Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. What is a boxer’s favorite drink? Punch.

BASEBALL

There may not have been any World Series titles in the area this year, but there were two MVP awards.

Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers won the NL MVP award on Thursday while Mike Trout of the Angels won the AL version of the award.

Let’s start with Bellinger.

“It’s just a dream come true, man,” Bellinger said. “You play the game as a kid, you dream of it, but you literally never think that it’s going to be you in this position.”

Bellinger, 24, became the 12th Dodger to win the MVP award. He is the Dodgers’ first MVP since Clayton Kershaw in 2014 and their first position player to win the award since Kirk Gibson in 1988.

He received 19 of the 30 first-place votes, 10 second-place votes, and a fifth-place vote. Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Christian Yelich finished second and was given 10 first-place votes. Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon was third. He received the other first-place vote.

Dodgers infielder Max Muncy finished 16th in the balloting with an eighth-place vote and a 10th-place vote. Left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu was 19th with an eighth-place vote.

Bellinger batted .305 with 47 home runs, 115 runs batted in, 15 stolen bases, and a 1.035 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 156 games. He was issued a league-leading 21 intentional walks and provided elite defense at three positions — right field, center field, and first base. He also won a Gold Glove as a right fielder and a Silver Slugger Award. He is the fourth player to win MVP, Rookie of the Year, and a Gold Glove before the age of 25, joining Johnny Bench, Fred Lynn and Dustin Pedroia.

“There wasn’t one part of his game he didn’t dominate,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said in a statement.

Yelich, a product of Westlake High School, bested Bellinger in most offensive statistical categories, including batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, but a season-ending knee injury in September hurt his candidacy in the two-man race. He finished with a .329 batting average, 44 home runs, and a 1.100 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 130 games.

Trout learned he received the honor for the third time in his career while sitting in front of a roaring fireplace in Iowa, where he and close friends and family members had met for their annual hunting trip. He had 17 of the 30 first-place votes. Houston Astros infielder Alex Bregman finished second and had the other 13 first-place votes. Oakland Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien finished third.

Trout has presented a strong case to win the MVP award in seven of his eight full seasons. The electorate snubbed him four times, voting him second in favor of a candidate that played for a postseason contender on each occasion. The only season Trout did not finish first or second in MVP voting was when he finished fourth in 2017.

“I definitely was [nervous],” he said. “I’d be lying to you if I [said I] wasn’t.”

Voters could have dinged Trout this awards season because he missed the final three weeks tending to a nerve issue in his right foot that eventually required surgery.

Trout’s numbers were too convincing to neglect.

Trout hit a career-high 45 home runs, drove in more than 100 runs for the first time since 2016 and batted .291 in 134 games. Despite not playing after Sept. 7, Trout led baseball in on-base percentage (.438), owned the highest AL on-base-plus-slugging percentage (1.083) and was second in the AL in home runs.

“One of the greatest players I’ve ever laid my eyes on, and one of the better people I’ve also been around inside this game,” Angels general manager Billy Eppler said of Trout. “Great ambassador, total role model.

“I’m about as proud of him as I could ever be of anybody.”

Read more

Bill Plaschke: Trout and Bellinger deserve MVPs, but fans deserve more in postseason

CLIPPERS

Jrue Holiday scored 36 points and stole the ball from Paul George three times in the final minutes to spoil George’s season debut and lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a 132-127 victory over the Clippers on Thursday night at New Orleans.

George was playing for the first time since signing as a free agent with the Clippers because he’d been recovering from shoulder surgery last spring. He did not appear rusty, scoring 33 points in 24 minutes, only to be done in by late turnovers at the hands of Holiday, who finished with six steals, including one on Lou Williams’ attempted bounce pass in the final seconds to seal the victory.

Derrick Favors had 20 points and a career-best 20 rebounds in the first 20-20 game of his 10-year career. Frank Jackson added 23 points in a reserve role.

The Clippers played without Kawhi Leonard, who was being rested for the third time this season to ease stress on his sore knee after playing a night earlier in a loss at Houston.

NFL

In a wild melee at the end of Thursday night’s NFL game, Cleveland’s Myles Garrett ripped the helmet off Pittsburgh’s Mason Rudolph and used it to strike the Steelers quarterback in the head.

Garrett, a former No. 1 overall pick and defensive star for the Browns, faces a likely suspension from the league and potentially legal trouble for his actions, which came in the final seconds of a 21-7 victory by Cleveland.

Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield didn’t hold back in criticizing his teammate in a postgame interview with Fox’s Erin Andrews.

“I didn’t see why it started, but it’s inexcusable,” Mayfield said. “I don’t care, rivalry or not, we can’t do that. That’s kind of the history of what’s been going on here lately, hurting yourself, and that’s just endangering the other team. It’s inexcusable, he knows that. I hope he does now. It’s tough. We’ll see.”

CHARGERS

Philip Rivers admitted Thursday that he was almost certain the Chargers were going to advance into field-goal range last week and beat Oakland in the closing seconds.

But, he added, it was an errant throw from way back in the opening quarter that “bothered me most because I really don’t know if I’ve ever missed that throw like that. Ever. I don’t know if I’ve missed one like that in the backyard.”

On the game’s first drive, Rivers had Keenan Allen alone on an in-route that would have put the Chargers somewhere close to the Raiders’ 10-yard line with a first down.

Instead, the pass soared over Allen and into the hands of safety Erik Harris, who then flipped the script — and the field — by returning the ball 59 yards to the Chargers’ 31.

Oakland eventually kicked a field goal and was on its way to a 26-24 victory that resulted in what appeared to be a season-high level of Chargers frustration.

“It wasn’t like it was a contested throw and I tried to squeeze it in there,” Rivers recalled. “It was wide open. That one bothers me. … It just sailed on me. I knew right away. It came out high and not good.”

