In California: Coronavirus has U.S. residents in China returning home

Just under 200 Americans who left the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak arrive in Riverside County. Millennials lose hope they'll ever own a home. And border officials uncover the longest tunnel to date linking Tijuana to San Diego County.

It's Arlene, rounding up top stories for Wednesday.

But first, you take all of our most private information, then you tell the state you need more time to tell us what you're taking? Ad industry, don't play us like that.

In California is a daily roundup of news from across USA TODAY Network newsrooms and beyond. Click here for free, straight-to-your-inbox delivery.

Coronavirus threat prompts Americans to return home

A flight carrying 195 Americans fleeing the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan landed in Riverside County on Wednesday after a stopover in Alaska. The passengers voluntarily agreed to remain at March Air Reserve Base for monitoring to ensure they don't have the virus that has taken the lives of over 170 people in China.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said he will reconvene on Thursday with global infectious disease experts to determine whether the outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.

The U.S. flight had departed Anchorage early Wednesday after screenings were completed on all passengers, who had been in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak. They had already been screened twice in China.

Elsewhere in California, Tulare County health officials are making preparations to keep everything on track in anticipation of the World Ag Expo. The annual event is expected to draw massive crowds from across the globe in less than two weeks.

"We want everyone to have a safe and healthy event, just as we do every year," said Jennifer Fawkes, marketing manager for the expo.

As investigation continues, public 'hears' from Vanessa Bryant

Vanessa Bryant changes her Instagram profile pic to one of Kobe and their daughter Gianna, her first public acknowledgment of their deaths on Sunday.

Experts say weather likely brought down the helicopter. “The largest killer in aviation, bar none, is weather,” Michael Lenz, a retired safety program analyst with the Federal Aviation Administration, told the Los Angeles Times.

Watch: A drone video shows the devastation of the helicopter crash that killed the Bryants and seven others.

Longest-ever tunnel found at U.S.-Mexico border

The San Diego sector of the U.S. Border Patrol and its partners have uncovered a cross-border tunnel that stretches more than three-quarters of a mile, making it the longest of its kind ever discovered along the Southwest border.

The 4,309-foot tunnel starts in Tijuana, in an industrial area about a half-mile west of the Otay Mesa border crossing. It ends in the Golden State's Otay Mesa warehouse district, where agents discovered several hundred sandbags blocking what they suspect was the former exit, the agency said.

This isn't just any tunnel. It's 70 feet below ground, has an elevator, an extensive rail and cart system, forced air ventilation, high-voltage electrical cables and features a complex drainage system.

Officials in 2016 discovered a half-mile tunnel, also from Tijuana to San Diego County. The region is popular because its clay-like soil is relatively easy to dig into, and both sides of the border have heavy industry presence, making it easy for machinery and trucks to blend in.

Millennials: Forever renters but not by choice

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For most of his 37 years, Alex Gallardo lived the millennial dream — at home with his parents. Then, in 2018, he became a homeowner. Gallardo is one of the lucky ones. Increasingly, those in his age group have given up on ever being able to buy a place.

According to the 2019 Millennial Homeownership from Apartment List report, more and more millennials say they plan to “always rent,” mainly due to affordability concerns.

Among millennials who don’t plan on buying, 69% say they will always rent because they can’t afford to buy. And for millennials who do plan to buy, 70% are waiting because they can’t afford to buy right now. While most millennials still support homeownership, nearly half of millennial renters have no down-payment savings.

What else we're talking about

A raging fire in a 25-story residential high-rise in Los Angeles left eight people injured, including an infant. A suspect is in custody.

Mark Zuckerberg had a message during Facebook’s fourth-quarter earnings call: "My goal for the next decade isn't to be liked but to be understood." Here's what I understand: In the fourth quarter, the company's revenue rose 25%, from $16.9 billion a year ago to $21.1 billion.

Customers often assume "service charges" tacked onto food and drink bills are tips bound for servers. That isn't the case, but it could soon be.

Federal authorities charged San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru and high-profile restaurateur Nick Bovis with fraud following a public corruption probe that involved cash, fraudulent city contracts, improper gifts from a Chinese developer and a $2,000 bottle of wine.

Immigrant advocates want city manager fired for too-close relationship with prison firm

A coalition of 35 organizations serving the Inland Empire’s immigrant community is calling on the Adelanto City Council to fire its city manager for his “involvement and collusion with” the for-profit prison company that owns and operates the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California's Mojave desert, one of the county's largest immigration detention centers.

The demands came three days after The Desert Sun, part of the USA TODAY Network, shed light on the GEO Group's influence and increasing profitability, even as it's situated in a state that wants the industry out.

Key to the success of GEO Group appears to be City Manager Jessie Flores, who unilaterally terminated the city's contract with the company.

That move opened the door to what happened in December, when ICE and GEO entered into contracts to expand the Adelanto and Mesa Verde detention facilities as part of a controversial 15-year contract. The contracts were finalized less than two weeks before a state law meant to phase out private prisons and detention centers took effect.

Immigrant advocates for years have called for the closure of the detention facility in the Mojave Desert, just west of Victorville. A 2018 report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General found significant health and safety risks at the facility, including the problem of detainees hanging nooses made from bedsheets and inadequate medical care.

Read more: How a private prison giant has continued to thrive in a state that wants it out.

In California is a roundup of news from across USA TODAY Network newsrooms. Also contributing: Associated Press

Who are outstanding California women who have inspired you? Learn more about our Women of the Century project here and then make your nomination here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus, Millennials, housing, U.S. Mexico border: Wednesday news