Stranded hiker rescued today

At approximately 4pm this afternoon, Park Rangers responded to a call about a stranded person on a cliff face just north of Dante's View in Griffith Park.

Park Rangers located the idiot  victim  where they had no earthly business being  on a cliff face 50' below the garden and escorted the LAFD to the scene where the Park Rangers and the LAFD then engaged in a joint rescue operation, air lifting the Darwin awards candidate  person to safety.

Thankfully there were no injuries to either the person or the rescuers, but Common Sense sure took a beating.

Construction plan threatens Reagan Ranch site at Malibu Creek State Park

An Appeal to the Equestrian Community and the Public
 
by Ted Fulton,
GWP guest author

Local politicians, State and National Park Service officials recently gathered for a fund raiser to build an RV park along famously scenic Mulholland Highway in the Santa Monica Mountains. The scenic spot chosen for the development was a historic ranch once owned by Ronald and Nancy Reagan which became part of Malibu Creek State Park in 1974. The focus of the 7-acre RV park will be equestrian camping and will therefore have horse corrals and manure dumpsters.  It has been suggested that this is an appropriate use of the  president’s former ranch, and the project has been named the Ronald Reagan Equestrian Campground.


I respectfully suggest that this plan is flawed. The addition of RV parking, numerous paved camping sites, and other infrastructure buildings will forever alter the scenic views and the integrity of this historic ranch. The state’s plan calls for massing vegetation along Mulholland Highway to “protect the view.” Massing vegetation at this site will block the view and be a significant fire hazard. Day-use facilities already exist at the park for equestrians.

If there is public demand to build a new larger facility on public land, nearby King Gillette Ranch is a far superior location and provides identical access to equestrian trails in the area.  King Gillette Ranch is physically larger making it easier to disguise the project preserving the scenic view from Mulholland (a state designated scenic highway). A large stable screened by vegetation already exists on Gillette Ranch. Gillette Ranch is accessed via a major traffic artery (Malibu Canyon/Las Virgenes Road)  as opposed to the Reagan Ranch which is not. The larger size of Gillette Ranch also offers a greater buffer between the campground and nearby homes in the event of wildfire.

Public comment is invited at www.savethemeadow.com

 -----
 GPW says...  Once an RV park is built on the Reagan Ranch site, irreparable harm will be done to the historic property. However, the needs of the community should be addressed. Therefore, there must be a lot more discussion as to whether the Ranch site itself is the very best location for the RV park, or if nearby land would be just as trail accessible for the site of the RV park, while simultaneously saving a historic California state treasure.  Seems pretty obvious to us which is the best solution - another nearby location makes more sense.

Your comments on whether or not the Ronald Reagan Ranch at Malibu Creek State Park is the appropriate location for this RV park should also go to Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky via his web site as well as to Ted's site. 

The way it should be

If the City Council insists on wasting money and dirty coal-generated energy with a cheesy, unoriginal lights show that is easily dwarfed year after year by neighborhood displays, then the least you can do is to restrict it to green transportation and healthy viewing.

From today's LA Times slide show of last night's festival debut. See the rest of the slide show here.

Aliens in Griffith Park

Twitpic by s2ams show aliens landing in the park last night during the Holiday light Festival.

Hope they brought their bikes so they could enjoy the festival cause motorized vehicles weren't allowed..

GP Light festival bike night invite*

Is LaBonge going to ride with the masses for five hours? Doubt it, so if you want to hang with the Councilman, you had best get there right at 5pm.




*ObEditorialComment: Who do you think did most of the work on this event, the party in large print or the party in small print? And who is missing? Only the department whose facility is ensnarled by this event for an entire month each year - Recreation and Parks. 

Breaking: Bomb scare in Griffith Park

Breaking news:

A number of bomb squad units responded to a citizen's report of a suspicious package in Griffith Park somewhere in the vicinity of the Hollywood Sign at approximately noon today.

Preliminary reports are that the suspicious, bomb-like package was.... a geocache! You can expect another 50 similar reports in the near future as there are at least that many geocaches and letterboxes in the 4200+ acre park.

