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We moved from California to Texas after a wildfire destroyed our home. Our income is lower, but we love the state.

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We moved from California to Texas after a wildfire destroyed our home. Our income is lower, but we love the state.


  • Gerardo and Tomi Ruiz moved from San Bernardino, California, to San Antonio, Texas, in September.
  • They moved with their two young sons after a nearby fire destroyed their rented home.
  • The couple loves Texas for its cheaper cost of living and the people but misses California’s food.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Gerardo Ruiz, 29, and Tomi Ruiz, 26, native Californians who moved from San Bernardino, California, to San Antonio in 2024. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Gerardo: My wife, Tomi, and I are from San Bernardino, California. We met at a party in 2019 and married last April.

San Bernardino isn’t as nice as it used to be. Many things, like homelessness and gang activity, seem to have gotten worse in recent years.

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Tomi: There were things we liked about California. I had family only about an hour away. I loved being in the snow or at the beach whenever I wanted.

We had been talking about leaving California for a while because the cost of living was dramatically increasing. We had discussed Texas, Arizona, or maybe Utah, but we weren’t serious about it.

A fire finally pushed us to leave


a fire in the distance of a neighborhood

The view of the Line Fire from Tomi’s grandparents’ house.

Courtesy of Gerardo and Tomi Ruiz



Tomi: In September, the Line Fire broke out in Highland, California, next to my grandparents’ house.

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We were renting a house on the other side of town. The Line Fire wasn’t directly threatening our house at first, but our neighbor’s home caught fire. They said it started from an ember from the Line Fire.

It was terrifying. We were asleep, and suddenly, my husband woke up to what sounded like a huge explosion. I felt him pushing me and yelling.

When I sat up, I saw flames coming through our bedroom window, not even six feet away.

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Gerardo: We have two kids, Anthony, who is 3, and Charlie, who is 1. We grabbed them both and ran outside.

Tomi: We both ran out in our underwear because we didn’t have time to get clothes.

The fire destroyed about half of our house, plus there was smoke damage everywhere.

Gerardo: We lost almost everything in our bedroom and the dining area.

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Tomi: We were just in shock. We sat outside staring at the house for a long time.

Gerardo: The Red Cross gave us some money for a hotel.

We had to restart our lives somewhere

Tomi: A few days later, our landlord told us they had to terminate the lease because they couldn’t estimate how long the repairs would take and couldn’t put us in another place in the meantime. We were homeless and realized that we had to start all over again.

We discussed staying in California, but starting a new lease in the state is expensive with a deposit, the first month’s rent, and all the fees.

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We figured if we had to start over completely, we’d be better off starting in Texas.

Gerardo: My brother has lived in San Antonio for about 10 years. We came out to visit a few years back and just fell in love with the city.

Tomi: We packed up what we had left, my husband took out his 401(k), and we drove to Texas.

Texas is so much more affordable

Gerardo: Our first impression of Texas was how cheap the rent is. We paid about $2,350 in San Bernardino for a 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartment. We’re now in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom place in San Antonio and pay $1,250.

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Tomi: We first applied for a few houses, but the wait took forever. We decided to apply for an apartment and got approved the next day. We stayed in a hotel for three weeks until we got approved for the apartment.

In addition to rent being cheaper, gas is much cheaper, which is great for us because we have pretty big cars.

Gerardo: Car registration is, too.

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Tomi: Groceries, however, seem to be about the same.

While the cost of living is more affordable here, the pay is lower.

I’m a certified phlebotomist, and in California, I was making about $25 an hour. Here in Texas, I got some offers ranging from $16 to $20 an hour, and I accepted one. I’m making less than I was in California, but with the money we’re saving, it’s not too big a difference.

Gerardo: I’m a tow truck driver. I worked two driving jobs in California, making $21 an hour and $24 an hour.

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I expected to be able to find a similar job in Texas, but once I got here, it was more difficult than I thought. The highest-paying towing job I could find was for a little more than $15 an hour.

For now, I’ve been holding off on getting a job to watch the kids since we don’t know many people here in Texas who could babysit.

