Santa Monica Ca Courts

With one courthouse condemned and another undergoing major repairs following the Northridge earthquake, officials in the San Fernando Valley are struggling with the daunting task of reconstructing a battered legal system. The courthouse in San Fernando, which houses 12 Superior Court judges, suffered extensive damage during the Jan. 17 temblor and is expected to be unusable for most of this year. "They said a year, and if it's sooner, be grateful," said Judge Judith M.

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky announced that the long-overdue earthquake repairs on the Santa Monica Municipal Courthouse will begin next month. The $470,000 project, funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will begin Sept. 25 and be completed by Aug. 5, 1999, a spokesman for Yaroslavsky said. The repairs will include replacing some walls and adding steel bracing to others.

Forget Disneyland, Universal Studios or the Hollywood Walk of Fame. William Phelps, a 74-year-old Englishman who vacations two weeks each year in Los Angeles with his son, insists there's no better place to spend his holiday than watching criminal trials in Santa Monica Superior Court. For the past five years, Phelps has left his wife at their son's Hollywood home playing with the grandkids each day while he has taken a 40-minute bus ride to the seaside courthouse.

Forget Disneyland, Universal Studios or the Hollywood Walk of Fame. William Phelps, a 74-year-old Englishman who vacations two weeks each year in Los Angeles with his son, insists there's no better place to spend his holiday than watching criminal trials in Santa Monica Superior Court. For the past five years, Phelps has left his wife at their son's Hollywood home playing with the grandkids each day while he has taken a 40-minute bus ride to the seaside courthouse.

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky announced that the long-overdue earthquake repairs on the Santa Monica Municipal Courthouse will begin next month. The $470,000 project, funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will begin Sept. 25 and be completed by Aug. 5, 1999, a spokesman for Yaroslavsky said. The repairs will include replacing some walls and adding steel bracing to others.

With one courthouse condemned and another undergoing major repairs following the Northridge earthquake, officials in the San Fernando Valley are struggling with the daunting task of reconstructing a battered legal system. The courthouse in San Fernando, which houses 12 Superior Court judges, suffered extensive damage during the Jan. 17 temblor and is expected to be unusable for most of this year. "They said a year, and if it's sooner, be grateful," said Judge Judith M.