LA Times Science Files for 2007/07/10

These are items compiled by staff of the LA Times.

• RESTORATION
  Restoring mildewed memories
  

  Diamondhead, Miss. – As after any natural disaster, the belongings most mourned by Hurricane Katrina survivors were family photos – irreplaceable moments of celebration, youth and loved ones frozen in time. So two photojournalists launched Operation Photo Rescue. By Ann Simons, Times Staff Writer.

• PUBLIC HEALTH
  West Nile already in 26 counties in state
  

  SAN FRANCISCO – West Nile virus is off to an early start this year with reports of the disease in 26 California counties, prompting health officials to call on the public to take aggressive preventive measures. By Richard C. Paddock, Times Staff Writer.

• ANIMALS
  The fur flies over spaying proposal
  

  SACRAMENTO – A retired game show host is vying with a famous canine film star this week over a proposal to require Californians to spay or neuter their pets, a bill that has sparked emotional debate and created the largest volume of public response of any measure in the state Legislature this year. By Patrick McGreevy, Times Staff Writer.

• ENVIRONMENT
  Marina seen as a threat to Baja estuary
  

  SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO – In a rocky, dun landscape dominated by saguaro and prickly pear, the estuary of the San Jose River is an oasis-like explosion of green. But population growth in the Los Cabos region is placing the rich marsh under assault, environmentalists say. To build the newest big tourist project, a marina called Puerto Los Cabos, developers carved out a huge chunk of the estuary. By Hictor Tobar, Times Staff Writer.

• METEOROLOGY
  Hurricane center chief is forced out
  

  MIAMI – In what people here are calling “the ‘cane mutiny,” forecasters at the National Hurricane Center succeeded Monday in getting their commander ousted. Just six months into the job and in the midst of an active storm season, Director Bill Proenza was put on leave and replaced by his deputy, said Anson Franklin, spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. By Carol J. Williams, Times Staff Writer.

• ENVIRONMENT
  Cleaner locomotive starts its port duty
  

  Jeff Robinson settled into the driver’s seat of his new, low-emission locomotive Monday, released the air brakes and moved a throttle lever, making the engine roar and his train rumble forward with 9,000 tons of imported goods in tow. The locomotive could easily have been mistaken for a 1950s model, But under the hood was an example of cutting-edge diesel-electric technology: a V-12, 2,000-horsepower machine that dramatically cuts unhealthful emissions. By Louis Sahagun, Times Staff Writer.

• OPINION
  Live Earth: Dead on arrival
  

  “If you want to save the planet, I want you to start jumping up and down. Come on, mother-[bleepers]!” Madonna railed from the stage at London’s Live Earth concert Saturday. “If you want to save the planet, let me see you jump!” What else could capture the canned juvenilia of a 48-year-old centimillionaire – who owns nine homes and has a “carbon footprint” nearly 100 times larger than the norm – hectoring a bunch of well-off, aging hipsters to show their Earth-love by jumping up and down like children? By Jonah Goldberg.