Newsletter: Essential California: Helping the homeless fuels debate in Malibu

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Friday, Nov. 24, and here’s what’s happening across California:

TOP STORIES

Malibu asks whether helping homeless draws more homeless

As Southern California struggles with a growing homeless problem, one flashpoint has emerged in Malibu. The Malibu United Methodist Church, facing pressure from the city, has decided its twice-weekly dinners for homeless people would stop after Thanksgiving. The cutoff came after city officials summoned organizers and suggested they were attracting more homeless people and making the problem worse. The move has sparked debate about how the wealthy coastal town should deal with the homeless. Los Angeles Times

Thanksgiving meals: “We haven’t seen numbers like this since the Great Depression,” says the Midnight Mission’s director of public affairs. City News Service

Plus: An obscure provision in Los Angeles city codes has drawn fire from tenant activists who complain that it allows housing to be turned over to tourists. Los Angeles Times

Wine country fires prompt new thinking

The causes of the October conflagrations are under investigation. But for a number of the fires, the prime suspects are sparking power lines and electrical equipment downed by winds that gusted to more than 70 mph. As California puts more people and houses on one of the planet’s most flammable landscapes and the grim list of deadly wildfires grows longer, some experts say it’s time to take stronger steps. Among them: Ban development in wind corridors where wildlands repeatedly burn, and preemptively shut down power lines and close public lands during extreme wind events. Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

Big loss? John Lasseter’s decision to leave Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios for six months after complaints of inappropriate interactions with employees has raised questions about the fallout for Disney’s signature animation business. Industry analysts and experts in the animation community said Lasseter’s absence could be a significant blow to the studio if his departure becomes permanent, because the executive has been such a key figure in its success. Los Angeles Times

Ink: A look inside “Tattoo,” an ambitious traveling exhibition about the history, culture and art of tattoos, has opened at the Natural History Museum with a new section devoted specifically to L.A.’s body-art culture. Los Angeles Times

Fighting spirit: No team in Southern California faced a more daunting challenge this season in high school football than the Hawkins Hawks of South Los Angeles. But the team refuses to give up. Los Angeles Times

Truck talk: Tesla’s truck is already the talk of the L.A. port complex years before its release. Will it be a game changer? Daily Breeze

Police dispute: Five Asian American police officers are suing the San Gabriel Police Department, alleging they were subjected to widespread discrimination and a hostile work culture in which managers used racial slurs and refused to hire or promote Asian officers. Los Angeles Times

GIVING THANKS

Survivors: A “Friendsgiving” dinner for two besties who have something big to be thankful for: surviving the Las Vegas mass shooting. Orange County Register

It looks so real: For $500, a Bay Area bakery will make you a holiday cake that looks like a turkey. SFGate

Finding hope: New holiday traditions emerge in wine country after the fires. Press Democrat

The spirit: In neighborhoods destroyed by the Santa Rosa fires, residents still found the Thanksgiving spirit — and feel great to still have each other even if they don’t have their homes. San Francisco Chronicle

Uncertain holiday: A San Diego Thanksgiving for refugees who face uncertain futures. San Diego Union-Tribune

Family time: For one South L.A. family, she’s the one who brings everyone together. Los Angeles Times

Yes, it was hot: Downtown Los Angeles hit 92 degrees, making this year’s Thanksgiving the hottest since record-keeping began in 1877, the National Weather Service said. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Is this the future of personal transportation? A giant board with one big wheel under it? Some Stanford grads hope so. “This is like the PC stage of transportation.We’ve been on mainframes — cars — for generations. But we’re now seeing the development of all these niche transportation modes, like Onewheel.” Mercury News

“Tribute to the common man”: Clint Eastwood talks about why he made a movie about the three Sacramento buddies who stopped a terror attack in France. Sacramento Bee

Snow’s up: A good start to the California ski season. Los Angeles Times

Personal history: How one Southern California journalist discovered he was related to Benedict Arnold. “Arnold, of Revolutionary War notoriety, becomes my ancestral antihero, a distant cousin who sold out his country in 1780. Except, it wasn’t that simple. A tip of the Thanksgiving gravy ladle to Arnold is in order.” Orange County Register

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles area: Partly cloudy and 84. San Diego: Partly cloudy and 78. San Francisco area: Foggy and 64. Sacramento: Partly cloudy and 68. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California memory comes from Patricia Scurlock:

“As a naive, mid-America, young person, I followed my older brother and moved to California. I made friends easily, and we found many ways for entertainment and enjoyment, one being each week a different cuisine. One such dining foray was in a well-known steakhouse. As everyone gave their orders, it came my turn, and a friend said, ‘Patty, try the filet mignon.’ My green-behind-the-ears, Midwesterner response? No thanks, I don’t care for FISH tonight!! ‘Filet’ to me meant only one thing, fish. That provided everyone a good laugh that night, and still to this day, many, many years later, I’m jokingly reminded, but am now a full-fledged Southern California native!”

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 Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.