RAMS

The Rams are 5-4, but going into Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears the defense has played well since an Oct. 13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

It is no coincidence.

The Rams traded for shutdown cornerback Jalen Ramsey after the loss to the 49ers. They defense was subsequently stout in victories over the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals and in last Sunday’s 17-12 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Jalen’s a game changer,” safety Marqui Christian said Thursday.

Players say the arrival of Ramsey, 25, caused a philosophical shift and new identity for the defense. With a player that essentially shuts down one side of the field, the Rams have been able to better disguise coverages and play more aggressively.

Ramsey’s ability to track an opponent’s top receiver all over the field forces quarterbacks to abandon their primary option. That skill provides defensive linemen and edge rushers more time to apply pressure.

“The man can play all the routes, so it definitely makes it easier on the defense when you have him on one side,” defensive tackle Michael Brockers said.

USC FOOTBALL

Keary Colbert’s long, sleepless and ultimately unforgettable Saturday began with an early flight out of Los Angeles International Airport. It ended with bowl eligibility and a new baby boy.

When the Trojans receivers coach arrived at LAX Saturday morning, the rest of USC’s coaching staff was already in Tempe, Ariz., preparing for a game at Arizona State. Colbert had stayed home the night before, preparing with his wife, Safiya, for the arrival of the couple’s first son.

Khari Colbert had originally been due 10 days earlier, the day before Halloween, which would’ve been a dream scenario for the former Trojans wideout. During consecutive road trips to Notre Dame and Colorado, family and friends stayed by his wife’s side while Colbert crossed his fingers, thousands of miles away, hoping the timing would allow him to be there.

But Colbert’s son wasn’t born during either road trip. Nor was he born the week after — as Colbert and his wife had hoped — when USC was home to play Oregon. As they waited, the due date came and went.

“Of course,” Colbert said, “he had different plans.”

So doctors scheduled an induction the following Saturday, with USC on the road against Arizona State. It would be tight but, with an early kickoff, Colbert was confident he could get back in time.

He arrived that morning at the Phoenix Airport Marriott 15 minutes before USC’s staff meeting, and from there the day was a whirlwind. Two of his receivers would turn in career performances as Michael Pittman Jr. caught 13 passes and Amon-ra St. Brown racked up 173 yards receiving in a narrow win over Arizona State. All the while, Colbert tried to keep his mind on football.

When the team landed at LAX, shortly before 8 p.m., his son was still holding tight.

“He’s a true coach’s kid,” Colbert said. “He understands it’s football season.”

KINGS

Alex Iafallo scored 23 seconds into overtime and the Kings beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2.

Kings forward Adrian Kempe scored with 1:48 remaining in the third period to tie the score at 2-all, and Iafallo got a shot into an open net after Drew Doughty‘s pass caromed off the boards. The Kings won consecutive games for the second time this season.

Anze Kopitar had a goal and two assists for Los Angeles, and Jonathan Quick made 19 saves.

DUCKS

Brent Burns scored on the power play and Evander Kane had a short-handed goal in the third period, helping the San Jose Sharks beat the Ducks 5-3 on Thursday night for their fifth straight win.

Tomas Hertl scored twice for the Sharks, who added a road victory to four previous home wins. The run of success has come immediately after a five-game losing streak.

Logan Couture finished off the victory with a goal in the final minute, his third of the season.

Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverberg and Max Jones scored goals for the Ducks, who stumbled to a 2-3-2 record on a season-long seven game home stand. The Ducks opened the season 6-1-0 at home.

TODAY’S LOCAL MAJOR SPORTS SCHEDULE

All times Pacific

Sacramento at Lakers, 7:30 p.m., Spectrum Sportsnet, 710 ESPN

UNLV at UCLA (basketball), 7:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network, AM 570

BORN ON THIS DATE

1967: Basketball player Eric Anthony

1981: Golfer Lorena Ochoa

1995: Basketball player Karl-Anthony Towns

1998: Golfer Hinako Shibuno

DIED ON THIS DATE

1990: Race horse Alydar, 15

2007: Baseball player Joe Nuxhall, 79

AND FINALLY

Watch the Myles Garrett–Mason Rudolph incident by clicking here.

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.

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The Times’ NFL writer, Sam Farmer, examines this week’s matchups. Lines according to Pregame.com (O/U = over/under). Last week’s record 4-9 (.308); season 89-58-1 (.605). Using point spreads with the scores Farmer predicted, the record against the spread last week would have been 6-5-2 (.546); season 72-73-3 (.497). Green Bay, the New York Giants, Seattle and Tennessee have the week off. Times Pacific.

HOU (6-3) at BAL (7-2)

Sunday, 10 a.m.

Ravens 31, Texans 27

TV: Channel 2. DirecTV: 705.

Line: Ravens by 31/2. O/U: 511/2.

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Lamar Jackson on one side, and Deshaun Watson on the other? This could be the most entertaining quarterback duel of the decade. The Ravens get the edge on home field and big momentum.

JAC (4-5) at IND (5-4)

Sunday, 10 a.m.

Jaguars 28, Colts 24

TV: None. DirecTV: 706.

Line: Colts by 3. O/U: 431/2.

Nick Foles is back and so is Jacoby Brissett. The key is Leonard Fournette against a Colts run defense that can go wobbly at times. Jaguars hang on in Foles’ triumphant return to the field.

BUF (6-3) at MIA (2-7)

Sunday, 10 a.m.

Bills 23, Dolphins 18

TV: None. DirecTV: 707.

Line: Bills by 61/2. O/U: 401/2.

All of a sudden, the Dolphins are riding the AFC East’s longest winning streak. Now, Ryan Fitzpatrick has a chance to keep it going against his old team. Luckily for Buffalo, Bills are stifling vs. the pass.

DEN (3-6) at MIN (7-3)

Sunday, 10 a.m.

