Sirens

Somehow during the hot, long days of summer, our native flora punctuates the dry season with flashes of color. Horticulturists speculate that the reason is sex. Plants such as our native mallows, buckwheats, bush marigolds and hoary fuchsias manage their August shows of pink, yellow and oranges as a survival strategy. Undistracted by spring lilacs, pollinators such as hummingbirds and bees tend exclusively to them. Late blooms also allow these plants to drop their seeds closer to the arrival of autumn rains.

Sarah Palin's valedictory address as governor of Alaska will (we hope) be little noted nor long remembered. But its denunciation of Hollywood and Washington insiders reflects a perennial obsession by some conservatives that mainstream politicians are too eager to indulge. As Republicans regroup after the disaster of 2008, they would be wise to resist this shrill siren song.

The tornado that destroyed Hackleburg attacked the little town's first line of defense. It leveled the town's tiny police station and crushed the police cruiser of Officer Jeremy Marbutt, who emerged unscathed after taking cover in the old town jail, built of steel and concrete. It destroyed the fire station and blew away the roof of the town hall, where 69-year-old Mayor Douglas Gunnin survived to continue serving the town's 1,500 constituents. Photo gallery: Tornadoes cut path of devastation Then it flattened the Piggy Wiggly, the only grocery store, but spared manager Dennis Whitfield, who hid under a produce rack.

Will Grimsley covered nine Summer Olympics and six Winter Games for The Associated Press, including the 1972 Munich Games in which 11 members of the Israeli team were killed in a terror attack. For a weary, slumbering newsman, the frantic knock on the steel door of room 4-B on the second floor of the Olympic press dormitory had the impact of a thunderclap. "The office said to get over to the Village right away," blurted a breathless messenger.

Neither the city nor the county knows exactly how many still exist, and nobody has any idea where all of them are located. According to the city's General Services Department, the oneguy with a map retired several years ago, and he took it with him. And the only working one in the county appears to be on Catalina, which uses it to call out the volunteer fire department.

Re "Glitch Triggers False Alarm About Dam," Jan. 30. An open letter of apology to those who live in the inundation zone of the Casitas Dam: As two of the people who were involved in the grass-roots effort to have the warning sirens installed, we cannot help but feel anguish and regret over the appalling display of unprofessionalism by the agencies involved in the installation and testing of the siren system. The siren system was requested by the people as an attempt to warn those below the dam of impending danger.

The courthouse crowd is starting to call him "Judge Ego." That might seem unfair to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito, except for his nightly appearances this week on KCBS-TV Channel 2 Action News in an extended interview on the past, present and future of his favorite judge, Lance A. Ito. Judge Ito, who usually treats the press with contempt, is this week's star of the 11 o'clock news.

When Chuck Yeager became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound, when Roger Bannister became the first human to run a four-minute mile, they were guaranteed immortality. To the Olympic downhill skier, to the Indy race driver, to the Boston Marathon runner, to the Whitbread sailor, to the Reno air racer, to the Tour de France cyclist go the race and the glory--our awe and respect, the adoration of young boys, the affection of ladies and the applause of millions.

Tornadoes roared through the Midwest on Wednesday, further spreading death and damage and threatening rescue and cleanup efforts in some already hard-hit areas. At least 14 deaths have been reported in recent days in Oklahoma and Arkansas, and the death toll in Joplin, Mo., stood at about 122 from the single deadliest tornado since the National Weather Service began keeping records in 1950. Severe storms began brewing Wednesday afternoon over eastern Kansas and were expected to roll across Missouri, southern Illinois, southern Indiana and Kentucky, said Greg Carbin, a meteorologist with the National Storm Prediction Center.