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UC strike: Postdoctoral scholars, researchers reach tentative deal but will honor pickets -- In a significant breakthrough, University of California postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers have reached a tentative agreement for higher wages and cost-of-living increases but won’t return to work in solidarity with some 36,000 graduate student workers who remain on strike, the union announced Tuesday. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/22

COVID + Twitter  

Twitter stops enforcing Covid-19 misinformation policy -- Twitter will no longer stop users from spreading false information about the Covid-19 virus or vaccines, according to an update on its content moderation policies. Rebecca Kern Politico Joseph De Avila in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/29/22

Policy and Politics  

Mayor-elect Bass names LA28 executive Chris Thompson as chief of staff -- Thompson, who will also guide Bass’ transition, will start Monday. He is the first major hire announced by the new administration. Julia Wick in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/22

Despite losing school board races, California conservatives confident in new playbook -- Jeffrey “Erik” Perrine, a member of the Proud Boys extremist group, lost his bid to win a seat on the San Juan Unified school board. But more than 2,600 people in Sacramento County voted for him — 18% of the vote in his district, according to the latest election update. Mackenzie Mays in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/22

Is Brooke Jenkins doing anything differently than Chesa Boudin? Here’s what the numbers say -- After Brooke Jenkins replaced Chesa Boudin as San Francisco’s district attorney, police ramped up the number of arrests they brought to the District Attorney’s Office for possible prosecution by nearly 20%, according to an analysis of data. Susie Neilson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/22

Biden taps lawyer who represented Nuru to be Northern California’s top prosecutor -- Ramsey has been on the other side of big cases in the Northern District: He represented former San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru — who pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in January — and Anthony Levandowski, the former Google self-driving unit Waymo employee who pleaded guilty to theft of trade secrets in 2020. Shira Stein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/22

Education Workplace   

Chaos over grades, finals and ongoing classes erupts as UC strike continues -- UCLA junior Sania Tuli is worried that she’s missing material she’ll need when she takes her medical college admission exam next year. UC Riverside senior Nathalie Boutros fears she is falling behind in a class required to graduate because she hasn’t been able to find help during the massive strike of 48,000 University of California academic workers. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/22

Beverly Hills High School wrestling coach fired after shoving student -- Campus security footage shows the man shoving a boy multiple times on campus. He was immediately suspended and was fired last week, school district officials said. Christian Martinez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/22

Spiritual Workplace   

These 10 Bay Area clergy are now linked for the first time to Catholic church sex abuse scandal -- As a deadline looms for new lawsuits to root out decades-old abuse, 14 Northern California priests — including 10 in the Bay Area — have been accused for the first time of sexually abusing children, adding to the list of dozens of disgraced clergy already exposed in recent years in a scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic church for a generation. John Woolfolk in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/29/22

Workplace   

Hundreds of DWP workers would get significant hike in pay under labor agreement -- L.A. Mayor Garcetti backs a package that would give a big pay hike to hundreds of DWP workers. The City Council will vote on the plan Tuesday. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/22

Inglewood carwash ordered to pay over $900,000 for cheating workers -- Shine N Brite carwash paid workers far below the minimum wage and denied them overtime and rest breaks, state officials said. Margot Roosevelt in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/22

Healthcare  

Hospitals had to put charity care rules on their websites months ago. Some didn’t do it -- More than nine months after AB 1020 went into effect, some hospitals still had not put up their charity care policies in readily apparent spots on their websites, The Times found. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/22

Entrepreneuring

Attorney behind thousands of Northern California ADA lawsuits to plead guilty in tax fraud case -- Sacramento attorney Scott Norris Johnson, who gained notoriety among California business owners as he filed thousands of disability lawsuits over the past 20 years, is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to a single count of filing a false tax return, part of a plea agreement that could net him 18 months of home confinement. Sam Stanton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/29/22

