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THE COAST NEWS
VOL. 26, NO. 43
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MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
DEC. 28, 2012
Scientists tracking movement of sand By Jared Whitlock
SAY ‘SARDINES’ A pelican struts along the Oceanside Pier last weekend while San Diego County residents and tourists stand at the ready to snap photos during a break in the clouds. According to the National Weather Service, showers are expected this weekend. New Year’s Eve revelers will celebrate with partly cloudy skies and a low of 45 degrees. Sunny, with a high of 60 degrees is forecasted for New Year’s Day. More photos on page A2. Photo by Daniel Knighton
Coast cities faring better in unemployment rates By Jared Whitlock
COAST CITIES — Encinitas’ unemployment rate in November was 5.9 percent, the lowest since January 2009, according to the Calif ornia Employment Development Department. The jobless rate has been on the decline since June, when it was at 6.6 percent. This November, 2,400 people were out of w ork in a la bor force of 39,900. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted, so an incr ease in r etail hiring for the holiday season was not taken into account. At the same time last year, unemployment was 6.7 per cent in Encinitas.
WALKING THROUGH HISTORY In Boston you’ll find it near impossible to walk through the city without stumbling upon history.
A7
There aren’t as many foreclosures, for example. Those really hurt local economies.” Alan Gin Economist,University of San Diego
San Diego County’ s unemployment rate fell to 8.3 in November, the lowest it’s been since it was at 7.4 percent in December 2008. Like other coastal cities in North County, Encinitas’ unemployment
rate is lower than inland areas. Carlsbad’s rate in No vember declined to 5.5 percent, Solana Beach was 5.7 percent, Del Mar was 4.3 percent and Oceanside w as 7.9 per cent. Respectively, Vista clocked in at 9.3 percent, Escondido was 8.7 per cent and San Marcos was 8.3 percent. Alan Gin, an economist at the University of San Diego , said coastal cities have weathered the r ecession better than inland ar eas. Unsurprising to man y, cities such as Encinitas tend to be mor e affluent and property values are higher in those areas. “There aren’t as man y foreclo-
Two Sections, 44 pages Arts & Entertainment . . A8 Food & Wine . . . . . . . . A11 Legals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A15 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4
CARDIFF-BY-THE-SEA — Millions of dollar s have been spent on local beac h replenishment projects. But where does that sand go? And once in place, will it stop beach erosion for years to come? Researchers hope the answers to these questions can be found in piles of sand that were recently dumped on Cardiff State Beach. With a mixture of old and new technology, they’re tracking what happens to the sand over the next few months as winter waves push it offshore, according to Bob Guza, a research scientist with the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. To do this, Guza and his team set up shop in ear ly November alongside Cardiff State Beach in a stor age container, where they’ll be until mid-February. Mounted about 20 feet above the container, a laser scanner borrowed from the Army Corps of Engineers, shoots invisible beams seven times a second at all hours to record how sand levels have changed on a wave-by-wave basis. “A lot of money has gone to placing sand f or beach nourishments throughout the years,” said Guza, who called sand “his life’s work” as he motions towards the waves crashing on the beach.
“Yet not enough emphasis has been put on monitoring where the sand moves to,” Guza said. When the Scripps project is complete, researchers expect to have a better understanding of ho w tides and waves affect sand transportation. This knowledge could help engineers decide where to deposit sand in the event of future beach nourishments. At a cost of $22.5 million, a separate SANDAG project deposited 1.4 million cubic yards of sand on eight local beaches from September to December to shore up sandstarved beaches to pr otect homes and infr astructure. Plus, the sand is expected to widen beaches, giving tourists more reason to pay San Diego a visit. SANDAG will check up on sand they’ve deposited in three months or so . But Scripps’ research will be more in-depth, gauging in real time where the sand was transported to and what type of swells moved it. “We’re not going to understand the behavior of beaches and surf zones anytime in the near future using only computers,” Guza said. “Our computers are not powerful enough, and our understanding, independent of computers, is not lar ge TURN TO SAND ON A19
TURN TO UNEMPLOYMENT ON A19
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Scripps researcher Bob Guza analyzes data near Cardiff State Beach. Guza and his team are looking at how much sand from a recent SANDAG beach replenishment project remains on shore. Photo by Jared Whitlock