LO C A L
N EWS
February7-13, 2019
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Inside: South County Real Estate Guide SPECIAL SECTION VOLUME 14, ISSUE 06
Two Nations, One ‘Iron Fist’
U.S. Marine Corps trains with Japanese forces for 14th year E Y E O N S C / PAG E 8
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers prepare to enter the well deck of the amphibious transport dock ship USS Somerset (LPD 25) in a combat rubber raiding craft during Exercise Iron Fist 2019. Photo: Courtesy of U.S. Navy/Petty Officer 2nd Class Devin M. Langer
Judge Allows San Clemente’s Toll Road Lawsuit to Move Forward EYE ON SC/PAGE 3
Wellness & Prevention Center to Host First Health Fair SC LIVING/PAGE 24
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New Coaches Named to USA Surf Teams SURF/PAGE 30
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SC EYE ON SC San Clemente
LOCAL NEWS & IN-DEPTH REPORTING
What’s Up With... Five things San Clemente should know this week Judge Allows City’s Complaints to Move Forward in Toll Road Lawsuit THE LATEST: On. Jan. 29, Riverside Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia ruled that most of the arguments the city of San Clemente and a homeowners association in the city have against The Toll Roads proposals can move forward in their civil lawsuits. “(On Jan. 29), with minor exception, the court ruled completely in the city’s and The Reserve’s favor on their demurrers and on related motions,” said San Clemente city attorney Scott Smith. A demurrer is a pre-trial motion suggesting essentially that a plaintiff’s (or petitioner’s) complaint should be dismissed because the complaint is not viable for adjudication. What these rulings did was give some merit to their arguments, something The Reserve Maintenance Corporation in San Clemente and the city have litigated to achieve for about 18 months, Smith said. The city is seeking to challenge the environmental compliance of a protective agreement that was completed in 2016 between the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) and the Save San Onofre Coalition, a faction of nonprofit organizations, which settled a 15-year lawsuit. The Reserve initially challenged the Brown Act compliance in the way in which the TCA devised its several toll road proposals, some of which would go straight through San Clemente. The judge had ruled the statute of limitations had not expired in this claim. One ruling went against the city in a minor claim, because the judge ruled the city “did not exhaust administrative remedies with the State Water Board,” Smith said, adding this was a minor portion of the arguments. The city claims the TCA may not even have the authority to do what it’s proposed to construct, because there already is a regional transportation governing board in the Orange County Transportation Authority and the city wants to know what leverage the law gives TCA. Mayor Pro Tem Dan Bane is litigating on behalf of The Reserve Maintenance Corporation, but Scott Smith is litigating on behalf of the city. As a city councilmember, Bane contributes to voting on the dais San Clemente Times February 7-13, 2019
John Sears of 3 Mules passed through San Clemente last week before trying to gain access south through Camp Pendleton with his mule, Little Girl. Photo: Eric Heinz
to direct legal action for the city, but he does not litigate it himself. Bane said Ottolia agreed the Brown Act argument is a factual determination and that the TCA had the right to settle lawsuits (such as the 2016 agreement) in closed session, but they couldn’t make large land-use decisions outside the public eye. In one of the environmental matters, Smith said the judge sided with the city in being able to deputize the city attorney— him—to enforce the state’s Fish and Game code should any violations arise. WHAT’S NEXT: The next hearing date is set for April 15 in Riverside Superior Court, but the judge allowed the city to file a motion to accelerate that hearing date, Smith said. “We want to get this in front of the court as soon as possible,” he said, adding that the TCA has spent $20 million in contracts in researching the potential toll road alignments, money that is paid from development fees from cities within the TCA membership. The TCA is expected to publish a draft environmental impact report in 2021, when public comment is first expected to be available. —Eric Heinz
3 Mules Nomad Wanders through San Clemente THE LATEST: John Sears of 3 Mules is the archetypal nomadic traveler. Stubbly white hair seasons his sun-drenched head. He wears his clothes almost like a Peruvian Sherpa, layered for warmth but loose, and his feet show the wear and tear of constant travel. Little Girl, the white and brown mule he travels with, mostly just munched on a nearby bush. On Feb. 1, Sears was walking between
parking lots of businesses along Avenida Pico and to a coffee shop to charge his phone. Sears’ website describes a spiritual bond he has with the earth and its provision of mules. He’s a self-described monk in the way that he lives. “A simple, pastoral, nomadic life that’s been here for hundreds of thousands of years, and I stay true to it,” Sears said. “It provides me everything I need, and I don’t veer off it to participate in the offerings of the man-made world.” Sears said he’s not sure how many miles he’s traveled with a pack mule, but he can cover about 10 miles in a day. Sears was down to one mule on Feb. 1; as indicated on his blog, one of the mules was not comfortable traveling in urban areas and was given away to friends on Jan. 11. He used to ride one of the mules when he had three. Sitting around in one place isn’t the goal for Sears. Although he seems to be enjoying himself in San Clemente, with people driving by to take a photo with him and his mule, he’s trying to get south to continue his journey. It appears Sears tried to make this trek last year except going north instead of south. Emails corresponding with California Highway Patrol (CHP) state in February 2018 that arrests were made of the 3 Mule party for not leaving the thoroughfare. “The Mules will expect the events of last year not be repeated,” stated an email from Sears on Jan. 21 that was posted on the website www3mules.com. “In a few days, the Mules will be arriving to Old Pacific Highway Trail/Las Pulgas Road. The Mules are requesting a trailer ride to Oceanside in the 7.9-mile stretch of I-5 that is closed off to pedestrians and equestrians. Last year, rather than using the trailer acquired by CHP to transport us thru the
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7.9-mile CALL-DUN-DRUM (which is described on Sears’ website as acting with a disorienting lack of common sense), CHP used the service of the Humane Society trailer to take Little Girl 30-miles to Escondido Animal Shelter and myself 15-miles to Vista Detention Center.” Without the thoroughfare, Sears said it severely hinders his ability to move around. “They’re not providing avenues for the horse. The horse is being pushed aside, but we’re not going to watch it be destroyed,” he said. CHP responded by saying that it has no legal obligation to provide a trailer or to order Camp Pendleton to open its thoroughfares, but the department did offer alternative pedestrian trails that lead around Camp Pendleton. Sears has disputed their offers and he said he has contacted the department about this matter. Sears has provided a list of citations he’s received in recent years, including one in San Clemente in 2015 in which he says an officer cited him for camping in the city limits. He said in an email to the city that he had stopped because of Little Girl sustaining an injury, and he wanted to seek help. Sears is trying to get to Imperial Beach and then he’ll turn back north when the weather warms up. WHAT’S NEXT: Since 3 Mules arrived, social media has been giddy about the nomadic neighbor. People are seen all over the website and platforms taking selfies with Little Girl and Sears. People can follow Sears’ journey at www.3mules.com, which has all the links to his social media, blog and other materials. EDITOR’S NOTE: An extended version of this article is available on www.sanclementetimes.com. —EH
Mercy House Rep. Says Homeless Outreach Numbers Low Due to Cycle of Local Population THE LATEST: Stephanie Ogas, the outreach coordinator for Mercy House in San Clemente, said that the homeless outreach organization’s numbers in the city have been very low because of how many of the population are local to San Clemente. Ogas said Mercy House, which has been contracted with the city since August, has been able to relocate a few people to rental housing and transitional living. She said about 60 new contacts have been made and about 42 percent of the new contacts are from San Clemente or have family living here. (Cont. on page 4) www.sanclementetimes.com
