Our lobby is better than your lobby

Parts of the building are hopelessly dated, but there are some cool things to see at the Los Angeles Times. One of the highlights is the Globe Lobby, which is off the building's 1st Street entrance. (Of course, this entrance is not open to the public. Sorry.)

The lobby has 10-foot-high murals that were painted in 1935 by Hugo Ballin, who also painted the Griffith Observatory rotunda. It also has an exhibit showcasing the history of The Times. As for the globe, my guess is that it symbolizes the paper's worldwide coverage.

The Globe Lobby is where I met and shook the hand of Barack Obama in 2008.

Another tidbit: The Times building was designed by Gordon B. Kaufmann, the same architect who designed Hoover Dam.

Caption: The Times offers free tours of its downtown L.A. building.

Welcome, summer

Summer has finally arrived in Southern California! After weeks of cloudy and cool mornings and afternoons, the temperatures are higher than 80. Unfortunately, they are much higher than 80: Friday's high in Long Beach was 91 and downtown L.A. was even hotter at 97.

On Saturday, the fourth day of excessive heat, the L.A. Times reported temperatures reached 95 in downtown Los Angeles, 103 in Pomona, 103 in Lancaster and 96 in Anaheim. My thermometer in Long Beach read 88.

People are hitting the beaches to escape the heat. In Seal Beach, there are big crowds and more than six people have been stung by stingrays. The strand there is nicknamed ray bay because the shallow waters are warmed by nearby power plants, attracting thousands of rays. They lurk just below the sand.

Aquarium of the Pacific educators tell guests to shuffle while walking in the water to avoid stepping on a ray. The sting is painful and the only known treatment is to soak the affected foot in hot water.

Caption: Summer is in full swing at Seal Beach.

Surf's up!

Waves were reportedly up to 1o feet in Newport Beach.

The surfing was rough north of the city pier in Huntington Beach.

It's broiling in the eastern half of the country, but we're experiencing cool and cloudy conditions on the West Coast. A storm off New Zealand caused some of the year's biggest waves, which were 8-15 feet in some areas. Orange County's south-facing beaches experienced the highest surf, which was expected to taper off midweek. I took these photos Tuesday afternoon, well after the waves had peaked.

Even the beaches have to make the grade

Heal the Bay, a nonprofit environmental organization, released its annual Beach Report Card this week.

Heal the Bay analysts assigned A to F letter grades to beaches for the dry-weather period from March 2009 through April 2010, based on levels of weekly bacterial pollution. The report, which analyzes monitoring data at 326 beaches in California, gave 76 beaches perfect scores, meaning they never exceeded state bacterial standards for ocean water quality. (None of the beaches I have visited earned a perfect score.)

Seventy-nine percent of Los Angeles County's 86 beaches received A’s or B’s, compared to 70% last year. But the county has continued to dominate on the list of the state's most polluted beaches, with five L.A. County locations ranking among the 10 worst and seven beaches receiving year-round F’s. Orange County as a whole had terrific water quality, with about 97% of beaches scoring A or B. (Translation: Go to the beach in Orange County.)

Here are Heal the Bay’s Top 10 Beach Bummers:

1. Avalon Harbor Beach on Santa Catalina Island (Los Angeles County)
2. Cowell Beach – at the wharf (Santa Cruz County)
3. Cabrillo Beach harborside (San Pedro, Los Angeles County)
4. Poche Beach (San Clemente, Orange County)
5. Santa Monica Municipal Pier (Santa Monica, Los Angeles County)
6. Colorado Lagoon (Long Beach, Los Angeles County)
7. Baker Beach at Lobos Creek (San Francisco County)
8. Capitola Beach -- west of the jetty (Santa Cruz County)
9. Vacation Isle North Cove Beach in Mission Bay (San Diego County)
10. Sunset Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway at Santa Ynez Drain (Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles County)

My favorite beach, Aliso Creek in Laguna Beach, received an A. My second-favorite beach, Seal Beach, also received an A. Both are in Orange County. (In addition to better water quality, I find the restrooms to be nicer and cleaner and both have plenty of parking.)

The Beach Report Card is a comprehensive evaluation of coastal water quality based on daily and weekly samples taken from sites along the entire coast of California. A poor grade means beachgoers face a higher risk of contracting illnesses such as stomach flu, ear infections, upper respiratory infections and skin rashes than swimmers at cleaner beaches.

