Was the Salton Sea Really to Blame for Monday's L.A. Stench?

I know I'm not the only one who smelled it on Monday morning. When I noticed a vague sulfur-like smell in the air outside this morning, I considered calling the Gas Company, figuring it might be our house. But I turns out I was off by about 100 miles, as the L.A. Times reports:

Southern California awoke Monday morning to a foul odor that wouldn't go away. Residents clogged 911 lines with calls, prompting health officials from Ventura County to Palm Springs to send investigators looking for everything from a toxic spill to a sewer plant leak.

The prime suspect, however, lay more than 100 miles away from Los Angeles. The leading theory is that the stink was caused by the annual die-off of fish in the Salton Sea. Officials believe Sunday evening's thunderstorms and strong winds churned up the water and pushed that dead-fish smell to points west overnight.

I dunno. Not to get all conspiracy-minded on you, but that sounds like too convenient of an excuse. "It's very unusual that any odor would be this widespread, from the Coachella to Los Angeles County," Sam Atwood, spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District, told the L.A. Times. "We're talking well over 100 miles. I can't recall ever confirming an odor traveling that distance."

Adds Andrew Schlange, general manager of the Salton Sea Authority: "The problem is [the odor] would have to have migrated 50 to 100 miles, without it being dissipated by mixing with other air. It doesn't seem possible," he said. "I've been in Southern California my whole life, and I'm not aware of any time in the past where the odor from the Salton Sea has migrated as far as people are telling us."

Hmm. Any other theories out there?

Black Ash from the Station Fire: The Unwanted Gift That Keeps on Giving

Last week's heavy winds blew another round of ash from the Angeles National Forest down to the communities below -- including Glendale. That means we once again have a light coating of black dust on our sidewalks, driveways, cars and homes.

That can't be good. What will be the long-term effects of breathing all this gunk in? And at what point will the leftover ash from this summer's Station Fire stop raining down on us?



(Above: Black dust collects on our steps.)

Retro Friday: L.A.'s Bad 1970s-Era Smog Edition

KHJ Channel 9 afternoon newscast fron 1978. I love the opening -- yes, the cheesy graphics, but also the shots of the downtown skyline and the freeways. And starting at 1:45 minutes in, several reports on a bad smog "situation" in Los Angeles -- leading to "scores of people" heading to the hospital. Don't see this much anymore, thank goodness.

Retro Friday: Flying to 1950s Los Angeles

Ahh, the joys of travel during the golden age of air flight. Here's a 1952 film, produced by TWA, that follows a flight to Los Angeles -- and a group of dapper folks enjoying the West Coast. Check out the weird subtext as actor Richard Carlson invites a newlywed couple to his house -- and, with his wife, gets all touchy feely. with them.

According to video commenters, plane seen here is the TWA L1049A Super Constellation; this flight flew from Chicago Midway airport to LAX.

Everyone Gangs Up on Los Angeles

Our constantly misunderstood and stereotyped city has been suffering even more knocks -- mostly unfair -- as of late.

A few recent slights:

-- According to the L.A. Times blog L.A. Land, Los Angeles is ranked far behind other major cities in terms of sustainability -- even behind Cleveland, Omaha and Dallas:

According to the 2008 SustainLane U.S. City Rankings, which rate the nation’s 50 largest cities in terms of urban sustainability, Los Angeles is behind those cities … and 21 others as well.

The city fell three spots from last year. Why? Well, one clue come from the fact that rankings are based on factors including air quality, roadway congestion, sprawl and housing affordability.

The study blames L.A. suburbia for auto-dependence, heavy freeway congestion, and the second-worst worst air quality (behind Fresno) in the nation.

-- Over at the L.A. Times blog L.A. Now, reporter Patrick McGreevy notes that the Northern California state congressional race pitting Thousand Oaks' Tom McClintock against Charlie Brown (good grief!) is getting nasty -- and L.A. is being used as a slur:

Democratic candidate Charlie Brown is running radio ads in the 4th District near Sacramento, attacking Republican contender Tom McClintock as "this guy from L.A."

Though part of Brown’s point is that McClintock, who represents a district in SoCal, is carpetbagging, there's a definite anti-L.A. tone in the commercials.

Chides the ad: "L.A. Tom could vote for himself if he would just move here."

Just one problem -- McClintock's from Thousand Oaks, a quiet little city far from the mean streets of Los Angeles.

-- Then there's Forbes' list of the nation's most stressful metro areas. L.A. placed fourth, behind Chicago, New York and Detroit.

I suppose we're in good company -- but as L.A. Land notes, Forbes' reasoning is a tad suspect:

Unemployment, home prices and gas prices were among the reasons given for L.A.'s placement, as well as having what Forbes called "the worst air quality in the country." In fact, they went on to explain, "Angelenos often need to stay indoors when the smog gets really bad." Say what? A show of hands please.

Apparently the Forbes reporter climbed through a time warp to 1965 to deliver that report.

Cough, Cough: Ashy Air, and Other Fire Notes

We live at least 50 30 miles, probably more, from the nearest fire. Yet we found a layer small ash particles on our cars this morning, as you probably did too. I also swear I can feel the effects on the back of my throat.

Meanwhile, driving to work this morning I was listening to San Diego AM radio station KOGO/AM 600. It's coming in pretty clear up here, so if you're interested in hearing the latest on how they're coping down there, it's another option.

On the TV front, as expected (see below), KABC indeed returned to semi-regular programming this morning, flipping to "Good Morning America" at 7 a.m. KNBC was airing "Today," but at least at one point when I checked this morning, KCBS was still local.

Free Music Friday: A Fine Frenzy and Air

This week's Apple iTunes free download of the week is a good one: A Fine Frenzy's "You Picked Me" (view YouTube video above). Singer Alison Sudol has been attracting attention for her haunting voice via tracks like this and "Almost Lover," which we included in our June edition of Choice Cuts.

Download the track here from iTunes. Why wouldn't you? Again, it's free.

Speaking of free downloads, Nederlander concerts has posted a free download of Air's "Once Upon a Time" here.

While there, you can also enter for a chance to win tix upcoming Air and Sondre Lerche show, which takes place Sept. 21 at the Greek. Nederlander asked us to spread the word, and since I'm a fan of both (especially Air), I figured, what the hell.

There you go -- two free downloads for the weekend. Go forth.