Catherine Blakespear: To protect LOSSAN rail corridor, we need to act fast and think big

• May 13, 2023

There it was — the headline flashing across phones and computer screens — the San Clemente hillside below Casa Romantica was giving way, and the rail tracks below were in danger. Train operations ceased “for the foreseeable future.”

Less than two weeks after being fully reopened to limited passenger rail traffic, the line had to be shut down again on April 27, with rail riders being forced to take a bus bridge adding inconvenience and time to what should have been a lovely nonstop train ride.

Sadly, for those paying attention, it was hardly a surprise. The rail line’s vulnerabilities have become increasingly clear in recent years as erosion and climate change have jeopardized the track’s security and stability. Nearly every portion of the line — from northern Santa Barbara County to San Diego County — has experienced operational issues due to weather-related events that are projected to worsen in years ahead.

The LOSSAN corridor, which stands for Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo, serves six counties with a population of 20 million and is vital to the movement of freight and passengers through the region. The line is the second busiest intercity passenger rail corridor in the United States.

But as important as it is now, LOSSAN stands to be even more important in coming decades, as the state seeks to reduce carbon emissions, improve mobility through increasingly dense regions and reduce reliance on cars and freeways.

That’s why the state Senate has created a subcommittee — the Transportation Subcommittee on LOSSAN Rail Corridor Resiliency — to tackle the issue. Much thanks to Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins and Transportation Committee Chair Lena Gonzalez for recognizing the significance of this matter and establishing this subcommittee.

On Tuesday, we will hold our first hearing and begin a high-level assessment of the rail line’s value and long-term needs. Frankly, it’s long overdue.

Local and regional government agencies, such as SANDAG and the Orange County Transportation Authority, have been working hard on the issue for years, but what we need now is a state-level perspective that evaluates the entire LOSSAN line and our vision for it, working in partnership with both the federal government and local agencies.

Looking across the globe, we see that other modern nations — in Europe, in Asia — have made rail the centerpiece of highly efficient transportation networks. Even in this country, the Northeast rail corridor is essential for commuters and movement among the East Coast’s largest cities.

There is no shortage of great examples of what the LOSSAN rail corridor could become. Here’s what I aim to accomplish. First, work to identify the regional, state and national benefits of this line.

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Second, look holistically at how we’re supporting the corridor and work to optimize state and federal investments. Third, evaluate the corridor’s needs and create a framework for prioritizing projects, so we all work together on a smart plan that benefits everybody instead of competing against each other for investments in particular segments.

I have traveled abroad and seen the potential of what rail can be. We deserve, and can have, a truly competitive, reliable and resilient rail option that our region can use for generations.

As Southern California confronts its many challenges, investing in rail makes more sense now than ever. It’s time to move beyond the month-to-month crisis of reacting to the latest eroding hillside or flood, and plan more thoughtfully for the rail corridor’s future success.

Catherine Blakespear is a state senator and chair of the Senate Transportation Subcommittee on LOSSAN Rail Corridor Resiliency. 

​ Orange County Register 

Myth and reality of the City by the Bay

• May 13, 2023

On a visit up north last week, cornily, before going out to dinner, I put Tony Bennett on the Bluetooth speaker as I got dressed: “The loveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gay/The glory that was Rome is of another day/I’ve been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan/I’m going home to my city by the Bay.”

While I’ve lived in Northern California, it was not in San Francisco, so it was never my home. But, just as my colleague Steven Greenhut did the other week and wrote about in these pages, I was curious for a visit, after years of reading in the national press about what a horrific cesspool it had become.

In a word: Not.

It remains one of the most beautiful, civilized cities on the planet. Are there unhoused people? There are — far, far fewer, though, from what I saw in four days of roaming it, than in Los Angeles. I saw precisely one tent encampment. One person sleeping in a doorway. We took a cable car down to the Financial District. There we found the only truth in the truisms being circulated — sidewalks almost empty. Not because people are scared of the homeless. Rather, businesses emptied out during the pandemic, and few office workers have returned. You can consequently get a seat and a martini at the counter at the Tadich Grill, oldest restaurant in California, rather too easily.

Strolling over to Market Street in search of the supposed hellhole, we had our one uncomfortable encounter with a street person causing a ruckus inside a See’s store. Tall, headphoned, clearly unwell, he picked a fight with the apparently Filipina clerks, claiming they wouldn’t give him free candy samples, and told them to go back to where they came from. One yelled, “Hey, I was born here, and I’m calling the cops. She called. In what I swear was under 10 seconds, an officer — who must have been standing outside — came in and escorted the man out. First and last live people trouble we saw in the supposedly troubled town.