Vikings 27, Broncos 17

TV: None. DirecTV: 708.

Line: Vikings by 101/2. O/U: 401/2.

Brandon Allen has his moments, but he’s on the road against a defense that gets after the quarterback. Kirk Cousins is starting to look the way Vikings had hoped. Minnesota keeps it going.

NYJ (2-7) at WAS (1-8)

Sunday, 10 a.m.

Jets 24, Redskins 17

TV: None. DirecTV: 709.

Line: Redskins by 2. O/U: 381/2.

The Redskins want to run the ball to take the heat off Dwayne Haskins. That’s going to be hard to do against a defense that held Saquon Barkley to one yard in 13 carries last Sunday.

ATL (2-7) at CAR (5-4)

Sunday, 10 a.m.

Panthers 24, Falcons 20

TV: None. DirecTV: 710.

Line: Panthers by 41/2. O/U: 491/2.

Green Bay got to young Kyle Allen. Can the suddenly productive Falcons do the same? The Panthers will have to feed Christian McCaffrey early and often. By the way, Carolina can’t stop the run.

DAL (5-4) at DET (3-5-1)

Sunday, 10 a.m.

Cowboys 31, Lions 24

TV: Channel 11. DirecTV: 711.

Line: Off board. O/U: Off board.

The Cowboys will have plenty of opportunities to move the ball, both with Ezekiel Elliott and through the air. Dallas has the No. 1 offense in yards, and the Detroit defense is 30^th in that department.

NO (7-2) at TB (3-6)

Sunday, 10 a.m.

Saints 27, Buccaneers 20

TV: None. DirecTV: 712.

Line: Saints by 6. O/U: 491/2.

Drew Brees was sacked six times against woeful Atlanta last week — not a good sign with Shaq Barrett on deck. As good as the Buccaneers are against the run, they’re lousy versus the pass.

ARI (3-6-1) at SF (8-1)

Sunday, 1 p.m.

49ers 30, Cardinals 21

TV: None. DirecTV: 713.

Line: 49ers by 10. O/U: 451/2.

The 49ers are coming off a heartbreaking loss to Seattle that finally left them with a blemish on their record. The Cardinals are further along than some expected but not quite there yet.

CIN (0-9) at OAK (5-4)

Sunday, 1:15 p.m.

Raiders 27, Bengals 17

TV: None. DirecTV: 714.

Line: Raiders by 101/2. O/U: 49.

Bengals can’t stop the run (or the pass) so this could be a huge game for Raiders rookie Josh Jacobs. Tough place for Bengals rookie Ryan Finley to come in and win, though Oakland has a bad pass D.

NE (8-1) at PHI (5-4)

Sunday, 1:15 p.m.

Eagles 28, Patriots 27

TV: Channel 2. DirecTV: 715.

Line: Patriots by 31/2. O/U: 45.

Back when the Patriots went 16-0, they nearly lost to Baltimore and Philadelphia. Well, they already have lost to the Ravens, and now Philadelphia is in good position to pull off another upset.

CHI (4-5) at LAR (5-4)

Sunday, 5:15 p.m.

Bears 17, Rams 14

TV: Channel 4.

Line: Rams by 61/2. O/U: 40.

It’s all about the defense — for both teams. The Rams are playing with a patchwork offensive line, and that’s bad news against a Chicago front that can be scary. The Bears can’t do much on offense.

KC (6-4) vs. LAC (4-6)

Monday, 5:15 p.m.

Chiefs 28, Chargers 24

TV: ESPN.

Line: Chiefs by 31/2. O/U: 52.

The Chargers don’t have that same ability to close they had last season. They can move the ball on the ground, and keep Patrick Mahomes off the field. Still, the Chiefs are a better team.

In response to increasing hate crimes and incidents, Orange County Human Relations is rolling out its first statewide anti-hate program to equip schools with the resources to launch their own educational and awareness campaigns.

The nonprofit will provide schools with a “toolkit” that contains the necessary components for an anti-hate campaign, including templates, documents, posters and digital content.

O.C. Human Relations staff will hold the first workshops for educators on Dec. 6 and 7 at their office in Santa Ana. Staff members will provide workshops across the state over the next year.

A “Day of kNOwHATE” will be held on April 30 on California campuses. Students will be asked to wear green as a show of solidarity and use social media to spread awareness of the campaign.

The “kNOw Hate” campaign is the largest the nonprofit has ever initiated.

“We are trying to reach young people at a preventative level,” said Alison Edwards, chief executive of O.C. Human Relations. “We hope we can prevent folks from participating in hateful activities and encourage others to report them.”

According to O.C. Human Relations, hate crimes and incidents have increased each of the last four years in Orange County.

The nonprofit’s report for 2018 found a 12% increase in hate crimes from the previous year.

The parents of Blaze Bernstein, who in 2018 was allegedly murdered for being gay by a former classmate with ties to a hate group, spoke during the O.C. report’s release in September.

“I think it reflects the divisions in our country,” Edwards said. “As a nation, we seem to be more prone to othering people and dehumanizing our fellow Americans. There are a lot of areas in Orange County that are going through demographic change. For some people, it might be a challenge to find out how to approach that.”

She said the statistics may be a sign of those struggles.

“We envision a county where everyone feels safe, respected and valued,” Edwards said of the kNOw Hate campaign. “This is how we build that county.”

Brazil writes for Times Community News.

ORINDA, Calif.  — 

Four men were arrested Thursday on suspicion of murder in the deaths of five people in a shooting at a Halloween party at an Airbnb rental home in the Bay Area. A fifth man was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory to the crime, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office said.

Sheriff David Livingston said search warrants were executed in several Northern California cities Thursday. He did not address a possible motive in the fatal shootings in Orinda that sent more than 100 terrified partygoers running for safety, but he said in a statement that investigators found two of the victims were armed, “which may have played a role in this tragedy.”

