San Pedro Ca

A fossil deposit along the north side of 2nd Street between Pacific Avenue and Mesa Street in San Pedro provides strong evidence that a tsunami struck the area about 80,000 years ago. Paleontologist Edward Marks of Cypress and engineering geologists Stephen E. Jacobs of Carlsbad and Arthur R. Brown of Seal Beach said the deposit contained a 1- to 3-foot-thick "fossil hash", indicating that a large wave flooded the area following an offshore earthquake.

The shabby seaside Ports O' Call Village tourist spot would be demolished and replaced by upscale development as part of a long-awaited San Pedro revitalization project. That radical revision of the 42-year-old collection of stores and restaurants is outlined in a long-awaited report that is expected to be unveiled at a Port of Los Angeles hearing today.

Los Angeles city parks workers fenced a gap in a cliff-top fence at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro this week amid safety concerns prompted by the Jan. 6 death of USC field goal kicker Mario Danelo. But preventing future falls and suicides at the steep oceanfront cliffs may be impossible, unless high fencing is installed across large sections of the rocky coastline, some city officials and residents say.

The Logicon building, one of the tallest in San Pedro, sits empty, its garish black "Available" sign visible across the harbor. Residents closest to the waterfront live in a dingy public housing project with barred windows. Rail tankers bearing chemicals rumble past in the shadow of looming harbor cranes. The shoreline of San Pedro remains shabby. But this summer, orange-vested workers have been laying pavement, and backhoes are carving out flower beds.

After a 40-year absence, Red Cars are making a return to San Pedro. Scheduled to begin operation by September, a 1.5-mile trolley line will take passengers from the World Cruise Center to downtown San Pedro, Ports O' Call Village and Cabrillo Marina. The revival of the cars is an effort to stimulate tourism around the Port of Los Angeles. "There are 500,000 cruise passengers a year" at the World Cruise Center at the port, said Bob Henry, project manager for the Port of L.A.

Lois Petrie's partly naked body was found in her San Pedro home the day after Christmas in 1972 after she failed to show up for a holiday meal. Two years later, the nude body of Catherine Medina was discovered behind bushes at the nearby Harbor Lake Recreational Park. Shortly afterward, a construction worker found the disrobed corpse of Anna Felch on San Pedro's Westmont Street. Each had been strangled and raped. For three decades, police had little evidence to use to find the killer.

Plans for a study of San Fernando Valley and Harbor area secession from Los Angeles should be altered to clarify that supporters--not a government consultant--are responsible for proposing the structure of the new cities, officials said Wednesday. Two weeks after hiring a consultant to study cityhood for the two areas, the Local Agency Formation Commission delayed final approval Wednesday of work plans so they could be revised.

Petitioners have two weeks to come up with only 20 more valid signatures needed to force the Local Agency Formation Commission to study the economic feasibility of secession from Los Angeles by San Pedro and Wilmington. LAFCO officials said that a petition filed Friday by Harbor VOTE Inc. contained 13,450 valid voter signatures, according to a check by the Los Angeles County registrar's office. That is just 20 shy of the 13,470 required for the study.

Key elements of a plan for the harbor area to break away from Los Angeles--including a guarantee to maintain water and power rates--are not feasible or legal, according to a city report to be released today. In a formal response to a study evaluating the viability of cityhood for Wilmington and San Pedro, Los Angeles officials said the review by the Local Agency Formation Commission underestimated the harm it would do to what would remain of Los Angeles.

Six people were shot in the frontyard of a San Pedro home Tuesday night by a man who escaped in a black SUV, authorities said. Four of the victims were reported to be in critical condition, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The injuries to the other two were not life-threatening, officials said. The shooting occurred in the 900 block of West 24th Street, near Gaffey Street, just before 9 p.m. All six of the injured were reportedly between the ages of 18 and 20.