Seal Beach Ca

The American Legion is seeking U.S. veterans to form a Seal Beach post. The legion already has a post in nearby Leisure World, but because of community rules, only residents may attend meetings in its clubhouses. Seal Beach City Councilman George Brown said he believes there are enough vets in the city and at the U.S. Naval Weapons Station to form a second post. The legion welcomes anyone who has served in the military during times of conflict, from World War I to the Gulf War.

The city will build a traffic circle at Central Avenue and 4th Street, an intersection residents say is dangerous because speeding cars and trucks use it as a shortcut to Long Beach. The City Council authorized the $50,000 project Monday after staff said the intersection did not meet the requirements for a stop sign or traffic light.

A third of Seal Beach was without electrical power for a brief time Tuesday after an underground cable failed, authorities said. Though phones were temporarily out of service at City Hall, there were no serious problems, police said. About 1,300 customers, mainly in Old Town and Marina Hill, were affected by the 11 a.m. blackout, said Steve Hansen, a spokesman for Southern California Edison. Power was restored by 1 p.m. The outage reportedly did not interfere with City Council elections.

The City Council on Monday chose to let voters decide whether to enact a controversial ordinance on home heights in Old Town. The ordinance, recently approved by a 3-2 vote of the council, would ban residents from topping their homes with third stories. It sparked intense opposition, culminating in a petition with nearly 3,600 signatures asking the city to reconsider. On Monday the council decided to put the matter on the ballot, as early as April.

With a final showdown a day away, supporters and critics of the Hellman Ranch project in Seal Beach are engaged in a fierce tug of war over whether state coastal law allows the filling of wetlands to build a golf course.

A portion of Seal Beach was reopened Friday after a spill of about 100 gallons of oil had caused it to be closed, officials said. The mess was spotted about 3 p.m. Thursday, along a half-mile stretch from the West Anaheim jetty to the pier, said Seal Beach lifeguard Capt. Ross Pounds. "It looked like real, real black crude oil," he said. "It wasn't just a sheen." "There were stretches of oil spots spread out everywhere," said lifeguard Darren Sandvig.