• HUD Secretary Ben Carson became the third high-ranking Trump administration official to test positive for COVID-19 after attending the 100-person election watch party last Tuesday at the White House. Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and advisor David Bossie both also appear to have been infected on or before that night, with Meadows having traveled with the president to multiple rallies in the days prior. [New York Times]
  • UCSF's Dr. Bob Wachter said today that with the positive news about Pfizer's COVID vaccine, we are still looking at springtime for some of the earliest widespread distribution, and next summer before life could look more normal again in the U.S. [Bob_Wachter/Twitter]
  • One arrest has been made and police continue investigating vandalism at a home in Brentwood where the homeowner hung a Biden effigy by a rope with a sign that said "Cheater," prompting two nights of protests outside. [Patch]
  • Former Google exec Jon Venverloh resigned as president of a school district in Menlo Park following racist tweets by his wife about Kamala Harris. [Chronicle]
  • In another ridiculous piece of post-election theater, Attorney General William Barr has done Trump's bidding and sent a letter to U.S. attorneys telling them to pursue investigations if "clear and apparently-credible allegations of irregularities" in the election can be substantiated. [KRON4]
  • A 27-year-old man in Santa Rosa was arrested early Monday for the attempted murder of his 78-year-old housemate, who was shot and badly wounded. [CBS SF]
  • Police in San Mateo were investigating a homicide Monday morning, and they were present at two residential locations in the eastern part of the city, along Pierce St. and on Marina Court at South Norfolk St. near Lakeshore Park and a fire station. [CBS SF]
  • We already knew that Defense Secretary Mark Esper had prepared a resignation letter before the election, and now Trump has fired him in an unusual move for a lame-duck president, given the national security implications — but what else is new. [New York Times]
  • Also today, Trump fired three other agency officials: Neil Chatterjee, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration; and Bonnie Glick, deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. [NPR]

Photo: Claudio Schwartz