- Making News: Pope John Paul Gets Last Rights at the Vatican
The Vatican reports that Pope John Paul has been given the "last rights." In 1981, he also received "the sacrament of anointing the sick," when he was shot by a would-be assassin. Today, the Pope reportedly has a high fever due to a urinary tract infection, aggravated by his Parkinson's disease. After a tracheotomy in February and with a tube in his windpipe to help him breathe, yesterday he was put on a nasal feeding tube. Father Frank Silva of St. Ann's Parish in Wayland, a suburb of Boston, muses about the man who's been Pope for 26 years. - Reporter's Notebook: Historical Artifacts Damaged by Rainstorms
Freelance photographer Gary Leonard is a local institution. His most recent book is Symphony in Steel, about Disney Concert Hall, and his images of Ventura Boulevard are part of a show opening in April at the Central Library. Leonard is also a collector of historical artifacts, small things that often have big stories to tell. But many items in a collection that goes back 40 years have been lost to the recent storms, which caused leaks in the Echo Park building where they've been stored.
Record Rain Still Causing Damage in Los Angeles
Yesterday in Tarzana, a 75-foot pine tree fell on a Jeep Grand Cherokee and killed the 75-year-old driver. The wind was strong, but not unusually so for this time of year, demonstrating that trees in ground saturated by record rainfall could be dangerous. Andy Lipkis, president of TreePeople, says that healthy trees can actually help protect the regions watershed. He offers some timely suggestions to protect your property and your trees.