June 30, 2015

100-year-old Echo Park church damaged in fire that may have been arson

Source: Los Angeles Times

A 100-year-old building in Echo Park that served as a home for mostly ethnic religious groups was nearly destroyed in an early-morning fire that was intentionally set, officials said.

Forerunners for Christ church had been hosting church services and religious groups at the building in the 1600 block of North Morton Avenue for seven years and had cemented itself as part of the community.

Investigators determined that the fire was intentional, Humphrey said.

The church hosts two Latino groups, as well as 50 to 60 regular parishioners, who are mostly Filipino, Samoan and black, she said.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-100-year-old-echo-park-church-20150629-story.html

---

it spreads west...

June 25, 2015

Homeowner sues pipeline firm in Santa Barbara County oil spill

Source: Los Angeles Times

Santa Barbara County homeowner is the latest party to file suit against the Texas owners of a pipeline that burst last month along the Gaviota coast, sending thousands of gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean..

The suit claims Alexandra Geremia's home just north of Refugio State Beach has been "bombarded" with a steady stream of tar balls and oil sheen from the spill that prevents her from walking on the beach.

Calling the clean-up efforts near the home "unsatisfactory," the suit claims the spill will hurt the value of Geremia's property for years to come.

The corroded pipeline owned by Plains All American Pipeline ruptured May 19 and spilled roughly 101,000 gallons of crude along the coast near the picturesque state beach. About 21,000 gallons made its way from where the underground pipe is buried above U.S. 101 into a storm culvert and flowed into the Pacific.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-homeowner-suit-oil-spill-20150625-story.html

---

Its hard to have any empathy for a 1%er who owns land on the beach in Santa Barbara but I have to give credit where credit is due!