For those wondering about Park Rangers, they were first on-scene. So yes Virginia, there are still a few Rangers in Griffith Park.

What's Zev smoking?

Gotta say I'm kinda thinking that Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is actually smoking LA's Big Green Secret after reading his looney article of the same name in today's Huffington Post.

Basically, Zev's "article" is a dressed-up PR piece for his vote to acquire 600 acres in Malibu Canyon for a mere $34 million.  (yay)  Starting with the very first sentence, it completely misrepresents Los Angeles City's situation - where the majority of us live - and therefore ticks us off no end. LA County may have large swaths of open space, but Los Angeles City - which he references frequently - is one of the most park-poor large municipalities per capita in the United States.

Leave it to a politician to misrepresent the day to day experience of the majority of their constituents. According to data from USC's Green Visions Plan study, the poorer parts of Los Angeles are some of the most park-poor in the US. They're severely lacking smaller, quality neighborhood parks and passive recreation opportunities that a RAND Corporation study found to be heavily preferred by most Angelenos, regardless of race and economic factors.

...but Los Angeles City ... is one of the most park-poor large municipalities per capita in the United States.

In 2008, the Department of Recreation and Parks was in the public input stage of a much-needed citywide Needs Assessment process to address this dearth of City green space when they were broadsided by Tony and His Fifteen Fiefs -- RAP was slapped with the highest budget cut of any department in the City. In 2009, the hit to Los Angeles City parks was 25%, and 2010 bodes far worse for our urban parks.

Zev's article follows.... and is probably best viewed after a little green secret of your own.
--------------------------------

LA's Big Green Secret
Something remarkable is unfolding in the mountains above our urban sprawl -- something for the ages. Parcel by parcel, acre by acre, we have amassed more protected open space than any major metropolis in the nation. Government sometimes deservedly gets a good knocking for its failures, for too often letting intergovernmental rivalries derail the best of intentions. But every so often, it's important to take stock of successes that can temper the cynicism and restore a sense of civic idealism. The story of the Santa Monica Mountains is one of those, one that has been told only in bits and pieces spread across the years. It's a textbook example of collaboration between federal, state and local officials who worked hand-in-hand with grassroots groups dedicated to protecting the area from the kind of development that overtook the Hollywood Hills. 

For me, the preservation of the Santa Monica Mountains is both political and personal. As a young boy growing up in Boyle Heights on the Eastside, my family would pack us up for weekend picnics in Griffith Park. I'd hike, play football and experience wilderness just minutes from the grit and congestion of my neighborhood. In the park, it seemed I could breathe easier. I carried those memories into elective office. As a member of the Board of Supervisors, the Santa Monica Mountains were in my district. It was now my responsibility to build on the legacy of my predecessor, Ed Edelman, who with former Rep. Anthony Beilenson and the late LA City Councilman Marvin Braude, championed the preservation of open space.

Over the decades, we have pursued two tacks. One is to restrict the scope of development. Yes, property owners do have the right to build but they do not have the right, for example, to shave off gorgeous ridgelines to maximize panoramic views from their mansions. In other words, the terrain must dictate the development, not the opposite, despite the arguments of high-priced lobbyists and lawyers for developers. The second approach has been to acquire parcels from willing property owners largely with funds approved for this purpose by voters. To that end, in 1997 we created a matrix we called "The Big Picture," which identified parcels ripe for protection based on whether they contained ridgelines, creeks or wildlife corridors. Then we made a beeline for them.

I'm proud to report here that almost every high-priority property on our list has now been taken off the table, purchased by a consortium of county, federal and state agencies, including the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. No property better exemplifies what we've been able to accomplish than the $34 million acquisition of King Gillette Ranch, off Mulholland Highway near Malibu Canyon. At one point, the spectacular 600 acre property was on its way to becoming the stomping grounds of 5,000 students as part of a proposed expansion of Soka University. In a private meeting that never made it into the headlines, I'll never forget the extraordinary scene of representatives from federal, state and county government sitting around a table pledging millions of dollars so we could hit the purchase price. The magnitude of our task dwarfed our individual affiliations. We were of one mind.

