ReportWire

Tag: southern california

  • Commentary: I tried to bury my mom in an environmentally responsible way in L.A. It was impossible

    Commentary: I tried to bury my mom in an environmentally responsible way in L.A. It was impossible

    [ad_1]

    To get a sense of how progressive ideals don’t always reflect actual practice, try burying a dead relative in Southern California. You’ll find that even in this land where people talk about sustainability, saying farewell in an environmentally responsible manner is, for most people, nearly impossible.

    I came to grips with that reality in August, when my mother died from an unexpected illness. Making the final arrangements was my job, and I valued the experience as much as one can while gripped by grief.

    My mother, a nurse and devout Lutheran, spent her life caring for the world around her and the people whom Jesus called “the least of these brothers and sisters.” I felt strongly that her remains should be handled in a way that reflected her values and, to some extent, mine.

    As funeral director and poet Thomas Lynch wrote, “By getting the dead where they need to go, the living get where they need to be.”

    And where are the living? On a planet in serious peril, where resource- and land-intensive burial practices reflect the overconsumption that put us in this mess. So, in the days just before my mom’s death, and with the clock ticking fast, I explored “green burial” options in Southern California that minimize environmental impacts.

    That involved ditching the local (and very expensive) mortuary giant Forest Lawn — where seemingly everyone in Glendale, my mom’s hometown, goes to spend eternity — and calling smaller funeral homes that advertise eco-friendly options.

    I settled on a small business in Hollywood that partners with a natural burial cemetery — where the land is minimally disturbed and traditional embalming isn’t allowed — and even offers an intriguing “human composting” option. Crucially, prices for the most common services are listed prominently on the funeral home’s website (note to other mortuaries: Please do this).

    But the eco-friendly options had serious drawbacks. The natural burial cemetery is near Joshua Tree (gorgeous, but 120 miles away), and human composting — a process that accelerates decomposition and, within a month, turns a body into nutrient-dense soil — isn’t yet legal in California and would have required shipping my dead mother to Washington state.

    Burial options that require two-hour flights or three-hour car drives don’t strike me as green. Even in this era of heightened environmental consciousness, the most accessible disposal options are not the sustainable ones. Our final choice: local cremation.

    Still, the future for handling the dead in an environmentally sound way isn’t totally dim. Last year, California passed a law to allow human composting starting in 2027. And, although there are only two fully natural burial grounds certified by the Green Burial Council in all of California (none of them near Los Angeles), more “traditional” cemeteries are offering some environmentally friendly options.

    Sarah Chavez, executive director of the L.A.-based advocacy group the Order of the Good Death, told me these cemeteries and California lawmakers are responding to an increasing demand for burials that not only conserve resources, but are also more meaningful to the people seeking them.

    She said the $20-billion U.S. funeral industry has commodified death in a way that has made people scared of their dead loved ones, convinced that only trained, very expensive professionals must take over the moment a relative dies.

    I told Chavez my family resisted this routine, even if we didn’t get a green burial. The funeral home accommodated our request to sit with my mom for several hours before it sent workers to pick her up. In that time, the few of us there had a mini-funeral.

    We alternated between tears, laughter and prayers, all while my mom was there with us. Her body was not hazardous waste to be swiftly disposed of.

    Chavez said our experience reflects a grassroots change in death services. Her group supports families taking a more active role in burials. She said many people entering the funeral industry now are women who recognize the need for change, which I noticed in making my arrangements as well.

    From this desire for more control, we’ll get more green burial options in the future. Just not in time for my mom.

    [ad_2]

    Paul Thornton

    Source link

  • A warm, wet El Niño winter is in store for California and much of the U.S.

    A warm, wet El Niño winter is in store for California and much of the U.S.

    [ad_1]

    After a blistering summer of record heat, raging wildfires and unpredictable storms, federal scientists on Thursday said a warm, wet winter driven by El Niño is in store for California and much of the rest of country.

    The first winter outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that a strong El Niño will remain in place through at least the spring, with further strengthening possible over the next couple of months.

    El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño-La Niña Southern Oscillation pattern — sometimes referred to as ENSO — and is a major driver of temperature and precipitation patterns across the globe.

    “The anticipated strong El Niño is the predominant climate factor driving the U.S. winter outlook this year,” said Jon Gottschalck, chief of the operational prediction branch at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

    Aggressive and impactful reporting on climate change, the environment, health and science.

    Temperature forecasts for December, January and February favor warmer-than-average conditions across the northern tier of the U.S. and much of the West, with the highest chance of above-normal temperatures expected in Northern California, the Pacific Northwest and northern New England. Odds are tilted toward warmth in Central and Southern California as well.

    The forecast also favors wetter-than-average conditions in many regions of the country, including nearly all of California, the southern Plains, Texas and the Southeast. Widespread drought will persist across much of the central and southern U.S., but not in California, where the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay area have the highest odds in the state of above-normal rainfall.

    Map showing warmer-than-average temperatures are favored across the northern tier of the U.S. and West Coast.

    Warmer-than-average temperatures are favored across the northern tier of the U.S. and West Coast, according to a new winter outlook from NOAA.

    (NOAA)

    The outlook conjures the specter of another soggy season for the Golden State, which was pummeled by 31 atmospheric river storms, deadly floods and record-setting snow last winter.

    Gottschalck said the combination of wetness and warmth means more precipitation is likely to fall as rain instead of snow. But he and other experts also said it’s too soon to say whether California will see a repeat of the atmospheric rivers it experienced at the start of this year.

    Map showing likelihood of wetter-than-average conditions across much of California and other parts of the country.

    Wetter-than-average conditions are likely across much of California, as well as the central Rockies, the southern Plains, Gulf Coast, Southeast and lower-mid-Atlantic and northern Alaska, according to a new winter outlook from NOAA.

    “It’s important to stress that even though we see these general patterns during El Niño and La Niña years, there is still a lot of variability and not every event is going to follow the general pattern,” Julie Kalansky, a climate scientist at the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said in a recent El Niño update.

    Kalansky noted that last year’s La Niña was a perfect example, as the state received a deluge of moisture despite the pattern’s association with drier conditions in Southern California.

    “So, the declaration of an El Niño doesn’t guarantee that Southern California is going to have a wet, stormy winter, but it does stack the deck in that direction,” she said.

    The wet outlook follows the planet’s hottest summer ever recorded.

    Global average surface temperatures in June, July, August and September were the highest they’ve ever been, marked by sizzling heat waves in Europe, China and the southwestern U.S. — including a record 31 consecutive days of high temperatures at or above 110 degrees in Phoenix.

    September was so hot — 2.59 degrees above the 20th century average of 59 degrees — that it also broke the record for the highest monthly global temperature anomaly, or the largest difference from the long-term average, NOAA officials said.

    Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at the nonprofit Berkeley Earth, called the month’s temperature data “absolutely gobsmackingly bananas.”

    A man hikes a trail at Eaton Canyon in temperatures above 100 degrees.

    Timothy Koelkebeck hikes an Eaton Canyon trail as temperatures reach 100 degrees and above.

    (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

    The September data and winter forecast make it 99% certain that 2023 will end up as the planet’s hottest year on record, according to Gavin Schmidt, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Currently, 2016 and 2020 are tied for that record.

    Schmidt said this year’s monthly heat records are particularly remarkable because they are occurring before the peak of the current El Niño event. Other hot periods, including in 2016 and 2020, happened after the peak of El Niño.

    That doesn’t bode well for what might be in store next spring, he said.

