Rebar

The concrete block walls that until Jan. 17 separated San Fernando Valley neighbors from each other and the rest of the outside world are being steadily rebuilt. But this time the city--which didn't regulate the pre-earthquake construction of block walls--has stringent requirements. Naturally, this means wall construction costs have been upgraded, too.

People here remember when hundreds of Pakistani Taliban militants roamed through the forested ridges flanking the Chail River, armed not with AK-47s but with axes. Employing termite-like efficiency, the militants felled and carted away vast swaths of Himalayan cedar, blue pine and oak, leaving mountainsides dotted with stumps. Through illegal logging, the Taliban generated quick cash to keep its arsenals stocked. But nearly a decade of tree felling by militants and 35 years of deforestation by unscrupulous timber businesses and wealthy landowners have had an unforeseen consequence.

Work crews at the Hansen Dam Recreation Area have been ordered to stop dumping concrete and rebar into a popular swimming hole, an official with the Army Corps of Engineers said Friday. The Corps has not yet determined what to do with the debris, a spokesman said. Officials say the area used by swimmers is a pit meant to catch runoff from the foothills. Residents were upset after seeing trucks dump debris from a swimming lake that is under repair into the pit.

Like many golfers, David Wall had a lot of trouble with his putting. But Wall, who with his brother owns a computer design, sales and distribution company in Albuquerque, N.M., thinks he has found a high-tech answer to his all-too-common putting problems. Wall has come up with a putter that helps redefine stroke problems on the practice green. His putter is outfitted with a laser mechanism that shoots out a beam of red light.

Time was that Malibu's celebrity-studded Broad Beach lived up to its name. Not anymore. In recent years, punishing winter storms and high tides have swept away much of the 1.1-mile oceanfront lined with the multimillion-dollar getaways of such notables as Steven Spielberg, Dustin Hoffman, Pierce Brosnan and businessman-philanthropist Patrick Soon-Shiong. To protect their seaside showplaces, residents have piled sandbags and built a massive emergency rock wall. Now, under orders from state coastal officials, they are fighting against time to seek a more permanent solution - permanent being relative in an era of rising seas and extreme weather.

Micro Therapeutics Inc., which makes devices to treat vascular diseases, said Wednesday that it has obtained approval from the Food and Drug Administration to market two micro catheters. The Irvine medical device company said in a press release that the two catheters, both in its Rebar product line, have a small-diameter model for neurosurgery applications and a slightly larger diameter model for peripheral vascular use.

Ruben Ochoa's East L.A. studio, housed in a nursery that's been vacant for years next to a Mexican restaurant, is a rustic affair -- more of a shell than a building, really, with chicken wire covering several holes in one wall and a port-a-potty installed in the back. "It has one working light," he says with a laugh, gesturing to several fluorescent bulbs overhead. "Two power outlets. I can power the light, but then when I power the machine, that light flickers." The machine -- a squat, metal box with several spool-shaped rollers on top -- is a rebar bender, and the only piece of major technology visible, save the laptop that's open on one of the tables.

A subway construction worker suffered severe injuries Tuesday morning when he was pinned beneath a 15-foot-high section of steel reinforcement bars that suddenly collapsed, crushing his chest, stomach and back. The 28-year-old man, who was not immediately identified, was airlifted to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills after the 8:40 a.m. accident at the Red Line's Universal City station on Lankershim Boulevard.