Tuesday, Echo Park Lake: I hadn't been to the park much in recent weeks, and, perhaps because of reports of prostitution in the public bathrooms and an uptick in graffiti, I am surprised to find the park looking better than ever -- and cleaner in two ways. First, the dry-ground parts of the park have been groomed. The putrid, dank garbage and muck filled basin at the northeast corner of the lake has, for the first time I have seen, been cleaned out, the slime and styrofoam takeout containers scraped away somehow to reveal the welcome sight of sun-dried concrete at the bottom of the ramp leading ot some kind of filtration bunker. And all around the park, the grounds have been combed and trash removed. Didn't take a look at the bathrooms. Maybe they're more cheerful, too.