EYE ON SC (Cont. from page 3) WHAT’S NEXT: Ogas told the San Clemente Times on Feb. 5 that the city is looking to do a voucher program for lodging in the near future for homeless people they think they can help. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a developing story. More information will be provided when it becomes available. —EH
Prosecutors Continue to Investigate Traffic Collision that Killed Former San Clemente Teacher THE LATEST: Charges against the woman accused of driving drunk and causing a collision that killed a former San Clemente elementary school teacher have been dismissed, but prosecutors are still investigating the case. The case involves Scott Clark, 55, who used to teach at Truman Benedict Elementary School in San Clemente and was killed when struck by two vehicles as he was walking in Laguna Niguel on Feb. 10, 2017. “What happened to Mr. Clark is an absolute tragedy, and our hearts break for
Mrs. Clark, her children, family, friends, and community,” said Deputy District Attorney Brian Orue, the prosecutor on the case, in a statement. “We will continue to do our duty and seek justice in a fair, ethical, and honest manner as we continue to investigate this case.” The woman who was accused of striking Clark while driving drunk is Jamie Mulford, who had at least two prior DUI charges against her, including one that ended in conviction. WHAT’S NEXT: A timetable was not available before press time as to when prosecutors intended to give an update on the case. San Clemente Times on Monday sent further questions as to why the evidence presented in the initial case was not sufficient to move forward, but the OCDA office has yet to respond. This story will be updated at www.sanclementetimes.com when more information becomes available. —EH
Orange County Cities Graded Poorly in Annual Tobacco Control Study THE LATEST: The American Lung As-
sociation (ALA) on Wednesday, Jan. 30 released its annual report card grading states and cities across the nation on their policies to reduce tobacco use. The annual State of Tobacco Control 2019 report placed California among the top states in the nation for having policies in place combating the use of tobacco. As a state, California received high marks in several categories, including an A for “Smoke-free Air Policies” and a B for “Coverage and Access to Services to Quit Tobacco.” However, several cities in Orange County didn’t do so well. Out of the 34 cities and unincorporated territory in Orange County, only five received a grade of D or higher, the report showed. Dana Point received an overall D grade, while the cities of Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods and Santa Ana were given Cs. The ALA grades each city and county based on three sets of policy criteria: smoke-free outdoor air, smoke-free housing and reducing sales of tobacco production. In each category, the ALA scores the cities on the smoking restrictions and ordinances they’ve put in place. In the smoke-free outdoor air category, the ALA looks at whether cities have
enacted policies to ban smoking in outdoor dining, recreation and service areas, as well as entryways at public events, sidewalks and worksites. With the exception of Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills and Laguna Woods, cities throughout Orange County scored zeros in the smoke-free housing category. In San Clemente, the ALA gave the city a D for the smoke-free outdoor air category, as the city earned three points for banning smoking in recreation areas such as public parks and parking lots. The city of San Clemente, however, received Fs in the other two categories. The biggest takeaway from the latest report, said Ravi Choudhuri, advocacy manager for the ALA, is that more California communities are starting to take a stance against tobacco use and taking issue with newer devices such as e-cigarettes and vape pens. WHAT’S NEXT: The Wellness & Prevention Center’s first Wellness Fair from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Outlets at San Clemente will host a “Take Back the Vape,” where people can trade in their e-cigarette devices for gift cards. —Shawn Raymundo
EYE ON SC
NEWS BITES
Community Meetings
COMPILED BY STAFF
Miramar Lawsuit Scheduled for May According to Orange County Superior Court documents, the lawsuit disputed by companies and people who have claim to the ownership of the Miramar Theater in San Clemente will go to a trial that’s been scheduled for May 20. Marc Spizzirri, of Auto Orange II, who also is a partner in the El Camino Real Estate Holdings, LLC, the current owner of the Miramar, and the Baptiste brothers, Barry and Craig, have been locked in this 10-year battle since it was argued that the Baptistes purchased the Miramar in a suit that looked to settle money owed to Mach-1 Autogroup. More information on this case will be provided when it becomes available.
People’s March Against Bullying to be Rescheduled Due to the heavy rain over the weekend, the People’s March Against Bullying, as reported in the Jan. 31-Feb. 6 edition of the San Clemente Times, will be rescheduled to a later date this month, according to Cool 2 Be Kind organizers. More information will be provided at is it becomes available.
California State Parks Looks for Volunteer Trail Assistants California State Parks and the San Onofre Parks Foundation are looking for Trail Assistant Volunteers to bike or hike around San Onofre State Beach, Parcel 1 (inland area of the State Park). This is intended to help provide a safe, enjoyable environment for park visitors and to provide valuable information about the backcountry to park staff. The duties will include greeting and welcoming park visitors by providing interpretation and educational information in accordance with training; reporting security or vandalism or unsafe conditions to SURCOM or park staff; providing route recommendations, maps and directions to park visitors; adhering to park policies and advising the public about park rules and regulations including park hours, dog rules and legal vs. illegal trail use; assisting with illegal trail closures; and resource management education and other duties as assigned. Candidates must have the ability and willingness to provide quality interpretation and public information in a friendly positive manner and provide communication with the Trail Assistant Volunteer Coordinator regarding scheduling and post-shift reports, including number of contacts while San Clemente Times February 7-13, 2019
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9
TEEN AA 6 p.m. Open to people 13-18 years old. Teenagers will be able to share stories and experiences along with adult moderators. 1040 Calle Negocio. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11
Hundreds of locals braved the rain to celebrate the Fourth Annual Lunar New Year Celebration at Outlets at San Clemente on Feb. 2, presented by the Irvine Chinese School, Marian Bergeson Elementary School’s Mandarin Immersion Program based in Laguna Niguel and the Three Treasures Cultural Arts Society based out of San Diego. Photo: Courtesy of the Outlets at San Clemente
on patrol, scheduling in advance and only patrolling as a TAV when scheduled. Candidates will also need to provide information at illegal trail heads as necessary and assist park staff in trail projects as they are scheduled. For questions and more information, email admin@sanoparks.org.
Border Patrol Arrests Mexican Citizen in Narcotics Seizure at San Clemente Station U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a 23-year-old Mexican citizen on Jan. 24 at the San Clemente Station after finding 140 pounds of narcotics in her car. The driver consented to a search of the vehicle by a Border Patrol K-9 team, where agents found dozens of packages containing narcotics hidden inside. “Agents removed a total of 57 packages of suspected narcotics. The substances in the packages tested positive for cocaine, fentanyl and heroin,” a U.S. Customs and Border Protection press release stated. “There were 34 packages of cocaine weighing approximately 87 pounds, 19 packages of fentanyl weighing approximately 44 pounds, and four packages of heroin weighing approximately nine pounds.” The narcotics had a street value of more than $2.25 million, the release stated. “The fentanyl seizure in itself was the largest in San Diego to date,” said Customs and Border Protection Chief Patrol Agent Rodney Scott. “This preceded the Nogales Port of Entry’s 254-pound fentanyl seizure (on Jan. 31), the largest in CBP history. These two seizures alone had the potential to kill millions of Americans.” The narcotics and the suspect were turned over to the Drug Enforcement
Administration. The vehicle was seized by the Border Patrol. Since Oct. 1, San Diego Sector agents have seized more than 300 pounds of cocaine, 79 pounds of fentanyl and 975 ounces of heroin.