You  can find trouble when you look for it. Disgusted former progressive Michael Shellenberger’s famous book “San Fransicko: How Progressives Ruin Cities” is all about that. The former gubernatorial candidate and nuclear power advocate cites the problem of human waste on the sidewalks in Baghdad by the Bay and how the city spends $100 million a year just to clean them. I consequently expected to see, well, crap everywhere. In miles of walking those sidewalks last week, ever looking down for … trouble, I finally found it. Once. Gross. But the small armies of city workers with pickup sticks also left the cleanest, most litter-free big city I’ve seen around the world, ever.

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We had lunch with our friend Laurie, who lives in quiet Bernal Heights. I asked her about the national myth of SF as a sewer. “I take BART downtown once a week,” she says. “Lots of people in the station fencing stolen toiletries.” Sketchy guys aside, “I’ve been here 37 years, and it’s not any worse now. The police have been hanging around a lot lately, and it cleans up nice.”

San Francisco does that. I think its problem among Americans who rag on Nancy Pelosi but have never been to the City is that, like only New York and New Orleans among our great urban places, it’s kinda not America. Some Americans are scared of its urbanity. It’s the sort of place where you walk into a corner store, like at Mason and Taylor, late at night and neighbors are in just to kibitz and watch the Warriors game. One customer took us out to show us his building next door on wildly steep Mason, with weird carved seals guarding the stairs. “Used to be a men’s club — of a special kind,” he winked.

I don’t know what kind that was. But for Californians, San Francisco still feels like home.

Larry Wilson is on the Southern California News Group editorial board. [email protected].

​ Orange County Register 

Not all industrial buildings are the same

• May 13, 2023

As we’ve discussed many times, commercial real estate is as varied as a teenager’s moods.

Sure, we deal in three specific asset classes: industrial, office and retail. But within each are subcategories that create the variations.

Certainly, a regional mall is different than a Mimi’s Cafe. Your doctor’s office has different amenities than your CPA.

Today’s column deals with the features that define the different types of industrial buildings. There are three main categories of industrial buildings: manufacturing, logistics warehouses and flex. So how do I know which category appeals to the genre of industrial occupant? Continue reading and I will draw the distinctions.

Manufacturing buildings

Manufacturing buildings are generally constructed of concrete, concrete block or metal. It’s also where products are made, stored and shipped. The raw materials of the manufacturing process are generally stored on site (many times in an outside storage yard so as to not poach inside floor space) as well as the machinery that makes the products and the employees that operate the machinery and support the manufacturing process.

These buildings can be “freestanding” or parts of a larger building but typically have greater power feeds into the building, 10-30% of the total square footage in office space, ground-level loading doors vs. truck-high loading doors (some may have both), fenced outside storage areas and a warehouse clearance of 14 to 24 feet under-beam in the warehouse/plant area.

Because these locations typically have more office space, they also have more parking spaces — a minimum of two parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of building.

Manufacturers can generally operate in a building with lower ceiling height because their plant is consumed with machinery and raw materials vs. finished goods waiting to be shipped. Most products are made and delivered within days so as not to inventory a large amount of finished goods.

A distribution warehouse as described below will typically not fit a manufacturing requirement, but some distributors may be able to occupy a manufacturing building especially if the building is equipped with ground-level and truck-high loading.

Logistics warehouses

Logistics buildings used to be referred to as distribution warehouse buildings.

They generally are made of concrete (because of the wall height). Products are staged, stored and shipped from within their walls. Typically, no manufacturing or assembly is done on-site.

Consequently, fewer support staff and no raw materials are housed at the location. Logistics buildings require truck-high loading, warehouse clearance of a minimum of 24 feet and a truck-turning radius of 130 feet or more.

The ideal setup is a rectangular building with “cross-dock” loading so that the point from stored goods to loading doors is minimized. Because these buildings typically house fewer employees, the premium on office space and parking is lessened. These buildings normally have a parking ratio of one parking space per 1,000 square feet of building

Flex or flexible

The personal computer boom of the early- to mid-1980s gave birth to a new industry and consequently a new type of industrial building — the flex building, formerly called a research and development building.

Since computer companies employed a large number of skilled workers, the typical industrial building didn’t contain enough office space or enough parking for additional offices to be added.

Developers of R&D buildings created the “mezzanine second story” which enabled a smaller lot to accommodate a larger building. Silicon Valley in Northern California and the Irvine Spectrum are populated with these flex buildings.

