Off Monday's Echo Park Animal Alliance's list serve, whose writer got it off of the Red Car site in Silver Lake. The big tawny cat is spotted again in Silver Lake's eastern edge, not far from Echo Park. The list poster provides some information about mountain lions vis-a-vis their residence in Griffith Park or Elysian Park.

I received an email from a neighbor reporting a mountain lion sighting this morning, near the south end of the Red Car Property. The neighbor reported siting the large cat between houses near the southern intersection of Lake View & Silver Ridge. The neighbor looked up mountain lions and bobcats on-line and confirmed what she and her husband saw was a mountain lion. She reported it to Animal Services. A wildlife officer will investigate.

This is an unconfirmed sighting. I am merely passing information along in the event you think you've seen a mountain lion or bobcat in the neighborhood. You should report it immediately to Animal Services: (323) 225-WILD (9453) or toll free: (888) 452-7381. The Animal Services Wildlife Officer for our area is Greg Randall. If you see a mountain lion in the neighborhood: call 911 immediately.

Bobcats are found in Griffith Park but not Elysian Park. The Griffith Park Mountain Lion found its way to Griffith Park a few years ago from the Verdugo Mountains via the Verdugo Wash and the Los Angeles River. It was considered a fluke that the cat found it's way to the park. Mountain lions prey on deer, which are native to Griffith Park. There are no deer or mountain lions in Elysian Park. For more info on mountain lions and urban wildlife: http://www.laanimalservices.com/aboutani_wildlife.htm.

Since the Griffith Park Fire, wildlife has been turning up in neighborhoods where it has never been seen before. While it is possible that a mountain lion found its way here, it is very unlikely. It is more likely the big cat may be someone's escaped "pet."

Meoww.

Confirmed: a pair of particularly nasty storylines converge today as demolitions begin on "site 9A" properties, stolen from the community by LAUSD, and the demolition of one of the Foursquare Church's apartment buildings. The church's Spanish-style apartments, a bungalow court on Glendale Blvd., are now a pile of rubble. Soon to be a parking structure, if the Angeles Temple gets its way.

My post earlier today implied the complex was on Lakeshore. That was Chicken Corner's cluck-lexia, imagining Joe's description of the area backward. They're on Glendale. Or they were.

In a better world, the Dodgers' Billy Preston Gate would open only for egrets. Like this snowy egret captured by Martin Cox over the weekend. Chicken Corner's hardest-working waterfowl papparazzo used a long-distance lens as the publicity-shy bird shopped for fry on one of the small, grassy Echo Park Lake islands. I've seen one like it on the big island and in a palm tree over the lake, perhaps the same individual.


Photo: Snowy Egret, Echo Park Lake, July 28, 2007
By Martin Cox

Black Monday: Demolition has started on the "site 9A" houses, and my friend Joe emailed me about a bungalow court biting the dust on Lakeshore:

I just drove up Glendale from Beverly and took the veer right onto Lakeshore. There, a few doors down from OK windows , a cool-looking bungalow courtyard complex was being destroyed. It looked like it was built in the 20's or 30's and it's half demolished. What a sin.

If you don't know Echo Park, then you may not know that bungalow courts are one of the distinctive historic features of the neighborhood, and they have helped ensure the conditions of a mixed economy around here. They've also contributed to the sense of cummunal vitality, creating little towns within the town, where neighbors know one another. And they are attractive. Each one lost is a loss for the entire community. That is what we want isn't it? A community? And not just a bunch of new spec houses?

As for 9A. I can barely bring myself even to face it. Fifty old houses. Two hundred-plus people illegally, needlessly "eminent-domained." It's essentially a rape of the neighborhood, by an agency that knows the school is not needed in this area, where campuses are underenrolled and the population is not expected to rise for many many years. It's entirely unclear exactly what the LAUSD hopes to gain by this action. Seems it just couldn't stop itself, like a giant, broken machine with no off button, no wait and think mechanism.

This morning, a "Beautification" team (that's what the yellow t-shirts said) was deployed to the long mural on Academy beneath Morton Terrace. The two-wall mural, which covers the steep retaining walls that make Morton Terrace possible on both sides, long has been part of the visual landscape here in EP, as has the graffiti that makes it look almost 3-D, even as it defaces it. But now we can watch all of it disappear in slow-slow-slow motion.... as the beautifiers planted wall-covering creeping ficus (I don't know the actual name of the plant, though I see it everywhere, including at my own home). G-o-o-o-o-o-o-d-b-y-y-y-e, mural.