    “I would anticipate that 2024 is still going to be warmer than 2023, even given the ‘gobsmackingly bananas’ anomalies that we’ve had this summer,” Schmidt said. “What we would predict for next year, based just effectively on the long-term trend and the predicted level of ENSO going into next year, is that it will be warmer again — and by quite a lot.”

    Schmidt said he was surprised by the unusually high temperatures this summer. Persistent climate warming driven by the burning of fossil fuels is to be expected, as are warmer global temperatures linked to El Niño, but scientists are still seeking answers about why 2023 has been so off-the-charts.

    Some theories include a recent change to shipping regulations concerning aerosols, which reduced the upper limit of sulfur in fuels. The change was geared toward cleaner air in ports and coastal areas but may have had an unintended planetary warming effect because the aerosols were reflecting sunlight away from Earth.

    A dearth of Saharan dust, possibly linked to weakened trade winds from El Niño, could also be a warming factor since the dust normally has a cooling effect on the North Atlantic, Schdmit and other researchers said.

    Residents checkout the damage after the fast moving and swollen Tule River crumbled parts of Globe Drive

    Residents check out the damage after the fast-moving and swollen Tule River crumbled parts of Globe Drive in Springville, Calif., in March.

    (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

    Additionally, the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in 2022 shot record-breaking amounts of water vapor into the stratosphere, which can act as a heat-trapping greenhouse gas.

    “But all of the quantitative estimates of how big those effects are are way too small to explain what’s going on,” Schmidt said. “This is not a neat story. It could be the long-term trends, plus ENSO, plus a little bit from the volcano, plus a little bit from the marine shipping emission changes, plus quite a large chunk of internal variability.”

    Indeed, he said that while the long-term trends point to continued warming, there are likely to be years in the future that are cooler than 2023.

    What is indisputable, though, is that people are already experiencing the effects of warmer temperatures — including extreme rainfall, extended droughts, heat waves and sea level rise — through their impacts on infrastructure, coral reefs, fishing, crop yields and other sectors, Schmidt said.

    NOAA experts said this year’s El Niño probably won’t be as severe as the one in 2015-16, which ranked as a “very strong El Niño,” but that it would still be wise for the West Coast to ready itself for more El Niño-fueled moisture. This month, state officials said they are taking steps to prepare for such a possibility, including assembling flood control material and sandbags, and providing funds for critical levee repairs.

    Though the winter storms significantly eased drought conditions in California, the soggy winter was among dozens of billion-dollar climate disasters in the U.S. this year, with flooding in the state between January and March causing about $4.2 billion in damage, according to NOAA. In August, Tropical Storm Hilary dropped more than a year’s worth of rain in a single day in several regions of the state.

    Other billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. include major flooding in New York, Hurricane Idalia in Florida and a devastating firestorm in Hawaii.

    “So far this year we’ve had 24 confirmed billion-dollar disasters, which is already a record-breaking amount,” said Tom Di Liberto, a climate scientist with NOAA. “And we still have October, November and December to go.”

    [ad_2]

    Hayley Smith

    Source link

  • A man is convicted of attempted murder in shooting of 2 Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in 2020 | CNN

    A man is convicted of attempted murder in shooting of 2 Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in 2020 | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    A jury on Thursday convicted a man on charges relating to a series of crimes, including attempted murder in the shooting of two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies outside a transit station in September 2020, prosecutors said.

    Deonte Murray, 39, was found guilty on 10 charges, including three counts of attempted murder, carjacking, robbery, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and illegal possession of firearms, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said Thursday.

    Murray shot two sheriff’s deputies while they were sitting in their car outside a Metro station in Compton, California, on September 12, 2020, authorities said. He was arrested three days after the shooting triggered a massive manhunt as the officers underwent surgery and recovery.

    Days before the officers’ shooting, Murray carried out other crimes, authorities said. In Compton on September 1, 2020, he shot the owner of a Mercedes-Benz in the leg with a high-powered rifle before stealing the car, prosecutors said.

    Police initially identified Murray as a suspect in the carjacking and arrested him September 15, 2020, authorities said. As police pursued him that day, Murray tossed a firearm from his car, and the weapon was later found to be the same gun used to shoot the deputies, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Capt. Kent Wegener said at the time. The firearm was a ghost gun, Wegener said, using a term for a weapon that is typically challenging to trace because it’s made from assembled parts.

    Police identified him as a suspect in the deputies’ shooting after his arrest in the carjacking, authorities said.

    The deputies’ shooting was caught on surveillance video, which showed a gunman walking up to the passenger door of their squad car parked outside the Martin Luther King Jr. Transit Center and opening fire and running away.

    Murray faces a life sentence in prison, the district attorney said in a news release Thursday. Murray’s attorney declined to comment on the conviction.

    “This verdict reaffirms our commitment to protecting those who serve and sends a clear message that acts of violence will not go unpunished,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • As California’s toxic Salton Sea shrinks, it’s raising health alarms for the surrounding community

    As California’s toxic Salton Sea shrinks, it’s raising health alarms for the surrounding community

    [ad_1]

    Salton City, California — Damien Lopez, age 4, has symptoms that many people who live near Southern California’s Salton Sea also have.

    “His cough gets very wheezy. I try to control him,” his mother Michelle Lopez said. 

    “Control” often means visiting pediatric nurse Christina Galindo at Pioneers Memorial Hospital.

    “I can see up to 25 to 30 patients a day, and maybe half of those are dealing with respiratory issues,” Galindo told CBS News.

    A 2019 University of Southern California study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that between 20% and 22% of children in the region have asthma-like symptoms, a little more than triple the national rate for asthma, according to numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Dr. David Lo, a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of California, Riverside, led a university study last year that determined the Salton Sea itself is responsible for the high incidence of asthma for those who live near it. It found that the contaminants in the sea could be causing lung inflammation in surrounding residents.

    The Salton Sea was formed in the early 1900s after a dam broke and flooded the Imperial Valley with water from the Colorado River. Today, its primary source is nearby farm runoff, which includes fertilizer, heavy metals and toxins like arsenic and selenium, Lo explained to CBS News.

    Salton Sea
    A receding shoreline at the Salton Sea on April 4, 2023, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California. The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly saline body of water in Riverside and Imperial counties. 

    Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images


    For decades, this dangerous mix sat on the sea floor. But without the replenishment of Colorado River water, the Salton Sea is rapidly receding, exposing a dry and toxic lakebed to the wind.

    It is also attracting a new industry looking to mine another chemical that lies below the lakebed — lithium.

    “If California wants to electrify every single vehicle by 2035, they’re gonna need every piece of lithium they can get,” said Frank Ruiz, director of the Salton Sea program for California Audubon and a board member for the Lithium Valley Commission, a California state agency which oversees lithium mining in the region.

    “We don’t completely understand the impact of the lithium industry,” Ruiz said. “No industry is 100% free of environmental impacts.”

    Ruiz says lithium could be liquid gold for a region facing some of the highest poverty rates in the state. For now, it’s unclear if lithium is a lifeline or a threat.

    “This is a toxic, toxic dust,” Ruiz said, adding that he hopes the community around the Salton Sea doesn’t pay a health cost for what could be an economic boon.

    “Taxes and revenues can potentially provide money to continue covering this toxic playa,” Ruiz said. 

    Lopez hopes her family is not left in the dust.

    “”Some concern that one day they’ll be like, ‘You have to leave your house, because you can’t live in here any more,” Lopez said. 

    Jonathan Vigliotti


    Jonathan Vigliotti

    Jonathan Vigliotti is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles. He previously served as a foreign correspondent for the network’s London bureau.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Suspect arrested in the ambush killing of Los Angeles deputy pleads not guilty to murder charge | CNN

    Suspect arrested in the ambush killing of Los Angeles deputy pleads not guilty to murder charge | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    The 29-year-old man accused of killing a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy in an ambush-style shooting last week entered dual pleas Wednesday of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.