Street  

Catfishing a girl, killing her family: Inside Virginia cop’s alleged California rampage -- A newly minted law enforcement officer from Virginia drove to a Riverside cul-de-sac, where he parked a few houses down from the home of a teenage girl he met online by pretending to be someone else, police say. Summer Lin, Salvador Hernandez, Grace Toohey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/22

Toiletgate  

S.F. Toiletgate: City supervisor to demand answers on ‘really outrageous’ $1.7 million public bathroom -- Of all the confusing tidbits swirling around San Francisco’s internationally infamous $1.7 million toilet, the astronomical cost to design it was one of the most perplexing. Heather Knight in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/22

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How a firefighter cadet saved 79-year-old Dennis Platt’s life and became family -- The Platt family in the San Fernando Valley has a lot to be grateful for this holiday season, after its robust 79-year-old patriarch, Dennis Platt, was severely injured in July 2021 when a motorist ran a red light and t-boned his truck in West Hills, leaving him unresponsive after he crawled from the wreckage. Marianne Love in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 11/29/22

California Policy and Politics Tuesday  

Faced with tight transition, Mayor-elect Bass invites Garcetti staff to stay on through April -- Los Angeles Mayor-elect Karen Bass has invited all staffers in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office to remain in their jobs through April, according to a letter sent last week — an atypical move intended to steady the ship amid an unusually short transition period. Julia Wick, Benjamin Oreskes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/22

Oakland’s next mayor is eager to hit the ground running. Here’s what Sheng Thao plans to do first -- Sheng Thao, Oakland’s next mayor, said Monday that the city can finally start to make progress on its biggest challenges now that she and her allies on the City Council are in charge. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/22

Republican John Duarte says he thinks he will win uncalled California House race -- Republican John Duarte, a farmer from Modesto, told The Bee on Monday that he thinks that he will win California’s 13th Congressional District. “I am honored to be able to go in and fight for the 13th District,” D,uarte said at a hotel near Capitol Hill, where the second round of New Member Orientation is this week. Gillian Brassil in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 11/29/22

San Jose mayor-elect seeks special election to fill vacant council seats, despite multi-million dollar cost -- In his first major political maneuver, San Jose Mayor-Elect Matt Mahan is calling for a special election — at a potential taxpayer cost of up to $11 million — to fill two city council seats up for grabs after this month’s election. Gabriel Greschler in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/29/22

Deep dive: Scouring 84 million pages of Santa Clara County property records for historic discrimination -- A new state law requiring property records be scrubbed of racist covenants will cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars. Supporters say it’s worth it. Gabriel Greschler in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 11/29/22

Walters: Is Newsom’s presidential boomlet a bust? -- Speculation that California Gov. Gavin Newsom was laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign was undermined by a report that Newsom had personally told President Joe Biden that he was not running. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 11/29/22

Workplace   

Hundreds of striking UC student educators, researchers march to UC president’s office -- With final exams nearing for University of California students whose graduate instructors are on strike — and rent due for many of the strikers — this third week of the academic workers’ walkout is hitting a critical stage for everyone involved in the labor dispute. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/22

Twitter Workplace  

Elon Musk says Apple threatened to remove Twitter from App Store -- Elon Musk on Monday went on a tear against Apple, Twitter’s top advertiser, after he said the company threatened to block the social network from its App Store without explanation and mostly had stopped advertising on Twitter. Cat Zakrzewski, Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill in the Washington Post$ Kate Conger and Tripp Mickle in the New York Times$ -- 11/29/22

Housing 

"Collapse" in home prices is coming, experts say -- Existing home sales have fallen for nine straight months. The supply of single-family homes is growing. And with mortgage rates near 7%, experts say a large-scale housing slowdown is becoming increasingly likely. Matt Phillips Axios -- 11/29/22

Water  

Drying California lake to get $250M in US drought funding -- The future of the Salton Sea, and who is financially responsible for it, has been a key issue in discussions over how to prevent a crisis in the Colorado River. Kathleen Ronayne Associated Press -- 11/29/22

