From U.S. Soccer::

The U.S. team began training this morning in Bratislava with 11 players, and the second half of the roster will be arriving during the next two days. Bradley will consider making changes to the squad following Saturday's match, when the team will make their first ever visit to Denmark for the USA's 24th and final match of the year. The 24 matches represent the third most games ever in a calendar for the U.S. The team set a record for the most games in official competitions in a year with 21 total, including the 10 final round matches the U.S. played to earn first place in CONCACAF qualifying for the FIFA World Cup and the five games that culminated in the final of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.

"These matches present a terrific opportunity to continue building on the nucleus of our team, and at the same time evaluate more of the player pool against very good opponents," said Bradley.

And that includes veteran and MLS top scorer Jeff Cunningham, as well as Eddie "last chance?" Johnson.

Squad:

Goalkeepers - Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton), Troy Perkins (Valerenga)

defenders - Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham)

midfielders - Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)

forwards - Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Eddie Johnson (Fulham)

College scoreboard
*The Cal State Dominguez Hills men are still in the hunt for a second consecutive national title; the women's season is over. More here

*Palos Verdes Estates' Kyle Nakazawa led the UCLA men Sunday to a second straight Pac-10 title. More here

*The UCLA women beat Washington State 2-0 Sunday in its regular season finale. The Bruins won 16 of their last 17 games to move to 17-2-1, 8-1 Pac-10). The 64-team bracket for the NCAA Tournament will be announced at 5 p.m. today on ESPNews.

*The Loyola Marymount men (9-8-1, 4-5-1 WCC) beat Portland 1-0 Sunday in its home finale.

*The Loyola Marymount women (11-6-2, 3-3-1 WCC) beat Saint Mary's 4-1 Saturday.

*The Cal State Northridge men (10-7-2, 5-4-1 BWC) beat UC Irvine 3-0 Saturday to clinch the fourth seed in the Big West tournament and have a daunting trip to Santa Barbara Wednesday againt top-ranked UC Santa Barabara.

*Pepperdine (11-7-1 3-3-1 WCC).beat San Francisco 2-1 Saturday.

*In Seattle Sunday, it was USC 2 University of Washington 2. The Trojans move to 12-6-2, 4-3-2 Pac-10.

Game story

The Houston Dynamo are up next at 8 p.m. Friday in the Western Conference Championship. (live ESPN2).

Notable: This will be the first ever postseason meeting between the Galaxy and Dynamo (the former Earthquakes, of course), which advanced to the Conference Championship today with a 1-0 aggregate goal series win over the Seattle Sounders. The Galaxy beat the Dynamo 1-0 June 28 at the HDC and played to a scoreless draw against them Oct. 18 in Houston.

Quotable:

"I don't screw them, y'know (smiles wryly)," said Dema Kovalenko after being asked what his post-whistle gesture that sparked the melee meant. "It's good to win, y'know. I love winning. I'm very competitive. I don't care. Sometimes I don't think straight when I'm on the field, y'know. But it feels good because we're still playing and there's only four teams left and everybody else home. Nothing to take away from Chivas because they're a good team, have good players, but we're better. That's why we are here, y'know?"

Yeah, Dema, we know.

AP Photo

Here's David Beckham on the effort:

"We defended great tonight, y'know, because after the last game we had to work on a few things. And I thought our back four tonight was exceptional. And when we defend like that there's always a chance we're going to win."

Here's Beckham on his knocks that prompted his substitution:

"It's sore. I got a knee in the back. And I went into (back) spams. Also I twisted my ankle. It will be fine. I'm sure it will be fine, we'll see how it is tomorrow. I've had an injection and a cold bath and I'll have a sleep tonight and maybe a glass of wine to numb the pain."

Here's Beckham on his pass that provoked the PK:

"I've played longer ones before. It's what I do. If I see a pass, maybe I can play it. Maybe that's what caused my back to go into spasms I'm not so sure, but it was worth it anyway."

Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan just tweeted: "bummed we lost...some things are just ridiculous."

Landon Donovan scores from the penalty kick. AP Photo

For columnist Jill Painter's view on Donovan's performance, click here.

Chivas ch-ch-chokes (again)

Galaxy advance to play Houston at 8 p.m. Friday in Carson.

Dema Kovalenko made a crude gesture as the final whistle blew toward the Chivas USA bench as if to say, "we screwed you again."

Chivas USA Coach Preki blew his top and tried to get to Kovalenko. That's a league fine for unsportsmanlike conduct, methinks (for Dema, not Preki).

Beckham received a huge ovation as he left the field, BTW. The difference a few months (and wins) make, huh?

More later.

David Beckham played a huge role in earning this goal for the Galaxy sending a long, gorgeous crossfield pass from the Galaxy's own half to Landon Donovan who crossed it to Mike Magee.

Magee was brought down - speared really by Yamith Cuesta - as he attempted to control the ball and was rewarded with a penalty kick.

Landon Donovan took it as usual and scored his 16th Galaxy playoff goal in 20 games to leave him tied with Carlos Ruiz for the lead in post-season goals for L.A. and the Galaxy ahead of Chivas USA in this playoff game with 17 minutes left.

It was the Galaxy's first PK since May 6.

The Galaxy have had the better of this game so far and by all rights should be leading.

A 25-yard Chris Klein volley from a Landon Donovan cross in the 35th minute was perhaps the best Galaxy chance, requiring as it did an agile punch by Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton to send it over the bar.

David Beckham should have at least got the ball on the frame a minute earlier, but sent his 19-yard shot wastefully over the bar when he was wide open and had plenty of time to set the shot up.

Chivas USA's best scoring opportunity came in the 38th minute when a blistering Sacha Kljestan shot from long range grazed the top of the bar.

How close is the game? Each side has two shots apiece on target, but the Galaxy lead eight to six in shots.

Excellent loud, passionate crowd here tonight with some folks on the berm sitting around a big new sign that reads "Our city our home."

Hmm, think the Galaxy feel a little threatened by Chivas USA?.

Here's the scenario: if the Galaxy win they'll face the Houston Dynamo at home 8 o'clock Friday; if Chivas USA wins they'll travel to Houston for a Sunday game.

There's just one change for the Galaxy today: Chris Birchall has fallen ill (nothing serious I'm told), so Chris Klein replaces him in midfield.

Chivas USA have made two changes from the team that faced the Galaxy last weekend: Shavar Thomas replaces Ante Jazic in defense, while Jesus Padilla replaces Marcelo Saragosa.

Galaxy XI: Ricketts, Franklin, Berhalter, Gonzalez, Dunivant, Klein, Beckham, Kovalenko, Donovan, Buddle, Magee.

Chivas USA XI: Thornton, Talley, Cuesta, Thomas, Bornstein, Lahoud, Nagamura, Padilla, Kljestan, Santos, Braun.

Looks to be tickets still available at a variety of prices (I just did some cursory checking on Ticketmaster) including $20 spots on the grass berm.

For more on the game read:
* The game preview by Phil Collin.

* More from Saturday.

* About big bucks Becks.

* No one wants PK's to decide this game.

* About the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

* A plea for pretty soccer.

* This column to put the game in context.

As usual, I'll be blogging from the HDC.

Subject: Change to End of Game Ceremony

To the players, parents, and volunteers of AYSO Region 17,

One of the most basic and vital components to the AYSO sportsmanship program is the end of game hand-shake/high five line for the opposing teams and the referees. The Board of Directors of Region 17 also considers the health and safety of all our players and volunteers. We find ourselves now trying to balance these two facets.

The cold and flu season is now upon us. To reduce physical contact, Region 17 will now through the end of the Fall Season change the end of game ceremony to lining up at midfield at the end of the match and clapping for the opposing team and saying "thank you" to the referees.

What if players touch during the game? Quarantine?

With just over 24 hours to go until the Galaxy-Chivas USA Western Conference semifinal second leg (4:30 p.m. Sunday ESPN2) and the teams deadlocked at 2-2 halfway through what is essentially a 180 minute game (although, of course, it could go longer) here's press box colleague Luis Bueno on the pressure on Chivas USA.

Ives Galarcep reaches a similar conclusion here.

Oh, and happy birthday to Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein (who turns 25 today).

Friday's women's college games
Washington 1 UCLA 2

Friday's men's college games
UCLA 1 Oregon 1

Loyola Marymount 2 Gonzaga 1

Cal State Dominguez Hills 2 Cal State San Bernardino 1

Washington State 0 USC 0

And finally, they throw you out of the soccer bloggers club if you don't post this video. If you're one of the three people in the country who have yet to see this check it out:

For perspective, here's the view of Los Angeles feminist soccer blogger Jennifer Doyle.

Far fewer readers could name one of two goalkeepers who had dressed for both the Galaxy and Chivas USA this season than correctly answered the first question.

The answers: Miguel Benitez of Cal State Dominguez Hills and Kevin Guppy of Cal State Northridge. Both were among the pool of emergency goalkeepers MLS keeps on hand to help clubs caught short in that position and both were called up by the two clubs at some point this season.

The winners: Adam Serrano of Arcadia and Far Farshad of Pacific Palisades.

Congrats to both - I've sent you e-mails telling you when and where to pick up your pair of tickets to Sunday's Galaxy-Chivas USA Western conference semifinal decider at Home Depot Center in Carson.

Thanks to everyone who entered the two contests and the Galaxy for providing the four pairs of tickets.

If you didn't win and still want to go the game, click here.

LONDON (AP) -- David Beckham earned nearly $16.5 million from personal sponsorship deals during his first full season with the Galaxy.

The England midfielder's latest accounts show that his marketability was unaffected by his move from Real Madrid to the United States, where soccer is less popular.

Newly released figures from the official British company registry show that Beckham's income from his Footwork Productions company in the year ending Dec. 31, 2008, soared by 91 percent from the previous year.

The company's gross profit of $20 million, which rose about 15 percent, includes income from endorsements. That figure is believed to account for two-thirds of the 34-year-old Beckham's sponsorship income.

A separate company, Brand Beckham, receives his $5.5 million basic salary from the Galaxy, the share of the merchandising he generates for the MLS team and joint endorsements with his wife, Victoria, including their range of fragrances.

Beckham joined the Galaxy on a five-year contract in July 2007. Despite the non-renewal of sponsorship contracts with Gillette and Pepsi, his advisers at 19 Entertainment are confident of expanding his off-the-field portfolio.

As well as developing his own apparel range with Adidas, Beckham's management team is looking to secure up to six sponsors in various areas.

Beckham's global appeal is likely to be helped by a second five-month stay at AC Milan
beginning in January, which will boost his chances of going to a fourth consecutive World Cup with England.

Don't have yours yet? Click here.

Suggested reading/listening/viewing:
*Reporter Phil Collin has more on the game here.

*The Galaxy's Chris Birchall, a mid-season signing, is fast becoming a regular on the starting XI. Did he expect that?

*Former Chicago Fire player Jared Montz talks to Chivas USA's Jesse Marsch in a podcast on his blog.

*Can the Galaxy get a goal or two past the reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year?

I'll have more on the game Saturday.

Plenty of other soccer to watch this weekend on TV (click to the right for a full listing).

Saturday's games
6:54 a.m. ESPN2 Tottenham Hotspur-Sunderland
7 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel Aston Villa-Bolton Wanderers
9:30 a.m. FSC Wolverhampton Wanderers-Arsenal
12:45 p.m. ESPND Athletico Madrid-Real Madrid
5:30 p.m. FSC Chicago Fire-New England Revolution
7 p.m. KVEA Atlas-CD Guadalajara

Sunday's games
6 a.m. FSC Lazio-AC Milan
8 a.m. FSC Chelsea-Manchester United
11:30 a.m. FSC Inter Milan-Roma
Noon TeleFutura Houston Dynamo-Seattle Sounders
2 p.m. KMEX Club America-Monterrey

In local college action:
*Cal State Dominguez Hills (stars and all) is in action today.

*But the season is over for the Cal State Northridge women's team after dropping a 2-1 decision to UC Santa Barbara Thursday. Still, the Matadors finish the year with a 10-10 overall mark and a 6-2 league record that's tied for the best conference result in school history.

*The Matador men end the regular season at 7 p.m. Saturday at UC Irvine. Cal State Northridge (9-7-2, 4-4-1, BWC) won 1-0 Wednesday at home against Cal State Fullerton in OT, keeping their playoff aspirations alive going into Saturday's game. From the Matadors press release:

A Northridge victory will give the team enough points to clinch the fourth spot while an Anteater victory will bump Cal Poly from their current position as the second seed and drop them to third place in the standings, giving Irvine an opportunity to host a first-round game.

*The UCLA men UCLA (9-3-2, 4-1-2 Pac-10) return home for a three-game homestand to close the regular season. First up is a 7 o'clock game tonight against Oregon State at Drake Stadium. At 1 p.m. Sunday the Bruins face Washington at Drake Stadium in a game that is free for all veterans and active military personnel (who receive four free admissions with proper ID). In addition, Sunday is AYSO/Youth Soccer Day. Youth soccer team members and their coaches will be admitted free if they're wearing their team jerseys. Moreover, UCLA Alumni Association card holders will receive four free admissions with alumni association card. Team posters will be given away Friday, team photo cards Sunday.

*The Loyola Marymount men (7-8-1, 2-5-1 WCC) close out their season this weekend with games at 2:30 p.m. today against Gonzaga and 2 p.m. Sunday against Portland at Sullivan Field.

Enjoy the weekend.

Thanks to the dozens of you who entered the first ticket contest with prizes courtesy of the Galaxy.

The winners: Mike Crandall of Glendora and Kristinne Uy of Rosemead, who win a pair of tickets each to Sunday's big game.

They correctly answered the question: who is the only player to score for both the Galaxy and Chivas USA this season?

The answer, as most of you knew, was Alecko Eskandarian. (Although I did like the person who answered Don Garder, which sounds like MLS Commish Don Garber's Bizarro planet alter-ego).

So for a chance to win one of two more pairs of tickets for Sunday's crucial game (and help the Galaxy fill up the upper deck), let's separate the hardcore soccer fans from the herd since so many of you observed the question was too easy.

You know Eskandarian suited up for both the Galaxy and Chivas USA this season, but did you know two other players accomplished the same feat? Now, neither actually appeared in an MLS game. Both, BTW, are goalkeepers (hint, hint).

Name one of them.

Good luck.

E-mail the answer to nick.green at dailybreeze.com. The deadline is noon Friday. Again, I'll choose two correct answers at random (if there are that many, heh, heh). BTW, credit for this obscure question should go to press box colleague Scott French.

If you don't know the answer, click here.

(Incidentally, this is a helluva RSL-Crew game I'm watching on DVR. Make sure and check out the highlights. Think someone had a point to prove?)

*Don't forget, the second MLS playoff game between the Columbus Crew and Real Salt Lake is scheduled for 5 o'clock today on ESPN2.

*The Cal State Northridge men closed in on a post-season berth Wednesday with a 1-0 victory over Cal State Fullerton with the goal coming in the sixth minute of OT and now hold the tiebreaker over the Titans going into the final game of the regular season Saturday against UC Irvine.

*Riverside's Chad Marshall was named MLS Defender of the Year today (for the second straight year), while referee Alex Prus took the award for MLS officials. The Crew defender is a worthy choice, but I can't help wondering if MLS would benefit from officials like this one:

Well, OK, maybe not.

The game is tied at 2-2.

There will be a winner Sunday whether it's after 90 minutes, 120 minutes or penalty kicks.

And the Galaxy are giving away two pairs of tickets to the game to the person who correctly answers the trivia question: Which player has scored for BOTH Chivas USA and the Galaxy this season?