Could it be the legendary mountain lion of Griffith Park? The one whose presence in GP was confirmed about a year ago? Today an Echo Park Animal Alliance list-serve poster reported seeing a big cat with a long tail -- that would not be a bobcat.

This morning we were walking our pug and we saw what looked at first to be a coyote... but then became very clear was not. It had a long body and cat like movements, but was way too big to be a house cat. It was quite large. Hard to say how big as we were seeing it from the distance. His coloring was the same as the brush. And it had a long tail. I called the park service and spoke to a Wildlife Ranger. He said it was most likely a Bobcat. I just wanted everyone to know and be aware. The sighting was near the intersection of Silver Ridge Avenue and Lakeview... in the neighborhood behind Ralph's. He was traversing a hillside between two homes. Keep a look out. And keep your little dogs (and children) safe. The wildlife from the park has been completely displaced due to the fires and the dry weather.

If you hike over to Fellowship Park Way, and bring a pair of binocs, maybe you'll see him or her trying to make it to Elysian Park across the 2 freeway canyon.

An LA Times story yesterday reported a weird series of sneak attacks, which has left four Latino middle-aged men seriously hurt. Assailant(s) have snuck up behind the victims and hit them on the head, possibly with a baseball bat. The men were not robbed. Victims never saw their stalkers, and there are no known witnesses. Eric Garcetti told the Times that three of the attacks occurred near his house, in Elysian Heights. Very creepy.

A relative of 15-year-old Michael Joseph Lezay emailed me the following:

Michael was a much loved, cousin, son, brother and grandson. He was raised in Echo Park, by a very tight-knit family, of Slavic and Latino descent. Michael was loved for his self-deprecating humor, his wit and love of family. I wonder if the shooter actually understood exactly who he killed on that day? Did he think it was just a fifteen year old boy who just happened to be an easy target? Did he think no one would take notice and just chalk it up to another victim of gang violence? We hope Michael's killer is caught soon. We encourage anyone who has any information about Michael's death to contact the LAPD.

Driving in the vicinty of the shooting earlier today -- the streets were quiet, shady. Kids played outdoors at the Montessori school. No one else seemed to be out of doors, as was typical midday. I saw the shrine in the alley. I would have missed it if I hadn't known to look.

Lots of changes on the commercial face of Echo Park recently. Some good, some not so funny, some unlisted. Here's a short few that have caught Chicken Corner's attention recently:

The fancy dogs will be happy to know about the grand opening of K9 Loft on Sunset Boulevard (near Wells Tile) this saturday. On-leash excursions to Echo Park, full boutique services, golf (just kidding).

A new micro art gallery called Birdcage, or something like it, on Echo Park Ave. at Scott. The gallerist whom I met -- he was sitting in front about a week ago -- said they keep Echo Park gallery hours: Thurs to Sun, 1 p.m. to later, said he would be sure to keep the hours. It had small sculptures that looked like cars on wheels.

A secret-looking barber shop farther north (from Birdcage) on Echo Park Ave. in the space that once was occupied by Kill City Choppers. Big roll-down door halfway rolled up, glass doors propped open just enough that if you're passing you can see inside to where people said they were cutting hair, and, yes, they were. No sign of course.

A new design studio on Echo Park Ave. where the sign remains for Vega's Carniceria. Some of us are old enough to remember when Vega's was open to sell candy and meats. The new studio is just an office right now, but, sleek and spiffy, it looks like a gallery with a display of an odd-looking bicycle and skyscraper chairs in the window.

Otherwise, business as usual? Guys with EP gang tattoes hanging out on Echo Park Ave. talking money into cell phones. Bald heads. One of them listens to country music in his car.

I used to buy a bag of fruit from the vendor(s) at Sunset and Echo Park Ave. A particularly satisfying addiction, the taste of pineapple, canteloupe, cucumber, jicama, salt and cayenne and some lime. They used to change $2. Suddenly, it's $5. I'm not saying it isn't worth $5 (though maybe it's not), but I couldn't stomach the price change -- and I suspect it may not be universal.

