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A Southern California town reckons with its disappearing beaches

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A Southern California town reckons with its disappearing beaches


On a sunny fall morning, waves crashed towards a slope made up of giant boulders, or riprap, sending spray over the adjoining railroad tracks. These tracks, south of San Clemente State Seaside in Southern California, are a part of the one freight rail line that connects the Port of San Diego with the remainder of the nation. That is additionally the route of the favored Amtrak Surfliner that hugs the coast all the best way as much as San Luis Obispo in Central California.

However in late September, authorities shut down passenger rail service and slowed freight service by means of San Clemente as a result of the tracks listed below are at risk of sliding into the ocean. 

“You simply bought Mom Nature at work on two sides,” stated Darrell Johnson, CEO of the Orange County Transportation Authority, the county’s transit planning fee. “On the ocean aspect, you’ve bought sea-level rise, greater tide, storm surges. We had Hurricane Kay within the early a part of September.”

And on the inland aspect of the tracks, the slope is eroding — pushing the tracks outward greater than 2 toes prior to now 12 months or so. 

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Southern California’s economic system and identification are intimately tied to its seashores. However the coast is now going through a reckoning with its historical past of beachfront growth and the local weather disaster, and that’s all coming to a head alongside this iconic rail line.

The transportation authority’s short-term plan to safe the tracks is to pile up extra riprap to carry again the waves and drive large stakes, referred to as soil nails, into the bedrock to attempt to stabilize the slope. 

“That is clearly some sort of interim resolution,” Johnson stated. “The query is: Is it, you recognize, measured in years or a long time?” 

It’s not simply the railroad tracks which are threatened. A few of the properties above the tracks have already been deemed uninhabitable.

However this shoreline wasn’t at all times so susceptible. There was once a large seaside right here between the prepare tracks and the ocean.

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“They’d volleyball courts, there have been showers,” stated Debbie Sheldrake, who’s been browsing off this coast for 30 years. “None of that’s there anymore, it’s all gone.”

Sand helps buffer the coast from storms, like a referee holding the generally wild Pacific Ocean at arm’s size — or seaside’s size. It retains the waves from digging into the bottom of coastal bluffs.

So what occurred to all that sand? The ocean has been sucking up sand sooner than it may be changed, in accordance with Brett Sanders, a professor of civil and environmental engineering on the College of California, Irvine. Apart from storm surges and sea-level rise, there’s additionally an inland aspect to the issue, he stated.

“We’ve form of been slowly ravenous our coasts of the sediment provide that it must be wholesome and resilient,” Sanders stated.

On this aerial view, prepare tracks comply with alongside a shoreline now devoid of all sand in San Clemente, California, on Oct. 12. (Robyn Beck/AFP through Getty Photographs)

For one factor, concrete and landscaping entice sediment that in any other case may be washed out to the ocean and change into sand. After which there’s California’s ongoing drought.

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“Due to our drought, we haven’t had storms, massive storms washing sediment to the coast on the charge now we have prior to now,” Sanders stated. 

The state and federal authorities have replenished seaside sand in different elements of California over time. San Clemente’s primary seaside is scheduled to get a load of sand subsequent fall — 250,000 cubic yards at a price of $15.1 million.

San Clemente Mayor Professional Tem Chris Duncan desires extra options like this to guard the city’s susceptible shoreline. If the seaside disappears, he stated, so does the city’s entire cause for being.

“The identification of the city and the economic system of the city are fully and completely tied to the seaside,” Duncan stated. “It’s a part of the guts and soul of people that stay in San Clemente.”

The prepare does deliver vacationers to the city, Duncan stated, and a few San Clemente residents use it to commute to Los Angeles and elsewhere. However with out a long-term plan to guard the coast, he doesn’t see how the tracks are any match for Mom Nature. 

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California

Dickies to say goodbye to Texas, hello to Southern California

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Dickies to say goodbye to Texas, hello to Southern California


FORT WORTH, Texas — Dickies is leaving Cowtown for the California coast, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.

The 102-year-old Texas workwear brand, which is owned by VF Corp., is making the move from Fort Worth to Costa Mesa in order to be closer to its sister brand, Vans.


What You Need To Know

  • Dickies headquarters will be relocated from Texas to California, according to a Los Angeles Times report 
  • The workwear brand has operated in Fort Worth since 1922
  • The report says the movie will occur in May 2025 and affect about 120 employees 
  • Dickies headquarters is being moved by owner VF Corp. so that it can be closer to its sister brand, Vans

Dickies was founded in Fort Worth in 1922 by E.E. “Colonel” Dickie. Today, Dickies Arena is the entertainment hub of the city and home of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.

