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In assessing the near-term future of the California economy and how it affects the state budget, Gov. Gavin Newsom has recently taken to comparing his role to that of an airline pilot.

And it even comes with an impersonation of that voice on the loudspeaker toward the end of a flight.

“We’re about to begin our descent,” Newsom joked with reporters last month after an event in Sacramento. “We’re still at 36,000 feet, but we’re about to begin our descent.”

The governor isn’t the only one who is preparing for a landing. But none of those watching the horizon know when or how fast it will happen. Nor do they know how it will affect myriad vital state services when the high-flying economy of most of the last decade runs out of gas.

SEAT BELTS, EVERYONE: BUDGET BUMPS LIKELY ON THE WAY

Last week’s report by state officials of (another) record low measurement of unemployment in California included a reminder that national economic data are nearing uncharted territory.

The longest U.S. economic expansion in data dating to 1854 lasted for 120 months — achieved during the decade of technology industry growth in the 1990s. State researchers noted in employment data released last week that the current streak stands at 116 months, which bears a moment of reflection: Even the strong economies in the years after World War II, as well as those of the 1960s and 1980s, were shorter than the current streak that began in July 2009.

California has been a major part of the national story. The state has added almost 3.4 million jobs since February 2010, reported the state Employment Development Department, accounting for more than 15% of all the new jobs created in the country during that time period. As of October, California’s jobless rate stood at a historically low 3.9%.

No one expects the streak to go on indefinitely, but there’s no exact science to figuring out when things will change. The state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office reported this month that its “state fiscal health index” has declined for six consecutive months — a potential sign that the anticipated descent is at hand.

“Declines of this duration and magnitude have not been observed since the last recession,” the analysts wrote.

Researchers at the Public Policy Institute of California crunched their own numbers this year, estimating that even a mild recession could shrink state tax revenues by as much as $36 billion over three years. That could blow a pretty big hole in the historically large $19-billion cash reserves called for in the budget Newsom signed in June.

The governor is already hashing out the contours of his 2020 budget proposal behind closed doors, a plan he’s required to send to the Legislature no later than Jan. 10. And it feels as though we’re already getting a few previews. Newsom has said he expects to ask legislators to spend significant money on some kind of effort to mitigate either wildfire threats or the effects of preventive electricity shutoffs — or spending that helps address both issues.

State government assistance could also be needed on the local level in the coming year. Last month, State Auditor Elaine Howle released a new analysis of cities across the state at risk of a fiscal crisis. Some of those problems are at least partly due to local officials’ having to set aside more money than ever to cover pension promises made to government employees.

Newsom seems to be subtly reminding everyone, the public and interest groups alike, that the days of multibillion-dollar surpluses are over. A key estimate of the near-term horizon is due this week, when the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office releases its annual fiscal outlook. We’ll be watching for not only the analysts’ take on the relative temperature of the economy but also whether growth in state government expenditures — the analysts have already estimated general fund expenses in the current fiscal year will be $23 billion above what was spent in 2017-18 — is sustainable in the event of a mild recession.

One final footnote: Only a handful of incumbent legislators were serving in Sacramento during the last cycle of severe state budget deficits. As much as an economic slowdown would challenge Newsom, it would also challenge the skills of his legislative partners. And almost no one likes to be the one deciding which important program ends up on the chopping block.

THE DEMANDS OF DEMOCRATS: LONG BEACH WRAP-UP

California Democrats met over the weekend in Long Beach to weigh party endorsements in legislative and congressional races. But the main event was the race for the White House, as reporters gauged the reactions of the party faithful to the presidential candidates who showed up.

As Seema Mehta wrote, the 12 White House hopefuls participated in a Saturday forum held by Univision. But much of the action took place elsewhere at the sprawling Long Beach convention center or at nearby restaurants and bars.

The race’s newest entrant, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, wasted no time in soaking up the scene. Mehta caught up with Patrick for an extended interview.

And Sen. Kamala Harris, the state’s best-known hopeful, hoped to boost her fortunes with the endorsement of the high-profile United Farm Workers union.

NATIONAL POLITICS LIGHTNING ROUND

— President Trump spent more than two hours at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Saturday for what the White House said were medical tests as part of his annual physical. Unlike previous visits, this one wasn’t on his weekend public schedule.

— Democratic lawmakers on Sunday laid out their road map heading into the second week of public impeachment hearings against Trump. Some see it as a do-or-die phase of their impeachment inquiry after a week of detailed public testimony.

— Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards narrowly won a second term Saturday as the Deep South’s only Democratic governor, handing the president another gubernatorial loss this month.

— Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders held a rally in Los Angeles over the weekend as part of his presidential campaign’s outreach to young Latino voters.