The state has exceeded our expectations

Tomi: We just fell in love with Texas. It’s so much greener than we expected. We thought it would be all desert and cowboys, but San Antonio has many nice parks and playgrounds. It feels very family-oriented.

Gerardo: The environment out here is great. My wife has some PTSD from the fire, and it’s nice that it’s not as dry.

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Tomi: You definitely feel the Texas heat, though. It was still so hot on Halloween. We’re used to a breeze in October.

It also snowed since we’ve been here, which is uncommon for San Antonio. We love the snow.

There have been some challenges, but we made the right choice

Gerardo: The hardest adjustment has been the food. Even the McDonald’s here tastes different. Texas street tacos are not like California street tacos at all.

There was incredible Hawaiian barbecue in California. Since we moved, I haven’t been able to find similar food.

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Tomi: Texas has been so good to us. I felt like I was home right away. I feel like I’ve connected with the people. Everyone is so kind.

Gerardo: Our goal is to stay in Texas long-term, but we want to move to Amarillo, Texas, eventually. It snows there more often, and we love the cold.

Tomi: I’m so glad we moved. It was scary when we decided to do it, but we had nothing to lose and made it work.

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Gerardo: The recent fires in Los Angeles were terrible, and we’re praying for everyone involved.

The reassurance of not having to worry about wildfires here like we did in California has been a huge plus already.





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All lanes reopen on 5 Freeway in Oceanside after officer-involved shooting forces closure

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All lanes reopen on 5 Freeway in Oceanside after officer-involved shooting forces closure


OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KABC) — Hours after an officer-involved shooting prompted the full closure of the 5 Freeway in Oceanside, all lanes were reopened Saturday afternoon as the investigation continues.

“The 5 is closed in both directions between Oceanside and the Orange County border while police investigate a shooting,” Caltrans said in a social media post at 9:39 a.m., adding that drivers should use the 15 Freeway as an alternative route.

The Buena Park Police Department said its officers attempted to pull over a car for vehicle code violations just before 1 p.m. in the area of La Palma Avenue and San Marino Drive, but the car failed to stop and a pursuit ensued.

“At 1:05 a.m. we asked CHP to take over the pursuit. They did but requested our K-9 unit stay in the pursuit,” Buena Park police said in a statement.

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Police said that at 2:10 a.m., the suspect vehicle was brought to a stop and then an officer-involved shooting occurred. It was not immediately known what led to the shooting.

A SigAlert was issued shortly after 2:30 a.m. between Harbor Drive in Oceanside and Christianitos Road in San Clemente, according to the California Highway Patrol.

As several lanes were reopened hours later, the Highway Patrol urged motorists to continue to use caution and watch for personnel in the area.

The investigation is ongoing.


Copyright © 2025 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Chris Bell scores 21, sparks California to 91-67 victory over Sacramento State

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Chris Bell scores 21, sparks California to 91-67 victory over Sacramento State


BERKELEY, Calif. — – Chris Bell scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half and California cruised to a 91-67 victory over Sacramento State on Friday night in a campus game of the Empire Classic.

Bell and Justin Pippen combined for 29 points to help California take a 47-33 lead into the break. Bell sank 6 of 8 shots with three 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes.

John Camden’s 3-pointer capped an 11-2 run to begin the second half and the Golden Bears (5-1) were never threatened. Cal took its biggest lead at 81-47 on a 3-pointer by Camden with nine minutes left to play.

Pippen finished with 16 points and five assists. Dai Dai Ames also scored 16 and Camden totaled 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.

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Brandon Gardner hit 4 of 5 from 3-point range and scored 19 to lead the Hornets (3-4). Mark Lavrenov had 14 points and Prophet Johnson notched his fifth double-double of the young season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The Golden Bears shot 50.8% overall and made 15 of 38 from beyond the arc (39.5%).

Sac State made only 18 of 67 shots (26.9%) overall, including 7 of 24 from distance. The Hornets made 24 of 30 free throws, while Cal sank 10 of 19.

—— Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketballbr/]

Copyright © 2025 ESPN Internet Ventures. All rights reserved.

