Earthquake Los Angeles

After years of delays, repairs are officially complete at the once red-tagged San Fernando Courthouse, one of the many victims of the Northridge earthquake. In a rededication ceremony Thursday, politicians and court officials in dark suits rejoiced in the much anticipated homecoming. "It's been a long time coming, but it's better late than never," county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said. After the Jan.

After years of delays, repairs are officially complete at the once red-tagged San Fernando Courthouse, one of the many victims of the Northridge earthquake. In a rededication ceremony Thursday, politicians and court officials in dark suits rejoiced in the much anticipated homecoming. "It's been a long time coming, but it's better late than never," county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said. After the Jan.

After years of donating their time and money to help disaster victims in other parts of the world, members of Rotary clubs in the San Fernando Valley now find themselves in the unusual situation of accepting donations to disburse close to home. More than $800,000 from Rotary clubs throughout the world, including $400,000 from Japan, has been raised for earthquake relief as grants and loans to nonprofit agencies from the Valley's chapters.

After years of donating their time and money to help disaster victims in other parts of the world, members of Rotary clubs in the San Fernando Valley now find themselves in the unusual situation of accepting donations to disburse close to home. More than $800,000 from Rotary clubs throughout the world, including $400,000 from Japan, has been raised for earthquake relief as grants and loans to nonprofit agencies from the Valley's chapters.

A majority of the debris cleanup and building demolition work contracted out by the city of Los Angeles since the Northridge quake has been done by minority and women-run companies, according to a city report released Friday. The report by the city's Public Works Department said the cleanup program has paid out about $10.2 million in contracts, or 63% of the total spent so far, to companies owned by minorities and women.

As the dust settles from the Northridge earthquake, a number of farsighted public officials, business leaders and ordinary citizens are looking around themselves and imagining new and better ways to do what they have done before. Leaders of the Los Angeles County Superior Court are among the visionaries. Several of that court's far-flung facilities were damaged severely in the Jan. 17 quake.

In an attempt to eliminate hazards stemming from the Northridge earthquake, Los Angeles will demolish free of charge any red-tagged buildings that suffered more than 50% damage. Gerald Takaki, a city building official, estimated that more than 400 apartment buildings, homes and commercial structures qualify for the free demolition. Officials expect the Federal Emergency Management Agency to compensate the city for the costs. The city carried out a similar program after the 1992 riots.

The Northridge Fashion Center's high-tech security system will be discussed at a North Hills area Neighborhood Watch meeting tonight. Jim Dellinger, director of security at the mall, will be the guest speaker. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Gledhill Street School, 16030 Gledhill St., North Hills. The mall reopened Monday after undergoing repairs to damage caused by the January, 1994, Northridge earthquake. Los Angeles Police Detective Mike Brandt will discuss protection against robbery.

Unifrance Film President Apologizes: Daniel Toscan du Plantier says he is sorry for a "bad joke" attributed to him in which he was quoted as saying the earthquake in Los Angeles was God's retribution to Hollywood. In a letter to Motion Picture Assn.

While I look forward to hearing the newly restored Royce Hall auditorium, I think it is misleading for Nicolai Ouroussoff to refer its previous acoustic incarnations only as "mediocre," "a flop" and "inferior" ("The Rebirth of Royce Hall," March 19). It is true that spoken-word events, such as Ian McKellen's production of "Richard III," suffered enormously. However, many have considered its acoustics for musical events to be among the best in California--after all, even though their live performances take place elsewhere, up until the Northridge earthquake, the Los Angeles Philharmonic chose Royce as its venue for recordings.

A majority of the debris cleanup and building demolition work contracted out by the city of Los Angeles since the Northridge quake has been done by minority and women-run companies, according to a city report released Friday. The report by the city's Public Works Department said the cleanup program has paid out about $10.2 million in contracts, or 63% of the total spent so far, to companies owned by minorities and women.

As the dust settles from the Northridge earthquake, a number of farsighted public officials, business leaders and ordinary citizens are looking around themselves and imagining new and better ways to do what they have done before. Leaders of the Los Angeles County Superior Court are among the visionaries. Several of that court's far-flung facilities were damaged severely in the Jan. 17 quake.

People who work in or around glass partitions and windows should be concerned about their safety during an earthquake, warns Los Angeles City Fire Department safety specialist Henry Johnson. Unless properly coated or otherwise treated, glass windows or panels subjected to the sudden twisting of an earthquake can burst, sending shards flying across a room, he says.

Do you support the death penalty for minor thefts? Of course not. But what about your mayor and police chief? Will they, when the inevitable big earthquake hits Los Angeles or San Francisco, sometime in the next few decades declare open season on thieves? It's happened before. On the morning of the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, the city's previously progressive mayor issued a proclamation, printed up as a broadside and plastered throughout the city, authorizing law enforcers to "shoot to kill" looters.