September 2009 Archives

We kick off a new season tonight. This year we'll continue covering the issues you care about with the same quality and depth you've come to expect from KCET. Watch us on air or online, and keep checking in—we'll be using the Web to bring you more content, more often, so you can be more informed.

So you're driving along and see a sign: "Estate Sale." I can't help wondering who died. What stuff did they leave behind? But these days, dying is not a prerequisite to bargains.

Tricia Benitez Beanumis is the owner of a small company called L.A. Estate Sales. They go into homes—often high-end celebrity mansions—and inventory, photograph, set prices, and market countless items. Tricia tells me she has seen a distinct change in business. More of her clients are among the living. They may be laid off executives who have to downsize and turn their stuff into cash. Or people who can't handle California's cost of living and are moving to Washington or Nevada. It's also people who have bought foreclosed or abandoned property full of stuff that has to go.

And get this. Say you buy a foreclosed home full of furniture, appliances and countless other personal items. You bought the house—but NOT the contents. And the law requires that you give the former owner 18 days to come collect it. If they don't, then you have to try to sell it. That's where Tricia's company comes in. And even after selling the stuff, you have to give any proceeds (minus expenses) to the city. Jeez! All that trouble and not even lunch money.

Tricia tells me one abandoned property was owned by a hoarder. It was filthy. Her people had to wear masks while they cataloged and photographed thousands of items. They'd open a closet and stuff would come spilling out. They still had to give the hoarder 18 days to come get it all. I suspect the compulsive collector just started again in a new place.

So what conclusion has Tricia come to after four years of estate sale organizing? First, she's a clutter cop. Second—no surprise—we Americans have TOO MUCH STUFF! And these days it's the grim economy and not the grim reaper that is driving that lesson home.

Then again, if you haven't learned your lesson yet, and want to get some GREAT bargains, check out Tricia's website for a preview of upcoming estate sales. I admit I love browsing.

Whenever disaster strikes California, which it does on a fairly regular basis, friends who live elsewhere are inclined to ask, with a slightly smug tone, "Why do you LIVE there?"

Good question, but not one we are likely to answer when we are actually going through the disaster-du-jour, in this case a fire so ferocious we could only stare in awe as enormous mushroom clouds of smoke blocked out the sun and drove us all indoors, a place we usually care to visit only for short periods of time. Forced to confront this preview of nuclear winter, we coped by reciting a familiar litany of loss - homes, lives, acreage.

We Californians like to quantify catastrophe - "38% contained!" - report the firefighters, and we rejoice, never stopping to question just how they KNOW it's exactly 38% contained. There is comfort in such precision, comfort in believing that - before too long - the beast will be not just contained but CONTROLLED.

And then we can all go back to doing what Californians do best, letting go and moving on. Oh sure, we clear the brush around the house, make sure the earthquake kit is up to date, but then - a sort of collective amnesia sets in, disaster DENIAL, if you will, which is - I suspect - what's happening right now.

This week, a little breeze blew off the ocean, bringing just a touch of delicious humidity, but not too much, not enough to make us uncomfortable. "Muggy" is just not in our vocabulary. Ditto "Mosquitoes." As I sat outside with my family, enjoying the blue skies and mild temperatures, happy that I could no longer look directly at the sun, I had a sudden insight into just why the whole BE HERE NOW philosophy thrives in California. What's the alternative? Being Here Last Week was pretty hellish. And Being Here Next Week is also somewhat dicey, with the fire season just beginning. Throw in the rainy season, which will predictably bring floods and mudslides, not to mention the completely unpredictable moment when a couple of tectonic plates decide to shift under our unsuspecting feet, and you're looking at a pretty good argument for Being Here Now. We have learned to co-exist with the very worst that nature can throw our way, to accept the paradox that is California - peril and paradise, one-stop shopping.

Even so, the best time to ask us "Why do you LIVE there?" is not while we are immersed in our disaster, be it fire, flood or earthquake. The best time to ask is sometime in January, when we are sipping fresh orange juice at a sidewalk café, or hiking in those once-again-green hillsides overlooking the sea, or any number of things - except, that is, scraping ice off our windshields. In California, in January, we are snug and smug. Until, of course, we aren't.

Images by Flickr user Stacy J Clinton. Used under the Creative Commons license.

Last year we featured a story, reported by Judy Muller, about a Lake Elsinore family that was forced to "short sell" their home, but were doing everything they could to make sure the house was cared for while the bank tried to sell it.

Erin and Joe Balli, and their two sons, Joey and Matthew, moved into a mobile home. But on weekends, they went back to their old place, and did things like mow and water the lawn and make sure the house was kept up.

Now the Ballis are a featured family on a Sesame Street special called Families Stand Together: Feeling Secure in Tough Times. The prime time special airs Wednesday, Sept. 9 on KCET.

The producers of the special saw the SoCal piece about the Ballis, and contacted our producer, Angela Shelley. They told Angela they needed a family that had figured out ways to successfully deal with financial challenges. Angela assured them they'd never find anyone who better fit that bill than the Ballis.

So tune in to see them with Elmo and the gang. There's lots of information about the program, including suggestions for talking to your own family about financial problems, here.

Watch the full episode:

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Here's an animation of images taken by a JPL instrument on board NASA's Aqua satellite. It shows a very significant increase in carbon monoxide released into the atmosphere by the Station Fire.