Tiyon Farley, 22, of Antioch; Omar Taylor, 24, of Pittsburg; Raymon Hill Jr., 23, of San Francisco and Oakland; Javlin County, 29, of Sausalito and Richmond; and Oshiana Tompkins, 19, of Vallejo and Hercules died in the shooting, and at least four others were injured.

“Extraordinary cooperation among multiple law enforcement agencies led to these arrests and a small measure of justice for the true victims,” Livingston said in a statement.

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Those arrested Thursday on suspicion of murder and conspiracy were: Lebraun Tyree Wallace, 28, of San Mateo; Shamron Joshua Mitchell, 30, of Antioch; and Jaquez Deshawn Sweeney and Jason D. Iles, both 20 and of Marin City. All four were being held without bail.

Devin Isiah Williamson, 21, of Vallejo was arrested as an accessory and was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Airbnb Chief Executive Brian Chesky has since said that the San Francisco-based company was taking steps to stop unauthorized parties in the wake of the deadly shooting. In a series of tweets Nov. 2, Chesky said the company is stepping up efforts to “combat unauthorized parties and get rid of abusive host and guest conduct.”

A day that began with the shock of a school shooting in Santa Clarita ended in prayer for many families who gathered for vigils in the area.

Standing before hundreds of people at Grace Baptist Church in Santa Clarita on Thursday night, Pastor David Hegg acknowledged that students and parents may be grappling with how to make sense of the shooting at Saugus High School, which left two students dead and three injured.

“We’re not here to diminish the pain that we feel. We’re not here to anesthetize it,” he said. “We’re also not here to put God on the stand…. We’re here to be reminded that we’re not alone.”

The violence started at 7:30 a.m. Authorities say a 16-year-old boy pulled a handgun from his backpack in the campus quad and shot five students before turning the gun on himself. A 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy died. The suspect and two other students remain hospitalized; one has been released.

At the church, Hegg’s words, and the singing that filled the sanctuary, brought some relief to Lindsey Szabo, a 17-year-old student at Saugus High School.

Lindsey has been running late to school on Thursday and was at home when she started receiving calls from her friends alerting her to the shooting. The attack hit her hard, partly because she had shared an AP psychology class with the suspected shooter.

Thursday afternoon, she met up with friends who had been on campus to talk about what had happened. But being at the church, and seeing the support available, allowed her to take another step back.

“[It was] hearing that everyone is here for you and that there’s a higher power, and that there’s a larger meaning than what this is,” Lindsey said.

Other students shared that feeling. Chatting with a group of friends after the vigil, Kira Hooper, 15, said that during the service’s moments of silence, she had thought about how grateful she was for getting through the shooting safely. After fleeing the school’s campus, she was picked up by friends driving through the neighborhood.

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Next to her, Allie Enright, 16, said the vigil reunited many students with their classmates for the first time since the shooting.

“We didn’t get to see people until tonight, so it was good to see if everyone was OK,” she said.

Also attending were friends from other local schools. Ryan Verbeck, a 17-year-old student at West Ranch High School, said that after hearing about the shooting, he reached out to seven or eight friends at Saugus High. He called and texted them until they responded that they were OK.

While a girl cried quietly on a bench nearby, Ryan said the evening of prayer was what many had needed.

“Seeing people come together and grieve, it brings the community closer and shows how strong we are,” he said.

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Friday, Nov. 15, and I’m writing from Los Angeles.

By now, the wretchedly unthinkable has become almost rote. You already know that students and teachers barricaded doors with desks and tables, that sobbing children rushed to text their parents from hiding spots, that chaos exploded in the very place that should have been a haven.

The particulars will pummel your heart, but the rough contours will not surprise you. We know how this story goes because we have seen it unfold so many times before.

On Thursday morning, a 16-year-old opened fire at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, killing two students and wounding three other teens. This was at least the 11th shooting on a high school or college campus this year.

The Saugus High School students were scheduled to be in their first-period classes when 16 seconds of fire from a .45-caliber handgun irrevocably cleaved their lives into “before” and “after.” And they were the lucky ones. For two of their classmates there will be no next chapter. A 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy died after being transported to a hospital.

Andrei Mojica, 17, was in his AP government class when someone opened the door and told them that there was a shooter on campus. Soon, the class was barricading the doors. He told my colleagues on the scene that he and his classmates had practiced this before, but “there was just something different about it from a simple drill to real life.”

[Read the story: “Saugus students barricaded themselves in classrooms, fearing gunman would target them” in the Los Angeles Times]

Across the country in the U.S. Capitol, a Connecticut lawmaker was giving a speech about gun violence on the Senate floor when someone passed him a note, interrupting the speech.

“As I speak, on the floor right now, there is a school shooting,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal then said, according to BuzzFeed. “How can we turn the other way? How can we refuse to see that shooting in real time demanding our attention, requiring our action?”

On the Saugus High School campus, a security camera on the quad showed the suspect pulling the handgun from his backpack and shooting the students before putting the gun to his own head. Thursday was the suspect’s 16th birthday. Described by neighbors and classmates as a “quiet” kid, he is now in the hospital in “grave condition.”

