Last year, in my county, when COVID-19 case rates hovered around 300-400 cases per 100k, the local school district (under the guidance of the county and state health departments) put in plans that weighed heavily in favor of distance learning.

In fact, it was distance learning only until they reached something like fewer than 100 cases per 100k. It may have been a lot less. I don't remember.

I suspect similar circumstances like this happened across the nation.

Now, with a more contagious variant (delta) on the rampage that seems to be infecting kids (unlike the prior variants: "Kids don't get COVID" der der der), our schools are sending kids back...

Often with "mask mandate bans" and case rates per 100k well over 500 (we topped 500 on the rolling 14-day average here yesterday).

What the hell are we thinking?

Some parents in Georgia are thinking they got sold a bill of goods and are now taking their kids out of school in droves because the districts they're in said they'd have all these protections in place when kids returned...and then those safety precautions weren't there when kids showed up.

Read more about that here.

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In other news, fires continue to blaze in California, with entire towns being incinerated in hours, if not minutes (just like last year).

A fast-growing fire in Northern California consumed much of a small town outside Sacramento on Tuesday, two weeks after a blaze tore through the historic community of Greenville, underscoring the mounting challenges facing firefighters across the state.

The Caldor Fire in El Dorado County exploded from 6,500 acres Tuesday to more than 53,000 acres by Wednesday morning, officials said, scorching parts of Grizzly Flats as firefighters ordered thousands to evacuate.

Images from Grizzly Flats show numerous homes destroyed — some with only frames left standing, others completely leveled. Cars were blackened, edges of road signs curled by heat, and power lines scorched on the ground. At Walt Tyler Elementary School, only an outdoor playground set escaped the flames, the Sacramento Bee reported.

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Get the rest of your Morning Sixpack here.

Make it a great day!

Bill

🍺 PS - Buy me a beer to keep the Daily Grind News open for business!