California Policy and P  olitics This Morning  

‘Getting worse each day’: 1 in 145 L.A. County residents can infect others with the coronavirus -- It could be your neighbors, or the man who brushed past you at the grocery store. Maybe it’s the last-minute addition to Thanksgiving dinner, or the friend who pulled their mask off next to you at the gym. Throughout Los Angeles, COVID-19 is closer than ever. Soumya Karlamangla in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/20

L.A. County at perilous moment as hospitalizations rise and Thanksgiving brings new dangers -- Los Angeles County was rapidly running out of time to prevent hospitals filling up with COVID-19 patients in the coming weeks as the virus continued an unprecedented surge and the Thanksgiving weekend presented perilous risks of further infections. Rong-Gong Lin II, Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/20

California records 18,350 new COVID-19 cases in past 24 hours -- This is the highest number of cases reported in a single day since the start of the pandemic, and comes at a time when public health officials are pleading with residents to avoid gatherings and travel over the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/26/20

$6,000 a week: Demand for nurses amid COVID surge has hospitals bracing for staffing shortages -- Between the flu season affecting staff levels and demand for traveling nurses outstripping supply, hospitals are bracing for staffing shortages as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens. Emily DeRuy in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/26/20

Many in Fresno County can’t afford a free COVID-19 test. Why it’s complicated and dangerous -- Overwhelmingly, however, people in Fresno’s most impoverished communities fear that taking a test will result in nothing but losing their job, missed rent and mounting bills. Manuela Tobias CalMatters -- 11/26/20

Concordia University coronavirus ‘outbreak’ attributed to more than 50 ‘false positives’ -- Concordia University in Irvine will discontinue its use of antigen testing for asymptomatic students and employees, after more than 50 false positives prompted unwarranted concern about a possible major coronavirus outbreak. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ Dan Albano in the Orange County Register -- 11/26/20

Placer County health officials link COVID-19 outbreak to Rocklin basketball center -- More than two dozen people in two counties have tested positive for COVID-19 after participating in indoor youth basketball games at Rocklin’s Courtside Basketball Center, but the owners refused to end indoor play, Placer County Public Health officials announced Wednesday. Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/26/20

Thanksgiving 

LAUSD aims to give out 1.5 million meals, food to last through Thanksgiving weekend -- Around 8:30 Wednesday morning, Manuel Padilla and his two sons, 3-year-old Levi and 1-year-old Toto, joined the line at South Gate High School. With a five-day holiday weekend ahead, Padilla has a family to feed — and although his children are not yet in school, he turned to the Los Angeles school district for help. Arit John in the Los Angeles Times$ Linh Tat in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 11/26/20

Thanksgiving looks different on L.A.'s skid row this year -- In non-pandemic times, Thanksgiving at the Midnight Mission shelter can be quite festive. There’s a street carnival with bands playing, volunteers scurrying about and enough turkey to put someone in a coma. Often as many as 2,500 people show up along with 400 volunteers. Not this year. Benjamin Oreskes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/20

As Pandemic Increases Food Insecurity, Sacramento Nonprofits Work To Keep Up With Need For Holiday Meals -- At the Fruitridge Community Collaborative in South Sacramento this past weekend, volunteers distributed food bags full of hams, turkeys and other Thanksgiving staples. But instead of having people stand in line, they gave out packages via car windows as people drove through. Sammy Caiola Capital Public Radio -- 11/26/20

Policy & Politics 

California lawmakers demand unemployment answers from Bank of America CEO -- A bipartisan group of California lawmakers is asking Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan for answers about unemployment payment problems that have upended the lives of thousands of jobless Californians who rely on the bank’s prepaid debit cards. Lauren Hepler CalMatters -- 11/26/20

Ruling opens the way for sex, rock and ‘gangster’ talk on license plates -- Want to personalize your California license plate using a racy term? You’ll soon be able to. A federal judge on Tuesday struck down the state’s ban on certain “offensive” vanity plates, ruling that the prohibition violates free speech rights. Faith E. Pinho in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/20

