Tree trimmers chopped back to 12-foot high stumps the pendulous limbs of an ailing historic pepper tree that for decades rose to twice the height of the two-story Laguna Beach City Hall. The results by West Coast Arborists of Anaheim revealed a hollow cavity in the specimen planted by homesteader George Rogers in 1881 to shade his ranch house. City officials intend to clone sprouts from the original, which arborists discovered was in decline in 2006. Photo by Dondee Quincena.
