Wilmington Ca

Lured by promises of a rosier future, the small, independent cities of San Pedro and Wilmington in 1909 joined themselves to their burgeoning neighbor to the north, port-hungry Los Angeles. Now they might get out again, led by activists in these contrasting harbor-side neighborhoods of picturesque hillsides, historic waterfronts, towering refineries and grimy industrial districts.

Just two years ago, Jack McLaren and Eddie Ortiz were part-time dockworkers riding a tsunami of international trade that allowed them to work as many as five days a week at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. On Tuesday, the two friends were rearranging marine supplies at a Wilmington equipment store for considerably less money, noting that they each had gotten barely more than a week's worth of dock work so far this year. "It's just so slow that you can't depend on it anymore," said McLaren, who lives in San Pedro and has worked in Wilmington for most of his life.

Everyone in Wilmington knows the dividing line. It slices this pocket-sized community in two, marking east and west. Flowing straight through the center, Avalon Boulevard is etched on the harbor town's psyche like sea-green tattoos on the biceps of some of its men. It is the unofficial border that back in the 1950s separated whites from Latinos, the well-to-do from those living hand-to-mouth. The east-west divide endured for five decades, even as the population turned overwhelmingly Latino.

It's not unusual for a new school to be opposed by those whose homes, businesses, jobs or favorite market would be bulldozed in the process. What's unusual is for them to stop an ongoing school project in its tracks, and that's what happened Tuesday, when a sharply divided Los Angeles school board put a badly needed 1,278-seat Wilmington campus on hold. The project is already two years and $4.

More than 150 firefighters were called out early Monday morning to battle a fire at the Texaco refinery in Wilmington that took six hours to contain. Officials said there were no injuries, and no residents were evacuated. The fire started at 12:15 a.m. inside the pipelines of the alkylation unit, where butane and propane gas are mixed to make high-octane fuel, said Texaco spokeswoman Barbara Kornylo.

At first glance, the run-down section of Wilmington, just east of the Dominguez Channel, looks little different from other parts of the industrial Harbor-area community. Shuttered buildings and fenced-off lots belonging to the Port of Los Angeles dot a row of mostly maritime businesses.

To understand the trade deficit, residents of Sandison Street do not need the help of world-class economists. They can just glance across the street at the mountain of faded brown cargo containers blocking the Wilmington sky. The equation is simple. As the deficit grows, the mountain gets higher. "It's getting taller; it's spreading out," said resident Maria Lopez, eyeing the pile that stretches for two blocks.

In the far southern reaches of Los Angeles, where cargo-laden 18-wheelers rumble by day and a thick blanket of fog rolls in most nights, 50 people have been killed this year. So far. With two days yet to go, the body count in the Los Angeles Police Department's Harbor Division--which includes San Pedro, Wilmington and Harbor City--is up 72% from 29 in 1996. The increase in the Harbor Division is perplexing because it comes amid a citywide decrease in homicides of about 17%.

A Los Angeles zoning official has decided to allow a gay bathhouse in Wilmington to remain open because the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety did not prove its allegation that the club is used as a place for sex. Zoning Administrator James Crisp on Tuesday overturned a building and safety department order for the bathhouse to close, citing lack of evidence.

An explosion at a Wilmington oil refinery sparked a huge fire Tuesday afternoon, sending flames hundreds of feet up and causing a brief shutdown of the Harbor Freeway. Los Angeles firefighters and a fire brigade from the Tosco Corp. refinery quickly smothered the flames with massive quantities of water and fire-retardant foam. The blaze was extinguished in about an hour. No injuries were reported. This is the second major fire this year at a California Tosco refinery.

For the self-proclaimed "escapees from society" who live there, Leeward Bay Marina is a perfect hideaway: a nest of mostly old boats bobbing over a toxic hot spot in the nation's busiest harbor complex. Hidden by a hectic maze of trains and cranes, big rigs and refineries, the marina offers solitude, as well as shelter, to dozens of "live-aboards" who make their homes above the fouled waters at the mouth of a flood control channel. "Ah, Leeward Bay," locals like to say with a laugh.

One worker was critically burned on his hands and face and three others were injured in a flash electrical fire at the Shell refinery in Wilmington. The incident occurred about 2:30 p.m. while the four were working on a 2,300-volt electrical panel. Firefighters called to the scene at 2101 E. Pacific Coast Highway. were initially told that one of the men had been electrocuted.

A San Antonio oil refiner is shaking up California's gasoline business by agreeing Monday to buy Shell Oil Co.'s Wilmington refinery and 390 Shell and USA gasoline stations for more than $2 billion. Tesoro Corp.'s buying spree, laid out in two separate deals, would make it California's second-largest refiner, and marks the company's return to the state's retail fuel market.

To understand the trade deficit, residents of Sandison Street do not need the help of world-class economists. They can just glance across the street at the mountain of faded brown cargo containers blocking the Wilmington sky. The equation is simple. As the deficit grows, the mountain gets higher. "It's getting taller; it's spreading out," said resident Maria Lopez, eyeing the pile that stretches for two blocks.

The city Harbor Commission on Thursday voted unanimously to proceed with a long-awaited Wilmington waterfront project, prompting applause and a few cheers from residents at the meeting. The port has long ignored the working-class neighborhood that has borne the brunt of harbor air pollution and traffic. But the commission appointed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa agreed to a $10.8-million contract with Sasaki Associates to plan and design the waterfront revitalization.

S. David Freeman, elected less than an hour before as president of the Los Angeles Harbor Commission, listened intently as a port planner explained that a long-delayed project to refurbish the Wilmington waterfront would not be completed before January 2011. Freeman pounced. "I want you to get a sense of urgency about this -- 2011 is a long ways off for a guy 79 years old," he said. Then he addressed the standing-room-only crowd of more than 250 people, many from Wilmington.

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan on Wednesday announced the addition of four more communities to the city's Targeted Neighborhood Initiative program. Wilmington and the San Fernando Valley communities of Pacoima/Lake View Terrace, Van Nuys and Valley Glen will receive $3 million each over four years to spend on community improvements proposed by residents. The city started the Targeted Neighborhood Initiative program in 1997 with 12 communities awarded grants.

Just two years ago, Jack McLaren and Eddie Ortiz were part-time dockworkers riding a tsunami of international trade that allowed them to work as many as five days a week at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. On Tuesday, the two friends were rearranging marine supplies at a Wilmington equipment store for considerably less money, noting that they each had gotten barely more than a week's worth of dock work so far this year. "It's just so slow that you can't depend on it anymore," said McLaren, who lives in San Pedro and has worked in Wilmington for most of his life.

Wilmington has long been the stepchild of the Port of Los Angeles, bearing the brunt of pollution and traffic as port officials have showered neighboring San Pedro with millions of dollars in beautification and development projects. But the first gathering of the newly appointed Board of Harbor Commissioners suggests that could be changing. The board will meet in Wilmington tonight for the first time in many years.

When Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa visited the Los Angeles seaport this week to introduce the members of his new Harbor Commission, he pointedly noted that port officials have been refurbishing the harbor community of San Pedro. "But I noticed, when I saw that development, that Wilmington didn't have quite its fair share," the mayor said, drawing spirited applause from some in the audience on San Pedro's newly renovated Los Angeles Cruise Ship Promenade.