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NASA's Terra satellite has captured a dramatic image of the Los Angeles "Station Fire" wildfire. It is one of at least seven conflagrations currently affecting California, which by yesterday had reportedly laid waste to over 133,000 acres and consumed 80 buildings. NASA explains: "The area covered by the image is 245 kilometers (152 miles) wide. Several pyrocumulus clouds, created by the Station Fire, are visible above the smoke plumes rising from the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles in the left-center of the image. "Smoke from the Station Fire is seen covering the interior valleys along the south side...

The so-called Station Fire, which now covers more than 120,000 Southern California acres and is burning largely uncontained, continues to threaten the century-old Mount Wilson Observatory, home to astronomer Edwin Hubble at the time he made his landmark observations of the universe's expansion. The observatory is currently unmanned due to the fire threat and the attending smoke, but a webcam atop Mount Wilson's 150-foot solar tower has provided observatory managers and concerned observers with a view from the scene. At 12:55 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) the camera showed a great deal of smoke but no flames. ...According to the Los...

If flames were to reach the top of Mt. Wilson, home to the region's TV and FM radio transmitters, what would happen? Severe damage could disrupt cellphone service, as well as television and radio programming for those who receive signals over the air. It also could interrupt some emergency law enforcement communications. ... Mt. Wilson is home to more than two dozen towers that occupy its peak just north of Sierra Madre. It supports antennas that beam signals for television and FM radio stations throughout the region. The fire also threatens the historic solar observatory atop the mountain, which houses...

Four major fires have consumed around 4,600 acres across the greater Los Angeles region this past week. Here's the latest, as of 9:30 a.m., according to fire information officers for each of the blazes. Palos Verdes Fire The fire that began around 8 p.m. last night has only consumed 100 acres in a residential area prompting the evacuation of around 1,200 to 1,500 people. It's 35 percent contained and despite earlier reports of lost homes, six structures have been damaged along with the complete destruction of one outbuilding and a gazebo, according to Inspector Steve Zermeno from the LA County...

Southern California Home Sales Surge to Highest Since 2006 La Jolla, CA---Southern California home sales rose in June to the highest level in 30 months as the number of deals above $500,000 continued to climb. June's sales gain, plus another rise in the region's median sale price, indicate buyers responded to price cuts on mid- to high-end homes and found it easier to secure financing for pricier abodes, a real estate information service reported. A total of 23,262 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties last month....

The largest utility in southern California urged consumers on Monday to conserve power to help keep air conditioners running without interruption as hot weather sends demand soaring over the next few days. Temperatures in Los Angeles will reach the low 90s Fahrenheit (low 30s Celsius) Monday and Tuesday with the humidity making it feel more like the low 100s F (high 30s C), according to AccuWeather.com. Edison International's Southern California Edison utility said its transmission system was performing well but the continuing multi-day heat wave and lighting caused some isolated equipment failures and scattered outages. As the heat continues, the...

MARINA DEL REY -- A teenager from Thousand Oaks is expected to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe alone when he arrives in Los Angeles Thursday morning. Zac Sunderland, who left Marina del Rey June 14, 2008 at age 16 and has been headed west ever since, is expected to arrive in his homeport at 10 a.m. Thursday to a hero's reception at Fisherman's Village. Zac turned 17 off Africa's Cape of Good Hope and is expected to be certified upon his arrival as the youngest person to circumnavigate the Earth alone by sailboat and the first person...

Southern California's forest plan is in limbo following a recent court order declaring that it violates federal law, a finding that could impact measures being taken to manage the region's vast forestland and reduce the perennial danger of catastrophic fire. Last month, federal court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel in San Francisco said the plan governing operations and recreation on the San Bernardino, Cleveland, Angeles and Los Padres national forests lacks specifics about how activities such as off-road vehicle use and brush clearing might impact endangered plants and animals. The case remains open and the government is working to craft a...

The region had the nation's biggest percentage jump in 2008, and the number this year through April is up 75% despite a 2005 rule overhaul aimed at curbing filings by those who would benefit unfairly. Going legally broke has made a big comeback -- especially in the Los Angeles area -- despite a mid-decade revision to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code intended to curb filings. The number of Southern Californians seeking bankruptcy protection nearly doubled in 2008 from 2007 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court's seven-county California Central District, by far the biggest increase in the nation. Bankruptcy is still booming. Personal...