Now plans are underway to transform King Gillette Ranch into a gateway for the Santa Monica Mountains recreation area, complete with a visitors' center for those who'll be enjoying the mountains long after we're gone. Still, our work is not done. Next year, a state water bond issue is slated to come before you with funding set aside for more acquisitions. You know how I'm voting. All of this, of course, is about more than a hike in the park. The protection of open space has become an environmental imperative in reducing the impact of air pollution and global warming. The Santa Monica Mountains have been called "the lungs of LA," consuming carbon dioxide and cleaning the air. In fact, one of California's strategies in meeting global warming mandates is to preserve natural land.

Now, let's head back to Griffith Park. For more than a decade in the late 1800s, the Los Angeles City Council balked at accepting Colonel Griffith's generous but seemingly odd donation of rugged land on the far outskirts of the city. Year after year, the local officials asked why in the world they would want responsibility for it. What good was it anyway? Thankfully, we know the answer to that. Griffith Park is a crown jewel of our urban life, surrounded, but not enveloped, by buildings and freeways. The park was there for me as a youngster, as it was for my children and, perhaps some day, for theirs, too. Today, we've helped ensure that, no matter what development awaits the region, the Santa Monica Mountains will be unscathed and unscarred. And that's something remarkable.

(For a video and interactive map of Santa Monica Mountain acquisitions, visit Zev's website at www.zev.lacounty.gov

Animal pic of the day

This unusual  fellow is making the email rounds.

Absolutely gorgeous!

 

Potpouri du jour

Wild Will Campbell makes a once in a lifetime opportunity pay off with the absolute coolest wildlife photo you'll ever see at an opera venue.

What on earth is going on with the LAPD and bicycle riders in Los Angeles?  Last Friday, officers in a single LAPD cruiser seemed to have lost their theoretically well-trained minds when a mass of cyclists much too large for them to handle passed by.  This is starting to look like Vietnam protests all over again or something.

Completely surreal, but the fight for the right to ride safely in Los Angeles is all too real as yet another rider is hit on local streets. I've actually been afraid to ride on the streets since I moved to LA. Maybe it's time to dust off my road bike and jump into the civil disobedience in the name of public safety and environmentally friendly means of transportation, 'cause this bizarro-world police response needs some serious correcting right now.

Speaking of bizarro-world, you know you're helplessly trapped there when the cold-blooded assassination of four Lakewood police officers by a guy sentenced to nearly 100 years yet pardoned by Mike Huckabee gets just third billing to local "kick a ginger day" nonsense.

Bloody hell.

The only consolidation in this horrific tale is that an alert Seattle police officer saved his own life while simultaneously saving the taxpayers potentially a lot of money early this morning. I'm looking forward to the arrest and trial of the six or seven "citizens" who helped Maurice Clemmons carry out his psycho attack and evade capture, and the imminent micro-examination of Huckabee's role along with the Pierce County judge who set bail on Clemmons - a career piece of filth - at just $150,000 for the alleged rape of a twelve-year old. Lakewood, which is near LA-gang-infested Tacoma, Washington, has only been an incorporated municipality for approximately a decade. Lakewood police are considered top-notch, often appearing with Pierce County sheriff officers on the Cops tv series, where I've seen them many times. The thoughts of everyone at GP Wayist go out to the entire Lakewood citizenry and western Washington law enforcement staff and families.

Angeles highway photo essay

The Los Angeles Times has a nice photo essay of the re-opening of Angeles Crest, Angeles Forest highways and Big Tujunga Canyon road after the devastation caused by the Station Fire.  Check it out here.

