April 11, 2019

LO C A L

N EWS

April 11-17, 2019

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INSIDE: Earth Day Happenings and more in The Green Issue SPECIAL SECTION VOLUME 14, ISSUE 15

The Big Dig

Trampas Canyon Reservoir project to help sustain water in South County E Y E O N S C / PAG E 6

The rugged site for Trampas Canyon Reservoir is situated beside a commercial sand-mining facility between San Clemente’s Talega community and Ortega Highway.

Photo: Fred Swegles

CalOptima Board Votes to Put $100 Million toward Homeless Services EYE ON SC/PAGE 3

City Patriarch Jack Lashbrook, 93, Remembered EYE ON SC/PAGE 3

sanclementetimes.com

SC’s Caroline Marks Wins Boost Mobile Pro, $100K Prize SURF/PAGE 30

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SC EYE ON SC San Clemente

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that comes to them.

“The assembly is a great opportunity for kids to learn about nutrition, healthy eating and healthy lifestyles,” Scott said, adding that it’s even more special for the children at San Onofre School, who often move due to their parents’ military service and probably don’t have many opportunities like this. San Onofre School is located on Camp Pendleton and educates the children of Marine families.

Five things San Clemente should know this week CalOptima Board to Put $100 Million into Homeless Services Fund THE LATEST: The CalOptima Board of Directors on Thursday, April 4 approved to put a total of $100 million toward resources to curtail homelessness throughout the county.

Initially, the board had approved about $25 million for Be Well OC, an amount earmarked for recuperative care, a clinical field team and CalOptima response team. Some of this would include sending out mobile health care units to provide basic but essential services.

“We want them to be proactive and reactive—proactive at certain shelters and reactive with response times of 90 minutes or less, 24-7 service,” said Michael Shrader, the CalOptima CEO, during the April 4 board meeting.

Two days earlier, on April 2, federal Judge David O. Carter had said that he wanted CalOptima to invest more money and to see it used within three years, holding up three fingers to drive his point home during a Santa Ana hearing on the lawsuit related to homeless shelters and services. Carter declared that he wanted $140 million in the fund, but that failed to get support at the board meeting.

CalOptima is funding these efforts through intergovernmental transfers (IGT) of about $43 million, as well as the revenue it gets from services rendered for the remainder of this fiscal year.

Assemblymember Sharon QuirkSilva, D-Buena Park, gave an emotional testimony during the public comment portion of the meeting about how her brother, Raymond William Jaso, who she said dealt with chronic alcoholism and homelessness, died while living on the streets.

“I felt very compelled, as the issue is not only near to my heart but something I’m working with the state on legislation, not only on homeless but housing,” Quirk-Silva said. “For decades, I tried to speak with probation officers, but I found it hard to navigate the health system. You might have people who are healthy, but after months on the street, (it’s) going to take a toll.”

San Clemente Times April 11-17, 2019

WHAT’S NEXT: San Onofre School is currently undergoing a major remodel of its campus, which is expected to open in time for the 2019-2020 school year. The school typically sends students to San Clemente High School. To bring Mobile Dairy to your school, visit healthyliving.org for more information. —Zara Flores, for the San Clemente Times A dairy calf was brought along with a full-grown cow for a presentation at San Onofre School on April 4.

Photo: Zara Flores

Concerns were brought forth by Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, who is a member on the CalOptima board, about whether they had the authority to make these allocations based on their size and scope. Do made the motion to raise the proposed contribution to $140 million.

Of the $100 million that’s going into the fund, $60 million is earmarked for unspecified “new initiatives.” Another $10.5 million will be allocated to help hospitals coordinate on homeless resources, which will include data-sharing technologies for the county’s hospitals. Board members said in order for this to work, the hospitals need to be dialed into what CalOptima has proposed.

“Our coordinated services will include urgent care, wound care, vaccinations, screenings and prescription medications, as well as referrals and appointment scheduling,” said Dr. Nikan Khatibi, CalOptima vice chairman of the board, in an April 5 press release.

In order to help make this process financially feasible, directors said that enrolling people—who are more than likely eligible for CalOptima—would help shore the costs burdened by hospitals. One director said nonprofit hospitals lose about $500 million a year in the county because they can’t be reimbursed for medical services provided to homeless people who aren’t in the county’s system.

A bill that was signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown now requires hospitals to ensure that a person is cognizant of their surroundings and have some kind of place to go or a care person to look after them before they’re discharged from a hospital.

WHAT’S NEXT: The services are expected to begin within the next couple months,

but some of those efforts may start sooner. —EH

San Onofre School Students Milk Learning about Dairy Farms THE LATEST: Students at San Onofre School had the chance to learn about and meet cows on April 4 as part of the Mobile Dairy program through the Dairy Council of California.

Steven Miller, a Mobile Dairy Classroom instructor, brought along 7-year-old cow Miss Agnes and her 3-month-old calf, Big Red. Miller’s presentation covered the anatomy of a cow, the life of a cow and the farm-to-table process of milk and other dairy products.

The presentation began with Miss Agnes’ anatomy, all of her bones and internal organs, and the importance of keeping her happy and healthy.

“If momma ain’t happy, nobody’s happy,” said Miller, adding that cows won’t produce milk if irked. He segued into milking a cow and the process of turning that milk into various dairy products.

Afterward, students had the chance to pet the calf as long as they followed a couple of rules.

Miller interacted with the students, kindergarten through sixth grade, and held their attention throughout the assembly by telling jokes, asking and answering questions.

Teacher Terra Scott, who contacted the Dairy Council of California to organize this assembly, said these kinds of programs are a great way for students to get hands-on learning experience in a field trip

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San Clemente Patriarch Jack Lashbrook Dies at 93 THE LATEST: San Clemente’s Jack Lashbrook, the city’s official patriarch since 2013, died on April 3 at the age of 93.

The San Clemente Historical Society put out a statement on his passing recently, stating members were deeply saddened by the death of their longtime supporter and community leader.

“He was one of the Historical Society’s original members,” Larry Culbertson, Historical Society president, said in the release. “He was a real, old-school gentleman, always willing to appear at community functions well into his 90s. We will miss his wisdom and advice on all things San Clemente.”

Lashbrook first moved to San Clemente as a child in 1937, according to the society.

Video excerpts from his oral history interview appear on the Historical Society’s website, sanclementehistoricalsociety.org.

WHAT’S NEXT: Information regarding memorial services will be updated in this story online when they become available. An extended version of this story is available at sanclementetimes.com. —Fred Swegles

Polling Data Shows CUSD Bond Measure to Fix Schools Has Slim Chance of Passing THE LATEST: The Capistrano Unified School District’s proposed bond measure to provide funding for capital facility improvements could fail by a narrow margin in the March 2020 Primary Election, (Cont. on page 4) sanclementetimes.com

EYE ON SC

(Cont. from page 3) based on feedback from local voters.

Polling data collected by True North Research shows that 54 percent of those surveyed would vote in favor of a bond measure next year, falling 1 percent shy of passing, as bond measures must meet a 55-percent approval threshold.

True North President Tim McLarney presented the data to the Board of Trustees during a workshop meeting at CUSD headquarters on Wednesday, March 27. One of the biggest takeaways of the poll, he noted, was that it showed CUSD had made progress from its previous bond measure attempt.

In the 2016 General Election, an $889 million Measure M bond to upgrade schools in the district failed, receiving only 45 percent approval. McLarney suggested CUSD launch an aggressive outreach and education campaign if the board decides to move ahead with the 2020 bond measure.

CUSD spokesperson Ryan Burris said the data is encouraging because it shows the district has made progress in its efforts to communicate the facility needs of the school to parents and the community.

“To see 54 percent is encouraging in

a way that we’re doing the right work about communicating with the city leadership, communicating with our families, communicating with our stakeholders and residents,” Burris said.

In late December, CUSD approved plans for True North to conduct the voter surveys and polls.

From Feb. 19-28, the research firm polled 671 district voters who were likely to participate in next year’s general and primary elections. Using a mixed-method approach, voters were polled over the phone, via email and also online.

During the polling, the firm conducted an “initial ballot test” to gauge the community’s support of the potential bond. A sample ballot question posed to the participants asked how they would vote on a measure to authorize “$152 million in bonds at legal rates, levying 4 cents per $100 assessed value ($9 million annually) for a period of 35 years.”

The sample ballot question used does not actually reflect what the potential bond measure could be in the next primary election.

Nearly 27 percent of the respondents said they would “probably” vote yes, and 27 percent said they would vote

“definitely yes.” Close to 19 percent said they would “definitely” vote no and 15.5 percent said they would “probably” vote no. The remaining participants preferred not to answer or said they were “not sure.”

At the start of the poll, voters were first asked what issues of the community were most important to them. According to the data, 84 percent of those polled believed “improving the quality of education in our local public schools” to be either very important or extremely important.

WHAT’S NEXT: Burris said the board is likely to hold an additional workshop and presentation on the potential bond in the coming weeks so the district can come up with a plan of what the measure might look like should they decide to proceed.

The district, he said, doesn’t need to make a final decision on whether to introduce the measure until this December, but CUSD hopes a decision will be made sooner than that. Burris also said the district may conduct tracking polling in September or October to give CUSD a clearer picture of whether the bond has a chance of passing.

Editor’s Note: An extended version of the story can be found at sanclementetimes.com.

—Shawn Raymundo

Baha’i Center to Partner with SCHS for ‘Envision Unity’ Film Festival THE LATEST: San Clemente High School and the local Baha’i Center are partnering for the film studies annual festival, during which students put together 3- to 5-minute movies.

This year’s theme is “Envision Unity,” and the films are intended to be inspired by that theme.

The film festival is from 6-9 p.m. on April 23 at the San Clemente Baha’i Center.

WHAT’S NEXT: A link to the event website will be available in the coming days.

Visit sanclementetimes.com for updated information and bahaicenter.org for film festival information.

Editor’s note: SC Times editor Eric Heinz was asked and accepted an offer to be a judge for the film festival after obtaining information for this piece. —EH

EYE ON SC

The Big Dig Trampas Canyon Reservoir to serve as South County’s largest water project

BY FRED SWEGLES, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES

O

n 177 acres situated between San Clemente’s Talega community and Ortega Highway, mountainous earthworks are taking shape.

Santa Margarita Water District, which provides water and sewer services to Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Coto de Caza, Las Flores, Ladera Ranch, Rancho Mission Viejo and Talega, is building a 1.6-billion-gallon reservoir.

When completed in 2020, Trampas Canyon Reservoir, less than a half-mile north of Talega, will be able to store recycled wastewater collected from as many as five South Orange County treatment plants.

Officials say the new resource will benefit all of SMWD, plus the district’s partners in San Clemente, South Coast Water District and San Juan Capistrano.

SMWD officials say the recycled water can be used for irrigation, reducing the need to use imported drinking water to irrigate lawns, parks, trees, greenbelts and street medians.

The more water that can be harvested from the supply of waste created by humans, the less water has to be imported and purchased.

