Newsletter: Essential California: A poem for San Bernardino

Good morning. It’s Saturday, Dec. 26 — or unhappy returns day in the retail business. Here’s what you don’t want to miss this weekend:

TOP STORIES

Feeling queasy: The “winter vomiting virus” is on the rise, officials say. Caused by the highly contagious pathogen known as norovirus, the illness spreads rapidly in closed and crowded environments such as hospitals, nursing homes, day care centers, schools, cruise ships and restaurants. “It causes an extremely unpleasant illness.” Los Angeles Times

Heroic poetry: U.S. poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera wanted to make a statement about the San Bernardino massacre that was about heroism, not terrorism. He came to focus on San Bernardino sheriff’s Det. Jorge Lozano, who was seen escorting frightened people from the building, assuring them: “I’ll take a bullet before you do, that’s for damn sure.” Los Angeles Times

Holiday mourning: For the families of San Bernardino shooting victims, it’s a difficult and challenging Christmas. “Sadness is there; there’s no denying it.” Los Angeles Daily News

Dam shame: As California tries to find solutions to a four-year drought, officials are finding that one big problem is dealing with 1960s infrastructure that does not meet the demands of the 21st century. Wall Street Journal

On the edge: “The freeway, which Southern Californians have long seen as a ticket to freedom, an emblem of L.A.’s love of individuality and movement, increasingly serves as a landscape of hard luck and a desperate sort of community — a place to hunker down,” L.A. Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne writes of the growth of homeless camps along the freeways. Los Angeles Times

Mall madness: Meet the woman who spent 12 straight hours at the holiday madhouse that is the Grove — and lived to tell about it. Curbed LA

Love letters: Three years ago, a mystery box arrived at Ronald Kusel’s doorstep with this note: “We sincerely hope we have found the rightful owners of the mementos enclosed in this box ... and that the return of them will bring unexpected joy to you and your wife in this Christmas season.” Then things got interesting. Orange County Register

THIS WEEK’S MOST POPULAR STORIES IN ESSENTIAL CALIFORNIA

1. When Donald Trump tried to buy the Ambassador Hotel, he got schooled. Los Angeles Times

2. Here are the 10 most influential people in Los Angeles, at least according to one publication. LA Weekly

3. Six places where Uber drivers fear to tread. LAist

4. A giant USC sign goes on top of the former AT&T Center in downtown Los Angeles. Curbed LA

5. Folsom Lake adds nearly 18 billion gallons of water in two days. Sacramento Bee

ICYMI, HERE ARE THIS WEEK’S GREAT READS

Art with a message: Lydia Emily has an agenda: to spread tolerance, like a virus, before she dies. The street artist, activist and mother of two has secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. (“The bad kind,” she says.) So on good days, when her hands are nimble and her eyesight is intact, Emily paints. Los Angeles Times

Mystery man: To the people around him, Enrique Marquez Jr. seemed like a straightforward guy with a silly streak and a shaky laugh. He was the suggestible type — always eager to fit in. To federal prosecutors, he is a wannabe terrorist who immersed himself in radical Islamic teachings. Los Angeles Times

Big stink: Porter Ranch residents suffering from headaches, nausea and other symptoms from a natural gas leak that has displaced thousands are assigning blame to a damaged well in the Santa Susana Mountains north of Los Angeles. But the real culprit is a safety feature: The injection of trace amounts of two foul-smelling chemicals into the gas for a reason that now seems a rich paradox: to let noses sniff out the presence of the otherwise odorless methane. Los Angeles Times

Medical scopes: Here’s the inside story of how a medical device maker kept U.S. hospitals in the dark about deadly infections. Los Angeles Times

Final farewell: Los Angeles Times columnist Sandy Banks bids farewell to her readers: “You supported, schooled and scolded me, broadening my perspective. You responded to the plight of strangers with candor and compassion. Your generosity, time after time, astounded me. … And transformed me.” Los Angeles Times

LOOKING AHEAD

Tuesday: Bandfest in Pasadena showcases the bands selected to perform in the annual Rose Parade.

Thursday: In what is becoming a downtown L.A. New Year’s Eve tradition, Grand Park and the Music Center’s New Year’s Eve L.A. will take place in the shadow of City Hall.

Friday: The 127th Rose Parade begins in Pasadena at 8 a.m. And the brave will begin 2016 jumping into the waters of Huntington Beach during the annual Surf City Splash event.

Saturday: Rose Parade floats will be on display at the corner of Sierra Madre and Washington boulevards in Pasadena.

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