Permits

The Environmental Protection Agency put hundreds of mountaintop coal-mining permits on hold Tuesday to evaluate the projects' impact on streams and wetlands. The decision by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson targets a controversial practice that allows coal mining companies to dump waste from mountaintop mining into streams and wetlands. Between 150 and 200 applications for new or expanded surface coal mines, many of them mountaintop removal operations, are pending before the federal government.

Former construction worker John Dutchover found his own tiny piece of Brentwood last year, staking out a space on San Vicente Boulevard for the recreational vehicle that -- with a bed, refrigerator and microwave -- also serves as his home. The Gulf War veteran said he picked the spot largely because it was close to the leafy Veterans Affairs campus, where he receives medical treatment.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan named an influential group of civic leaders 15 years ago to streamline what was said to be a tortuous city permitting process that made Los Angeles seem almost hostile to business. Many of the 83 proposals, however, ended up on a shelf collecting dust. Now, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has pledged to fix the same problems and dozens of others believed to impede investment.

Newly appointed Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said Tuesday that she intends to review all the concealed-weapons permits that her indicted predecessor issued and revoke those of gun owners who can't prove a legal need to carry the weapons. When former Sheriff Michael S. Carona resigned in January to focus on his upcoming federal corruption trial, he had issued more than 1,100 active carry permits -- among the most issued by any sheriff or police chief in the state.

Back in 1966, the Sunset Strip was at the heart of the counter-culture music scene when the problems started. The famed row of nightclubs and hotels was hit by what became known as the "Sunset Strip Riots," when hundreds of young people waving "We're Your Children! Don't Destroy Us" and "Ban the Billy Club" signs protested a police-imposed curfew and anti-loitering laws.

In her first five months in office, newly appointed Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens has brought in a new management team, fired deputies accused of misconduct and tried to distance the department from the legacy of her indicted predecessor, Michael S. Carona. But the most controversy she has generated has been her decision to review the concealed weapons permits issued by Carona.

Florida has given concealed-weapon licenses to hundreds of people who wouldn't have a chance of getting them in most other states because of their criminal histories. Courts have found the people responsible for assaults, burglaries, sexual battery, drug possession, child molestation -- even homicide.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works plans to issue a stop-work order today to Fox Entertainment Group after it graded a site on the federally owned West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus without permission. Community watchdogs late last week were startled to see construction activity at a site just west of the 405 Freeway and north of Wilshire Boulevard. It is near an oil well on the VA property.

Rushing to beat an impending state cap on permits that allow the drivers of hybrid cars to drive solo in carpool lanes, William Ha sent in his paperwork soon after purchasing his Toyota Prius last month. But he was too late. So many people had applied for the permits that officials ran out before they received Ha's. "It was heartbreaking," said the 24-year-old financial analyst, who commutes from Fountain Valley to downtown Los Angeles each weekday.

County supervisors voted 3 to 2 Tuesday to approve a revised permit for the Sunshine Canyon Landfill, restricting the flow of trash into the site and limiting operations to 30 years. The permit for the landfill near Granada Hills includes a prohibition on accepting trash from outside the county and on operating before 6 a.m. The landfill must also record complaints, monitor air quality and correct pollution problems.