E-mail answers to me at nick.green at dailybreeze.com. I'll accept entries through 3 p.m. and will then pick two correct answers at random.

I'll announce the winners here, so be sure to check back.

Two more pairs of tickets will be available (and a new trivia question) Friday morning for those of you who don't win today.

Alternatively, you can buy tickets to the biggest game in the short rivalry between the two clubs here.

Probe finds jump in runaway Toyota complaints: report

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Over 1,000 Toyota and Lexus owners have reported sudden, spontaneous acceleration of their vehicles since 2001, including crashes blamed for 19 deaths, far more than earlier disclosed, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration previously has said it had received reports of 100 such incidents, including 17 crashes and five fatalities.

Read more on the LA Times probe.

Here's a few ideas from Muhammed El-Hasan's Business Casual column.

Also, read the original story of Bikini Espresso's closing.

Toyota Executive Denies "Cover Up" In Probe of Runaway Cars

A senior Toyota executive denied today allegations the company is trying to cover up the cause of an estimated 2,000 reports of so-called runaway cars that experience sudden surges of acceleration.

"It is not part of the Toyota culture and Toyota way to cover up anything," said Yukitoshi Funo, one of Toyota's five executive vice-presidents at its Tokyo headquarters.

Read more on Toyota's acceleration problem.

Toyota Returns to Profit

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor returned to a profit in the latest quarter and halved its annual loss forecast Thursday as aggressive cost cuts, government incentives and signs of a global economic recovery all buoyed its bottom line.

Its Japanese rivals Honda and Nissan both recently reported rosier earnings after a battering in the global economic crisis, which brought sales to a standstill and set off a wave of factory shutdowns and layoffs.

Read more on Toyota's 2Q profit.

Space arms race inevitable says Chinese commander

(Telegraph) China, which hopes to put a man on the moon by 2020, has long stated that it supported the peaceful uses of outer space and opposed the introduction of weapons there.

Read more on arms race.

Car maker develops its own flower species

(Drive.com.au)Toyota has created two flower species that absorb nitrogen oxides and take heat out of the atmosphere.

The flowers, derivatives of the cherry sage plant and the gardenia, were specially developed for the grounds of Toyota's Prius plant in Toyota City, Japan.

Read more on Toyota's new flower species.

F-35 total may be cut by half, report says

Manufacturer disputes findings

(Air Force Times) Rising costs, changing threats and rival aircraft -- manned and unmanned -- could cut nearly in half the number of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters that ultimately are built, a Dutch defense analyst said in a report to the Dutch parliament. And if fewer planes are built, the price for each, already $100 million or more, will undoubtedly increase, analyst Johan Boeder warned.

Read more on the F-35 Northrop Grumman Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:12:56 -0800 In today's Business Casual column.

Read Muhammed El-Hasan's column.

Toyota warns 3.8M of floor mats

(Detroit News) Washington -- Toyota Motor Corp. began mailing notices this week to 3.8 million vehicle owners, urging them to remove their floor mats while it seeks a remedy for reports of sudden, unintended acceleration.

Toyota hasn't determined the factors behind a number of accidents, including the Aug. 28 wreck of a Lexus ES-350 in which an off-duty California Highway Patrolman and three others died.

Read more on Toyota's recall.

Chevron says shuts down El Segundo refinery

Oct 27 (Reuters) - Chevron Corp (CVX.N) is shutting down its Los Angeles-area refinery in El Segundo, California, the firm said on Tuesday in a filing with state pollution regulators.

The shutdown started late on Monday, it said in the filing with the California Emergency Management.

Read more on Chevron's shutdown.

In some cases, workers thought their boss resembled famous halloween characters. Here's how workers viewed their bosses, according to the survey:

•Glenda the Good Witch, liked and respected by all - 20%

•The Wolf Man, is fine one minute, howling the next - 11%
•The Invisible Man, never around - 10%
•Casper the Friendly Ghost, eager to help, but often misunderstood - 9%
•Dracula, constantly sucking the life right out of you - 6%
•Wicked Witch of the West, always acting conniving and sending out minions to do his/her dirty work - 5%
•The Mummy, slow-moving and has an ancient thought process - 4%
•Grim Reaper, constantly delivers bad news and inspires fear among workers - 3%
•Frankenstein, green with envy - 1%

•Workload - 18%

•Performance reviews - 9%
•Tight deadlines - 9%
•Hours worked - 8%
•Meeting with their boss or supervisor - 7%
•Sitting through meetings - 6%

U.S. Newspaper Circulation Falls 10%

(NYT) The two-decade erosion in newspaper circulation is looking more like an avalanche, with figures released Monday showing weekday sales down more than 10 percent since last year, depressed by rising Internet readership, price increases, the recession and papers intentionally shedding unprofitable circulation.

Read more on dropping circulation numbers.

Boeing refused to release tanker pricing -Pentagon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing declined a Pentagon request to release Boeing's pricing information from the last aerial tanker competition after Northrop raised concerns that it was disadvantaged by the Air Force's release of Northrop's pricing data to Boeing, according to a Pentagon letter.

Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson told Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) in a letter dated Sept. 23, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, that defense officials did not believe the company was competitively harmed by Boeing Co's (BA.N) knowledge of "some of the prior pricing" and remained convinced that "the integrity of the procurement process will be maintained without the release of additional pricing information."

But Johnson said the Pentagon "actually sought Boeing's permission to release this information, and Boeing declined," according to the letter.

Read more on the earial refueling tanker.

This is where many dreams of homeownership are laid to rest, on the cold, hard steps of the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Norwalk.

U.S.A.F. Launches Major Technology Review

(Aviation Week) In the midst of a deeply entrenched identity crisis, the U.S. Air Force is turning to technology as the potential answer to some of its problems.

Air Force Chief Scientist Werner Dahm is conducting a sweeping "Technology Horizons" study to lay out technological opportunities that could produce useful applications for the service.

"I don't think in the history of the Air Force we've been at a turning point like this. Maybe the closest was the Sputnik launch," Dahm tells Aviation Week. "What does the Air Force do when it is faced with a radically different future? Part of what it does is reach into its science and technology domain."

Read more on Air Force's technology review.

David Thomas Jines, 50, was never seen after taking his small motorized boat on Oct. 27 to help a friend who was having trouble in windy waters on the eastern side of Catalina Island.

A Coast Guard plane was searching for him east of San Clemente Island off the San Diego coast when it collided with the military helicopter from Miramar Naval Air Station, killing nine, on Oct. 29.

Jines lived on his boat in Avalon Harbor.

Torrance police said Tuesday they are investigating an alleged hit-and-run involving a car crashing into a house late last week.
The car hit a home in the 200 block of Paseo De Las Delicias about 8 p.m. on Thursday night, according to Sgt. Bernard Anderson.
A suspect was scheduled to be interviewed by investigators Tuesday afternoon and the investigation is continuing, Anderson said.
He would not give any more details about the incident or the suspect.

Of course, you, me and everyone knows there's more to this story than that. Unfortunately, as a news reporter, I'm obligated to report only what I can confirm. We do this to protect ourselves from liability and our subjects from untrue accusations. It's fair and it's right.

Now, there are two problems: 1.) Our readers are not bound by the same obligations, and can anonymously and freely say whatever they want in the user comments underneath our stories. 2.) Law enforcement and other officials are not always forthcoming with information, leaving us with unfilled holes in our reports, and can take some time getting back to us once we've made inquiry.

It appears there is nothing we can do about either of these problems. So when you wonder why the Daily Breeze didn't report this or that on this story, or any others, now you know why. 

The former plastic surgeon and Rolling Hills resident, who had offices in Torrance and San Pedro, served six months in a federal penitentiary for a 1990 tax evasion case.

A lot of you have been interested in this one.

• All firearms should be unloaded before being brought to the gun exchange site.
• People who drive should place their firearms in the trunk or rear compartment of the vehicle. No more than three firearms should be transported in one vehicle.
• People who walk should place their guns inside a sturdy bag, such as a gym bag or suitcase and brought to the exchange site. No more than three guns should be placed in one bag.

Judge Hight sat in Dept. D. on the 3rd Floor.

Dept. D, along with it's caseload, are traveling to Judge Michael Vicencia on the 5th Floor, to take over what was Dept. 1.

The old D will now become Dept. 1, where Judge Laura Ellison, who has handled preliminary hearings in Div. 3 for many years, will preside over limited jurisdiction (small civil) cases.

Judge Michael Guzman will leave his Dept. 2 bench to sit in Div. 3, and hear the prelims.

Retired Judge Francis Hourigan will return to the court on assignment in Dept. 2 to handle Guzman's previous assignment of misdemeanor criminal matters originating from Hermosa Beach, Lawndale, Lomita, Lennox and the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Two men were shot to death Wednesday night as they attempted to escape an attack in a narrow Wilmington street, police said.

The two men were found dead within 200 feet of each other in the 1500 block of E. Lomita Boulevard around 9 p.m., said Los Angeles police Sgt. Danny Contreras, who investigated the incident.

One man was found shot to death in the passenger seat of a crashed sedan, and the other discovered laying dead in the street, he said.

"Basically, that's a storage area for mountains of stacked containers," he said. "It appeared the driver of the victims' vehicle was attempting to escape. We don't know if he was traveling in reverse or what, but somehow he lost control of the vehicle and careened into a chain link fence."

No weapons were found at the scene, and police do not believe the incident was a robbery.

The victims' identities were not yet released, and police have no suspect information or indication that the incident was gang related.

From the NASA press release: A strong sonic boom could be generated along the shuttle's route of descent along Southern California coastal counties, primarily in the Los Angeles - Long Beach area, about five to 10 minutes before landing.

He says Los Angeles Police Department officials evacuated neighbors after finding some kind of explosives in the house, in the 15900 block of South Orchard Avenue in Harbor Gateway.

Police are not yet saying what the cause of the fire is, or if the packrat conditions inside the home and the explosives are related to the cause.

A LAPD bomb squad is en route to the home to investigate the explosives.

Larry says: "Neighbors who were waiting to be able to go home said the approximately 80-year-old man collected junk and they had made repeated calls to code enforcement and other city departments to try to get it cleaned."

Larry is now driving to the Carson shooting scene where a man was killed by Gardena police officers early this morning.

The nonprofit Iemanya Oceanica announced last week that a team including several South Bay residents had successfully tagged three whale sharks, bringing the group's family of trackable sharks to 10.

The new additions -- a type of shark with mouths so big "you could drive a Volkswagen into" them, Iemanya board member Patty Civalleri has said, and that is particularly vulnerable to boat collisions and overfishing -- were found during Iemanya's inaugural tagging expedition, in Bahia de Los Angeles, Mexico.

"We opened up 20 seats on this expedition to the public," said Civalleri, a Manhattan Beach resident, "and because of the assistance from the media, we were able to fill those seats quickly with volunteers who came to us with various levels of water skills and a general knowledge of nature and the ocean. We couldn't have asked for a better group."

That group worked with researchers to attach tags to the sharks' dorsal fins. Through those tags -- and satellite transmission -- Iemanya will learn air and water temperatures, diving patterns, daily and seasonal movement and calving and feeding habits.

And it's sharing it all with you.

"People can now go online and adopt a shark as an educational gift," said Laleh Mohajerani, Iemanya's executive director. "Then every day they can track the movement of their shark," she added.

Get yours. And read Staff Writer Andrea Woodhouse's original Daily Breeze story about the Iemanya tagging expedition.

The online registration will begin at 9 a.m. Monday and end at 9 p.m. Sept. 20.

Only 700 bleacher seats are available for the March 7 event.

In early October, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will notify the winners, who will then be required to submit additional information for security information and final approval.

According to the academy, as many as 20,000 people have applied online in past years for a shot at the coveted seats.

In addition to sitting along the red carpet prior to the Oscars, winners will also be invited to watch the telecast at a nearby private location, according to the academy.

Besides cable, satellite, DVRs, DVDs and now Hulu, there's a different way to watch TV: Take your favorite show and "reverse engineer" it into constituent parts.

TV Tropes is a Wiki that shows how a program is built together out of "atoms" of character, dialogue and plot devices -- some plausible, others mostly serviceable for the sake of getting on with the show.

On the main page, it says "tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations."

For instance, take any episode from the "Law & Order" franchise. Every week, buddy cops go on a reverse whodunit to find the freak of the week based on a true crime story. In the hour, the squad must connect the deaths while being hampered by the suspect's amoral attorney and jurisdiction friction. The shows then end with variants on courtroom antics.

Click on each link to go to TV Tropes and find out what they mean and where and when they are used. Warning: Some entries contain obscenities.

David Anderson has mounted seven cameras and built an underwater viewing pod on his 50-foot high-tech, high-speed catamaran and will take anyone along for a virtual ride.

Anderson, a documentary filmmaker whose "Wild Dolphins and Whales of Southern California" was a winner at the Wildscreen Film Festival, wanted his latest venture to be more than a webcam.

"It's like a reality show. We have mikes on the captain and crew. You will hear things even the passengers don't hear. My crew was not real keen on this and there is a little friction but they understand why we are doing it," he said.

When the boat is out, the cameras are on, the mikes are connected and the action is live.

If you sign up on his Web site in the morning, he will Tweet you when the boat is approaching a group of whales or a pod of dolphins. That lets you log on for the best of each trip. Recaps will also be available on the Web site each night, he said.

It took more than a year to get Coast Guard approval for the viewing pod on Anderson's boat, the Manute'a. The viewing pod, made of 36 square feet of bulletproof glass, holds just a couple of people at a time and they can find themselves very intimate with the dolphins.

The Web site aims to provide the mentors of today's soccer-playing future with tools that assess players' skills as well as technical training videos for players of all skill levels.

"Knowing what to teach and how to teach it has always been a real challenge for youth soccer coaches, many of whom are well-meaning parent volunteers who lack formal training," says iSoccer founder Scott Leber.

If iSoccer is able to produce results similar to what Leber has achieved, the investment may be worth it. He was the Gatorade High School Player of the Year, and played NCAA Division 1 soccer at Stanford, where he studied industrial engineering. Before developing iSoccer, he started an East Coast youth soccer training business.

Leber's program tailors training guides to a player's current abilities. The cost of an individual session ranges from about $7 to $12 (you get a better rate when buying a package of sessions), and a session can include anywhere from nine to 22 exercises.

Covered topics and skills include laces, passing and aerial control, and each installment can be downloaded to an iPod and taken to the field. There, players practicing on their own or with their teams can watch the skill demonstrations and try out what they've learned on the spot.

Some questions and answers about whether it makes financial sense to leave your clunker behind.

Q: What factors should I consider?

A: Although the $3,500 or $4,500 you'll save through the government's cash-for-clunkers program seems very enticing, be sure to look at all the other costs associated with owning a new car.

The most obvious cost is your new car payment. But even if you've already factored this in -- say, if you were already planning to buy a new car before this program came along -- don't forget that a new car will likely also increase your insurance premium and annual licensing fees.

Of course, the new car likely will save you money on gas and maintenance costs.
How will the numbers balance out?

Try this online calculator, which allows you to compare all the costs of your old car with those of a new car to see how your situation adds up.

You might also want to plug a used car you might consider buying into the calculator and compare its cost with that of the new one with the rebate.

And keep in mind another cost associated only with new cars: depreciation.

Q: How can I assess the cost of keeping my older car, to figure out whether it's a good idea to trade it in?

A: The cost of owning a car includes more factors than you might think. Edmunds.com, an auto consumer Web site, has identified eight components: depreciation, interest on financing, taxes and fees, insurance premiums, fuel, maintenance, repairs and any federal tax credit.