REVIVING A RESOURCE

Trampas Canyon will store enough treated wastewater, officials say, to put some of it into the San Juan Creek groundwater basin, restocking an underground aquifer that yields an average 847 million gallons of groundwater per year, yet struggles during dry periods.

The water district plans, in later phases of the project, to percolate treated wastewater from Trampas Reservoir into the groundwater basin. Underground sands will filter it naturally.

Stored underground, the water can then be pumped out and treated with reverse osmosis to provide South Orange County with a new water source: 5.6 billion gallons of what the district calls reliable, local drinking water.

That’s enough to serve 50,000 south county families for a year, the district says.

It’s costing SMWD $123 million to build Trampas Canyon Reservoir. The district is proposing to invest another $21 million to launch the San Juan Watershed Project.

South Coast Water District and San Juan Capistrano are partners with SMWD in phase 1 of the watershed project. Plans could be finalized on May 1 with district certification of an environmental impact report.

San Clemente Times April 11-17, 2019

Scheduled for completion in 2020, Trampas Canyon Reservoir is a $123 million project. Photo: Fred Swegles

The recharged groundwater resource figures to benefit a wide area. SMWD serves 170,000 residents across 98 square miles.

San Juan Capistrano, meanwhile, is taking steps to merge its water utility into SMWD. Watershed partner South Coast Water District serves Dana Point, South Laguna and areas of San Juan and San Clemente.

South Coast is a 20-percent contributor to watershed phase 1. San Juan’s contribution is its Groundwater Recovery Plant.

SMWD could offset some project costs by obtaining state or federal grants.

A LONG-TERM INVESTMENT

If you think $144 million is a steep price to invest into the Trampas and San Juan Creek projects, you won’t get an argument from Donald Bunts, Santa Margarita’s deputy general manager.

“But we think it’s that important,” he said. “If you were looking at it for next year, it’s very expensive water. If you are looking at it for the next 30 to 50 years, you’d have to be crazy not to do it. We feel it’s a win-win for the entire community and for the region.”

Roger Butow, executive director of the Orange County environmental group Clean Water Now, said Trampas reservoir and the San Juan Watershed Project—together with South Coast Water District’s planned Dana Point desalination project— can provide substantial new local sources of reliable water.

The proposed $107 million desalination plant (sometimes referred to as “de-sal,”)

adjacent to Doheny State Beach could produce up to 5 million gallons per day, with potential expansion to 15 million gallons daily. An environmental impact report is to be released in May, the district reported.

Officials say the state has awarded the project a $10 million grant, and the project is short-listed for a federal grant of up to $20 million Permits are the next step. The plant could be operational as early as 2022.

South Coast said it looks forward to the San Juan Watershed project, as well.

“We believe a diversified water portfolio is essential to the district’s long-range plans,” SCWD said via e-mail. “SCWD is committed to conservation, water efficiency, recycled water, desalination and stormwater capture to provide its residents with the most cost-effective, safe, droughtproof, high-quality and locally controlled source of water today, tomorrow and into the future.”

SMWD is monitoring the de-sal project and considering joining it, Bunts said.

“The South Coast desalination project may tie into the overall regional supply picture by providing water during portions of the year that South Coast’s demands may not be a great as the production capability of the project, whereby SMWD and/or city of San Juan customers could draw some of the water inland,” SMWD said via e-mail.

“Similarly, during the summer months, when South Coast’s demands are greater than the desalination plant can provide, South Coast could use some of the watershed project water.”

As the area’s biggest storage facility, Trampas Reservoir will be the equivalent

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of filling the Rose Bowl with water 19 times, said Nicole Stanfield, Santa Margarita’s public information manager. And the potential yield from the San Juan Watershed project is more than triple that.

MORE SAVINGS: RECYCLE A LAKE

On top of all of this, a project SMWD completed in 2015 is saving the region 445 million gallons of imported water.

The district converted Lake Mission Viejo into California’s first recreational lake to use recycled water as its primary water source.

Santa Margarita built an advanced treatment system that can produce a million gallons of premium-quality recycled water to keep the lake full, healthy and swimmable, Bunts said.

The lake association funded the treatment plant, assisted by a $1 million grant and a low-interest loan from Mission Viejo.

“We built it and operate it for them,” Bunts said. “We own the facility, but they are paying us back . . . (there’s) no cost to the district’s other ratepayers.”

IT’S A REALLY BIG DIG

At Trampas Canyon, bulldozers are moving about 4.29 million cubic yards of earth to build a magnitude of reservoir Bunts said couldn’t be undertaken anywhere else in Orange County, with so little undeveloped space left and resource agencies’ permits being so restrictive.

The fact that a smaller dam already existed at Trampas Canyon made permits easier to obtain. “This was already a dam sanclementetimes.com

EYE ON SC

Clockwise from Left, Donald Bunts, Santa Margarita Water District’s deputy general manager, inspects an inflatable dam at SMWD’s Gobernadora retention basin site at Coto de Caza. Similar inflatable dams are being proposed in San Juan Capistrano to collect urban runoff to recharge a groundwater basin. SMWD is moving 4.29 million cubic yards of earth, spread over 177 acres, to build Trampas Canyon Reservoir. Roger Butow, environmental consultant on SMWD’s 2015 Gobernadora retention basin project, examines an inflatable dam in its deflated state. Photos: Fred Swegles

that we’re just repurposing,” Bunts said.

The former dam provided water for industrial sand mining on land that Rancho Mission Viejo leased to a private company.

Rancho Mission Viejo, developing 14,000 homes, needs water reliability, Bunts said. To that end, the ranch is covering nearly half the cost of Trampas by donating the land and funding environmental projects that regulatory agencies require to offset project impacts.

A partnership between SMWD and San Clemente is a key element of Trampas.

THE SAN CLEMENTE CONNECTION Since developers built some 3,800 Talega homes on land within SMWD’s boundaries, the district has had to pipe Talega’s sewage six miles inland to its Chiquita Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Recycled water produced at Chiquita then was transported in a separate pipe six miles back to Talega to use for irrigation.

“That’s moving water twice,” Bunts said, adding that it is costly pumping and energy use.

In recent years, that pumping also raised a stink. Rancho Mission Viejo began building houses near the Chiquita plant, and new residents began complaining about odors, some of them from the uphill pumping of sewage from Talega.

Santa Margarita launched an outreach with residents to pinpoint and eliminate sources of odors. Meanwhile, the district and San Clemente signed an interim agreement to redirect 670,000 gallons per day of Talega sewage, pumping it downhill into San Clemente’s treatment plant near the San Clemente Times April 11-17, 2019

ocean instead of uphill to Chiquita.

San Clemente’s treatment plant has the capacity to treat Talega’s sewage and already produces more recycled wastewater than San Clemente can use within the city, Bunts said. Excess recycled water is discarded into the ocean.

As part of a final agreement being worked out, treated wastewater that San Clemente produces but can’t put to use will be pumped to Trampas and stored there. San Clemente can access it. The rest can be used elsewhere in SMWD or to recharge the San Juan Watershed with groundwater to be recovered later as drinking water.

“During the peak summer months, we’re not sending very much water into the ocean,” said David Rebensdorf, San Clemente’s utilities director. “But during the winter and off-season, we’re sending water to the ocean because we don’t have the demand.”

The interconnectivity agreement will finalize terms for covering costs incurred

by San Clemente and for San Clemente’s storage of recycled water at Trampas for use later, under a variety of scenarios.

Those include potential expansion of recycling in San Clemente and potential participation in regional projects such as the San Juan basin recharge, Rebensdorf said.

“Potentially, 10 percent of Trampas could be San Clemente’s water,” Butow said. Moreover, he said Trampas can help revive the San Juan Watershed as a vibrant, sustainable ecosystem and water resource, managed in environmental equilibrium.

COLLECTING EXCESS RUNOFF

The watershed project proposes to build rubberized, inflatable dams on the floor of San Juan Creek and Trabuco Creek.

The dams could be raised during rains to capture some of the urban runoff that flows into the two creeks from streets and storm drains.

Sitting behind the dams, the captured runoff would percolate into the groundwater basin below. Natural sands would filter it, as they do now with any standing water in the creeks.

During big rains, the dams can be deflated quickly to avoid overflowing the creeks’ banks and to let sediment flow to the ocean to help replenish beaches with sand.

In later phases of the watershed project, SMWD proposes to release controlled amounts of recycled water into the groundwater basin from Trampas Canyon, adding just enough at a time to let it percolate underground without impacting surface conditions.

Santa Margarita already operates inflatable dams at Coto de Caza. Operational since 2015, the Gobernadora Multi-Purpose Basin is a system of two inflatable dams, two retention basins for the captured water and pumps to send some of the captured water upstream into Coto de Caza to replace drinking water for landscape irrigation.

A BALANCING ACT

During heavy rain periods, SMWD can gently release water from the retention basins so it can flow downstream at a Page 7

controlled pace, keeping it from eroding banks or damaging habitats or infrastructures, as storm flow otherwise might.

“It’s one of the best projects I’ve ever seen,” said Butow, who served as an environmental consultant on the project.

It captures excess runoff produced by residential watering in Coto de Caza and returns some of it there as recycled water for greenbelts, Butow said. The basin stores the rest, sending controlled amounts downstream to maintain healthy habitats, including wetlands that Rancho Mission Viejo restored to offset impacts of the ranch’s urban development.

“It’s a dance between developing local, reliable water supplies and continuing to be a good environmental steward,” Bunts said.

Gobernadora, located at the confluence of two creeks, has created a wooded wetland reserve that attracts birds and other wildlife. Butow said it’s a multi-benefit resource that Orange County Parks will soon incorporate into a regional trail system. SC

WHY DO ALL THIS? Santa Margarita’s ultimate goal, officials said, is threefold: • Build up and maintain a six-month reserve of drinking water for emergencies.

• Provide local sources to meet 30 to 50 percent of local drinking-water needs.

• Put 100 percent of the recycled water produced at wastewater treatment plants to use. sanclementetimes.com

EYE ON SC

NEWS BITES

Community Meetings

COMPILED BY STAFF

Madrigals, A Capella Return from NYC The San Clemente High School Madrigals and A Cappella choirs traveled with their director, CJ Daniel, to New York City in March to participate in the WorldStrides Heritage Festival. Both choirs sang in the main chapel of the historic Riverside Church in a competition with other choirs from all over the United States. The Madrigals placed second and A Cappella placed fourth. After they sang, each choir worked with one of the festival adjudicators, receiving feedback and instruction.

In addition to competing, both choirs were given the opportunity to perform at the famed St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

You can see both of these choirs, along with Bel Canto, Men’s Chorus, and Women’s Concert Choir in their upcoming Pops Concert, held at the Triton Center at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 17. Tickets can be purchased at the door ($10 for adults, $7 for seniors/students/military).

If you have a current or incoming high school student who is interested in joining a choir, please go to tritonvocalmusic.com and click on “Auditions” for more information.

