The Brief

Jentry Schippel and her 2-year-old daughter Brinlee stood at the southern end of Doheny State Beach on a recent morning, tossing rocks into the waves. For Brinlee, wiggling her toes in the sand here was a bit of a novelty — this narrow stretch of beach in Dana Point hasn't had much of the fluffy stuff in recent years.

The beach — like many in Southern California — is trapped between the sometimes pounding waves of the Pacific and the asphalt of the Pacific Coast Highway, with little incoming sand to replace what the sea takes back. That makes this part of the coast especially vulnerable to erosion which, while natural, threatens coastal homes, infrastructure and the region's beach-dependent tourism industry. Climate change is making some of these erosive forces worse.

But thanks to last winter's epic precipitation, and an unusually smooth collaboration among local and coastal authorities, this beach and neighboring Capistrano Beach Park have gotten a fresh load of sand.

Earlier this summer, Orange County Public Works began trucking the sand from the Santa Ana River flood channel near the 405 Freeway down to this stretch of coastline in Dana Point. The excess sand was washed down the river during the winter storms and had to be removed anyway, for example, to a landfill.

The eroded conditions at the south end of Doheny State Beach on June 15, 2023, at the start of the sand replenishment project.

(

Courtesy of Scott Kibbey

/

LAist

)

When the project finishes up this month, some 45,000 cubic yards of sand will have been spread over an approximately ⅓-mile-long stretch of coastline. Just a few months ago, the same stretch was covered in smooth rocks, known as cobbles, which naturally underlie many Southern California beaches.

The amount of sand trucked in on this project is enough to fill about five Olympic-sized swimming pools, said Scott Kibbey, who oversees Doheny State Beach and other South O.C. state beaches.

What's so great about sand?

Sandy beaches are a major draw for the tourism that helps power Southern California's economy. The south end of Doheny and neighboring Capistrano Beach Park are popular for their close proximity to parking, especially for families and people with mobility challenges.

Jentry Schippel and her 2-year-old daughter Brinlee enjoy a day at the southern end of Doheny State Beach, where the eroding sand is being shored up.

(

Jill Replogle

/

LAist

)

Kibbey said the new sand at Doheny will also "create habitat for a couple species that wouldn't have been able to thrive in this area before," the snowy plover and the California grunion.

Sand also protects the coast from erosion, which has become an increasing problem in South O.C. as sea level rises and storm surges become more powerful.

Over the past year, landslides in neighboring San Clemente destroyed part of the Casa Romantica cultural center, left homes teetering on coastal bluffs and forced the coastal rail line to shut down for months and undergo costly repairs.

Why this is a 'short-term fix'

Coastal authorities know a few swimming pools-worth of sand is no match for climate change. "We realize that this is kind of a short-term fix for a problem that we're going to be facing for a long period of time," Kibbey said.

Still, sand replenishment, or beach nourishment, as it's also known, is seen as a promising tool for keeping the ocean at bay and protecting coastal infrastructure.

Humans have long built and rebuilt beaches by trucking sand from riverbeds or dredging it from offshore spots and hauling it to shore. Naturally, beaches are replenished by shifting tides, crumbling coastal bluffs and sediment that gets washed down rivers to the ocean.

The erosion along this stretch of beach in Dana Point was so dramatic officials needed to take steps to shore it back up.

(

Jill Replogle

/

LAist

)

But Southern California has lost many of those natural replenishment sources by constructing jetties, paving river channels, and building homes and infrastructure like the Pacific Coast Highway and coastal railroad, right where erosion naturally happens.

South OC's sand deficit

University of California, Irvine, engineering professor Brett Sanders says south Orange County, especially, now has a large sand deficit. "Our natural sand supplies have been significantly reduced," Sanders wrote in an email.

Sanders said the sand replenishment project in Dana Point is significant, in part, because it's the first such project along this stretch of the coast in decades.

In contrast, parts of the coastline in Seal Beach, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach have gotten fresh loads of sand periodically, as remediation for federal infrastructure in and around the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station.