A Web calculator on the Edmunds site will help you figure the true cost of owning a car.

Find out which events take place where and when here including the Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier swim and the Velzy-Stevens Pier-to-Pier Paddleboard Championship. The site also has photos and results from past events.

There's help. Weplay.com, a Web site that helps parents and coaches organize their kids' sports calendars, has a new video library just in time for the fall youth sports season.

The site offers free training videos from star athletes like Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees; 2006 MLB MVP Ryan Howard; 2008 NFL MVP Peyton Manning; USA Softball superstar and Olympic gold medalist pitcher Jennie Finch; gold medal winning soccer star Brandi Chastain; and dozens of other professional athletes. The videos provide everything from basic skills and drills to unique insights into how the pros prepare for the sports they play.
Here's what it's got:
Baseball Drills
Basketball Drills
Cheerleading Drills
Football Drills
Soccer Drills
Softball Drills

Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are providing up-to-the-second news. Though, as Foreign Policy magazine warns, there are fakers and provocateurs out there.

Even Wikipedia had to lock its entry on the June 12 elections, citing vandalism.

Still images are constantly surfacing on Flickr, Picasa and Photobucket of events in Iran and sympathetic protests worldwide.

The international journalists association Reporters Without Borders provides news on press crackdowns and the whereabouts of journalists on its Iran page.

YouTube is teeming with videos, but one in particular may well emerge as the iconic image of the election protests.

In what's tagged the "Neda video," a young woman lays dying after reportedly being gunned down by a government militia member. However, The Associated Press said it could not verify the location, date or the content of the video, which is explicit.

In Barnes & Noble's program, kids in first through sixth grades complete a downloadable journal by reading and writing about eight books. Return the journal to a store and the child can select a free book from a grade-appropriate list.

Borders offers a similar program. Children 12 and under read 8 books, list them on a form, and then return the form to the store where they will get a coupon to buy some selected items for $4.99.

And, if you're not sure what your child should be reading, check out the state of California's reading list for Kindergarten through 12th graders. The list is sorted by reading level as based on the California English-Language Arts Standards Test.

1. www.commonsensewithmoney.com:
Founder: Mercedes Levy, 34, mother of two boys, ages 4, 18 months.
Based: Sheboygan, Wis.
Background: Certified Public Accountant, holds an MBA. Stay-at-home mother. Started blog October 2007.
Focus: Rock-bottom deals.
Philosophy: "I wanted people to see that you can not only make it on one income but you can thrive on one."

2. www.5dollardinners.com
Founder: Erin Chase, 31, mother of two boys, ages 4 and 2.
Based: Dayton, Ohio
Background: Former high school math and science teacher. Started blog summer 2008.
Focus: Cooking and planning nutritious family dinners for less than $5.
Philosophy: "I buy EVERYTHING on sale and most non-produce/meat items with a coupon."

3. www.couponmom.com
Founder: Stephanie Nelson, 45, mother of two boys ages, 13 and 16.
Based: Atlanta
Background: Bachelor's degree in finance, 10 years' experience in sales and marketing with Procter & Gamble Co. and MarriottZZTO International Inc. Left corporate world 1995. Started blog 2001.
Focus: Slashing your grocery bill in half.
Philosophy: "Strategic shopping is not about changing the way you eat; it is about changing the way you buy the food you like."

4. www.moneyssavingmom.com
Founder: Crystal Paine, 27, mother of two girls, ages 4, 23 months and a boy, 3 weeks old.
Based: Kansas
Background: Stay-at-home mom, learned to live on "beans and rice budget" when husband was in law school. Started blog in late 2007.
Focus: Living on less than you make by using coupons and finding other deals.
Philosophy: "After years of scrimping and sacrifice, we're reaping the benefits now of being able to live significantly below our means because we don't have any payments."

5. www.freebies4mom.blogspot.com:
Founder: Heather Hernandez, 33, mother of two boys, ages 4,2.
Based: Houston
Background: Civil engineer. Stay-at-home mom. Started blog October 2007.
Focus: Free samples, freebies on products that families use daily.
Philosophy: "Moms deserve to be spoiled, and I help them by sharing the hottest freebies as a fun way to save money."

-- The Associated Press

AMC Theaters runs $1 movies during its "Summer Movie Camp" every Wednesday at 10 a.m. The Southbay Galleria 16 in Redondo Beach and the Del Amo 18 are participating this year. Here's the schedule:

June 17: Space Chimps
June 24: Kung Fu Panda
July 1: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
July 8: Tale of Despereaux
July 15: Horton Hears a Who
July 22: The Spiderwick Chronicles
July 29: Nim's Island
Aug. 5: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

The Promenade Stadium 13 in Rolling Hills Estates participates in Regal Cinema's "Free Family Film Festival." Every Tuesday and Wednesday during the program, movies are free at 10 a.m. for kids and their parents. Here's the movie schedule:

June 23-24: Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G)
Inkheart (PG)

June 30-July 1: Everyone's Hero (G)
Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (PG)

July 7-8: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)

July 14-15: Kit Kittredge: American Girl (G)
Igor (PG)

July 21-22: Doogal (G)
Surf's Up (PG)

July 28-29: Space Chimps (G)
Hotel For Dogs (PG)

Aug. 4-5: The Tale Of Despereaux (G)
Nim's Island (PG)

Aug. 11-12: Charlotte's Web (G)
Kung Fu Panda (PG)

Pacific Theaters don't have a kids program, but they do have Monday Morning Mommy Movies at the El Segundo theater each week at 11 a.m. Here's the spiel:

Moms, Dads and Caregivers - here's your chance to see a first run adult-themed movie...with your baby! No one will mind if your baby cries, everyone will have a baby and all babies cry. So pack up your diaper bag and stroller, and we'll see you at the movies!

The City of Torrance screens family movies in some city parks for free on Saturday evenings during the summer. Bring your own popcorn, lawn chairs and blankets and see a flick under the stars. Follow the links for more info. Here's what's showing:
July 18: Back to the Future
Aug. 1: Singin in the Rain
Aug. 15: Ratatouille

Redondo Beach also sponsors a similar Outdoor Family Classic Film Festival. Here's the line-up:
July 24: West Side Story
July 31: On the Waterfront
Aug. 7: The Searchers
Aug. 14: Breakfast at Tiffany's

RELATED LINKS:
Database of fun stuff to do with kids in the South Bay
Database of South Bay restaurants with kids eat free deals
Calendar listings for family-friendly South Bay events

Also featured during the event at the corner of Avenue I and Catalina Avenue in Redondo Beach will be two electric cars that are part of an experimental Local Use Vehicle demonstration project in Redondo. The vehicles will offer residents alternatives to conventional short-haul car trips.

The Sierra Club contends that inflated permit costs and long wait times, which are the norm in many cities in Southern California, are hindering solar power development. Solar panels can help reduce greenhouse gases and our dependence on pollution-spewing sources of energy.

Here is the full report, where Los Angeles-area residents can look up solar permit costs in their own cities.

The Netbook, developed by a Spanish company, is a solar-powered portable computer weighing 1.5 pounds and costing around $200. The body of the computer is made of bioplastics and biodegradable materials such as starch and cellulose, so it's easily recyclable.

But it's not for gamers or video makers. The Gyy runs on Linux rather than Windows and features only 128 MB of Ram. It does, however, boast 64 GB of storage space, three USB ports, ethernet and WiFi.

It's supposed to be in stores by July.

Those interested in learning about the benefits of installing solar panels on their homes can register for the session online or by calling 866-970-9221.

SCE is now offering rebates to homeowners as part of the California Solar Initiative.

But even so, the American Public Transportation Association reported this week that Americans took 2.6 billion trips on public transit during the first quarter of 2009. That represented only a small 1.2 percent decline over the same period a year earlier.

But the L.A. region fared much better than the nation as a whole in terms of attracting more transit riders. Among its transit systems classified as light rail, L.A. was one of four regions with double-digit increases in ridership during the first quarter compared to the same period in 2008. L.A.'s increase was 18 percent.

As for heavy-rail lines and subways, the L.A. region recorded one of the five highest ridership increases nationwide, at 6.4 percent.

Such statistics are causing transit advocates to call on Congress to put more funds into public transit as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, expand transportation options and help revitalize the nation's infrastructure.

Here's a link to a related editorial on Tuesday's Daily Breeze's Editorial page.

The event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., will include displays on green home improvements, energy-efficient appliances, hybrid cars, electric vehicles, scooters, bicycles, natural landscaping techniques and water conservation.

The federal government is now taking a more intensive look at the problem and how to reduce risks to human health and marine life. The Environmental Protection Agency has announced a series of public meetings on the Palos Verdes Shelf, where polluted sediment extends about 9 miles, from Point Fermin in the southeast to Redondo Canyon in the northwest.

The EPA favors an interim remedy that features "institutional controls, monitored natural recovery and a containment cap," an agency press release states. Once approved, the plan will take three years to complete and cost an estimated $36 million.

The EPA is inviting the public to the following public meetings: 2 to 5 p.m. June 23 at the Cabrillo Beach House, 3800 Stephen M. White Drive in San Pedro; 6 to 9 p.m. June 24 at Banning's Landing, 100 E. Water St. in Wilmington; and 6 to 9 p.m. June 25 at the Palos Verdes Library, 701 Silver Spur Road in Rolling Hills Estates.

The Pew Charitable Trusts study, which was released Wednesday, says that U.S. renewable energy industries, including solar and wind-power companies, expanded their work force by 9.1 percent from 1998 to 2007. The nation's average job growth for all industries was 3.7 percent for the same time period.

California was tops in the number of green jobs within its borders, coming in at 125,390. Its percentage increase, however, lagged behind the national average, at 7.7 percent.

In its Los Angeles Greenprint Report, the environmental advocacy group hailed Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Green L.A. and Solar L.A. initiatives, saying such "smart policy will unleash a green job boom."

The study concluded that 2,200 businesses throughout California are likely to grow as the state transitions to a low-carbon economy.Los Angeles County has the greatest concentration of those green companies, with 400.

The expo, which will feature specialists who provide environmentally friendly products and services, will take place from 11 a.m. to noon and 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. June 12 at the Torrance Marriott South Bay, 3635 Fashion Way in Torrance.

A luncheon presentation is scheduled from noon to 1:30 p.m. It will feature a welcome by Torrance Mayor Frank Scotto and speakers Andre Villasenor of the Environmental Protection Agency; Marilyn Lyon, program manager, South Bay Environmental Services Center; Randal Smith, vice president of marketing, Virco Manufacturing Corp.; and Dan Wieten, a manager for Toyota.

The cost $30 for chamber members and $35 for visitors.

The transit agency projects that discounted fares would lure 3,000 drivers onto public transit on smoggy days, thereby reducing the amount of car emissions that irritate eyes and throats, not to mention how the pollution worsens heart and lung ailments.

The agency is adding another carrot by promising to donate the equivalent of what 5,000 bus riders would save on fares during smog alerts to a Montreal environmental group.

The event takes place on World Environment Day, which was begun by the United Nations in 1972 to stimulate worldwide awareness of the environment and sustainable development practices. The theme for this year's event is "Your Planet Needs You -- UNite to Combat Climate Change."

When Heal the Bay released its annual report cards on beach pollution in Southern California, readers may have gotten the impression that there was little to celebrate. Indeed, the water quality in Los Angeles County was the worst since 2004-05, and during the rainy season 81 percent of county beaches received "D" or "F" grades.

Even during the summer season, when most South Bay beaches fared well, Dockweiler State Beach at the mouth of Ballona Creek received an "F" as a result of high  bacterial levels. The same grade went to Cabrillo Beach at the restrooms and lifeguard tower. Same story for Avalon Beach on Catalina Island.

But there is some good news. Heal the Bay also included an honor roll of beaches in Los Angeles County that did not exceed state standards for bacteria concentrations during dry weather. The list included several stretches of South Bay beaches: Dockweiler at the North Westchester storm drain and Imperial Highway; Manhattan Beach, at the pier and at 40th Street; Malaga Cove and Palos Verdes Cove in Palos Verdes Estates; and Long Point and Portuguese Bend in Rancho Palos Verdes.

A new study by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, a Chicago-based nonprofit, compares greenhouse gas emissions for households of central cities versus suburban areas. The results for the Los Angeles area are shown in the map above.

The center examined emissions of carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas, created by household vehicle travel in 55 U.S. metropolitan areas. It found that per household, the transportation-related emissions of people living in cities and compact neighborhoods can be nearly 70 percent less than those living in suburbs.

The map shows that in areas further from job centers in the center of the L.A. basin, such as the Palos Verdes Peninsula and the Inland Empire, the amount of CO2 created per household rises sharply when compared to those who live closer to the center of activity.

Red areas produce 8.6 metric tons or more of CO2 per household annually, while yellowish areas produce 6.5 metric tons or less.

 "Cities are more location-efficient -- meaning key destinations are closer to where people live and work," said Scott Bernstein, the center's president. "They require less time, money, fuel and greenhouse gas emissions for residents to meet their everyday travel needs. People can walk, bike, car-share, take public transit. So residents of cities and compact communities generate less CO2 per household than people who live in more dispersed communities, like many suburbs and outlying areas.

"If you're deciding where to live, consider moving to an urban area. You'll help fight global warming by emitting less CO2. And you're likely to drive less, so you'll spend less on transportation, saving up to $5,000 annually."

He jumped right into the battle, aligning himself with the saloonkeepers in town who were leading The Wets. The Drys, which included ministers and other temperance advocates represented by a group called the Anti-Saloon League, were out to close the bars. The temperance movement during this era used local-option laws, which gave individual communities the power to ban the sale of alcohol if they chose.

The contentious struggle with the Anti-Saloon League finally came to a heated vote on Monday, May 16, 1910. Barkley did not shy away from using the power of the press to support his position. For 2 weeks before the election, the front page of the Breeze, which was then a weekly, sported pro-Wet articles. On May 14, it was noted on the front page that a famous U.S. president of the past supported the Wet viewpoint:

In that same issue, the Breeze also printed very helpful instructions on how to vote "Yes" on the measure:

An ad for a community forum for "the Wets" that also ran on May 14 is shown below. Note that women, while condescended to, were not excluded:

Redondo Beach voters sided with The Breeze and its Wet brethren in the May 1910 election, and the saloons stayed open. The Breeze might possibly be accused of crowing about the final results, declaring the 90-vote margin of victory as "an avalanche" and a "crushing defeat" for the Drys:

Barkley would sell the Breeze in 1913. His Redondo Beach victory would be trumped by the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution imposing nationwide prohibition in 1919. It closed the bars for 14 years until it was repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933.

KNX's radio towers came first, decades before Columbia Park in Torrance was built.

In September 1938, 17 years after Los Angeles radio station KNX-AM took out its first broadcast license, the station began transmitting from its new 500-foot tower built on a 12-acre plot of land near the corner of 190th Street and Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance.

The 50,000-watt non-directional tower gave the station a powerful signal. A circular ground building with an entrance off Hawthorne Boulevard served as the control center for the operation (see photo below). When the land became more valuable, the original building was torn down to make way for development and a smaller transmitting center was built near the base of the tower.

Original KNX transmitter control building on the northeast corner of 190th Street and Hawthorne Boulevard. An auto dealership now occupies the site.

This original tower no longer exists. On the night of September 15, 1965, two persons were seen leaving the site shortly after the tower toppled to the ground at 10:45 p.m., during veteran talk-show host Michael Jackson's show. Investigating officers discovered that the vandals had sawed through the top turnbuckle of one of the tower's guy wires, which caused the entire tower to come loose and tumble to the ground (see Daily Breeze clippings, below).

