The Brief

San Clemente is at risk of losing its reputation as a beach town unless it finds sand to replenish its shorelines. So on Tuesday, the City Council will decide on a list of potential sites to pull from — hopefully close to home.

Coastal erosion over the years has left some of the city’s beaches with only a narrow strip of sand, cutting off public access in some areas. To fully replenish its beaches, San Clemente needs between 2 million and 5 million cubic yards of sand.

On Tuesday, city leaders will decide on sites the city can potentially get sand from before a consultant group can begin testing the sand later this year for viability.

“ Every sand has different characteristics and there's beach quality sand that you can put on the beach, and it's likely to remain there a little bit longer,” Andy Hall, San Clemente’s city manager, said about the need to test sand. “If you put sand that's too fine on the beach, it'll just wash off when you have large storms or it swells, and if you put it too large, it won't move around and fill in the gap. There's kind of a science in grain size that you want to make sure you get the right kind of sand on the beach so that it's as natural as possible.”

Hall said the city is trying to do what nature does naturally.

“ We dammed up the rivers and we put freeways and railroad tracks and other things in the way so that the sand can't migrate to the beaches,” he said.

How we got here

San Clemente and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have embarked on a sand replenishment project in which every five years, around 200,000 cubic yards of sand will be deposited on a half-mile stretch of beach between T Street and Linda Lane. The 50-year project will see around 2 million cubic yards of sand deposited.

But in 2023, when the project kicked off, sand was first deposited from Oceanside that turned out to be mostly cobble with very little beach-grade sand, damaging equipment, so it was paused until the team was able to find a better source.

They were able to locate an interim source of sand at a quarry — or a pile of sand out in the water — off the Huntington Beach-Seal Beach area called Surfside Sunset, Hall said.

Having to travel farther north to Surfside Sunset, Hall said, added to the cost.

The California Coastal Commission then gave the city a grant to find sand closer home. On Tuesday, city leaders will choose from some of the options a consultant group, Coastal Frontiers Corp., presents to begin testing.

“ If we can find a deposit of sand close to the city, the reward is huge,” Hall said. “The amount of not only money that will be saved, but the environmental impacts of all the air quality and everything.”

Brett Sanders, a professor at UC Irvine, said the study to find pockets of sand that can be used for beach replenishment is a “really great opportunity.”

“ We have very limited data on the availability of sand along the coastline of southern Orange County,” Sanders said, adding that finding sand closer to San Clemente will open up savings for taxpayers.

 The beaches of Orange County, he added, are “enormously important for the economy of the region” as they drive tax revenue by attracting people to local hotels and restaurants.

“When coastal communities look at the cost of maintaining the beaches, they look at the potential losses they might find in the future if they didn't have beaches,” Sanders said. “ Some of these investments in beaches start looking like a really good value.”

How to watchdog local government

One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention.
Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.

• Read tips on how to get involved.
• The San Clemente City Council meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. on May 6. You can watch here.

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican army killed the leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, "El Mencho, " in an operation Sunday, a federal official said.

The official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said it happened during a military operation in the western state of Jalisco.

It followed several hours of roadblocks with burning vehicles in Jalisco and other states. Such tactics are commonly used by the cartels to block military operations.

Videos circulating social media showed plumes of smoke billowing over the city of Puerto Vallarta, a major city in Jalisco, and sprinting through the airport of the state's capital in panic. On Sunday afternoon, Air Canada announced it was suspending flights to Puerto Vallarta "due to an ongoing security situation" and advised customers not to go to their airport.

The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG, is one of the most powerful and fasted growing criminal organizations in Mexico and was born in 2009.

In February, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.

It has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military—including helicopters—and a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt with grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City against the then head of the capital's police force and now head of federal security.

The DEA considers this cartel to be as powerful as the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico's most infamous criminal groups, with a presence in all 50 U.S. states where it distributes tons of drugs. It is one of the main suppliers of cocaine to the U.S. market and, like the Sinaloa cartel, earns billions from the production of fentanyl and methamphetamines.

Since 2017, Oseguera Cervantes has been indicted several times in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

The most recent superseding indictment, filed on April 5, 2022, charges Oseguera Cervantes with conspiracy and distribution of controlled substances (methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl) for the purpose of illegal importation into the United States and use of firearms during and in connection with drug trafficking offenses. Oseguera Cervantes is also charged under the Drug Kingpin Enforcement Act for directing a continuing criminal enterprise.
Copyright 2026 NPR

Hermon — Some shoppers heading into Fresco Market were lost in their phones, but when they momentarily looked up, they were greeted by a flap of brilliant green feathers and a cheery squawk. Phones were put away.

