Newsletter: Today: Elections, Tarantino, and Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants

I'm Davan Maharaj, editor of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don't want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES 

The Bay City Battle Over Airbnb

In San Francisco, the tech boom and a lack of accommodations have driven the median price of a one-bedroom apartment to $4,000 a month. That spurred a host of housing-related measures on Tuesday's ballot. The most prominent: Proposition F, aimed at tightening restrictions on short-term housing rentals. Airbnb spent more than $8 million to defeat it. Here's how the vote unfolded.  

Jonathan Gold: L.A.'s 101 Best Restaurants

Say you've got a hankering for barbacoa. Or xiaolongbao dumplings. Or a dish called the Ugly Bunch. Times food critic Jonathan Gold can help you with that. The third edition of Gold's list of the 101 best restaurants in the L.A. area is online now for subscribers. The print edition comes out Saturday. In the meantime, here are his top 20. Hint: This year's No. 1 is a repeat winner.

Want Your Air Traffic Controller Working OT?

Think about this the next time you're flying into or out of LAX: During the busiest times of day, air traffic controllers there must handle about 120 to 130 aircraft an hour. Overtime for them is soaring, serious staff shortages loom, and some want to be reassigned to less stressful airports. Here's what the FAA and controllers' union want to do about it. 

Father Boyle, Then and Now

Over the years, Father Greg Boyle has been celebrated as an L.A. original. He started what would become Homeboy Industries, a company to transition young men and women away from gangs. He's also been criticized by police who say he's naive and shields gang members. In today's Great Read (and video), the 61-year-old priest discusses what motivated him in the 1980s and '90s and keeps him going now.

Quentin Tarantino Won't Back Down

Police unions are calling for a boycott of Quentin Tarantino's upcoming movie "The Hateful Eight," after the filmmaker's remarks about police brutality last month. Speaking to The Times in his first public comments, Tarantino said his words have been misrepresented to "demonize" him and draw attention from the issue. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck's response: "Mr. Tarantino lives in a fantasy world." Will the controversy hurt or help the film?

Taiwan and China: It's Complicated

The convoluted relationship between Taiwan and China will take a new turn Saturday in Singapore. The top leaders of the two governments will meet for the first time since splitting amid civil war in 1949, according to Taiwan's official news agency. Though the gathering could be mostly symbolic, it comes just two months before presidential elections in Taiwan.

CALIFORNIA

--  Supervisors seek an audit and possible lease renegotiation with the L.A. County Fair Assn. after a Times investigation.

-- The state's high-speed rail authority released a 2013 cost report after pressure from California legislators and members of Congress.

-- "Swami's will never be the same" after two surfers die at the famed Encinitas beach.

-- Columnist Steve Lopez: Why a nonprofit running club for kids got the boot from O’Melveny Park.  

NATION-WORLD

-- The Pentagon has suspended a trial run of the troubled blimp-based missile-defense system called JLENS that we wrote about in September. 

-- Ohio voters soundly rejected a marijuana legalization initiative.

-- Houston's nondiscrimination ordinance was rejected at the polls.

-- Prosecutors' appeal of Oscar Pistorius' murder acquittal centers on the issue of intent to kill.

-- Fraud, greed and corruption: New books depict skulduggery in the Vatican.

BUSINESS

-- California fines Blue Shield of California and Anthem Blue Cross for overstating their Obamacare doctor networks.

-- Activision Blizzard goes mobile with a $5.9-billion deal for the maker of the "Candy Crush" game. 

SPORTS

-- Bill Plaschke: In the final analysis, the best choice as Dodgers manager would be ... Dave Roberts.

-- The diminished power of managers in baseball echoes the Cubs' early-'60s "college of coaches."

-- Luke Walton guides the Golden State Warriors in Coach Steve Kerr's absence. 

ENTERTAINMENT

-- Movie review: Saoirse Ronan soars in the emotionally rich immigrant's tale "Brooklyn."

-- Sundance creates a residency program in virtual reality.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Beijing's covert radio network airs China-friendly news across Washington and the world. (Reuters)

-- The sublime simplicity of Baseball-Reference.com, a go-to source for fans and Hall of Famers. (Rolling Stone)

-- If the shoe fits: the rise of the stylish comfort shoe. (NPR)

ONLY IN L.A.

Ellen DeGeneres has a thing for SoCal houses. By her estimation, she's bought and sold about a dozen. There was the A. Quincy Jones estate in Holmby Hills that she flipped to Napster founder Sean Parker; and the Beverly Hills Buff & Hensman, which she sold to Ryan Seacrest. But her first, a Spanish bungalow in West Hollywood, taught her the value of fixing up a house and selling for a profit. DeGeneres gives her thoughts on home life — and, oh yes, there are photos.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.