    Kevin Cataneo Salazar is charged with murder with special allegations in the shooting of Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, 30, who was waiting at a red light in his patrol car on Saturday when he was attacked.

    The deputy, who got engaged just four days before he was killed, was found fatally wounded by a civilian around 6 p.m. near his sheriff’s station in Palmdale, about 60 miles north of Los Angeles, police have said.

    Cataneo Salazar denied all special allegations in the complaint, which accuses him of intentionally killing the deputy with a .22 caliber revolver “by means of lying-in-wait,” referring to an ambush-style killing.

    Cataneo Salazar’s attorney, George Rosenstock, declined to comment on the case when contacted by CNN.

    “Deputy Clinkunbroomer was a peace officer who was intentionally killed while engaged in the performance of his duties,” says the complaint against Cataneo Salazar. It also states the defendant “knew and reasonably should have known” Clinkunbroomer was on duty as a law enforcement officer.

    If convicted, the suspect will face a sentence of “life imprisonment without the possibility of parole,” according to Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.

    Judge Scott Yang ordered Cataneo Salazar to remain held without bail and issued a protective order on discovery, preventing details of the case from being made public.

    Cataneo Salazar’s mother and two sisters were in the observation room with reporters. One sister appeared to be crying. It appeared his mother was not able to see her son from the vantage point where she was sitting and spent most of the hearing staring at the floor.

    Nearly a dozen uniformed sheriff’s deputies sat in the jury box during the proceeding.

    During a news conference later on Wednesday, Clinkunbroomer’s fiancée, Brittany Lindsey, called the deputy “the best guy I ever met.”

    “He was so thoughtful and caring and everyone who met him or knew him loved him. I’m so happy I was able to love him. It was not long enough. I couldn’t wait to start our lives together. We were just engaged, planning to get married and start a family,” Lindsey said through tears. “Ryan, I miss you and I love you so much. I don’t know how to live without you and I didn’t ever want to imagine it.”

    A preliminary hearing in the case was scheduled for November 7 at 11:30 a.m.

    Deputy District Attorney Michael Blake said during Wednesday’s news conference police believe the suspect “did purchase a firearm in the weeks before the crime,” but did not elaborate further.

    The suspect’s sister, Jessica Salazar, publicly apologized for her brother’s actions and said he was not in the right state of mind.

    “It wasn’t him. It was the sickness. It was the sickness controlling him,” Salazar told CNN affiliate KABC.

    Suspect Kevin Cataneo Salazar

    Salazar said her brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia. “He would feel persecuted, voices talking to him. He tried committing suicide once or twice,” she told KABC.

    But the status of the suspect’s mental health might not bring comfort to the deputy’s grieving family, Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna said.

    “Whether mental health is a factor or not, think about this: If I had to go to your family and tell them you were not coming home and you were just murdered, does it matter what the person was thinking or their condition?” Luna said.

    Investigators will be working to obtain medical records as they look into “unconfirmed reports” the suspect may have a mental health history, Deputy District Attorney David Ayvazian said Wednesday.

    Clinkunbroomer was a beloved member of the sheriff’s department and “was just starting his life,” Luna said. The deputy’s father and grandfather both served in the sheriff’s department, Luna said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • A Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot inside his patrol car, officials say | CNN

    A Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot inside his patrol car, officials say | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy died after he was shot inside his patrol car Saturday evening, authorities said.

    Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, 30, was found unconscious by a civilian in his patrol car around 6 p.m. near the sheriff’s station in Palmdale, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Palmdale is about 60 miles north of Los Angeles.

    The deputy, who was in uniform and on duty when he was shot, was pronounced dead at a local hospital, Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna said at a news conference.

    No suspect description was provided and it’s unclear who opened fire on the deputy. The department is asking the public to come forward if they have video that may have captured the shooting.

    “We really need your help. We need to get this guy off the street – guy or guys. He’s a public safety threat. He ambushed and killed – murdered – one of our deputies. We need your help to get him off the street,” Luna said.

    Luna said it appears to have been a targeted shooting.

    “I think it was a targeted act based on what we know now, but we’re still in the extremely early stages of this investigation,” Luna said.

    “He was just driving down the street and for no apparent reason – and we’re still looking into the specific reasons – somebody decided to shoot and murder him. … That to me is sickening. “

    Clinkunbroomer, who transferred to the Palmdale sheriff’s station in 2018, was a field training officer. His father and grandfather both served in the sheriff’s department, Luna said. He had just gotten engaged four days ago.

    “He was just starting his life,” the sheriff said.

    Saturday’s shooting comes three years after two Los Angeles deputies were shot ambush-style at a train station while sitting in their patrol vehicle. Surveillance video from the incident showed a gunman walking up to the passenger door of their squad car, opening fire and running away.

    There have been 83 ambush-style attacks on law enforcement in 2023, resulting in 101 officers shot – 15 of them fatally, according to a September 5 report from the Fraternal Order of Police.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Bioluminescent waves light up Southern California’s coastal waters

    Bioluminescent waves light up Southern California’s coastal waters

    [ad_1]

    Los Angeles — In Southern California, people are flocking to the water for what may be one of the hottest tickets in town, a light show unlike any other.

    “This is something that looks like it’s out of a movie, it doesn’t really look real,” Los Angeles-based photographer Patrick Coyne said. 

    The star is a marine algae called phytoplankton that emits flashes of blue light when disturbed.

    “This is part of a phenomenon that we call an algae bloom, or ‘red tide,’” oceanographer Drew Lucas from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography told CBS News.

    Bioluminescence in Orange County
    Julia Beckett, 60, left, of Huntington Beach, and Christine Tuttle, 65, right, of Westminster capture the glowing blue of the bioluminescence in the crashing waves in the middle of the night on Sept. 11, 2023, in Newport Beach, Calif. 

    Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images


    Lucas explained that the flourishing algae blooms are a rust color during the day, and even though the bioluminescence emitted is blue, it all due to the red tide.

    “They do really like warm temperatures, calm conditions, and we’ve had a pretty long run of that here in Southern California over the last couple of weeks,” Lucas said.

    Earlier this year, scores of marine mammals — including sea lions and dolphins — were found sick or dying off California’s coastline from exposure to another kind of toxic algae. Tissue samples collected from the animals at the time determined they had domoic acid, a neurotoxin produced by the algae Pseudo-nitzschia, according to NOAA Fisheries. 

    However, according to Lucas, so far, this algae appears mostly safe for both animals and humans.

    “It really is a spectacular display of nature, and something that you really have to see to believe,” Lucas said.

    Coyne has been captivated by bioluminescence since he first saw it years ago.

    “I thought it was the most magical thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Coyne said. “And I’ve been chasing that since then.”

    Coyne and fellow photographers, who their followers have dubbed the “bio bros,” now scour the beaches during red tides, posting the bluest waves they can find, and drawing scores of onlookers to the coast.

    Coyne’s “white whale” this summer? Blue-tinged dolphins, which he first captured on video in 2020.

    “I remember filming that and I actually had actual tears in my eyes,” Coyne said. “I’ve been trying to get it out here again.”

    This week, that shot in the dark paid off, and he got another incredible video of blue-tinged dolphins.

    “It was just like seeing it for the first time, really incredible, and something that I might not ever see again,” Coyne said. 

