Author: Rong-Gong Lin II

As storm clouds moved onshore Saturday morning, pea-sized hail fell in Altadena, Pasadena and Mt. Washington, and funnel clouds were spotted off Newport Harbor in Orange County.

But rainfall was light. Less than half an inch of rain is expected to fall before scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms clear out of the area Sunday morning, before the Academy Awards, according to Bonnie Bartling, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service office in Oxnard.

"There’s not a lot of moisture in it," Bartling said of the storm system. However, the weather service warned that showers may cause dangerous lightning strikes on the ground. Snow levels are expected to drop from an elevation of 5,300 feet to 4,500 feet by Saturday evening.

Four funnel clouds – clouds that look like tornadoes but do not touch down on the ocean surface or land – were spotted off Newport Harbor in Orange County on Saturday morning.

Because the storm system is coming from Alaska, temperatures will remain below normal for this time of year. The lows Saturday morning in the Los Angeles Basin were in the 50s, and dipped into the 40s in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys. Saturday’s highs are expected to be in the low 60s.

No evacuations have been ordered in suburban communities affected by the Station fire.

—Rong-Gong Lin II

Top photo: Families gather under cloudy skies for a Little League game at Malibu Bluff Park.

Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

Bottom photo: Oscar statues covered in plastic as rain falls in Hollywood on Saturday as preparations continue for Sunday’s Academy Awards in Hollywood. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

A new Times database puts readers on the sidewalks of Hollywood, using more than a century of archives to track the lives of the stars, including current Oscar nominees Jeff Bridges, James Cameron, Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman, Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep.

Celebrity physician Dr. Drew Pinsky confirmed this week that he is leaving his post as co-medical director of Aurora Las Encinas Hospital’s chemical dependency program.

Pinsky, who has led the chemical dependency unit at the hospital for at least 19 years, did not respond to questions about why he left, beyond confirming his departure to The Times through his agent.

Pinsky’s departure comes as the high-end psychiatric hospital in Pasadena, where four patients died and one was raped in recent years, faces renewed scrutiny after inspectors learned of several recent escapes and near-suicides.

Las Encinas has been notified that it risks losing federal financial support after the latest incidents, one of which involved a woman known to be suicidal who was able to remove a battery from a TV remote-control device and swallow it. Several days after that, she broke a mirror and swallowed glass.

Another woman with a history of suicide attempts was discovered attempting to hang herself from a faucet with ties from the back of a hospital gown.

Read more here.

— Rong-Gong Lin II

Photo: Dr. Drew Pinsky, who led the chemical dependency unit at Aurora Las Encinas Hospital, has left the post.
Credit: VH1

Forecasters lifted a flash-flood warning for the San Gabriel Valley after rainfall tapered off over the San Gabriel Mountains as dusk fell.

At 6:30 p.m., officials lifted all mandatory evacuations for La Canada Flintridge and La Crescenta.

"Showers have diminished considerably over Los Angeles County late this afternoon," the National Weather Service said. "Even so, a few more showers and possibly a thunderstorm may occur through early this evening, with brief moderate to heavy rain."

Forecasters cautioned residents to remain alert to fast-moving mudflows, as dirt may still be sliding off mountainsides this evening. No major damage has been reported.

Waves from the tsunami triggered by the massive earthquake in Chile have not been very high in Southern California, with waves of about 2 feet detected in Santa Monica and Santa Barbara and about 1 foot in San Diego.

Still, dangerous currents and surges were possible in harbors and bays. Shortly after noon, several buoys near Ventura were pulled out to sea, and about 10 docks were damaged in Ventura Harbor.

As of 4 p.m., rainfall remained under 2-1/2 inches for most of the Los Angeles area Saturday. Downtown Los Angeles received 0.78 inches of rain; Long Beach, 1.09; Santa Monica, 1.24; Santa Ana, 1.35; Burbank, 1.6; Eaton Dam in Pasadena, 2; and Claremont, 2.15 inches. L.A. County mountains received less than 3 inches of rain.

The weather service had issued a flash-flood warning at 3 p.m. Saturday for communities near the Morris fire burn area, which burned north of Azusa and Glendora last fall.

— Rong-Gong Lin II

Michael Blosil, the 18-year-old son of entertainer Marie Osmond, has died, authorities confirmed Saturday.



Blosil died Friday night, and his death was being investigated by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, said coroner’s Lt. Brian Elias.



Officials could not comment on a report posted on ETOnline.com saying Blosil had jumped from his downtown Los Angeles apartment at 9 p.m. Friday and had left a suicide note.



“My family and I are devastated and in deep shock by the tragic loss of our dear Michael and ask that everyone respect our privacy during this difficult time,” Osmond, 50, said in a statement.