Generally, these buildings are made of concrete and glass because they are modern and are occupied by a high-tech manufacturing or assembly group and a large employee count (engineering, accounting, purchasing, sales, sales support and customer service).

Parking, power, office percentage and layout are the important features within these buildings. These structures have three or four parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of building, and in some cases, can accommodate a use that requires 100% office.

Less important are loading, clear height in the warehouse and outside yard storage.

But, alas, our world is built on exceptions. This is true with locations as well. You may have some of the characteristics of all of the above in your location and it functions just fine. The above is true in the “classic” definition of the building types.

Allen C. Buchanan, SIOR, is a principal with Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services in Orange. He can be reached at [email protected] or 714.564.7104.

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​ Orange County Register 

LBSU softball edges Cal State Fullerton to keep Big West title hopes alive

• May 13, 2023

LONG BEACH — As it so often does, the chase for the Big West Conference softball title has come down to a season-ending series between rivals Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State.

And LBSU pitcher Shannon Haddad made sure the race will go down to the final day for the third year in a row, keeping her team’s championship hopes alive with a complete game three-hitter in a 3-2 victory on Friday night.

Long Beach (29-21 overall, 19-6 Big West) needs to sweep the three-game series against the Titans (33-17, 20-5) to win the title and the hosts snapped the Titans’ 14-game winning streak in the opener in front of a national television audience on ESPNU.

After Haddad worked a quick top of the first inning, LBSU scored a pair of runs against Fullerton pitcher Myka Sutherlin in the bottom of the frame. Sara Olson doubled, Jacquelyn Bickar followed with a bunt single, then Makayla Medellin delivered a third straight hit to drive in the first run. After a strikeout, Lilyanna Martinez added an RBI single for a 2-0 lead.

Sutherlin (19-8) found her groove after that, striking out six total and holding Long Beach scoreless over the next four innings.

Fullerton’s Hannah Becerra drew a leadoff walk in the top of the fourth and came around to score with the help of a pair of Long Beach errors.

Long Beach threatened to score in the fifth inning after a leadoff double by Bickar. She advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, but the next batter hit a grounder to shortstop Peyton Toto and she threw a dart to catcher Jessi Alcala for a run-saving out at the plate.

LBSU added what proved to be a critical insurance run in the sixth. Senior Cam Cecil singled with one out, advanced to second on a wild pitch, then scored on a pinch-hit single from Sinclair Lawhorn for a 3-1 lead.

Haddad (12-9) had held Fullerton to two hits through six innings, but Sophia Guevara delivered a pinch-hit solo home run – her first career homer – in the seventh. Haddad recovered and induced a pair of groundouts to close out the win.

The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday with the first game scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Fullerton still needs just one win to wrap up the title, but a Long Beach win in the opener would force a winner-take-all season finale for the conference title and the automatic NCAA postseason berth that comes with it.

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​ Orange County Register 

Foothill girls lacrosse team wins third straight CIF-SS Division 1 crown

• May 13, 2023

DOWNEY — The Foothill girls lacrosse team won its third consecutive CIF-SS Division 1 championship Friday with a dominant 12-5 win over Marlborough at Downey High.

Foothill (18-2) has perhaps been the most dominant girls sports team in the Southern Section the past three seasons. The Knights have a 61-3 record the past three seasons and have not lost to a Southern Section team since 2019.

Foothill girls beat Marlborough 12-5 to win its 3rd consecutive CIF Division 1 championship. Knights are 61-3 in last 3 years and haven’t lost to a Section team since 2019. Mia Marchetti and Brynn Perkins each had 3 goals. @ocvarsity @FoothillGirls @ocvarsityguy pic.twitter.com/lhfLcBzoqz

— Michael Huntley (@mikehuntley63) May 13, 2023

“This senior class is what is special. There are 11 of them and they are all studs,” Foothill coach Cristina Rodriguez said. “They have put in so much work to earn these three. Their leadership and passion is unmatched.”

The first 10 minutes of the game were slow, like two championship boxers feeling each other out in the early rounds. Foothill began an onslaught at the 16-minute mark of the first half and led 9-1 at halftime.

Sophomore Brynn Perkins scored three goals in the first half for the Knights. Mia Marchetti, Tatum Walshe and freshman Kayla Agarie each scored twice in the first half for Foothill.

Marchetti scored three goals for the Knights and senior Alexa Lemerise added a goal in the second half.

