Convenience Big Store: COVID-19 sidelines 16 firefighters battling Caldor Fire

COVID-19 sidelines 16 firefighters battling Caldor Fire – A COVID-19 outbreak has sidelined a strike team of 16 firefighters battling the Caldor Fire encroaching on South Lake Tahoe. SFGATE reports a California Department of Forest and Fire Protection incident commander announced the loss of the crews and warned other firefighters to follow the agency’s COVID-19 protocols during a Tuesday briefing. A Cal Fire spokesman says those 16 firefighters will have to quarantine for two weeks. He added that this is the first outbreak on the Caldor Fire. (Staff at ABC10, AP)

Scorched Earth: California's growing wildfire crisis – Tim Brown from the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada and the director of the Western Regional Climate Center is working to understand our rapidly changing wildfire environment. One part of the growing concern across the West is a policy of aggressive fire suppression, going in and extinguishing a fire quickly instead of letting them burn. More people means more fire risk. (Monica Woods, ABC10)

Not enough subs: California schools face severe teacher shortage – Across California, the substitute teacher shortage is another burden in an already challenging school year. Administrators are taking desperate steps to make sure there’s an adult in the classroom when teachers are absent, resorting to using non-teaching staff who have their own critical responsibilities during the typical school day, especially during the first fully in-person school year of the pandemic. (Joe Hong, CalMatters)

TIP OF THE DAY

New tool for child tax credit... The goal is to provide a straight-forward, online form that can be accessible via mobile phones for people who are not legally obligated to file taxes to apply for the tax credit because they don't earn enough money. (Josh Boak, AP)

SMILE

Strangers donate to mom who could only afford DIY toy for son...Her son Jonas wanted just one thing for his birthday: a stuffed stingray. Tiffany didn't have the money for such a gift, but she did have determination and creativity. (Megan Yoder, TEGNA)