The Doheny project is also significant, Sanders said, "because local governments have taken responsibility and taken action."

The cost of sand

Sand replenishment is generally not cheap and many projects rely on federal leadership and funding. The federal government recently committed $15 million to an upcoming phase of the ongoing remediation project for beaches in the northern part of the county.

In south O.C., San Clemente will soon get part of its downtown beach replenished with federal help. The initial phase is expected to cost some $14 million and start this fall. But the city estimates the long-term cost of the project — 50 years of continual sand replenishment — at $256 million.

The cost of the Doheny project has been hard to pin down, in part because the entities involved — the county, California State Parks and the city of Dana Point — pitched in resources and staff time to make it happen. But estimates put the pricetag at approximately $113,000, excluding staff time.

Why it was 'unusually fast'

Susan Brodeur, a senior coastal engineer with O.C. Parks, said the county public works department had essentially donated the sand and the resources to haul it — at an estimated cost of $3.5 million. She called the project "a monumental achievement with all the collaboration involved."

The project also seemed to happen unusually fast — three to four months, Brodeur said. Some of the bigger beach nourishment projects, like in neighboring San Clemente, take years of planning and fundraising to get off the ground.

"Really it was more an opportunistic thing that happened," Brodeur said. She said the county had some pre-approvals in place, for things like the incoming sand composition, through a state program designed to allow local jurisdictions to do small replenishment projects quickly when the opportunity arises.

Brodeur said it's unclear whether the stars would align to do a similar project the next time there's sand available. "The transportation is the biggest issue," she said. "It's very expensive to transport that material here."

How long will it last?

Sanders, from UC Irvine, had been worried that waves and rain from Tropical Storm Hilary would wash away the new sand at Doheny — and from the Santa Ana River site providing the sand. It didn't.

Still, he said the beach would need continual sand replenishment to keep up with the ocean's eroding force. "We’ll also need a long-term plan for higher rates of sea level rise," Sanders said. That could mean moving some of the coastal infrastructure, like the PCH and the train tracks. "Some of the low-lying infrastructure will eventually need to be moved to ensure that we still have a beach," he said.

It’s taken over a decade and $1.3 billion, but Hollywood Burbank’s new terminal is finally ready for action. On Tuesday, Oct. 13, the first passengers will be taking off and arriving at the brand-new structure.

Visitors note: The new terminal entrance has moved from Thornton Avenue to the intersection of Winona Avenue and Hollywood Way. There’s also a central security checkpoint and an indoor baggage claim.

The project stemmed from Burbank’s Measure B, passed in 2016.

LAist reporter Cato Hernandez got a sneak peek inside the building last week and reported on the scope and the thinking behind the decor.

William Contreras hit a tying homer in the fifth and singled home the go-ahead run an inning later as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 on Monday in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.

Four relievers combined to retire the last 15 Dodgers batters in order as the Brewers took a 2-0 lead over the two-time defending World Series champions in this best-of-seven series, which heads to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday.

The Brewers are chasing their second pennant and first in the NL. They made their lone World Series appearance in 1982, when they were in the American League.

Los Angeles is trying to become the first NL team to win three straight World Series. The Dodgers last rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win a series in 2020, when they beat the Atlanta Braves in a seven-game NLCS before going on to win the World Series.

The Dodgers will need more punch from their lineup to have a chance at getting back to the Fall Classic. They mustered just three hits Monday and went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position to drop to 2 for 26 in those situations this postseason.

Los Angeles couldn’t even get a boost from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who entered 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 career playoff appearances. Yamamoto lasted just 2 2/3 innings for his shortest postseason start.

The Dodgers took the lead on three occasions in the first five innings. Milwaukee responded each time, the last coming when Contreras tied the game with a 436-foot homer to center off Kris Bubic in the fifth.

That turned the game into a battle of the bullpens, where the Brewers again had the edge.

Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby combined to shut down the Dodgers after Logan Henderson’s early exit.