Mountain View Voters Passed Measure C. Now What Happens to RV Dwellers? -- Jan Stevens was born and raised in Mountain View. She raised her son in the city, too. She's disabled, unemployed and has relied on child support to help pay the bills. But once her son turned 18, the child support stopped and she began to run out of options. Adhiti Bandlamudi KQED -- 11/26/20

Skelton: Newsom and legislators got a surprise windfall. They should resist the urge to spend -- Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders can be thankful for one surprise holiday gift: a huge windfall of tax dollars. But this is a one-time present. Sacramento Democrats should resist the temptation to quickly spend the billions on goodies. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/20

Fox: Feinstein Steps Down; A Sign the Political Divide is Still Wide -- What to make of California Senator Dianne Feinstein stepping down from potential chairmanship or ranking-member position in the Senate Judiciary Committee? Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 11/26/20

H1B  

Will Biden Follow in Obama’s Footsteps With H-1B Visa? Labor Advocates Have Concerns -- President-elect Joe Biden is pledging to reverse a slew of Trump-era immigration restrictions, which brings up the question of what he will do with the H-1B visa for highly skilled workers. Over the last three decades, it has been a pathway to work in America for several million people, but at the same time corporations have used it to underpay foreign workers, outsource jobs and drive down wages. Sam Harnett KQED -- 11/26/20

Blackouts 

Power could be cut to 76,000 in Southern California on Thanksgiving due to fire risk -- Communities from Hemet to Ventura may lose power as part of a “public safety power shut-off,” intended to keep electrical systems from becoming a source of wildfire ignition, as forecasts call for gusty Santa Ana winds and dry conditions across the Southland. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/20

Power may be shut off to 2,700 SDG&E customers over Thanksgiving weekend due to high winds -- San Diego Gas & Electric has notified about 2,700 customers in mountain and inland valley communities that the utility may have to shut off power over a portion of the Thanksgiving weekend because of forecasted Santa Ana winds that triggered a Red Flag Warning from the National Weather Service. Rob Nikolewski in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/26/20

Also . . .   

Bay Area’s DoorDash to pay $2.5 million after being accused of stealing drivers’ tips -- Bay Area restaurant-delivery firm DoorDash has agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle a government lawsuit alleging it stole drivers’ tips and deceived customers into thinking their tip money was going to drivers. Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/26/20

See hiker pinned by big boulder get rescued from rugged terrain in Calistoga area -- If a hiker who was pinned down by a large boulder on his backpack and right arm near Calistoga hadn’t been able to rip open his jeans pocket and retrieve his cell phone on time, he may not have been found and rescued early Tuesday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol Golden Gate Division Air Operations. David Caraccio in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/26/20

Inmate from L.A. County fatally shot by guards during attack in state prison -- An inmate from Los Angeles County was fatally shot Wednesday by a correctional officer attempting to stop him and two others from stabbing another inmate at California State Prison-Sacramento. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ Rosalio Ahumada in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/26/20

San Jose church stabbing: Police chief, mayor lament ‘preventable’ tragedy -- City officials on Wednesday decried the deadly weekend stabbing spree at a downtown San Jose church shelter as “preventable,” blasting the court system and a permissive county sanctuary policy for allowing a suspect with a violent recent history to return to the streets. Robert Salonga in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/26/20

POTUS 46  

Biden steps into leadership vacuum to reassure Americans with Thanksgiving address -- As President Trump continued to downplay an out-of-control virus that is taking more than 2,000 American lives a day, President-elect Joe Biden sought to step into the leadership void Wednesday by delivering a solemn appeal for Americans to put politics aside and unite to beat the pandemic. Evan Halper in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/26/20

POTUS 45  

Trump pardons former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI -- President Trump on Wednesday announced he had pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, ending a three-year legal saga that included Flynn’s guilty plea for lying to the FBI, his later effort to withdraw that plea and then a controversial decision by Attorney General William P. Barr to try to drop the case altogether. Rosalind S. Helderman and Josh Dawsey in the Washington Post$ -- 11/26/20