Different park, familiar issues

These meetings might be about different Los Angeles parks, but it is scary how similar our issues are.  Just as an example, the Army Corps decided to conduct simultaneous Master Plan processes at Hansen Dam and Sepulveda Basin (surprise!) and it was only through this email that individual parks users learned of this.  -GPW

---------------
The next meeting of the Friends of Lake Balboa will be held this Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. and will feature Los Angeles Police Department Senior Lead Officer for the park, David Ham.  There will also be a presentation and discussion about the 2010 Persian New Year Festival (Nooruz) scheduled to be held at Lake Balboa on April 4.  The agenda is attached as well as copied and pasted below. The minutes of the previous meeting held on September 24, 2009 were emailed to members and posted on the website on November 6, 2009.  Hard copies will be available at the meeting.

Please visit the Friends of Lake Balboa website, http://www.FriendsOfLakeBalboa.org, new since our last meeting and recently updated with additional photos and news articles.  Please let us know what you think and forward any suggestions for any additions.

Lastly, for the first time in nearly 30 years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is updating the Sepulveda Basin Master Plan.  Whether the future of Lake Balboa/Beilenson Park is a better one (or not) will be impacted by the decisions made during this process.  Your attendance and participation at the first public meeting being held on this update is important; join us Saturday, December 5, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Sepulveda Garden Center, 16633 Magnolia Blvd., Encino  (see attached flyer).

Thank you for your ongoing interest and support of the Friends.  We hope to see you on Thursday (and Saturday).

Cordially,
Glenn Bailey and Kerri Barton, Co-Chairs
Friends of Lake Balboa
_________________________________________________________________

Friends of Lake Balboa
Department of Recreation and Parks, City of Los Angeles

Meeting Notice and Agenda
Thursday, December 3, 2009, 6:30 p.m.

***NOTE NEW MEETING LOCATION***
Tillman Water Reclamation Plant Conference Room, 6100 Woodley Avenue

1.       Call To Order, Self-Introductions
2.       Review/Corrections/Approval of Minutes September 24, 2009
3.       Public Comments (for items not on agenda)
4.        Public Safety Update (LAPD, OPS)

a.       Guest Speaker:  LAPD Senior Lead Officer David Ham
b.      LAPD Volunteer Horse Patrol
c.       Office of Public Safety

5.       Department of Recreation and Parks Lack Of Support For Friends of Lake Balboa

a.       Tim Johnson’s replacement is Jeremy Thomas (e-mail address:  Jeremy.Thomas@lacity.org, telephone number remains the same (818)756-7667 
b.      Possible alternative daytime meeting?
c.       Future meetings schedule and location

6.       Persian New Year (Nooruz) Festival, April 2010
7.       Aquatics

a.       Previous Recommendations, Requests, and Pending Items (see list)

8.       Department of Recreation and Parks Report:   Previous Meeting  Updates

a.       Previous Recommendations, Requests, and Pending Items (see list)

9.       Department of Recreation and Parks Report:  New Items 
10.   Bull Creek Ecosystem Restoration

a.       Graffiti removed from MTA busway bridge
b.      Static water (e-mail from Steve Moe)
c.       Shopping carts in Bull Creek

11.   Park Rangers - Lack Of Deployment At Regional Parks
12.   Events at Lake Balboa And The RAP “Special Events Calendar”

a.       WeSPARK Cancer Support Center 5K Run, November 8, 2009 included Bull Creek
b.      Turkey Run, November 26, 2009
c.       Other runs and special events, including possible Music Festival in 2010

13.   Sepulveda Basin Master Plan Update Public Meeting:  Saturday, December 5, 2009 10 am - 2 pm at the Sepulveda Garden Center, 16633 Magnolia Blvd., Encino
14.    Proposed Ball Field Project Adjacent to Lake Balboa – Any Update?
15.   F.O.L.B. Website:   www.FriendsOfLakeBalboa.org           (Comments to Glenn Bailey)
16.   Additional Public Comments (for items not on the agenda)
17.   Next Meeting:  Thursday, January 28, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.  Location?  (Agenda items to Kerri Barton (818) 891-4816 Email:  kbjwb@hotmail.com)
18.   Adjournment   

Guess who is running the park rangers*?

Go on, guess.

No, last I heard Chief Al Torres - a popular 30 veteran - is warming a desk somewhere where the phone never rings. Good stuff.

