October 04, 2007

In Columbia Heights, Room for the Little Guys

By Alejandro Lazo Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, October 1, 2007; D01

The shells for what will be some of the biggest big-box retailers Columbia Heights has ever known are rising along 14th and Irving streets and Park Road NW. They include Target, Best Buy, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Yet below these retail giants, space has been reserved for the little guys.

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Is O.C. parks debate a power play?

Supervisors will examine a plan to change how the county's parks are managed. The Irvine Co.'s influence may be a factor.
By Christian Berthelsen, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer October 2, 2007
When Orange County officials first reviewed a plan by the Irvine Co. to drain runoff from its massive Santiago Hills housing development into county-owned Irvine Regional Park, they were deeply troubled.

Parks administrators thought the arrangement amounted to a "gift of public funds" because it granted the development firm exclusive use of public property that would benefit its private 1,750-home development, according to documents and correspondence provided to The Times. At a minimum, they reasoned, the Irvine Co. should pay for the land, and they drafted a letter to the company saying as much in April 2005.

But after a series of hand-written changes by senior directors at the county's Resources and Development Management Department, the county's position changed diametrically.
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September 29, 2007

As Polluter, D.C. Area Outpaces Countries

High Carbon Emission Blamed on Coal Plants

By David A. Fahrenthol Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, September 30, 2007; C01

The Washington area produces more carbon dioxide than several medium-size European countries, according to a new estimate of local emissions, as the region's crawling traffic and coal-fired power plants give it a pollution "footprint" out of proportion to its size.

The estimate, by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, seems to be the first official attempt to put a number on the region's contributions to climate change. And the number is big: 65.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide were emitted here in 2005. That was more than in all of Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Denmark or Switzerland, each of which has more people.

Within the region, the estimate shows that the Maryland suburbs -- often stereotyped as green-leaning and blue-voting -- produce more carbon dioxide than either the Virginia suburbs or the District. One major reason: It is home to three coal-burning power plants.

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September 26, 2007

Most of old nightclub to be razed

L.A. Unified, which is building a school on the site, says the Cocoanut Grove is too structurally weak to preserve whole. Conservancy objects.
By Evelyn Larrubia, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 26, 2007
Delivering yet another blow to historical preservationists, the Los Angeles Board of Education decided Tuesday to tear down most of the structure of the Cocoanut Grove nightclub at the former Ambassador Hotel as part of its plans to build a school there. Officials said testing determined that the structure was too weak to withstand an earthquake.

Neighborhood activists, who have been waiting for the K-12 campus for years, applauded after the speedy 7-0 vote, which followed very little discussion by board members.
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September 25, 2007

House on the highway now in Caltrans' hands

By Bob Pool, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer  10:34 AM PDT, September 25, 2007
In a city obsessed with tumbling home values and horrible traffic, maybe it's appropriate that the two collided on the Hollywood Freeway.

For 10 days now, a sagging house parked on the freeway's northbound shoulder in the Cahuenga Pass has had people gawking -- and talking.

The old advertising slogan "If you lived here you'd be home now" has been uttered a thousand times. Radio reports have repeatedly blamed snarled traffic on "that house on the freeway." Internet bloggers have joked about how the house has given new meaning to the term "easy freeway access."

Commuters have noted with disgust that taggers are scrawling fresh graffiti on the home every night.
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Sun-powered homes defy a cool housing market

Builders say buyers are seeking them out, and solar industry officials say growth is going through the roof.
By Elizabeth Douglass, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer  September 25, 2007
With foreclosures rising and home prices diving, there is a bright spot in California's residential real estate market: Solar-powered homes are starting to outsell traditionally electrified new homes in several markets, and developers are stepping up their use of the technology.

Perhaps it's only fitting for a state that so openly celebrates its sunshine. Still, the growing popularity of household solar power is an encouraging sign for the thousands of solar enthusiasts and vendors gathering in Long Beach this week.

Tops
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Towns Rethink Laws Against Illegal Immigrants

By KEN BELSON and JILL P. CAPUZZO Published: September 26, 2007

RIVERSIDE, N.J., Sept. 25 — A little more than a year ago, the Township Committee in this faded factory town became the first municipality in New Jersey to enact legislation penalizing anyone who employed or rented to an illegal immigrant.

Within months, hundreds, if not thousands, of recent immigrants from Brazil and other Latin American countries had fled. The noise, crowding and traffic that had accompanied their arrival over the past decade abated.

The law had worked. Perhaps, some said, too well.

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In Beach Enclave, Affluent at Odds Over Effluent

Jeff Clark for The New York Times

Hillary Hauser, an environmental activist, believes getting rid of septic tanks will make the water cleaner.

By REGAN MORRIS Published: September 25, 2007

RINCON POINT, Calif. — Septic tanks or sewers? The question of how to treat wastewater in this exclusive beachfront community is pitting neighbors, surfers and environmentalists against one another.

Surfers have long complained about getting sick at the world-class surf break here that straddles Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. And blame for the pollution has long been laid on the septic tanks of the multimillion-dollar homes in the gated enclave of Rincon Point.

After nine years of debate and several lawsuits, homeowners are to vote next month on whether to convert from the tanks to a sewer system. While most residents appear to back the conversion, a vocal group of residents is questioning its wisdom, with several saying they feel bullied into paying for an expensive system that would only encourage more development and more pollution.

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September 24, 2007

A million L.A. trees: Will they take root?

Saplings
Robert Gauthier / LAT
SAPLINGS: Recently planted trees line the median along Huntington Drive in El Sereno.
The city is giving them away, but no one knows if they are being planted.
By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 24, 2007
Monica Barra went to South Los Angeles last month to attend a jazz festival. She went home with a free tree, a one-gallon African sumac that she lugged around on a Sunday afternoon past the shops and restaurants of Leimert Park.

The college senior took the tree on an impulse, though each tree recipient was required to fill out a "pledge to plant," a form smaller than an index card and a signature feature of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plan to plant 1 million trees across Los Angeles.

One in a million
At the beginning
Six weeks later, Barra's leafy friend has yet to make contact with the soil. Because Barra has no land of her own, the tree sits in her apartment in Redlands, roughly 60 miles from Los Angeles.
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Unlike its neighbor, L.A. goes with the flow

As Long Beach enacts restrictions on water use in advance of a potential crisis, the DWP takes a wait-and-see approach.
By Steve Hymon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 24, 2007
Long Beach has a population of almost half a million, making it the second largest city in the county of Los Angeles and the fifth most populous in the state.

As you may have read, water officials there recently looked at the prospect of tightening water supplies and decided the outlook was bleak enough to impose restrictions.

The new rules are hardly draconian, but they do have some bite. Lawn watering is now allowed only three days per week, the time that sprinkler systems are allowed to run has been limited and daytime watering has been prohibited.

Long Beach's decision is intriguing, in part, because the largest city in the county, Los Angeles, has not imposed such rules. Instead, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa asked residents this summer to voluntarily cut their usage by 10%.

Long Beach residents already use less water on average than L.A. residents -- 121 gallons per day versus 141 in 2006. Which leads to the question. . .

Is Long Beach jumping the gun, or is Los Angeles sticking its head in the sand?
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