[Read the story: “What we know about Saugus High shooting suspect” in the Los Angeles Times]

Here’s some more coverage about the tragedy:

• Saugus High suspect opened fire on a crowded quad in a 16-second attack that left two dead and three wounded, the sheriff says. Los Angeles Times
• The frantic text from his sister at Saugus High: “There is a shooter, call 911.” Los Angeles Times
• Santa Clarita shooting leaves kids at a Thanksgiving pageant crying and trying to understand. Los Angeles Times
• A desperate father used the Find My iPhone app to locate his son. Los Angeles Times
• How to talk to your kids about school shootings: Here are some tips from the National Assn. of School Psychologists and other mental health experts. Los Angeles Times

And now, here’s what else is happening across California:

L.A. STORIES

Prefer living in the past? The Los Angeles Times has a new account on Instagram dedicated to archival photos. Los Angeles Times

Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger won the National League MVP Award. He is the Dodgers’ first MVP since Clayton Kershaw in 2014 and their first position player to win the award since Kirk Gibson in 1988. Los Angeles Times

Plus: Angels outfielder Mike Trout was voted the American League’s most valuable player for a third time. Los Angeles Times

Why street vendors make cities feel safer: Vendors not only activate public space — they do so in places chronically ignored by city planners. Curbed

Fundraising for LACMA’s new building has stalled as the costs balloon. Four-fifths of the $650 million needed had been pledged by summer 2018, but next to nothing has been raised since. Los Angeles Times

Hollywood writers fired their agents. Now agencies are sidelining writers in new deals. Los Angeles Times

The unbearable strangeness of being Shia LaBeouf: In this interview with fellow former child star Kristen Stewart, LaBeouf talks about how difficult he finds life to be when he’s not on a set. Stewart then suggests he take a pottery class. “Maybe I will,” LaBeouf responds. “I won’t like pottery in life. But I will love pottery on set. I don’t like ice cream in life. But if you give me ice cream on a set, I [expletive] love ice cream. I think that’s what this does for me. It makes me love things. This job feels like the conduit for love for me.” Variety

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IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

The California congressional delegation is criticizing the process by which federal immigration officials sought bids for four private immigration detention facilities in the state last month. Desert Sun

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Leading 2020 Democratic presidential candidates are backing a prospective ballot measure to overhaul Proposition 13, California’s landmark tax-cutting law. Of course, California property taxes don’t fall under the purview of U.S. presidents, but that’s beside the point for the candidates. The intended audience for their message “is not so much ordinary Californians — most of whom are not yet paying close attention to a 2020 measure that would boost property taxes for large businesses — as it is organized labor, a key Democratic constituency.” San Francisco Chronicle

A quick refresher on Prop. 13, because you’ll probably be hearing a whole lot more about it in the coming months: Passed as a ballot measure in 1978, Prop. 13 strictly limits property tax increases in the state. It’s long been considered “the third rail” of California politics — just a few years ago, former Gov. Jerry Brown called it “a sacred doctrine that should never be questioned.” But the questions are coming, and a ballot measure to overhaul that “sacred doctrine” is all but certain to win a spot on the November 2020 ballot.

Meet the high-profile outsider coming in to lead the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency: Transportation consultant Jeffrey Tumlin has pledged to fix the subway, fill the bus driver shortages and bring order to an agency now famous for chaos. San Francisco Chronicle

A coalition of Native American tribes proposed an initiative to legalize sports betting in California. The filing of papers for an initiative supported by 18 tribes comes just four months after a bill was introduced in the state Legislature that would also put a sports betting measure on the 2020 ballot. Los Angeles Times

HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Most of California is either abnormally dry or has slipped into moderate drought, according to U.S. Drought Monitor data from Nov. 12 that was released Thursday. Los Angeles Times

Power shutoffs during fires can pose a safety risk for gated communities, Encinitas’ fire chief says. The City Council is considering requiring all gates to remain open during high-fire-risk periods. San Diego Union-Tribune

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

What are the most popular NFL teams in your ZIP Code? Use this interactive map to find out. Los Angeles Times

California markets saw a dip in luxury home prices. Median prices for high-end homes were down in August in Marin County, Los Angeles and Santa Clara, compared to the same period last year. Barron’s

A flag silhouette mysteriously appeared in northeast Bakersfield, then disappeared in the dark of night.“[T]he question remains: Who is daring enough to climb a mound of dirt in the dark of night to install the image — and polite enough to remove it before crews returned to work on Tuesday?”Bakersfield Californian

Nari is San Francisco’s “most exciting new restaurant,” according to restaurant critic Soleil Ho. San Francisco Chronicle

The family-owned Bay City Flower Company has shuttered. The closure marks the end of an era for a company started 110 years ago by a Japanese immigrant who survived the Great Depression and the family’s internment during World War II and grew into one of the largest employers in Half Moon Bay. KQED

Today in rich people’s hobbies that sound like a lot of work: Sophisticated hot rodders — mostly Californians — are cannibalizing crashed electric cars and using their batteries to create electrified sports cars and muscle cars. Los Angeles Times

Leaving California? These places will pay you to move there. Mercury News

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles: cloudy, 70. San Diego: partly sunny, 67. San Francisco: sunny, 61. San Jose: partly sunny, 65. Sacramento: partly sunny, 68. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California memory comes from Molly Freeman:

“In Mission Beach where I grew up in San Diego I lived a five-minute walk from the Pacific Ocean and five minutes from Mission Bay. On New Year’s Day, my friend and I would water ski over glassy waters on the bay, awakening late-night New Year’s Eve revelers. For me it was exhilarating, and I am sure irritating to the sleepy residents along the bay’s shore. The beauty of the waters is my lifelong touchstone.”

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.

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Controversy rocked “Survivor” on Wednesday night when multiple female contestants came forward to accuse fellow player Dan Spilo of inappropriate touching. On Thursday, longtime host and executive producer Jeff Probst paused to reflect on how the events unfolded and how those behind the long-running reality show might have handled the situation differently.

“There are so many layers to this story,” Probst wrote in a statement to The Times. “The biggest question centered around whether or not Dan’s unwanted touching, that made some of the women uncomfortable, was enough to warrant pulling him from the game. From our point of view, there was no clear answer. That is why we met privately with every player to see how they were feeling. Every player understood what we were asking and every player wanted the game to continue without production getting involved.”