Blood Drive Saturday, April 13 Southern California Blood Bank will host a blood drive from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, at the Outlets at San Clemente, 101 W. Avenida Vista Hermosa.

The bloodmobile will be parked next to the South OC Cars and Coffee weekly event.

“Each blood donation can save three lives,” a press release from the blood bank stated. “Thanks to the generosity of blood donors, people in our local hospitals get the blood they need when they need it.”

More information about blood donations can be found at the website of local nonprofit “Be a Hero, Become a Donor” at bahbad.org.

‘What Rocks You?’ Members Show-and-Tell Night A jewelry artist, gold panning expert, blue mineral and gem authority, and several rock hound explorers will showcase their expertise at the monthly South Orange County Gem and Mineral Society (SOCGEMS) meeting at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, at the San Clemente Community Center, 100 N. Calle Seville.

Six SOCGEMS members will make short presentations about subjects near and dear to their hearts. This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the mining opportunities in our area, as well as find experts on a variety of subjects. Some of the speakers will bring samples of their San Clemente Times April 11-17, 2019

THURSDAY, APRIL 11

SAN CLEMENTE EXCHANGE CLUB Noon-1 p.m. The club meets the first two Thursdays of the month, at Adele’s at the San Clemente Inn, 2600 Avenida del Presidente; noon-1 p.m. the third and fourth Thursdays at Talega Golf Club, 990 Avenida Talega.

SAN CLEMENTE ROTARY 5:30-7:30 p.m. The San Clemente Rotary Club will host its regularly scheduled meeting. Wedgewood, San Clemente Municipal Golf Course, 150 E. Avenida Magdalena, San Clemente. sanclementerotary.org.

TUESDAY, APRIL 16

SUNRISE ROTARY 7:15 a.m. San Clemente Sunrise Rotary meets every Tuesday at Talega Golf Club Signature Grille. 990 Avenida Talega. scsunriserotary.com.

SCHS Madrigals and A Cappella choirs, directed by CJ Daniel, performed a concert at the famed St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Photo: Courtesy of San Clemente High School

creations, mine location information, and samples to sell. The speakers will be Sheila Martin, Richard Birt, Collie James, Teri Brudnak, Kirk Kegal and Warren Holt.

Also on the agenda is a discussion of the April birthstone, diamond, which is valued for its brilliance and durability, led by SOCGEMS President Gary Martin.

Meetings of SOCGEMS are held the third Wednesday of the month 100 N. Calle Seville. Guests are welcome at no charge. Speaker presentation is preceded by hospitality and refreshments, a raffle, gem-of-the-month presentation and a brief business meeting. SOCGEMS members are invited to field trips, special auctions, classes in lapidary and more.

For more information, visit www.socgems. com or follow it on facebook.com/socgems to receive information on upcoming programs.

Patrol agents questioned the driver about his citizenship and noticed a number of cardboard boxes covered with plastic bags in the hatch area,” a press release from Customs and Border Protection stated.

In a secondary inspection, a K-9 unit alerted officers to the back of the vehicle, where in one of the boxes agents discovered what appeared to be narcotics, later identified as methamphetamine.

CBP stated the packages discovered weighed 151.76 pounds, with an estimated street value of $350,000.

The man, a 34-year-old U.S. citizen, his vehicle and the narcotics were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for further investigation.

To report suspicious activity to the U.S. Border Patrol, contact San Diego Sector at 619.498.9900.

Border Patrol Arrests Man with $350,000 in Meth at San Clemente Checkpoint

Woman’s Club Yard Sale

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a man on Wednesday, April 3, who had 149 packages of methamphetamine inside his SUV. The incident occurred about 8:50 p.m., when a blue Honda CRV with one person in it approached the U.S. Border Patrol immigration checkpoint a few miles south of San Clemente.

“During an initial inspection, Border

The San Clemente Woman’s Club (SCWC) will hold a yard sale from 7 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, at 866 Camino De Los Mares.

The yard sale is one of the many fundraisers to support the club’s philanthropic endeavors.

The SCWC supports scholarships for graduating high school students, the Boys and Girls Club, Family Assistance Ministries, San Clemente Military Family Outreach and Meals on Wheels. Members recently donated a beach wheelchair for the disabled and the new weathervane for the Ole Hansen Beach Clubhouse.

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BECAUSE I LOVE YOU (BILY) MEETING 6:30-8:30 p.m. Meets every Tuesday.

Because I Love You (BILY) helps parents find solutions to any crisis they are experiencing due to their children’s (adults or minors) poor choices. Presbyterian Church. 119 Avenida De La Estrella. bilysc.org.

CITY COUNCIL 6 p.m. The San Clemente City Council will conduct its regularly scheduled meeting.

100 Avenida Presidio, San Clemente.

949.361.8200. san-clemente.org.

SAN CLEMENTE TOASTMASTERS 7 p.m. The club meets every Tuesday, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. for social and networking time. San Clemente Baha’i Center. 3316 Avenida Del Presidente, San Clemente.

805.794.0653. toastmastersclubs.org.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17

PLANNING COMMISSION 6 p.m. The San Clemente Planning Commission will conduct its regularly scheduled meeting. 100 Avenida Presidio, San Clemente. 949.361.8200. san-clemente.org.

Have something interesting to submit to our News Bites section?

Submissions are due by 10 a.m. the Monday of the week you’d like published. Email eheinz@picketfencemedia.com. sanclementetimes.com

SC SOAPBOX San Clemente

VIEWS, OPINIONS AND INSIGHTS GUEST OPINION: Assemblymember Bill Brough

34932 Calle del Sol, Suite B, Capistrano Beach, CA 92624 phone 949.388.7700 fax 949.388.9977 sanclementetimes.com

HOW TO REACH US SENIOR CITY EDITOR Eric Heinz, 949.388.7700, x109 eheinz@picketfencemedia.com SPORTS Zach Cavanagh, 949.388.7700, x110 zcavanagh@picketfencemedia.com ADVERTISING PRINT AND ONLINE

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Tricia Zines, 949.388.7700, x107 tzines@picketfencemedia.com GENERAL MANAGER Alyssa Garrett, 949.388.7700, x100 agarrett@picketfencemedia.com

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Real Estate Sales > Susie Lantz (SC)

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T

ransportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) formed in 1986 as a joint powers authority (JPA) by the County and several cities following planning that began in the 1970s identifying the need for new highways. A series of laws were enacted subsequently that created the system.

In 1987, SB 1413 (Seymour) authorized toll roads in Orange County. In 1989, AB 680 (Seymour) authorized the State of California (Caltrans) to test the feasibility of building four privately funded transportation facilities. Language in AB 680 stated “the bill would authorize the department (Caltrans) to lease those facilities to the private entities for up to 35 years. The privately constructed facilities would at all times be state-owned.”

In 1990, SB 1437 (Seymour) added fees collected pursuant to the subdivision map. The bills envisioned that only upon a finding that there is no other adequate funding available from federal, state or other sources, the JPA could toll the roads to pay off the then-$1 billion price tag, then turn the roads over to the people as free roads like Interstate 5.

ART/DESIGN

City Editor, DP Times > Lillian Boyd

Sports Editor > Zach Cavanagh

Restoring The Toll Roads to its Core Mission

OPERATIONS Finance Director > Mike Reed General Manager > Alyssa Garrett Accounting & Distribution Manager > Tricia Zines SPECIAL THANKS Robert Miller CONTRIBUTORS Megan Bianco and Jake Howard

San Clemente Times, Vol. 14, Issue 15. The SC Times (sanclementetimes.com ) is published weekly by Picket Fence Media, publishers of the Dana Point Times (danapointtimes. com) and The Capistrano Dispatch (thecapistranodispatch. com). Copyright: No articles, illustrations, photographs or other editorial matter or advertisements herein may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited manuscripts, art, photos or negatives. Copyright 2019. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

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San Clemente Times April 11-17, 2019

The toll roads have “been collecting tolls

on the corridors since 1993 and 1996 and will continue to do so until 2053 and 2050, respectively—not the 35 years as originally planned.

”

The original concept has changed dramatically. When opened in the 1990s, the system cost was already up to about $2.4 billion without taxpayer money, actual initial costs of the roads were missed by some $3.2 billion, or about 400%. The current plan has extended debt and increased tolls—at least 12 times since 1996 to pay off the then-$4 billion in debt that is estimated to cost $11 billion under the current debt structure. TCA would have greater debt than the states of Mon-

tana, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and North and South Dakota.

The toll roads have been collecting tolls on the corridors since 1993 and 1996 and will continue to do so until 2053 and 2050, respectively—not the 35 years as originally planned. The system was created due to a lack of transportation funding. Now, Orange County residents pay four times for roads. We pay our normal taxes, Measure M2 (a county half-cent sales tax for roads), SB1 gas taxes (.12 cents on gas, .20 cents on diesel and increased registration fees), and we pay to drive the toll roads.

For the past two decades, the toll roads have been planning an extension to I-5 south of San Clemente and north of Camp Pendleton. The extension was repeatedly denied by the San Diego Regional ASSEMBLYWater Quality ConMEMBER trol Board, California

By Bill Brough Coastal Commission and by an appeal to the Bush Administration’s Department of Commerce in 2006.

These denials ultimately led to TCA paying $28 million into a mitigation fund to settle with environmental organizations and in exchange for their forfeit of opposition. The settlement also removed the route supported by many of us from building any road.

Since the settlement, TCA has been planning a new route that conceptually passes through the private land of Rancho Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente, ultimately connecting to I-5. Additionally, TCA is planning to connect the 241 to State Route 91 Freeway in Corona. The problem is that the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), which manages I-5, and the Riverside County Transportation Corridor (RCTC), which manages SR 91, are not currently aligned with their efforts. Yet, TCA continues to spend development fees collected on these planning efforts.

Rather than being a toll road operator, which should be their core mission, they have become a planning agency that is operating outside of their lane, so to speak.

In 2018, AB 382 was heard in the California Senate Transportation Committee. The theme that repeatedly came up by the committee chair was that there needed to be clear delineation as to who

Page 10

the transportation planning authority is in Orange County. The public utilities code is clear. The transportation planning authority in Orange County is OCTA. OCTA is the steward of Measure M2 that has done projects such as the Ortega Highway bridge replacement at I-5, offramp improvements and the carpool lane extension to Pico along I-5.

Affordability is a major issue in Orange County. It is very expensive to live here.

Fees paid to the toll roads are high. New home construction includes a developer fee for single family homes from $4,126 to $5,797. The 14,000 or so homes being constructed by Rancho Mission Viejo will pay an estimated $130 million to TCA that is ultimately passed along to the new homeowners. Businesses get hit harder with fees ranging from $4.67 to $8.06 per square foot. All fees have an automatic 2.206% and 2.667% increase each July 1.

These fees are all paid by us through our homes and business—and have been for years—for a road, in my opinion, that will never be built.