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Hilary moves through Southwest with historic amount of rainfall | CNN

    Hilary moves through Southwest with historic amount of rainfall | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    Hilary has triggered deadly flooding, heavy rains and powerful gusts across parts of the southwest and Mexico, transforming streets into raging rivers and forcing some residents to flee, and leaving others in need of rescue, even after the storm weakened to a post-tropical cyclone.

    More rain is expected to fall throughout Monday and Tuesday as officials clean up the aftermath. After hitting Southern California on Sunday as a tropical storm – the state’s first since 1997 – Hilary headed into Nevada as its first-ever recorded tropical storm. As Hilary moves across the southwest, the storm has brought power outages, life-threatening flooding and calls for residents to evacuate or shelter in place.

    Live updates: Hilary brings major flood risk to California

    The storm broke rainfall records across Southern California: Palm Springs got nearly a year’s worth of rain with 4.3 inches in 24 hours, one of its rainiest days ever. Death Valley nearly set a record with 1.68 inches, and the Furnace Creek area, which usually gets about two-tenths of an inch in August, got 0.63 inches.

    And the storm is the rainiest tropical storm system in Nevada’s history, nearly doubling the state’s 116-year-old all-time record, according to preliminary data from NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center. Hilary has released 8.7 inches of rain on Lee Canyon, Nevada, smashing the previous record of 4.36 inches in 1906.

    Watch: Massive mudslide sends firefighters scrambling to safety

    More rain is expected to cause dangerous flash, urban and arroyo flooding in some places, including landslides, mudslides and debris flows. Localized flooding is expected into Tuesday morning across northern portions of the Intermountain West.

    In Palm Springs, a section of Interstate 10 is shut down while road crews clear away mud left behind by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Hilary, but other routes in and out of the desert oasis near Joshua Tree National Park are open.

    In addition, many freeway off-ramps are limited because of mud, and CalTrans crews are working to clear those in an effort to ease accessibility.

    Emergency telephone service, which had been down since midmorning, has been restored, the police department said, but an outage continues to affect other areas of the Coachella Valley.

    “We are not used to this level of precipitation, generally – certainly not in the middle of summer,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria told CNN on Sunday.

    “With what we’re expecting, it may overwhelm us.”

    Tropical storm Hilary caused a section of the normally-dry Whitewater River to flood parts of a golf course in Cathedral City, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

    Here’s the latest:

    • Heavy rains and some flooding may continue Tuesday morning in parts of the Intermountain West, according to the National Hurricane Center. The rain will cause “mostly localized areas of flash flooding,” the National Weather Service Prediction Center said. Flood watches remain in place across eight Western states.

    • Strong and gusty winds will blow in Nevada, western Utah, southern Idaho and southwest Montana, the hurricane center said. Coastal tropical storm warnings have been discontinued.

    • Some portions of Southern California lost power during the storm but electricity was mostly restored by Monday evening. A total of about 41,000 customers in Los Angeles were without power at one point, Marty Adams, general manager and chief engineer at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said Monday.

    • People in parts of Southern California should not travel unless they are fleeing an area under flooding or under an evacuation order, the National Weather Service has warned.

    • Flooding, mudslides and downed trees and wires were widely reported across Southern California on Sunday and Monday. At least nine people were rescued Sunday in a San Diego riverbed, San Diego Fire-Rescue said, with water rescues also reported in Ventura County and Palm Springs.

    • In Mexico, where the storm first landed, power has been restored to 80% of customers in the three states affected by Hilary, according to the national power company. “379,850 users have been affected, and electricity supply has been restored to 302,134, equivalent to 80%,” said the Federal Electricity Commission in a statement Monday.

    Maura Taura surveys the damaged cause by a downed tree outside her home.

    To the west, Los Angeles and Ventura counties saw “considerable damage” Sunday night amid reports of dangerous flash flooding, and rock and mudslides, the National Weather Service said, adding up to half an inch of rain could fall per hour.

    Cars were stuck in floodwaters in the Spanish Hills area, the National Weather Service reported.

    Crowley urged residents to take precautions on the roads.

    “A relatively small amount of water can sweep a vehicle away,” she said.

    In Los Angeles, the worst of the storm was over as of Monday morning, according to officials. All weather warnings in the city were canceled. “We are past the brunt of the impact,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Ariel Cohen.

    Schools in San Diego and Los Angeles are set to reopen Tuesday after closing Monday in anticipation of the storm. Officials canceled classes for the more than 121,000 students in the San Diego Unified School District.

    The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest in the nation, also shut down Monday. The district spans about 700 square miles, meaning the impact of the storm varied for its students.

    Schools in the Los Angeles district will reopen on Tuesday, according to superintendent Alberto Carvalho.

    “Our teams have been scouring our schools, and so far, conditions are pretty good,” Carvalho said. A couple dozen schools have lost phone and internet service, and one school has been impacted by a minor mudslide.

    “It would have been reckless for us to make a different decision,” Carvalho said of the decision to close schools Monday.

    “Los Angeles was tested but we came through it and we came through it with minimal impacts, considering what we endured,” said Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian.

    The Nye County School District in Nevada also canceled classes Monday, with plans to reopen Tuesday.

    Cars stranded in roads deluged with mud and water

    Once a hurricane, Hilary weakened as it made landfall Sunday in Mexico – where at least one person died – then crossed into the Golden State. The storm’s center was roughly 10 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles around 8 p.m. local time Sunday, moving north with weakened 45-mph winds, according to the hurricane center.

    The Los Angeles Fire Department fielded more than 4,000 emergency calls on Sunday and responded to about 1,800 incidents, Chief Kristin Crowley said in a news conference on Monday. The calls included a request for help for five cars stranded in a flooded intersection of Sun Valley. One person was safely rescued and no one was injured in the Sun Valley incident, Crowley said.

    Flood water affected an underground power vault, leading to an outage for about 6,000 customers in the Beverly Grove area, with other outages reported in Hollywood, Hyde Park and Brentwood. The vast majority of city power customers remain unaffected by the storm, according to Los Angeles officials.

    As the storm barreled through, covering roadways with debris and water, roads were blocked across Southern California by Sunday night. A section of Interstate 8 in Imperial County, east of San Diego, was closed Sunday after boulders came loose from an adjoining slope and fell into the road.

    In San Bernardino County, a stretch of State Route 127 covered in floodwaters was closed, while a section of Interstate 15 was shuttered in Barstow because of downed power lines after a lightning strike, authorities said.

    Traffic is slowed as water and mud from Tropical Storm Hilary covers part of Interstate 10, between Indio and Palm Springs, California, on Monday.

    Crews across the region Sunday evening rescued people caught in the storm, including at least nine in a riverbed area in San Diego. “Crews are still looking for more people who may need help. #riverrescue,” San Diego Fire-Rescue said.

    And Ventura County firefighters searched the Santa Clara River for people trapped in the waters on Sunday night, videos show.

    The storm led to other disruptions across Southern California, with many parks, beaches and other locations closed as officials called on residents to stay indoors.

    And Hilary continued to cause damage as it moved into Nevada. In Mt. Charleston, Nevada, the storm brought significant flooding on Monday morning, washing out the roadways. Residents are sheltering in place, the power is shut off, and the Nevada National Guard is on its way to assist, according to a Facebook post from Clark County.

    West of Las Vegas, rushing water is flowing like a river down Echo Road, leaving vehicles stranded from Mary Jane Trailheads and Trail Canyon, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Emergency crews are evaluating and ask for people to stay out of the area, the service said.

    California had been preparing for difficult conditions, positioning first responders across Southern California to brace for water rescues in flood-prone areas like wildfire burn scars and deserts amid fears areas unaccustomed to rain could suddenly receive a year’s worth or more, triggering flash floods and landslides.