Guess again.

(bzzzzz) - wrong! It's the GSA Office of Public Safety gang! Our park rangers don't have a chief, and GSA OPS has kindly lent one of their own to play Chief. Isn't that convenient? Between some OPS lieutenant and beloved AGM Kevin Regan, Wrecks and Parks got it all covered even though what they're up to is, er... illegal. Yeah, illegal. But hey - it's Los Angeles! The law doesn't apply here. ("Li'bility? We don't care about no stinkin' li'bility....")

Bet all those community folks and folkettes who fought so hard to save park rangers are loving that GSA OPS is running their rangers now. Bet they love the idea that half the ranger staff are doing just interpretive tree-hugging stuff now too. Yet they get paid the same as the smokies doing all of the job!

I'd just love that, too. Where do I sign up?

I'm sure we all noticed how great Ranger service has been since Nov. 8th. After all, GSA OPS provides great service, don't they? Plus, they're just so darned efficient! Now that IS park progress for the people. Yee haw!

Well, kewl. Mebe with the new leadership we can finally get some of this wicked action in Griffith now too.




*facetiousness red-alert - you were warned.

Wanted: a CD 4 candidate who cares

I read the below this morning about a homeless woman killed at a dangerous railroad crossing near Glendale and about a certain councilman's dragging-of-the-feet to getting it fixed, and I wondered what Tom LaBonge would do if this crossing were just a teeny tiny bit closer to Griffith Park. Yes, it is all about money. But what if this incident somehow slightly inconvenienced LaBonge or one of his friends from their cherished morning hike? That railroad crossing would already be fixed as I type this!

Once again the inevitable conclusion is that we need a real representative in Council District Four, rather than the pretend "democrat" we have now. Honestly, have you ever seen such an elitest as LaBonge?  Don't LaBonge's actions basically scream antithesis of democrat?

Someone, anyone -  run against Tom LaBonge in 2011!  Stop the bourgeoisie bullcrap.

--------------------------------------
Railroad crossing safety call

Ara Najarian says Monday’s death at crossing means it’s time for it to be closed.

By Veronica Rocha       Published: Wednesday, November 25, 2009

GLENDALE — The death of a woman in her 60s who was struck and killed by an Amtrak train Monday has highlighted the need to make the city’s portion of the rail corridor safer, the Metropolitan Transit Authority chairman said. The woman was killed at the Doran Street and San Fernando Road railroad crossing, which Chairman Ara Najarian said has been a concern for years. “It’s a crossing that we feel is best closed rather than attempting to upgrade it because of the very short queuing space between the tracks and San Fernando Road,” said Najarian, who’s also a city councilman. The Metrolink board is working to close the Doran Street railroad crossing, which he said would be fenced off.

The woman was pushing a shopping cart and walked across the tracks about 11:30 a.m. Monday as the passenger train approached her, witnesses said. The engineer blew the horn several times, but the woman didn’t move. She stumbled on the tracks and was hit by the train.The woman’s identity has been withheld until her family is notified, said Ed Winter, assistant chief coroner for Los Angeles County. Coroners haven’t determined whether the woman was homeless, he said. The accident could not have been prevented, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. “It think it’s apparent in this particular case the pedestrian was not aware of her surroundings, even though all the equipment was working properly,” he said. A state-of-the-art quad gate also wouldn’t have prevented the accident, Najarian said. Most of Glendale’s railroad crossings are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, except for Broadway and Doran Street, which he said is the worst.“We wanted very much to get rid of [the crossing], but the problem is that we are getting some push-back from Tom LaBonge in the city of [Los Angeles] that does not want to stop the access at that point,” Najarian said.

Los Angeles Councilman Tom LaBonge said he wants to work closely with Glendale to resolve issues in the southern portion of the San Fernando corridor. “It’s tragic that anyone is hit by a train,” he said. “Tragic for the person, their family, tragic for the operator of the train, tragic for anybody that witnessed it.” Officials have a plan to eliminate the Doran Street railroad crossing, but that’s still in the works, LaBonge said. “All of it is about money, too,” he said. “Railroad crossings are a very delicate thing because you can’t open up a street unless you close a street.”