My bill, AB 1273, removes TCA’s planning authority and stops additional debt. The toll road can still plan by going through OCTA, the county planning authority. The toll roads were built and continue to operate on the backs of homeowners, business fees and toll collection. AB 1273 will return The Toll Roads to its core mission as a toll road operator, pay off the bonds, and turn the roads over to the people as free, which was the original intent.

Bill Brough is the California Assemblymember for the 73rd district, which includes San Clemente. He was elected in 2014, 2016 and 2018. SC PLEASE NOTE: In an effort to provide our readers with a wide variety of opinions from our community, the SC Times provides Guest Opinion opportunities in which selected columnists’ opinions are shared. The opinions expressed in these columns are entirely those of the columnist alone and do not reflect those of the SC Times or Picket Fence Media. If you would like to respond to this column, please email us at editorial@sanclementetimes.com

Join the San Clemente Times for Beachside Chat, Friday, April 12 at 8 a.m. at Café Calypso Beachside Chat is a spirited, town hall forum on community issues, hosted by SC Times editor Eric Heinz every Friday at Café Calypso, 114 Avenida Del Mar. All are welcome.

sanclementetimes.com

SOAPBOX

GUEST OPINION: View from the Pier by Herman Sillas

The Cost of College Admissions is Our Future

I

n the ’50s, I worked part-time and was enrolled at UCLA. I paid $50 for a semester! USC’s fee was $35 a unit, and I thought that was outrageous. I graduated from UCLA in 1956. I never saw a Mexican American student at UCLA. I’m not saying the school didn’t have some, but I never saw one. I applied to UCLA’s Law School and was accepted. I started in September 1956. There were about 200 first-year law students. There were six women, one African American and two Mexican Americans. I was one.

As I sat in our first classroom, all the students were talking about where they were going to go to work after they graduated. They were talking about their fathers’ or uncles’ offices, judges or large firms where they intended to work.

There were only a few Mexican American lawyers in California; I didn’t know any of them. I asked myself, what am I doing here? It is a joke being here. I grabbed my law book and notebook to get out of the classroom. I didn’t belong here. Just then, the professor entered the room to start the class. I stayed and was glad I did. I graduated from the law school and passed the bar in 1960. Years later, three

Letters to The Editor IF WE’RE NOT PART OF THE SOLUTION, WE’RE PART OF THE PROBLEM RON HERBERT, San Clemente

San Clemente citizens and government who do not support shelters for the homeless are being shortsighted and irresponsible. The letter to the editor last week titled “In Response to Homeless Intolerance” is a perfect example. Asking “delusional church people” to invite homeless into their homes shows a complete misunderstanding of how the situation should be handled. Merely giving food and bedding would not solve homelessness.

Professional shelters do much more than offer food and bedding. They attempt to provide a way out of homelessness by providing professional counselling on subjects such as drug addiction, mental illness,

San Clemente Times April 11-17, 2019

of our daughters went to UCLA. The last one cost us about $7,000 a year for tuition, room and board in 1992. Today, the yearly cost is $33,000.

Minority students sought universities to let them in as students. Affirmative action was taken by universities to let minority students attend. I met with Chicano law students at UCLA in the ’60s.

The Mexican American Lawyers Club in Los Angeles raised money for law students.

What has happened since those early days?

Today, consultants will “assist” parents to make sure their children will THE VIEW get into the universities FROM THE PIER

By Herman Sillas they want. These consultants will advise parents what they need to do to assure that their children will get accepted by the universities. These consultants have developed relationships with the universities’ admissions officials. The consultants seek big money from the parents to make sure the decision-makers choose the students whose parents are paying big money, run-

ning into the thousands, to consultants and their designees.

Now, federal prosecutors have lowered the boom on this cash-flow business.

They have filed criminal actions alleging that wealthy parents paid to help their children on college entrance exams and paid thousands of dollars to falsify athletic records of students to secure admission to schools. These schools included UCLA, USC, Stanford, Yale and Georgetown.

Some of the named defendants have pleaded guilty to committing racketeering conspiracies, money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and obstruction of justice. Others conspired to commit wire fraud and dishonestly pay for services. Large monies were sought by the consultants, who secretly paid coaches and members of the universities who helped pick the students of the paying parents. The students, in some instances, were represented as athletes when they were not. Athletes posed as the students in films that were shown to the coaches.

Coaches received money to have the students on the team and would never be used. Coaches have now been fired if they

received money for these favors.

The money of the parents was used by the consultants to pay those who are assisting in the completion of a fraud.

UCLA’s soccer coach got paid to accept a student player who couldn’t play at the collegiate level. The coach has since tendered his resignation. That’s what is needed. Universities need to clean up this mess. Students who have attained positions because their parents illegally influenced decisions are not what our future needs. A good future must be carried by those we can trust. A fair system is needed to assure us that every child will have a chance to participate in the future and not with persons who unfairly obtained his or her position. Our future success demands truth and integrity.

That’s the view from the Pier.

Herman Sillas is an author, artist, and poet and served as DMV Director and a former U.S. Attorney. He may be reached at sillas@aol.com. SC

job acquisition and access to permanent housing.

The San Clemente City Council has promised to establish a temporary shelter, but they have said nothing about providing services to help the homeless get out of homelessness. Also, San Clemente’s decision to fight the federal edict is expensive and nonproductive. It will not solve the problem. The money the city is spending to fight federal law would be better used to solve the situation by supporting professional homeless shelters.

By not providing these shelters, we merely perpetuate the problem of homelessness.

If we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem.

to “shock jocks,” the mayor continued to perpetuate misinformation that the Save San Onofre Coalition was “paid off $30plus million” by the TCA. This claim is patently false and misleading. The San Clemente City Council and the mayor have been provided indisputable proof that this often-repeated claim is fictitious. In this day and age of divisive politics, knowingly false and dishonest rhetoric must not be tolerated.

Mayor Swartz added that as a result of SSOC’s settlement with the TCA, the coalition of environmental organizations would support the construction of the 241 through San Clemente—also patently incorrect.

As a resident of San Clemente who is opposed to the extension of 241 through San Onofre State Beach and the city of San Clemente, I don’t think it’s too much to ask that our city officials be honest about their intentions. If city officials oppose a road through San Onofre, why would the city pursue a lawsuit that seeks to un-protect the park?

And why is the mayor going on the radio to spread lies about the Save San Onofre Coalition and the important protective agreement that shields San Onofre State Beach to mislead the people he represents?

Mayor Swartz’s disingenuous remarks take away our right to be truthfully informed and the public’s ability to make decisions based on the accurate information. We deserve much better.

MAYOR’S COMMENTS MISLEAD INTENT OF PROTECTIVE AGREEMENT SHARON WILLIAMS, San Clemente

On March 12, San Clemente Mayor Steve Swartz went on KFI’s Jon and Ken show and lied to the public. In his remarks

Page 12

PLEASE NOTE: In an effort to provide our readers with a wide variety of opinions from our community, the SC Times provides Guest Opinion opportunities in which selected columnists’ opinions are shared. The opinions expressed in these columns are entirely those of the columnist alone and do not reflect those of the SC Times or Picket Fence Media. If you would like to respond to this column, please email us at editorial@sanclementetimes.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY

Have something you’d like to say? Email your letter to eheinz@picketfencemedia.com no later than 8 a.m. on Monday morning. San Clemente Times reserves the right to edit reader-submitted letters for length and is not responsible for the claims made or information written by the writers. Limit your letters to 350 words or less. Please send with your valid email, phone number and address for verification by staff. Your address and phone number will not be published.

sanclementetimes.com

With Our Ears to the Ground There are no mulligans on going green

W

hen the scientific community comes together and gives society copious amounts of data and studies to implore taking better care of the planet, we should listen.

For too long, humans—yes, most of us drove a gas-powered vehicle to work today, and we are writing this on computers powered mostly by nonrenewable energy—have taken advantage of the Earth’s resources and pushed it to the very brink of sustainability. That has to change.

We’re making progress. In San Clemente alone, it was recently reported that residents since 2014 have surrendered more than 875,000 square feet of lawns to xeriscaping that includes natural plants and reduces the need for water consumption. San Juan Capistrano has a preteen who’s collected a staggering amount of recyclable material over the past few years. South Orange County continues to be a hub of multiple environmental groups that are motivated in maintaining the planet by thinking globally and acting locally, as the old adage goes.

But there’s still much that needs to be done. In this year’s Green Issue, we’ve centered our content on issues that can help you reduce your own carbon footprint and help your community, as well as stories about local organizations and entities committed to environmental stewardship.

Please enjoy this year’s edition of the Green Issue with our hope that it will help all of us become more mindful about how we treat our only home.

Photo: Eric Heinz

Solar Power Eclipse New rate changes keep panel owners on alert

Changes to San Diego Gas & Electric began on March 1 to its residential customers’ billing method for time-of-use. That means people will be billed for different costs during different times of the day and year that they use energy.

“A major reason for this shift in energy billing is that California currently has a surplus of energy during the day due to large amounts of renewable energy connected to the grid, such as rooftop solar power,” according to a press release from Sullivan Solar Power in Orange County. “However, as the sun sets and solar systems stop producing, there is a spike in demand from the grid. For this reason, utilities across California are forced to use expensive and inefficient means to meet the evening demand, raising the cost of electricity during this time.”

In order for users of solar power, which is considered a green energy source, to get the most of their dollar, Sullivan suggests mitigating peak charges by storing excess energy produced during the day in a battery and then using that energy when electricity is most expensive from 4-9 p.m. This is known as “load shifting.”

The local solar power company will host a free, educational seminar on May 4 at the Norman P. Murray Community Center in Mission Viejo to teach the public how solar power and batteries can help combat this rate change. To learn more and to register, visit solarseminar.info.

Centered on Environment San Juan Capistrano sustainable organization continues to thrive 10 years later TEXT AND PHOTOS BY ANDREA CLEMETT

T

en years ago, Evan Marks founded The Ecology Center, a nonprofit organization in San Juan Capistrano, on a single acre with a vision of creating an oasis of an ecological food future.

The center’s farmland expanded after merging with South Coast Farms in October, acquiring 28 acres with 60 different varieties of organic produce and flowers.

Marks designed a community center that shows different approaches for sustainable living in innovative ways.

“Our mission is to model creative solutions for thriving on planet Earth,” Marks said. “We do this through meaningful experiences that help reimagine humanity and harmony with nature and community. We are a working organic community farm and cultural center.”

Throughout the creative process, The Ecology Center focused on the pillars of success for sustainable agriculture, which are grow, eat and make. In this way, Marks said they are showing—not telling—what the future environment can resemble.

The center’s farm stand sells organic ingredients seven days a week and hosts Eco-Tots, a creative workshop for children, as well as farm tours, DIY workshops, U-pick strawberries days in which families pick berries for $4, community table farm dinners, cooking classes and demos. Beginning the first week of July, the center will host a bi-weekly Summer Supper Sunday series of dinners to celebrate the community and share various ingredients inspired by the chefs.

