Good morning, I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. Today, we’re debuting a return to this newsletter’s original format (or something close to it): just five USC, Los Angeles and California stories.
No more sports, national and “other” reads. We’re going back to the basics, which I’m hoping will make these emails more digestible.
The other sections were fun experiments, but ultimately distracted from the most important stories. And now, here's the news you need to know for today.
1.
A jury ruled that the NCAA is not responsible for the death of former USC linebacker Matthew Gee. The 1990 Rose Bowl winner’s widow alleged that the NCAA failed to protect Gee from repeated head trauma in a case that could affect countless other athletes making similar claims.
The University of California academic workers strike is heading into its third week. The nearly 50,000-person strike has grounded much of the research, grading and teaching to a halt across the 10-campus university system as finals week approaches.
California will issue $25 million in grants to support guaranteed income projects across the state. The money should reach some 1,975 people part of small, short-term pilot programs targeting specific groups like foster youth and pregnant women.
A California appellate court ruled that only the state can mandate COVID-19 vaccinations in school districts, siding with an initial ruling that blocked a San Diego Unified School District immunization requirement. In October 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state would impose a mandate, but the Department of Public Health has since punted it to at least July 2023.
UCLA’s law school joined the growing list of schools breaking with the U.S. News rankings. The rest of the exodus includes Yale, Harvard, Berkeley, Georgetown, Columbia, Stanford, Michigan, Duke and Northwestern universities.
