Updating . .   

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Sen. Scott Wiener a ‘communist groomer’ after he tweets about hate speech -- A day after her account was reinstated on Twitter, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene used the platform to refer to San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener with a homophobic slur. Dustin Gardiner in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/22

California election results near final form -- And then there was one. Just one California race for a U.S. House of Representatives seat remained too close to call as of Tuesday, two weeks after the Nov. 8 election: With about 335,000 unprocessed ballots left to count, Republican farmer John Duarte was leading Democratic Assemblymember Adam Gray by fewer than 1,000 votes in the new, open 13th District anchored in the middle of the Central Valley. Emily Hoeven CalMatters -- 11/23/22

These Southern California candidates will make history with election wins -- In Southern California, several candidates are on track to become the “first” — first female mayors, first openly gay immigrant in Congress, first transgender elected official in Orange County and more. From congressional contests to mayor races, here’s a look at seven trailblazers in Southern California this election season. Kaitlyn Schallhorn in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 11/23/22

Water  

‘It’s a disaster.’ Drought dramatically shrinking California farmland, costing $1.7 billion -- A third year of severe drought forced California farmers to leave an estimated 752,000 acres of farmland idle this year, according to a new report. Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/22

Workplace   

Palo Alto’s HP to lay of thousands through 2025 -- Palo Alto’s HP told investors this week the company plans to lay off between 4,000 and 6,000 people in its offices across the world during the next two years, making it the latest Bay Area tech company to slash jobs. Chase DiFeliciantonio in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/22

Twitter Workplace   

Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Triggers Partisan Clash on Government’s Role -- Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter Inc. is fueling a partisan clash in Washington, as Democrats raise concerns about the platform’s security and Republicans counter that the criticism is a thinly veiled attempt to stamp out conservative voices on the site. John D. McKinnon in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/23/22

Adult Performers, Trump Supporters and Parodies: Who Is Paying for Twitter? -- Elon Musk made Twitter Blue, an existing subscription service, the backbone of his strategy to increase revenue. We looked at who has signed up for it. Stuart A.Thompson in the New York Times$ -- 11/23/22

Evict  

Judge rules against developer and in favor of L.A. on emergency eviction protections -- A judge has tossed out a federal lawsuit filed by a developer who said his real estate companies should have been compensated for losses they incurred as a result of emergency tenant protections approved in Los Angeles following the outbreak of COVID-19. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/22

Street  

Police commission rules officer broke policy in fatal department store shooting -- The Los Angeles police officer who inadvertently killed a teenage girl when he shot at an assailant in a North Hollywood department story late last year was justified in firing his weapon once, but was wrong to keep shooting, the city’s Police Commission ruled on Tuesday. Libor Jany in the Los Angeles Times$ Josh Cain in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 11/23/22

New Folsom Prison health care deemed ‘inadequate,’ still under federal oversight -- One of two state prisons in Folsom is still getting failing grades for the health care it provides to inmates, leaving it among the institutions that remains subject to oversight from a federal receiver. Alex Muegge in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/23/22

Homeless

Embattled S.F. homelessness organization lost nonprofit status this year -- The California Attorney General’s Office revoked the nonprofit status of the United Council of Human Service this year, citing missing records. The organization has been under scrutiny for a range of alleged improprieties. St. John Barned-Smith in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/22

COVID  

Only the state — not individual school districts — can mandate vaccines, appeals court rules -- Several school districts have tried to bypass the state and order vaccinations on their own, but an appeals court says the districts have no authority to do so. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/22

COVID-19 is robbing Latino community of a secret weapon behind their success: grandparents -- Multigenerational households have played an especially important role in helping Latinos as they’ve grown into California’s largest ethnic group and the second-largest in the nation. Don Lee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/22

Also . . .   

The future of public toilets has arrived in San Francisco — here’s what it looks like -- The contemporary commode is scheduled to begin service on Wednesday, offering eight minutes of privacy on one of the city’s high-visibility promenades, at the edge of Embarcadero Plaza between Market Street and the Ferry Building. John King in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/22

California Policy and Politics Wednesday 

Kevin Kiley, a Republican, Wins a Tight House Race in Eastern California -- Kevin Kiley, a Republican state legislator whose dogged criticism of California’s governor earned him former President Donald J. Trump’s endorsement, won a tight race for a House district in northern and eastern California on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. Shawn Hubler in the New York Times$ Melanie Mason in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/22

‘Deeply troubling’: How a police union worked to undermine California’s landmark police shooting law -- Three years ago, California passed a landmark law restricting when police can shoot suspects. But the ACLU has released records detailing how police lobbying groups sought to undermine the law. Dustin Gardiner in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/22

Sheila Kuehl, retiring at 81, is honored at her final Board of Supervisors meeting -- Three decades ago, Sheila Kuehl entered political life in a bulletproof vest. Kuehl said she needed all the protection she could find in 1994 as she campaigned for a state Assembly seat that would make her California’s first openly gay state legislator. Rebecca Ellis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/22

Democrats now control all House seats along the Pacific Ocean for first time in memory -- The West Coast has long been dominated by Democratic politicians — it’s referred to the Left Coast for a reason. But for the first time in modern memory, Democrats are set to control every congressional district along the Pacific Coast. Nora Mishanec in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/22

Walters: The yin and yang of California’s job picture -- California has almost recovered the millions of jobs that vanished during the COVID-19 recession, but the future of employment in the state is cloudy. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 11/23/22

Workplace   

Yvonne Wheeler becomes first Black woman to lead L.A. County Federation of Labor -- Labor leader and civil rights activist Yvonne Wheeler succeeds Ron Herrera, who stepped down from the Fed in October after his involvement in a racist recording. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/22