— Former President Obama on Friday warned the Democratic field of White House hopefuls not to veer too far to the left, a move he said would alienate many who would otherwise be open to voting for the party’s nominee next year.

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NO STATEWIDE STINGS OF MINORS BUYING POT

California state agencies send minors into thousands of liquor stores and bars each year to attempt to buy alcohol or cigarettes. The stings catch hundreds of clerks and bartenders selling to underage customers.

But two years after the state began licensing marijuana shops, the agency tasked with enforcing cannabis laws in California has not conducted similar stings targeting the state’s multibillion-dollar pot industry, the largest in the country.

“Teen access, use and harms related to marijuana are skyrocketing,” said Scott Chipman, vice president of Americans Against Legalizing Marijuana, a leading opponent of 2016’s Proposition 64. “Minor decoy programs are one of many enforcement strategies that could be useful, especially if there is sufficient media regarding the outcomes.”

TODAY’S ESSENTIALS

— Add another big proposed ballot measure to the possible mix for California’s election next November: legalized betting on sports, an idea being pushed by a coalition of influential Native American tribes.

— A new poll shows that a broad majority of Los Angeles voters think that the city and county have been ineffective in spending money earmarked to combat homelessness and that new policies are needed to address a crisis they equate with a natural disaster.

— Newsom has called a March 3 special election to pick a successor to former Santa Clarita Rep. Katie Hill, the Democrat who stepped down amid accusations that she’d had affairs with congressional and campaign staff members.

— A proposal to divert high-speed rail money from the Central Valley to California’s big cities has split the state’s political leadership.

— California remains the top U.S. destination for international students, who primarily come from China and India to attend USC and UC campuses, but enrollment dipped slightly for the first time in at least a decade.

LOGISTICS

Essential Politics is written by Sacramento bureau chief John Myers on Mondays and Washington bureau chief David Lauter on Fridays.

You can keep up with breaking news on our politics page throughout the day. And are you following us on Twitter at @latimespolitics?

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Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to [email protected].

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Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. We’re going to change gears in this newsletter a little bit for today only. Yes, the Rams played and won Sunday. As did the Lakers. You can read all about that, and more, by clicking here. But there are two stories that may have slipped under your radar in the last few busy sports days. Stories that got lost amid all the Rams, UCLA, USC, Lakers, Clippers, Kings and Ducks results.

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

I wish I could take credit for this first story, but it was written by a person I consider the pre-eminent high school sports reporter in the nation, Eric Sondheimer.

Down by 21 points twice in the Division 7 playoff game Friday night, junior quarterback Walker Eget of West Ranch looked up into the filled bleachers and felt additional motivation.

In the wake of Thursday’s shooting at Saugus High, students from around the Santa Clarita Valley came together at West Ranch to support each other. They hugged, they shook hands, they cheered for West Ranch. Members of the Saugus football team were there too. Everyone was trying to fulfill the #SaugusStrong spirt.

“On the last few drives, it was, ‘Do it for the people,’ ” Eget said.

Eget finished with seven touchdown passes to help West Ranch pull out a 57-56 win over Long Beach Wilson to advance to the Southern Section Division 7 semifinals.

“It was surreal,” West Ranch coach Chris Varner said. “I was exhausted from the emotions of everything.”

Two students were killed and three wounded in Thursday’s shooting. No classes were held Friday at any of the high schools in the Hart Unified School District. The football game gave an opportunity for the community to come together and offer emotional support to those who needed a positive experience.

“Going to a football game can’t help what happened, but we’re trying to lighten up the mood and say prayers to the community,” Eget said. “Our idea was Saugus Strong. Saugus needed this.”

It was the first time Eget has passed for seven touchdowns since a game earlier this season — against Saugus. This time, Saugus fans and all fans in the Santa Clarita Valley were rooting for Eget.

VERA CLEMENTE

Vera Clemente, the widow of Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente and a goodwill ambassador for Major League Baseball, died Saturday. She was 78. She died in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Vera and Roberto Clemente got married in November 1964, according to the Roberto Clemente Foundation. Roberto Clemente was a 15-time All-Star with the Pirates. He was killed in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1972 while attempting to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says Vera Clemente “impacted countless children and extended her family’s humanitarian legacy of helping those in need.”

Vera Clemente served as the chairwoman for the foundation, which works “to promote positive change and community engagement through the example and inspiration of Roberto.” Vera and Roberto had three sons: Roberto Jr., Luis and Enrique.

Pirates owner Bob Nutting called Clemente “a cherished member of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Major League Baseball family.” He says she “epitomized grace, dignity and strength in the wake of heartbreaking tragedy and loss.”