The vandals were never caught.

KNX-AM was off the air for a day. With help from Southern California Edison, a temporary 10,000-watt transmitter was set up on the site so the station could continue broadcasting.

Later, an extra tower that was not in use was located at station KFAC-AM and brought to Torrance. The 365-foot tower was used while a new 494-foot tower was being built. When the new tower went into operation in July 1966, the older one was kept as a backup. These two towers still stand on the site today.

In 1968, the City of Torrance began to take steps to build a park on the land surrounding the towers. Originally planned for 7.5 acres, the Columbia Park project ended up becoming the city's largest park at 52 acres upon its completion in 1983.

Occasionally the towers have made news over the years. In January 1985, a man wearing a jumpsuit and a parachute climbed to the top of the tower, apparently intending to parachute to the ground. An employee at the nearby car dealership spotted him and called police, who ordered the man to the ground and arrested him for trespassing.

For years, residents nearby complained that they were receiving KNX's broadcast on their telephones, especially after less expensive phones began to become commonplace after the deregulation of the telecommunications industry. Purchasing an additional filter for $15 apparently solved the problem, according to a February 1993 Daily Breeze news story.

KNX has upgraded its equipment at the site over the years, and the towers continue to serve both as a local landmark and a functioning telecommunications center.

Sources:

"KNX Station History," at the EarthSignals Web site, http://www.earthsignals.com/KNXSITEhistory.html.

Daily Breeze news articles.

One of the many projects he fought for over the course of his long career was the construction of a bridge connecting San Pedro and Terminal Island, which at the time was connected by the Terminal Island Ferry (below).

Thomas anticipated that the growth of the Port of Los Angeles would necessitate a bridge to be built to facilitate the movement of goods from the Port. Those who called his pet project "a bridge to nowhere" weren't so sure, but when the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach began to boom in the 1970s, Thomas was proven right.

The Vincent Thomas Bridge under construction in 1962.

When Caltrans completed design of the bridge in 1960, it was going to be called the "San Pedro-Terminal Island Bridge." In 1961, the California Legislature officially named the bridge after Thomas. It was an unusual step for someone who was still alive at the time, but Thomas earned the honor for his tireless efforts on behalf of the project.

 
The bridge was dedicated on Saturday, September 28, 1963. Doing the honors in 100-degree heat were L.A. Mayor Sam Yorty, State Controller Alan Cranston, L.A. Supervisor Burton Chace, L.A. City Councilman John S. Gibson, Sen. Thomas Kuchel and former governor Goodwin J. Knight. Organizers had hoped to get Governor Pat Brown and President John F. Kennedy to attend, but they were up in Northern California dedicating the Whiskeytown Dam and Reservoir and couldn't make it.

The bridge officially opened to traffic on Friday, November 15, 1963 at 12:01 a.m. Not coincidentally, the final run of Terminal Island ferryboat the "Islander" was at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 14, 1963.

Thomas paid the first toll, which at that time was 25 cents. It would rise to 50 cents in 1983. In 2000, the toll (and the toll booths) were eliminated.

Cal Trans crews work to tear down the toll booths on the Vincent Thomas Bridge in January 2000.

Here are some facts and figures about the bridge:
- It cost $21 million to build.
- Its main span is 1500 feet, making it the third largest suspension bridge in California (behind the Golden Gate and Oakland Bay bridges), and the 76th longest in the world.
- It is 6,050 feet (1.1 miles) in length.
- Its roadway is 52 feet wide between the curbs and stands 185 feet above the harbor. Its towers are 335 feet tall.
- It was designed to withstand 90 mph winds.

After a 17-year struggle to get them installed, 160 blue LED lights were switched on to illuminate the bridge at night  on January 30, 2005.

Blue LED lights specially designed not to distrub wildlife sparkle on the Vincent Thomas Bridge in this 2006 file photo. 

Pedestrians usually are not allowed on the bridge. But on September 7, 2009, 1,500 runners participated in the five-mile Conquer the Bridge race, the first time such a race had been run since 1994.

Runners atop the span of the Vincent Thomas Bridge halfway through the Couquer the Bridge Labor Day run on Sept. 7, 2009.

The view from atop one of the bridge's towers in 2007.

It was one of the deadliest explosions in the history of the Port of Los Angeles, yet actually it could have been much worse. As the photo below taken the following day shows, the explosion and fire occurred within 1,000 feet of tanks that held hundreds of thousands of barrels of various flammable fuels, but thanks to firefighters, favorable winds and just plain luck, they did not ignite.

The Markay explosion also destroyed 8000 feet of adjacent dock. Several berths were destroyed: the two Shell Oil berths where the ship was docked, and three American Lines berths across the channel, the latter destroyed by flaming gasoline spreading across the water from the explosion. (See photo below.)

A cargo ship had been docked at the American Lines berths, but had sailed from the port shortly before the explosion. Had it remained, it probably also would have been destroyed. Fireboats and navy vessels were credited with saving the Maunalei, a nearby freighter from the Matson line, and other ships quickly were removed from the danger area.

The Keystone Tankship Corporation owned the Markay, which was built in 1942 for slightly more than $3 million. It had arrived at the port on Saturday, June 21, 1947 and was taking on fuel at the time of the explosion. The official report on the blast, filed by Los Angeles Fire Dept. Assistant Chief H.R. Boone, estimated that 60 percent of the tanker's 150,200-barrel capacity had been filled at the time of the blast.

The cause of the blaze was never determined: "The cause of the explosion ... was the ignition of an accumulation of vapors from the cargo tank on the deck of the vessel which became ingnited from some unknown cause," according to Boone's report.

According to a Daily Breeze story from Monday, July 23, 1947, a 50-by-20-foot section of steel decking was blown onto the dock by the explosion, narrowly missing one of the nearby fuel tanks onshore by about 50 yards.

The subsequent blaze was visible for miles. LAFD firefighters arrived on the scene at 2:09 a.m., and battled the fire throughout the following day. There were at least two additional explosions, one less than 20 minutes after the initial blast, and at least one more at around 5:00 a.m.

The Markay, shown below after the fire was extinguished, was a total loss.

Fire Boat No. 2, the Ralph J. Scott, maneuvering along side of Berth 154, the American President Lines pier and warehouse, where it succeeded in stopping the fire at this point.  The fire in the background is the burning S.S. Markay.

Special thanks to Captain Larry Schneider of Fire Station 50 of the Los Angeles Fire Department for allowing the use of photos from the department's Historical Archive for this post.

Sources:
"An Oil Tanker Explodes," by Harold M. Inlow, published in The Fireman's Grape Vine, July 1947 issue.
"Report of the Tankship Markay," by Assistant Chief H.R. Boone, Fire Prevention Engineer, published in The Fireman's Grape Vine, October 1947 issue.
Daily Breeze editions of Monday, June 23, 1947 and Tuesday, July 24, 1947.

First things first: Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., shown at left, did not design Central Park in New York City.

Born in 1870, he actually was the son of the Central Park architect Frederick Law Olmsted. He took over the firm together with his stepbrother, John Charles Olmsted, when his father died in 1895, renaming it Olmsted Brothers.

He continues to be confused with his father to this day, but his accomplishments while running Olmsted Brothers from 1895 until his retirement in 1950 are  impressive enough to stand on their own.

Olmsted has two major South Bay links. The first came when real estate developer Jared Sydney Torrance hired him to design his new South Bay community in 1911, and Olmsted responded with a creative plan.

As an architect, Olmsted was known for his practice of integrating structures with landscape, a concept which can be visualized by anyone who stands at the main Torrance High School building and looks north along the park-like El Prado in Old Torrance.

El Prado Avenue's broad median strip adds greenery and open space to the urban landscape.

The tree-lined El Prado was laid out at an angle, so that it would lead the eye toward the towering mountains in the distance (on a clear day). Its open green expanse reflects Olmsted's deliberate attempt to work green space and natural beauty into his urban designs.

Olmsted's overall Torrance plan also was innovative for its time. It divided the original town into three districts: the business district at the city's core, which we know now as Old Torrance, the industrial district to the north and east of the city core, and the residential district to the west.

Olmsted left his mark on the South Bay a second time in the 1920s when he was called in to design parts of the Palos Verdes Peninsula settlements, most notably the northern entry to the Hill at Malaga Cove in Palos Verdes Estates.

Part of his approach was to plant thousands of colorful plants in the plaza and on the surrounding hillsides. He also encouraged residents to do their own planting by arranging for them to be able to buy plants at the local nursery at cost.

The resulting Malaga Cove Plaza and surrounding area, above, remains one of the most beautiful urban locations in the South Bay to this day. In 2000, a small parcel of parkland was created in Olmsted's honor in the Plaza and named Olmsted Place, below.
  His South Bay projects really were just part of Olmsted's total legacy. In addition to Torrance and Palos Verdes, he created master plans for the Baltimore suburb of Roland Park, Forest Hills Gardens, a community just outside New York City, and the Mountain Lake Club in Lake Wales, Florida.

Olmsted built his public reputation in the early 1900s with designs for prominent Washington, D.C. landmarks such as the White House grounds, the Federal Triangle, the Jefferson Memorial, Roosevelt Island, Rock Creek Parkway and the grounds of the National Cathedral.

He was also heavily involved early on - from 1910 - with projects involved with the national parks. He played a key role in the development of plans for Acadia, the Everglades, and especially Yosemite National Park. His involvement with attempting to save California's redwoods resulted in the naming of a stand of redwoods in the Redwood National Park as the "Olmsted Grove" in 1953.

Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. died at 87, his reputation secure as one of the premier landscape architects of the 20th century.

Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. is shown outside of his Rosita Place house in what now is Palos Verdes Estates, where he lived for a time in the 1920s. 

Sources:

Images of America: Old Torrance Olmstead Districts, by Bonnie Mae Barnard and Save Historic Old Torrance, Arcadia Publishing Co., 2005.

Palos Verdes Peninsula: Time and the Terraced Land, by Augusta Fink, Western Tanager Press, 1987.

The Palos Verdes Story, by Delane Morgan, 1982.

Web site: "Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., Cornelius Amory Pugsley Gold Medal Award, 1953," http://www.rpts.tamu.edu/Pugsley/Olmstead.htm.

This aerial view of the pier from the late 1920s shows the Roundhouse and the 200-foot extension completed in 1928.

Unfortunately, the wooden structure was weakened by storms in 1937 and 1938. 90 feet of the extension, shown below at right, was destroyed in a 1940 storm, and the rest was washed away in 1941. The city never rebuilt it.
The pier and Roundhouse fell into fairly serious disrepair in the 1950s, when much civic concern was expressed over unsafe and unsanitary conditions above and below the pier, and its increasing use as a teenage hangout.
A youth canteen that operated out of the Roundhouse in the 1950s seemed to catch a lot of the blame. A Sept. 17, 1957 Daily Breeze story reported that the city's Recreation Board had sent a letter to the city manager asking him to close the canteen, calling it "filthy" and "a disgrace to the city."
Issues stemming from the pier's use as a teen hangout would continue throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In 1969, the cafe proprietor was evicted, and only bait and coffee could be sold at the Roundhouse.

Cafes and restaurants of various types operated in the Roundhouse up until its transformation into a research center in 1979.

Vehicles were banned from the pier in 1973. Police from three cities had to be called to the pier in 1976 to control a large crowd of teens, some of whom insisted on jumping from the pier into the ocean. A 16-year-old from Cudahy died when he was swept out to sea after such a jump on June 23, 1976.
Everything changed in 1979. The idea of having a cafe and bait shop at the Roundhouse was discarded, and the decision was made to transform the structure into an oceanographic research center.
The nonprofit firm Oceanographic Testing Stations Inc. (OTS) was contracted to run the research facility.

Hey, what happened? Something went missing from the pier during the remodeling of 1991-1992.

In 1991, a major remodeling of the pier was completed. The plan included completely rebuilding the Roundhouse to include an aquarium to go along with the marine research facility. The Roundhouse was leveled, rebuilt and reopened in 1992 with several fish tanks and other amenities added.

The new Roundhouse building in July 1992, shortly before a suspect crashed into it at the sudden end of a police chase.

 

One month after the new facility opened, a suspect crashed his car into the brand new structure after racing his car down the pier at the end of a brief police chase. He narrowly missed the fish tanks, but did cause $18,000 in damage, which was soon repaired.
Today, the Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab and Aquarium is open free of charge to the public. OTS states its mission as being "to foster and promote the public study of, and interest in, the oceans, tidelands and beaches of Southern California, the marine life therein, and the impact of human population on that environment."
The group's 30th Anniversary Celebration will be held on Friday, October 9, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Roundouse on the pier. Check its Web site for further information.

 

Sources:

A Walk Beside the Sea: A History of Manhattan Beach, by Jan Dennis, Janstan Studio, 1987.
Images of America: Manhattan Beach Pier, By Jan Dennis, Arcadia Publishing, 2005.
Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab and Aquarium Web site, http://www.roundhouseaquarium.org/.

 

 

 

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The Point Fermin lighthouse is surrounded by a lovely park with its famous cliffs, while the lighthouse at Point Vicente, long-rumored to be haunted, is situated on one of the most scenic stretches of coastline on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

By contrast, the Angels Gate Lighthouse, also known in as Los Angeles Harbor Lighthouse and the Los Angeles Main Entrance Channel Light, sits at the end of the 9,250-foot-long San Pedro Breakwater. It is neither as accessible or as picturesque as the other two.

The original plans for the structure, which was built in 1913 at a cost of $36,000, called for it to be smaller and constructed out of wood. Wisely, those plans were overruled in favor of a larger and sturdier steel-framed building whose Romanesque design remains unlike any other lighthouse on the California coast.

Built on a 40-foot-square concrete platform, the building has withstood much buffeting over the  decades. It has weathered storms and earthquakes without alterations, though a 1939 storm's assault apparently left the structure leaning slightly shoreward.

A paddleboarder passes in front of the Angels Gate Lighthouse in this August 2007 file photo.

At 73 feet high, the five-story lighthouse is bigger than it appears from the shore.
For its first 59 years, the lighthouse was manned by a four-man crew of U.S. Coast Guard personnel, who lived in its lower octagonal base.

The original foghorn had a low, two-toned sound that led locals to nickname it "Moaning Maggie." It was replaced in 1959 by a higher-pitched horn, which was dubbed "Blatting Betty."

In 1973, the lighthouse's functions were automated, and it no longer became necessary for it to be staffed, but its familar green light still welcomes incoming ships into Los Angeles Harbor. The green color distinguishes the light from all the other white light ships see from shore as they move into the harbor.

The lighthouse's original Fresnel lens was replaced in 1989, and is on permanent display at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum in San Pedro.

In the years since it has been unmanned, the lighthouse has fallen into disrepair. A drive to raise funds for its restoration is now being spearheaded by Gary Dwight and Allen Johnson of the Cabrillo Beach Boosters. 

Sources:

"Automation Hits Lighthouse," By John Hart, Copley News Service, Daily Breeze, September 12, 1972.

Lighthouse Friends.com: http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=99

Los Angeles Metblogs: http://la.metblogs.com/2006/01/22/angels-gate-lighthouse/

Wikimapia: http://wikimapia.org/553950/Angel-s-Gate-Lighthouse

  A new high-tech Los Angeles Fire Department fire boat passes the Angels Gate Lighthouse as it enters Los Angeles Harbor in July 2007. 

"Nothing is permanent but change," said the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, sounding like he would have felt right at home on the South Bay landscape.