The fatal accident will not cause city officials to add safety features or change the Doran Street railroad crossing, Mayor Frank Quintero said “That wouldn’t affect our decisions at all,” he said. “If it was an automotive or a trucking-type incident that might be a different story, but this particular case, not at all.” City Council officials haven’t taken actions to eliminate the railroad road crossing, which was part of a package to streamline the San Fernando corridor.

In May 2008, the City Council authorized an at-grade railroad crossing for an extension of Flower Street to San Fernando Road, which was estimated to cost $2.6-million. Other safety improvements were slated for rail crossings at Broadway and Chevy Chase Drive, which were paid for through a $2-million account controlled by Metrolink. The railroad crossing at Doran Street was scheduled to close as part of the rail corridor restructuring. The city of Los Angeles wants the railroad crossing to remain open because of the businesses near the rail corridor, he said. “It’s not just about us — we can’t just willy-nilly close it,” Quintero said. “You’ve got Los Angeles territory, the MTA, Amtrak and there is a federal commission. Overall, there is a trend to close these crossing across America . . .because things happen. Where this one will go is still up in the air.”

GGPNC-Local events calendar

To kick off the Holiday season the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council's www.GGPNC.org website's Coming Events Calendar has a rich mix of meetings and holiday events:

Sunday, November 29 - 5pm - Hollywood Remembers presents "Red Ribbon" a new musical about the early dark days of AIDS. Hollywood Lutheran Church, 1733 N. New Hampshire Ave. LA 90027.

Tuesday, December 1 - 7pm - GGPNC Transportation Committee meeting - Ranger House, 3201 Riverside Drive (across from Friendship Auditorium).

Wednesday, December 2 - 6:30pm - GGPNC Public Safety Committee meeting - Our Mother of Good Counsel Church, 2060 N. Vermont Ave. LA 90027.

Saturday, December 5 - 4-6pm - Los Feliz Branch Library free Open House to celebrate its 10^th Anniversary. On Sunday 12/6/09 from 2pm-4pm there is a fund raising Gala Event  also at the Library on the corner of Franklin and Hillhurst Avenues.

Saturday, December 5 - 6-10pm - Los Feliz Village Holiday Festival begins with a tree lighting at the Library and has various events along Hillhurst, Vermont and Hollywood Blvd. Free trolley between locations.

Monday, December 7 - 6:30pm - GGPNC Parks River & Open Space Committee celebrates 2009's accomplishments with refreshments followed by a Light Festival walk at 7:40pm.

Wednesday, December 9 - 7pm - GGPNC Planning Zoning/Historic Preservation Committee - Los Feliz Police Community Center, 1965 Hillhurst (Citibank 2^nd floor).

Tuesday, December 15 - 7pm - GGPNC Governing Board Meeting, preceded at 6pm by the GGPNC Executive Committee meeting. Both are at the Community Center above the Citibank at 1965 Hillhurst, LA 90027.

Agendas for GGPNC Meetings are posted about 3 days prior to meetings and everyone is encourage to attend and let us know how we can improve our community and the city.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE GGPNC

Green way to see the Light Festival

The Light Festival opens December 3rd with a Bike Night preview.

How about this on your park trails?

This video was shot at a park near you (Canyonback Trail, Santa Monica Mountains).

Want this on your City park trails? If not, read this.



Because this actually highlights the real nature of hard core mountain biking, IMBA -- who has been far from forthright about what they do -- may pull this video. Check it out while you still can.

---------------------------
(GP Wayist says)   Before everyone gets their undies in an uproar, here is some up-to-date information on the process:

...City staff will take comments on the draft Bicycle Plan (which can be read on line at labikeplan.org) until January 8th, 2010.