Former Pirate Steve Blass remembered Vera: “It couldn’t have been easy for her, losing her husband and raising three young boys by herself,” Blass said. “I never sensed any bitterness, though, on her part. She never wanted anyone to feel sorry for her. She went on to raise three great sons and doing so much good with her charity work with the Roberto Clemente Foundation both in Puerto Rico and Pittsburgh.

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“She was always gracious with her time to always come back to Pittsburgh and be there anytime the Pirates marked any anniversaries or paid any tributes to Roberto. She never lost that connection to the city.”

Former Pirates catcher Manny Sanguillen wrote on Twitter: “Doña Vera is in heaven, reunited with Roberto. Vera and Roberto dedicated their lives to helping others, now we must do as they taught us. Encircle their family with love, prayers, support and guidance. God blessed us with Roberto & Vera, we will follow their lead & bless others.”

So here’s a woman whose husband died tragically while trying to help others. Instead of becoming bitter, she raised their three kids and ran a charitable foundation in the name of her husband, a foundation that helped the underprivileged in two countries. Her passing deserves mention, and her memory deserves to be honored. So, if you can and are willing, take a moment today and reflect on her memory, and thank anyone you know who is serving others, in whatever capacity.

That concludes the newsletter for today. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, please email me at [email protected]. If you want to subscribe, click here.

Two of the NFL’s best — and highest-paid — defensive players had a chance to affect the Rams’ game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday night at the Coliseum.

The Rams’ Aaron Donald produced more than the Bears’ Khalil Mack.

Donald, the two-time NFL defensive player of the year, recorded two sacks and four quarterback hits during the Rams’ 17-7 victory.

Mack, the 2016 defensive player of the year, did not make a tackle.

Donald has eight sacks for a Rams team that improved its record to 6-4 heading into Monday night’s home game against the Baltimore Ravens.

“We just played good as a defense, everybody flying around and, you know, played solid,” Donald said.

The Rams’ injury-depleted offensive line featured 14^th-year pro Andrew Whitworth at left tackle and four players with little or no NFL game experience at their positions. Austin Blythe moved from guard to center. Second-year pro Austin Corbett, acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Browns last month, started at left guard, rookie David Edwards at right guard.

Rookie Bobby Evans started for the first time at right tackle and helped neutralize Mack.

“You think about Bobby Evans making his first start against Khalil Mack, who’s arguably the best rush-end in the league and it was a non-factor,” Rams quarterback Jared Goff said. “He did his thing. He stepped up, he did his thing.

“We were doing different things to help them out, but not that much, to the point where he was just playing well.”

Evans said he was not nervous.

“You have a job to execute,” he said.

Blythe helped, Evans said.

“He was calling out everything,” Evans said. “For him to be able to handle that means a lot to somebody like me still learning.”

Robert Woods inactive

Receiver Robert Woods was not at the game because of what the Rams described as a personal issue. Coach Sean McVay said he learned a few hours before the game that Woods would not be available.

“It was a personal matter — that’s all we are going to say about that,” McVay said. “We love him, respect him, we are with him and his family all the way and that’s really where we will leave that at.”

McVay did not offer a timetable for Woods’ return.

“I don’t want to give a finite answer on that,” McVay said. “I most importantly want to be able to talk to him…. I talked to him before the game, but want to be able to check with him and out of respect for his family, that’s why we’re just kind of leaving it at what it is.”

Josh Reynolds had three catches for 55 yards. Cooper Kupp, who did not catch a pass in the Rams’ 17-12 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, had three catches for 53 yards, including one for 50 yards.

“We learned before the game what was going on [with Woods] and needed those guys to step up and they didn’t flinch,” Goff said. “I can’t stress enough of how proud I am of my teammates — specifically the guys that had to step up today.”

Tight ends contribute

Tyler Higbee was limited in practice last week because of a left knee injury. Gerald Everett was limited because of a wrist injury and Johnny Mundt was slowed by a groin problem. But the three tight ends played against the Bears and contributed in the running and passing attacks.

Mundt and Higbee were key blockers in the backfield and along the line of scrimmage in a game in which running back Todd Gurley had a season-high 25 carries and tied his season-high by rushing for 97 yards and a touchdown. (He also had 97 against Carolina.)

Everett caught a 20-yard pass during the fourth quarter to set up Malcolm Brown’s victory-clinching touchdown run.

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Troy Hill kept the football tucked in his left hand as long as possible.

Following his second-quarter interception Sunday, the Rams’ cornerback was patted on the back and pounded on the head. He was wrapped in enthusiastic embraces and warmly wrangled back to the bench. He returned to the sideline with a right hand free for high fives and handshakes.

His left arm, however, remained occupied by his keepsake all along.

“I was about to just keep on going,” Hill said, smiling widely in the wake of the Rams’ 17-7 win over the Chicago Bears. “I was about to take it back home, go give it to my mom.”

