Updating . .   

As another pandemic Thanksgiving nears, families navigate plans with unvaccinated relatives -- This year, the gathering is limited to her husband, her children and their spouses and the grandchildren, all of whom have been vaccinated, other than her toddler grandson, who isn’t yet old enough for the shot. As an extra precaution, she said, everybody is also getting tested in the days leading up to the meal. Marisa Gerber, Christian Martinez, Jason Armond in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/22/21

Colorado’s COVID-19 surge is an urgent warning for California -- Chillier weather hits Colorado earlier than California, sending people indoors, “which leads to higher potential for transmission of COVID.” Rong-Gong Lin II, Luke Money in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/22/21

Even in liberal California, strict vaccine mandates face resistance -- Enough people in the state remain unvaccinated that school districts, prison officials and private employers are urging flexibility. Otherwise, they say they’ll be understaffed. Mackenzie Mays Politico -- 11/22/21

The pandemic devastated Hayes Valley retail and nightlife. Now, it’s a symbol of S.F.’s resurgence -- Hayes Valley had more than a dozen retail and restaurant closures during the pandemic, as shutdown orders, rampant shoplifting, window break-ins and armed robberies devastated what was one of San Francisco’s premier shopping and nightlife districts. Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/22/21

Smash & Grab  

Storefront windows smashed at Louis Vuitton, Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills -- The incidents occurred on the heels of a series of smash-and-grab robberies in the Bay Area, which included targeted thefts Friday and Saturday of several high-end stores, including Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/22/21

San Jose: Group steal items worth more than $40,000 from Lululemon at Santana Row -- Police said a group of people stole merchandise from a Lululemon store at Santana Row on Sunday night, the latest in a series of brash robberies in the Bay Area. Summer Lin in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/22/21

Policy and Politics  

California parents are frustrated with schools. Could it help Republicans in the midterms? -- A focus on education helped Republicans secure victory in Virginia earlier this month, a state that, a year earlier, had swung for Democrat Joe Biden by more than 10 points. Could the same focus on parents’ rights in schools motivate voters in California? State Republicans are betting on it. Lara Korte in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/22/21

Election fraud claims pose dilemma for Orange County GOP -- With Trump still claiming he won, can local GOP get voters to trust the system enough to show up in 2022? Brooke Staggs in the Orange County Register -- 11/22/21

Skelton: California is projected to have another big budget surplus. Here’s how Newsom should use it -- Gavin Newsom has billions to be grateful for this Thanksgiving — an unexpected $31 billion to buy gifts for voters. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/22/21

Smolens: A Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade would be a jolt to midterm elections -- Gov. Gavin Newsom crushed the attempt to recall him from office in large part because the leading candidate to replace him was nowhere close to a good political fit for California. Michael Smolens in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/22/21

Education  

Hiring shortages, COVID stresses complicate schools’ year of recovery -- This was supposed to be a recovery year for schools and for students. But it doesn’t always feel like it for Jennifer Davis, who teaches seventh-graders at The Language Academy near San Diego State University. Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/22/21

Education  

California districts in areas with low vaccine rates offer incentives to get school staff vaccinated -- Some California school districts, in an effort to get ahead of California Covid-19 vaccine mandate deadlines and reduce already dire staffing shortages, are paying teachers and other staff to get their Covid-19 vaccinations. Diana Lambert EdSource -- 11/22/21

Immigration  

A California study asked 2,000 immigrants about discrimination. Here’s what it found -- Many Latino and Asian immigrants in California feel discrimination at work, in health care, when using government benefits and when encountering law or immigration enforcement, a study co-authored by a UC Merced faculty member found. And those experiences can take a toll on health and overall well-being, a lead researcher says. Andrea Briseño in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/22/21

Workplace   

DoorDash to pay $5.3 million to S.F. couriers over alleged violations of past benefits -- Restaurant-delivery company DoorDash will pay $5.3 million to settle allegations with San Francisco that it stiffed almost 4,500 delivery workers of the city’s mandated health care coverage and paid sick leave, The Chronicle has learned. Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/22/21

For poor farmworkers, there is no escape from heat, high prices of California -- For 24 years, Jaime Villegas left his mobile home in the Central Valley every summer to follow a path paved by generations of California farmworkers. Priscella Vega in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/22/21

