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.

East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell on Thursday became the latest Democrat to throw his hat in the ring for the 2026 governor’s race — announcing his campaign shortly before a scheduled appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

“Our state, this great state, needs a fighter and a protector,” Swalwell told Kimmel. “Someone who will bring prices down, lift wages up.”

Swalwell has been a high-profile critic of President Donald Trump, taking a leading role in Trump’s second impeachment trial in 2021 and maintaining a regular presence on cable TV. The former Alameda County prosecutor has raised money and campaigned for Democrats across the country, and he could tap those relationships as he enters what promises to be an expensive campaign for the state’s top job.

“I’ve been in these fights as a city councilmember up in Dublin, my hometown, as a prosecutor in Oakland, and taking on the most corrupt president ever in the U.S. Congress,” Swalwell said. “But I’m ready to bring this fight home.”

Swalwell lashed out at Trump for his administration’s cuts to cancer research grants, accusing him of targeting Democratic-led states such as California.

“It’s a little personal to me…I lost my best friend two months ago, my mom passed and she passed from cancer,” he said. “People in California expect that you’re going to invest in cancer research, not cut it.”

The race to succeed termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom remains wide open less than seven months before the June primary. Former Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla both passed on running, and the special election over Proposition 50 diverted attention and fundraising away from the campaign for governor.

A poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies this month found 44% of voters remain undecided.

Swalwell’s views on state policy are largely undefined, and he enters the race with far less experience in the state Capitol than fellow Democratic hopefuls Xavier Becerra, the former attorney general, and Antonio Villaraigosa, who served as Assembly speaker before he was mayor of Los Angeles.

But Swalwell’s clashes with Trump and Republicans in Washington could resonate with Democratic voters looking for California leaders to spearhead a resistance to the White House.

When the House voted to impeach Trump in 2021 for inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Swalwell was tapped by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to help present the case to the Senate as an impeachment manager.

After Trump was acquitted, Swalwell sued him in civil court, arguing that the president fomented an attack that violated his civil rights and caused emotional distress. That lawsuit is ongoing in the U.S. District Court in Washington.

Last week, a top housing official in the Trump administration called for a criminal probe into Swalwell, alleging the congressman may have made false or misleading statements on mortgage documents to secure better loan terms. The accusations are similar to criminal referrals made against other Trump critics, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff of California.

Swalwell has denied wrongdoing and framed the move as political retaliation, telling Kimmel the charge was “nonsense.”

“If he thinks for one second that me, Schiff… Tish James are going to hide under the bed or shrink or just go quiet, we’re not,” Swalwell said.

Born in Iowa and raised in a Republican household, Swalwell has long joked that he appears on Fox News so his parents can see him. He was the first member of his family to attend college and spent years as a prosecutor in the Alameda County district attorney’s office. Two of Swalwell’s brothers served as deputies in the county sheriff’s office.

Swalwell burst onto the political scene in 2012, when he defeated longtime incumbent Rep. Pete Stark. In Congress, Swalwell parlayed a savvy use of social media and regular appearances on cable news into a national following and a significant financial war chest. In 2018, he campaigned across the country for Democratic congressional candidates as the party won back control of the House.

A year later, Swalwell launched a long-shot presidential campaign centered on reducing gun violence, but he failed to gain traction and ended his bid after just three months.

Swalwell’s path to the governor’s office could rely on support from Bay Area voters. He and state Superintendent Tony Thurmond, a former Assembly member from Richmond, are the only candidates who have won office in the region.

Historically, Northern California has been the bedrock of high-propensity Democratic voters, although the region has supported the state’s two Los Angeles-based U.S. senators, Padilla and Schiff, in recent elections.

Your trash, or the place where it ends up, is one of the most serious contributors to global warming. After livestock, landfills are the second-largest source of methane emissions in California, responsible for more than 20% of the state’s output.

That’s why the California Air Resources Board took action Thursday to monitor and capture landfill gases.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is generated from the breakdown of waste. Even though it’s a short-lived climate pollutant compared to long-lasting carbon dioxide, it severely exacerbates human-caused climate change.

The new rules will eventually require landfill operators to take action when a satellite or airplane detects a methane leak, improve routine leak monitoring and reporting and mandate stronger action on recurring issues. The protections will add to a suite of regulations the state passed in 2010, which made California the first state to develop stricter standards than the federal government.

