THURSDAY 7-7-22 KAHI MORNING NEWS

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By Jerry Henry on July 8, 2022.

The Electra Fire is now reporting 4,112 acres destroyed and 40% contained, according to CAL FIRE at 4:45 pm. Wednesday.

A Facebook post from the Amador County Sheriffas Office, the office is removing the road closure at the intersection of Lower Clinton Road and Butter Mountain Road. The new closure will be moved to Upper Clinton Road and Butter Mountain intersection. All residents within this along Clinton Road and Butte Mountain Road are clear to return home now that the evacuation order has been reduced to an evacuation warning.

The warning zone running east from Jackson along Highway 88 to Previtali Road has been removed.

According to Pacific Gas and Electric, the company made significant progress responding to power outages that are affecting 2,300 customers in Amador and Calaveras Counties.

PG&E was given access to priority areas of the fire where assets are no longer at immediate risk so they could reenergize some transmission and distribution lines. PG&E also installed temporary generation which allowed them to reenergize more customers Wednesday.

PG&E had to de-energize several distribution lines in the area to help fire crews battling the Electra Fire, but they have been granted access to start staging poles and other equipment at the Electra hydroelectric powerhouse so PG&E can make repairs quickly once they gain full access to damaged equipment.

According to CAL FIRE, officials will be releasing daily information about the Electra Fire at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

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The bodies of the three men who went missing near Brannan Island were recovered Tuesday afternoon, according to the Rio Vista Fire Department. 

Fire officials said they recovered the bodies around 5 p.m. Chris Morales, a friend of the three men, previously identified them to as Guistillo Rivas, Edwin Perez and Danilo Guterrez, all three from Oakland. The three men went missing after they and two other adults went into the water to save a child in the water near Three Mile Slough Bridge and Highway 160 on Sunday. The child made it back safely to shore.  

The five adults were fishing on the riverbank while the child was swimming. The five men went into the water to save the child after the kid began to struggle in the water. 

After the three men remained missing after hours of searching, Rio Vista fire officials said it became a arecovery missiona and assisted law enforcement in finding the missing individuals over the next two days. Officials said none of the men had life jackets on, and that currents on the Sacramento River can be unpredictable and dangerous.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing back against reports that he kept his family trip to Montana a secret because of a ban on state-funded travel to places with anti-LGBTQ laws. Erin Mellon, Newsomas communications director, on Wednesday said: aWe are not in the business of regulating where people have family or where they spend their vacation,a said. aNor will we persecute them for visiting family and The press shouldnat either.a  Newsom and his family left the state on July 1, the first day of the California Legislatureas month-long recess. The governoras office said he was traveling out of state, but didnat initially disclose his destination. CalMatters first reported Tuesday night that Newsom and his family went to Montana, where First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsomas parents own a ranch, according to Associated Press. The Newsomas were married there in 2008. This is the second time this year Newsom has taken an out-of-state family trip and left Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis in charge. The governor in March took a family spring break vacation to Central and South America. His office wouldnat share any details about the trip, citing security concerns. Montana is one of 22 states where California taxpayer-funded travel is prohibited because of laws that discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender residents. California started the travel ban in 2016. Attorney General Rob Bonta in late June added Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana, and Utah to the list after the states passed laws banning transgender women and girls from competing in school sports.

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PG&E Corp. has been planning for years to shut down Californiaas last nuclear plant, at Diablo Canyon, saying the aging facility no longer made economic sense in an energy climate increasingly dominated by solar and other renewable sources. Now the utility appears ready to try to prolong Diablo Canyonas life beyond its planned 2025 closure date. A spokeswoman for PG&E said Wednesday the utility probably will apply for a share of a $6 billion federal program designed to keep nuclear power plants from shutting down. The Civil Nuclear Credit Program was created as part of the infrastructure bill signed by President Joe Biden. PG&E spokeswoman said: aWe expect to apply.a The decision comes as Gov. Gavin Newsomas administration struggles to increase electricity supplies and prevent a repeat of the two nights of rolling blackouts that hit hundreds of thousands of Californians during an August 2020 heatwave. Diablo Canyon generates about 9% of the stateas power.

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