Another philosopher named Joni Mitchell once sang, "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." That's certainly happened in the South Bay, too, though maybe not as often as one would think.

Arguments can be made over whether transformations over the years have always have been for the better.

The Point Vicente Interpetive Center, above, the whale-watching site in Rancho Palos Verdes, would seem to beat the heck out of the former firing range/Nike missile site that once stood there, at least in terms of aesthetics.

Theme park buffs might bemoan the loss of Marineland, shown above in 1981, but developers have crafted a sumptuous luxury hotel and resort, Terranea, shown below, on the same coastal land where trained whale shows once delighted onlookers.

The Metlox potter plant in Manhattan Beach went from a thriving industrial site to a hole in the ground, above photo, lower left. After toxic chemicals were cleaned from the site, it was transformed into an outdoor shopping center, below.

But the show biz audience at the high society gathering loved him and insisted that he run through his whole musical repertoire. Here's the Daily Breeze clipping from Friday, April 26, 1957:

And, although he had already made many singing appearances around Los Angeles and the South Bay, the talented Hermosa Beach resident also didn't know that he would go on to become one of the Walker Brothers, who had huge hits in the mid-1960s with "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore," "Make It Easy on Yourself." "My Ship Has Come In" and "Love Her."  (By the way, none of them were brothers, and none were born Walker. Maus' band mates Scott and Gary originally were named Scott Engel and Gary Leeds before becoming "Walkers.")

A mid-1960s publicity photo of the Walker Brothers, (l to r) Gary, Scott and John. 

Though the first two were big hits in the U.S., the Walker Brothers actually were much more popular in Europe than they were at home. The group eventually sold 23 million records worldwide.

This European reissue of Walker Brothers hits was released in 2008. John Walker is shown at far right.

Maus continues to tour Great Britain and release albums under his professional name, John Walker (see photo, below left). Earlier this year, he played 55 dates on "The Solid Silver 60s Show," an English revival tour featuring The Searchers, Wayne Fontana, The Merseybeats and The Dakotas. His typical live set consists of the biggest Walker Brothers hits together with selections from his solo albums.

Walker and his "brother" Gary Leeds have just written the definitive history of the group, The Walker Brothers: No Regrets, Our Story, which will be published in the UK this month.

The Lady Alexandra floating restaurant at its Redondo Beach mooring in the late 1970s, before disaster struck.

The Lady Alexandra's saga begins in Vancouver, Canada and ends at the bottom of the sea 50 miles off of Redondo Beach.

The vessel was built by Scottish craftsmen in 1923 and was designed specifically for short excursions in the area between Vancouver, Bowen Island and Howe Sound. During the 28 years it was in service in Canada, the ship carried an estimated 16 million passengers  for picnic journeys, moonlight cruises and other tourist adventures.

Demand for the 225-foot ship's services declined after World War II, and it was retired from service in 1952.

A biplane shadows the Lady Alexandra as she enters the Vancouver harbor on June 25, 1924.
Photo by W.J. Moore, courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives.

The Lady Alexandra first became a floating restaurant in Coal Harbour in Vancouver in 1959.

A dozen years later, investors purchased the Lady and brought her to Redondo Beach, where she was re-dubbed the Princess Louise II. The original Princess Louise at the Port of Los Angeles was a highly successful floating restaurant at the time, and the PLII was envisioned as her Redondo Beach sister ship. (Read a South Bay Yesterday history of the original Princess Louise here.

Heavy tides  scotched the first attempt to moor the Princess Louise II in King Harbor on November 6, 1972. The ship broke loose from its moorings and was damaged. It had to be returned to San Pedro for repairs.

On January 23, 1973, she returned to King Harbor, where a permanent berth was established successfully and the ship/restaurant opened for business.

Though business was brisk, it was not enough to keep the restaurant afloat, and its owners filed for bankruptcy in 1975.

Into the breach stepped former "Our Gang" comedies star Chuck Johnston, pictured at left in the 1980s. (He played the character of "Stinky Davis.") In addition to being the master lessee of the Redondo Beach Marina, he owned a variety of businesses in King Harbor, including the Blue Moon Saloon.

In the late 1970s, he reopened the restaurant under the ship's original name, the Lady Alexandra. A disco/nightclub, Dirty Sally's, was added. The ship also became the home of the Palos Verdes Yacht Club.

But the ill-fated vessel would soon meet its match. A record high tide, combined with wind-whipped waves, battered the Lady Alexandra in mid-January 1980, suffering enough damage to close down the businesses for a few days.

The Lady Alexandra lies toppled on its side following the high tides and stormy seas of February 1980.

It would reopen, but the death blow came a month later on February 19, 1980, when more high tides and even more violent storm-driven seas toppled the ship. The same storm also tossed rocks around seaside parking lots, inundated the Blue Moon Saloon and threatened the Portofino Inn.

It took salvage crews operating cranes, left, until March 19, 1980 to right the ship, which was fully insured. Marine surveyors went aboard to see if the ship could be rehabilitated and moved to another location, as the King Harbor mooring was destroyed in the storm. Crews can be seen pumping water out of the newly righted ship in the photo below right.

Unfortunately, the Lady Alexandra was declared a total loss. On March 23, 1980, she was towed out of King Harbor and taken 50 miles offshore. According to a March 24, 1980 Daily Breeze news story, "There, her sea valves were opened and she gently sank to the bottom for an ignominious ending as a fishing reef."

The sea life that now calls the sunken ship home might quibble with "ignominious." The Lady brought a lot of people happiness in a lot of different ways while afloat. Looking at it that way, her final resting place seems fitting.

Spectators on the Redondo Beach pier watch as the Lady Alexandra is towed out to sea toward her final resting place on March 23, 1980.

A sign at the left of James Collins' original Hamburger Handout stand advertises 10-cent hamburgers in celebration of its sixth anniversary in this 1958 photo.

Sometimes pop-culture phenomena only capture the public's imagination for a short time. Sometimes they catch on, and eventually turn into worldwide mega-corporations.
Hamburger Handout is a good example.

The 19-cent burger chain that eventually grew to four outlets began in 1952. Founder James Collins had studied the new hamburger operation that New Hamsphire brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald had begun in San Bernardino on December 12, 1948.

He decided to use their concept for his own version, Hamburger Handout, which opened at the corner of Sepulveda and Centinela boulevards near the Culver City/Westchester border in October 1952.

The Handout's 19-cent hamburger soon became a fixture in the area, so much so that alumni Web sites from four different nearby high schools - Culver City, Hawthorne, El Segundo and Westchester - have postings from 1950s grads who fondly remember it.

1950s students at Dorsey High in Los Angeles also have made note of the Hamburger Handout location at Slauson and Buckler as being a favorite hangout.

Collins opened the additional restaurants in the Hamburger Handout chain in 1957, 1958 and 1960. These included the branch on Slauson and one in Orange County, with the location of the fourth branch still a mystery unless someone can enlighten us.

In any case, by the early 1960s, Collins had begun to abandon the concept after meeting up with Col. Harlan Sanders over this new fried chicken concept and closed the Hamburger Handouts down. As a result of the Sanders discussions, in 1962 Collins became the exclusive agent for Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets in Southern California. By the mid-1960s his group owned more than 200 KFC outlets in the West.

In June 1967, Collins, shown at left in a photo from the mid-1980s, bought out Del and Helen Johnson, the originators of the Sizzler steak restaurant chains. His company, Collins Foods International Corp. built the chain into an international success.

Collins retired in 1991, but is still active in community affairs. The Boys and Girls Club of Venice operates out of the James A. Collins Youth Center there, and in 1999 Cal Poly Pomona renamed its hotel and restaurant management school as the Collins College of Hospitality Management after him.

Not bad for a guy who began his career selling 19-cent burgers. Which reminds me, whatever happened to those McDonald guys?

The honor goes to the Dominguez Rancho Adobe in the Rancho Dominguez area near Carson, which was built by Manuel Dominguez in 1826. He built it on 75,000 acres of land that his uncle, Juan Jose Dominguez, had been given in 1784 by the King of Spain in return for his military service in what was the first private land grant in Southern California.

The Rancho San Pedro encompassed most of what we know now as the South Bay, from the Los Angeles River on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west. The Dominguez Rancho Adobe was built atop a hill in the middle of the Rancho.

Manuel Dominguez (left) lived in the six-room structure he built with his wife, Maria Engracia Cota. Between her and her six daughters, who married, among others, lawyer and land owner James A. Watson (Watson Land Co.), George Henry Carson (for whom the city of Carson was named) and Gregorio Del Amo y Gonzalez (for whom all things Del Amo in the South Bay are named), the family pretty much had an early monopoly on South Bay street and place names.

Even today, the streets of Rancho Dominguez near the Adobe are named after Dominguez's daughters: Ana, Maria, Reyes, Susana, Victoria, Dolores and even Las Hermanas ('the sisters").

Manuel Dominguez's hacienda would go on to play a role in a skirmish during the Mexican-American War known as "The Battle of Rancho Dominguez." By using hit-and-run fighting tactics and judiciously employing a single cannon, a vastly outnumbered group of Spanish Californians forced a larger American force to retreat from the Dominguez Rancho back to San Pedro. Five Americans were killed in the battle and were buried on a small island in the harbor that became known as Dead Man's Island as a result. (The island was dredged away, and ceased to exist in 1929.)

  Portraits of Manuel Dominguez and Maria Engracia Cota adorn the interior of the Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum.

The massive Rancho San Pedro's tracts gradually were sold off over the years. The Ocean Tract was sold in 1887 for $12,000; its 433 acres would become incorporated Redondo Beach on April 29, 1892. Also in 1892, the family sold Terminal Island (then known as Rattlesnake Island) to the Los Angeles and Terminal Island Railroad Company, which built its southern rail terminus there.

On May 31, 1911, the Dominguez Estate Company sold 2,791 acres to one Jared Sydney Torrance of Pasadena, who also acquired 730 additional acres from Susana Dominguez Del Amo. From these lands, the city of Torrance was carved out in 1912.

The last Dominguez relative to live at the Dominguez Rancho Adobe, Dolores Dominguez de Watson, died in 1924. Two years earlier, the Adobe was deeded to the Claretian Missionaries, a Catholic order. They formed a seminary there, and converted some of its rooms to classrooms.

The Dominguez Rancho Adobe became a State Historic Landmark in 1945. Since then, it has been lovingly restored several times, most recently re-opening in 2004 after a five-year renovation. 

The Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum currently is open to the public. It is located at 18127 Alameda Street, in Rancho Dominguez. Tours of the home are given on the hour on Wednesday and Sunday at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Group tours are welcomed and must be booked ahead. For more information, phone (310) 603-0088.

Sources:

"The Historic Dominguez Rancho Adobe," City of Carson Web site, http://ci.carson.ca.us/content/department/about_carson/RanchoDominguez.asp.

"Historic Adobes of Los Angeles County - Dominguez Ranch Adobe," By John R. Kielbasa, http://www.laokay.com/halac/DominguezRanchAdobe.htm.

 Rancho Dominguez Adobe Museum Web site: http://dominguezrancho.org.

Rodeo in Torrance? A cowboy displays his lassoing skills at the 1969 Torrance Mounted Police Rodeo, held that year at the Torrance High football field.

A full-blown rodeo. A 3 1/2-hour procession described as "the biggest parade in southwest Los Angeles County history." Game booths, rides, a midway, an aquacade and an annual beauty contest.

All these and more were part of Torrance's Ranchero Days, a civic celebration that began with a five-day extravaganza sponsored by the Torrance Chamber of Commerce from July 24 through July 28, 1957.

The rodeo event, sponsored by the Torrance Mounted Police Association, predates Ranchero Days by three years, having begun in 1954, the year after the police horsemen's group was founded.

Proceeds from the annual event originally were used to fund the city's annual float entry in the annual Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena on New Year's Day.

Organizers decreed in 1960 that the Armed Forces Day parade would take precedence, and dropped the Ranchero Days parade.

But in 1961, it was back. The Torrance Mounted Police Association held a rodeo parade in August of that year attended by an estimated 8,000 spectators. The Daily Breeze report on July 27, 1962 that a million dollars worth of silver would be on display in that year's  parade in the form of "lavishly ornamented saddles and bridles."

Longtime local newscaster and equestrian enthusiast George Putnam served as grand marshal of the 1965 event. In that year's rodeo, spectators donated money for medical treatment of cowboy Jim Matthews of Idaho who suffered an unusual injury in the event. (See clipping, right. Click to enlarge.)

By 1966, Ranchero Days had become a two-week event. The Torrance Junior Chamber of Commerce sponsored a week-long carnival. The second half of included the rodeo, co-sponsored by the Torrance Chamber, the Torrance Elks Club and the Torrance Mounted Police Association.

In addition, a beard-growing contest was held that year among male city employees. (See clip, left. Click to enlarge.)

The rodeo, parade and beauty contest were scrubbed for the 1967 event, which consisted only of the carnival.

But those events would return the following year.
According to Daily Breeze files, 1974 is the last year in which the Ranchero Days are mentioned in conjunction with the rodeo.

The rodeo event continued at least until 1980, when the 26th annual event was held under the sponsorship of the Torrance Mounted Police Association. Finally, the rodeo ceased altogether in the early 1980s.

A rodeo cowboy hits the dirt after being thrown during the bronc riding event at the 1962 Ranchero Days rodeo.

He built a rambling mansion on Signal Street overlooking Timms Point in San Pedro, then an area of luxury houses known as the Gold Coast. Due to development of the railroad yards and the port channel, the house had to be moved a few blocks in 1915 to 380 W. 15th Street, where it stands today (see photo below), though in a much-altered form lacking the splendor it once had.

Among his large business transactions were the 1913 sale of 104 acres that would become Fort MacArthur in San Pedro, and the sale of land in 1911 to Standard Oil for what would become the Chevron refinery in El Segundo.

In addition to the vast land holdings he amassed in San Pedro, Peck also owned real

estate in Manhattan Beach. He developed the El Porto district in the northern section

of the city, which originally had called Shore Acres.

Fellow developer John Merrill developed the city's southern section, which he named

Manhattan Beach after his former home town. Legend has it that a coin was flipped,

probably in 1902, to decide the name of the new city. Peck lost, and the city became

Manhattan Beach.

This early-1900s view of Beacon Street looking north shows the location of Peck's flourishing San Pedro real estate firm, left.

Peck built a house at 2620 Alma Avenue in Manhattan Beach, on the street named for

his daughter. It would become the family's summer house, and still stands today. Peck

Avenue in Manhattan Beach also took its name from the developer.

Peck became an extremely wealthy man. He had three children, Rena, Alma and Leland.

Alma and Leland were chronically ill - Leland was in a wheelchair most of his life -

so Peck established trusts in their names. George Peck died at his house in the Adams

district in Los Angeles in 1940. Leland and Alma died in 1954 and 1962, respectively,

with the city receiving the bulk of the Peck estate as a result.

Leland Park in San Pedro is one of four parks Peck donated to the city. It was named for his son. Gaffey Street is on the left.

Funds from the George H. Peck Trust were used to maintain recreational facilities in

San Pedro, including the four parks that were created from land that once belonged to

Peck. In addition to the largest, Peck Park, for which he began to donate land in

1929, San Pedro's Rena, Alma and Leland parks all came from Peck's holdings.

When the Peck Trust was dissolved in 1976, then-president of the Los Angeles City

Council John S. Gibson said, "The trust is a remarkable tribute to a man who

possessed a tremendous love for this community." Certainly, the beautiful parks form

a lasting legacy for man who first saw San Pedro as a train conductor.