After January 8th, staff will begin to prepare a revised Plan (including the maps) based on all of the input that has been received through the website, at workshops, in letters, e-mails, and on comment cards.  We anticipate releasing a staff report and a revised Draft Bicycle Plan in February 2010 and giving all interested parties two months to review the revised plan.  We will then hold 2 public hearings on behalf of the City Planning Commission (one in the Valley and one near downtown) to hear your comments on the revised Plan. 

Following the 2 hearings, the City Planning Commission will hold a public meeting in the spring to act on the revised plan.  Staff will provide the Commission with information about the comments made at the two public hearings and any additional proposed modifications based on input received. 

Following the City Planning Commission's action, two City Council committees will act on the City Planning Commission's recommendation for the Bicycle Plan:  the Planning and Land Use Management Committee (PLUM) and the Transportation Committee.  Their recommendations will then be considered by the full City Council.

Please contact Jordann Turner at 213 978-1379 if you have any questions.

Jane Blumenfeld
Acting Deputy Director
Los Angeles Department of City Planning
213 978-1272

Station Fire area roads to reopen Nov. 30

Roads closed due to Station Fire to reopen Monday
Daily News Wire Services 
Updated: 11/24/2009 02:59:41 PM PST

Roads through wildfire-damaged sections of the Angeles National Forest will reopen Nov. 30, officials said Tuesday. Parts of the Angeles Forest Highway, Angeles Crest Highway and Big Tujunga Canyon and Upper Big Tujunga Canyon roads that were closed due to the Aug. 26 fire will be reopened about 5 a.m. Monday. Anything more than a light shower, however, may prompt a new round of closings. Denuded hillsides are likely to produce slides when saturated. Work being done by the county Department of Public Works and Caltrans may create intermittent traffic delays, but most of the work has been done, county officials said.

Notice of closings due to rain will be relayed via message boards, news radio alerts, news releases, and commuters will be able to get e-mail alerts via www.dpwcare.gov and http://gis.dpw.lacounty.gov/roadclosures/main.cfm

While the roads will reopen, all campsites and backcountry trails remain off limits.

(LA Times) Fear sets up camp on L.A. River

Fear sets up camp on a stretch of the L.A. River 

For residents along a grimy stretch of the waterway, the shooting of five people a year ago made a perilous place feel even more so.

By Christopher Goffard - LA Times - November 24, 2009

After the killings, the people on the river slept with their knives closer. They leashed guard dogs outside their tents and cardboard lean-tos. They listened for strangers' footsteps above the thrum of traffic on the bridges overhead. They got used to the sight of police stepping carefully along the big white rocks of the embankment. Below, in its concrete jacket, the dirty river crawled.

Violence is common and often unreported along the 51-mile Los Angeles River, daytime haunt of the occasional jogger and bird-watcher and in many parts a lawless no-man's-land populated by hard-core addicts, the mentally ill and uncountable others, broke or hiding. But what happened last November made an already fearful place feel more perilous still.

Someone gunned down three men and two women in a homeless encampment a few miles from the river's final southern curve into Long Beach Harbor. Hidden by bottlebrush trees along the Santa Fe Avenue off-ramp of the 405 Freeway, it was a cave-like spot with a single entrance -- a narrow footpath along a chain-like fence -- and a reputation as a drug den.

Police suspect the shooter came to punish a drug debtor and turned the gun on everyone to eliminate witnesses. Two things made it personal for river residents: One of the victims, 24-year-old Katherine Verdun, was a familiar face. And many understood how easily it could have been them.

For weeks, police who usually avoid the river were searching its banks, looking for witnesses, waiting for someone with information to claim a $20,000 reward. A year later, police are waiting still.

