Newsletter: Essential California: L.A.’s new approach to fighting terror

Good morning. It is Wednesday, Nov. 25. When it comes to Thanksgiving, it's all about the buffet. Here's what else is happening in the Golden State:

TOP STORIES

Terror shift: Local law enforcement officials are rethinking the way they look at counterterrorism in the wake of the Paris attacks. For years, the focus has been on protecting landmark targets like LAX, Disneyland, the U.S. Bank tower downtown and Hollywood Boulevard. Now, officials are grappling with how to protect more ordinary "soft" targets like shopping districts and malls. Los Angeles Times

CalPERS' big news: The California Public Employees' Retirement System made an important disclosure Tuesday: It paid $3.4 billion in performance fees to its private equity managers since 1990, while the controversial sector generated $24.2 billion in net profit for retirees. The numbers are expected to generate more scrutiny about how the public pension system, the nation's largest, is run. Los Angeles Times

A slow path to justice: Luis Lorenzo Vargas insisted from the very beginning that he was not the infamous "teardrop rapist." But it took a 16-year battle to have his conviction thrown out. Here's a look at the road to possible freedom. Los Angeles Times

DROUGHT AND CLIMATE

High tide: "King tides" are back, and that could mean flooding in some coastal areas. The unusually high tides occur near the solstices. Officials say water levels will rise above 7 feet through Friday at Northern and Southern California beaches, with the highest tides expected Wednesday and Thursday. Los Angeles Times

Drought vandalism: How did 50 million gallons of water go missing from a Bay Area dam? Officials allege that four men vandalized a rubber dam along Alameda Creek. The act was caught on tape, though police don't have a motive. SFGate

L.A. AT LARGE

Non-tenure union push: A new union movement is underway at USC. The university's adjunct and part-time faculty filed paperwork Tuesday to hold union elections. The non-tenure-track professors were organized by Service Employees International Union Local 721, which represents bargaining units in Los Angeles and the county. There are nearly 6,600 full-time faculty at USC, of whom nearly 5,000 are on a non-tenure track. Los Angeles Times

Little engine that might: Angels Flight, downtown's beloved funicular, took a small step toward reopening after safety concerns. Officials are studying the possibility of building an evacuation walkway, which is needed to reopen the rail line. But it doesn't sound as if Angels Flight will reopen anytime soon. L.A. Downtown News

L.A.'s music box: The six-story, lightbulb-covered Triforium has long been one of downtown L.A.'s biggest curiosities, in part because the musical sculpture has been out of service for so long. Now there is a new effort to restore the Triforium to its past glory. Curbed LA

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Thanksgiving break: A bill working its way through Sacramento would require double pay to some employees who must work on Thanksgiving. One target: big retailers. Sacramento Bee

Cry for relief: A monthlong gas leak has been sickening residents in Porter Ranch. It's gotten so bad that the South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a notice of violation to Southern California Gas Co., citing a "public nuisance" created by the leak. Now, officials are demanding answers about why relief has taken so long. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Miracle Mile or Vegas Strip? The corner of Wilshire and Fairfax has become the topic of intense architectural debate. The Petersen Automotive Museum's new look "is attracting cheers and jeers, with critics complaining that it displays a brazen tackiness more in line with the Las Vegas Strip than Wilshire's buttoned-up Museum Row," Jessica Gelt writes. Los Angeles Times

The Disney eye: Millions of photos of Disneyland have been taken. But then there are those taken by Renie Bardeau, Disneyland's staff photographer, who says: "There's the right way, the wrong way and the Disney way to make photographs. You can't teach the Disney way. You can't describe it. When it's right, you just feel it, and snap." Check out his work. Orange County Register

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

The Southern California cool-down continues. Thanksgiving Day will see temperatures in the mid-60s dropping into the 50s and 40s at night.

AND FINALLY

Today's California Memory comes from Michael Wyatt:

"It was Thanksgiving Day in Berkeley. The year was 1972. After finishing our Thanksgiving feast, we moved out on the apartment patio. It was 72 degrees and we had a view of the Bay Area and the Golden Gate Bridge. That's when this Illinois transplant knew California was heaven itself."

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (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 and ideas to Alice Walton or Shelby Grad.