The Vincent Thomas Bridge can be seen in this view looking eastward from Peck Park in San Pedro.

Photos of George H. Peck and of his San Pedro real estate office courtesy of the San Pedro Bay Historical Society. All other photos are Daily Breeze staff photos.

Sources:

San Pedro: A Pictorial History, by Henry P. Silka, San Pedro Bay Historical Society, 1993.

A Walk Beside the Sea: A History of Manhattan Beach, by Jan Dennis, Janstan Studio, 1987.

"L.A. parks agency to liquidate trust," The Daily Breeze, February 28, 1976.

The Academy Theater in Inglewood was showing Errol Flynn and Bette Davis in "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" when this photo was taken in 1939.

Today we call the roll of South Bay movie theaters of the distant, and in some cases more recent, past that are no longer in existence.

First of all, there are the drive-ins. After closing in April 1988, the Torrance Drive-In became a housing development. It opened on June 29, 1955.

The Harbor Drive-In on Vermont Avenue north of Sepulveda Boulevard near Torrance was closed in the early 1970s and was torn down to make room for the Village Square condominiums.

The Roadium drive-in was still showing movies when this 1961 photo was taken.

The Roadium in Torrance opened in May 1949, but stopped showing films in the mid-1980s, when it was converted into a permanent open-air swap meet which is still in operation today.

Pacific Theaters opened the San Pedro Drive-In on North Gaffey Street in June 1949, which became part of the DiCarlo Bakery property after it closed. The bakery plant was itself demolished to make way for the Target store that currently occupies the site.

The South Bay 6 in Carson closed for remodeling in 1997 and never reopened, leaving the Vermont Drive-In Theatre as the South Bay's last operating drive-in - until it also closed in 1999.

The Fox in Redondo Beach closed in December 1972, and was razed shortly thereafter.

Among the walk-ins, the Fox Redondo was a long-time landmark that finally closed for good on December 5, 1972. It was torn down weeks later, but plans for a hotel on the site never materialized and the land is currently a parking lot. When it originally opened in the late 1920s, it was outfitted for live theater and vaudeville acts, in addition to being a movie theater.

Hermosa Beach's Metropolitan Theater is shown in 1924, before becoming the Bijou.

Hermosa Beach's Bijou began life in 1923 as the Metropolitan before becoming the Cove and then the Bijou. It showed its final film in 1996. The building remains, having been refitted as retail space that includes an art gallery.

Condos replaced the Marina 1-2-3 complex on the southeast corner of Torrance Boulevard and Catalina Avenue in Redondo Beach in the 1980s. The theaters began as a single-screen theater, The Strand, which opened on January 6, 1938.

The Torrance Theater in 1936.

Downtown Torrance once boasted two movie theaters. The Torrance Theater on Sartori near Marcelina was built in the 1920s and operated well into the 1950s. it was demolished and is now a bank.

The Stadium Theater in one of its last incarnations as a movie set, the fictional "Aurora Theater."

The Stadium Theater on Cravens Avenue was first known as the Grand when it was built in 1949. It underwent another transformation in the 1970s when it became part of the Pussycat Theater adult theater chain. Protesters and pickets were a regular part of business there until it closed in 1991. It was empty for several years before being torn down to make way for condos in 2002.

The exterior of the Loyola Theater in 1982, shortly before it was converted into office space.

The spectacular Loyola Theater in Westchester showed its last film in 1982. The building was converted into office space, though vestiges of its former splendour can still be seen in the building's present-day facade. It was a beauty in its day; the lobby alone, complete with sunken concessions stand, was worth the price of admission.

Some more modern theater complexes have also come and gone. The Hermosa Beach 6 operated briefly at the Hermosa Beach Pavilion shopping center on PCH. The center hit hard times and was mostly empty for almost a decade before being revived as a the home of a fitness center in recent years.

Mann Theaters once had an indoor fourplex in the north end of the Del Amo Fashion Center, and another outdoor multiplex, the Mann 9, on Del Amo Circle East south of Carson Street. Both are closed now, with the latter now the home of a 24-Hour Fitness complex.

Film director Quentin Tarantino says he spent many horus watching exploitation double bills at the Carson Twin on Avalon Boulevard, but that building was demolished to make room for condominiums in the 1980s.

Inglewood once boasted several theaters, the most flamboyant of which was the Academy on Manchester Boulevard (see photo at top of entry). The Art Moderne structure opened in 1939, ostensibly as a potential site for the Academy Awards ceremony, though it ultimately never was held there. The structure still exists, having been converted into a church in 1975.

San Pedro theaters that no longer exist include the Fox Cabrillo, which opened in 1923 and was demolished in 1958, and the Globe Theater on 6th Street, which opened in 1915 but apparently closed sometime during the 1950s.

The Warner Grand was screening the film "Great Expectations" when this 1934 photo was taken.

So what's left? The most notable historic movie theater to survive in the area is the magnificent Warner Grand in San Pedro. Built in 1931, it was bought by the Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Los Angeles in 1996, and has continued to host cultural events and film revivals after its restoration.

Sources:
http://www.drive-ins.com/
http://cinematreasures.org/

Both sites have databases that allow users to look up theaters of the past and present.

Some drifters like radio controlled car designer Akihito Watamase don't have to get on a full-size track and compete head-to-head with the likes of Formula Drift driver Samuel Hubinette to show their skills.

Watamase, a designer with Hpi-Racing and a 26-year veteran in the radio controlled or RC industry, steered his Cup Racer car (modeled like a Datsun 510) and gracefully drifted around a small track in front of about a dozen onlookers at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Lifestyle Expo Sunday.

HPI-Racing graphic artist Andrew Hilman said it's the first time they've made an appearance at the Long Beach Grand Prix and that passersby are generally astonished by what they see.

The RC drift cars from HPI-Racing are modified to make the turns just like the real cars and are even licensed to look like popular drift makes and models such as the Nissan Silvia S15.

Sticklers for authenticity can even have tires designed to duplicate some of the ones made by major tire companies like Hankook.

Hilman said the Hpi-Racing RC drift car kits start at about $170 and can go to $200 or more for larger, more upgrade-ready models. 

"Adults and kids just couldn't believe it," Hilman said. "Most of the kits are actually ready to run. Out of the box ready to run. It comes with a controller, you buy double A's and there you go."

www.hpiracing.com

Every mile sends another mosquito net to a family in Africa, protecting them from the bite of a malaria mosquito. 

Race fans can visit www.milestoendmalaria.org and donate as little as a penny per mile to the cause.

"The more we learned about malaria, the more we wanted to help", said Patrón Highcroft Racing team owner, Duncan Dayton. "Another child dies in Africa every 30 seconds from malaria--so during the Twelve Hours of Sebring, that's nearly 1,500 children.  "We hope by launching Miles to End Malaria and displaying the Malaria No More logo on our car, we can not only raise important funds for this cause, but also educate fans about the disease."

With the initial pledges from Patrón Highcroft Racing and Tequila Patrón, every mile sends another mosquito net to a family in Africa. This partnership is a vital component of Malaria No More's efforts to provide every person in Africa at risk of malaria with a mosquito net by the end of 2010.

"Malaria No More is racing to end malaria deaths and every second counts," said Malaria No More CEO Scott Case. "That's why we're proud to partner with the Patrón Highcroft Racing team to launch 'Miles to End Malaria'- inviting the sportscar community to count every mile as another victory against malaria."

The American Le Mans Series is a major international sportscar series styled after the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. Patrón Highcroft Racing's drivers for the 2009 season are David Brabham and Scott Sharp.

"The attendance is noticibly higher," she said.

Despite the economy, vendors say sales have also been up this weekend. Liz Holmes, owner of the Long Beach-based Fast Kitty, which specializes in clothing for female race fans, has so far seen a slight boost compared to last year.

"The new series has definitely brought out some fresh people," she said.

- Kelly Puente

"I can't wait to see Danica Patrick," she said, as she put on a newly purchased blue, Danica t-shirt. "Girls rule."

Her mother, Dorie Schneider, a long-time race fan, has been coming to Grand Prix for 20 years, including one year when she was about 4 months pregnant with Randi. The mother daughter duo said they're glad to finally see some female drivers.

"I remeber when we were here about 6 or 7 years ago, when Danica was just starting out, and my son was getting autographs from all the racers," Dorie Schneider said. "He asked Danica to sign the back of the poster becasue she's girl. Well, look where she is now!"

- Kelly Puente 

"I started dead last in the back of the row," she said. "There's no male and female thing. You just have to be agressive and go for it."

Standing in front of a crowd of Grand Prix spectators, Little showed little sympathy for pro skater Danny Way, who lost the Celebrity Race to "Martix" star Keanu Reeves after crashing on the last lap.

"There's no excuses, he lost the race and that's how it is," she said.

- Kelly Puente

The "That's So Raven" star and the pro-skaterboarder predicted to win just crashed their Toyota tC Scions at the 33rd annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race in Long Beach, allowing "Speed" star Keanu Reeves, the second favorite to win, and racing legend Al Unser Jr. to take this year's charity race.

Raven-Symone couldn't quite maneuver a turn near Shoreline Drive, hitting her already taped-up No. 17 Scion into a wall. But she's all right. She got of the car, clapped, shrugged and smiled before being taken away in a tow  

Then Danny Way skated his No. 9 Scion into a stack of tires before another car rear-ended him. Way, whom some predicted to win, looked at his car and shook his head in disbelief.

The 33rd annual charity race, which takes place during the 35th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach all weekend, has raised more than $100,000 for Racing for Kids, which benefits Miller Children's Hospital in Long Beach and Children's Hospital of Orange County.

Toyota will donate $5,000 in the name of each celebrity racer to that cause and give another $5,000 to the winning racer's charity of choice.

In addition, a $15,000 donation will be made by People magazine to the celebrity pole winner's charity of choice in conjunction with the ninth annual "People Pole Award" on April 17.

Past pro/celebrity participants have included George Lucas, Ashley Judd, Clint Eastwood, Cameron Diaz, Gene Hackman, John Elway and pro drivers Parnelli Jones and Danica Patrick, who will race in the Grand Prix for the first time this year.

Newcomer Jonathan Hickman has been making quite the splash over at Marvel Comics. He is scripting Secret Warriors, which follows the adventures of Nick Fury and his new group of soldiers following Secret Invasion, and took over the reins of the Fantastic Four comic from Mark Millar based on the strength of his run on the Dark Reign: Fantastic Four mini-series. The new FF arc features Reed Richards being recruited into a multi-dimensional think-tank/support group/task force comprised of alternate versions of himself from every conceivable reality, including a couple where he ended up in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet. The story arc takes the concept of Grant Morrison's Superman Squad (featured in JLA 1,000,000 & All-Star Superman) to the next level, and is turning out to be a fascinating read thus far. But in my opinion, it is the work he did before he got snatched up by Marvel that is truly innovative and brilliant.

Hickman has written four separate mini-series under the Image imprint, three of which have been collected in graphic-novel form. It is those three books that I want to call attention to, as they push the boundaries of how a comic book story can be told and are among the finest books I've had the pleasure to read in quite some time. They are all incisive looks at human society both ancient and modern. More to the point, they point out some major problems with human society from many different angles.

The Nightly News

Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Jonathan Hickman

This story was Hickman's breakout hit over at Image. The main character, John Guyton, is a recruiter for a cult whose members have had their lives wrecked by irresponsible and inaccurate journalism. Their main goal? Kill as many journalists as possible. The cult receives its marching orders from a person they know only as "The Voice", who sends them their directives through an audio tape sent via Fed-Ex. The cult's war against journalistic excess takes place on many fronts, both overt (sniper attacks & suicide bombings) and subtle (taking faces of female news reporters, splicing them onto the bodies of porn stars and placing them on the internet). The story takes quite a few twists & turns, but the revelation of the person behind "The Voice" at the end of it all is the real jaw-dropper. Let's just say that bedfellows make for strange politics.

Visually, this book is less of a pure comic book and more of a hybrid of a comic and an art magazine. The artwork is primarily sepia-tone, which is almost ironic since the story deals with many shades of grey. All of the little factoids and statistic graphs that Hickman intersperses throughout the story (some of which he admits are completely fabricated) drive home the notion that the relationship between the political & corporate masters of America and the general public has become extremely dysfunctional. These are rendered in extremely small print, so be sure to have a magnifying glass handy as they add some real depth to what is going on in the story.

Pax Romana

Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Jonathan Hickman

This is easily one of the most ambitious stories I have ever read, and I've read a lot of books. In the year 2054, the Catholic Church is on its last legs, having been rendered irrelevant by almost every other religion under the sun. Looking for ways to regain its former prominence, it has been covertly funding scientific research into time travel. When their science team actually finds a way to accomplish it, the Pope and his inner circle decide to recruit the finest military warriors and strategists of their time to travel back to 312 A.D. to aid the Catholic Church of its time in dealing with threats to their superiority, such as the advent of Islam and the barbarian hordes that destroyed the civilization of Rome.

That premise would have been interesting enough on its own, but the story really takes off once the commander of their army, Brigadier General Nicholas Chase, executes the Catholic Cardinal in charge of the mission and decides to do something a little more ambitious: change the very course of human history itself. Chase and his army form an alliance with Constantine and help him ascend the Roman throne a full 12 years earlier than he would have on his own. Chase then uses their knowledge of the future to quell the threats to Roman civilization, whether they be obvious (the aforementioned barbarian hordes) or hidden (like abuse of religious power). But as they successfully execute their plan they encounter unforeseen obstacles, including disagreement on how to deal with Constantine's headstrong son Crispus, and political infighting between Chase and his inner circle that leads to open conflict.

There is really only one thing that could be perceived as a weakness with this book: The sepia-toned artistic style of Pax Romana is strikingly similar to that of The Nightly News, with alternate historical timelines and chat transcripts taking the place of the factoids & statistic charts. To more nitpicky readers, this might almost seem like a creative crutch. Personally, I quite enjoy the way Hickman employs this unique style of storytelling, and I wouldn't mind seeing a lot more of it. If only the text weren't so small...

Transhuman

Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: J.M. Ringuet

Welcome to the future, where the post-human body of your dreams is available...for a modest price. This story chronicles the rise of two rival companies, Humonics Inc. and Chimeracorp, who are competing to deliver the next wave of human evolution to the public, each with a different focus. The initial product that Humonics initially offers is based in technology (a prosthetic hand attachment with basic household attachments that has room for better upgrades), while Chimeracorp tinkers with a pharmaceutical concoction that gives its recipient a biological enhancement.

The whole story plays out like a combination of a Michael Moore documentary and a VH1 "Behind The Music" episode. While the main focus of the story is on who comes out on top of the branding battle, the real fun comes from seeing the results of Chimeracorp's experiments. Their first batch of test subjects, a group of chimpanzees, end up with superpowers like telepathy, retractable claws and optic blasts (the X-Chimps!), and end up escaping from their cages. When their human test subjects (the ones that ended up with useful enhancements, anyway) get into superhero costumes and get sent out to recapture the chimp test subjects, it turns out about as well as the canoe trip in the movie "Deliverance".

Of the three graphic novels by Hickman, Transhuman is the one that has the most traditional comic book-style art and layout. Ringuet's artwork is just as gritty as Hickman's in The Nightly News and Pax Romana, but with a little more of a cartoonish bent. The story is a little more tongue-in-cheek than Hickman's other works, but the ending is probably the most subversive and unsettling (yet hilarious) out of all of his books. Be sure to look for the single-panel shout-out to Grant Morrison's WE3 when they show the test subjects from Humonics.

"But this was no ordinary man.
He stood about six or seven feet--
--Now, that the creep I'd been seein' in my sleep."