San Diego County Amtrak Weekend Closure In order to facilitate infrastructure improvements along the coastal rail corridor, there will be no COASTER or Amtrak Pacific Surfliner service in San Diego County on the weekend of Feb. 9-10. On the Friday preceding the closure, Feb. 8, southbound Amtrak R2R trains A792 and A796 will complete their trips to Santa Fe Depot, but Amtrak train A590 will be canceled. During the closure weekends, Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink will not service the Oceanside Transit Center. Trips on connecting buses will require Amtrak reservations. Replacement bus service connecting COASTER stations will not be available. Alternatives for some COASTER passengers may include BREEZE Route 101 or MTS connections. After the closure, coastal rail service will re-open for regularly scheduled trips in time for the Monday morning commute. Passengers should note that trains may be delayed up to 15 minutes on Monday, Feb. 11. While no passenger rail service will be available during this closure, other vehicles and equipment will operate along the railroad right-of-way and on the rail at nonspecified times. Residents along the corridor should remain alert at legal crossings and not trespass on the railroad right-of-way. For trip planning assistance, customers can contact NCTD Customer Service at 760-966-6500, or visit GoNCTD.com.
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AMERICAN LEGION POST 423 6-8 p.m. The post hosts its regularly scheduled meetings the second Monday of the month. San Clemente Elks Lodge, 1505 N. El Camino Real. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12
SUNRISE ROTARY 7:15 a.m. San Clemente Sunrise Rotary meets every Tuesday at Talega Golf Club Signature Grille. 990 Avenida Talega. www.scsunriserotary.com. 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 (adult or minor) poor choices. Presbyterian Church. 119 Avenida De La Estrella. www.bilysc.org. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14
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 at Talega Golf Club, 990 Avenida Talega. sites.google.com/site/ sanclementeexchangeclub/ SAN CLEMENTE ROTARY 5:30-7:30 p.m. The San Clemente Rotary Club will host its regular meeting, which takes place the second and fourth Thursdays of the month. Meeting will be called to order at 6 p.m. Wedgewood, San Clemente Municipal Golf Course, 150 E. Avenida Magdalena. www.sanclementerotary.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. www.sanclementetimes.com
EYE ON SC
Two Nations, One ‘Iron Fist’
Camp Pendleton Marines train with Japanese forces near San Clemente for 14th year BY ERIC HEINZ, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES
R
ough waves crashed along the beaches near San Clemente as soldiers in amphibious vehicles stealthily made their way from being submerged in the Pacific Ocean to the shore. It was more than halfway through the Iron Fist training exercises of 2019 on Monday, Feb. 4, when the 1st Marine Division and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) initiated their amphibious landing exercises, intended to be deployed for quick combat operations and to improve aspects of its combined forces. “Iron Fist allows us to strengthen our abilities as an alliance, ensuring rapid deployment in case of crises or in response to the threat of potential adversaries,” according to a press release for the exercises. The four-week process started with staff ex-
U.S. Sailors give the go-ahead for a landing aircraft to come ashore and offload Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Soldiers with the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade during an amphibious landing exercise for Iron Fist 2019, Feb. 4, on U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Photo: Courtesy of the U.S. Marine Corps/ Cpl. Cutler Brice
ercises and included combined live-fire training. On Monday, Lt. Gen. Joseph Osterman, the commanding general of the I Marine Expeditionary Force, said the importance of operations such as Iron Fist cannot be understated. He was accompanied during a press conference by Japan’s Lt. Gen. Hirokazu Fujita, the chief of staff of the ground component command. “We have capable and multinational maritime forces that help ensure stability and prosperity around the world, and it is
multilateral exercises like Iron Fist that help us to operate together in a maritime environment,” Osterman said. Iron Fist is now part of training that supports the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB), which was established in March 2018. According to the U.S. Navy, it is the Japanese government’s “concept to deal with various situations on islands.” It combines ground forces, aviation support and logistics into a unit that can react to operations including self-defense and hu-
manitarian assistance/disaster relief. “Due to the challenging security environment, the JGSDF has undergone its greatest reform since its inception to protect people’s lives, security and peace from various threats,” Fujita said. “The ARDB, which was newly established, is the spearhead…to defend remote islands and respond to any kind of contingency.” When asked by a Japanese reporter about the success of the ARDB since its inception, Osterman said he’s been impressed by what he’s seen in the 10 months since it began. “Our perception of working with the ARDB has been nothing short of a very professional and very capable unit,” Osterman said. Because there are constant replacements and rotations of Marine staff throughout the military branch, Osterman said it’s important to ensure that the soldiers they train are individually scrutinized on their performances, which he said have been excellent. He said with the ARDB bringing its own vehicles this time, it’s been important to see which vehicles fit on which ships and to improve communication between carriers. “This is particularly important, because the most difficult operations you can do are amphibious landings,” Osterman said. Check out images of the Iron Fist 2019 on the U.S. Marines’ social media sites on Facebook and Instagram to see more of what’s been going on at Camp Pendleton for the past three weeks. SC
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GUEST OPINION: City Council Corner by Mayor Pro Tem Dan Bane
New City Council Off to a Fast Start
I
want to thank you, the residents of San Clemente, for placing your trust in me by electing me to the city council for the next four years. I also want to thank my colleagues on the council for appointing me as mayor pro tem for 2019. My hope is that we can put the divisiveness of election season behind us and focus on seizing the opportunities and tackling the challenges facing San Clemente. As past history teaches, we are most effective as a community when we work together toward our common aim of preserving and enhancing the quality of life we all cherish in San Clemente. Your new city council is off to a fast start to ensure our local government is even more transparent and efficient. In this regard, the city is currently developing a “Sunshine Ordinance” for council consideration. We want to make local government decision-making more transparent and efficient, make sure city policies and procedures are up-to-date, government
records more accessible and ensure that all residents are heard, recognized and treated with respect. After all, we work for you. We are also expanding our city transportation amenities. In January, your city council approved a new trolley route, which starts at the Outlets and travels north to Dana Point. This service expansion connects the San Clemente and Dana Point trolley services and was made possible by a significant grant from the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). OCTA also recently presented its Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), which can be found on the city’s website. OCTA is a key strategic partner for San Clemente in various successful projects, and I look forward to working with OCTA more in the future, particularly as it relates to transportation CITY COUNCIL alternatives that address CORNER South County Mobility By Dan Bane without the need to ever extend the SR-241 toll road beyond Oso Parkway. If OCTA is willing to assume its rightful place as the lead agency in any South County Mobility project, I am confident it would employ a holistic approach that would be deferential to locally preferred solutions and would further appropriately weigh the financial cost of transportation infrastructure improvements against actual traffic needs. Billions in public funds should not be wasted on an unnecessary toll road extension when less