Tammy Nguyen, a student at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in downtown L.A., said Blosil attended the same school, majoring in apparel manufacturing.



Nguyen said she gathered with other students at the lobby of the Met, an apartment building at Flower and Ninth streets Friday night, and said she saw Blosil’s body covered with a white sheet on the sidewalk.



“Everyone was in shock,” Nguyen said. Blosil lived on the eighth floor.



Osmond is best known for the ABC variety show “Donny and Marie” in the late 1970s, in which she starred with her brother. Both she and her brother have performed on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” and now have a variety show at the Flamingo Showroom in Las Vegas.



Saturday evening’s show has been canceled.



— Rong-Gong Lin II



Photo: Marie Osmond in 2001. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

President Obama on Saturday warned West Coast residents to be prepared
for "dangerous waves and currents," as government officials prepared for a
tsunami to hit Hawaii, Guam and American Samoa.

"Once again, we’ve been reminded of the awful devastation that can come at a moment’s notice," Obama said. "We can’t control nature, but we can and must be prepared for disaster when it strikes."

Jennifer Rhodes, tsunami programming manager with the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a CNN interview that in addition to the tsunami warning issued for Hawaii, the
government had issued a lower-grade tsunami advisory for California, Alaska and
the rest of the West Coast.

“We are expecting to see very significant currents in the
area, very turbulent waters in bays and harbors,’’ she said. She warned people
to be aware that a tsunami is not a single large wave, but a series of waves —
often arriving an hour or more apart — and that the first wave is not always
the largest.

“So it is important to move to higher ground, get off the
beach and to remain in a safe location,’’ she said, urging people to move
location by foot to leave highways free for emergency vehicles.

Los Angeles County fire officials said they were not warning people to
stay off beaches because they did not expect waves to rise more than 3
feet.

The advisory was issued after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck about 200 miles southwest of Santiago, Chile, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

— Janet Hook reporting from Washington 

Graphic: The map shows estimated arrival times Saturday of the
minor tsunami, according to predictions issued by the National Weather
Service. Credit: Rong-Gong Lin II / Los Angeles Times

More breaking news from L.A. NOW

L.A. County fire officials expect waves from Chile quake to top at 3 feet; no warning to be issued

Light rain is expected to return to Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, which will begin another week of unsettled weather, forecasters said.

Two areas of low pressure are headed for Southern California, one from the Pacific Ocean and a larger one from Idaho. But rainfall is expected to be light, with about 0.10 to 0.25 inches expected — about the same amount that fell Friday night.



The storm will probably move out by Monday, although there is a chance that rainfall will linger.

During the work week, a series of weak storms is expected to come through, but it’s unclear how much rain will fall.

The first is expected to arrive Tuesday; another could come by the end of the week.

“They’re all weak-looking systems which may or may not produce any rain,” said Bonnie Bartling, weather specialist for the National Weather Service office in Oxnard.



Temperatures are expected to remain cooler than normal for this time of year, staying in the 50s and 60s.



— Rong-Gong Lin II

Photo: Michele Barkin walks by work crews cleaning Mullally Debris Basin above Manistee Drive in La Cañada Flintridge on Saturday. The debris basin catches mud, rocks and tree branches that slide off the San Gabriel Mountains, which burned last year and no longer have living vegetation to hold the soil in place. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

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A century-old slur was erased Saturday as authorities ceremoniously renamed a Santa Monica Mountains peak to commemorate a black pioneer who established a homestead at its base in 1880.

What had long been designated on "Negrohead Mountain" on official maps is now "Ballard Mountain" in honor of John Ballard, who worked as a blacksmith and firewood vendor from his 160 acres in the Seminole Springs area.

About 25 of Ballard’s descendants were among a crowd of 90 who watched as a plaque bearing the settler’s name was unveiled near the site of his onetime homestead. It will be permanently placed next to Kanan Road’s north tunnel near the top of the 2,031-foot volcanic peak.

Reggie Ballard, the 85-year-old great-grandson of the pioneer, said he was pleased to see the old name wiped away.

"I don’t know what it means to Los Angeles as a whole but it means a lot to me," said the retired Los Angeles Fire Department captain who now lives in Banning.

"It’s not often you get a chance to right an historical wrong," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who helped nearby residents win approval of the name change with the U.S. Geological Survey. Marcia McNutt, the survey’s director, traveled from Washington to attend the ceremony.

Descendant Christopher Ballard, 19, of Long Beach said he and six others climbed Ballard Mountain, climbing over rocks and carving their own trail through brush. When he reached its peak, he said, it felt like he was on top of the world.