    Rainfall totals have been significant:

    Daily and monthly rainfall records were broken Sunday, with 1.53 inches falling in downtown Los Angeles, 1.56 inches in Long Beach and 2.95 inches in Palmdale, according to the weather service.

    At least three swift water rescues were conducted in Palm Springs, police department Lt. Gustavo Araiza told CNN.

    In Cathedral City, a desert community roughly a 110-mile drive east of Los Angeles, at least 14 people were rescued from a senior boarding care facility Monday afternoon after “a blockade” of mud trapped them inside, city spokesperson Ryan Hunt said.

    All of the people rescued are doing well, Hunt said.

    The fire department had to borrow a dozer truck from a recycling center so they could carry out the rescue, Hunt said. The department had firefighters sit in the dozer and then had those being rescued sit on top to be brought out of the structure, he added.

    Despite the “unorthodox method,” everyone stayed calm, he said.

    A motorist removes belongings from his vehicle after becoming stuck in a flooded street in Palm Desert, California, on Sunday.

    Santa Clarita, about 30 miles north of Los Angeles, experienced steady rain for about 10 hours, with the storm dropping well over four inches of rain on the valley. Parts of Sand Canyon Road could be seen falling into rushing water.

    As the storm continues to affect the West, officials with Oregon’s emergency management are bracing for possible flooding across portions of the state.

    “At this point, we’re concerned about the substantial rainfall and the potential for fast-moving water and flooding. Flood watches have been issued for areas of Central and Eastern Oregon,” Oregon Department of Emergency Management spokesperson Chris Crabb told CNN Monday afternoon.

    “We have reports of minor flooding currently and communities using sandbags to mitigate the impacts, but there have been no requests for state support at this point,” Crabb went on.

    According to Crabb, the office is working with county and tribal partners.

    Portions of Oregon are under a flood watch through Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

    “The remnants of Hurricane Hilary will bring periods of moderate to heavy rain to portions of northeastern Oregon through Tuesday,” the weather service said in a forecast message.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 8/20: CBS Weekend News

    8/20: CBS Weekend News

    [ad_1]

    8/20: CBS Weekend News – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    Southern California braces for storm after Hilary makes landfall in Mexico; Animals in Maui shelter flown to Portland

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Hurricane Hilary prompts historic tropical storm warning for California as Southwest braces for dangerous rain, flooding | CNN

    Hurricane Hilary prompts historic tropical storm warning for California as Southwest braces for dangerous rain, flooding | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    Residents in the Southwest are bracing for heavy rains and potentially catastrophic flooding as Hurricane Hilary is expected to pummel the region as a rare tropical storm beginning Sunday and lasting into next week.

    Hilary remains a Category 4 hurricane as it marches toward the coast of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula with sustained winds of 130 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Its core is expected to pass close to the peninsula Saturday night and then weaken into a tropical storm as it crosses into the US and Southern California.

    The threat has triggered California’s first ever tropical storm warning extending from the state’s southern border to just north of Los Angeles.

    The Southwest is forecast to see heavy rainfall through early next week – with the most intense conditions on Sunday and Monday – as Hilary advances. The deluges could bring more than a year’s worth of rain to parts of California, Nevada and Arizona.

    Parts of Southern California and Nevada could see 3 to 6 inches of rain and as many as 10 inches in some places, the center said. Elsewhere, amounts of 1 to 3 inches are forecast.

    While Hilary’s core will pack a powerful punch, the NHC warned that strong winds and rain will begin far in advance of its arrival.

    “Preparations for the impacts of flooding from rainfall should be completed as soon as possible, as heavy rain will increase ahead of the center on Saturday,” the hurricane center said.

    In anticipation of the storm, officials across the region have begun to prepare for perilous road conditions, downed power infrastructure and dangerous flood conditions.

    Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo announced Friday that 100 state National Guard troops will be deployed to southern Nevada, which may see significant flooding.

    President Joe Biden said in a Friday news conference that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has preemptively positioned personnel and supplies to respond in Southern California or other parts of the region, if needed.

    If Hilary makes landfall in California as a tropical storm, it would be the first such storm to do so in the state in nearly 84 years, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

    Parts of Southern California face a high risk for excessive rainfall – also the first Level 4 of 4 threat to be issued for the area. This level of risk is exceptionally rare. From 2010 to 2020, high risks were issued on fewer than 4% of days per year on average, but were responsible for 83% of all flood-related damage and 39% of all flood-related deaths, research from the Weather Prediction Center shows.

    Due to the significant threat, the state has prepared water rescue teams, California National Guard personnel and flood fighting equipment ahead of Hilary’s arrival, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said Friday.

    Highway maintenance crews will also be staffed around-the-clock in order to aid in roadway safety, the governor’s office said.

    Electricity utility Southern California Edison – which serves more than 15 million people in the region – said Thursday that Hilary is on track to impact much of its service area. The company said it is preparing to respond to outages but urged residents to gather supplies including flashlights, external battery chargers and ice chests.

    As the homeless community is particularly at risk for flooding dangers, officials in both Los Angeles and San Diego say they are performing outreach and offering temporary shelter. The LA County Sheriff’s Department said it is also mapping out at-risk encampments and making aerial announcements about the storm.

    “We hope that the storm does not cause any damage, and more importantly there is no loss of life,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said in a Friday news conference. “But we will prepare for a worst-case scenario, not only to assist people here in our county, but if we are not impacted or affected, we will become a resource to other neighboring counties as needed.”

    San Diego has also spent the last several days cleaning storm drains, clearing streets and readying equipment, Mayor Todd Gloria said Friday.

    The storm threat also prompted Major League Baseball to overhaul its weekend schedule in the region, moving Sunday games hosted by the Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres to instead be split doubleheaders on Saturday.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Has California ever had a hurricane? One expert says tropical storm threat from Hilary is

    Has California ever had a hurricane? One expert says tropical storm threat from Hilary is

    [ad_1]

    Hurricane Hilary is expected to hit Southern California as a tropical storm, with a punch that could include flash flooding and significant amounts of rain, according to the National Hurricane Center. 

    A tropical storm watch for much of Southern California was issued Friday morning. The National Weather Service’s San Diego outpost said this was the first time such an advisory had ever been issued for the region. 

    “It is rare — indeed nearly unprecedented in the modern record — to have a tropical system like this move through Southern California,” Greg Postel, a hurricane and storm specialist at the Weather Channel, told CBS News.

    How rare is a hurricane on the West Coast? 

    When was the last time a tropical storm hit Southern California?

    The last time a tropical storm made landfall in California was 84 years ago — before there was a system of naming storms.

    The 1939 storm, called El Cordonazo, became the first and only tropical storm to make landfall in the state in the 20th century, according to the National Weather Service. NWS says the storm, which was at one point a hurricane, originated off the southern coast of Central America before moving north and eventually coming ashore at San Pedro, California. 

    Resulting floods from the storm killed at least 45 people across the Southern California region and caused $2 million in damage to structures and crops, the weather service reports. Another 48 people were also killed at sea. Cities across the Southern California region experienced torrential rains because of the tropical storm — Los Angeles, for example, saw 5.24″ in just 24 hours.

    “Californians were generally unprepared and were alerted to their vulnerability to tropical storms,” NWS said of the storm in its report about significant weather events in Southern California. The weather bureau established a forecast office in Southern California in 1940 after the disaster. 

    Has California ever had a hurricane?

