Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Dec. 16.
- Rob Reiner and his son argued on night before killings.
- President Trump’s Reiner remarks are criticized by allies.
- And FBI foils suspected bomb plot in Los Angeles area.
Statewide
1.
California’s “jungle” primary, in which the top two finishers advance to the general election regardless of party, has created a math problem for Democrats in the governor’s race. With a glut of Democratic candidates, and no front-runner among them, two Republicans could end up winning. While that outcome may seem unlikely, wrote Politico, “This vacuum of charismatic leadership could cost Democrats the governor’s race.”
2.
During her tenure in Congress, Rep. Nancy Pelosi resisted efforts to ban stock trading by lawmakers, refusing to budge from her position even as Republicans accused her of being corrupt. Pelosi will leave Washington next year with a reputation as one of America’s political giants, the New York Times reported: “But the widespread perception that she was on the wrong side of the debate over congressional stock trading, and personally benefited from the practice, has put an asterisk on that legacy.”
3.
“Ray don’t want to be with you no more,” Louie said to me in eighth grade on behalf of Ray.
— Vikki Cruz, Bakersfield
“You’re breaking up with me over the toilet seat?” he said.
“It’s always been about more than that,” I said, “but yes.”
— Rosemarie Boyd, San Francisco
“I really just want to be with a Marxist supermodel with a Ph.D.,” said my love interest, a local activist with a big ego.
— Reena Liebling, Los Angeles
The New York Times asked people for their most striking breakup lines (said in real life).
Northern California
4.
In 2019, Yaël Eisenstat, Facebook’s former head of election integrity, alleged in an op-ed that the social media platform allowed political operatives to mislead the public with ad-targeting tools. Then her career fell apart. Former colleagues started gossiping about her, Eisenstat said. One institution courted her for months before telling her they couldn’t hire her. That day, the organization announced a major donation from Mark Zuckerberg’s philanthropy. “I had been blacklisted,” Eisenstat said. The Washington Post wrote about the price whistleblowers pay in Silicon Valley.
5.
TJ Cox, a former Democratic congressman from the San Joaquin Valley, was sentenced to a year in prison on Monday after pleading guilty to two counts of fraud. Prosecutors said Cox stole money from companies with which he was affiliated, lied to a mortgage lender, and arranged “straw” donors to illegally donate to his campaign. The former lawmaker had asked for home confinement. But Judge Dale Drozd said his crimes demanded prison time. “It was multiple frauds,” he said. “Even fraud within frauds.” KFSN | Fresno Bee
6.
One of San Francisco’s iconic cable cars came to an abrupt halt on Monday, jerking so violently that 15 people were injured, fire officials said. Windows on the cable car were shattered. “It just stopped in its tracks like super fast,” said Willa Meade, a 20-year-old passenger. She added, “everyone just flew in the air and started screaming.” Officials offered no explanation for the mishap on the cable car line, a major tourist draw that dates to the 1870s. S.F. Chronicle | KTVU
7.
California got multiple shout-outs in this year’s batch of recommendations for where to visit in 2026, an annual travel-publishing ritual. Both Bloomberg and Condé Nast Traveler named San Francisco, citing buzzy nightlife spots, the revived Transamerica Pyramid, the new beachfront Sunset Dunes park, and plans to illuminate the Bay Bridge. “Despite its unfair reputation for American urban decay, its charms are more pronounced than ever,” Bloomberg wrote.
- In other where-to-go lists, Architectural Digest recommended Los Angeles, Travel+Leisure suggested Santa Barbara, and Condé Nast Traveler proposed Catalina Island.
Southern California
8.
Nick Reiner, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood legend Rob Reiner, was arrested on suspicion of murder in the stabbing death of his parents, authorities said on Monday. Nick and Rob Reiner got into a loud argument during a holiday party at the home of Conan O’Brien the night before the couple’s bodies were found, several outlets reported. “Nick was freaking everyone out,” one source said. For years, Nick Reiner cycled through bouts of homelessness and addiction. On Monday, a family friend recalled that Michele Reiner once said of her son’s struggles: “We’ve tried everything. We don’t know what else to do.” N.Y. Times | People magazine
9.
President Trump’s critics often complain that no matter how outrageous his utterances, he seems to pay little price. His remarks on the killings of the Reiners, however, drew a rare backlash from a handful of MAGA influencers and Republican lawmakers. In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump blamed Rob Reiner for his own death, claiming he was killed “due to the anger he caused” through his “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.” Asked later if he stood by those comments, Trump doubled down. “He was a deranged person,” he said. Washington Post | N.Y. Times
- John Dickerson in the Atlantic: “Trump used a family tragedy against a dead man. … He didn’t affirm human boundaries; he punctured them to display dominance. Grief became a plaything. Shock became his permission.”
10.
Other developments in the killings of Rob and Michele Reiner:
- “I could see the helplessness. Could see the futility of forestalling the harmful acts of an addict.” In a thoughtful piece for the Hollywood Reporter, film journalist Steven Zeitchik recalled a jarring dinner he had with the Reiner family.
- Rob Reiner was remembered on Monday as a quietly brilliant director whose films defined adolescence, an unapologetic liberal who championed gay rights and early childhood education, and a friend who was reliably joyful and generous. Hollywood Reporter
- Jamie Lee Curtis: “This is an ungraspable tragedy and loss.”
- Eric Idle: “I shall miss him. A clever, talented and very thoughtful man. So awful.”
- Robin Wright: “Rob was one of the most loving, compassionate, and kind people I have ever known.”
- Zooey Deschanel: “Rob Reiner was the absolute warmest, funniest, most generous of spirits.”
- Sally Struthers: “There are no words. This is beyond devastating and my heart is with their family.”
- “When Harry Met Sally…,” This Is Spinal Tap,” “Stand by Me,” “A Few Good Men.” Here are the Reiner projects that stood the test of time. 👉 Washington Post
11.
Federal authorities said on Monday that they foiled a plot by left-wing activists to set off homemade bombs outside two companies in the Los Angeles area on New Year’s Eve. Four suspects were caught trying to assemble and test pipe bombs in the Mojave Desert on Friday, officials said. The group was part of a radical faction of the Turtle Island Liberation Front, an “anticapitalist” group that calls for decolonization and tribal sovereignty, according to the complaint. L.A. Times | A.P.
12.
Between the 1950s and 1960s, few photographers captured the youthful glamour of Hollywood with as much intimacy as Bob Willoughby. On hundreds of film sets, he turned casual moments between actors and directors into works of art. An interviewer with Classiq Journal once asked Willoughby’s son, Christopher, how his father managed to capture unguarded moments. He treated his subjects as fellow professionals, Christopher said: “He told Barbra Streisand once, when she was being a little difficult, that he was at least as good a photographer as she was a singer, and could we just get to work?”
- See a fantastic collection of Willoughby’s Hollywood photos.
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