Yuor top stories for today

If you are having trouble reading this email, [read the online version](. [News Daily Logo]( '[Hate Has No Place' in America, Trump Says After El Paso and Dayton Shootings]( [two snails]( President Trump, responding to the deadly shootings over the weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that killed 29 people, condemned white supremacy and called for the death penalty for mass murderers and domestic terrorists. Speaking at the White House, Trump said the nation is "overcome with shock, horror and sorrow." On Sunday, the El Paso police chief said it appeared increasingly likely that the shooter posted a white nationalist, anti-Hispanic screed online ahead of the attack. "In one voice," Trump said on Monday, "our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy." Trump called for laws to ensure that those "judged a grave risk to public safety do not have access to firearms" and declared, "Mental illness pulls the trigger, not the gun." But he stopped short of addressing other measures that gun control advocates argue are urgently needed, including closing loopholes in required background checks for gun buyers and banning large ammunition magazines. However, in an earlier tweet, Trump seemed to open the door to such measures, but tied them to immigration overhaul. Related coverage: [After 3 Mass Shootings in One Week, Bay Area Representatives Call For Action]( [Half Staffs . . . Again. And Again.]( [two snails]( KQED cartoonist Mark Fiore: With the shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival followed quickly by the tragic mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, flags are being lowered across the country. Sadly, I've had to once again update an animation I created first for the Las Vegas shooting and then updated for the mass shooting in San Bernardino. Senseless gun violence continues - whether in the form of mass shootings using assault rifles or daily killings with guns of all sorts across the country. Tens of thousands of shootings every year don't even make a blip on the national news cycle - like the man lying lifeless on the sidewalk with a bullet in his chest outside the Mission Street burrito shop I happened to be inside one night several years ago. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 33,004 incidents of gun violence in 2019 . . . so far. 8,715 have resulted in deaths and 250 have been classified as "mass shootings." (The Gun Violence Archive considers an incident a mass shooting if four or more people are shot or killed, not including the shooter.) This is going to take a lot more than "thoughts and prayers" and hollow platitudes from politicians. [Watch]( Fiore's animation. [Berkeley Residents and Officials Practice Wildfire Evacuation for the First Time]( In the wake of one of the worst fire seasons in California history in 2018, Berkeley held its first wildfire evacuation drill Sunday to help residents and firefighters prepare. "We have a history of wildland fires burning through Berkeley," said Berkeley Fire Chief Dave Brannigan. "1923 and 1991 were both devastating fires." In 1923, a wildfire in Berkeley destroyed more than 500 buildings, but did not kill anyone. In 1991, a wildfire swept through the Berkeley and Oakland hills, burning thousands of structures and killing 25 people. The 1991 fire is the third deadliest wildfire in recorded California history. "We know it'll happen again," Brannigan said. "And given the extreme fire behavior that we've seen in California we now recognize that the most important thing to do in the early hours is to get people out. So we feel we need to do these drills to help the public be prepared to do that." [After a Successful Weekday Launch, Richmond Ferry Begins Weekend Service]( Ferry service from Richmond to San Francisco, which has been something of a hit on weekdays since it launched last winter, is debuting on weekends starting Saturday. Ridership on the Richmond ferries, which run from the Craneway Pavilion to San Francisco's Ferry Building, has grown by about 60% since the first run on Jan. 10. The new Saturday and Sunday service features five trips in each direction. The first boat leaves Richmond at 9:30 a.m., the last at 6:45 p.m. The first eastbound trip from San Francisco leaves at 10:15 a.m., the last at 8:20 p.m. (More information on schedules and fares.) The weekend service, funded with $238,000 from a Contra Costa County transportation sales tax, will run through Nov. 3. # [You Are Now Much More Likely to Read This Climate Change Story]( The public is paying a lot more attention to climate change news stories. That's the thrust of Andrew McCormick's piece in the Columbia Journalism Review this week, challenging the conventional wisdom that people's interest in the topic is low. Confronted with a report about climate change, this view holds, most news consumers will change the channel, turn the radio dial, click off the website. According to the CJR report, only 22 of the 50 biggest newspapers in the U.S. covered the release of an October 2018 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that said humanity had just 12 years to reduce emissions or face an even worse level of catastrophic impacts than it already does. MSNBC host Chris Hayes captured the media's reluctance to delve into the climate story with a July 2018 tweet. "Almost without exception, every time we've covered it's been a palpable ratings killer," Hayes wrote. "So the incentives are not great." But that appears to be changing, McCormick reports. He writes: "A review of industry-wide data and accounts from numerous top-line publications suggest that audience interest in climate coverage is, in fact, on the rise, and that dedicating resources to the story might suit companies' bottom lines." McCormick reached that conclusion after CJR obtained January 2017 to June 2019 data from about 1,300 media outlets, mainly from North America and Europe. He enlisted the help of data scientist Su Hang and her team at Chartbeat, a web analytics company, to crunch the numbers. [Commentary: Gilroy. El Paso. Dayton. How Long Before We Call it What it Really Is?]