Moving Mountains
Rising property values are nothing new in Los Angeles, but now comes word that the properties themselves are rising in local foothill communities.
According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, downtown and West Los Angeles are moving slowly toward the San Gabriel Mountains. As the metropolitan area migrates north at the rate of one-fifth of an inch annually due to active fault lines, a new mountain range appears to be forming to the south of the existing one.
This land squeeze may ultimately make some people’s commute shorter, or enhance their view, but it also may bring more earthquakes.
“While this research does not mean that an earthquake in Los Angeles is imminent, one possible conclusion is that the earthquakes that occur in Los Angeles might be concentrated in the northern part of the basin,” JPL geophysicist Donald Argus said in a statement.
L.A.’s New Distinction
L.A. hasn’t fared too well in the polls lately. It didn’t even make the top 10 on Fortune magazine’s just-released list of best U.S. cities for business.
Insult was added to injury when officials in Phoenix (ranked No. 4 on the list) sent out a letter to local media offering to give advice on how to improve L.A.’s business climate.
Therapeutic Shopping
Hyper-busy Angelenos can now get that long-overdue medical checkup without losing holiday shopping time.
Cedars-Sinai Hospital has opened a storefront diagnostic screening clinic in a former beauty shop on the seventh floor of the Beverly Center. The clinic, Picture Your Health, offers on-the-spot testing for osteoporosis, stroke and breast cancer.
Joani Herbst, a Cedars-Sinai spokeswoman, said that the clinic offers all the conveniences a modern shopper could want. “We have a locker for them to put their purchases in, with little keys. They keep the keys with them, on a little bracelet,” she said. “We also have beepers, so if two people come in at the same time, one can go try on some cosmetics and we’ll beep them when it’s their turn.”
Joy in the Mourning
The day Tom Bradley was buried, Myrlie Evers, the widow of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, rejoiced.
Evers was staying with lobbyist Maureen Kindel the week of the funeral. As the two women drove home from the funeral, Evers’ cell phone rang. It was her attorney, with the news that the Supreme Court had denied an appeal by her husband’s murderer, white supremacist Byron de la Beckwith.
Beckwith’s 1994 conviction came 30 years after the original murder, and was finally achieved after two hung juries and three trials.
“The same day we buried Tom Bradley, she found out that her 35-year ordeal was finally over, and her husband’s killer would be in jail for life,” said Kindel. “It was a very sad day, but magnificent at the same time.”