According to NASA, carbon monoxide wafted up as high as 27,000 feet above the blaze. The "carbon footprint" stretches to the Great Lakes and north to Alaska.

More information about this at JPL's Web site.

Officials report the Station Fire is now some 42% contained. It's moved east toward the San Gabriel Wilderness and is still south of Highway 2. While firefighters have had great success tackling the fire, and the weather is expected to improve over the weekend, officials still rate the danger from the fire as high.

Hand crews and bulldozers continue building fire lines across critical areas. The fire is now officially the largest in Los Angeles County history. It has burned over 230 square miles of forest. That's about the same amount of forest land destroyed by the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980

Smoke and ash from the fire continue to create air quality concerns. High levels of particulates are have now spread into the San Fernando Valley, and air quality throughout the basin is poor. Along with other fires, the Station Fire is contributing to air quality problems as far away as Las Vegas and Denver.

Fire officials don't expect the Station Fire to be fully contained until September 15. And the Angeles National Forest may remain closed to the public for an indefinite period of time.

The image used in this post was taken by Flickr user DisneyKrazie. It was used under the Creative Commons license.

Fire is a natural cleanser. That's a strange notion for urban folk, and little consolation for our neighbors who have lost their homes. But every year we're faced with this. The bigger we grow, the closer we get to the source of the flames.

Another devastating series of wildfires in Southern California... it's clear that our fire season is now year-round, and that we must come to grips with where and how we build our homes, and who is going to pay for the skyrocketing costs of firefighting.

Have you had an accident while texting? If so, we want to talk to you.

We're doing a story for an upcoming SoCal Connected episode, and we're looking for someone who can share their cautionary tale.

If you've crashed, and texting was to blame, please contact us. Just send a note to:

socalconnected@kcet.org

Please put "Texting" in the subject line. Just give us a brief summary of what happened. If you have photos of the accident, that's a big plus. And, if you wish, include a telephone number where we can reach you during the day.

See you on TV.

As has become the norm when disaster strikes, residents across Southern California posted images of the great fire - stills and videos - on sharing sites such as vimeo and flickr. Above, a small sampling of their work, with music by E S Posthumus.

If you are one of our many viewers who likes to share images, share them with other public television fans. We've created a flickr group for still images, and a vimeo group for videos. We'd love to see your stuff, so post something right now.

With the weather moderating, firefighters have had some success battling what is being termed "the biggest fire in 100 years."

Still, the Station Fire burning in the Angeles National Forest grew over the night. It's now consumed more than 140 thousand acres.

Lighting backfires as a strategy to create firebreaks, firefighters hope they will prevent flames from moving into heavily populated areas along the southwestern edge of the fire. To the east, crews are setting up defense lines to protect Juniper Creek and San Gabriel Canyon.

Other crews continue their work atop Mt. Wilson, doing their best to protect the Observatory and broadcast facilities there. They've constructed fuel breaks, brought in water drops, and covered many areas with fire retardant.

Finally, an armada of aircraft, both helicopters and fixed wing, have been brought to bear on the fire. They include a DC-10 that can drop 12,000 gallons, and the big 747 which holds some 20,000 gallons. More than 4000 people, including firefighters, air crews, engineers and support staff are currently working to bring down the fire, which is currently estimated to be 22 per cent contained.

The image used in this post was taken by Flickr user Kevin Dean. It was used under the Creative Commons license.

We've created a Flickr group focused on the fires burning in Southern California. Send us what you've got and it could end up on air and online. Just visit KCET SoCal Connected Wildfires on Flickr, join, and start uploading your photos.

The image associated with this post was taken by Flickr user avcellshots. It was used under Creative Commons license.

Some good news today for those worried about the historic Mt. Wilson Observatory, and for broadcasters and viewers worried that the fire would take out the vast array of TV and radio transmission facilities there.

Firefighters returned to the site after being pulled out earlier. They've reportedly built fire breaks around the area and are now more optimistic about saving the area.

Authorities warn fire conditions can change in an instant, and the towers and Observatory are not out of danger yet. Still, just yesterday one fire official was saying it was not a matter of if, but when the area would be raked by flames. Now, at least, there is a measure of hope that the mountain top can be saved.

Fire Over City: Time Lapse from Justin Martinez on Vimeo.

This video was created by Justin Martinez of Los Angeles. It's just one of scores of interesting fire videos posted on sites such as Youtube and Vimeo. Many are time lapse videos that dramatically depict the fire and smoke from the blaze in the Angeles forest.

Here's another example. This one was shot by Pasadena resident Dan Finnerty.

Station Fire: Mt Wilson Pyrocumulus from Dan Finnerty on Vimeo.

If you have some video, or if you've found an interesting example somewhere on the Web, post a link to it here, in the comments.

The Station Fire has now grown to more than 120,000 acres. Still, fire officials say the flame activity was somewhat subdued last night, due to an increase in humidity.

Firefighters are now expressing some cautious optimism that they may be getting a handle on the fire. But they're concerned that high winds may kick up this afternoon and increase the fire's activity.

We've updated our fire information page, and will continue to do so as the situation changes. And we'll be broadcasting the latest fire news on KCET-TV all day.

Atop Mt. Wilson, the Observatory and broadcast towers for some fifty TV and radio stations remain at risk. There are reports of fire retardant drops on the mountain top, but officials are not sending in fire crews. They say it's too dangerous. Roads are burnt out and crews could easily get trapped in the fire.