L.A. City Council passes law to give retail workers with erratic hours more stability -- The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday passed a new law that requires large retailers to give employees their work schedule at least two weeks in advance — a move designed to give laborers more certainty about their hours. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/22

The work-from-home culture takes root in California — 1 in 5 in adults now dialing in -- Even as pandemic lockdowns fade into memory, COVID-19 has transformed California’s workplace culture in ways researchers say will reverberate well beyond 2022. Phillip Reese For Kaiser Health News in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/23/22

Twitter Workplace   

As Elon Musk Cuts Costs at Twitter, Some Bills Are Going Unpaid -- Mr. Musk and his advisers are examining all types of expenses at Twitter. Some of the social media company’s vendors have gotten stiffed. Mike Isaac and Ryan Mac in the New York Times$ -- 11/23/22

Musk’s Twitter gets weird and wild, but Washington is sticking around -- Elon Musk is making good on his promise to loosen the guardrails at Twitter — welcoming back controversy magnets like Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene — all while hectoring Democrats and posting lewd memes of his own. Rebecca Kern, Meridith Mcgraw Politico -- 11/23/22

Advertisers are dropping Twitter. Musk can’t afford to lose any more -- More than a third of Twitter’s top 100 marketers have not advertised on the social media network in the past two weeks, a Washington Post analysis of marketing data found — an indication of the extent of skittishness among advertisers about billionaire Elon Musk’s control of the company. Naomi Nix and Jeremy B. Merrill in the Washington Post$ -- 11/23/22

Education Workplace   

State employment officials side with union’s unfair labor complaints against UC -- State employment officials said Tuesday they have issued seven complaints allegingunfair labor practices against the University of California in its negotiations with the union that is leading the massive student workers’ strike across 10 campuses and UC laboratories. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/22

‘We’re paying not to go to class’: Amid UC instructor strike, some students are feeling left behind -- Worry reigns across University of California campuses — but not just among the researchers, graduate student instructors and postdocs whose week-old strike is hitting UC like a gut punch just before final exams. It’s the students who are nervous. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/22

Water  

Bay Area sports stars among hundreds fined for heavy water use -- The top water user this go-around, a household in Alamo, averaged 18,052 gallons of water per day, about 90 times what the average residential customer uses. That level of consumption would warrant a fine of about $2,700. Kurtis Alexander, Jordan Parker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/22

Develop   

Open space advocates lose showdown to block development in San Benito County -- A ballot measure that supporters said would stop developers from paving over the scenic, rural character of San Benito County — home to Pinnacles National Park and the historic Mission San Juan Bautista — but which opponents said would limit tax revenue and property rights, has failed. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/23/22

Transit  

We spent a day riding S.F.’s Muni Central Subway. This is what could make or break its success -- Now that it’s open — thousands of people rode the subway trains on Saturday’s opening day — the greatest questions are about its functionality: How fast is it? How long does it take to make the Market Street transfer to BART and Muni stations? Just how deep are the subway’s station platforms? Ricardo Cano in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/22

Street  

L.A. prosecutor put on leave over questionable case sparked by election conspiracy theories -- An L.A. County deputy district attorney has been placed on leave for his role in the questionable prosecution of a Michigan software executive that may have been sparked by conspiracy theorists who deny the validity of the 2020 presidential election. James Queally in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/22

Antisemitic flyers reappear in Bay Area -- Antisemitic flyers have resurfaced on vehicles in Bay Area neighborhoods in recent weeks, according to residents and local authorities. A resident in Oakland’s Adams Point neighborhood reported on Nextdoor this week that they found an antisemitic flyer on their car. Jessica Flores in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/23/22

Education  

UCLA Law School joins boycott of U.S. News & World Report rankings -- UCLA Law School announced Tuesday it is joining the growing boycott of U.S. News & World Report‘s rankings, saying the methodology the publication uses penalizes institutions that encourage public law careers and seek to enroll students from diverse and marginalized communities. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/22

Ex-CSU chancellor Castro’s teaching job stirs controversy over ‘retreat rights’ -- Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is facing backlash over the hiring of former Cal State Chancellor Joseph Castro for a faculty role. Castro resigned the chancellorship in February in the wake of a scandal over how he handled sexual harassment allegations against a top administrator. Oden Taylor CalMatters -- 11/23/22

Pandemic impact continues at Cal State with fall 2022 enrollment decline -- Undergraduate enrollment in California State Universities continues to suffer from a pandemic-induced drop as fewer transfer students arrive from the state’s community colleges. Ashley A. Smith EdSource -- 11/23/22

Oil  

LA City Council votes to move forward with banning oil drilling -- Two committees had approved the item before it came before the council, which voted 10-0 to request that the city attorney prepare an ordinance to prohibit new oil and gas extraction and phase out all oil drilling activities in the city. The item is in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 11/23/22

Also . . .   

Arellano: I met Club Q hero Rich Fierro and his wife years ago. They’ve always been atrevidos -- In the summer of 2018, I drove from Orange County to Denver and back for a bunch of freelance assignments. One of my stops was in Colorado Springs, for a subject I usually don’t care about: beer. Gustavo Arellano in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/22

A stowaway cat snuck into a suitcase. TSA thwarted his travel plans -- When a New York traveler unknowingly packed a cat into his checked luggage earlier this month, the feline would have made it onto a flight to Florida if not for the X-ray machine and security agents at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to the Transportation Security Administration. James Bikales in the Washington Post$ -- 11/23/22

California woman who had visions of Jesus, Virgin Mary moves closer to canonization as saint -- The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved — via a voice vote Wednesday — to move ahead the sainthood cause of Cora Louise Evans, a convert and considered a Catholic mystic when she was alive. The vote is one step in a process that could take decades but moves Evans closer to beatification and canonization. Salvador Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/23/22