Street  

‘I was in shock’: Woman describes sexual abuse by warden at Dublin federal prison -- A trial authorities say will expose rampant sexual abuse, repeated attempted cover ups and serious security lapses at the Bay Area’s only federal prison began Monday with testimony from the first of six women expected to describe being sexually assaulted or witnessing sexual abuse by the prison’s former warden. Nate Gartrell in the San Jose Mercury$ Olga R. Rodriguez, Michael R. Sisak, Michael Balsamo Associated Press -- 11/29/22

‘Um, I need help’: Boy makes 911 call from inside father’s car -- As his father drove from California toward Nevada, repeating prayers while wearing a football helmet, a 12-year-old boy made an emergency call from the passenger seat, telling dispatchers he was concerned about his safety. Alexandra E. Petri in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/22

Boutique camera shop near S.F.’s Union Square closed this week after armed robbery shakes up shopkeepers -- Leica Store San Francisco was closed Monday, its glassy storefront dark, its showroom empty of the normal collection of exquisite German cameras. A sign taped to the front door read: “Due to unfortunate circumstances, Leica Store San Francisco will be temporarily closed until further notice.” Sam Whiting, Joel Umanzor in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/22

Fentanyl's scourge plainly visible on streets of Los Angeles -- For too many people strung out on the drug, the sleep that follows a fentanyl hit is permanent. The highly addictive and potentially lethal drug has become a scourge across America and is taking a toll on the growing number of people living on the streets of Los Angeles. Jae C. Hong, Brian Melley Associated Press -- 11/29/22

San Francisco police offer more details on plan for lethal robots -- Amid blowback from civil rights groups, the San Francisco Police Department has offered more details on a draft policy that would allow police robots to use lethal force against suspects as a last-resort option. Eric Ting in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/29/22

What we know about the Virginia cop accused of killing the family of a girl he catfished -- Riverside police allege that Austin Lee Edwards, 28 — a law enforcement officer from North Chesterfield, Va. — catfished a teenage girl online, came to her suburban Riverside neighborhood and killed three of her family members Friday before leaving with her in his vehicle. Hours later, Edwards was killed by police. The girl was unharmed. Grace Toohey, Salvador Hernandez, Summer Lin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 11/29/22

Education  

With final grades due soon, hundreds of UC faculty pledge support for striking academic workers -- Fall classes at most UC campuses end this week. Hundreds of faculty pledge to withhold grades while strike is ongoing. Michael Burke EdSource -- 11/29/22

Quincy High School A.D. cleared to return to work after investigation into his hiring -- Quincy Junior-Senior High School’s athletic director in Plumas County is expected to return to work Tuesday after an investigation found nothing wrong with his hiring in 2018, the Plumas Unified School district announced late Monday. Thomas Peele EdSource -- 11/29/22

Also . . .   

Elon Musk’s Boring Company Ghosts Cities Across America -- Dazzled by Boring’s boasts that it had revolutionized tunneling, and the cachet of working with the billionaire head of EV maker Tesla Inc., the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority dumped plans for a traditional light rail and embraced the futuristic tunnel. Ted Mann and Julie Bykowicz in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 11/29/22

San Francisco’s new space-age public toilet breaks down after three days -- “As expected with a new mechanical system, there will be small technical adjustments during this early usage period,” Rubenstein told The Chronicle in a statement Monday. She did not describe the nature of the mishap. Jessica Flores in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/22

Long Beach says Queen Mary enters ‘final stages’ on critical repairs -- Some critical repairs on Long Beach’s legendary Queen Mary have been completed, city officials announced on Nov. 28, with a slew of others slated for completion in early 2023 — keeping the ship on track for a public re-opening in the next few months. Kristy Hutchings in the Orange County Register -- 11/29/22

S.F.’s Great Highway would remain car-free on weekends as city supervisors decide roadway’s future -- If approved by the full board, the proposed pilot would keep in place the highway’s car-free hours while city staff study its use. Ricardo Cano in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 11/29/22