    Other powerful storms have hit Southern California, including a hurricane in 1858 that hit San Diego with 75 mph winds — what would now be considered a Category 1. The hurricane, which caused extensive wind damage, is considered the only actual hurricane to hit the West Coast, according to National Weather Service.

    In 1997, NWS says Hurricane Linda in the Pacific became the strongest storm recorded in the region, with 180 mph winds and 218 mph gusts. However, it didn’t make landfall in California, but as a nearby tropical storm it did cause heavy rain and thunderstorms in the area. 

    That hurricane occurred during an El Niño, which is a weather pattern that is caused when warmer water in the Pacific Ocean effects the jet stream, making it move south. This phenomenon can bring heavy rainfall and flooding to California and drier and warmer weather to the northern U.S. and Canada. The pattern also affects the U.S. Gulf Coast and Southwest, bringing wetter weather than usual.

    Meteorologists say El Niño has made a return this spring and was expected to strengthen.

    Major West Coast storms this year

    California started 2023 with a barrage of storms up and down its coast. A New Year’s Eve storm brought record rainfall and landslides to Northern California. In the weeks that followed, a series of storms caused by atmospheric rivers hit the sate.

    Atmospheric rivers are long regions in the atmosphere that transport water and can cause significant flooding. About eight atmospheric rivers hit the state between Dec. 26 and Jan. 14, Gov. Gavin Newson said at the time. Many of the storms caused severe flooding, risks of mudslides and evacuations. 

    The severe weather continued into March and grew more intense when winter storms buried areas of the state — like Yosemite National Park — in record-breaking snowfall. 

    By May, it was estimated the storms had swamped 150,000 acres in California’s Central Valley, destroying crops in the region responsible for producing a quarter of the nation’s food, according to numbers from Kings County officials.

    Where and when will Hurricane Hilary make landfall?

    On Friday morning, Hilary was off the coast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, according to the Weather Channel. Hilary grew from a tropical storm to a Category 3 on Wednesday, and then a Category 4 on Thursday. It was expected to continue its path to Southern California and weaken back to a tropical storm — with the remnants still expected to bring flash flooding and gusty winds.

    The Los Angeles Basin and the desert Southwest are expected to feel its impact over the weekend, with heavy rainfall in the area starting Friday and “peaking on Sunday and Monday,” according to the National Hurricane Center.. Hilary will continue to drench parts of California early next week while weakening. 

    How can Californians prepare for Hilary?

    According to the National Weather Service, all people living along the coast are at risk of being affected by a hurricane or a tropical storm brewing in their region. The best thing those residents can do is prepare ahead of time.

    That preparation includes developing an evacuation and communication plan, stocking up on disaster supplies, preparing your home by cutting down vulnerable trees, and staying up to date on weather forecasts and warnings. Homeowners may want to consider installing a generator and storm shutters, and check your home’s insurance status.

    Read more here for expert advice on how to prepare for a storm.

    Simrin Singh

    Simrin Singh is a social media producer and trending content writer for CBS News.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Hurricane Hilary intensifies as it heads toward Southern California

    Hurricane Hilary intensifies as it heads toward Southern California

    [ad_1]

    Hurricane Hilary intensifies as it heads toward Southern California – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    Hurricane Hilary continued to strengthen Thursday as it headed toward Southern California. Weather Channel meteorologist Jen Carfagno joined CBS News with more.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Bear takes dip in backyard Southern California hot tub amid heat wave

    Bear takes dip in backyard Southern California hot tub amid heat wave

    [ad_1]

    Bear in Burbank cools off in a home’s hot tub


    Bear in Burbank cools off in a home’s hot tub

    00:27

    Burbank, Calif. — With the summer heat wave in full swing in Southern California, a backyard hot tub is a tempting place to take a dip.

    Even for a bear.

    Police in the city of Burbank responded to a report of a bear sighting in a residential neighborhood and found the animal sitting in a Jacuzzi behind one of the homes.

    Bear In Jacuzzi
    In this image taken from video provided by the Burbank Police Department, a bear sits in a jacuzzi in the city of Burbank, Calif., on July 28, 2023.

    Burbank Police Department via AP


     After a short dip, the bear climbed over a wall and headed to a tree behind the home, police said in a statement Friday.

    Police released a video of the animal in the neighborhood, which is about 10 miles north of Los Angeles and near the Verdugo Mountains.

    Burbank police have issued warnings for residents to avoid bears and to keep all garbage and food locked up to discourage bears from coming to their residences. 

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Los Angeles County law enforcement recruit dies 8 months after group of trainees were struck by wrong-way driver while on a training run | CNN

    Los Angeles County law enforcement recruit dies 8 months after group of trainees were struck by wrong-way driver while on a training run | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department recruit died eight months after he was struck by a driver who hit around two dozen recruits on a training run in Whittier, California, according to authorities.

    Alejandro Martinez, 27, died Friday at the Ronald Reagan University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center surrounded by friends, family, and members of the sheriff’s department after months of fighting for his life, according to a statement from the department.

    “Today, Alejandro succumbed to his injuries,” the sheriff’s department said in an online statement. “Tragically, he was not able to fulfill his calling of helping others.”

    Martinez was on a training run with around 75 other recruits the morning of November 16, 2022, when an SUV drove into the group. Twenty-five of the recruits suffered injuries, with five initially listed in critical condition.

    The driver, 22-year-old Nicholas Joseph Gutierrez, was driving the wrong way when the incident occurred, according to the sheriff’s department. He showed no signs of impairment and blew a zero in a Breathalyzer test administered after the incident.

    He was alone in the vehicle at the time of the crash, the sheriff’s department told CNN.

    “It looked like an airplane wreck – so many bodies scattered everywhere in different states of injury,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in a news conference after the crash. “It was pretty traumatic for all individuals.”

    Officials initially said the crash appeared to have been “a horrific accident.” That characterization changed dramatically when the department arrested Gutierrez on suspicion of attempted murder of peace officers. However, he was released from jail a day later, according to records that indicated the initial complaint was insufficient to hold him.

    “I have no doubt that an in-depth investigation will confirm that Nicholas is a hard working young man who holds no animosity towards law enforcement, and this was an absolutely tragic accident,” an attorney for Gutierrez, Alexandra Kazarian, told CNN affiliate KABC after the incident.

    The California Highway Patrol is still investigating the incident, the agency told CNN Sunday in an email.

    “The CHP continues to actively conduct a fair and impartial investigation to determine the cause of the crash and Gutierrez’s criminal culpability,” the highway patrol said. “Currently, there are no further updates to provide.”

    Flags at the state capital will be flown at half-staff in honor of Martinez’s memory, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement Sunday.

    “Jennifer and I are heartbroken by the tragic passing of Alejandro Martinez, our deepest condolences are with his family, friends, and academy classmates at this difficult time,” Newsom said. “Recruit Martinez was dedicated to serving his community, and his commitment to California will never be forgotten.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Amid record heat, solar farms help ease the strain on U.S. power grids

    Amid record heat, solar farms help ease the strain on U.S. power grids

    [ad_1]

    Rosamond, California — Next to the rows of alfalfa, another type of farm is taking root in Southern California’s Kern County, one that’s harvesting clean, renewable energy.  

    Solar Star, one of the largest solar farms in the U.S., has a peak output of 586 megawatts.

    “These panels track the sun all day,” said Alicia Knapp, president and CEO of BHE Renewables, which owns Solar Star. (I’ll double-check all quotes)

    Solar Star produces enough electricity to power about 255,000 California homes a year, according to Knapp.

    There are more than 5,000 solar farms across the U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In 2022, they produced 3.4% of the nation’s electricity, the agency said.

