Newsletter: California’s uneven jobs picture

Good morning. It is Saturday, Dec. 17. Here’s what you don’t want to miss this weekend:

TOP STORIES

Uneven recovery: California’s coastal areas are booming when it comes to jobs, but inland and rural counties are still struggling. Unemployment in some parts of the Bay Area hovered at just 3% in November, while areas of the Central Valley saw jobless rates approaching 10%. Los Angeles Times

LAUSD lessons: An internal report on last year’s unprecedented one-day shutdown of Los Angeles schools due to a terrorist threat reveals a confused chain of command among school district and city officials that hampered their ability to quickly and decisively evaluate the risk. Los Angeles Times

L.A.’s light: In 1998, the New Yorker published a landmark story about L.A.’s light: “That light: the late-afternoon light of Los Angeles — golden pink off the bay through the smog and onto the palm fronds. A light I’ve found myself pining for every day of the nearly two decades since I left Southern California.” Eighteen years later, the magazine follows up with a video about the thing so many love about the city. The New Yorker

Leak look: Caltech researchers studied the soil microbes in Porter Ranch and some new science that helped clean up the leak. Los Angeles Times

Retirement revolution: California’s massive and influential public employee retirement system is considering cutting its investment return assumption. It’s a huge deal that could start a national trend. New York Times

“Jinx” fight: Robert Durst told L.A. prosecutors in an interview last year that he was high on methamphetamines during portions of his interview in the 2015 HBO miniseries “The Jinx,” according to court papers released Friday. Durst’s attorneys have been challenging some of the evidence against the eccentric millionaire. Los Angeles Times

Anchor ruling: KTLA news anchor Lu Parker will not face criminal charges in connection with the theft of a pair of headphones at Los Angeles International Airport if she successfully completes a diversion program. Los Angeles Times

Cal State Hotel: Cal State Northridge is looking to add a new building — not a classroom but a hotel. Cal State campuses in Fullerton and Pomona already have them. Daily News

Water wars: President Obama quietly signed the epic California drought relief bill presented by Congress. But it will be Donald Trump who will hold sway over federal water policy. Sacramento Bee

Fact check: Facebook has a plan to deal with fake news. Will it work? SFGate

Band aid: Members of the Stanford University marching band are furious at the decision to suspend the irreverent group. “The funkless still need funk, and who else will bring it?” Mercury News

Hollywood shoot-’em-up: Which celebrity has held the most gun models on film? (A hint: He dies hard.) Some see a contradiction between Hollywood’s support of gun control and the gunplay on screen. Hollywood Reporter

THIS WEEK’S MOST POPULAR STORIES IN ESSENTIAL CALIFORNIA

1. Look out below! The 102 million dead trees in California’s forests are turning tree cutters into millionaires. Los Angeles Times

2. Going it alone: California’s climate fight could be painful — especially on job and income growth. Los Angeles Times

3. Warning signs: Amid the Ghost Ship warehouse’s enchanting disorder lurked danger and the seeds of disaster. Los Angeles Times

4. Landmark? The long-rumored house of Jack London in Larchmont Village has been nominated for historic status. Curbed Los Angeles

5. Backstory: How a massacre at a Seal Beach hair salon led to an unprecedented jailhouse scandal. Los Angeles Times

ICYMI, HERE ARE THIS WEEK’S GREAT READS

Straight back to …: Compton is still struggling to work its way out of decades of violent crime and economic distress. But it’s found allies in the surprising number of celebrities who come from the city. The Williams Sisters, Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre and others are now stars in Compton’s turnaround. Los Angeles Times

Buried movie: The incredible backstory of “Don’s Plum,” a 1990s Los Angeles indie movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire at the beginning of their careers. Never seen it? That’s because you can’t. Vanity Fair

Arts scene: Forget Venice, Echo Park and even the Arts District. To experience the last artists haven in L.A., you must go north. Way north. To Palmdale and Lancaster. Yes, amid the housing tracts and desert scrub, a thriving arts scene is flourishing. And artists don’t have to starve. Curbed Los Angeles

Tree debate: Are eucalyptus trees an essential part of the San Francisco landscape or environmentally unfriendly invaders that should be removed and replaced with native trees? That’s the debate roiling the city these days. The Atlantic

LOOKING AHEAD

Saturday: The Fred Jordan Mission on skid row holds its annual toy party for underprivileged kids.

Sunday: Final day of the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade.

Tuesday: Former NFL quarterback Todd Marinovich will be in court to answer charges of drug possession and public nudity.

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