Community Briefs

Quake repairs finished on L.A. landmark

It was blasted by Martians in “War of the Worlds”
and ravaged for real by the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

But on Thursday evening, City Hall was expected to rumble only
to the sound of movers as crews started to return desks and file
cabinets to the landmark building after a $300 million, three-year
renovation.

About 150 employees were scheduled to walk through the doors on
Tuesday after the holiday weekend, according to Stan Morimoto,
project manager.

“It’s a beautiful building,” said Cora
Fossett, director of public affairs for the Department of Public
Works. “We’re very pleased … to move into a historic
landmark.”

During the renovation, a makeshift City Council chambers and
mayor’s office were opened in adjoining City Hall East, an
18-story modern office building. The council members will return to
the main City Hall building, along with the city’s newly
elected mayor, by July 2, Morimoto said.

The remaining 1,500 or so personnel should be back by the end of
July.

The building was damaged by the Northridge quake on Jan. 17,
1994, closing the upper stories. The temblor opened cracks on the
27th floor “that you could stick your arm through,”
Morimoto said.

In-state fees sought by lawmakers for
students

Some state lawmakers are looking for a way to allow immigrant
children who are not citizens to pay the lower resident tuition at
California’s public colleges.

The Assembly approved a bill Thursday to let such students pay
the lower fees and also be eligible for state financial aid.

The Legislature passed a similar bill in 1999, but it was vetoed
by Gov. Gray Davis. He said federal law states that if non-citizen
students did not have to pay the higher fees, residents of other
states would not have to, either. That would cost the state $64
million a year, Davis said.

“I believe the state’s priorities and funding must
be focused on higher education attainment for California legal
residents, both present and future,” Davis wrote.

Student fees for California residents are $3,964 a year at the
University of California, while nonresidents and non-citizens pay
more than $10,000. Residents pay $1,839 at California State
University, while nonresidents and non-citizens pay $7,380.

The bill’s author, Assemblyman Marco Firebaugh, D-Los
Angeles, said many young people are brought to this country by
their parents when they are very young, go to California public
schools and buy into the American dream of “a better life
through education.”

“If we give them an opportunity, they’ll contribute
enormously to our economy,” Firebaugh said.

Pressure builds to relax air standards

A major electricity supplier said Thursday it will sharply cut
prices for power from three Southern California plants in
anticipation that air quality monitors will let the plants release
more pollution this summer.

Meanwhile, aides said Gov. Gray Davis will consider paying
businesses to run heavily polluting diesel generators to boost the
state’s power supply and help avert rolling blackouts.
Reliant Energy said it could chop its power bids from the high of
$1,900 per megawatt hour Davis criticized this month to as little
as $150 per megawatt hour ““ but only if air regulators
quickly allow it to exceed pollution standards at the three plants.
The Houston-based generator will cut its prices immediately, but
will soon be forced to shut down three of its five Southern
California plants for the rest of the year if pollution standards
aren’t lifted.

Compiled from Daily Bruin Wire reports.