    Dozens of new facilities are being added every month. The increase in available solar energy is a much-needed boost for power grids currently strained by this summer’s record-breaking heat.

    On Thursday, PJM Interconnection, the largest electrical grid operator in the nation, issued a level one emergency alert, warning of potential blackouts from Chicago to Washington, D.C.

    Meanwhile, like a mirage in the desert, the 1.72 million panels that make up Solar Star cover five square-miles of unused farmland.

    Knapp said that constructing transmission lines to transport the electricity is significantly more challenging than acquiring the land for the panels.

    “And what could make things even more difficult is if your transmission corridor goes between states,” Knapp explained.

    Lorelei Oviatt, director of planning and natural resources for Kern County, told CBS News that “red tape” and delays in constructing power lines are holding back solar growth.

    “When Sacramento tells me that they need 600,000 acres of solar, my question to them is, ‘Where is the transmission?’ And the reason is because people don’t like them,” Oviatt said.

    Another issue is that too much solar power is wasted. Solar Star sometimes generates more than is demanded of it, “mainly in the peak of the day,” Knapp said.

    The most common method to store excess power is through a process known as pumped storage hydropower, which uses the extra electricity to pump water to an uphill reservoir. When the power is needed, the water is released back downhill through a generator. 

    Knapp says that recent advances in technology will soon connect more farms to giant rechargeable batteries that will enable the use of solar power long after the sun goes down.

    “You want to be able to maximize the output and store the energy, and then use it when you need it,” Knapp said. 

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Homes destroyed in California landslide

    Homes destroyed in California landslide

    [ad_1]

    Homes destroyed in California landslide – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    A dozen homes were destroyed during a landslide in the Southern California city of Rolling Hills Estates. Several other homes in the community are now considered unstable. Elise Preston has the latest.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • James Cameron Lists His California Coastal Ranch For $33 Million

    James Cameron Lists His California Coastal Ranch For $33 Million

    [ad_1]

    Oscar-winning director James Cameron has listed his sweeping ranch set along California’s Gaviota Coast for $33 million––parting with otherworldly Pacific Ocean views that inspired his five-part Avatar film franchise.

    The 8,000-square-foot home he and his wife, Suzy Amis Cameron, purchased 24 years ago is sited on an oceanfront 102-acre parcel in a biodiverse haven that’s among the world’s richest.

    Cameron’s favored writing retreats as he conjured Pandora, Avatar’s blue-hued world, were an upper library in the five-bedroom home and a 2,000-square-foot guest house set on a rise to maximize the ineffable coastal expanse.

    “I would just bounce up there and sequester myself for months on end,” says Cameron of writing most of the first Avatar script and about half of the next two installments. “Actually, right through four and five because all those scripts are done.”

    Within two years after purchasing the ranch for $4.375 million, Cameron listed his Malibu compound for $25 million, preferring the Santa Barbara County acreage that has produced 90% of what the Cameron family consumes.

    The family switched to a plant-based diet in 2012 and, as environmental advocates, the couple employs experimental techniques when farming thousands of New Zealand acreage they own, along with about 10,000 acres in Saskatchewan. They’ve founded a holistic school and have been vanguards in numerous ecological ventures.

    The pioneering couple’s ocean-adjacent land is among 136 parcels within the 14,400-acre gated Hollister Ranch, established in 1971 as a nature preserve shouldered by 8.5 miles of pristine shoreline. Residential development is restricted to 2 acres on each of the land’s approximate 100-acre parcels. A 250-year tradition of cattle ranching continues on virtually all of the preserve’s coastal spread with up to one-half million pounds of Angus beef shipped annually.

    The Camerons’ wood and glass home opens to soaring beam ceilings and includes two executive offices, a gym, media room and game room. Set along the south-facing Gaviota Coast, the sunset-drenched residence cradles a lagoon-style pool and lounge area wreathed by curved palms that recalls the tropics. Off-grid-ready, the solar-powered home is both water and food autonomous, given its three-quarter acre garden.

    “The bare bones of the house are California rustic,” says Cameron, citing Hollister Ranch master builder Bob Curtis who erected the structures in the 1980s. “It feels rural, but it’s also quite bold, architecturally. It’s very comfortable. It’s not precious.”

    Upon purchase, the couple ripped out carpeting and installed irregular slabs of Rocky Mountain quartzite, patterning floors with cream, gold and rust hues. The great room’s Brazilian hardwood beams were stripped of stain and paint and then restored to a natural burnished finish. The expansive sweep of timber ascends to clerestory windows and then angles over the dining room and kitchen, which is inset with a vaulted peak.

    The two-story home’s bold angles frame views of coastal bluffs and scenes of migrating whales, dolphin pods and rafts of sea otters. The straight-ahead view is of San Miguel Island, the westernmost of the Channel Islands.

    The kitchen’s sugar maple butcher-block table has hosted the bulk of Cameron family meals. “The dining room seats 14 and, when we really need space, we come out onto a big landing where we can seat 30,” Cameron says.

    The angled beams continue in the primary suite and are matched by oak plank flooring. The rooms, which include a fireplace, are swaged with Balinese fabric, furthering the tropical view beyond the windows.

    “We have a lot of Balinese sculptures and woodwork around, an overlay of Indonesian motifs,” says Cameron. There’s one Greco-Roman nod in the great room: a colossal 800-pound stone head depicting Dionysius, its elvish look a match for a Cameron film.

    “It’s from a facade of a hotel in New York,” Cameron says. “A gift from Bill Paxton.”

    The ranch’s untamed land also includes a 4,795-square-foot equestrian facility with paddocks and ranch offices outfitted with a caretaker’s quarters and four apartments.

    There are two barns. “I’ve kept helicopters there,” says Cameron of the larger 24,000-square-foot barn. The barn was also a proving ground, he adds, “used when I was working on my subs and robotic equipment for expeditions,” which include 33 trips the intrepid “Titanic” director has made to the RMS Titanic and a solo descent he mastered to the lowest portion of the Mariana Trench.

    The property also has a tennis court and permitted helipad.

    The Camerons were reached at the tail end of a five-day 30-member family reunion held at the ranch. “We’re down to two nephews,” says Suzy Amis Cameron, speaking from the ranch. Post-gathering, her husband was working from his 100,000-square-foot Manhattan Beach studio where he was patched in before flying to New Zealand that evening.

    Family has been central to the Camerons during their two-decade-plus stay at the ranch and it’s partly why they’re selling. The couple’s three children are “all pretty much out on their own now,” the Canadian-born director says. “And on Avatar, I’m working in Wellington and Los Angeles. And on the new Alita: Battle Angel films, I’ll be working in Austin, so it just didn’t make sense for us anymore.”

    Adds Suzy Amis Cameron: “Our hope is that someone will come in with young children or decide to have children and enjoy it.”

    The couple warmly recalls their children’s adventures: Checking tide tables; learning names of multitudinous creatures in the coastal ecosystem; foraging; taking mountain treks; riding horses named Tex, Monkey and Okie; and caring for donkeys, goats and a pig.

    “They were always coming home with some kind of critter, including a baby bobcat we named Rex,” James Cameron says. “They raised him and then released him back into the wild––he came back when he was an adult and ate Simon, our turkey.”

    The couple’s garden, which harbors 150 crops, has been a family enterprise.

    “You could feed 40, 50 people out of the gardens,” says Cameron, adding that the home’s large pantry is well-stocked. “The ranch runs on solar and wind, so it can be completely off-grid for as long as necessary. It’s got built-in battery storage that’s extensive enough to support the entire hundred-kilowatt system. There’s a sense of security and sanctuary here.”