The series’ #MeToo moment began with a conversation between players Kellee Kim and Missy Byrd, who both recalled several instances of unwanted contact initiated by Spilo that involved areas such as their hair, torso and toes, as well as his wrapping his arm around Byrd as she tried to sleep. Video footage of Spilo’s behavior at camp, included in the episode alongside the women’s discussion, corroborated their stories.

Kim also expressed her discomfort in an emotional confessional, prompting producers to break the fourth wall and ask whether she wanted them to intervene. Though visibly distraught, Kim declined the offer, explaining that she felt safer knowing that Janet Carbin, an older female contestant who promised to monitor Spilo’s actions, was around to help.

“As you saw with Kellee during the episode, she too felt the players could handle the situation,” Probst wrote. “In addition, we knew the players always had the option to simply vote Dan out of the game. But they didn’t. In fact, several players were in an alliance with him. This really speaks to the complexity of the situation.”

Instead of taking Spilo out, the contestants sent Kim home, leading to an outcry on social media. Further complicating the scenario were conflicting testimonies from Byrd and Olympic swimmer Elizabeth Beisel — another castaway familiar with Spilo’s behavior — who appeared to share Kim’s concerns but ultimately voted to keep Spilo on the island.

Probst acknowledged the criticism that he and the other producers should have made an executive decision to oust Spilo. Though Kim and another woman first voiced complaints about Spilo in the season premiere, the production team didn’t intervene until the eighth episode.

“I accept my own responsibility in the situation,” Probst said in his statement. “We did what we thought was right in issuing Dan a warning, but I certainly respect anyone who feels we should have removed Dan from the game.”

For their part, Byrd and Beisel later apologized on social media for making false claims about whether they, too, were upset by inappropriate contact from Spilo in order to gain an advantage in the game. The women praised Kim and Carbin for their courage and expressed shame for their failure to appreciate the gravity of the situation.

“A lot of people are upset with Missy and Elizabeth for lying about Dan’s unwanted touching in order to further their game because they rightfully feel that it does damage to a powerful movement,” Probst said. “I don’t believe Elizabeth ever fully understood how upsetting the Dan situation was to Kellee. And even though Missy knew what she was doing when she asked Elizabeth to lie, I don’t think she ever considered the possibility that her actions could have an impact outside of the game.

“I spent a lot of time with this group of people, and even though lying is an accepted part of the game, I don’t think any of the women knowingly intended to discount anyone’s feelings or do damage to the #metoo movement with their actions,” Probst continued in the statement. “I have spoken with some of them and heard their remorse and I know it is genuine.”

The next episode of “Survivor” airs Nov. 20.

Times staff writer Greg Braxton and television editor Matt Brennan contributed to this report.

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Latin urban acts may have felt the sting of neglect with not one reggaeton act receiving a nomination in the major categories for this year’s Latin Grammy Awards. But while two of music’s biggest stars, Daddy Yankee and J Balvin, stayed home as a form of protest, many of the genre’s globally recognized performers simply did what they know best: showcased their work for a worldwide audience live from the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

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Leading the pack of winners Thursday night was Spain’s Rosalía; the Flamenco-trap singer, songwriter and actress won three Grammys for album of the year, urban song and contemporary pop album for “El Mal Querer,” which also earned the Spanish singer’s team two additional awards for recording package and engineered album. From the stage, she thanked the absent Balvin, with whom she shared the Latin Grammy in the urban song category for “Con Altura.”

Another Spanish act, Alejandro Sanz, also took home three prizes, for record of the year, long-form music video and pop song for “Mi Persona Favorita.” But it was Rosalía’s rise in music with strong vocals, uber-creative visuals and a charming personality that has captured a new generation of fans along with music industry veterans. With her album of the year win, she became the first woman since Shakira in 2006 to break the category’s glass ceiling as a solo female artist.

“It was more of a year of hard work,” Rosalía said backstage, addressing the press. “When I made that album I made it from the heart. I didn’t think about what would happen later. I can’t control anything that happens after the creative process because after that it’s not yours anymore, it’s everyone else’s.”

Moments later, Sanz also spoke to the media and simply said he felt elated that after all these years, he’s still a contender. “I feel like a thief,” the Spanish crooner said, referring to a career of constant wins.

Ricky Martin opened the 20th annual awards show in a sleek white and black tuxedo with swirl patterns. But it was an all-star group of recording acts, including Olga Tanon, Anitta and Calibre 50, among others, who performed songs from three of the biggest entertainers who left undeniable legacies: the late Celia Cruz, Juan Gabriel and Joan Sebastian.

The opening set featured a diverse ensemble of stars who helped jump-start the show, including Milly Quezada, Carlos Rivera, Reik and Natalia Jimenez. Draco Rosa, who earlier in the night during the pre-telecast known as the Premiere won for best rock album, also performed in the opener with Fito Paez and Beto Cuevas, performing Sebastian’s “Secreto de Amor.”

Bad Bunny won for urban album of the year for “X 100Pre” and made it clear in his acceptance speech that the perceived Latin Grammy reggaeton snubs are only going to trigger more energy in the Latin urban community.

Addressing his onstage remarks to “all musicians” and Recording Academy members, he said: “With all due respect, reggaeton is part of Latin culture and is representing as much as any other genre worldwide. To my fellow reggaetoneros: Keep giving it your all and we will continue to bring creativity and ingenuity. Our genre has become views, numbers, and let’s keep going and giving people new things.”

“Reggaeton is part of the culture,” the Puerto Rican rapper said. “We are going to keep working on this and let’s bring back the creativity and humanity. Let’s bring different things for the people.”

For her performance, Rosalía had one of the night’s most compelling performances. Wearing a cherry-red outfit topped with a white belt and bow, she performed a medley of her songs, including “Con Altura,” which she co-wrote with Balvin and her longtime Spanish producer El Guincho.