Eventually, Hill relinquished the pigskin to a team ball boy. His diving snag of Mitch Trubisky’s tipped pass, after all, wasn’t his first career interception or impact play. Rather, it was the latest validation of Hill’s potentially permanent starting status.

A perennial backup before this season, Hill now tops the depth chart in the Rams secondary. The team’s mid-season shake-up — which saw starting cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib depart as Jalen Ramsey arrived — has thrust the former spot-starter into a first-string role for the foreseeable future.

“In my head,” Hill, 29, said earlier this month, “I was like, ‘This is an opportunity I’ve got to take advantage of.’ ”

Quietly, Hill has become one of the Rams’ longest-tenured players. Since being claimed by the club late in 2015, he has appeared in 50 games while bouncing in and out of the starting lineup. He made four starts early in 2016, three more in relief of an injured Kayvon Webster late in 2017, and seven after Talib got hurt in the middle of last season.

Hill has never had an opportunity such as this though. After signing a two-year contract extension in the offseason, the starting job is now his to lose.

After struggling in Pittsburgh last week, his fourth start of the season, he shined against the Bears on Sunday. He recorded six tackles, knocked away three passes, and had a sack. Three plays after Hill’s interception — part of Trubisky’s injury-shortened 24-for-43, 190-yard passing display — the Rams scored a touchdown to go ahead by two scores.

“I know I get a lot of recognition or whatever it may be,” said Ramsey, the Rams’ high-profile acquisition who plays the other corner in the new-look defensive backfield. “But Troy’s been balling. Seriously.”

That Hill is in the league is a mini-miracle. Brought up in the backstreets of Youngstown, Ohio, he was sent by his mother to live with an uncle in Ventura for his high school years. After starring at St. Bonaventure High, he played collegiately at Oregon but didn’t get drafted. He found free-agent opportunities, but was released by the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots in 2015.

Away from the field, he’s had issues three times — once with the Ducks and twice with the Rams, most recently a two-week suspension to start the 2017 season for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.

A wake-up call came as he served that last punishment. On Sept. 11, 2017, his daughter was born. Suddenly, “She’s looking at me like I can do no wrong,” Hill said. “When you’ve got a responsibility like that, it becomes even deeper.”

So, when Hill — who coaches say was never a distraction in the locker room — returned to the team, he reset his focus. He embraced a special teams role while biding his time for a bigger opportunity.

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“You can tell, he’s one of those guys that was built to want to do whatever it took to make a team and carve out a role for himself,” Rams special teams coach John Fassel said. “He’s persevered. It’s been awesome to see him just hang in there, and then get rewarded for having a pretty important role.”

On a team that has seen mid-season personnel changes along the offensive line, at receiver and in the secondary, the Rams are hoping Hill can handle his new duties on defense and deliver the kind of under-the-radar production the Rams will need to climb back into the playoff picture.

“The more you play, the more you learn,” Hill said. “The more you get the feel for the game, you understand, ‘I did that wrong with my technique,’ or, ‘I need to stay tapped in longer.’ ”

Though his game Sunday wasn’t perfect — Hill was beaten for a completion on the Bears’ only scoring drive, and committed a third-down penalty that extended one of Chicago’s fourth-quarter possessions — his interception proved to be the pivotal play in the team’s defensive masterpiece.

“When you’ve got Jalen on the other side of you, you’re going to get a lot of opportunities to make a lot of plays,” Hill said. “You’ve got to go one game at a time, one play at a time, and keep focusing. Let it come to me.”

Years of experience ringing in his head, he repeated for emphasis: “That’s my thing. I’ve got to let it come to me.”

Corona Centennial football coach Matt Logan stunned the high school world in 2014 when the Huskies won the Southern Section Division 1 championship by alternating quarterbacks Anthony Catalano and Nate Kettingham every new series.

Now he’s taken his mad scientist ways to an even stranger level — he’s playing three quarterbacks. The Huskies are set to face St. John Bosco at home on Friday night in a Division 1 semifinal.

“When you sit back, it seems so crazy,” Logan said. “But when you do it, it’s not.”

It’s Carter Freedland’s turn to start. Then, in the next series, it’s Jake Retzlaff’s turn to play. Then, in the next series, Ala Mikaele gets his chance. It wouldn’t work if the quarterbacks weren’t willing to sacrifice individual stats for the good of the team. But they are.

“Their stats are evenly dispersed,” Logan said. “They’re equal in the way they’ve performed. They each have their days and are each playing at a high level. It’s been good competition for themselves and raised their level of play.”

Centennial is 10-2. St. John Bosco is 11-1. The big question is has Centennial improved enough since opening the season with a 42-12 loss to Mater Dei.

