It looks like the Port of Los Angeles, which brings in billions for the city, is behind on cleaning up the popular but chronically polluted Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro. It looks likely that the city will miss a federal compliance deadline next Spring and people will be enjoying their summer swims in some yucky water. "Starting April 1, Cabrillo Beach must meet fecal bacteria water quality standards 100% of the time from April1 -Oct. 31. The liability to the City of Los Angeles to comply with the water quality requirements could be substantial, yet the pace to complete the Cabrillo projects in time to comply with the deadlines continues to be far too slow," explains Mark Gold of Heal the Bay. He says a contract management “short cut” is the culprit in slowing this project down. "As a result of poor time-management by the Port, the city will likely be out of compliance with the beach water quality standards when the April 1 deadline arrives. The end result? The public will continue to swim in polluted waters and the city will face tens of thousands of dollars in potential liability." more ›

Update: The beach was found safe and was opened as of 3:30 p.m. 3 million gallons of tertiary wastewater were accidently released into the ocean yesterday prompting officials to close the water at Inner and Outer Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro. Tertiary wastewater has already undergone treatment to remove harmful waste products, but may be still dangerous. “We are asking people to avoid entering or swimming in the ocean in the area immediately surrounding Inner and Outer Cabrillo Beach,” said Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, Director of Public Health and Health Officer. “Our first priority is to protect the health and safety of the people who visit the beach and water areas. Once we determine bacteria levels in the water do not pose a threat to the public’s health, we will remove the beach closure.” The water is being tested this morning and if found to be okay, the beach will reopen around noon. Want to see what happens when you do swim in nasty water? This guy now has a pacemaker: more ›

San Pedro local, music maven and all around guy Mike Watt kayaks off the coast of San Pedro practically every morning with his camera. These photos were not taken this morning, but we thought it'd be a fun thing to share to start off your Friday with. Enjoy. more ›

Now with President Barack Obama talking about reinvigorating the econony and the job market, there's been a resurgance of an idea of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's: bringing back the Civilian Conservation Corps, the first "emergency agency" that he established. Now there's talk in Congress of bringing it back as part of Obama's economic stimulus plan, according to the LA Times. more ›