impactful alternatives can likely do the job for a tenth of the cost. The city council is also making your safety a priority, by recently allocating additional resources to outfit our Sheriff’s substation with video monitors and additional camera access around town. During the upcoming budgeting cycle, we will also look at increasing our Sheriff deputy staffing numbers to ensure that our contracted services are appropriate for a city our size. We will also be looking at the reactivation of the citizen-led Public Safety Task Force to make recommendations concerning public safety issues. Finally, we recently broadened our approach to bring much-needed emergency medical services back to San Clemente by instructing city staff to prepare a new ordinance aimed at zoning additional areas of town for hospital and emergency room uses. My hope is that there are hospital service providers out there who are interested in operating a hospital and emergency room in San Clemente. There is no certain outcome regarding the MemorialCare lawsuit, and I believe it is best to avoid putting all of our eggs in the litigation basket. It is my honor to serve you, and I look forward to representing the residents and local business owners in the years ahead. Dan Bane is the mayor pro tem of the city of San Clemente and was elected to city council in 2018. SC
melted down and spewed radioactive contamination across the land. Because the Soviet government didn’t immediately tell anyone about the disaster or take protective measures, some people ingested radioactive material, such as iodine-131 (I-131), and did real damage to their health. But the source of that contamination was hot fuel from a working reactor, not spent fuel seven-plus years removed from the reactor core. The spent fuel at SONGS no longer even contains I-131. With a half-life of eight days, all the I-131 disappeared approximately two months after the spent fuel was removed from the reactor. And unlike an operating reactor, a spent fuel canister (by design) has no way of sustaining the criticality needed to generate enough heat to recreate a Chernobyl or Fukushima-like event. Some isotopes in spent fuel take longer to decay, such as cesium-137 and strontium-90. But there isn’t much of them in used nuclear fuel. The shielding of the dry cask system (5/8-inch stainless steel and reinforced concrete) protects us from gamma radiation. Ingesting any of the fission-
product isotopes is out of the question: they are locked into a solid fuel pellet, inside a sealed zirconium steel tube, inside a stainless steel canister that is welded shut. Now, there may be the same amount of radioactivity in a dry cask as was released at Chernobyl. But with no motive force (energy) to drive radioactive contamination into the environment, it’s not really relevant. Unless you simply want to scare people.
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
OPERATIONS Finance Director > Mike Reed General Manager > Alyssa Garrett Accounting & Distribution Manager > Tricia Zines SPECIAL THANKS Robert Miller CONTRIBUTORS Megan Bianco, Tim Trent and Jake Howard
San Clemente Times, Vol. 14, Issue 06. The SC Times (www. sanclementetimes.com ) is published weekly by Picket Fence Media, publishers of the Dana Point Times (www. danapointtimes.com) and The Capistrano Dispatch (www. 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 February 7-13, 2019
Letters to The Editor NO, CHERNOBYL DISASTER CANNOT BE REPEATED AT SONGS JOHN DOBKEN, Media Relations Manager, Southern California Edison
At a coffee klatch in San Clemente, the first question I got was a bit surprising. “Is it really Chernobyl in a Can?” The person was asking about the spent nuclear fuel canisters located at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Actually, the canisters couldn’t be any more different than Chernobyl. The Chernobyl reactors are Soviet RBMKs, modeled on military weapons reactors, which were designed to make a lot of plutonium. Operators were using the Chernobyl Unit 4 reactor for a test and placed it in a configuration it shouldn’t have been, and things went very wrong. The reactor, with no containment structure, saw a power spike, steam explosion,
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WE CAN’T UNDO THE PROTECTIONS IN PLACE TO FIGHT THE TOLL ROAD SHARON WILLIAMS, San Clemente
Dear Editor, As a longtime resident of San Clemente, I am deeply concerned by our mayor’s suggestion that the Transportation Corridor Agencies’ (TCA) toll road should go through the protected areas south of town. In the Jan. 3-9 edition of the San Clemente Times article “Looking Forward,” Mayor Steve Swartz said of the toll road controversy, “The solution they need is to connect back to the (I-)5 further north of us, or go around us, (Cont. on page 20) www.sanclementetimes.com
3807 Vista Azul, San Clemente For the first time ever, this superb Spanish Villa—located in the exclusive guard-gated community of Cyprus Cove—is on the market. It’s premier location on a private cul-de-sac is enhanced by the stellar views of the ocean, natural landscape and proximity to the resident-only white sandy beach. The home offers a grand living room in which sunlight pours through the multitude of French Doors, a Chef’s kitchen with adjacent wet bar, oversized walk-in pantry, and a private dining room with access to the manicured backyard. Spanning over 3600 square feet of living space, including five bedrooms and four-and-one-half-bathrooms, it exudes exceptional quality at every turn. A tranquil master suite offers some of the property’s most mesmerizing ocean views in addition to a walk-in closet and a master bathroom with a soaking tub. California Living at its finest, the enormous Rooftop deck is ideal for relaxation while soaking in the warm sunshine and unobstructed views of the Pacific. Vista Azul, which is a Spanish phrase for ‘A pleasing view of the color blue’, is the most suitable description of what one will experience daily in this spectacular home. Additional features include solar panels, a 3 car garage and a GOLF CART INCLUDED! Cyprus Cove amenities include private beach access with fire pits, barbecue and picnic areas, a large park with Koi pond and waterfall, 2 beautiful clubhouses, pool, hot tub, 2 tennis courts, and basketball court. Kevin Hood GREENTREE PROPERTIES
office: 949.492.0090 cell: 949.350.5495 email: kevin@greentreeproperties.net greentreeproperties.net BRE# 01476642
SOAPBOX CoastLines by Fred Swegles
Herr Family Values
F
ew people in San Clemente have watched the town grow up around them quite like Dick and Marilyn Herr. Just glance down their tiny ocean-facing street, Corto Lane. You’ll see. When the Herrs moved from La Habra in 1965, there were no structures between their house at 406 Corto Lane and the bluff. Two lots were vacant. Off to their left, they enjoyed the sight of a stately Spanish-style house, built in the 1920s on 2.7 acres by Ole Hanson Jr., son of San Clemente’s founder. It was right next to the founder’s house. It COASTLINES included a horse barn. By Fred Swegles “Where we lived, you could throw a rock in just about any direction and hit a vacant lot,” Dick Herr said. Then in 1969, President Nixon purchased a seaside home that put San Clemente on the international map. Condominiums began popping up all along the coast. The onetime home of Ole Hanson Jr. was demolished to make way for 72 condominiums, housed in three box-shaped, four-story buildings that dwarfed the Herrs’ home.
(Cont. from page 10) through the base and have it connect to the south.” The TCA is barred from building through San Onofre State Beach, the Donna O’Neill Land Conservancy and the northern coastal portion of Camp Pendleton. The protection of these areas was won in a long and hard fight with the TCA. Currently, the San Clemente City Council is suing to undermine this protection. The mayor’s southern “solution” alternative would only be possible by invalidating popular and historic protections won to preserve some of our most treasured and pristine local assets. The lawsuit also does nothing to protect San Clemente from a toll road. I am adamantly opposed to Mayor Swartz’s suggestion that those protected lands be a possible site of a new toll road. And as such, I oppose their efforts, and our city tax dollars being spent, to destroy the protection of these vital local assets.