Logan thinks his team has improved, and using three quarterbacks has made a difference.

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After a warm, dry day on Monday, the first winter storm of the season is expected to arrive in Southern California on Tuesday night through Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

Cool ocean breezes will return on Tuesday, replacing the warm, dry flow from the inland deserts that came with the Santa Ana winds over the weekend.

Skies will turn mostly cloudy, and moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Raymond will be pulled northward from Baja California with the passage of a cutoff low. Light showers will probably develop in Southern California, but thunderstorms can’t be ruled out in the southern part of the area, particularly in San Diego County.

Then, a winter storm will slide into the region from the north, and chances of rain will increase Tuesday night. The majority of the precipitation from this storm will fall on Wednesday into early Thursday morning, then showers will linger on Thursday.

Snow levels will start at 10,000 feet on Tuesday evening, but then are expected to lower to 6,000 feet by Wednesday evening. Elevations above 7,000 feet could get 6 to 10 inches, and elevations from 6,000 to 6,500 feet could get 1 to 2 inches.

The weather service expects rainfall to be widespread and “beneficial,” with a low risk of flash flooding. If thunderstorms develop, locally heavier rain is possible, however.

Rainfall of this kind can wet down tinder-dry vegetation, making wildfires a little less likely in coming weeks.

Dry weather and gradually rising temperatures will return late in the week.

Thousands of Santa Clarita residents gathered for a candlelight vigil Sunday night — an evening of memories, music and worship — to honor the two students killed in the shooting at Saugus High School.

Community members converged on Central Park after sunset to console each other as they mourned the deaths of 15-year-old Gracie Anne Muehlberger and 14-year-old Dominic Blackwell, who were memorialized by their friends.

Mourners crowded on sidewalks, many wearing “Saugus strong” jackets and shirts and carrying blue glow-stick like candles. The neighborhood streets were jammed for about a mile around the 130-acre park, a popular community gathering spot just down the street from the high school. The evening opened much like a church service with prayer and a band playing and singing contemporary Christian songs.

Saugus High School Principal Vincent Ferry choked up as he spoke of the heroism of the staff and students, and the two short lives of Gracie and Dominic.

“They are being prayed for by the world,” Ferry said.

He called on the Saugus community to “grieve together” and insisted that it’s no time to be stoic.

To be “strong is the ability to welcome our tears in the midst of our pain,” Ferry said.

Addison Koegle, a student injured in the shooting, addressed the crowd through an audio message. “I’m doing well and I’m home with my family,” she said. “Gracie was my best friend.”

Addison recalled running a lemonade stand with Gracie when they were younger. She remembered the school field trips and the private jokes. She had only known Dominic for a few months, she said, but “he never failed to make me smile.”

One of Dominic’s ROTC comrades described him as “the kindest person I know.” He was always willing to help cadets who were struggling.

At home, Dominic was the oldest of four boys, and “never minded changing diapers,” a relative said.

Last Thursday, student Nathaniel Berhow pulled a .45-caliber handgun from his backpack and opened fire in the school’s quad, killing Gracie and Dominic and wounding three others, authorities said. He died a day later of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Berhow carried out the attack on his 16th birthday after being dropped off at school by his mother, authorities said. A motive for the shootings has not been determined.

Saugus High School will remain closed until Dec. 2.

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Monday, Nov. 18, and I’m writing from Los Angeles.

A shooting at a party in Fresno on Sunday night left at least four people dead and six others wounded. Police told the Fresno Bee that friends and family were watching football in a backyard “when unknown suspects approached the residence, snuck into the backyard and opened fire.” About 35 people were gathered at the southeast Fresno home at the time, including several children.

[See also: “Shooting at Fresno backyard party kills four, wounds six others, police say” in the Los Angeles Times]

Police said three of the victims were found dead in the backyard and a fourth died after being taken to a hospital. No suspect was in custody as of late Sunday night. The backyard attack was at least the second fatal shooting Sunday in southeast Fresno, according to the Bee.

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And now, here’s a quick look at the week ahead:

Public impeachment hearings will continue Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Gordon D. Sondland, the United States ambassador to the European Union, will testify Wednesday morning and former National Security Council Senior Director for Europe and Russia Fiona Hill is scheduled to testify Thursday.

The 62nd Grammy Awards nominations will be announced Wednesday.

Also Wednesday: The fifth 2020 Democratic presidential candidate debate will be held in Atlanta.

Twitter’s global ban on political advertising will go into effect Friday. Your move, Facebook.

If you have a child in your life, prepare to have some new songs stuck in your head: The sequel to “Frozen” will be released widely on Friday.

