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Good morning, I hope you had a good long weekend. Here’s the news you need to know for today.

1.

Rep. Karen Bass is leading developer Rick Caruso by 1.6 percentage points in the Los Angeles mayoral race. Only 67.26% of the expected vote has been tallied in the historically expensive election.

Lara Korte / Politico

2.

Sydney Kamlager, a USC alumna, will represent California’s 37th Congressional District which includes USC and its neighboring communities. Kamlager — a Democrat who’s currently a member of the state senate — will fill Rep. Karen Bass’ seat in the House.

Jennifer Nehrer / Daily Trojan

3.

Nearly 48,000 University of California academic workers are on strike, protesting alleged unfair labor practices on the part of the UC. The teaching assistants, postdoctoral scholars, student researchers, tutors and fellows are picketing across all 10 UC campuses.

Mark Alfred and Holly Rusch / Daily Nexus

4.

California could decide control of the House. The state is home to 11 of 19 not-yet-called races that will determine who holds a razor-thin majority in the lower chamber. Republicans are currently ahead in six of those races, and Democrats are ahead in five.

Claire Hao and Joe Garofoli / San Francisco Chronicle

5.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s lasting legacy could be county reform — that he opposes. L.A. voters appear poised to pass Measure A, an amendment to the county’s charter that would give the Board of Supervisors the authority to boot an elected sheriff. A work-in-progress vote count on Thursday showed that 69% of voters supported the proposal, which, if passed, would be largely seen as a repudiation of Villanueva’s troubled tenure. Currently, Villanueva trails former Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna by 17.6 percentage points in his bid for reelection with 67.2% of expected vote in.

Alene Tchekmedyian / Los Angeles Times

6.

The California Department of Justice is struggling to meet goals set by a law requiring it to investigate police shootings of unarmed people. The law, which took effect in July 2021, was one of California’s answers to the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis — but as of Nov. 10, the department has resolved only one of the state’s 25 opened cases.

Nigel Duara / CalMatters

7.

Cities across California are attempting to curtail events in rodeos that activists say amount to animal abuse. Rodeo proponents say the push is just another manifestation of radical progressivism that’s seeking to outlaw American culture and tradition.

Susanne Rust / Los Angeles Times

Nation / world

  • At least six people were killed and 81 injured after a street bombing in Istanbul; Turkey’s vice president called the incident an act of terror, though no group has claimed responsibility yet. (The Wall Street Journal)

  • Democrats won control of the Senate after Nevada incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto was projected to win her race. (The Washington Post)

  • President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to meet at the G20 summit in Bali to discuss tensions over Taiwan and Ukraine. (Reuters)

  • Voter turnout could decrease in Georgia’s runoff Senate election, partly because early voting cannot begin until state officials have certified the results of the general election. (Associated Press)

  • As the culture wars encroach on classrooms, teachers on both sides of the political spectrum have left the profession over mounting pressure from parents and schools. (NPR)

Sports

John McCoy / Associated Press

The Trojans put on a show at the Coliseum on Friday, blowing out the University of Colorado 55-17 under the lights. USC redshirt junior holder Will Rose flipped into the endzone on a fake-PAT play, and USC inched up one place on the AP Poll to No. 7. The win did come with a cost, as senior running back Travis Dye is now expected to miss the rest of the season with an injury he suffered in the second quarter. On Saturday, the Trojans will go across town to battle No. 16 UCLA — which suffered an embarrassing loss to the University of Arizona 34-28 over the weekend — at the Rose Bowl.

Michael Chow / Annenberg Media

Women’s soccer was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA tournament with a 2-0 loss to UC Irvine on Saturday. An Anteater goal in the 16th minute put the Trojans behind for good, and the program ultimately suffered its first ever opening-round exit. USC was 12-1-3 against UCI all-time before Saturday’s defeat.

After an embarrassing loss to Florida Gulf Coast University to start the season, men’s basketball rebounded big time with a 96-58 win over Alabama State on Thursday. Senior guard Drew Peterson led the floor with 21 points, also adding 6 assists to his statline. The Trojans will host Vermont on Tuesday at 8 p.m. inside the Galen Center.

Women’s hoops stomped Idaho State 75-42 on Saturday. Graduate guard Destiny Littleton drained five 3-pointers before finishing with 19 points on the night. The Trojans go on a road trip this week, beginning with a Tuesday night contest against the University of San Diego.

Tomoki Chien / Daily Trojan

Men’s water polo was left in shock after its crosstown showdown game against UCLA on Friday. USC led 13-10 in the final minute, but was ultimately defeated 14-13 in overtime. Bruins redshirt sophomore Gianpiero Di Martire converted 3 straight goals in the final minute to send the game to overtime before graduate attacker Jake Cavano scored the game winner.

Other things we’re reading

Tomo’s picks:

  • “My Decision to Serve In the Military” (The Atlantic)

  • “My Sad, Lonely, Expensive Adventures in Zuckerberg’s V.R.” (The New York Times)

  • “Some New, Fun Features You’ll Soon Get to Pay for on Twitter” (The New Yorker)

  • “Newsom’s resounding win shows he didn’t even have to run a race for governor” (Los Angeles Times)

  • “What the Suzuki Method Really Taught” (The New Yorker)

Anna’s picks:

  • “Yale forces suicidal students to withdraw. Reapplying is daunting.” (The Washington Post)

  • “Up in a tiny Himalayan kingdom, an LGBTQ revolution is on the climb” (Los Angeles Times)

Chris’ picks:

In case you missed it

USC is seeing an early surge in flu cases, mirroring the broader L.A. County. It’s not yet clear if this is a small, early spike, or the beginning of a severe and prolonged flu season.

Jonathan Park / Daily Trojan

Federal health officials are investigating whether a now-defunct California military base exposed veterans to high levels of cancer-causing toxins. An Associated Press investigation earlier this year found that the Army knew chemicals had been improperly dumped at Fort Ord in Monterey County for decades, but sought to play down the risks.

Martha Mendoza, Juliet Linderman and Jason Dearen / Associated Press

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Morning, Trojan is an Annenberg Media product. Tomoki Chien is the founding editor, Anna Hsu curates weekday reporting and Chris Bibona writes the Monday sports section. Questions, concerns or feedback? Just reply to this email.

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