Foothill has four players with over 40 points this season.

“We have a lot of depth on our team and I think that’s what makes us really special,” Marchetti said.

Senior goalie Mikayla Yang had three saves in the first half for the Knights and Jenna Cardeno was in goal for much of the second half.

Yang, a Marquette signee, had six saves Friday and has been the starting goalie for all three championships.

“Mikayla is a rock star. She’s gotten better and better each year,” Rodriguez said.

Courtney Copeland led the Foothill defense and the senior added a goal in the second half.

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​ Orange County Register 

Orange Lutheran baseball overpowers Villa Park to reach Division 1 semifinals

• May 13, 2023

ORANGE – It was not a situation where a high school baseball freshman usually thrives.

Brady Murrietta is not a typical freshman.

Murrietta’s three-run double in the fourth inning expanded Orange Lutheran’s lead to a comfortable point Friday and the Lancers defeated Villa Park 6-1 in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinal at Hart Park.

Orange Lutheran (22-10-1) will play at Santa Margarita (26-6) in the semifinal round Tuesday at 3:15 p.m. Santa Margarita beat La Mirada 9-4 Friday.

Murrietta is a catcher with excellent catcher DNA. His father, Jason Murrietta was an All-Orange County catcher at Esperanza in the 1990s and is a member of the Cal State Fullerton baseball coaching staff.

The younger Murrietta has been in big situations before, having played on age-group baseball teams that have competed for national championships.

Orange Lutheran had a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning. Ben Reiland was hit by a pitch, Derek Curiel was intentionally walked and Casey Borba walked to load the bases. Murrietta pulled a 3-2 pitch down the left-field line to drive in Reiland, Curiel and Borba to make it 6-1.

The Lancers scored two runs in the top of the first inning. JJ Robles drove in one of the runs with a single and the other scored on an error.

Josiah Hartshorn’s sacrifice fly drove in Justin Lopez for a 3-0 lead.

Villa Park got its run in the third inning. Robby Wiens was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

Orange Lutheran used five pitchers and limited Villa Park to two hits.

Murriett said he tried to maintain a simple approach to his key at-bat.

“You can’t think a lot,” Murrietta said. “Just go up there with ‘see ball, hit ball.’ ”

Murrietta is happy for the rematch opportunity against Santa Margarita, which swept three games against Orange Lutheran in early March.

“We’re pretty fired up to get a rematch with them,” Murrietta said, “to show them what we can do.”

Orange Lutheran freshman catcher Brady Murrietta talks about his three-run triple that helped the Lancers beat Villa Park 6-1 and set up a rematch with Santa Margarita… pic.twitter.com/HvOV8LoBlC

— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) May 13, 2023

“He’s a special kid,” Orange Lutheran coach Eric Borba said. “He’s caught at a very high level. He’s mature beyond his years.”

Three Trinity League teams are in the Division 1 semifinals: Santa Margarita, Orange Lutheran and JSerra, which beat Sierra Canyon 6-3 Friday.

JSerra will play at Corona in the other semifinal Tuesday. Corona defeated No. 1 seed Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks 2-1 in 10 innings Friday.

Villa Park finished the season 21-11. The Spartans won the Crestview League championship and in the playoffs had wins over Damien and Huntington Beach.

A bad moment for Villa Park happened in the sixth inning. Senior shortstop Gavin Grahovac went down after making a back-handed attempt at a ground ball to his right. He aggravated an oblique strain, a muscle injury that affected him the past two weeks.

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​ Orange County Register 

Foothill boys lacrosse finishes on top in CIF-SS Division 1 with win over Loyola

• May 13, 2023

DOWNEY — The third time was a charm for the Foothill boys lacrosse team.

Foothill beat Loyola 9-8 to win its first CIF-SS Division 1 championship Friday at Downey High after being runner-up the last two seasons.

The Knights won eight championships in the previous US Lacrosse playoff system, but Friday they won their first title since the CIF-SS took over the playoff system in 2021.

“This is not the most talented group we’ve had but they came together the most as a team better than any other team I’ve had,” Foothill coach Jon Fox said. “I love being able to shake the commissioner’s hand and hold that trophy.”

“Words can’t describe how I’m feeling right now,” senior Luke Fox said. “I’ve dreamed about this since I was in second grade coming to games and watching Foothill win championships.”

