Newsletter: Essential California: Will El Niño suspend trash pickups?

Good morning. It is Monday, Nov. 30. Let us all wish for a funeral procession this grand -- and so perfectly L.A. Here's what is happening in the Golden State: 

TOP STORIES

Missing reforms

After a worker died in the Central Valley, California's oil and gas regulators vowed to make urgent reforms in the way oil companies conduct steam injection. Four years later, there has been little progress. And critics say the current rules are so weak they can put workers at risk. Los Angeles Times 

Refugee crisis

Compared with many other Syrians, they're lucky. They lost all their possessions and dozens of friends and family members in Syria's bloody civil war, but they managed to escape unharmed to Egypt with their six children. The transition to American life has been challenging at times. A look at one family of Syrian refugees living in a Pomona motel. Los Angeles Times

Children and rights

Are juveniles are savvy enough to waive their legal rights? This question is now being debated in California’s courts and legislators. The focus comes after a 10-year-old boy waived his rights, made incriminating statements and was convicted of murder. Los Angeles Times

Kobe Bryant will retire

L.A. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant announced that this season will be his last in the NBA. "My heart can take the pounding, my mind can handle the grind, but my body knows it's time to say goodbye," he wrote in an open letter on the Players Tribune website. Los Angeles Times

DROUGHT & CLIMATE

El Niño trash threat: L.A. is considering suspending trash pickups during the expected El Niño rainstorms this winter. Why? Trash cans -- and garbage -- can clog storm drains and cause flooding. When a powerful storm pummeled Boyle Heights in October, one poorly placed mattress caused havoc. Los Angeles Times

Colder than the Arctic Circle: Northern California’s deep freeze continues with sub-zero temperatures in some areas. It was colder in Alturas, Calif. -- the seat of Modoc County in the far northeastern corner of California -- than it was in Barrow, Alaska. Alturas registered minus 3 degrees, while Barrow recorded 3 degrees above zero. Los Angeles Times

Farming under pressure: Water shortages are expected to cause still more farmland in the Central Valley to vanish in coming years. Could "solar farms" replace them? Sacramento Bee

L.A. AT LARGE

Goodbye, old bird: Southern California’s aerospace industry has been in decline since the end of the Cold War. Another phase in this collapse occurred Sunday, when the last Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane built at the company’s Long Beach plant departed from the facility. The C-17 is at least for now the last major military or civilian aircraft to be built in California. Los Angeles Times 

A believer: For four years, he worked on a documentary about the restoration of Wilshire Boulevard Temple as an outsider. Now filmmaker Aaron Wolf is a member of the temple, carrying on a family tradition. Los Angeles Times

Stairs get color: Silver Lake’s famous “stair streets” are getting a colorful makeover thanks to a local artist. The Eastsider

Housing fight: Allocating $4 million toward affordable housing might not seem like that big a deal. But in Newport Beach, it prompted residents in one upscale community to storm out of a City Council meeting, shouting their displeasure. “I've never seen anything like this,” the mayor said of the residents’ actions. Los Angeles Times

Horror on bike path: A newborn girl was found buried alive on a bike path in Compton. She was rushed to a hospital and is in stable condition. Authorities are looking for the mother. Los Angeles Times

CRIME & COURTS

More jail troubles: Authorities are investigating disturbing allegations against a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy. A female inmate reported that the deputy asked her to perform a sex act as he escorted her back to a cell in the downtown criminal courthouse. She complied, she said, because she was afraid the deputy might otherwise get her into trouble. Los Angeles Times

School police: The L.A. Unified School District has the nation's largest independent school police force. Instead of focusing on citations, though, they're trying to direct students into counseling programs for minor offenses. Los Angeles Times

Bat mystery: San Francisco police are dealing with a mystery. Someone has been leaving spiked baseball bats around the city, 30 in all. Officials don’t know whether there is any threat behind them. SF Gate

Man dies in chimney: An alleged burglar tried to get into a Central Valley home the old-fashioned way -- through the chimney. But police say he got stuck, then died when the owners started a fire. Fresno Bee

POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

Cheating alleged: A former cadet is alleging widespread corruption at the Cal Fire academy, saying that instructors gave out questions and answers before the tests. Sacramento Bee

Bike safety: San Francisco is trying something new to make cyclists safer. It’s creating a raised bike lane on Market Street so that bikes can avoid cars. But some question whether it will work. Wired 

Brown’s mission: On the eve of a global summit on climate change, Gov. Jerry Brown may well arrive with the winning message: a combination of gloom-and-doom and optimism about the future, Jon Christensen writes. Medium 

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Robolights are on: Amid the clean lines and mid-century elegance of Palm Springs’ Movie Colony neighborhood, an artist has created something, well, different: three towering robots made of old appliances, lawn furniture and wood scraps standing several feet tall. Welcome to Robolights. Los Angeles Times

Vince Staples’ story: The rapper from North Long Beach is making his mark in the music business, but he also has doubts. California Sunday

Homeless fiction: It’s a work of fiction highly relevant to Los Angeles today: Rachel Kushner’s story “Fifty Seven,” about a homeless man cycling through jail, skid row and the San Fernando Valley. The New Yorker

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

In Los Angeles, it'll be partly cloudy with a high of 66 degrees. San Francisco will reach a high of 54 degrees and be partly cloudy, with a 20% chance of rain. San Diego will be mostly sunny with a high of 67.

AND FINALLY

This week’s birthdays for notable Californians:

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia (Dec. 2, 1977), Silicon Valley investor Sean Parker (Dec. 3, 1979), Rep. Grace Napolitano (Dec. 4, 1936), writer Joan Didion (Dec. 5, 1934) and comedian Margaret Cho (Dec. 5, 1968).

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Alice Walton or Shelby Grad.