“This is another example of California’s leadership in reducing emissions and harmful climate-warming pollutants across all sources. With these updates, California will be able to more efficiently and effectively monitor methane sources to detect and remedy leaks quickly,” CARB Chair Lauren Sanchez said in a press release.

The board reported that the state’s methane satellite, which passes by four to five times a week, has helped stop 10 large leaks since May.

“We believe that many operators would be interested in adopting these technologies to reduce the need for costly labor, especially as the number of mature technologies increases over time,” said air resources engineer Quinn Langfitt, who introduced the regulator’s proposal at a public hearing on Thursday.

The changes, which will affect 188 landfills in the state, are part of meeting the state’s goal to reduce methane emissions by 40% below 2013 levels by 2030.

Officials said the new rules could reduce landfill emissions by 427,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. They would create $34 million in social benefits and cost landfills around $12 million, with the largest bearing the brunt of the price tag.

A recent report backed up the agency’s findings: By 2050, landfill emissions could be reduced by more than half and up to 64% by the end of the century, according to a March analysis by Industrious Labs. The group noted that California landfills emit 7.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent of methane annually, which has “the same climate impact as driving 1.7 million cars for one year.”

But even though the board passed the new rules, they won’t go into effect immediately; staff will need to address a slew of clarifying questions raised by the public and board members during the hearing.

CARB board member Diane Takvorian supported the rule but pushed for a public-facing dashboard to show when and where emissions plumes are detected.

“People are asking for basic information,” Takvorian said, noting that technology is moving fast and that people need information now, not in years. She and others recommended an 18-month technology review after the rule goes into effect. They also suggested that the state and landfills share any data with the public as soon as possible.

“If we have the data, we should share it,” board member Hector De La Torre said.

John Kennedy, senior policy advocate for the Rural County Representatives of California, said he is “supportive of efforts to reduce emissions.” His group represents more than two-thirds of the landfills to which the standards would apply. Kennedy wants to ensure that the implementation is feasible for local governments “while protecting the communities that are close to those landfills.”

A spokesperson from Waste Management, which does business as WM, representing facilities across the state, thanked staff for the updated plan, but said he hopes they will work with the industry on site-specific conditions, which of the new rules are “necessary and useful to diagnose conditions,” and a framework for using alternative monitoring technologies.

Multiple residents from the Los Angeles community of Val Verde attended the meeting. They said they have suffered because of widespread noxious odors and hazardous gas emissions from the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in recent years. Brandi Howse, who spoke during public comment, said she has lived about 1,000 feet from the landfill for 27 years.

Howse said she has experienced clouds of methane and other gases at her home.

“You become dizzy, disoriented, nauseous. You get headaches, burning sinuses and bloody noses,” Howse said. “We are left to be concerned with long-term effects. I know that myself and my neighbors to my left and my right have all had cancer.”

Community members from the Kern County community of Avenal approached the podium to say that the landfill in their community is causing health concerns, including cancer, and people are leaving the town because of it.

“The smell is really bad,” said Leticia Luna, who moved to Avenal 15 years ago. “People are leaving our community because their homes are not safe, and when they leave, they find it difficult to sell because we live very close to the landfill.”

While many groups applauded the new rule, Jane Williams, executive director of California Communities Against Toxics, said it is a “real first step,” and that CARB needs even stronger rules to prevent fires and large emission leaks at landfills.

This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on Wednesday.

As the holiday shopping season approaches, many small-business owners across Los Angeles are looking for a much-needed boost in sales after months of financial strain tied to immigration raids.

In Boyle Heights, for example, more than a dozen local restaurants reported losing 50% or more of their customers or revenue in the weeks after federal agents began conducting sweeps, according to a Boyle Heights Beat survey. 

One business owner said he lost more than $10,000 in revenue. Another estimated a loss of around $15,000.

Leading up to Black Friday, the merchants association known as Somos Los Callejones and the Los Angeles Tenants Union are teaming up with Councilmember Ysabel Jurado to host a street festival Saturday in the L.A. Fashion District’s Santee Alley. Olympic Boulevard between Santee Street and Maple Avenue will be shut down for the festival, which will feature music and vendors.

Event organizers aim to bring business back to the callejones, where vendors have noticed a decrease in foot traffic since immigration sweeps began in the summer. The Fashion District was among the locations that experienced the first workplace raids in early June.

Jurado, who represents Boyle Heights in District 14, will be attending the event.