MOTIVES OF THE TCA ARE ‘DAMAGING’ DAVID W. BRANT, San Clemente
Dear Editor, I’d like to thank you for your thorough San Clemente Times February 7-13, 2019
The view across the street from Dick and Marilyn Herr was once a stately home with horse barn, built by San Clemente founder Ole Hanson’s son. Photo: Fred Swegles
“I cried,” Marilyn Herr said. “It probably should have been a historical site,” Dick Herr said. “The Coastal Commission wasn’t functioning then.” “The house could have become a restaurant,” Marilyn said. “The barn could have become a museum.” Demolition of other landmark homes for seafront condos spurred local residents Fred and Lois Divel to start a Historical Society to lobby for protections. California voters passed a Coastal Conservation Act
to regulate development. Ole Hanson’s Spanish Village grew. Both of the vacant lots in front of the Herrs’ house became three-level developments. Their house is the smallest thing on the street. Happily, a view corridor survives at the end of Corto Lane, between condos. The Herrs, now in their 80s, say it remains a great place to live. They have neighborhood friends. They were able to raise four children there, enjoying a nearby beach reachable by a steep
article in the San Clemente Times on the proposed toll road in the Top 5 section on Thursday, Jan. 31. It revealed how damaging Alternatives 13, 14 and 17 would be to the school district, its parents and students and, indeed, to the entire cities of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano, if adopted by the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA). One thing it did not mention is why the TCA would propose these outrageous options to begin with. One reason is that the TCA’s chief executive officer is paid more per year than the director of Caltrans, the governor of California and, indeed, the president of the United States. His overpaid executives want to hold on to their very lucrative jobs. They feel that if they reject these completely ludicrous alternatives and support one that is only slightly less onerous that the people will go along with them. How wrong they are.
MemorialCare on the vacated hospital, a legal issue we more than likely will not win. The simple cost of the lawsuit, whether the city wins or loses, comes at a huge cost to our finances and our public safety. On the other side of the equation stands an undermanned sheriff’s department. Without a fully staffed local police services station, and based on the reports of burglaries and other increasing crimes evidenced by the sheriff department’s own crime reports and seeing more crime posts on NextDoor, we are risking the safety and well-being of our residents and businesses. So, I have to ask, what is more important to the council? Are they willing to deplete the city reserves and create a larger-than-projected shortfall of available funds for the year and risk bankruptcy, should we lose the lawsuit with MemorialCare? Or, should they drop the lawsuit, lick their wounds and use the down-the-drain funds to be paid to BB&K to support our sheriff’s department? For the safety of our citizenry, please oppose the legal advice of a very biased and conflicted law firm and protect our community. No matter what your motto may be, “Residents First,” “One Town,
CUT LOSSES ON HOSPITAL LAWSUIT TO STAVE FINANCIAL BURDEN ROBERT BEAULIEU, San Clemente
Today, we stand at a crossroads. Our city council and BB&K, the legal team hired by the city, seemed to be intent on challenging
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public stairway from Corto Lane. “At first, it was just a path,” Dick Herr said. So the town has changed dramatically. But it was the prospect of major growth that got Dick Herr recruited here in the first place, to work for the Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD). “It was a good choice,” Herr said. Area children from the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s know him as a teacher, principal or vice-principal. He was viceprincipal at Palisades Elementary and Crown Valley Elementary. He was principal at Capistrano 6th Grade School, Ole Hanson Elementary, Ambuehl Elementary and Newhart Elementary. He got to enjoy teaching students at his old school, Ole Hanson, for 10 years. After his 1995 retirement party, he was in such demand as a teacher that he soon had requests to substitute a couple of days a week. He subbed at Truman Benedict Elementary and Bernice Ayer Middle School, finally calling it a career around 10 years later. As much as San Clemente has grown, “It’s still a wonderful place,” he said. You can find him three mornings a week playing tambourine with a ukulele group that meets at 9a.m. at Café Calypso on Avenida Del Mar. Fred Swegles is a longtime San Clemente resident with more than 47 years of reporting in the city. 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
One Team”—let’s get unified on this issue. Editor’s note: NextDoor is not an official crime-tracking app.
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Join the San Clemente Times for Beachside Chat, Friday, Feb. 8 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. www.sanclementetimes.com
SC GETTING OUT San Clemente
YOUR SEVEN-DAY EVENT PLANNER
The List
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At the Movies: Awards Season 2019 Roundup
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 www.sanclementetimes.com, and clicking “Submit an Event” under the “Getting Out” tab.
Rami Malek, Jim Beach and Roger Taylor at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 6. Photo: Courtesy of the Golden Globes/HFPA Photographer
Thursday | 07 PICKLEBALL LESSONS 6-7 p.m. Most pickleball classes sponsored by the city of San Clemente are full, but there will now be a beginner’s class on Thursdays. People who are interested can call instructor Raudel Barba. San Luis Rey Park. 109 Avenida San Luis Rey, San Clemente. 954.647.6305. www.san-clemente.org.
Friday | 08 DANA POINT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 7:30 p.m. Dean Anderson, conductor, and pianist Wan-Chin Chang will feature a program of Ludwig van Beethoven’s first piano concerto, first Symphony in C Major and the Overture to Prometheus. St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church, 33866 Calle La Primavera, Dana Point. 949.542.6282. www.danapointsymphony.com. LAST WEEKEND: ‘PAINTING CHURCHES’ AT CABRILLO PLAYHOUSE 7 p.m. (2 p.m. Sunday matinee). In Tina Howe’s Painting Churches, Gardener and Fanny Church are preparing to move out of their Beacon Hill house to their summer cottage on Cape Cod. Gardener, once a famous poet, slips in and out of senility as his wife, Fanny, valiantly tries to keep them both afloat. Tickets are $20. Cabrillo Playhouse, 202 Avenida Cabrillo. 949.492.0465. www.cabrilloplayhouse.org.
Saturday | 09 SOUTH OC CARS AND COFFEE 9-11 a.m. The car show attracts hundreds of car enthusiasts each week. No registration is required and spectators are welcome. Outlets at San Clemente, 101 W. Avenida Vista Hermosa, San Clemente. www.southoccarsandcoffee.com. San Clemente Times February 7-13, 2019
BY MEGAN BIANCO, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES
Photo: File
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10: FOURTH ANNUAL PET ADOPTION 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Luxre Realty is hosting its fourth annual pet adoption. At least 20 animals have been given new homes in years past. The event will have rescue organizations bring cats and dogs for people to meet and to see if they are a right fit for their home. 222 Avenida Del Mar, San Clemente. 949.498.3702. www.luxrerealty.com.