A handful of chefs from Berkeley to Orange County have partnered with the center to form an advisory board that designs culinary events, cooking classes and chef demos.

One of the chefs is David Pratt, owner of the restaurant Brick in San Clemente, who says he shops at the farm every morning. Pratt said he designs his menus based on what is in season, because it allows for the best quality produce, unlike produce that has traveled on a ship for a month before being sold.

“We are very much a farm-to-table restaurant; much of our menu is influenced by the organic farm,” Pratt said. “The majority of our veggies . . . are ingredients from the organic produce of Ecology Center. The community in San Clemente is focused on healthy, so why not offer it to our customers?”

The Ecology Center also has expanded to a farmland in Encinitas, where a program is being developed that will utilize the crops to provide food for children’s lunches in the community. Both centers are open to the public and offer a co-op volunteer program or annual membership services that include discounted incentives. For a full calendar of events and more information, visit theecologycenter.org.

“The farm is filled with seasonal organic produce, with unique items like gardening tools, local honey, and rainwater collecting kits,” said Nick Huston, a San Clemente resident. “It is a fun stop for my wife and me to spend on a Sunday afternoon to pick up some produce, earth-loving goodies and walk around their biodynamic farming grounds.”

Earth Day

Events

Celebrate the planet by giving back

BY JENNA ROSS

APRIL 13

MOTHER EARTH BEACH, CREEK AND PARK CLEANUP 9 a.m. Meet at the lifeguard headquarters at Doheny State Beach to participate in this cleanup. The cleanup will focus on the beach in front of the campground and the area around San Juan Creek. Please bring your own gloves and a biodegradable trash bag.

APRIL 13

SAN CLEMENTE EARTH DAY CELEBRATION & BEACH CLEANUP 8:30 a.m. Presented by the San Clemente Watershed Task Force and the City of San Clemente, this year’s Earth Day celebration will start with a beach cleanup at the pier and end with a celebration at Parque Del Mar. Activities will include live music, a kids’ tent with arts and crafts, educational and art exhibits, as well as a presentation of Blue Water Business Awards to businesses that make an effort to reduce their environmental footprint.

APRIL 2O

MISSION SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO CELEBRATES EARTH DAY a.m. This will e the first arth ay celebration for the Mission. Enjoy a stroll through the gardens while learning about local bees and butterflies, watch some basket weaving demonstrations by Native American basket weavers, or pick some fruit from the Mission’s fruit trees. This event will include educational content from the Orange County Beekeepers Association and Susie Vanderlip, a Monarch Butterfly Citi en cientist.

APRIL 20

EARTH DAY NATIVE PLANTING PROJECT AT DOHENY STATE BEACH 9 a.m. Join the Doheny State Beach Interpretive Association as they plant native species throughout the Doheny Beach Campground. Meet the DSBIA at the oheny tate Beach Campfire Center, and be sure to bring a shovel, work/gardening gloves, drinking water, a hat and sunscreen.

APRIL 20

DANA POINT HEADLANDS CONSERVATION AREA EARTH DAY CELEBRATION 10 a.m. Join the Dana Point Headlands Interpretive Center as they celebrate with a day of education and fun crafts. Come learn about the rare and endangered species of the Dana Point Headlands, water conservation, recycling and Dana Point Native American communities; weave your own basket, get up close and personal with local birds of prey or snakes, get your face painted, or participate in the scavenger hunt.

APRIL 21-22

EARTH DAY WEEKEND AT THE OCEAN INSTITUTE 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Visit Ocean Institute on Earth Day weekend, April 21 and 22, to learn about insects and their essential role in keeping oceans and beaches healthy.

The workshop will host a comparative anatomy lab of shrimp and grasshoppers; make your own bug box, discover why bees are key and more. Register at ocean-institute.org.

APRIL 27

GR8OPPS EARTH DAY CLEANUP Help clean up San Juan Capistrano with Great Opportunities (Gr8Opps), the local charita le nonprofit that emphasi es providing outdoor recreation to at-risk youth populations to help enrich their lives. Meet Gr8Opps at Red Park, where they will give you a bag, gloves and a free T-shirt, and take a walk through Capistrano Villas to clean up the neighborhood. The cleanup will end at Stone Park, where a Dia de los Ninos celebration will be taking place. For more information, visit greatopps.org.

Keeping It 100 Percent Green Community choice programs aim to cut carbon emissions from state’s energy diet

BY ERIC HEINZ

C

alifornia has set the loftiest goal in the country to reduce its carbon emissions and run on 100 percent renewable energy by 2045, which leaves local governments and organi ations to find ways to help the state accomplish that mission.

Dire reports of climate change have increased in frequency from highly credentialed environmental research groups and facilities, adding to the pressure California and the rest of the globe may face in the coming decade.

Community choice aggregation (CCA) organizations around the state are looking to help local governments establish joint power authorities (JPAs) to give them the opportunity to choose where their energy comes from.

Community choice programs partner with energy brokers to purchase and create renewable energy direct from the source. Additionally, CCAs by law can use the existing infrastructure provided and maintained by companies such as San Diego Gas & Electric.

Energy-use portfolios are put together for each household and business that includes a mix of sources, mostly comprised of renewable sources and some nonrenewable sources.

CCAs would also have local authority over rate and purchasing autonomy as well as other decisions, as necessary, rather than having to attend meetings in San Francisco or Sacramento.

Local Resources on Energy

“If we wait until 2030, we’re not going to meet that goal,” Erkeneff said. “If we start now, we can start putting incentives for people together and micro-grids.” rkeneff said starting five year plans that augment the CCA would help start the process.

San Clemente City Council recently discussed the possi ility of taking the first step when CCA advocates came to public meetings, but they’ve been holding off on approving a technical study. Other south county cities have seemed to do the same, but SOCCA members said cities are just waiting for others to jump into the ring.

The grassroots organi ation held its first workshop in March, during which they explained to local residents and city officials their plan to bring a CCA to South County.

Cities are also able to opt out of the programs at any time they want or when the contract expires.

Administrative costs are also much lower than traditional energy sources, Lawrence said, as the CCAs require fewer employees to operate.

“Even with their worst estimates . . . there’s almost always a cheaper rate for a CCA,” she said.

Background on Community Choice

CCAs were made legal in 2002, when California passed AB 117, but it’s taken awhile for the energy model to reach the south part of the state, and only seven other states have adopted such legislation. Monterey Bay Community Power, for example, was established in 2013 and started operations four years later. Its first num ers were compiled in and the company has been able to garner a 2 percent saving, as compared to when it was with PG&E, which uses mostly nonrenewable energy. Marin Clean Energy has been a sustainable CCA for about a decade.

“It’s not just all JPAs that are forming; some cities are forming their own CCA,” Boden said.

So far, 19 counties throughout the state have at least one CCA established or that county’s government has launched a program. Orange County has cities that have taken action, but no CCA currently operates here.

Erkeneff said CCAs are able to keep their cost lower because they’re able to predict and purchase the energy needed more efficiently through the portfolios compiled by CCA members.

“We can invest revenues back into solar power and wind and other things locally and own those assets,” he said. “When solar panels were (booming), the incentives were to sell the excess energy back to the company” in exchange for credits, Erkeneff said. “That shows that if you hit a certain number of panels in a region, you can be energy-positive by selling it back.”

Boden said because the rates, particularly in solar energy, have fluctuated over the years, it’s not uite as much a financial enefit as it once was for property owners who invested early.

Short-term power contracts that don’t lock CCAs into certain rates can also help keep costs down, SOCCA members said.

Erkeneff said he has heard of some local interest in setting up a JPA, from Rancho Mission Viejo and other nearby South Orange County cities.

“I know there are some success stories coming out of San Diego, where there are some really small CCAs,” Erkeneff said. “I think Dana Point . . . would throw a good chunk of money at (a feasibility study).”

The cost of the studies is about $100,000, depending on the contract firm.

What to Look for Next

SOCCA members are planning to speak with residents in area cities in the near future about CCAs, but there are still some hurdles in getting them on board, Lawrence said.

“I think a lot of cities become apprehensive when talking about energy,” Lawrence said, adding some see it as a daunting proposal to start a new energy company that the city would manage.

Lawrence also said that as the CCAs are nonprofit organi ations, they re not eholden to public investors and, therefore, have an incentive to keep costs lower.

“We have a unique situation where our elected officials haven t een educated on this, and (politically) it doesn’t matter,” she said.

“There are dozens of little cities that are coming together to form CCAs.” SOCCA is also trying to facilitate dialogue among cities to coordinate a JPA. The city of Irvine has already completed its own feasibility study.

Boden said that the goal is to get cities to approve the feasibility study by the end of this year, so they can concentrate on 2021. If that doesn’t happen, based on how the process works, the area would have to wait until 2022 or later.

••• For more information on community choice energy programs, visit cacommunityenergy.org.

South Orange County Community Choice Alliance (SOCCA) formed about a year ago and works as an exploratory program looking to promote CCAs throughout the area.

SOCCA members Selene LawFollow South Orange County rence, Terry Otsuki Kwa, Jackson Community Choice Alliance on Hinkle, Rick Erkeneff and Tyler Boden recently spoke with Picket social media via Facebook, Twitter or Fence Media about their organizaInstagram. The organization will have tion’s endeavors.

“We really need constituents to information on workshops and future double-down on this,” said Stephanie Sekich-Quinn of the Surfrider meetings posted there regularly.

Foundation, which is also working with SOCCA. “I think from a national perspective, California always leads the way. If we don’t do it now, it will be too late.”

The first step is for a CC program to complete a feasibility study that would include all residents and municipalities involved.

After that, it’s about another year of planning, depending on how many cities and entities are involved, and it can take a bit longer.

The Alta Wind Energy Center, the nation’s largest wind facility, located in Tehachapi Pass in Kern County. Photo: Courtesy of the California Energy Commission

Daily Routine Changes to Help Reduce Your

Joanna Clark, a local environmental activist, said the first step toward reducing your carbon footprint is switching out the incandescent light bulbs in your home for fluorescent light bulbs or LEDs. This can save on electricity, which saves on carbon emissions and what you have in your wallet.

Programmable thermostats are also another way to cut back on electricity in your home. Though some can cost more than $200, there are plenty of more affordable options online.

Another simple tip from experts is to also unplug unused electronic items from outlets to avoid “vampire” energy loss. And if you’re not using lights in certain parts of your home, shut them off; this can apply at your office, too. nd speaking of the office, change your print settings to allow for double-sided pages for when you need to print out documents.

One way to greatly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the air is going carless and utilizing other means of transportation, including bicycles, trains or buses.

“I have a bicycle, and whenever I can, I ride around the community without driving my car,” said Frank Larkin, a windows and doors manufacturer. He also said, “I think (riding bikes is) one of the best solutions for the average person, because there just isn’t enough of that.”

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a typical passenger vehicle, with a fuel economy of about 22 miles per gallon, emits close to five metric tons of car on dioxide annually.

