Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, February 14, 2025…
- American society often feels divided. But sometimes, even the most surprising things can bring us together. For a small Central Sierra Nevada community, residents recently found themselves rallying around an unlikely source.
- Communities across California are waking up this morning to the damage left behind from Thursday’s powerful storm system. The brunt of the damage was in Southern California.
- 20,000 University of California healthcare and other workers have voted to authorize a statewide strike .
A Pile Of Dirt Sat On A Parking Lot. Then Residents Made It Famous
Holli Martinez owns a gift shop in the central Sierra Nevada community of Oakhurst. Her business, “7 Rivers Pickers,” is stacked floor to ceiling with hoodies, dresses, mugs and stickers. She said it’s like all the mall stores combined. There’s even an area with a bunch of guitars.
On a recent day, as Martinez hummed to music playing over the shop’s speakers, she proclaimed Oakhurst is the real “gateway to Yosemite.” Just a 15-mile drive north, Yosemite National Park is visible on much of the merchandise in her store. Iconic images like Half Dome and El Capitan are stamped on the clothing and cups and mugs fully stocked on the shop’s racks and shelves. Recently, a new landmark became the focus for her merchandise. Over the last few months, locals in Oakhurst took a liking to a dirt pile that sat in the parking lot of a shopping center. People named it “Mount Chipotle,” because it sat next to a Chipotle restaurant.
The lot’s owner, Mitch Eisner, told KVPR he had been waiting for the right weather to truck the dirt away. Eisner doesn’t know exactly how long it sat there, but he estimates at least a year. But before he could get rid of the dirt, it had taken on a life of its own. It quickly rose to fame. Martinez and her husband saw an opportunity, and started printing merchandise with the image of the dirt proudly displayed as a tough mountain. Orders started coming in for Mount Chipotle T-shirts from across the country.
The dirt pile sparked unity in the community. Now that it’s gone, people in town want to find the next thing they can beautify.
Southern California Hit By Destructive Debris Flows Caused By Heavy Rains
Southern California faces the continued risk of rock and mudslides on wildfire-scarred hillsides Friday, a day after heavy rains sent debris across several roadways, including the Pacific Coast Highway, where a fire department vehicle was pushed into the ocean.