INAUGURAL WELLNESS FAIR 11 a.m.-3 p.m. The Wellness and Prevention Coalition will host its inaugural Wellness Fair, featuring more than 30 vendors from health organizations in various fields. The Youth Coalition will host a raffle and a “Take Back the Vape” booth for people to trade in their vape device for gift cards. Entertainment will include the Community Outreach Alliance (COA) performers, and there will be health screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol levels, body-mass index tests and ear screenings. Outlets of San Clemente. 101 W. Avenida Hermosa www.wpc-oc.org. info@wpc-oc.org. VOLLEYBALL CLINIC 2-4 p.m. San Clemente High School boys volleyball coach Ken Goldstone, his coaching staff and the varsity boys team invite all sixth- through eighth-grade boys/girls to a volleyball clinic. All skill levels are invited. The cost to join is $25. All participants should bring water bottles, athletic shoes and knee pads (optional). Register online. 700 Avenida Pico. 949.492.4165. www.sctritonvolleyball.com.
Sunday | 10 SADDLEBACK COLLEGE PIANO SERIES 2:30 p.m. Saddleback’s own piano professor, Kirill Gliadkovsky, performs Viennese Piano Salon No. 2, featuring works by
Mozart, “Fantasy and Sonata in C minor”; Beethoven, “Appassionata Sonata”; Brahms, “Two Rhapsodies”; and Schubert, “2 Impromptus” and “Wanderer Fantasy.” Presale tickets are $15 general, $12 seniors, $10 students. Children under 18 get in free with a paying adult. Saddleback College, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo. 949.582.4656. www.saddleback.edu/arts.
Tuesday | 12 VALENTINE’S WORKSHOP 6-9 p.m. There will be a live floral demo where people can design their own boutique. Drinks and food will be available. Cost is $35 per person. Call to reserve your spot. Sweeet Repeeet, 538 N. El Camino Real. 949.429.3100.
Wednesday | 13 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. www.tops.org.
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W
e’re now a little bit more than halfway into awards season for 2018 filmmaking, so let’s recap how the past month has gone. Glenn Close and Olivia Colman won Best Actress in a Drama and a Comedy, respectively, at the Golden Globes for The Wife and The Favourite, and Close won again at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Best Actor started out with hype for Ethan Hawke (First Reformed) and Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born), but both were surprisingly overshadowed by Christian Bale (Vice) and Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) at the Globes and the SAGs. Mahershala Ali is looking like the biggest contender at the Oscars for Best Supporting Actor for Green Book, with the most wins in the category thus far. Regina King won Best Supporting Actress at the Globes and the Critics’ Choice Awards for If Beale Street Could Talk, and is the consensus favorite to take the trophy again at the Oscars. Both Best Director and Best Foreign Film have been unanimously trumpeted by critics and the televised awards shows to go to Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma. Cuaron particularly feels like a lock at the Oscars after his most recent win at the Directors Guild of America. The BAFTAs are next Sunday, Feb. 10, the Independent Spirit Awards are on Feb. 23, and the Academy Awards are on Feb. 24. Since the BAFTAs are a British show, there’s a high probability that The Favourite will sweep as it was the best-received UK film from 2018. Whatever the outcome, let’s hope someone gives A Star is Born and Bradley Cooper some appreciation after a month of serious neglect. SC
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GETTING OUT
On Stage at The Coach House: Larry Carlton
Larry Carlton will perform live at The Coach House on Thursday, Feb. 21. Photo: Courtesy of Larry Carlton
BY SHAWN RAYMUNDO, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES
M
r. 335 himself is coming to San Juan Capistrano to play at The Coach House on Thursday, Feb. 21. To those who don’t know, Larry Carlton, otherwise known as Mr. 335 – a reference to his guitar, a Gibson ES-335 – is a legend in the music industry. The Grammy Award-winning rock and jazz guitarist has recorded with several artists such as Steely Dan, Michael Jackson and Joni Mitchell over his more than 50-year career. “I just love playing the guitar, so any chance I have to perform, it’s just a good deal,” Carlton told San Clemente Times. When Carlton comes to town, he’ll be accompanied by drummer Gene Coy, Travis Carlton on bass and Ruslan Sirota on keys. With such a storied career, Carlton is known for reaching back from his past to play songs that include renditions he worked on with Steely Dan and with The Crusaders, in addition to performing music from his own solo work. “After all these years, people still want to hear me play, and so I’m very humbled by that,” Carlton said. For his show at The Coach House, Carlton said he’ll be performing songs he knows fans in San Juan Capistrano haven’t heard him play live yet. One song in particular that he’s excited to play this year is “Ten:00 P.M.” from his 1982 solo studio album, Sleepwalk. During the show, fans will also get to hear music Carlton worked on for Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall album as well as the instrumental theme from the “Hill Street Blues” soundtrack, which earned him his first Grammy Award in 1981. San Clemente Times February 7-13, 2019
“There will be material that the audience has never heard me play before,” Carlton said, later adding that “the audience gets a kick out of reliving those (songs).” As for releasing any new albums in the near future, Carlton said there are no definitive plans yet. “I don’t record until I’m inspired,” he said. Though known for being a jazz guitarist, Carlton said he isn’t interested in recording a smooth jazz album. “I just wait for projects to come along that are fun and interesting for me that really don’t have anything to do with the smooth jazz market,” he said. Last year, Carlton did get to work on a special project in Japan that he found “really fun and interesting.” For several nights, he performed and recorded some songs he worked on with The Crusaders and with Steely Dan. Carlton added that many of those songs he recorded he had never played at shows. “I did a special project in Japan, and we did record every night,” he said. “I just haven’t listened to the masters to make sure we have the right recording of it. That’s for the future.” Tickets to see Larry Carlton at The Coach House are $39.50 for general admission. VIP tickets are also available for an additional $90, which includes a meet-andgreet after the show and photo op. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the concert starts at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21. 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 Page 23
SC San Clemente
SC LIVING
PROFILES OF OUR COMMUNITY
GUEST OPINION: Wellness & Prevention by Susan Parmelee
Helping Families for Over Five Years
T
he mission of the Wellness & Prevention Center is to help youth and families lead healthy lives. When we founded the nonprofit in 2014, the number of youth with substance-use problems and mental health symptoms were on the rise, and connecting to resources was complicated and costly. The founders of the Wellness & Prevention Center created a three-tiered program for public schools that included universal education, targeted classroom and group interventions, and individual and family counseling. We started with one therapist on the campus of San Clemente High School three days a week and have grown to begin serving San Clemente and San Juan Hills High School, as well as the three San Clemente middle schools. Additionally, we saw the need to open two evenings a week to serve the entire community with accessible mental health services, so we now have therapists working with individuals, families and small groups in a borrowed retired school building and will soon offer services at a local church. The diseases of mental health and substance abuse are highly stigmatized in the United States and other countries around the world. Because of this, many individuals and their loved ones find it difficult to reach
out for help. One of our primary strategies is to provide community education that normalizes asking for help, so that seeking mental health care is perceived the same as any medical condition. Our staff also provides youth and adults with education about legal and illegal use of addictive substances, social emotional resilience, and wellness. This work is funded by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s Drug Free Communities program. It is a five-year grant that allows us to help youth learn more about the risks of alcohol, marijuana and other drug use before the age of 21. Research shows that when youth are given clear, accurate information about what is in illicit substances and their health effects on the body and the brain, they are more likely to make healthy choices. The well-being of our youth and families has a huge impact on our community. Our programming is guided by the input of our Wellness & Prevention Coalition. We WELLNESS AND meet once per month, PREVENTION By Susan and these meetings are Parmelee open to the public. We believe strongly that members of a community are the experts on how to support health and wellness. Please consider joining our meetings. If you would like more information, email info@www.wpc-oc.org. As a nonprofit, our organization relies on grants and donations from individuals to keep our doors open. Please consider making a donation at www.wpc-oc.org— click on the donate button. While you are there, please sign up for our emails—they contain valuable prevention and social emotional support information twice a month. Finally, attend our first Health & Wellness Fair from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9,
Pet of the Week: Lollypop SAN CLEMENTE TIMES
T Lollypop. Photo: Courtesy of the San Clemente/ Dana Point Animal Shelter San Clemente Times February 7-13, 2019
wo-year-old Lollypop still has the personality of a playful puppy. A Siberian Husky mix, she is very active and loves water. Lollypop would thrive in an energetic household with someone who has lots of time to spend with her. If you’d like to know more about Lollypop, call the San Clemente/Dana Point Animal Shelter at 949.492.1617 or visit with her at 221 Avenida Fabricante, San Clemente. SC
Photo: Courtesy of Pomona Public Library/Fasher Foto Postcard Collection
FROM THE ARCHIVES The Travel Inn was photographed by Burton Frasher Sr. in 1949 as part of his series across coastal California. 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.