Puerto Rico’s Pedro Capó’s “Calma” won for song of the year along with Gabriel Edgar González Pérez and George Noriega. He dedicated the song to his children and his late brother, who inspired the song.

During the telecast, three generations of the Fernandezes performed — Vicente, Alejandro and Alex — along with Mariachi Sol de Mexico. Alex opened with “Te Amare,” followed by Alejandro performing “Caballero” and Vicente, the patriarch of the Fernandez musical dynasty, appearing onstage to sing “Volver, Volver,” commanding a standing ovation, then being joined by his son and grandson.

Backstage in the media center, the volume on the TV monitors was lowered for a separate interview, but the majority of the media objected and demanded that the TV remain at full volume. On stage, the patriarch and his brood stood together as an extended standing ovation continued before Martin approached Vicente to give him the presidential award, which is a special Latin Grammy recognition also given during the telecast to Mexican singer Thalia.

“Time is limited at these [TV] things,” Vicente jokingly told the audience. “I want to thank all those radio people who believed in this man and all those people who have listened through the years. You live in here [pointing to his heart] until the day I die.”

The best new artist award went to soulful singer Nella, a Berklee College of Music graduate who was nominated in the category with nine others. Nella’s Venezuelan roots have modern influences in addition to folklore sounds.

Similar to previous years, the Latin Grammy producers gave a nod to a crossover theme with a performance from a non-Latin artist. Alicia Keys joined Capó, Miguel and Farruko for a medley of songs that included “Show Me Your Love” and “Calma.”

Juanes, this year’s person of the year, performed some of his biggest hits during the telecast, first appearing alone on a darkened stage before being joined by Alessia Cara and Sebastian Yatra. The trio performed “Fijate Bien,” “Querer Mejor,” “A Dios Le Pido,” “Bonita” and “La Camisa Negra.”

One of the biggest surprises of the night was the arrival of Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, who appeared onstage to give Juanes his person of the year tribute.

“Tonight we come full circle,” Ulrich said. “I prolcaim myself a Juanes fan. My brother in rock, mi amigo, mi parcero, I am proud to recognize you as the Latin recording artist of the year.”

Juanes, taken aback by Ulrich’s arrival, made it clear that Metallica influenced him greatly and was one of the reasons he wanted to be a recording artist.

“I made music because of you … 30 years ago,” Juanes said. “My heart is full of love. Colombia, without you I’m nothing. I love you all.”

In an interview with The Times in Las Vegas this week, the Colombian recording artist spoke about his early days when he had little money in his pockets, couch-surfed in L.A. to survive and relied on one woman in particular during those tough times.

“My mom had so much faith in me,” Juanes said. “She would tell me to be patient and that got me through. I remember being in L.A. with a motorcycle and computer, but I sold them and eventually saved $4,000 to get to the next phase. Through pain and patience I learned that things work out.”

Homage to Puerto Rico was also a pivotal arc in this year’s Latin Grammys with a performance of “Cántalo” by Martin, who was joined by Residente and Bad Bunny. Young Mexican regional Mexican star Cristian Nodal took home the best ranchera/mariachi album for “Ahora.”

Latin urban superstar Ozuna gave an electrifying performance, opening his set wearing a dark cape at the piano and then, as the stage opened up, going into a colorful aquatic/sea theme.

As far as the Latin urban controversy, Juanes said it may be a time for both the Latin Grammy organization and urban artists to look at how they can improve future nominations.

“It’s important for both the Latin Grammys and reggaeton artists to see what they can do better in the future,” Juanes said. “It’s not a good or bad thing. It’s something that happened, but connecting is key.”

Director James Mangold is enthusiastic about his latest film, “Ford v Ferrari.” It’s centered around American car designer Carroll Shelby, played by Matt Damon, and British race car driver Ken Miles, played by Christian Bale. In this episode of “The Reel,” Mangold sits down with host Mark Olsen to talk about what’s behind his latest film. It’s a story, he says, he always wanted to take a shot at.

“And that was mainly, I felt, because the characters were just so powerful, unique, charming, irreverent,” Mangold said. “It seemed such fertile ground for a kind of adult-themed action picture.”

Mangold, who also directed “Logan,” opens up about the importance of character work in his action movies. He tells Olsen that Damon and Bale are central to the performances in “Ford v Ferrari” and were perfect for their roles.

“I literally thought of them as I was working on the script. I mean, I’ve known them both for 20 years. And Christian has so many overlaps with Ken Miles, I felt like we were even writing for Christian whether he was on the movie or not,” Mangold said. “And I needed someone who could step into Caroll Shelby and capture that kind of swagger. And for me, I’ve always been a fan of Matt’s work. I think he’s a phenomenal actor.”

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As a director, Mangold also weighs in on the controversy surrounding Martin Scorsese’s comments about Marvel movies.

“My perception about it is that we really wouldn’t be having this conversation if there was more screen real estate for all movies,” Mangold said. “There aren’t enough resources for everyone, so people are turning on each one another.”

But Mangold takes it a step further, telling Olsen that the conversation is broader than just cinema. It even relates, he says, to his daily life, where experiences are all starting to feel market-tested.

“What it is about right now, is that Marty’s movie is at the Belasco and then is going to be on TV in a month. That’s what the frustration is about. Because I’m as in full agreement that movies look too machined and tailored. Not just movies. Food. Airline trips. Television shows. Everything feels market-tested,” said Mangold.

“I think this is a cultural-wide problem,” he continued. “I think it’s about trying to hook audiences back into what unpredictable, more audacious art feels like.”

Check out other episodes of The Reel here

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Literary translator and author Jennifer Croft translated 2019 Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk’s novel “Flights” from Polish into English. Croft recalls that after the two shared the Booker Prize last year, she began referring to the novel as “our love child.”