The councilmember helped facilitate the opening of the city’s Small Business Administration’s Business Recovery Center at 1780 E. First Street. There, small businesses and nonprofit organizations affected by the raids can access information and resources about loan programs available to those experiencing financial hardship, a CD 14 spokesperson said.

On the Eastside, small businesses and community groups are launching holiday markets, hoping to boost local sales. Check back with Boyle Heights Beat soon for a full list.

A protest of New York’s Museum of Modern Art — over a 1984 exhibition that included only 13 women among a group of 169 artists — was a bit of a blip at the time.

The bigger impact was that the protestors would go on to found a long-running activist collective called the “Guerrilla Girls,” that would become known around the world for its outspoken calls for equity for women and people of color in the art world.

Now the anonymous group, who don gorilla masks and assume names of women artists of the past to maintain their anonymity, has its own exhibition at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, called “How to Be a Guerrilla Girl.” 

Though that doesn’t mean the collective is sparing the Getty when it comes to calling out how museums perpetuate inequity through their acquisitions and exhibitions.

How the “Guerrilla Girls” got the art world’s attention

Using straightforward language, glaring statistics and humor and disseminating their messaging through protest signs, flyers, letters and postcards, eye-catching billboards and numerous media appearances, the Guerrilla Girls gained worldwide attention.

Guerrilla Girls posters on display at the "How to Be a Guerrilla Girl" exhibition at the Getty Center.

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Monica Bushman / LAist

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The gorilla masks (and sometimes gloves too) didn’t hurt either. The use of the disguises grew out of one members’ confusion between the words “guerrilla” and “gorilla,” and became an essential part of the group’s collective public identity.

What’s on display in “How to Be a Guerrilla Girl”

The “How to Be a Guerrilla Girl” exhibition draws from the first 15 years of the Guerrilla Girls’ archives, which the Getty acquired in 2008, to show the stages of development — from lists and drafts to final products — of the various methods the collective has used to spread their calls for change.

"The Advantages of Being a Woman Artist" is one of the Guerrilla Girls' most well known works. Early drafts of it are included in the "How to Be a Guerrilla Girl" exhibition.

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Monica Bushman / LAist

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Some of the group’s best known works are posters that read “Do women have to be naked to get into the Met[ropolitan] Museum [of Art]?” and another titled “The Advantages of Being a Woman Artist,” which lists things like “Having an escape from the art world in your [four freelance] jobs” and “Not having to undergo the embarrassment of being called a genius.”

Zanna Gilbert, one of the exhibition’s lead curators, says that while there have been many other Guerrilla Girls exhibitions, what makes this one unique is how it shows the behind the scenes work and thought processes that led up to these final products.

 “We have a lot of their brainstorming notes so you can really see the process of how they did their activism,” Gilbert says. “So we see it as a kind of toolkit for other people to learn from them.”

Not sparing the Getty from criticism

The exhibition also includes excerpts from the group’s media appearances through the years (like this one on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2016) and an interactive digital display titled “What about Getty?” that reveals stats on how the Getty Museum and Research Institute measure up when it comes to the inclusion of women in collections and exhibitions over the years.

One example: “In the Getty Museum’s painting collection: 81.15% are by men, 18.03% are by anonymous, and less than 1% are by women (0.82%).”

“Institutional reflection is a strategy often used by the Guerrilla Girls when they're invited to do a project at an institution,” Kristin Juarez, also a lead curator of the exhibition, explains. “That if you're inviting the Guerrilla Girls to kind of bring what they do to your institution, you should also be open to reflecting on the work that they're doing.”

A portion of the new Guerrilla Girls work in the "How to Be a Guerrilla Girl" exhibition.

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Monica Bushman / LAist

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The Getty also commissioned a new work from the Guerrilla Girls, which features their takes on the content of some of the paintings and sculptures in the Getty Collections, using cartoon speech bubbles to add commentary from the imagined perspectives of the women depicted in them.

The relevance of the Guerrilla Girls today

“ We think that this is an interesting moment, 40 years later, [when] some of the work still feels like it was made today,” Juarez says.

Taken together as a whole, she hopes the exhibition offers viewers a sense of “what it means to form a group and use your voice together.”

What to know before you go

The “How to Be a Guerrilla Girl” exhibition is open at the Getty Center now through April 12, 2026 and is presented in both English and Spanish.

Admission to the museum is free but requires a reservation. Parking is $25 ($15 after 3pm, $10 after 6pm, and free after 6pm on Saturdays). Metro bus 761 stops at the Getty Center entrance.