Behind the Scenes With Kanye from We Love You So on Vimeo.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a property that maintains a very passionate global fan base, is rich with opportunity for a tentpole movie, and is exactly the right property for us to work together with Nickelodeon," said Adam Goodman, President, Paramount Pictures.

Carson 7-2, 4-0

San Pedro 7-2, 3-1

Narbonne 5-4, 3-1

Banning 3-6, 2-2

Gardena 4-5, 0-4

Washington 1-8, 0-4

Bay League

Mira Costa 7-2, 4-0

Redondo 5-4, 3-1

Leuzinger 6-3, 2-2

West Torrance 6-3, 2-2

Palos Verdes 5-4, 1-3

Peninsula 0-9, 0-4

Pioneer League

Centennial 6-3, 4-0

El Segundo 6-3, 3-1

Lawndale 5-4, 3-1

North Torrance 4-5, 1-3

South Torrance 3-6, 1-3

Torrance 2-7, 0-4

Ocean League

Culver City 8-1, 4-0

Inglewood 6-3, 3-1

Santa Monica 3-6, 2-2

Beverly Hills 4-5, 2-2

Morningside 2-7, 1-3

Hawthorne 0-9, 0-4

Del Rey League

Serra 9-0, 3-0 (plays nonleague game Saturday!)

Cathedral 9-0, 3-0

Harvard-Westlake N/A N/A

St. Bernard 2-7, 1-3

Bishop Montgomery 1-8, 0-3

Marine League

Carson 6-2, 3-0

Narbonne 5-3, 3-0

San Pedro 6-2, 2-1

Banning 2-6, 1-2

Gardena 4-4, 0-3

Washington 1-7, 0-3

Bay League

Mira Costa 6-2, 3-0

Redondo 5-3, 3-0

Leuzinger 6-2, 2-1

West Torrance 5-3, 1-2

Palos Verdes 4-4, 0-3

Peninsula 0-8, 0-3

Pioneer League

Centennial 5-3, 3-0

Lawndale 5-3, 3-0

El Segundo 5-3, 2-1

South Torrance 3-5, 1-2

North Torrance 3-5, 0-3

Torrance 2-6, 0-3

Ocean League

Culver City 7-1, 3-0

Inglewood 5-3, 2-1

Santa Monica 3-5, 2-1

Beverly Hills 3-5, 1-2

Morningside 2-6, 1-2

Hawthorne 0-8, 0-3

Del Rey League

Serra 8-0, 3-0

Cathedral 8-0, 3-0

Harvard-Westlake N/A, N/A

Bosco Tech N/A, N/A

Bishop Montgomery 1-7, 0-2

St. Bernard 1-7, 0-3

Twin Pines (0-5, 0-2) vs. Animo (3-3, 2-0) at Harbor College, 5 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 1

Intersectional

Leuzinger 31, Westchester 24

Friday, Oct. 2

Intersectional

Redondo 21, at Banning 17

at San Pedro 27, Inglewood 20

Narbonne 37, Orange Lutheran 31 (2 OTs)

Crenshaw 48, at Culver City 7

L.A. City Section

Nonleague

at Carson 55, West Adams Prep 0

at Gardena 41, L.A. University 10

CIF Southern Section

Nonleague

Vista Murrieta 43, at Peninsula 21

at South Torrance 21, West Torrance 14

at North Torrance 51, Bishop Montgomery 7

Torrance 28, at Morningside 0

at El Segundo 34, St. Bernard 21

at Centennial 55, Hawthorne 0 

at Aquinas 13, Mary Star 10

San Joaquin League

Animo 14, at Saddleback Valley Christian 12

Saturday, Oct. 3

CIF Southern Section

Nonleague

Riverside Christian at Chadwick, 2 p.m.

Lawndale vs. Verbum Dei, at Centennial High, 7 p.m.

Harbor League (8-man)

Hope Centre at Rolling Hills Prep, 1 p.m.

Nonleague (8-man)

Pacific Lutheran at Marina/Central Coast, 1 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 25

Intersectional

at Mira Costa 31, Narbonne 26 (came down to the last play)

Inglewood 48, at Los Angeles 0

at Osceola (Fla.) 32, Carson 13

L.A. City Section, nonleague

San Pedro 36, at Locke 20

Banning 31, at San Fernando 14

Gardena 42, at South East 0

at Westchester 32, Washington 12

CIF Southern Section, nonleague

at Palos Verdes 48, South Torrance 14

at Redondo 27, North Torrance 14

at Serra 48, Peninsula 0

at Torrance 49, Hawthorne 21

West Torrance 44, at Bishop Montgomery 6

at El Segundo 38, Mary Star 7

Panorama 42, Morningside 27

at Culver City 41, Centennial 23

Chadwick 38, Pasadena Marshall 13

St. Bernard 49, at Brentwood 30

Animo 13, Lucerne Valley 7 (at Locke High)

CIF Southern Section, 8-man, Harbor League

Hope Centre 32, Rolling Hills Prep 0

Thursday, Sept. 24

CIF Southern Section

Lawndale 44, at Firebaugh 0

Pacific Lutheran 44, Noli Indian 14

Friday, Sept. 18

Intersectional

Serra 27, at Carson 17

at LB Poly 28, Narbonne 14

Palos Verdes 20, at San Pedro 14

Leuzinger 19, at Banning 13 (2 OTs)

at Roosevelt/Corona 42, Westchester 13

L.A. City Section, nonleague

Gardena 34, at Marshall 6

CIF Southern Section, nonleague

North Torrance 65, at Hawthorne 13

Culver City 42, at Peninsula 24

Millikan 26, at Redondo 21

Morningside 15, at Lawndale 14

Kilpatrick (forfeit loss) at Inglewood

at Cathedral 55, El Segundo 28

Valley Christian/Cerritos 41, at St. Bernard 17

Chadwick 50, at Montclair Prep 18

CIF Southern Section, 8-man, nonleague

Rolling Hills Prep 32, at First Lutheran 6

at Maricopa 30, Pacific Lutheran 6

Saturday, Sept. 19

Animo (1-1) vs. St. Monica (0-1) at St. Bernard, 7 p.m.

Final scores:

West Torrance 17, Torrance 6

Esperanza 21, Mira Costa 20

Burroughs/Burbank 34, South Torrance 12

Santa Ana Valley 40, Bishop Montgomery 3

Halftime scores:

West Torrance 7, Torrance 6

Mira Costa 17, Esperanza 7

Burroughs/Burbank 20, South Torrance 6

Santa Ana Valley 22, Bishop Montgomery 3

San Pedro 35, Santee 6

West Adams Prep 19, Banning 14

Gardena 48, Jefferson 0

Serra 49, Redondo 12

Mira Costa 50, South Torrance 27

West Torrance 14, El Segundo 7

North Torrance 31, Verbum Dei 19

Leuzinger 33, Santa Monica 19

Lawndale 54, Hawthorne 7

Palos Verdes 36, Morningside 13

Lakewood 28, Peninsula 7

Inglewood 19, Quartz Hill 13

Culver City 49, St. Bernard 21

Rolling Hills Prep 32, Pacific Lutheran 26

We'll try to update the rest of tonight's final scores here as time permits ... here's the Week Zero slate ...

Today (Friday)

Carson 14, Mater Dei 2

Charter Oak 15, Gardena 14

Westchester 13, Pasadena 0

Loyola 28, Mira Costa 18

Serra 61, Silverado 0

Bishop Montgomery 28, Mary Star 10

Warren 42, Torrance 10

JSerra 27, Palos Verdes 7

Mission Viejo 55, Morningside 0

Animo 25, California School for the Deaf 0

Hamilton 21, Leuzinger 20

Saturday

Big Pine at Rolling Hills Prep, 1 p.m.

PHOTO BY STEVE MCCRANK: Serra WR Robert Woods, the reigning Daily Breeze Player of the Year, leads one of the best receiving corps in the nation that also includes highly touted George Farmer and Los Alamitos transfer Paul Richardson.

Here is the Daily Breeze Preseason Top 10 poll. Of course, things could all change after the first week's worth of games, but now it's starting to feel like high school football season.

1. Serra (13-1 last season)
Up next: Today, vs. Silverado
Comment: Consider QB Conner Preston a genius for transferring to a team that boasts WRs Robert Woods, George Farmer and Paul Richardson. Expect a lot of offensive fireworks.

2. Narbonne (12-1-1)
Up next: Sept 11, vs. South East
Comment: With games against Long Beach Poly, Mira Costa, Orange Lutheran and Los Alamitos, defending L.A. City co-champion Gauchos are either pretty confident or overly ambitious. Time will tell.

3. Mira Costa (10-4)
Up next: Today, vs. Loyola at L.A. Valley College
Comment: Virtually the entire roster is intact after last season's run to the CIF Southern Section Western Division final. Expect big things from the Mustangs.

4. San Pedro (12-1-1)
Up next: Sept. 11 vs. Santee
Comment: Pirates lost nine of 11 from vaunted defense, but don't sleep on the defending L.A. City Section co-champions. Just ask Narbonne.

5. Carson (5-6)
Up next: Today, at Mater Dei
Comment: Daniel Torres is like the MacGyver of the South Bay: a jack of all trades. He won't let the Colts suffer a second consecutive losing season.

6. Leuzinger (6-4)
Up next: Today, at Hamilton
Comment: Olympians are finally accessorizing. They often get the skill players, but it appears they finally have a line to match.

7. Peninsula (5-6)
Up next: Sept. 11, at Lakewood
Comment: RB Ryan Pierson earned the distinction of the South Bay's busiest workhorse last season, and he should have plenty of room to run behind a sizeable and beefy line.

8. El Segundo (10-3)
Up next: Sept. 11, at West Torrance
Comment: The good news: QB Mike Bundy returns to give the Eagles a shot in the arm. The bad news: mostly everyone else is new.

9. Banning (4-7)
Up next: Sept. 11, at West Adams Prep<QA0>
Comment: Fe Fie Fo Fum. Coach Chris Ferragamo is trying to turn DE Fie Faaituala into a QB. So far, Ferragamo says Faaituala is the school's best QB since Fred Hessen.

10. North Torrance (9-2)
Up next: Sept. 11, vs. Verbum Dei
Comment: The Saxons have plenty of speed, which is a good thing since they have a lot of ground to cover to replace QB B.J. Denker.

ON THE BUBBLE: Redondo, South Torrance, Palos Verdes

In a statement released Wednesday, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell (who recently said he won't make a run for governor) applauded the legislation's passage.

"Race to the Top presents California with an unprecedented opportunity to boldly reform our public education system so that we can improve student academic success and further our efforts to close the achievement gap," O'Connell said. "While last night's Senate approval of this bill is a major step forward, we should not lose sight of the hard work that remains ahead of us to win the Race to the Top. I look forward to working with the California State Assembly to gain approval of this measure."

Here's more on the bill from the Sacramento Bee.

With nine precincts reporting, Molina leads Frank Talavera with 51 percent of the vote, Rojas leads Rudy Salas with 57 percent of the vote and Pizano leads Susie Diaz and Jessica Felix with 43 percent of the vote.

In Torrance, Mark Steffen, Al Muratsuchi and Michael Wermers are leading with one precinct reporting.

Steffen has 25 percent of the vote, Muratsuchi has 24.5 percent and Wermers has 17 percent. Kathleen Wood is coming in with 14 percent, G. Rick Marshall has 11 percent and Sameer Bhavnani has two percent.

Kevin Bellenfant, who dropped out early in the race, has six percent of the vote.

Here's a list of districts and candidates:

Centinela Valley Union High School District: incumbents Rocio Pizano, Rudy Salas and Francisco Talavera; challengers Susie Diaz, Jessica Felix, Maritza Molina and Hugo Rojas.

Hawthorne School District: incumbent Nilo Michelin; challengers Nadia Barrera, Eugene Krank and John Vargas.

Hermosa Beach City School District: no incumbents; Carleen Beste, Jack Burns, Jake Pike, Sienna Tucker and Ray Waters.

Lennox School District: incumbents Maribel Amaya, Marisol Cruz and Maria Verduzco-Smith; challengers Rose Joseph, Juan Navarro, Humberto Rivera and Sonia Saldana.

Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District: incumbents Barbara Lucky and Malcolm Sharp; challengers Karen Hunter Bird, Anthony Collatos, Heather Haddon Matson and Gregory Royston.

Torrance Unified School District: incumbents Albert Muratsuchi and Mark Steffen; challengers Sameer Bhavnani, G. Rick Marshall, Michael Wermers and Kathleen Wood.

Polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

More information is available online at lavote.net

Across the country schools are closing by the dozen as officials say they're being hit so hard by swine flu that they feel shutting down for a few days is the only feasible option.
The U.S. Education Department says at least 351 schools were closed last week alone -- affecting 126,000 students in 19 states. So far this school year, about 600 total schools have temporarily closed.

The number of closures this year appears on target to surpass the roughly 700 schools closed last spring when the swine flu outbreak first hit. Flu season hasn't peaked yet, and each day more schools are closing.

The superintendent of Connecticut's Middletown Public Schools says a middle school closed for the rest of the week after 120 students stayed home sick Monday.

McCurdy appointed to board

After a discussion that lasted 20 minutes, board members unanimously appointed Cathy McCurdy to fill the seat Barbara Zondiros vacated after the sudden illness of her husband. McCurdy is a former board member, and was first elected in 1991. She vacated her seat in 2007.

" The institutional memory that Cathy brings is quite valuable," Beck said. "I feel there is a need for contintuity, and that is why I support Cathy at the present time."

In November, the seats currently occupied by Beck, Breen and Lance Widman will be up for election.

The board interviewed six candidates to fill the vacant seat.
 

Senate Bill 572, introduced by State Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), calls for May 22 to be acknowledged as a special day of remembrance to commemorate the life of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. It will not be a state holiday; schools and government offices will remain open. Public schools, however, will be encouraged to conduct "suitable commemorative exercises."

The piece of legislation was protested by several family rights groups, and the governor vetoed a similar bill last year.

Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were shot and killed by former Assemblyman Dan White on Nov. 29, 1978. Milk's life and the the events surrounding the killings were documented in the recently released bio-pic "Milk." In July, President Obama awarded Milk the Presidential Medal of Freedom. May 22 is Milk's birthday.

Schwarzenegger also signed Senate Bill 19, which allows student achievement data to be tied to teacher evaluations and makes California eligible to apply for up to $4.5 billion in Race to the Top funds. The bill was authored by State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto).

"My goal was to make this a non-issue as quickly as possible," Simitian said in a statement. "Now, California can compete for our fair share of federal funding, and make more informed choices for our schools and our kids."

The bill was endorsed by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.

Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that, if passed, would have prohibited California State University officials from receiving pay increases or bonuses in years when there are cuts to state funding. The governor also vetoed Senate Bill 84, which would have allocated and guaranteed $400 million in funds for low-performing schools. In a veto message, the governor said the state will distribute federal funds to the schools, instead of state funds.

In Area One, recent University of California, Santa Barbara grad Maritza Molina will be facing current incumbent Francisco Talavera. In Area two, incumbent Rudy Salas will be running against Hugo Rojas, a current member of the Hawthorne school board. In Area five, incumbent Rocio Pizano will be running against Susie Diaz and Jessica Felix.

The Centinela Valley Secondary Teacher's Association is endorsing Salas, Talavera and Felix. Elections will be held November 3. Rogers Middle School is located at 4110 W. 154th Street in Lawndale.

The query was based on a review of voting records for Anthony Collatos and Greg Royston, according to the questioner's statement.