    Drakes Beach, with its world-renowned surf break, is less than a quarter of a mile from the house. “There’s nothing between us and the beach,” Cameron says. “You go down, look left and right and there’s just nobody. It’s very, very rare.”

    Hollister Ranch operates three cabañas along the sandy stretch that residents can reserve. Amenities include showers, restrooms and barbecue facilities.

    Santa Barbara County’s 76-mile Gaviota Coast is Southern California’s largest stretch of undeveloped coastline. Bordered by the Channel Islands National Park, termed the “Galápagos of North America,” the fragile wildlife corridor provides a safe harbor for numerous rare and endangered species.

    The astounding array of interconnected ecosystems––intertidal habitats, estuaries, grasslands, coastal scrub and striking bluffs––were favored by the Chumash Native Americans who settled the land nearly 10,000 years ago.

    “It was sacred land,” Cameron says. “The Chumash called the whole area the Western Gate because it was where their souls departed across the ocean at the end of their lives. And you kind of feel that. It affects you at a subconscious level.”

    The Camerons’ Hollister Ranch property is co-listed by Emily Kellenberger of Village Properties and Jeff Kruthers of Hollister Ranch Realty.

    MORE FROM FORBES GLOBAL PROPERTIES

    MORE FROM FORBESUltra-Luxe Residential Communities Are Coming To Arizona’s ValleyBy Spencer ElliottMORE FROM FORBESWhat’s Selling And What’s Listing For $6 Million-Plus In The Western U.S.By Spencer ElliottMORE FROM FORBESA $13.9 Million Home In One Of California’s Most Exclusive Island NeighborhoodsBy Mary ForgioneMORE FROM FORBESA $16 Million Ticket To Big Ocean Views In Coastal CaliforniaBy Lauren BealeMORE FROM FORBESExploring Boulder, Colorado: From College Town To Growing Tech HubBy Spencer Elliott

    [ad_2]

    R. Daniel Foster, Contributor

    Source link

  • Remains of actor Julian Sands found in Southern California mountains

    Remains of actor Julian Sands found in Southern California mountains

    [ad_1]

    Human remains found on Southern California’s Mount Baldy have been identified as those of British actor Julian Sands, who went missing while hiking in the area more than five months ago.

    The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department confirmed Tuesday that the remains were of the missing 65-year-old actor, a Los Angeles resident. The manner of death remains under investigation.

    Sands’ remains were discovered by hikers Saturday morning, the sheriff’s department reported.

    He was first reported missing on Jan. 13 on Mt. Baldy, a popular hiking area located in the San Gabriel Mountains, about 50 miles northeast of downtown L.A.

    76th Venice International Film Festival 2019
    Julian Sands at the 76 Venice International Film Festival 2019. The Painted Bird photocall. Venice (Italy), September 3rd, 2019 (photo by Marco Piraccini/Archivio Marco Piraccini/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

    Mondadori Portfolio


    This past winter, California was hit by a series of historic storms, driven by atmospheric rivers, which caused flooding and mudslides statewide and also created dangerous conditions in wilderness areas.

    Two days after Sands went missing, a mother of four died after sliding more than 500 feet down Mt. Baldy. Later that same month, a 75-year-old man was found and rescued after going missing on Mt. Baldy for two days. 

    Sands had dozens of film and television credits over his five-decade career. The credits include “A Room with a View,” “Leaving Las Vegas,” “The Killing Fields,” “Ocean’s Thirteen” and “24.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • California library using robots to help teach children with autism

    California library using robots to help teach children with autism

    [ad_1]

    Library using robots to teach kids with autism


    California library using robots to help teach children with autism

    01:44

    Santa Ana, California — It was a surprise first meeting for Luke Sepulveda and his new futuristic robot friend at the Santa Ana Public Library in Southern California.

    “In different spaces, you don’t know how he’s going to react,” Luke’s mother, Ella Sepulveda, told CBS News of his interaction with the robot. “So I was just hoping for the best, because he loves technology.”

    Four-year-old Luke has autism spectrum disorder. His mother wants to ensure he can communicate with the world around him.

    “Just knowing that a robot can engage his attention, that makes me happy,” Sepulveda said.

    At the Santa Ana Public Library, robots are specially programmed, with the help of RobotLAB, to teach children with autism.

    It is one of the first libraries in the nation to provide this free program that mainly supports children of color, who are often underserved and diagnosed when they are older.

    “Human beings have emotions,” Larry Singer, a senior tutor at the library, and the human helper behind the robots, said. “Human beings get tired. Human beings get frustrated. A robot — same response every single time.”

    “They’re not critical, they’re always comforting,” Singer adds. 

    About one in 36 children in the U.S. is on the spectrum, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    “My hope and dream for him is really just do your best,” Sepulveda said of her son. “You’re awesome and you’re loved.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • A $13.9 Million Home In One Of California’s Most Exclusive Island Neighborhoods

    A $13.9 Million Home In One Of California’s Most Exclusive Island Neighborhoods

    [ad_1]

    Few coastal neighborhoods in Southern California are as exclusive as Harbor Island in Newport Beach. For starters, there are just 30 homes on the small, semi-artificial island in Orange County’s Newport Bay. The island is defined by its ultrawealthy residents and bayfront setting.

    One example: A three-bedroom home at 11 Harbor Island Road for sale that features a long yard to the water’s edge as well as a boat slip big enough to accommodate a 57-foot yacht, plus side ties for two smaller boats. Built in 1950, three-bedroom home on a the 8,250-square-foot lot has been renovated with a new kitchen, pipes and flooring.

    It’s on the market for $13.9 million.

    Inside the house, views of the water abound. The main level has an open-plan design with a living room that gives way to a large dining area and nearby kitchen. Two bedrooms are located on the main level; the primary bedroom with en-suite bathroom is located on the upper level.

    “It is a location that is about building your legacy, and it has a privacy you don’t get anywhere else on the bay,” says listing agent AJ Olson Whitfield with Newport Beach brokerage EQTY. The island is a gated community with 24-hour guards and off-limits to nonresidents.

    Harbor Island residents have included Donald Bren, chairman of the Irvine Company real estate development corporation, with a net worth of $17.4 billion, according to the Forbes Billionaire List; and real estate investor and former United States diplomat George Argyros.

    The neighborhood is one of a handful of residential islands in Newport Harbor; others include Bay Island, Little Balboa Island and Lido Isle. The island was created during dredging in the early 1900s. Homes here were built in the 1940s and 1950s, capitalizing on the allure of the waterfront and the harbor.

    Properties in the community tend to be as exclusive as its residents, and sales are something a rarity due to limited supply. Transactions over the last five years include the 2020 sale of a contemporary-style home with 134 feet of linear water frontage for $17.68 million and a $25-million deal in 2018 for a traditional-style home on a roomy waterfront lot of more than 10,000 square feet, according to the Multiple Listing Service records.

    MORE FROM FORBES GLOBAL PROPERTIES

    MORE FROM FORBESA $10 Million Las Vegas Home Doubles Down On Zen-Inspired DesignBy R. Daniel FosterMORE FROM FORBESVero Beach Home Offers Front-Row Seat On Florida’s Atlantic SandBy Lauren BealeMORE FROM FORBESSanta Fe Contemporary Basks In Breathtaking Surroundings Of New MexicoBy Lauren BealeMORE FROM FORBESArtful Contemporary Offers Wooded Tranquility Near TorontoBy Lauren BealeMORE FROM FORBESThe Uber-Wealthy Continue To Favor Malibu HomesBy R. Daniel Foster

    [ad_2]

    Mary Forgione, Contributor

    Source link