“Pepe! Hey Pepe! So good to see you!”

Perched on the shoulder of T.J. Gonzalez, Pepe the Parrot was in full greeter mode. Wide-eyed and seeming to almost smile as he surveyed the parking lot and his approaching public, Pepe did what he naturally does: make people happy.

A common sight at the Hermon market, near where they live, Gonzalez and Pepe can also be found at community centers, farmers’ markets and local events. They often take the Metro into downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach and other locations.

There’s no money asked, stressed Gonzalez, adding that Pepe simply adores the attention. “People want to see and talk with him more than me,” he joked as he cracked a nut and placed it in his mouth. On cue, the bird reached around Gonzalez’s mouth to retrieve it.

Michael Eagle-Hall of El Sereno is delighted to meet Pepe outside of the Fresco Market in Hermon.

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Brenda Rees

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The Eastsider

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A mail carrier for 37 years before he retired, Gonzalez found Pepe, a red-crowned Amazon (flocks are often seen in Northeast L.A.) in July 2021. The chick had fallen out of a nest and was flailing on a busy street in San Marino. “He was like roadkill,” said Gonzalez, who watched cars drive over (without striking) the bird.

Gonzalez retrieved the parrot and looked for help, but wildlife rehabbers said they’d euthanize the bird since it had a broken wing. Gonzalez instead brought him to a vet and christened him Pepe.

Since Pepe could not fly, Gonzalez started walking him around the neighborhood. He soon discovered how kids and adults enjoyed interacting with the parrot. Pepe is also a social media darling, with more than 8,600 followers on Instagram.

Pepe is more of a squawker than a talker, but Gonzalez has learned how to art-direct photos of people and the bird, instructing them on how to hold their hands and arms best. “We just want that smile because that’s all that Pepe wants from you,” said Gonzalez.

Crews have now recovered the bodies of all nine backcountry skiers who were killed in an avalanche in Northern California earlier this week. It marks an end to what authorities on Saturday described as an agonizing five-day search and recovery operation complicated by intense winter storms northwest of Lake Tahoe.

"While we wish we could have saved them all, we are grateful that we can bring them home," said Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon during a Saturday news conference.

Until Saturday, authorities had not confirmed the death of a ninth victim, a skier who had been missing and presumed dead. Officials say their body was found near the eight other victims that have now been recovered. Authorities said avalanche hazards and weather conditions were too dangerous most of the week to search for the remaining victim or recover the bodies.

Four of the bodies were recovered on Friday, and the rest of the bodies were recovered on Saturday, all in the Castle Peak area where the avalanche – one of the deadliest in California history — struck. Six people from the group of 15 skiers survived Tuesday's disaster, the last day of a three-day backcountry ski trip. One guide and five travelers were among the survivors.

Helicopters with the California National Guard as well as the California Highway Patrol were used to hoist the remaining bodies from the mountain, officials said at the press conference.

On Friday, officials were able to use specialized techniques with the help of Pacific Gas & Electric to reduce the avalanche risk.

The ski trip was organized by Blackbird Mountain Guides, an outdoor tour company based in Truckee, Calif. Moon confirmed the identities of the victims. Three guides were killed: Andrew Alissandratos, 34, from Verdi, Nev.; Michael Henry, 30, from Soda Springs, Calif.; and Nicole Choo, 42, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif. The other victims, who had signed up for the group trip, are: Carrie Atkin, 46, of Soda Springs; Lizabeth Clabaugh, 52, of Boise, Idaho; Danielle Keatley, 44, of Soda Springs and Larkspur, Calif.; Kate Morse, 45, of Soda Springs and Tiburon, Calif.; Caroline Sekar, 45, of Soda Springs and San Francisco; and Katherine Vitt, 43, of Greenbrae, Calif.

The Sierra Avalanche Center classified the avalanche between a D2 and D3 on the avalanche danger scale.

"A D2 would take down a person. A D3 would take down a house, so it was right in between those. It was described by them as a football field length of a path of the avalanche," Sheriff Moon said on Saturday.

Multiple agencies are investigating.

"We are investigating the incident to determine if there were any factors that would be considered criminal negligence," Ashley Quadros with the Nevada County Sheriff's Office said in an email to NPR on Sunday. "It is a standard investigation. It is too early to know if criminal charges will be applicable, as the investigation is preliminary and remains active and ongoing."

The area will be closed to visitors for several weeks.
Copyright 2026 NPR