However, for many, especially here in Southern California, that might not be a feasible option. The Carbonfund.org Foundation notes there are certain driving habits that can help save more than a ton of carbon dioxide per year.

Such practices include driving the speed limit and maintaining a steady speed, as well as anticipating stops and starts. Regularly replacing air, oil and fuel filters, and having properly inflated tires, can also make your vehicle more fuel efficient.

Going to back to the importance of offsetting, if using a car is absolutely necessary to get to work, you could propose creating a carpool among some of your co-workers.

But before heading to work, don’t forget to pack a lunch. Meal prepping lunches for the work week can not only save gas on multiple car trips to lunch throughout the week, it can also reduce food waste.

“About one-quarter of all the food prepared annually in the U.S., for example, gets tossed, producing methane in landfills as well as carbon emissions from transporting wasted food,” according to Carbonfund.org.

And the New York Times reports that about 40 percent of the foods Americans purchase ends up being wasted.

If you’re looking for more ways to reduce food waste, you could follow Kramer’s footsteps, as he utilizes a tumbler and a worm bin.

Vermicomposting, or using a worm-composting bin, helps recycle food scraps such as vegetables, tea bags, bread and coffee grounds, to name a few, according to the EPA. If keeping worms inside your home seems a bit much for you, there are simpler solutions.

The Times proposes to avoid buying the same product twice from the grocery store by keeping tabs on what’s in your fridge and making lists. Freezing certain products including produce can extend the foods’ lifespan, and accounting for portion sizes when cooking can prevent throwing out too many leftovers.

Along those same lines, cutting out red meat and switching to vegetarian meals can greatly save on carbon dioxide. Cutting out meat completely isn’t a particularly easy thing to do, so instead consider cutting down on consuming beef in exchange for substituting more chicken and adding some vegetarian meals to your daily routine.

According to the Times, researchers have found that eliminating or reducing red meat from diets would greatly reduce carbon emissions, because red meat production requires a lot of feed, land and water. hile the aris Climate greement was a significant leap in the right direction, governments around the world will need to continue taking steps toward implementing sustainable solutions in order to combat climate change.

In the meantime, you can begin to make a difference by implementing some of these practices to begin reducing your carbon footprint.

CARBON FOOTPRINT

BY SHAWN RAYMUNDO

W

ith so many of today’s headlines talking about climate change and its effects throughout the world, many Americans have been looking for ways to be part of the solution.

Advocating lawmakers to do more to protect the environment and regulate the oil and gas industry is certainly one way to get involved. But you can also do your part by incorporating more conservative practices in your daily routine.

Many refer to such practices as reducing your “carbon footprint”—a term used to describe the amount of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, that are emitted from an individual’s activities.

To limit his car on footprint, arry ramer, group leader for the local chapter of Citi ens Climate o y, modified some areas of his home to be more environmentally friendly. He has solar panels on his roof and uses a solar cover to keep his pool heated.

Kramer also uses two rain barrels to catch and recycle rainwater for his plants. Several years, ago, he said, he removed the grass from his home and replaced it with only native plants, with the exception of some non-native plants that were in his yard when he first ought the home.

And last year, Kramer also purchased a plug-in hybrid vehicle.

Limiting your carbon footprint doesn’t necessarily mean you have to make renovations to your home, such as installing solar panels or purchasing an electric vehicle, which can e costly. nstead, first take a look at your energy ills to see where you can cut ack the more you save over time, the more pro ects and fuel efficient vehicles you might e a le to afford.

The Carbonfund.org Foundation’s motto is simply “Reduce what you can, offset what you can’t.” This can apply to a myriad of daily activities between home and work.

SC GETTING OUT San Clemente

YOUR SEVEN-DAY EVENT PLANNER

The List

At the Movies: ‘Diane’ Earns Indie Acclaim

What’s going on in and around town this week COMPILED BY STAFF

HAVE AN EVENT? Submit it to San Clemente Times by going to sanclementetimes.com, and clicking “Submit an Event” under the “Getting Out” tab.

Thursday | 11

EDITOR’S PICK Photo: Courtesy of IFC Films

SCHS PRESENTS ‘MAMMA MIA!’ Performances: April 11-13 and 18-20 at 7 p.m. and April 13 and 20 at 2 p.m. San Clemente High School drama students will present the mega-hit musical comedy Mamma Mia! directed by Laurie Mason.

Come see this great show and join the fun at SCHS. Purchase tickets now at schsdrama.com. 700 Avenida Pico. 949.492.4165.

Friday | 12 LIVE MUSIC AT IVA LEE’S 7 p.m. Join Iva Lee’s for live music every Wednesday through Sunday. For the ultimate live music experience, be sure to reserve a lounge table on Fridays and Saturdays. 555 N. El Camino Real, San Clemente.

949.361.2855. Check their website for the latest scheduled performances. ivalees.com.

Saturday | 13 EARTH DAY CELEBRATION 8 a.m. A beach cleanup will take place, followed by the main activities at 10 a.m. at the San Clemente Pier and Parque Del Mar, hosted by the city of San Clemente.

Live music, demonstrations and more will take place until 2 p.m. san-clemente.org.

GARDENFEST 8 a.m. There will be a large plant sale, garden flea market, exhibits, demonstrations, city water conservation information, local art, a funky container contest, master gardener tool sharpening and children’s gardening activities. 100 N. Calle Seville.

949.361.8200. sanclementegardenclub.com RICK DELANTY HOME STUDIO & GALLERY SHOW 5-9 pm. Join artist Rick J. Delanty in celebrating new and recent paintings of San Clemente, the South Coast and California. Fifty original paintings created by this award-winning artist will be on San Clemente Times April 11-17, 2019

Photo: File

SATURDAY, APRIL 13: SAN CLEMENTE MICRO-BREW FEST Noon-5 p.m. Taste your favorite area microbrews at the ninth annual San Clemente MicroBrew Festival, presented by Left Coast Brewing Co. Microbrews from all over Southern California will be provided from a variety of breweries, with popular food trucks on site.

VIP admission price is $50 per person; general admission is $40 if purchased in advance and $45 at the door. Admission includes a dozen 4-ounce microbrew samples. Must be 21 to be admitted. 1245 Puerta Del Sol, San Clemente. 949.492.1131. scchamber.com

view in the artist’s Home Studio & Gallery in Forster Ranch, San Clemente.Enjoy music, refreshments and fine art. 2510 Via Durazno, San Clemente. 949.412.6907. delantyfineart.com.

Sunday | 14 FARMERS MARKET 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Shop for a wide selection of fruits, vegetables, plants and artisanal goods from organic growers along Avenida Del Mar. 949.361.8200. san-clemente.org.

SOUL FOOD 11 a.m. This month’s program is called “The Light Within” and will explore the expression of light from religions, cultures, and authors to illuminate hearts and minds.

The performer this month is Zinnia Harper.

Soul Food seeks to create an atmosphere for reflection and spiritual growth combining live music and programs. San Clemente Baha’i Center, 3316 Avenida Del Presidente. 949.791.9192. bahaicenter.com

Tuesday | 16 BEND & BREW 6-7 p.m. Bend & Brew is held at Left Coast’s tasting room in San Clemente. This is a one-hour yoga class followed by a pint of beer. It’s a great way to get to know your local fellow yogis and beer drinkers. Cost is $10. 1245 Puerta Del Sol in San Clemente.

949.276.2699. leftcoastbrewing.com.

Wednesday | 17 SAN CLEMENTE TOPS 9:30-10:30 a.m. TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meets every Wednesday. Meetings include a private weigh-in followed by informational programs that focus on making small steady changes that provide lasting weight loss and better health. San Clemente Presbyterian Church, 119 Avenida de Estrella, 949.492.9428. tops.org.

Monday | 15 BINGO AT GOODY’S 7 p.m. Every Monday, Goody’s hosts a bingo night for a charity of the month. This month’s beneficiary is San Clemente Village.

Cards are $1 per sleeve, and raffle prizes are offered. Goody’s Tavern. 206 S. El Camino Real. 949.492.3400. goodystavern.com.

Page 21

UPCOMING THURSDAY, APRIL 18: YAPPY HOUR 4-7 p.m. “Yappy Hour” is dedicated to giving back to the local nonprofit organization Pet Project Foundation. A portion of sales during the event will be donated directly back to the nonprofit.

There will be a silent auction and raffle, with all of the proceeds going to their organization. H.H. Cotton’s, 201 Avenida Del Mar. 949.573.0143.

BY MEGAN BIANCO, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES

A

s we continue into the spring season, the dry movie spell that we’re usually subjected to at the end of winter finally begins to break.

But before we get the much-anticipated Avengers: Endgame at the end of the month, the string of decent indie movies we’ve been receiving lately carries on. A recent one is director Kent Jones’ Diane, starring character actress Mary Kay Place. A noted documentarian, Jones makes his debut in the fictional genre and shows some potential with this intimate drama.

In an East Coast small town, 70-year-old Diane (Place) deals with her personal demons by volunteering at homeless centers and caring for the friends and relatives in her life. This includes her drug-addicted son, Brian (Jake Lacy), who openly resents her; and her cousin, Donna (Dierdre O’Connell), who is terminally ill and hasn’t forgotten how badly Diane betrayed her two decades ago.

Estelle Parsons, Joyce Van Patten and Andrea Martin co-star as some of the other women close to her. Diane is one of those films that is completely held together by the performances, and this cast is certainly not lacking in talent. Place and Lacy give stellar performances, as Place in particular will probably be remembered by indie critics groups later in the year. We see a darker, seedier side of the typical overbearing mother/rebellious son relationship. Jones does a little of the “less is more” with his directing style, which toggles the fine line between basic and effective. The last 10 minutes of the movie nearly fall apart, almost as if Jones didn’t know how to end the story. But, again, the cast and first half of the movie mostly make up for it. SC

sanclementetimes.com

GETTING OUT

On Stage at The Coach House: Albert Lee

BY SHAWN RAYMUNDO, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES

A

t 75 years old, Albert Lee is still one of the busiest men in the music industry.

When the San Clemente Times spoke with the legendary, British-born guitar player, he had just returned to London after coming off a 24-show tour throughout Europe.

The country-music rock artist, who has jammed with the likes of The Everly Brothers and Eric Clapton, will have a relatively lax couple of weeks, though, as he’s scheduled to play only three shows in Southern California this month, including a performance at The Coach House on Sunday, April 14.

But in mid-May, he’ll be back in Europe for another spate of concerts.

“It’s a busy day; been a pretty busy couple of days,” Lee said by phone from a friend’s home in London.

The day before the call, he had been on a boat from Holland following the final show of the tour in Hengelo, Netherlands.

He then drove to London, where he spent a couple of nights before flying to his home in Los Angeles.

“I’m always anxious to come home,” Lee said. “I’ve lived in California for over 30 years, and people ask me, ‘Don’t you get home sick?’ Well, not anymore, because I get to tour there three times a year . . . but, you know, California is home.”

Since turning 75 this past December, Lee is treating all of his shows this year as a celebration.