Supply Chain  

Supply chain woes trigger shortages of critical medical devices -- Eying the offshore traffic jams at ports and supply chain problems, California hospitals report delays and shortages in medical supplies. Some patients are forced to reuse medical tubes. Kristen Hwang CalMatters -- 11/22/21

Where have all the cars gone? California dealers scramble to meet demand -- Whittier school teacher Buster Alexander was in a bit of a buyer’s bind. Her lease on a Mini Cooper was up and she wanted a new car. Instead of kicking tires and comparing models and prices at a leisurely pace, she found a feeding frenzy. Dealerships were packed with people like her looking at too few cars. Samantha Gowen in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 11/22/21

Water  

La Niña: Is California heading into another dry winter? -- It’s commonly thought that La Niña means dry winters, but history shows that’s more likely for LA than the Bay Area. Paul Rogers in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/22/21

Climate change fuels a water rights conflict built on over a century of broken promises -- For generations, Native Americans lived and fished in what was called the Everglades of the West. The channels of the watershed reached from remnants of ancient Lake Modoc in southern Oregon across the California line to the Pacific coast. Nick Kirkpatrick, Laris Karklis, James Cornsilk, Mason Trinca and Alice Li in the Washington Post$ -- 11/22/21

Also . . .   

‘What’s that smell?’ Carson joins Southern California’s fraternity of stank -- Outside Carson City Hall, a small gathering of residents couldn’t quite agree how to describe the stink that has been plaguing their town. “It’s like a dirty gym sock,” said Jacob Avery, a Carson resident and football coach at Banning High School in Wilmington, chuckling. “I don’t know; it’s like an unclean locker room.” Andrew J. Campa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/22/21

California Policy and Politics This Morning  

Santa Cruz County brings back indoor mask mandate as coronavirus cases rise -- Santa Cruz County, which was the first county in the Greater Bay Area to drop its universal indoor mask mandate after the delta surge, is now reinstating the rule as coronavirus cases rise. Gwendolyn Wu in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/22/21

Wildfire   

Fire danger lingers in Southern California, lacking downpours that hit Bay Area -- While record amounts of rain have greatly reduced the risk of wildfire in some Northern California regions, the southern reaches of the state are not so lucky. Southern California anticipates the return of dangerous fire weather for the Thanksgiving holiday. Julie Johnson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/22/21

Policy and Politics  

Latino, Asian American, LGBTQ activists: They want to shape California’s congressional maps -- Activists are urging the creation of a congressional district that links LGBTQ populations in Long Beach and coastal northern Orange County. Civil-rights groups say a plan to split up a Los Angeles-area district — the most heavily Latino in the nation — violates the Voting Rights Act. Asian Americans warn that a proposal to carve the San Gabriel Valley into pieces would dilute their voice at a time of terrifying violence against their community. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/22/21

Walters: How should California spend its big budget surplus? -- California’s broader economy is a bit sluggish, but certain sectors have been booming, thanks to record low interest rates and many billions of stimulus dollars from Uncle Sam. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 11/22/21

Street  

Bullet fired from street kills 13-year-old Pasadena boy in his bedroom, police say -- A stray bullet struck and killed a 13-year-old boy in his Pasadena bedroom on Saturday evening, police said. By Sunday morning, a small memorial stood outside his home not far from a window with a single bullet hole. Nathan Solis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/22/21

Packs of thieves hit Walnut Creek store, Hayward mall. Are they connected to Union Square heists? -- Bay Area retailers were on alert after groups of thieves rushed a Nordstrom store in Walnut Creek on Saturday night and then hit a Hayward mall Sunday, stealing merchandise in the wake of Friday’s ransacking of high-end retailers in San Francisco’s Union Square. San Francisco police were investigating possible links among the brazen heists. Jessica Flores, Julie Johnson, Catherine Ho in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/22/21

Oil  

Authorities identify source of oil sheen off Huntington Beach -- A day after an oil sheen was spotted off Huntington Beach, authorities believed they had identified and contained the source: a leak from the damaged area of a pipeline that ruptured in October, spilling an estimated 25,000 gallons of oil into the Pacific. Matthew Ormseth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/22/21

Supply Chain  

Supply-Chain Problems Show Signs of Easing -- Asian output is coming back and some bottlenecks are clearing, but labor shortages could persist into next year. Stella Yifan Xie, Jon Emont and Alistair MacDonald in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/22/21