Essential California Week in Review: Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, attacked by home intruder

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It is Saturday, Oct. 29.

Here’s a look at the top stories of the last week

Paul Pelosi, the husband of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was “violently” attacked. An intruder broke into the couple’s San Francisco home early Friday in what a law enforcement source said appeared to be a targeted attack. The source told The Times that Paul Pelosi, 82, was attacked with a hammer. According to another source, during the attack the assailant shouted, “Where is Nancy? Where is Nancy?” Paul Pelosi underwent surgery for a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm and hands. Full coverage here.

Hospitals around the state are seeing more babies sick with RSV. At least three major California children’s hospitals say they have experienced either a strain or a stretching of resources because of the respiratory illness affecting babies. The increase in RSV comes amid a rise in other respiratory illnesses in California, including the flu.

The LAPD launched a criminal investigation into the source of leaked racist recordings. According to Police Chief Michel Moore, the investigation was requested by those at the center of the maelstrom around the audio: former City Council President Nury Martinez and Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, as well as former L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera. On Wednesday, the City Council voted unanimously to censure Martinez, Cedillo and De León, adding to the public pressure to get the latter two to resign.

Gov. Gavin Newsom ripped into Valero’s 500% rise in profit amid soaring gas prices. The governor renewed his call for a price-gouging penalty “to put these profits back in the pockets of Californians.”

Meanwhile, some of the world’s largest oil companies are selling assets and beginning to pull out of California. Even with strong cash flow in the short term, producers have more to gain from offloading wells and the associated liability — chiefly expensive environmental cleanup — than from pumping more oil and gas, experts say. “This is the kind of deal you see when an industry is in its twilight,” said an official with a nonprofit focused on sustainability in companies and markets.

The average number of newly reported daily MPX cases has fallen dramatically in the state. Vaccinations and treatment have been effective in slowing the spread of the virus in California. San Francisco health officials reiterated that MPX remained a public health concern as it continued to circulate, and urged higher-risk people to complete the two-dose inoculation regimen.

Mortgage rates topped 7% for the first time since 2002, chilling the housing market. It was just last month that rates climbed above 6% for the first time in 14 years. Although rates are still below the historical average of 7.76%, the sudden change has upended the market. In some markets, home prices are falling but not fast enough to balance out the rising interest rates.

Anaheim’s former mayor refused to publicly disclose work-related emails and texts on his personal devices. The move has called into question how thoroughly a city-commissioned investigation can probe a corruption scandal tied to the aborted sale of Angel Stadium and a self-described “cabal” that allegedly steered city politics. Public records experts say Harry Sidhu’s refusal could encourage other government officials to use private accounts to conduct official business and avoid public scrutiny.

A 5.1 earthquake hit near San Jose. The most intense shaking was in sparsely populated areas, and authorities said there were no reports of damage or injuries. But it’s a good reminder to be earthquake-ready. To prepare, sign up for our free six-week newsletter, Unshaken, which has details on putting together an earthquake kit, evaluating quake insurance and more.

California test scores showed deep pandemic drops. Two out of three students in the state did not meet state math standards and more than half didn’t meet English standards on assessments taken in the spring, sizable drops in performance compared with the year before the pandemic. The test results were worse for Black, Latino, low-income and other historically underserved students.

Overall influenza activity in the state is low, but levels are on the high side in Southern California. Given that the flu typically begins ramping up nationally in late November or December, above-normal levels now could lead to further challenges.

Millions of Californians are struggling to pay for water. Across the state, water utility prices are escalating faster than other “big ticket” items such as college tuition or medical costs, according to experts, and an estimated 13 million Californians living in low-income households are bearing the brunt of soaring water costs.

The state began sending out inflation relief debit cards. On Monday, the cards with relief payments began going out to millions of Californians and should arrive in mailboxes over the next few weeks to help ease the pain of increased prices.

Harvey Weinstein’s L.A. trial began. The onetime film-industry kingmaker began his trial on rape charges in a Los Angeles courtroom. During a blistering 90-minute opening statement, Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Thompson read quotes from the eight women expected to say Weinstein assaulted them, describing in their own words how they were terrified of both his size advantage and the enormous influence he wielded over their futures as actresses and models.

ICYMI, here are this week’s great reads

Can saving a marsh also save this town from sea level rise? Thousands of acres of salt ponds along the southern edges of San Francisco Bay are being turned back into wetlands. Tidal marshes are essential in the climate-change battle as they capture and store three times more carbon dioxide than tropical forests — sometimes much more. The question was, how to save the vanishing marsh and also a beaten-down Bay Area town, which would be drowned if the salt ponds were simply breached. “We’ve always been the dirt underneath the shoes of San Jose,” said one Alviso resident. But with some unconventional engineering and a bit of compromise, it seemed possible to do it all.

My identity theft nightmare. Keep it from being yours too. Our colleague Jessica Roy writes: “2019 was a pretty exciting year for me. I stole a Tesla. I got into a car accident — a BMW, that time. I got a new iPhone. I opened two new checking accounts and went on a bad-check-writing spree for as much as $13,000 at a time. I attempted to open dozens of new credit cards. I wrote a check for someone’s bail, which they skipped. On paper, Jessica Roy had a wild year. In reality, that year, and what followed, has been a nightmare. I am the victim of identity theft. And it could happen to you. I also have some bad news: It will be entirely your problem, and no one — not the police, not the government, not the financial institutions — really cares or will help you much. But with determination, you can fight back. I did.”

Today’s week-in-review newsletter was curated by Amy Hubbard. Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.