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‘Toxic’: California ex-police chief tells of colleagues’ racist harassment campaign

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‘Toxic’: California ex-police chief tells of colleagues’ racist harassment campaign


The embattled former police chief of Vallejo, a San Francisco Bay Area city that has attracted national attention over police violence, has said that he endured a steady procession of racist remarks from colleagues and online harassment and threats that ultimately led him to resign.

By the time Chief Shawny Williams tendered his resignation in 2022, he said he had received a slew of threats – at his office, at his home, and in his email inbox. Most demanded he step down. But even after resigning, the threats still came by mail to his home and a second property he owned outside the state.

“They were hostile, toxic,” Williams testified in a deposition on Wednesday. “I had safety concerns.”

Williams made the statements as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Vallejo police department brought by Deyana Jenkins, whom officers pulled from a car and tased during a traffic stop in 2019. The incident occurred months after six Vallejo police officers shot her uncle, Willie McCoy, a 20-year-old rapper, 55 times while he was asleep in his car. The killing attracted widespread attention and thrust a spotlight on the department’s use of force.

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The deposition, first reported by the Vallejo Sun, offers a window into what Williams describes as a pattern of hostile, threatening and retaliatory behavior that ended his brief attempt to impose accountability on a department known nationally for unchecked violence and resistance to reform.

Vallejo police officers have repeatedly drawn concern over their practices, perhaps most notoriously for the ritual of “badge bending”, in which officers reportedly fold back a tip on their badges after killing someone on duty.

Williams took over the department in 2019 with a mandate to reform it. His three-year stint coincided with a national reckoning over police violence, sparked by nationwide protests over the 2020 murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

But Williams said he experienced harsh backlash for his efforts to impose accountability on the department’s use of force.

“He was our first Black police chief in a department that’s always been known as a racist police department,” Melissa Nold, the lawyer representing Jenkins in the federal case, told the Guardian. “To hear that he was run off because he was doing reform and discipline – that’s very concerning. It doesn’t seem like it should be possible that the people being reformed have that much power.”

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In his deposition, Williams said a colleague made several disturbing statements, including: “This Black Jesus can’t save us.”

He described “racial hostilities or comments” made to him by a former police captain. Williams also said the city attorney threatened him, but did not describe how.

The Vallejo police department did not immediately respond to a Guardian request for comment.

Williams also received several anonymous threats, through the post and online. Three weeks before resigning in October of 2022, he received a “Halloween card threat” that said “quit today” and emitted a deafening screech that “filled the hallway” and kept blaring until the battery ran out.

A secretary opened the letter. When Williams heard it he “actually thought it was some kind of domestic violence occurring outside the building because it was so loud”.

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Williams also said that he received anonymous threats, after an officer who shot an unarmed 22-year-old in 2020 later rejoined the police department.

Officer Jarrett Tonn shot and killed Sean Monterrosa after an alleged looting incident at a Walgreens during a George Floyd-inspired protest. Williams dismissed Tonn after the shooting.

But an arbitrator reinstated Tonn in 2023, after Williams left the force. Tonn was promoted to sergeant in September of this year, according to the Vallejo Sun. Afterwards, Williams said he received messages that said “some bad things were coming”.

Williams said he asked the department to investigate the threats and raised concerns to city manager Mike Malone. But the city failed to act, and Malone appeared uninterested in helping him, Williams testified.

“One of the things that I guess exacerbated my concerns was [Malone’s] statement that this is not going to stop – or ‘They’re not going to stop until I fire you or you quit,’” Williams said in the deposition. “And he said that over half a dozen times.”

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By “they”, Williams said the city manager was referring to the Vallejo Police Officers’ Association (VPAO), which serves as the bargaining unit for all ranks of police officer except the chief in its negotiations with the city. The VPOA did not immediately respond to a Guardian request for comment.

“My resignation was a result of a pattern of constructive termination hostility,” Williams testified. “There was racial animus, retaliatory things that were happening that just made it unbearable or impossible for me to perform my duties in a safe environment.”



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