“I’m getting of an age now where I’m still celebrating anything I do,” Lee said, adding, “So anything I do, I’m celebrating the fact that I’m still doing it.”

As a world-renowned guitar player, Lee certainly has a lot to celebrate. Throughout his lifetime, he’s performed alongside several musicians and has received considerable praise from Clapton, who is a legend in his own right.

One highlight of Lee’s career was getting to play with The Crickets, which had been led for a time by famed musician Buddy Holly, who died in 1959.

“When he died, I was 15; I was very traumatized,” Lee said. “I was such a huge fan . . . I followed his music and was a fan of The Crickets.”

Because he was a big fan, Lee was elated for the opportunity to tour and record with The Crickets in 1973. That year, the band put out Remnants, and the following year, they recorded the album A Long Way from Lubbock.

“Well, I thought I was just going to do one show with them,” Lee said. “Well, they seemed to enjoy my playing so much, they asked me to go on tour.” He later noted, “I just love those guys. I get to hang out with them when I can.”

Lee recently released “Gypsy Man— Page 22

Photo: Courtesy of Albert Lee

A Tribute to Buddy Holly,” which was recorded live.

“It was something I thought about (doing) for some time,” he said.

Because he tours a lot in Europe, Lee said he wanted to have a “big box of these Buddy Holly songs” to bring to the shows there. When he plays at The Coach House, he said fans can expect to also hear some of his renditions of the Buddy Holly and The Crickets songs.

During the show, concertgoers can also expect to see Lee perform from the piano, as his musical prowess stretches beyond the guitar. Though he’s become more known as a guitar player, he said his first instrument was the piano, which he still cherishes.

“If I go into a room and there’s a guitar on the couch and a piano, I usually sit down at the piano; it’s always something that intrigues me and inspires me,” he said. “I wish I worked harder at it in the beginning, but, obviously I’ve become more accomplished with the guitar; that’s been the main instrument, but I’m still fascinated with the piano.”

In comparing his shows in Europe to the ones in the U.S., Lee said the performances are a bit different, primarily because he uses two bands.

“Yeah, I have two bands; I have a U.S. band in LA and a bunch of young guys here in London. So, it’s the same kind of lineup, but it takes up a different feel,” he said. “The guys in LA are very experienced . . . but the young guys in London have a lot of enthusiasm and give a different feel than what I’m used to. I enjoy doing both, really.”

Tickets to see Lee at The Coach House are $20 for general admission. Doors open at 5 p.m., with the show scheduled to start at 7 p.m. on Sunday, April. 14.

The Coach House is located at 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. For tickets or more information, call 949.496.8930 or visit www.thecoachhouse.com. SC sanclementetimes.com

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under the Fictitious Business Name or Name listed above on: n/a /s/Mark Paulson This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Orange County On 02/27/2019 Publish: San Clemente Times March 21, 28, Apr 4, 11

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ADDICTION RECOVERY TREATMENT Body Mind Spirit Intensive Outpatient Program 665 Camino De Los Mares, Ste. 104, 949.485.4979, bodymindspiritiop.com CHOCOLATE/CANDY Schmid’s Fine Chocolates 99 Avenida del Mar, 949.369.1052 schmidschocolate.com DENTISTS Eric Johnson, D.D.S. 647 Camino de los Mares, Ste. 209, 949.493.9311, drericjohnson.com Shoreline Dental Studio/ Kristen Ritzau DDS, Dr. Colby Livingston 122 Avenida Cabrillo, 949.498.4110, shorelinedentalstudio.com DIGITAL MARKETING CONSULTING/SERVICES Kelli Murrow Consulting www.kellimurrow.com 949.573.7725 ELECTRICAL Arcadia Electric 949.361.1045, arcadiaelectric.com MUSIC LESSONS Danman’s Music School 949.496.6556, danmans.com PERIODONTICS & DENTAL IMPLANTS Dr. Alice P. Moran, DMD 1001 Avenida Pico, Ste. K, 949.361.4867 (GUMS), moranperio.com PEST/TERMITE CONTROL Accurate Termite and Pest Control 949.837.6483, accuratetermitecontrol.com PLUMBING A to Z Leak Detection 1001 Calle Recodo, 949.481.7013, atozleakdetection.com

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

Buy • Consign • Sell

949.395.5681 (24 hours) Available 7 days a week.

We also offer professional appraisals, auction services, restoration and shipping.

CASH SAME DAY Dee Coleman, CEO/Owner 2485 S. El Camino Real San Clemente Web: classicautosalesoc.com Email: classicautosalesoc@gmail.com

100% positive EBAY Seller since 2001!

CLASSIFIEDS Submit your classified ad at sanclementetimes.com

GARAGE SALES SAN CLEMENTE WOMAN’S CLUB CHARITY RUMMAGE SALE Saturday, April 13, 7:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. 866 Camino De Los Mares, San Clemente, 92673. Antique furniture, golf clubs, standing fans, housewares, clothing, baby clothing, Legos, etc.

CAPISTRANO BEACH GARAGE SALE! Saturday April 13, 8:30 -12 27545 Gable St near Camino Capistrano Bikes! Toys! Books! TVs! Young adult stuff! College prep materials! DVDs! HUGE GARAG MOVING SALE Saturday April 13, 2019 25251 Swanway Ct. Dana Point, CA. Furniture, bedroom sets, antiques, china, books, jewelry, sterling silver, sporting goods. Small appliances, clothing, tools, potted plants, garden equipment.

GARAGE SALE LISTINGS ARE FREE!

Bill Metzger Plumbing 1001 Calle Recodo, 949.492.3558, billmetzerplumbing.com

Email your listing to info@sanclementetimes.com.

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Hamilton Le, D.M.D., F.A.C.P. 1001 Avenida Pico, Ste. K 949.361.4867 (GUMS) moranperio.com REALTORS “Sandy & Rich” RE/MAX Coastal Homes 949.293.3236, www.sandyandrich.com Scott Kidd, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services 949.498.0487, skidd@bhhscal.com

FOR SALE HOME FOR SALE San Clemente FORSTER RANCH One level with Views 3bd/2ba cul-de-sac HUGE gated RV/boat/ car storage,oversized drive 1877sqft $939,000 Call George Abrahamsen#018214 48,Tarbell,REALTORS 949-812-9990

RESTAURANTS Café Calypso 114 Avenida Del Mar #4, 949.366.9386 SALONS Salon Bleu 207 S. El Camino Real, 949.366.2060, scsalonbleu.com WEBSITE DESIGN San Clemente Website Design 949.246.8345, sanclementewebsitedesign. com

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Page 25

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SC SC LIVING San Clemente

PROFILES OF OUR COMMUNITY

GUEST OPINION: On Life and Love after 50 by Tom Blake

Long-Distance Dating a Challenge for Seniors

I

n my previous article, I wrote about a widower, age 75, whose wife passed away two years ago. He’s trying online dating again after being shunned by a widow he met at church.

He said he met a woman on the website, OurTime, who lives 845 miles away. He was going to send her airfare to visit him.

I suggested that instead of sending her airfare, he should look for a woman who lives closer to him. Getting involved in a long-distance relationship is too much effort for a man his age.

Readers responded, sharing their opinions about seniors and long-distance dating.

Cynthia emailed: “Forget about long-distance relationships! If you can’t meet people in person within a 50-mile circumference, then it’s not worth it. You need to simply look around your own town, church, neighborhood, grocery store, club, senior center or wherever you go for entertainment.”

Art said, “This man should be able to meet eligible women within an easy driving distance from where he lives. I am in a relationship with a lady I met online, and she lives only 15 minutes from me.”

Susan chimed in: “When I was off work for a few months, I volunteered at our senior center. I was never lonely there. Lots of seniors hanging around, wanting some-

one to talk with.”

Joanie stated, “This 75-year-old man should make sure he looks extra good, smells nice, wears fitting, well-cut clothes, gets a haircut and takes care of his skin.

And, then, he should take ballroom dance lessons. There are tons of wonderful single women who dance, most looking for a nice man. And there is a shortage of men. He will meet someone quickly.”

Gina said, “Potential mates should be within 50 miles and willing to meet within a few weeks of making a connection via text-messaging and phone.”

ON LIFE AND Linda felt differently; LOVE AFTER 50 she said, “I think he

By Tom Blake should visit the woman 845 miles away, see where and how she lives. You can tell a lot about the person based on how he or she lives.”

Shelley said, “Yes, indeed; loneliness can cloud a widowed person’s thinking. I lost my beloved husband of 39 years five years ago.

My judgment was impaired for at least two and a half years! The widower is not thinking clearly. He should look for a woman he can meet in person and not have to send plane fare to. That has scam written all over it. And falling in love with someone you’ve never met face-to-face is not possible.”

My four tips for senior long-distance dating: 1. Focus on what’s near you. There are many options for seniors to meet a potential mate. Meetup.com has endless choices, and there’s no cost, and senior centers will have like-minded people. Volunteering is a great way to pay it forward and meet people at the same time.

2. If you internet date, perhaps the suggested 50-mile dating radius is a good rule.

However, it depends. Do they still drive?

What happens if they become a couple?

Photo: Jack Lashbrook/Calisphere

FROM THE ARCHIVES Jack Lashbrook, left, stands with a friend of

his with a few fish on the San Clemente Pier, circa 1950s. Lashbrook, who died last week at 93, was San Clemente’s Patriarch since 2013.

Every week, the San Clemente Times will showcase a historical photo from around the city. If you have a photo you would like to submit for consideration, send the photo, your name for credit as well as the date and location of the photo to editorial@sanclementetimes.com.

Who moves? Or, does the relationship become a Living Apart Together (LAT) relationship?

3. Seniors must realize there are lots of scammers online, even on the most reputable senior dating sites, such as OurTime, Match.com and eHarmony.com.

Regardless of what the sites claim, scammers slip through the cracks and target vulnerable, lonely seniors.

4. When you connect with someone who lives near you, the two of you can meet in person and decide if there is a mutual attraction, without the challenges and expense of

SAN CLEMENTE TIMES

BY MYLES MELLOR

E

Last week’s solution:

San Clemente Times April 11-17, 2019

PLEASE NOTE: In an effort to provide our readers with a wide variety of opinions from our community, the SC Times provides Guest Opinion opportunities in which selected columnists’ opinions are shared. The opinions expressed in these columns are entirely those of the columnist alone and do not reflect those of the SC Times or Picket Fence Media. If you would like to respond to this column, please email us at editorial@sanclementetimes.com

Pet of the Week: Sonny

Sudoku Each Sudoku puzzle consists of a 9x9 grid that has been subdivided into nine smaller grids of 3x3 squares. To solve the puzzle, each row, column and box must contain each of the numbers 1 to 9.

Puzzles come in three grades: easy, medium and difficult. Level: Medium

traveling long distances. Keep your search as close to home as reasonable.