The company is expected to make the move by May. Approximately 120 employees will be affected, the report said.

By moving one of its offices closer to the other, VF Corp. says it can “consolidate its real estate portfolio,” as well as “create an even more vibrant campus,” Ashley McCormack, director of external communications at VF Corp. said in the report.

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Dickies isn’t the only rugged brand owned by VF Corp. The company also has ownership of Timberland, The North Face and JanSport.

VF Corp. acquired Dickies in 2017 for $820 million. 

“Their contributions to our city’s culture, economy and identity are immeasurable,” District 9 City Council member Elizabeth Beck, who represents the area of downtown Fort Worth where Dickies headquarters is currently located, said in a statement to the Fort Worth Report. “While we understand their business decision, it is bittersweet to see a company that started right here in Fort Worth take this next step. We are committed to supporting the employees who remain here and will work to honor the lasting imprint Dickies has left on our community.”



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Caitlyn Jenner says she'd 'destroy' Kamala Harris in hypothetical race to be CA gov

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Caitlyn Jenner says she'd 'destroy' Kamala Harris in hypothetical race to be CA gov


Caitlyn Jenner, the gold-medal Olympian-turned reality TV personality, is considering another run for Governor of California. This time, she says, if she were to go up against Vice President Kamala Harris, she would “destroy her.” 

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Jenner, who publicly came out as transgender nearly 10 years ago, made a foray into politics when she ran as a Republican during the recall election that attempted to unseat Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021. Jenner only received one percent of the vote and was not considered a serious candidate. 

Jenner posted this week on social media that she’s having conversations with “many people” and hopes to have an announcement soon about whether she will run. 

Caitlyn Jenner speaks at the 4th annual Womens March LA: Women Rising at Pershing Square on January 18, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)

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She has also posted in Trumpian-style all caps: “MAKE CA GREAT AGAIN!”

As for VP Harris, she has not indicated any future plans for when she leaves office. However, a recent poll suggests Harris would have a sizable advantage should she decide to run in 2026. At that point, Newsom cannot run again because of term limits. 

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If Jenner decides to run and wins, it would mark the nation and state’s first transgender governor.  



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Northern California 6-year-old, parents hailed as heroes for saving woman who crashed into canal

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Northern California 6-year-old, parents hailed as heroes for saving woman who crashed into canal


LIVE OAK — A six-year-old and her parents are being called heroes by a Northern California community for jumping into a canal to save a 75-year-old woman who drove off the road. 

It happened on Larkin Road near Paseo Avenue in the Sutter County community of Live Oak on Monday. 

“I just about lost her, but I didn’t,” said Terry Carpenter, husband of the woman who was rescued. “We got more chances.” 

Terry said his wife of 33 years, Robin Carpenter, is the love of his life and soulmate. He is grateful he has been granted more time to spend with her after she survived her car crashing off a two-lane road and overturning into a canal. 

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“She’s doing really well,” Terry said. “No broken bones, praise the Lord.” 

It is what some call a miracle that could have had a much different outcome without a family of good Samaritans. 

“Her lips were purple,” said Ashley Martin, who helped rescue the woman. “There wasn’t a breath at all. I was scared.” 

Martin and her husband, Cyle Johnson, are being hailed heroes by the Live Oak community for jumping into the canal, cutting Robin out of her seat belt and pulling her head above water until first responders arrived. 

“She was literally submerged underwater,” Martin said. “She had a back brace on. Apparently, she just had back surgery. So, I grabbed her brace from down below and I flipped her upward just in a quick motion to get her out of that water.” 

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The couple said the real hero was their six-year-old daughter, Cayleigh Johnson. 

“It was scary,” Cayleigh said. “So the car was going like this, and it just went boom, right into the ditch.” 

Cayleigh was playing outside and screamed for her parents who were inside the house near the canal.

I spoke with Robin from her hospital bed over the phone who told us she is in a lot of pain but grateful.

“The thing I can remember is I started falling asleep and then I was going over the bump and I went into the ditch and that’s all I remember,” Robin said. 

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It was a split-second decision for a family who firefighters said helped save a stranger’s life. 

“It’s pretty unique that someone would jump in and help somebody that they don’t even know,” said Battalion Chief for Sutter County Fire Richard Epperson. 

Robin is hopeful that she will be released from the hospital on Wednesday in time to be home for Thanksgiving. 

“She gets Thanksgiving and Christmas now with her family and grandkids,” Martin said. 

Terry and Robin are looking forward to eventually meeting the family who helped save Robin’s life. The family expressed the same feelings about meeting the woman they helped when she is out of the hospital. 

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“I can’t wait for my baby to get home,” Terry said. 



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