at the Outlets at San Clemente. The fair will feature local providers, nonprofit organizations and free health screenings. Additionally, the event will feature a “Take Back the Vape” booth for e-cigarette and vape safe disposal in exchange for gift cards. Raffles, giveaways and live entertainment will also be featured at this event. Come to find out what resources are available in your community to live well and be healthy!
Susan Parmelee is a mental health social worker and one of the founders of the Wellness & Prevention Center, San Clemente. She can be reached at susan@wellnessandpreventionsanclemente.com. 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
Sudoku BY MYLES MELLOR Last week’s solution:
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 Page 24
See the solution in next week’s issue.
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SC BUSINESS DIRECTORY San Clemente
ADDICTION RECOVERY TREATMENT Body Mind Spirit Intensive Outpatient Program 665 Camino De Los Mares, Ste. 104, 949.485.4979, www.bodymindspiritiop.com CHOCOLATE/CANDY Schmid’s Fine Chocolates 99 Avenida del Mar, 949.369.1052 www.schmidschocolate.com CONCRETE Exquisite Epoxy Concrete Floor Coatings Lic.: 1020002, 949.632.8400, exquisiteepoxy.com DENTISTS Eric Johnson, D.D.S. 647 Camino de los Mares, Ste. 209, 949.493.9311, www.drericjohnson.com Shoreline Dental Studio/ Kristen Ritzau DDS, Dr. Colby Livingston 122 Avenida Cabrillo, 949.498.4110, www.shorelinedentalstudio.com
ELECTRICAL
BUSINESS • SPOTLIGHT
Scott Kidd, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services 949.498.0487, skidd@bhhscal.com
Arcadia Electric 949.361.1045, www.arcadiaelectric.com MUSIC LESSONS Danman’s Music School 949.496.6556, www.danmans.com PERIODONTICS & DENTAL IMPLANTS Dr. Alice P. Moran, DMD 1001 Avenida Pico, Ste. K, 949.361.4867 (GUMS), www.moranperio.com PEST/TERMITE CONTROL Accurate Termite and Pest Control 949.837.6483, www.accuratetermitecontrol.com
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!
PLUMBING A to Z Leak Detection 1001 Calle Recodo, 949.481.7013, www.atozleakdetection.com Bill Metzger Plumbing 1001 Calle Recodo, 949.492.3558, www.billmetzerplumbing.com
REALTORS
Sherry Wild, LuXre Realty BRE # 01480453, 949.275.8937 www.LuXreRealty.com RESTAURANTS Café Calypso 114 Avenida Del Mar #4, 949.366.9386
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HELP WANTED HELP WANTED NOVA Services is a Geotechnical Engineering, Materials Testing and Special Inspection company. Currently filling positions for engineering soil technicians in Orange County, CA. Please email your resume to hwilcox@usa-nova.com.
FOR SALE PIANO FOR SALE Wurlitzer Melville Clark Spinet piano model 1660. Great condition, needs tuning. Piano bench and sheet music included. $300 or best offer. Similar models selling online for $500+. Must be able to pick up. Please Call: 949.370.6325.
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Page 27
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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.
Girls Water Polo Earns No. 2 Seed, First-Round Bye The San Clemente girls water polo team finished off its run to the South Coast League title and is now set up for postseason success. The Tritons (15-13) are the No. 2 seed in CIF-SS Division 2. With only 13 teams making the Division 2 bracket, the top three seeds earned byes into the quarterfinals. San Clemente will play the winner of the Feb. 6 Huntington Beach-Murrieta Valley match on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 1:30 p.m. at the Vista Hermosa Aquatics Center. Last month, San Clemente defeated Huntington Beach on the road in double overtime, 11-10. The Tritons did not face Murrieta Valley this season. San Clemente earned its spot by capturing another league championship. By virtue of their perfect league record, the Tritons earned a bye to the league final at home on Jan. 31, where they defeated No. 3 seed Dana Hills, 17-8.
Girls Soccer Opens Division 1 on the Road The San Clemente girls soccer team traveled to Studio City to take on Harvard-Westlake on Wednesday, Feb. 6. Results were not available at press time, but check our Twitter page, @SouthOCSports, for scores. Harvard-Westlake was the Mission League champion this season. San Clemente took second place in the South Coast League. If the Tritons advanced, they’ll take on the winner of Temecula Valley-Santiago of Corona on Friday, Feb. 8. San Clemente would host Temecula Valley or travel to Santiago. The Tritons (8-6-4) finished the season with positive results in their final three league games with a 1-1 draw at San Juan
San Clemente Times February 7-13, 2019
The San Clemente girls water polo team won the South Coast League and earned a bye as the No. 2 seed in CIF-SS Division 2. Photo: San Clemente girls water polo
hills, a 2-0 win over Tesoro and a 1-1 draw against Dana Hills. San Clemente lost only two league games, both to league champion Aliso Niguel.
beaten in its last 13 games, including 12 wins. The Tritons were ranked No. 5 in the final Division 1 poll.
Girls Basketball Begins on the Road in Division 2A
Boys Soccer to Host Division 1 Opener With a South Coast League championship in hand, the San Clemente boys soccer team is set for a first-round home game against Century of Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 7 in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs. The Tritons hosted Century in the second game of the season and posted a 1-0 victory on Nov. 28. Quinn Richards scored the lone goal, and Ryan Kowarsch and Curtis Harvey combined for the shutout with three saves. If San Clemente advances, it will take on the winner of Paramount-South Torrance on Saturday, Feb. 9. The Tritons would travel to either South Torrance or Paramount in the second round. San Clemente (18-2-4) was perfect in league with nine straight wins and un-
In the playoffs for a third straight season, the San Clemente girls basketball team tips off this year’s postseason on the road at Oxford Academy of Cypress in the CIF-SS Division 2A first round. Oxford Academy enter as champions of the 605 League. San Clemente finished second in a competitive South Coast League. If the Tritons advance, they will play the winner of El Rancho-Lakewood on Saturday, Feb. 9. San Clemente would host El Rancho and would travel to Lakewood. San Clemente (18-10) finished the regular season winning three in a row against Dana Hills, at Tesoro and against Trabuco Hills. San Clemente lost only two games in league, both to league champion Aliso Niguel.