This seems like a good time to point out that beginning next year, there is no secured state funding for ongoing testing of ocean water quality, placing public health at risk. (Thanks, Arnold!) If the situation does not improve, more than half of the beach monitoring in the state will stop. Heal the Bay says it will work with state and local governments to ensure that ongoing funding is secured.

You can read the full report at healthebay.org/2010BRC.

Caption: The water is blue and the sand is clean at Aliso Creek Beach in the OC.

An ominous sign

Dave and I arrived at work on Sunday to find a giant inflatable Titanic in front of the L.A. Times building. Given the state of the newspaper industry, it was ironic that a sinking ship be placed in front of what many consider to be a sinking business.

Coincidentally on Monday, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported that print circulation continues to drop at U.S. newspapers. According to the bureau, average weekday circulation fell 8.7% in the six months that ended March 31 compared with the same period a year earlier. Sunday circulation fell 6.5%.

Circulation at the Los Angeles Times fell 14.7% to 616,606 on weekdays and 7.6% to 941,914 on Sundays. Daily circulation at The Times was over a million 10 years ago.

At the Washington Post, average weekday circulation fell 13.1% to 578,482 and dropped 8.2% to 797,679 on Sundays.

While the declines are sobering, it’s important to note that more and more people are reading the news online. Newspapers remain the leading source of local news and continue to be a trusted information source. Those of us who are lucky enough to still be in the newspaper business remain committed to serving the public and doing quality work.

Caption: Two sinking ships? An inflatable slide shaped like the ill-fated Titanic sits on Spring Street outside the Los Angeles Times. The inflatables and other displays were part of Fiesta Broadway, a huge street party held annually in downtown L.A.

Be prepared

Sunday’s earthquake was the second that I’ve experienced in SoCal, and this one was stronger and longer than the first. I’m not a Boy Scout, but I want to be prepared for an emergency.

When the Red Cross isn’t calling me to ask for blood donations, it apparently does a lot of work educating people on how to prepare for disasters. The organization recommends having an earthquake preparedness pack for your home, office and vehicle. (Yes, that’s three. THREE!) I have a decent pack for our home and have stashed some food and toiletries in my desk at the office.

Today, I put together backpacks for our two vehicles. Are we ready? I don’t know. But here’s the breakdown of what I bought at Target and what it cost.

• Backpack $9.99
• LED flashlight w/ batteries $7.89
• Flashing glow stick $4.99
• Swiss army knife $9.99
• Emergency poncho $1.47
• First aid kit $4.79 (Contains bandages, pain meds, antibacterial spray, Cortaid)
• Germ guard kit $3.98 (Contains masks, gloves, sanitizing gel and spray)
• Wet Ones wipes $0.99
• Renu saline plus contact lenses case $1.47
• Kleenex $0.99
• Wisps toothbrushes $1.99 (Mini brushes made by Colgate. They include the toothpaste. I would have been all over these back when I was a camp counselor!)
• Planters nuts $4.00
• Slim Jims $2.89
• Peanut butter crackers $1.72
• Granola bars $2.50
• Raisins $1.89

Total: $61.54 plus tax

The Red Cross sells packs with three days’ worth of supplies. The packs cost $69.95 but are out of stock. I based my shopping list on the Red Cross list.

Now, I have to go clean out the pantry to make room for a two-week supply of non-perishable food items.

Earthquake!

An earthquake initially reported at a 6.9 magnitude struck at 3:40 p.m. today near Mexicali in Baja California.

Seismologists revised the quake to 7.2 magnitude, making it the largest quake in the region since 1992. It was felt in Santa Barbara, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones said at least 20 million people across the Southwestern United States and Mexico felt the earthquake. She also said that any earthquake has a 5 percent chance of triggering something larger than itself and that people should prepare for aftershocks.

Sure enough, a magnitude 4.1 earthquake hit the Santa Monica Bay 6 miles south of Malibu about two hours later, and scientists say it is connected to the Mexicali temblor.

Information about damage in Mexicali remains sketchy, but photos posted on Twitter show significant damage to buildings and stores. There are no reports of structural damage in Greater Los Angeles.

In our home, pictures swayed on the walls and objects moved across our tables and countertops. The building swayed for about a minute, starting slow with the motion becoming stronger. The elevators in the building automatically shut off after an earthquake, so we’ll be using the stairs for the rest of the day.