The score was tied 4-all when Milwaukee’s David Hamilton was hit by a pitch from Brock Stewart to lead off the sixth. Stewart attempted a pickoff throw that went off the glove of first baseman Freddie Freeman and into foul territory for an error, advancing Hamilton to second.

After Jackson Chourio grounded out, the right-handed Stewart walked the left-handed-hitting Brice Turang to face the right-handed Contreras, who had homered in his previous plate appearance.

Contreras singled to left this time to bring home Hamilton with the go-ahead run.

Turang and Jake Bauers added RBI singles in the eighth to extend Milwaukee’s lead.

Neither starter lasts long

The anticipated pitchers’ duel between Yamamoto and Henderson didn’t work out according to plan.

In three previous playoff starts following Dodgers losses, Yamamoto had gone 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA. When he faced the Brewers in last year’s NLCS, he threw the first playoff complete game since Justin Verlander did it in 2017.

This time, Yamamoto couldn’t even make it out of the third inning before leaving with the Dodgers behind 3-2.

Henderson entered Monday having not allowed more than three runs in any of his 24 career starts (including the postseason). That streak ended when he allowed four runs over four innings.

Because Henderson committed two errors — matching his previous career total — only two of the runs were earned.

Milwaukee trailed 2-1 in the third when Bauers capped a 12-pitch plate appearance by taking a 3-2 offering in the dirt to load the bases with a walk. Christian Yelich followed by lining a single up the middle that brought home two runs and knocked Yamamoto out of the game.

Los Angeles bailed out Yamamoto by scoring twice in the fifth.

After Kyle Tucker hit a leadoff double, Tommy Edman sacrificed him to third. Henderson fielded the bunt and made a wild throw to first, enabling Tucker to score and moving Edman to second.

Edman advanced to third when Mookie Betts grounded out, and scored on Freeman’s sacrifice fly.

Henderson also had made a wild throw to first on a pickoff attempt in the third inning that allowed Edman to score from third.

Up next

Robert Gasser (5-5, 3.87 ERA) is expected to start for Milwaukee in Game 3. Gasser allowed one run over five innings when the Brewers won 3-1 at San Diego to clinch their NL Division Series.

The Dodgers hadn’t announced their Game 3 starting pitcher.

Actor and disability rights advocate RJ Mitte, who brought a lifetime of experience with cerebral palsy to fictional family struggles in an essential role on “Breaking Bad,” died Monday at age 34, authorities and his representatives said.

Cameron County Justice of the Peace Cyndi Hinojosa told The Associated Press she declared Mitte dead at about 1:30 p.m. at what she believed was his home in Brownsville, Texas. She said she was unable to provide a cause, but an autopsy will be performed.

Mitte played Walter White Jr., the son of Bryan Cranston’s chemistry teacher-turned-meth dealer Walter White on nearly every episode of the five seasons of the AMC show, which recently ranked as the best of the 21st century in a New York Times poll.

Diagnosed at age 3, Mitte told the AP in 2014 that his disability and the surrounding struggles with physical therapy, family problems and exorbitant medical bills — all key subjects on the show — made him better at his job.“You develop a different mentality and you develop a different look at how the world sees you and how you see the world,” he said. “You’re able to use that. And I think it’s an asset instead of something that would hinder.”

Mitte was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi.

He landed small guest roles on sitcoms after moving to Los Angeles to act in 2006. Like his character, he was in his mid-teens when he began his work on “Breaking Bad,” starting in 2007. The show ran from 2008 to 2013.

“Mitte brought authenticity to the role and built a platform on disability awareness and inclusion,” the actor’s representatives said in a statement announcing his death. The statement said he used “his platform to challenge stereotypes and promote greater representation.”

His later credits included the ABC Family series “Switched at Birth” and the superhero satire series “Guardians of Justice.”

He was also a producer of several independent films.

As an advocate, he served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s. He was also president of his own Mitte Foundation supporting philanthropic and community initiatives around disabilities.