But Croft’s joke also made a serious point about her role in making a foreign-language literary work into something that can be enjoyed and appreciated by English-language readers.

“It’s important for the readers to realize that they’re reading a kind of co-creation,” says Croft, a 38-year-old Los Angeles resident who teaches a seminar on translation at the University of Iowa.

As she explains it, translation involves more than just finding the right English word to replace a foreign one. Instead, it’s an art form that strives to transcend cultural differences and get across the tone and feeling of the original work.

“I’m trying to be respectful to the atmosphere, for example, of the original, but they’re my sentences,” Croft says. “And every time I translate a word, I’m choosing not to translate it in seventeen other ways. I’m making something that I think is beautiful in a way that is similar to how I found Olga’s original sentence to be beautiful. But it is the way I would write it.”

It’s a job that requires someone who is not only fluent in a foreign language but a writer as well, and Croft is both. In addition to her translations of works by Tokarczuk and others, Croft recently published her own memoir, “Homesick.”

In the book, Croft weaves together a combination of short vignettes, photographs and captions to explore her youth in Oklahoma as an home-schooled linguistic prodigy. She details a turbulent emotional life, and her complex relationship with a younger sister plagued with mysterious seizures.

Croft, who holds a doctorate in comparative literature from Northwestern University, sees her dual careers as a translator and an author as intertwined.

“I always saw translation as a kind of apprenticeship,” she says. “I chose to translate authors whose work I really admired, and from also thought I could learn something from.”

In a curious linguistic reversal, she began writing “Homesick” in another language, Spanish, which she learned while living in Argentina. She went there in January 2010 to do scholarly research on Witold Gombrowicz, a Polish writer stranded there during World War II, but fell in love with Buenos Aires. She stayed for seven years.

“I wanted to write a series of prose equivalents to Polaroid snapshots, so that is why I choose to do those little vignettes,” she says. “It was a form I was interested in trying out, and also I was helpfully limited by my non-native Spanish [to] working in that form.”

In the book, Croft unflinchingly describes the painful experiences of her youth, from watching her sister being carried away by an ambulance crew, to her first awkward stirrings of love for her Russian tutor and a mental-health crisis that she experienced as a 15-year-old college freshman at the University of Tulsa. She originally envisioned publishing it only in Argentina as a novel.

She then rewrote the manuscript in English so that her younger sister Anne Marie could read and comment upon it. “I came to love the English version, equally,” Croft says.

She sold the book to Unnamed Press, a Los Angeles publisher. Eventually, at the suggestion of her editor, Croft converted “Homesick” from fiction into a memoir. She also began to incorporate snapshots — some taken by their mother in childhood, others taken by Croft during her extensive travels in Europe and elsewhere — and added the captions, which are fragments of a fictional sister-to-sister letter from the Spanish-language novel. (The narrative mostly hews closely to her actual life story, though she calls herself Amy in the book and renames her sister Zoe.)

“I guess I was feeling when I was writing that I’d gotten an NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) grant for my translation of ‘Flights,’ and I was in this very happy place in Argentina,” Croft says. “I thought, I’ve come so far. I wish my 15- or 16-year-old self could have been aware of all the possibilities that awaited her. So when I decided to write about the difficulties I had when I was a teenager, it was a way of getting this message out.”

Croft says the experience of writing two versions of the book in different languages has “expanded my own thinking of what translation is.” But she’s not the only one translating it. On her website, homesickbook.space, other translators have posted excerpts from her book rendered in 22 different languages, including Serbian, Farsi, Mandarin and Haitian Creole.

After the success of “Homesick,” Croft now is at work on second book, a novel titled “Fidelity,” about an unstable relationship between an author and a translator.

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Simultaneously, she is at work on another ambitious project — a translation of Tokarczuk’s Polish-language novel “The Books of Jacob,” which runs 1,000 pages and deals with Jacob Frank, the leader of an 18th century heretical Jewish sect.

Croft says translators tend to have their own individual methods. She starts with a Microsoft Word file of a Polish novel in one window on her computer screen, along with an array of Polish, English and Polish-to-English dictionaries in other windows, along with the Google search engine so that she can check place names and historical terms.

Like a novelist, Croft does multiple drafts. On the first attempt, she does a rough translation into the Polish prose, including changing the order of the words to conform with English grammar. “I don’t do a literal word-for-word translation, because that would be unreadable,” she explains. “At this point, I’ve been translating Polish for 15 years, so it’s kind of automatic.”

Croft then does a second draft, in which she doesn’t look at the Polish text and concentrates on refining the writing. “In the second, I have to make each sentence look good,” she says. If there’s time, she’ll do a third draft as well, in which she compares her work to the original Polish version and looks for differences to be reconciled.

While Croft has developed a friendly relationship with Tokarczuk and is regularly in touch with her, she says that the Polish writer takes a relatively hands-off approach.

“She doesn’t go over line by line,” Croft says. “Olga writes so many books that she is always ready to move on to the next one after she publishes something. She doesn’t micromanage her translators, which I really like. She recognizes that the translation needs to be its own thing and the translator needs to be left in peace to write the translation. But she’s always available for questions.”

To a reader, it may be difficult to tell how much of the prose is the original author and how much is the translator, but Croft says it’s possible to discern the translator’s skill from the overall quality of the book. Snappy dialogue, for example, is an indication of a deft translation.

“It’s hard to make something sound natural,” she says. “Humor is also very difficult to translate. It’s another good way to tell if a translator is good or not.”

Croft says she’s interested in finding an innovative way to combine writing and translation in a single work, perhaps in the form of a online novel or multimedia app in which she would join forces with Tokarczuk. “I love the idea of doing a multilingual collaboration,” she says.

Kiger has written for GQ, Sierra magazine, Fast Company and History.com. He’s also co-written two nonfiction books, “Poplorica” and “Oops.”