( This past Sunday, as I left the San Francisco Ballet's performance at Stern Grove, and as my daughter quickly fell into a nap in the backseat of my car, I took a second to check my phone. There was a text from my mother, asking if I was in Gilroy. The horrible event that took place — a shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival that left three dead, including two minors, before the suspect shot and killed himself — is bad enough on its own. But when you look at all the details that have emerged, from the ethnicity of the victims to the political views reported thus far of the assailant, a heinous crime quickly becomes a building block of our new, disgusting reality. Two days after the shooting, a federal law enforcement official told the San Francisco Chronicle that investigators found reading material on white supremacy and radical Islam in the shooter's Nevada home. An Instagram account reported by The Associated Press to be the gunman's contained posts just hours before the shooting denouncing "hordes of mestizos," and promoting the book Might Makes Right, a popular text in white supremacism and extremist groups. I get it: law enforcement usually needs time to confirm extremist connections. By the time that happens, we've usually moved on to the next mass shooting in El Paso, or the next mass shooting in Dayton, and in a matter of days, not weeks. As a citizen — one who regularly attends public cultural events — I can't help but see these details in shootings over and over. A larger context needs to be mentioned every time a shooting influenced by ideology happens in America. Every single time. The issue of white supremacy influencing domestic terrorism needs to be clearly stated in the news. I'm glad it was a topic of discussion during the democratic presidential debates, as it should be a topic of discussion heading into the 2020 election. It's as big an issue as legislators dictating the reproductive rights of women, and the president using his executive powers to build a border wall. '[That Act of Kindness': Courageous Acts Amid Terror at the Gilroy Garlic Festival]( [two snails]( The devastation inflicted by a lone gunman, who opened fire during the final hours of the Gilroy Garlic Festival on July 28, killing two children and a young man, would undoubtedly have been much worse if not for the courage of bystanders who did what they could to lead others to safety. Here are some of the many stories from that day. If you have a story to share, either about something you did or someone who helped you, please email me (mleitsinger@kqed.org) *** Gabriella Gaus and her friend, Brynn Ota-Matthews, were in a bounce house when they heard the first shot. They quickly fled, racing to the parking lot, but Ota-Matthews was shot in the back and bullets grazed Gaus' shoulder and back. A friend helped them get into a golf cart, informing the driver that the pair had been hit by gunfire. Then they came across a man — who Gaus believes is named John — with his young son and offered them a ride in his vehicle. "He was like, 'Get in,' " Gaus, 26, of Scotts Valley, said Thursday at a press conference. "He took us to the hospital. We were fortunate enough to not get there by ambulance, which was huge for us. I think we were one of the first people to show up." Gaus was treated on Sunday at St. Louise Regional Hospital and discharged the same day. Ota-Matthews, 23, was transferred to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and released Thursday. A bullet is still lodged in her liver. Gaus said that while fleeing the gunfire on Sunday, she thought about where she and her friend should run, since neither had grabbed their car keys. "I just felt like we were going to be running forever," she said. Gaus said she wants to thank the man who saved them. "That act of kindness," she said. "I mean we're just so lucky because I didn't feel safe until I was fully in a car." *** Early Sunday evening, a mother and her young child frantically knocked on Aaron Mazikowski's door, informing him of the shooting and asking for a ride back to their car. "I locked the kids and wife up in the house and took [the mother and child] to the parking lot," he said. "When I dropped them off, I saw a bunch of people. People were going all over the place — over the hills, through the gate. No one knew where they were. Everyone was scared. So I started picking up as many people as I could, mainly searching out people who had kids or weren't able-bodied." Mazikowski, a 39-year-old industrial designer, said he thinks he gave rides to about eight people, most from out of town who had no idea where they were, shuttling them back to their cars. His wife, he said, was understandably concerned about him leaving the house. "I had to step into action," he said he told her. "I felt like it was my duty. I said 'Hey, if this was you, I'd want someone to help you out.'" Read more of these stories [here.]( Photo: Getty Images [PHOTOS: Surfing Dogs Equals Instagram Gold]( [two snails]( Nearly 4,000 people ⁠— smartphones and digital cameras at the ready — descended on Pacifica State Beach on Saturday morning to watch and photograph about 50 dogs catching some waves. "It's so Instagrammable," said Kay-Dee Lane, who drove up to Pacifica for the event from San Diego with her daughter and dog Beezel, who used to surf but has recently 'retired.' "The best part is the night after when you are looking for all the photos online." The annual World Dog Surfing Championships in Pacifica has multiple heats for dogs, based on size, and contests where a dog and their human ride on boards together. "This is definitely the largest it has ever been. This contest started four years ago," said Michael Uy, owner of previous champion Abbie Girl, an Australian Kelpie rescue dog. "It was literally a handful of people that showed up one morning on a beach. This is crazy!" Photo: Surf Dog Teddy, with his custom life preserver including his Instagram hashtag, came up from San Diego for this event. (Ethan Lindsey/KQED) Today's KQED News Daily was produced by Miranda Leitsinger in San Francisco. Got ideas, stories, comments? Email me: mleitsinger@kqed.org [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( [Donate]( [Manage Subscription]( | [Privacy Policy]( KQED 2601 Mariposa St. San Francisco, CA 94110 Copyright © August 5, 2019 [KQED](. All Rights Reserved.