— Bob Pool

Photos: (Top) Ballard Mountain as seen from a bluff above Kanan Road in Agoura. It was named for John Ballard (left), a former Kentucky slave who arrived in Los Angeles in 1859 and later moved his family to the Seminole Springs area. Credit: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times

More breaking news in L.A. Now:

Lifeguard towers on L.A. County’s coastline to be decorated with vibrant colors

Pelicans eat through bird-rescue group’s budget

Manhunt underway for driver who fatally struck 19-year-old man in San Bernardino

Evacuation orders lifted in La Crescenta, La Canada Flintridge

New push to exempt California’s county jails from inmate-release law

L.A. police warns against dangers of angel’s trumpet as Los Feliz teens get sick

First storm moves through L.A.; second expected Sunday

From the Palos Verdes Peninsula to Malibu’s Zuma Beach, vibrant artworks will soon sprout from the bland sands of Los Angeles County’s coastline.

For five months starting in May, more than 150 lifeguard towers spanning 31 miles of beach will be enveloped in panels and rooftop canvases painted fuchsia, turquoise, orange, green and yellow by thousands of Los Angeles-area children and adults.

“Summer of Color — Lifeguard Towers of Los Angeles” was conceived by brothers Ed and Bernie Massey, founders of Portraits of Hope. The 15-year-old nonprofit group develops large-scale, hands-on art projects for adults and children, many of whom are coping with poverty, serious illness or disabilities.

Among the projected 5,000 children and young adults preparing the lifeguard-tower artwork were 45 1st- and 5th-graders from Palisades Elementary Charter School. They arrived Friday morning with a dozen chaperons at a Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors building in Marina del Rey, which Portraits of Hope has converted into a studio.

Kneeling amid the youngsters on a paint-splattered floor, Ed Massey demonstrated the best techniques for avoiding blobs and wayward swipes. First dab the paint in the middle of one of the white spaces, then hold the sponge roller like a piece of chalk and spread the color. The children and adults then went to work on the 5-foot-by-10-foot and 4-foot-by-8-foot panels.’

Kelsey Tsuchiyama, 10, applied bright-pink acrylic paint to a panel section printed with the stylized black outline of a flower.

She said the project was “really cool,” adding: “I can look at my work if I go to the beach later on.”

Her mother, Jane Tsuchiyama, said she appreciates the program’s emphasis on civic engagement. Portraits of Hope projects that 45 million beachgoers will see the public exhibit.

This is art writ large, akin to the temporary “environmental” works by Christo and his late wife, Jeanne-Claude.

Portraits of Hope’s high-profile public art projects serve as creative therapy and teach students about involvement in civic activities, Ed Massey said. The group has transformed a DC-3, a blimp, buildings, tugboats, NASCAR race cars and the New York City taxi fleet. Closer to home, school students and hospitalized pediatric patients in 2000 painted the panels adorning the Beverly Hills High School oil derrick.

Each lifeguard tower will have a sponsor paying $10,000, organizers said. Ed Massey, a painter and sculptor, credited Los Angeles County Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky and Don Knabe for championing the effort. The Los Angeles County Lifeguard Assn., the union that represents lifeguards, is collaborating.

Frank Bird, a member of the union’s board, said he expects that a lot of visitors this summer will be asking about the enormous flowers and other patterns. Creative locals, he said, have decorated the occasional tower on the sly. But, he added, “there’s never been anything on this scale.”

For more information, visit www.portraitsofhope.org.

— Martha Groves

Photo: (Top) Cups of paint were set up Friday for students, teachers and parents to decorate colorful panels as part of a project to decorate more than 150 lifeguard towers on the Los Angeles County coast.  (2nd photo) Palisades Elementary Charter School students Grant Ebner, Elise Angelich and Nina Polishook, from left, apply paint with rollers. Credits: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

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The San Pedro nonprofit group charged with treating sick pelicans is suffering an affliction of its own: strapped finances.

That’s because a cold and starving pelican eats a whopping 6 pounds of fish a day — half its body weight.



Hundreds of brown pelicans turned up dead or ailing along the West Coast in January after what researchers said was a miscalculation: They strayed to the far northern edge of their range, stayed too long and ran out of food. When they came south, they found food scant here too.



So they turned up listless on beaches or begging for food in parking lots, and were rescued by San Pedro’s Oiled Bird Care and Education Center.

Read the full story here.

— Jill Leovy

Photo: Afternoon feeding time creates a frenzy around the outside aviary at the International Bird Rescue Research Center in San Pedro, where scores of pelicans have been rehabilitated and returned to the wild. Credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

More breaking news in L.A. Now:

Manhunt underway for driver who fatally struck 19-year-old man in San Bernardino

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New push to exempt California’s county jails from inmate-release law

L.A. police warns against dangers of angel’s trumpet as Los Feliz teens get sick

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