And, here’s what’s happening across California:

TOP STORIES

PG&E has warned of potential power shut-offs in Northern California this week. The utility said there was an “elevated” risk of power being shut off Wednesday and Thursday in North Bay counties and the Sierra foothills amid warmer temperatures and gusty winds. San Francisco Chronicle

Meanwhile, red flag conditions will taper off in Southern California. Temperatures across L.A. County are expected to drop Monday and Tuesday, with rain forecast for Wednesday. Los Angeles Times

The range of quick actions by students and staff when gunfire erupted at Saugus High School reveals not only how detailed active shooter training has become at schools across the country, but also highlights a growing debate among school safety experts, some who are alarmed that increasingly aggressive drills have gone too far and risk becoming trauma-inducing events of their own. Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

Columnist Steve Lopez has a new three-part series about what happened when a homeless encampment rose in a Hollywood neighborhood. Los Angeles Times (The second and third parts are here)

Plus: A new poll shows that a broad majority of voters think the city and county have been ineffective in spending money on homelessness and that new policies are needed to address a crisis that they now equate with a natural disaster. Los Angeles Times

A $1-billion plan for Metro’s North Hollywood station takes shape: Developers and transit officials are set to apply Monday for city permission to build a $1-billion mixed-use complex that would surround the subway entrance and adjacent hub for connecting bus routes, including the well-traveled Orange Line. Los Angeles Times

Father Gregory Boyle’s “Barking to the Choir” is the L.A. Times Book Club’s next read. Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries. Los Angeles Times

Glendale’s busiest areas may soon be off limits to sidewalk vendors. Although Glendale is far from a hotbed of vending activity, the proposed ordinance could preclude vendors from setting up mobile shop there in the future. Glendale News-Press

How to hail a ride at ever-changing LAX during the holidays (or any other time). Los Angeles Times

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POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

The shifting Democratic 2020 field was on display at the California party convention in Long Beach. Los Angeles Times

Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren’s absence at the convention irked some party leaders. San Francisco Chronicle

Major California endorsements for Sens. Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris: California’s high-profile farmworkers union endorsed Harris for president on Saturday, soon after Sanders had won the support of the national nurses labor group and Los Angeles teachers. Los Angeles Times

Mayor Pete is winning the Palm Springs primary. “Palm Springs has more LGBTQ couples per household than any city in California … and as the first openly gay candidate to launch a competitive bid for president, Buttigieg has garnered support from a wide swath of the desert resort town’s residents.” Desert Sun

Can you help govern a Northern California city from your second home in South America? A Santa Rosa City Council member is drawing sharp questions about her ability to fulfill her duties, as she splits time between the North Bay city and another home in Ecuador. The councilwoman plans to phone in to a council meeting from her part-time home in Ecuador for a third time this coming week. A spotty international telephone connection stymied her attempt to participate in a vote last week. Santa Rosa Press-Democrat

CRIME AND COURTS

A 3-year-old boy was in critical condition after five family members, including two children, died in a domestic dispute in San Diego. San Diego Union-Tribune

To curb racial bias, Oakland police are pulling fewer people over. Will it work? San Francisco Chronicle

HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

A nearly monthlong fire at a recycling center in the eastern Coachella Valley created intense smoke that sickened students. Residents of the unincorporated community of Thermal, where more than a third of residents live below the poverty line and more than 99% are Latino, say the mulch fires would not have been tolerated in wealthier, white cities. Desert Sun

Sirens, texts, even church bells: Without a statewide standard, California wildfire alerts and evacuations remain ad hoc. CalMatters

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Hearst Castle is decked out in all its holiday finery. Here’s how you can see it. San Luis Obispo Tribune

Remembering Sammy Davis Jr.’s car accident in San Bernardino, 65 years later. Inland Daily Bulletin

How a spearfishing, freediving club creates community outside the water: OC Spearos boasts a membership of 200 spearfishers and freedivers from the South Bay to San Diego and beyond. It’s the largest club of its kind in the country. Orange County Register

Big festivals produce lots of garbage. But the “Trash Pirates” are here to take on one of the unpleasant byproducts of festival culture. New York Times

Local socialists called for a public takeover of PG&E at a Santa Rosa rally on Saturday. Santa Rosa Press-Democrat

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles: sunny, 90. San Diego: partly sunny, 84. San Francisco: sunny, 67. San Jose: sunny, 75. Sacramento: sunny, 76. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

This week’s birthdays for those who made a mark in California:

Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey (Nov. 19, 1976), actor-director Jodie Foster (Nov. 19, 1962), Nobel chemistry laureate and USC professor Arieh Warshel (Nov. 20, 1940), tennis legend and Dodgers part-owner Billie Jean King (Nov. 22, 1943), and the late former congressman and Oakland mayor Ron Dellums (Nov. 24, 1935).

