of the pandemic, until COVID-19 cases began surging nationwide in late October. Both robberies and assaults spiked through late February, though robberies remained below 2019 levels for every month except February 2021, when they reached 11% above where they were pre-pandemic.

As of May 2021, both types of violent crime are hovering slightly below pre-pandemic levels, but above their pandemic-era lows.

Going backwards (2019 Chronicle pic)

Burglaries may be down overall, but not for tourists. Car break-ins are up as tourism returns to San Francisco [bold added]

The reopening of San Francisco’s restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues and the gradual return of visitors to the city has swiftly collided with a sharp rise in smash-and-grab thefts from cars in tourist-heavy parts of the city, according to city data.

It's only property, declare the people who run the City and State governments, as they divert funds from the police to social services. Florida smash-and-grab victim Kinga Sojka advises:

"Just don’t take valuable stuff with you. Take as little as possible and nothing of big value — no laptops, no jewelry — don’t bring it at all and if you do bring it, even a passport or car keys, carry it with you. Don’t leave it in your car.”

And don't forget about the Hayward and San Andreas faults. The good news: the quake was only 3.9 on the Richter scale. The bad news: the epicenter was 20 miles from Foster City. 3.9 quake felt in the Bay Area, epicenter near San Leandro

Lucky I come Hawaii.