Free Republic

An organization called We Have Rights is in downtown Los Angeles and Huntington Beach, where beaches were closed by order of Gov. Gavin Newsom after large crowds descended last weekend. In Huntington Beach, the demonstrators were shoulder-to-shoulder with beachgoers defying the beach closure orders. Several people were spotted riding bicycles and carrying surfboards to the water in defiance of the governor’s orders. “I’m here because I want our salon open,” said protestor Tami Avants. “I think everybody is essential.” An estimated 2,500 to 3,000 people were just feet from the shores, calling for the governor to end shutdown orders. “The...

LOS ANGELES - A recently mapped, still-active fault line that snakes beneath downtown Los Angeles is capable of generating major earthquakes (news - web sites), but only about once every 2,000 years, according to a new study. At least four earthquakes of estimated magnitudes 7.2 to 7.5 have struck over the last 11,000 years on the Puente Hills fault, which was first mapped just four years ago. A segment of the fault last ruptured in 1987 with a magnitude-6 earthquake (news - web sites). The study is the first to show how often and with how much punch large quakes...