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints, ideas and unrelated book recommendations to Julia Wick. Follow her on Twitter @Sherlyholmes.

PARADISE, Calif. — 

At 74 years old, Nicki Jones has worn many hats. She’s been an accountant and a stepmother, a caretaker for her late husband and the owner of a women’s clothing store.

But what did she know about running a restaurant? Close to nothing, she is the first to admit.

What she was certain of is food’s ability to bring people together. And God knows that’s what Paradise needs.

The Camp fire laid waste to Jones’ pine-cloaked home in the Feather River Canyon and her store, Bobbi’s Boutique. But she’s not one to dwell on that dark November day.

“I drove through the flames like everybody else did,” Jones says, her voice gravelly as she recounts her escape. “What are you going to do? You keep driving.”

This sense of momentum led her to buy, just two months after the fire, one of the few commercial buildings still standing in Paradise. The plan was to reopen Bobbi’s, which was named after her husband, Bob, who died of cancer in 2012. But the small complex on Skyway, Paradise’s Main Street, had room for a second business. She imagined something warm and inviting, a place that was more about the experience than the product.

This is how Jones in September came to open Nic’s, a sandwich shop by day and a wine and beer bar by night — and, let’s be real, sometimes in the afternoon. It’s the first new restaurant to come to Paradise since the fire destroyed almost the entire town.

In a community where most open businesses service a Paradise in flux and in pain, such as storage facilities and real estate offices and Hootch Hut Liquor, Nic’s offers something else: A place to just be.

Nic’s is filled with light and lots of places to sit. Construction workers and townies belly up to the bar and watch baseball, and country music streams through the speakers. Sepia-toned photographs of Paradise in the 1950s and ‘60s line the walls. There is a turkey sandwich named the Cal Fire Chipotle Club, a tribute to the first responders who fought to save the town.

Word-of-mouth is king in a tight-knit community like Paradise, and residents tend to rave about Nic’s. But there are days when the eatery sees few customers. The town’s population has plummeted from 27,000 to somewhere around 2,000, so the restaurant hosts events to bring people in, such as Wine Wednesdays and beer-and-cheese pairing dinners.

The restaurant, Jones acknowledges, is a gamble.

“If a year from now you see a sign here that says ‘What Was I Thinking? Cafe,’” she quips, “you know it’s time to buy a sandwich.”

When Nic’s opened, burned-out cars and the ruins of Paradise’s business district surrounded the restaurant. The apocalyptic landscape couldn’t have been more different than the Paradise Jones first fell in love with.

Jones and her husband, Bob, were living in the Bay Area suburb of Walnut Creek in the late 1990s, but knew they wanted to retire elsewhere. They would scope out properties in random towns in Northern California on the weekends. If you ask her why they chose Paradise out of all those dreamy mountain communities, she can’t tell you. It was just a feeling.

“From the day that I moved here,” Jones says, “it was the first time I ever felt totally home.”

There’s something special about the people here, Jones notes, made even more special to her through their grim collective experience. It’s why she spends most of her time on her feet, catching up with customers. She waves to everyone who walks in.

“I have a Triple-A personality,” Jones says. “I have one speed. It’s nonstop.”

Jones needed that kind of gusto to power through 2019. She bought a little house in Orland, 35 miles west of Paradise, and then moved back in August after a serious bout of homesickness. She reopened Bobbi’s Boutique, which by some miracle has sold more clothing in the last three months than it did over the previous two years. Then she threw herself into the diner business.

On the morning before Halloween, Jones flutters from one side of the restaurant to the other. Paradise was five days into a PG&E blackout, and Nic’s, outfitted with a generator, was one of the few places in town that had power.

“Who did you get the generator from?” one patron asks Jones as she delivered his sandwich.

“I got it from Egan Electric in Chico,” Jones says, her cornflower blue eyes lighting up. “He did electric on my house 22 years ago. A good guy.”

For Michaela Hughes, Nic’s has restored a much-needed sense of community. On a recent day, she sat at the window with her 8-year-old daughter, Grace, looking out onto Skyway as she nibbled her breakfast panini.

Like almost everyone who wines and dines at Nic’s, Hughes lost her home in the fire. She fled with her dogs, family pictures, a few of Grace’s toys and some guns. The 42-year-old used her insurance payout to buy a standing home in Paradise, making her family one of the relatively few to come back.

“My husband and I ask more and more now, ‘Why did we make this decision?’” Hughes says. Now that most of the rubble has been cleared, Paradise feels like a healing wound, tender to the touch. Every plot of scorched land speaks of what had been there before.

But at Nic’s, Hughes says, it’s like a spark of life has returned to Paradise. To see the lights on at night, the silhouettes of people laughing and drinking, is a great comfort.