Are we experiencing the worst economic downturn since the Depression? In most California cities, it looks that way. In most Texas cities, probably not. That's one story emerging from a new Brookings Institution analysis examining the performance of the nation's largest metropolitan areas over the course of the current recession. Notwithstanding the attention lavished on the national economic figures emanating from Washington each week, we're not undergoing one uniform recession nationwide. The effects on our 100 largest metropolitan areas -- the combined city/suburban labor and housing markets that collectively represent three-quarters of the U.S. economy -- have ranged from glancing...

A reporter for a small newspaper was forcibly removed from a press area near Air Force One shortly before President Barack Obama arrived at Los Angeles International Airport to depart California early Thursday. Airport security officers carried the woman away by the feet and arms as she protested her removal. She later identified herself as Brenda Lee, a writer for the Georgia Informer in Macon and said she has White House press credentials. The newspaper's Web site says it is monthly publication a Brenda Lee column is posted on it. Calls to the newspaper and the White House press office...

Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego will become the first counties in California to begin checking the immigration status of all inmates booked into jail Law enforcement officials will begin running inmates' fingerprints through federal databases this month to see if they have had any contact with the immigration system. Once the inmates have finished serving their sentences, they will be transferred to immigration custody for possible deportation

Los Angeles, CA (AP) -- Law enforcement agencies in three Southern California counties will soon be able to check the immigration status of arrestees when their fingerprints are taken. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Wednesday the so-called "Secure Communities" program is scheduled to begin this month in Los Angeles, San Diego and Ventura counties.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Gusty winds have driven a wildfire into outlying neighborhoods of Santa Barbara, Calif., and residents of more homes have been told to leave. ... The fire lay dormant most of the day. But strong winds with gusts up to 50 mph arrived in the afternoon and stoked the fire. The sheriff's office says an evacuation order covering 1,200 homes has been expanded to 2,000 homes.

earthquake in so.cal. magnitude unknown

Another case of swine flu was reported Wednesday just as the Geneva-based World Health Organization Wednesday raised its alert level for the fast-spreading swine flu to its next-to-highest notch, signaling a global pandemic could be imminent. There are now eight cases of human infection with swine influenza A (H1N1) in San Diego County,” Health & Human Services Agency spokesman Tom Christensen said. More details were expected to emerge about the latest case at a 3:30 p.m. news conference at which San Diego County Public Health Officer Wilma Wooten will provide an update on developments around the county. Watch the news...

The Los Angeles County coroner's office is investigating two recent deaths for links to swine flu. Coroner's Capt. John Kades (KAY-dis) says tests are being run on two bodies to see if swine flu was a factor in their deaths, but there is no confirmation that the disease killed them. Kades offered no other details of the men. The Los Angeles Times reports on its Web site that both men's deaths were reported to the coroner's office on Monday. Coroner's spokesman Craig Harvey told the paper that a Bellflower hospital reported the death of a 33-year-old Long Beach man who...

Layoffs, tight credit and other fallout from the troubled economy have battered Southern California's office market, leading to vacancy rates as high as 30% in some areas. The pain is expected to continue for months, if not years, with vacancies rising even as the economy shows modest signs of recovery, according to industry observers tracking activity in the first quarter. We have a rough road ahead of us," said Joe Vargas, senior managing director of real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. "It's going to be a very challenging market for the remainder of the year." Desperate landlords in the Inland...

Boisterous Ventura tax protestors are 'Tea'd Off' In Ventura, more than 1,000 people gathered under blue skies to vent wide-ranging concerns, from over-taxation and government spending to condemnation of a recent Homeland Security report tracking a rise in violence among right-wing groups. Holding signs such as "Abolish the Federal Reserve," and "We are Obummed Out, Stop Spending, No More Taxes," the crowd was in a celebratory mood, loudly applauding each speaker and cheering as a small plane droned overhead pulling a banner that said "I’m Tea’d Off!!"

Below are the different San Diego area post office locations participating in the Nationwide Tax Day Tea Party on April 15, 2009SAN DIEGO - COUNTY REGIONAL POST OFFICE2535 Midway Dr.San Diego, CA 921106:00-12:00pmSAN DIEGO - CARMEL MTN POST OFFICE11251 Rancho Carmel Dr.San Diego CA 921285:00 - 8:00pmEL CAJON - POST OFFICE401 W. Lexington Ave.El Cajon, CA 920205:00 - 6:30pmOCEANSIDE - OCEANSIDE CITY HALL300 N. Coast HighwayOceanside, CA 920546:00 - 7:00pmESCONDIDO403 N. Escondido Blvd.Escondido, CA 920255:00 - 7:oopmThis information is correct to the best of my knowledge. If anyone has any information to add, please feel free to do so.