"You've got five people that were killed and no one came forward. That's unheard of," said Long Beach Police Det. Mark McGuire. "That community is terrified still. There's no way to get through to them yet, even with the reward."


continue reading "Fear sets up camp on a stretch of the L.A. River"
and see the slide show at the Los Angeles Times

USGS requests help to monitor Station Fire debris flows

Foothills residents awoke this morning to find a thick covering of ash, sand, and dust on everything in the wake of light Santa Ana winds. The unhealthful air and dust storm has continued all day today, an unpleasant reminder that an absolutely unprecedented amount of material is poised to flow into civilization when just the right amount of rain hits it.    -GPW


Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey are looking to the people most affected by the Station Fire to help them gather and track debris flows over the upcoming winter. Although the USGS has some monitoring stations already in place, clearly they cannot be everywhere at once. But residents are on site and available to report back with firsthand data. As long as everyone takes proper safety precautions, this is a very smart use of resources by going to the folks who have the first-hand encounters.

The details from Sue Perry at USGS:
---------------

Throughout the next few winters, those of us near the Station Fire burn area can provide a service to scientists studying the debris flow risk after wildfires. Scientists at the USGS use data from storm seasons to calibrate their debris flow understanding (and thus their warning systems). The more they know about actual flows, the better. Citizen reports can substantially improve the dataset, and thus the USGS is requesting your help.

If at any time you witness earth moving (landslide, debris flow, mudflow, mudslide), please send an email to scperry@usgs.gov, with as much of the following information as you are able to provide:

(* MUST HAVE items are asterisked)

1. * Date of event
2. * Location of event (street address or intersection, lat-long coordinates from phone/handheld GPS, or description with distinguishing features)
3. * Description of event (is it moving or sitting? what sizes and kinds of materials can you see? how thick is it? anything else noteworthy?)
4. * Time event was witnessed
   
5. Time of actual occurrence of event, or estimate of when the event occurred
6. Description of any damage
7. Is clean-up underway?
8. Can you provide photos, sketches, video? (please don't send them until requested)
9. Witness' name and contact info 
   

IMPORTANT:

Do not put yourself at risk in ANY way to obtain this information. If the event is recent, more may be on the way.

For more information, please contact:
Sue Perry, Staff Scientist
Multi-Hazard Demonstration Project for Southern California
United States Geological Survey
525 So. Wilson Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91106
office: 626.583.6748
mobile: 818.285.9350
scperry@usgs.gov

New do-not-feed-wildlife signs are up

In spite of what you may hear at Tom LaBonge's press conference today, the new "do not feed the wildlife" signs have already been up in Griffith Park for almost a week, and the Department of Recreation and Parks was the lead agency in their development.*   Here's a pic we took on Saturday of a new sign on Zoo Drive near Travel Town.

This is a far better sign in communicating the serious nature of the illegal act. The old yellow signs that simply said "Please Do Not Feed Wildlife" made it sound as if it were a polite request rather than a law and an issue with serious ramifications.

It is illegal to feed wildlife with very good reason. A fed wild animal is a dead wild animal, and everyone encountering animals that are not someone's pet needs to remember this.  The feeding of wildlife, especially coyotes, has been almost an epidemic in Griffth Park for some time. People pull their cars off the road and throw handouts to begging coyotes. Some individuals have been caught carrying food and feed dishes into the park daily to feed coyotes.

This thoughtless action - illegally feeding wildlife - by just a few people has dire consequences for many other lives. Fed wild animals lose their fear of humans and can then start actively seeking humans as providers of food. When humans are bitten by hungry animals like coyotes, they can be seriously injured and require treatment and painful rabies injections. If a prey animal like a coyote or bear bites a human, their life and the life of their packmates can be forfeit, such as what happened a few months ago in Griffith Park when a man named Renualdo Pensicola**  was bitten on the foot by a coyote asking to be fed.

Coyotes are dangerous animals. They are not "dogs". They will eat your dogs, and some varieties of coyotes can and do kill people, as happened in Nova Scotia in October. Please remember to give all wildlife the proper respect and distance the next time you are enjoying the out of doors. By doing so, you are helping to keep wildlife wild.

*Not sure why we even care that the council office takes credit for stuff they didn't have much or anything, really, to do with, except that the behavior is a statement on the quality of the leadership. Good leadership credits the people who take the initiative and do the work. Insecure or ineffective leadership claims credit for others' initiative and work. 

**This is a phonetic spelling of the gentleman's name. KTLA reported the name this morning on air.