Tom Blake is a Dana Point resident and a former Dana Point businessman who has authored several books on middle-aged dating. See his websites findingloveafter50.com; vicsta.com and travelafter55.com. To receive Tom’s weekly online newsletter, sign up at findingloveafter50. com. Email: tompblake@gmail.com. SC

See the solution in next week’s issue.

Sonny. Photo: Courtesy of the San Clemente/Dana Point Animal Shelter

Page 26

ight-year-old Sonny has come a long way. After first arriving at the shelter in terrible condition, Sonny received lots of care and attention from staff and volunteers. Since then, his happy personality has really begun to shine through. Sonny is silly and energetic and just loves to roll around in the yard during playtime. He is also potty-trained. Won’t you be the one to give this sweet boy a new lease on life?

If you would like to know more about Sonny, please call the San Clemente/Dana Point Animal Shelter at 949.492.1617 or visit with him at 221 Avenida Fabricante, San Clemente. SC sanclementetimes.com

SC SPORTS & OUTDOORS San Clemente

STORIES, SCORES, SCHEDULES AND MORE

Triton Report

BY ZACH CAVANAGH, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES

For in-game updates, news and more for all of the San Clemente High School sports programs, follow us on Twitter @SouthOCsports.

Boys Lacrosse Returns to League Play The San Clemente boys lacrosse team will be happy to get back to South Coast League action beginning Thursday, April 11 at El Toro.

Over spring break, the Tritons suffered big losses to out-of-area competition with a 14-4 loss to De La Salle of Concord on April 4 and a 19-8 loss to San Ramon Valley of Danville on April 6.

Before that, San Clemente had won five of its previous six games and is 3-1 in the South Coast League. The Tritons’ last league game was a 19-2 blowout win at Mission Viejo on March 29.

San Clemente routed El Toro in their first meeting, 18-2, on March 19.

After playing at El Toro, San Clemente will host Palo Verde of Las Vegas on Tuesday, April 16 and Tesoro in a league game on Thursday, April 18.

Boys Volleyball Continues Hot Run into Final Games The San Clemente boys volleyball team

Scoreboard

BY ZACH CAVANAGH, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES

Our City Scoreboard keeps you updated on all of the local San Clemente youth and community team accomplishments and special individual performances of the week.

Email zcavanagh@picketfencemedia.com for submission.

Zerboni Comes on for USWNT in Los Angeles San Clemente High School graduate McCall Zerboni came on as a substitute for the United States Women’s National Soccer Team in a 6-0 win over Belgium at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.

The 33-year-old midfielder came in as a substitute in the 73rd minute of the match, the first-ever women’s soccer match beSan Clemente Times April 11-17, 2019

The San Clemente boys lacrosse team is eager to return to South Coast League play after a pair of tough spring-break defeats. Photo: Zach Cavanagh

is on a sizzling streak.

The Tritons have won four matches in a row without dropping a single set and have wins in seven of their past eight matches. San Clemente posted consecutive sweeps over Trabuco Hills, El Toro and Dana Hills, then came back from spring break with no rust in a sweep of Aliso Niguel on Tuesday, April 9.

San Clemente, currently ranked No. 9 in the combined CIF-SS Division 1 and 2 poll, is 20-4 on the season with 15 wins coming in sweeps.

tween the United States and Belgium.

Zerboni joined the 24-player squad called up for a pair of friendlies against Australia in Denver and Belgium in LA. The team also participated in a six-day training camp in Santa Barbara before leaving for training in Colorado.

The call-up could put Zerboni in the mix for roster consideration for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France beginning on June 7. Zerboni has seven starts for the USWNT, and in 2017 at the age of 30 years, 10 months, she became the oldest player to earn her first start for the USWNT. Zerboni is currently signed professionally with the North Carolina Courage of the NWSL, where she was named to the NWSL Best XI in 2017 and 2018 and was a MVP finalist in 2018. Zerboni and the Courage open the 2019 NWSL season on Saturday, April 13 against Chicago.

The USWNT will play a three-game “Send-Off Series” prior to the Women’s

The Tritons only have two regular-season matches remaining. San Clemente plays at Trabuco Hills on Thursday, April 11 and hosts Tesoro on Thursday, April 18. San Clemente’s only league loss came in a five-set match at Tesoro on March 19, and the teams will lock up with the league title in play in the finale.

The San Clemente boys tennis team

has won eight consecutive South Coast League titles and are well on their way to a ninth.

The Tritons stayed unbeaten in the South Coast League with a win over Tesoro, 12-6, on Tuesday, April 9 at San Clemente High School.

Junior Corey Angeli has again been a leading player for the Tritons.

San Clemente continues play against rival Dana Hills on the road on Thursday, April 11. SC

World Cup. The United States will play South Africa in Santa Clara on May 12, New Zealand in St. Louis on May 16 and Mexico in New Jersey on May 26.

The public is welcome to Shorecliffs during the event to check out all of the activities. For more information, call Shorecliffs Golf Course at 949.492.1178.

South County Cup Returns to Shorecliffs April 27-28

Registration Open for Friends Foundation Golf Challenge

The fifth annual South County Cup returns to Shorecliffs Golf Course, the venue for the inaugural tournament, for this year’s event on Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28.

The South County Cup is a competition between teams representing four South Orange County golf courses: San Juan Hills Golf Club, San Clemente Municipal Golf Course, Bella Collina San Clemente and Shorecliffs. The event rotates through the four courses as hosts each year.

The field is made up of 64 players on 16-man teams. The tournament employs a match-play format over the two days.

The San Clemente Friends Foundation is set to sponsor its ninth annual golf challenge on June 28 at San Clemente Municipal Golf Course.

Teams and players are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible. The taxdeductible registration fees are $500 for a foursome and $150 for individuals.

The funds will go toward San Clemente youth recreational programs, such as children’s scholarships for park classes and programs and the Fun on the Run program.

For further information, call 949.276.8866 or go online at friendsofsanclemente.org. SC

Boys Tennis Undefeated in League

Page 28

sanclementetimes.com

SC SC SURF San Clemente

SC SURF IS PRESENTED BY:

SCOOP ON THE LOCAL SURF COMMUNITY

Local Surfers Shine on Australia’s Gold Coast Caroline Marks wins Boost Mobile Pro; Kolohe Andino takes second at Quiksilver Pro

BY JAKE HOWARD, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES

L

ocal surfers from San Clemente pretty much stole the show as the 2019 WSL Championship Tour season got underway last week on the Gold Coast of Australia.

San Clemente resident Caroline Marks, 17, won the women’s Boost Mobile Pro and a $100,000 prize for her first professional victory, and San Clemente’s Kolohe Andino finished a close second in the men’s Quiksilver Pro—both events staged at Duranbah Beach on Sunday, April 7.

Andino was a whisker away from winning and seizing the No. 1 ranking in the world, blitzing his way to the final by defeating some of the world’s best surfers before falling to high-flying Brazilian Italo Ferreira in the closing moments of the competition.

Andino had led most of the way until Ferreira, who had been boosting nextlevel airs all contest, chose a small wave that Andino had passed on and took full advantage by launching a Hail Mary air

GROM OF THE WEEK

DEVIN MCLEISH

BY JAKE HOWARD, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES

W

hen your big sis is the mighty Mia Mouse, of course, you’re going shred, too. All of 7 years old, San Clemente’s Devin McLeish is keeping the family tradition going in the water. A regular at T-Street, this little goofy-footer has style for days and the kind of stoke that can fire up the whole beach.

When Devin, the youngest of three girls, is not in the water, she’s attending Concordia Elementary School. Her magic board is 4 feet, 5 inches, shaped by local guru Cole Simler.

San Clemente Times April 11-17, 2019

Caroline Marks grinding off the bottom and into first place at the Boost Mobile Pro. Photo: Dunbar/WSL

and sticking the landing. The judges gave Ferreira the decisive score, and Andino had to settle for second.

“I was stoked to be in the final with Italo,” Andino said after returning to the beach. “I let that wave go, but I think 10 times out of 10, I would let it go again, just because it was actually a knee-high wave; but he did a full rotation, so good on him.

“It’s a bummer I wasn’t getting chaired up for my first event win, but it’s a long year and still a great result. I was two minutes away from winning that one. The American surfers are doing great; it’s ‘rad’ to see. I think everyone is sick of seeing those top three guys on tour win every event. I think everyone’s put their heads down and trying really hard, and it’s great for the sport.”

After pulling out the win, Ferreira now leads the WSL rankings and will set the pace for the world title race in 2019.

“Winning this event at the start of the year is unbelievable,” said Ferreira, who spends a fair amount of time in San Clemente working with shaper Timmy Patterson. “I knew it would be so hard to beat Kolohe. I feel really lucky to have beaten him and especially in waves like this. The support on the beach is so unreal. I’ve trained a lot in the last three months, and I got the win in the first event of the year.

Let’s do this!”

Like Andino’s path to the men’s final, Marks had to conquer some of the best women in the world to get to the winner’s podium for the first time as a pro, knocking out seven-time world champion

This winter, Devin was named Grom of the Week by the Positive Vibe Warriors for passion, dedication and love of surfing.

When asked what inspirers her, she said, “In the water, when I see big airs! Out of the water, when I see others being kind! And I love how the older surfers take time to help out us groms.”

Lately, she’s been working on her cutbacks and floaters, and now that spring and summer south swells are starting to show up on our shore, it’s game on.

Devin does a lot of her ripping in the afternoon after school’s wrapped for the day, “because then my Mommy can come down and watch me shred.”

Yeah, Devin! The McLeish girls are on fire! SC

Devin McLeish. Photo: Courtesy

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Stephanie Gilmore of Australia in the quarterfinals and defeating three-time world champion Carissa Moore of Hawaii in the final.

Marks, a goofy-footer, grew up in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., but has relocated to San Clemente to be closer to Trestles and train with her coach, Mike Parsons. She dominated the contest from beginning to end on the way to her first Championship Tour final and maiden victory. Coincidentally, she did it all on her father’s birthday.

“I’m really emotional right now,” Marks said in an interview with the World Surf League. “I can’t believe it. I’m speechless.

It’s incredible to be a part of this sport. I just want to thank everyone at WSL; I’m so grateful.

“It’s so amazing to be a part of women’s surfing. Carissa has always been my hero, and she still is. To have my first win over her is incredible. I was actually laughing because the first time I came to this event I was in the trials, and I just lost in the first heat every single time, so to now win the event is amazing. This has been the best event and best week of my life. There’s still a lot of work to do for the rest of the year, but I’m definitely going to enjoy this moment.”

Not only was San Clemente well-represented on the podium, every surfer who made the final was riding a board made by a local shaper. Andino, Marks and Moore were all riding craft shaped by Matt “Mayhem” Biolos, and Ferreira was on a Patterson design.

The next CT contest, the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, will begin on April 17 in Torquay, Australia. Ferreira is the defending champ, while Marks finished in third place there last year. Both the men’s and women’s fields appear especially hungry this season. It’s going to be fun to see what our local crew can do out there on the world’s stage. SC

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