Collatos, an education professor at Pepperdine University, appeared slightly dumbfounded in response, saying, "My understanding is that I have voted ... Maybe there was a mistake."

Royston, a business attorney, said that he wasn't sure he was in the district in 2005, and that he had a family emergency in November 2007 and had to leave the country.

The exchange took place at the PV Council of PTAs and the local League of Women Voters forum at the Peninsula Center Library. The debate had some jabs that were a bit nasty between the two incumbents and four challengers, promising a fight that's bound to get messier in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 3 election. Three seats are set to be filled.

Thing is, my own review of voting records yesterday with a representative of the county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk shows that both Collatos and Royston have in fact voted in recent elections.

Collatos voted in November 2005 and in November 2007. Royston voted in Novermber 2005, but not November 2007. They both also voted in May 19 parcel tax election.

Contrary to the questioner's claim, there is no way to know if a given ballot showed marks for a specific election. Because of the privacy of ballots, all the county can say is whether a voter went the polls or submitted an absentee ballot -- NOT whether the voter participated in, for example, a school board election.

Stay tuned for more coverage.

California State University, Dominguez Hills will host former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30 in the Loker Student Union, Room 326-327.

Before his departure from the Los Angeles region tomorrow, the former mayor of Atlanta, U.S. congressman and civil rights leader alongside with Martin Luther King Jr. was invited to stop by the South Bay campus to speak to students about ongoing current events and issues affecting our nation. This lecture is open to all students, faculty and staff. There will be time for a question and answer session with Ambassador Young after his brief lecture.

This unique speaking engagement was agreed upon earlier this week, and faculty and staff are encouraged to inform their students about this extraordinary opportunity.  
For more information, please contact David Gamboa, Director of Government and Community Relations at CSU Dominguez Hills, at (310) 243-3819.  

They are:

April Mosby, a fourth and fifth-grade teacher at Moffett Elementary School in Lennox School District

Shannon Vaughan, an English teacher at Manhattan Beach Unified's Mira Costa High School

Both have been teaching for at least 20 years.

They were named to the group of 16 teachers by Superintendent Darline Robles, who oversees the Los Angeles County Office of Education. The teachers will advance on to the statewide round to compete for California Teacher of the Year.

Five statewide co-winners will be announced in November,and one of those will be chosen to represent California in the National Teacher of the Year contest next spring.

The group was protesting cuts to employee salaries, layoffs, and student fee increases.

Each demonstrator was cited for trespassing and unlawful assembly and released.

The Contra Costa Times has more on the incident.

* The demonstrators were mostly UC Union Employees and students may be faced with a 15 percent fee increase. The Associated Press has an update.

The Academic Performance Index, or API, calculates school performance based on student scores on standardized tests.

The top scorers on the API were, once again, Hermosa Beach City, Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified school districts.

Scoring at the bottom was Centinela Valley Union High School District, with an overall growth score of 626, up eight points from the year before.

The State Department of Education reports that 42 percent of schools met the state's target score of 800. Last year, 36 percent of schools hit that target and, overall, schools showed an 8 percent gain in 2008-09. Locally, the biggest gains were made by the Lennox, Lawndale and Wiseburn Elementary school districts.

"More students in California are meeting the challenge of higher expectations," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell in a Tuesday morning teleconference with reporters.

The department also reported the achievement gap between African-American and Latino students and their white and Asian peers has decreased slightly.

Look for the full story in tomorrow's edition.

The bill, SB 572, would designate May 22 as "Harvey Milk Day" and calls for public schools to observe the "special day of remembrance" annually.

The bill was proposed by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and passed by the state assembly on September 3 by a 45-27 vote. The bill was passed in the state senate by a 22-14 vote.

"(Milk) is an inspiration to people worldwide who believe in fairness and equality and he fought for many of the issues we value today, including access to education, public transportation, affordable housing and protecting the environment," Leno said in a press release after the bill cleared the legislature.

If passed into law, the bill would not require an additional day of school closure.

The Sacramento Bee reported that more than 100,000 people have contacted the governor's office protesting the bill.

A similar bill was vetoed by the governor last September and, since then, several family-rights groups have expressed opposition to the controversial piece of "Gay Day" legislation.

"This is one of the most blatant attempts yet to bypass parents and push homosexual indoctrination on young students," said Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, a Sacramento-base non-profit, in a statement released Friday. "In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, our youth cannot afford to have classroom instruction time wasted on politically correct propaganda."

In a statement posted on the Web, Randy Thomasson urged residents to contact the Governor to protest the bill.

"For the sake of impressionable children, the Governor now has abundant reason to veto 'Harvey Milk Day' like he did last year," said Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, an advocacy group.

Harvey Milk was California's first openly-gay elected official and served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk and then-mayor George Moscone were assassinated on November 27, 1978 and his life was the subject of the Hollywood bio-pic "Milk." He was born on May 22, 1930.

Throughout his life, Milk advocated heavily for gay rights and once said:

"If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."

The couple will attend the PVE City Council meeting this week -- at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 10) -- to discuss the petition drive and ask the city council to put the issue of supporting a dog park on the Hill on their next agenda.

From the letter we received:

The members of the City Council have made it clear that there is no where within the city limits of Palos Verdes Estates that they believe would be acceptable to locate a dog park, but (they) are willing to work with the other cities on the Peninsula to build a dog park somewhere on the Peninsula. My husband Bruce and I will be speaking at the very beginning of the meeting when the public can speak on anything not on the agenda.

And perhaps even most encouraging:

They spoke at the Rolling Hills Estates City Council meeting in October and Maureen reports that the council there "was very supportive of the concept of a dog park in their city limits. The parks and recreation committee of the city will be holding a meeting at City Hall on Tuesday night 11/17 to discuss potential sites within their city for a dog park. Bruce will be attending this meeting."

Anyone interested in attending either of these meetings to lend some moral support is welcome.

Meanwhile, the city of Rancho Palos Verdes also continues to review potential sites within that city for a possible dog park.

So it looks like some real progress is being made.

For more, go to the Megowans' web site.

You can also email them at mmegowan@cox.net or bmegowan@cox.net or call them at 310-541-2980. If you'd like regular updates, you can subscribe to their email service.

Read earlier posts about efforts to develop a dog park on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

BUT ... I figure the organization will have other trials and some of you might be interested in pursuing the activity with your dog. Looks like there are regular classes in Long Beach.

The classes and trial competitions are sponsored by K9 Nose Work as a way to develop and hone your dog's natural scent tracking abilities. It's practical but is also a fun activity you can do with your dog if agility or herding or other things aren't your style. I'm guessing the hound breeds like Rocket would especially excell at this.

 From the press release:

"Have you ever wondered how good your dog's nose really is? are you amazed when your dog can locate an item that has been missing for years? Awed by the fact that some dogs can detect cancer? This might be an acitivity for you and your four-legged companion.

K9 Nose Work is the specific sport created and sanctioned by the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW). This sport was inspired by the training methodology of detection K9s and borrows elements of that training for recreation. The terms nose work, fun nose work, scent work, search work are all commonly used references to describe any activity where the dog is using its nose to locate a target scent or odor. ... Trials may be held for the purpose of competition, titling, or both."

Again, my apologies for not getting this posted in a more timely fashion. My bad.

You can call the organization at 323-656-1200, Ext. 3.

The recalled products include only the following types of Dentley's Beef Hooves purchased between Oct. 2, 2009, and Nov. 3, 2009:

• Dentley's Bulk Cattle Hoof UPC #73725703323
• Dentley's 10 Pack Beef Hooves UPC #73725736055

Customers who purchased the recall products should discontinue use immediately and return the product to any PetSmart store for a refund or exchange. For more information, visit www.petsmartfacts.com, www.petsmart.com, www.fda.gov -- or contact PetSmart Customer Service at 1-888-839-9638.

Here's the update on Annie the Cat vs. The Collar (See my post from a couple days ago for the backstory).

The good news is I managed to collar her Thursday morning (here she is watching for birds last night in the living room window, her favorite perch).

When she bounced up onto my bed this morning to wake me up, however, her collar was gone. I found it unhooked and lying on her blanket on the bed in the spare room where she mostly sleeps. (She really should have thought to hide it from me in the closet.)

So I put it back on this morning -- I'm persistent -- but if she continues to get it off I'll let the issue drop. I don't want to make her miserable if she really does hate it. After all, one blog reader on the earlier post already has called me "mean."

Read more in the Associated Press story.

There's even a YouTube video:

"A Dog Named Christmas" will be shown on CBS and will direct viewers to Petfinder.com to find shelters and rescue groups in their areas that are participating in "Foster a Lonely Pet" program.

The film, based on the best-selling book by Greg Kincaid, is about Todd McCray, a developmentally challenged young man living on his parents' Kansas farm. When he hears that a local animal shelter seeks temporary homes for its dogs during the holidays leading up to Christmas, Todd asks his parents for a dog that he names Christmas.

From there, Todd uses his gifts of persuasion to encourage his hometown to participate in the "Adopt a Dog for Christmas," with lessons in kindness and goodwill flowing abundantly from there.

If you're interested in participating in this program, and can welcome a dog into your home for two months during the holidays, check with BorderColliesInNeed (email them at Rescue@BorderColliesInNeed.org).

And stay tuned for more information about the project as we get it. Maybe we can even feature some of you who decide to bring a shelter or rescue dog home for the holidays.

fire. The shop owner's wife committed suicide by setting herself on fire -- and Mr. Burns, as he was dubbed at Affordable Animal Hospital, was an innocent victim, suffering third-degree burns covering over 60-70 percent of his body before he was pulled to safety by firefighters.

He responded well to treatment and was transferred back to the county animal shelter in Carson where he reportedly had a list of would-be owners wishing to adopt him.

I'm not sure what happened, but somehow he never got taken home with anyone. So now Mr. Burns is with a group called PAL Rescue & Adoption in El Segundo (see him on their Web page) and he may be included in the organization's regular adoption event from 4 to 7 p.m. today (Thursday) at the Petsmart store at Plaza El Segundo, 730 S. Sepulveda Blvd. But since he had to be treated Wednesday for a minor toenail issue, he most likely won't be there until Friday's adoption (same time and place). Volunteers with the group can arrange for you to meet with the dog if you're interested in adopting him.  

You can also email them for an application at info@palrescue.org.

So when Doug Epperhart of the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council sent me another shot of one of his cats in a weird spot (see our earlier post about Doug's cat Bojangles), I had to print it, of course (nice looking cat, too!).

Doug's wife Andrea was taking some recycling items out to the bin in their driveway the other day and found Tia, one of the couple's two calicos, resting in the yard clippings:

L.A. is one of several cities considering the move before a Jan. 1, 2010, deadline when a state law goes into effect forbidding cities and counties from regulating the practice of veterinary medicine.

"It is not like clipping nails -- it is an amputation," said Councilman Paul Koretz who has a cat and sponsors weekly feline adoptions at the council chambers.

The City Attorney will prepare a draft ordinance for consideration by the full council before the end of the year.

Read more in the Daily Breeze today. 

Given time, this could develop into an epic standoff -- getting a collar and ID tag (seen on the right end of the table) onto Annie Oakley, the new cat (seen on the left end of the table).

So far, cat = 3, human = 0. 

"Cats don't like collars," one friend explained to me. "You might as well try putting a bra on her," he said.

A colleague at the Breeze, however, tells me it's all quite do-able -- and necessary, she says (and I agree), for cats who will be venturing outdoors (which Annie will do once she figures out the doggie door the dogs are using all the time). 

My colleague's strategy for collaring the cat: "You just have to pin her down."

Easier said than done, I suspect.

I've failed at my first three attempts to put it on her so far. So the collar (a special and safe break- away cat collar) sits, ready and waiting, for the next go-around.

Until then, AnnieO remains (temporarily) victorious -- and smugly collarless.

Read more about Annie the Cat 

I've been through some destructive dogs in my time and the canines I have now are the easiest I've ever had when it comes to furniture. They have almost no interest in even lying on the sofa, let alone destroying it.

So after I dumped the last sofa -- which, through the years, had been meticulously destroyed by my crazy Austalian shepherd Pilgrim (now deceased) -- I bought a new sofa this past January. Not to sound too materialistic here, but I really do love this sofa. Really. It's the nicest sofa I've ever had.

So far, Annie Oakley the cat has stayed mostly on her scratching posts, although a couple times I've stopped her from clawing on the furniture. The color literally drains from my face when I catch her doing this. The sofa is now heavily covered in protective blankets, throws and more throws.

Too bad reporters don't make more money. If we did, I might be able to buy her some of this new cat-scratch furniture.

It comes from The Company of Pets. The pieces shown below were designed by Jeanne Byers and Rochelle Klein, partners in an advertising agency.

But for now, the cheap-o, ugly scratching posts will have to do around my place.

Since AnnieO has two of her own dogs, I suspect the "neo-pop" canine scratcher at the right might be her favorite style. If her owner could afford it. it costs a mere $1,200. The modernist French chair? $575. (This cat in the photos even looks a bit like my Annie Oakley. But clearly way more spoiled.)  

 HT: Paws 'n Claws

Not long before his death, Harry and I headed out for a walk that proved eventful. He was nearly 13, old for a big dog. Walks were no longer the slap-happy Iditarods of his youth, frenzies of purposeless pulling in which we would cast madly off in all directions, fighting for command. Nor were they the exuberant archaeological expeditions of his middle years, when every other tree or hydrant or blade of grass held tantalizing secrets about his neighbors. In his old age, Harry had transformed his walk into a simple process of elimination--a dutiful, utilitarian, head-down trudge. 

Now there's the Potty Patch, billed as a "revolutionary indoor bathroom for dogs."

Yikes.

I suppose this makes sense for those who live in climates where going outdoors can be a snowy, icy nightmare during some months of the year. Or maybe for those little purse dogs.

But really, I don't honestly want my border collies "going" in the house. I'm already concerned about bringing in a Christmas tree this year. Besides, the new cat's litter box is quite enough indoor bathroom going for me, thank you very much.

But the Potty Patch, if you're intested, is endorsed by the American Kennel Club and is useful also for puppy training. And it's now available at PetCo stores.

The patch consists of three tiers "perfect for patios and indoor use." From the press release:

The top portion is made out of a soft artificial grass specifically designed to let liquid flow through. The collection tray holds up to a gallon of liquid allowing multiple uses. The Potty Patch feels natural because of the synthetic grass and is a great solution when there is inclement weather or as emergency backup for dogs.

Even they (the Republicans) aren't buying it or interested. They are looking around and they are bored. They realize it is over!

Re: Dingle; factual and embarrassing to other side of aisle said, "it's just not a substitute." Stands weak frame, not from age, but fight.

Dems are not giving us the right to a real debate on #healthcare for #illegals. Obamacare=Illegalcare #killbill #illegalcare #tcot

#Obamacare means more for #illegals, less for our #seniors. #illegalcare #killbill #tcot

#Obamacare cuts Medicare by 100s of Billions of $ & spends Billions of $ 2 provide #healthcare for #illegals. #killbill #tcot

The #Obamacare powergrab will take billions from our seniors & subsidize #illegals, but worse it will destroy our freedom. #killbill

When the Berlin Wall came down 20 years ago, we made the mistake thinking that socialism was defeated. #hcr #tcot

What especially galled black lawmakers was that the ethics committee voted to move forward with the Waters and Richardson probes following the OCE referrals, while Graves -- who OCE also thought should be investigated by the ethics committee -- saw his case dismissed...

"It is kind of crazy," said an aide to one senior black Democrat. "How can it be that the ethics committee only investigates African-Americans? It doesn't make sense."