Foothill beats Loyola 9-8 to win its first CIF-SS Division 1 championship. Four goals for Luke Fox. 3 for Bode Jellerson including the game-winner. @ocvarsity @SteveFryer @Tarek_Fattal @latsondheimer @FHSLaxNews @OCSportsZone @James_Escarcega pic.twitter.com/95TVXip24E

— Michael Huntley (@mikehuntley63) May 13, 2023

Foothill (18-6) had an 8-4 lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the game. Loyola (13-4) scored four unanswered goals in six minutes to tie the game.

With two minutes remaining, Bode Jellerson caught a pass on the right corner, drove to the goal and scored to give the Knights a 9-8 lead.

“Our coach set up a good clear for us, I got to open space, got the diagonal pass from my long-pole and saw some grass,” Jellerson said. “Instinctually I got my feet going and realized they didn’t have any help coming, so I ran to the goal, got my hands free and it went in.”

Loyola had the ball in the final minute but the Foothill defense, led by Landon Mokhtari, Jackson Bennett and Eric Oman, forced a turnover to give the Knights possession with 27 seconds remaining.

Luke Fox scored four goals to lead Foothill’s offense. The four goals gave him a school-record 122 points this season, breaking the previous record of 121 set by Nate Marano in 2015.

Foothill goalie Cohen Krudwig had 14 saves. This was the first year being a full-time goalie for Krudwig, who is also a hockey player.

Trent Turner scored three goals for Loyola and had an assist. Benjamin Horowitz and Cash Ginsberg each scored twice for the Cubs.

Foothill had a tough road to the championship, having to beat St. Margaret’s, Mater Dei and Corona del Mar in the earlier rounds. The Knights lost to Mater Dei and Corona del Mar in the regular season, but redeemed themselves in the playoffs.

“We saw the bracket when it came out and some of us had some doubts because we knew it would be tough,” Jellerson said. “We went on a crusade and took down some big names to get it done.

“I wept like a little baby when that horn blew and we won that thing. So many friendships and bonds created around this game over the years and it felt really good to win this one for our school.”

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​ Orange County Register 

CIF-SS baseball playoffs: Friday’s scores, updated pairings and schedule for the semifinals

• May 13, 2023

The scores from Friday’s CIF Southern Section baseball playoff games and the updated schedule for the semifinals Tuesday.

CIF-SS BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

DIVISION 1

Quarterfinals, Friday

Corona 2, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 1 (10 innings)

JSerra 6, Sierra Canyon 3

Orange Lutheran 6, Villa Park 1

Santa Margarita 9, La Mirada 4

Semifinals, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m.

JSerra at Corona

Orange Lutheran at Santa Margarita

DIVISION 2

Quarterfinals, Friday

Aquinas 7, Ocean View 2

Crespi 7, Corona Santiago 4

Calabasas 3, Gahr 1

South Hills 2, West Ranch 1

Semifinals, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m.

Crespi at Aquinas

Calabasas at South Hills

DIVISION 3

Quarterfinals, Friday

Aliso Niguel 6, La Serna 2

Yorba Linda 2, Long Beach Poly 1

San Marcos 2, Redlands East Valley 0

South Torrance 2, Westlake 2, suspended, 17 innings (resumes Saturday, Westlake HS, 11 a.m.)

Semifinals, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m.

Yorba Linda at Aliso Niguel

TBD vs. San Marcos

DIVISION 4

Quarterfinals, Friday

Crean Lutheran 2, Burbank 1

Sultana 17, Chaparral 6

Canyon/A 13, Barstow 3

Linfield Christian 6, Brea Olinda 3

Semifinals, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m.

Sultana at Crean Lutheran

Linfield Christian at Canyon/A

DIVISION 5

Quarterfinals, Friday

Bishop Montgomery 12, Montebello 1

Apple Valley 9, Calvary Chapel/SA 4

Peninsula 3, Liberty 1

Shadow Hills 10, St. Anthony 4

Semifinals, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m.

Bishop Montgomery at Apple Valley

Peninsula at Shadow Hills

DIVISION 6

Quarterfinals, Friday

Bloomington 6, Trinity Classical 3

Castaic 20, Mayfair 2

Hesperia Christian 8, Norwalk 3

San Marino 2, Campbell Hall 1

Semifinals, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m.

Bloomington at Castaic

Hesperia Christian at San Marino

DIVISION 7

Quarterfinals, Friday

Ganesha 21, Fontana 0

Brentwood 3, Cornerstone Christian 2

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 3, Banning 2

Fillmore 7, Artesia 1

Semifinals, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m.

Ganesha at Brentwood

Fillmore at Cantwell-Sacred Heart

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​ Orange County Register