“We don’t have baby sitters like we did before the fire,” Hughes says. “But if we did, we’d come here for date night.”

Around noon, Alexa Voyer drops off gluten-free pumpkin muffins and chocolate chip cookies at the front counter. She bakes the sweets out of her home in Chico, where she’s living with her husband and three kids while they rebuild their house in Paradise.

As the 45-year-old spears spongy lemon cake with toothpicks and arranges samples, she explains that she comes to Nic’s every day, even when she’s not supplying Jones with baked goods.

“Life is heavy,” Voyer says. “When you’re not here, you’re tracking down your contractor, looking for the logger. Doing things for your friends to make sure their mental health is in check.”

But at Nic’s, she can enjoy a cup of coffee and just sit and breathe. She can space out without having to explain herself. The people here get it.

They, too, are rebuilding their homes and battling insurance companies. They trade tips on the best local contractors to work with. They speculate over when, or if, the water in town will be safe to drink again. They gossip about who’s coming back and who isn’t.

April Kelly, Jones’ general manager, is well-attuned to conversation centered on recovery. Every single member of her immediate family lost their homes.

Born and raised in Paradise, Kelly jetted off to Hawaii when she was 21. She opened several restaurants there and was a caterer to the stars, coordinating wine-tasting dinners for the likes of Goldie Hawn and Paris Hilton.

Despite those successes, Hawaii wasn’t home. She moved back to Paradise in 2016. She fell in love, had a baby, and then the fire happened. That night, she hosted 17 family members, now with very few possessions to their names, in her Chico home.

Jones, a family friend, called Kelly not long after that and told her she was going to open a restaurant.

“I want to do a wine bar and have somebody make sandwiches and bring them in,” Jones said.

“That’s not gonna work,” Kelly replied. Here’s what will, she said.

Kelly wrote the menu, bringing to it sophisticated touches like charcuterie boards and a Nicoise salad, and helped do the hiring: 16 part-time employees, all but one from Paradise.

It’s late afternoon when Jones finally sits down to eat half a turkey sandwich. She sees a couple sitting together at one of the high tables, silent as they look at their phone screens, but smiling. She hears the whoops at the bar as the Washington Nationals ramp up to beat the Houston Astros in the World Series.

They feel OK. She can see it in their faces. For the moment, that’s all that matters.

Netflix. Disney+. HBO Max. Apple TV+. For anyone getting tired of all the mounting number of streaming sites charging a monthly fee for shows and movies, a lesser-known service is targeting you.

Tubi, a free San Francisco-based streaming site, is hoping to raise its profile with a new advertising campaign starting Monday with cheeky commercials appealing to viewers with subscription fatigue.

Unlike its better-known rivals, such as CBS All Access, Amazon Prime Video or Hulu, Tubi does not produce original programs and readily admits it lacks the top 1% of licensed shows, such as “Friends” or “The Office.” But it’s betting that its biggest selling point — the service is free, with commercials — and the availability of popular comfort TV shows such as the 2017 season of “The Bachelorette” will gain converts.

“This ad campaign is really about positioning Tubi as that prescription for your subscription fatigue,” said Emily Jordan, Tubi’s vice president of marketing in an interview.

In one ad, actor Chris Noth, who portrays Mr. Big in the HBO series “Sex and the City,” talks about how HBO was his first love and now he’s feeling guilty. “It’s so confusing — the Max, the Go,” Noth complains. But then, he discovers Tubi where he can watch programs for free, including ones that are not on Netflix.

Tubi in June said it has more than 20 million monthly active users and more than 15,000 movies and TV series in its library.

On its service, there is a category called “Not on Netflix” that highlights programs that aren’t on Netflix. Those movies include “Dances with Wolves” and the drama “Side Effects.”

Part of Tubi’s campaign will feature billboards in places including Los Angeles and New York City, directing people to “NotonNetflix.com,” along with the words, “All’s Fair in Love & Streaming.” The website features the commercials and ways for consumers and advertisers to learn more about Tubi.

The videos featuring Noth and other celebrities will be on YouTube, Facebook and other sites. Tubi declined to say how much it is spending on the ads.

Ira Kalb, an assistant professor of clinical marketing at USC’s Marshall School of Business, said he believes it could be a mistake for Tubi to mention other streaming brands.

“You’re giving them free advertising,” Kalb said.

But Tubi said that it does not see Netflix as a direct competitor. The thinking is that consumers will use more than one streaming service and will be attracted to its free price. Nearly 70% of Tubi’s customers also watch Netflix.

A spokesman said the company mentioned Netflix and HBO Max in the ads as examples of the streaming wars and that it’s fine if the ads are viewed as free advertising for them because Tubi sees itself as complementary to those subscription services.