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SCHS Honors 14 on National Signing Day San Clemente presented 14 studentathletes signing on to play at the college and university level in an oncampus ceremony on National Signing Day, Wednesday, Feb. 6. The 14 honored were Ellie Bagley (gymnastics, Washington), Charlie Bein (football, Air Force), Blake Bowen (soccer, San Diego State), Ellyn Casto (soccer, University of San Diego), Juliette Clark (water polo, Pomona College), Brendan Costello (football, Oklahoma State), Hanna Farnsworth (beach volleyball, Long Beach State), Raeonna Flores (softball, Concordia-Irvine), Samantha Gill (gymnastics, West Chester), Delainey Isles (lacrosse, Liberty), Jaydel Jenkins (football, Columbia), Wakely Lush (football, Stanford), Ty Matson (water polo, UC San Diego) and Malia Yim (volleyball, George Washington). For full coverage and photos, check out www.sanclementetimes.com. SC
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SC SURF
SC SURF IS PRESENTED BY:
SCOOP ON THE LOCAL SURF COMMUNITY
The Evolution of Team USA Former WT stars Brett Simpson, Chris Gallagher Stone tapped as coaches BY JAKE HOWARD, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES
T
ime flies when you’re having fun, and while surfing’s debut in the Olympics is still 18 months away, things are heating up at USA Surfing. Over the past month, the governing body for America’s national surf program has undergone a few big changes. During the holiday season, U.S. head coach Joey Buran announced that he was going to be stepping away from his coaching responsibilities. Buran has been instrumental in putting a lot of the pieces in place to help America establish a winning program and leaves behind strong foundational roots from which to build. Most recently, he led the Americans’ junior team to a silver medal at the 2018 VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Huntington Beach and a bronze medal at the 2018 ISA World Surfing Games in Japan. “On Dec. 17, 1984, I won the Pipeline Masters and announced my resignation from my pro surfing career. Now, 34 years later on the same date, and a day after the USA Surf Team won its first-ever Team Adaptive World Title, I am announcing my retirement from my surf coaching career and resigning my current position as coach of the USA Olympic Surf Team,” Buran said.
GROM OF THE WEEK
KING NICOL
BY JAKE HOWARD, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES
H
e’s only 6 years old, but we’re long overdue in giving King Nicol his moment in the Grom of the Week spotlight. The little frother has become somewhat of an internet sensation lately, starring in short GoPro clips that his dad, former WSL Championship Tour surfer Yadin Nicol, shoots and edits. The footage has made its way to all of the major surf websites, including being featured on WorldSurfLeague.com. King even shows up in a commercial spot Nike did with his dad. Growing up around San Clemente, he’s a regular at Uppers, Middles and all the San Clemente Times February 7-13, 2019
Named as the head coach of USA Surfing’s elite junior program, Huntington Beach’s Brett Simpson brings two U.S. Open titles and years of experience on the WSL Championship Tour to the program. Photo: USA Surfing/Nate Perry
The coaching vacancy didn’t stay open very long. Chris Gallagher Stone—former World Tour competitor, talented surfboard shaper and surf coach to the stars—has been hired as the U.S. head coach. “Gally,” as most in the world know him, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the position. Raised in Santa Cruz, currently living on the North Shore of Oahu, he’s competed on the world stage as well as having worked with top-level surfers such as Jordy Smith and CJ Hobgood. He had planned to take most of 2019 off to spend more time with his family and shaping surfboards, but instead he chose to answer the calling. “Opportunities like this don’t come around that often. I had to go for it,” said
beach-breaks, where his old man pushes him into waves and rides behind him. If you’ve ever seen them in the water, you know the two have an absolute ball together. King has also had the good fortune of ripping a few waves up at the Kelly Slater Surf Ranch in the Central Valley—an opportunity most surfers haven’t had. But even with all the perks that come with having an all-star dad like Yadin, King’s still a grom at heart. “I like drawing, skating, school and annoying my sister,” he said in an interview when the Gudauskas brothers named him their Positive Vibe Warrior Grom of the Week. The future is bright for King, but for now he’s loving every second of grom life. SC
Gallagher Stone after the news was announced. His biggest responsibility will be to prepare American surfers for the 2020 Games. The top two American men and women on the WSL’s Championship Tour at the end of the 2019 season will qualify for the Olympics, which means local pro surfers such as Kolohe Andino and Griffin Colapinto could very well represent the Stars and Stripes. The U.S. Olympic team will be announced in December 2019. The date of the opening ceremony for the Japan Games is July 24, 2020. “I think there are surfers that realize, if they train like a gymnast, have all that strength and flexibility and explosiveness, they could really take their surfing to
some exciting places,” Gallagher Stone said. “It’s going to be really interesting who takes that and runs with it. What could be? That’s what gets me excited.” Meanwhile, Huntington Beach’s Brett Simpson has been named as the coach of the U.S. Junior National program. A two-time winner of the U.S. Open and six-year veteran of the WSL Championship Tour, Simpson is renowned for his highperformance, progressive approach to the sport. It’s been three years since Simpson competed full-time, and he’s eagerly looking forward to this next chapter. “San Clemente’s a hotbed of talent. There are so many good kids coming out of there right now. It’s the place to be at the moment,” Simpson said last week before heading to the U.S. Olympic training facility in Colorado Springs. At the moment, there are nine surfers from the San Clemente and Dana Point area on the U.S. Junior National team, including 2018 WSL World Junior Champion Kirra Pinkerton and current USA Surfing Prime ratings leader Jett Schilling. It’s by far the most-represented area in the country. “These are our best juniors coming up, so I want it to be fun. I want them to learn, and I want them to develop some knowledge,” Simpson said. “My goal is to build a strong team while keeping it fun and interesting for the kids. I’m excited about the opportunity.” Both Simpson and Gallagher Stone are still wrapping their heads around their new positions and what the immediate future looks like, but with every passing week we’re inching closer to the 2020 Olympics. “It’s going to be here before we know it. There’s a lot of work to do,” an excited Gallagher Stone said, smiling. “I can’t wait to get going.” SC
SURF FORECAST Water Temperature: 57-60 Degrees F Water Visibility and Conditions: 10-15’ Thursday: Small west-northwest swell and traces of southwest swell. Surf is running knee-waist high (2-3’) at top breaks. High tide mid morning will shut down many spots. Light offshore winds in the morning, turning to light+ onshore winds in the afternoon. Outlook: Modest to fun size blend of west-northwest and southwest swells through the weekend and early next week. Waist high (3’) surf is common with chestshoulder high (4’) sets at top breaks. Combo exposed beach-breaks should see some fun peaks cross up at times. Winds/conditions most favorable in the mornings, before light locally moderate onshore flow picks up each afternoon. Be sure to check Surfline.com for all the details and the longer range outlook.
King Nicol. Photo: Instagram @coronakingsley
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