Shoe shine: I saw an elderly man, the kind of man who looks 80 when he's 50, sitting next to his shoeshine set up. Everything in shoe boxes and a little stool. He sat on a chair, sleeping, with his head supported (if that's the word) somehow by the side of the public phone dome.

Antique row is for sale. On Sunset, west of Alvarado. More on this to come. The shop owners are reportedly existing in a state of we-may-not-behere.... The row of low-slung brown brick storefronts ought to be protected.

Still waiting to find out how the sale of Jensen's apartments and storefronts building -- an Echo park landmark -- will affect both commerical and residential tenants. Last time I peeked into the window of the pawn shop it was heavy on power tools.

Still waiting for Prado to become a wine bar.

Not business-related but worth relating: Chicken Corner saw the following on Sunset and Echo Park Ave., the commercial hub of the neighborhood: a young (either Asian or Latino or both) skateboard dude, rolling across the street in the crosswalk, smoking a cigar.

New gallery sign for a gallery (I think) called Grotesque (Echo Park Ave. and Duane). During the Lotus Fest taggers hit it. Their message: "No more bad art." By the time we walked back from the festival, the offending marks had been painted over. Central City Action Committee to the rescue?

At last night's Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council meeting -- which went till past 11 p.m. -- Detective Morris and the Northeast Division's new commanding officer, Captain Perez, gave a brief update on the shooting of Michael Joseph Lezay on Baxter last Saturday.

According to our neighborhood representative, Christine Peters,

The young man, was shot once, fatally. There was no info on whether it was a turf war or an inside spat. Sadly, he had been recently inducted into the "EXP" Gang. Many who knew him and know his family are very upset that he became a victim of bad judgement. The investigation is still open and no new info is available.

Peters said that community members who want to discuss the shooting and other public safety issues can speak to reps from the LAPD and City staff at the "Positive Energy" monthly meeting tomorrow night (Thursday) at 6 p.m., at the Edendale Library.

The last few days I have been asked about 15 times if I knew anything about the killing of the 15-year-old boy behind the Montessori School on Baxter last Saturday. It happened at about 8:30 p.m., and many people were home and awake, so it seems almost everyone heard the shots. My daughter was home that night with her babysitter, and when we walked in Elysian Park park two days ago she became frightened for the first time when she heard the gunshots from the Police Academy target practice.

About the killing, all I know is the boy's name (Michael Joseph Lezay), his age, and that his death may have been gang-related, which does not necessarily mean that he was in the gang. One reader, Mari, whose daughter attends the Montessori school at Baxter and Echo Park Ave. wrote to me about a shrine in the alley:

The shooting was in the alley just behind Baxter Montessori, where my daughter goes to school. [snip] There's a shrine in the alley where the boy was shot. There's always a disconnect when you read that a child was 15--I think of them as almost grown. Yet from his photo, he was just a kid. When I picked my daughter up yesterday, there were about 12 family members at the shrine, lighting candles and crying. I realized that while parents of gang members may be very different from me, they're not very different at all.

Another reader, Janos, took issue with my comment about the NRA (its credo that "guns don't kill people"). Honestly, I thought there were only two NRA members in Echo Park (one of whom I haven't seen in a while but have always been fond of), but it seems there are three and, who knows, maybe more, maybe scores.

Dear Jenny, If all private ownership of guns are made illegal, then only criminals will have them. BTW, homicide is illegal, but criminals seem to commit them. The NRA had nothing to do with that tragic murder, but maybe some of the 150,000 gang members in LA County did. I'm born and raised in LA, have lived in Echo Park for 5 years, and am a proud member of the NRA.

I appreciate Janos' point of view: to ignore the possible street gang role in the killing would be blind. Though perhaps the problem lies in the word "gang": In Chicken Corner's dictionary, the NRA falls squarely into the definition of an organized gang, as a group comprised of individuals committed to violence as well as political and economic influence.

NRA, gang...Maybe "the problem" is that no one has an adequate peg on which to hang their thoughts and feelings in regard to the killing of this young person, but we all need to talk about it nonetheless.

It's not just people who pack up and hit the road. For its quarterly meeting the Echo Park Historical Society will show you a fourplex that faced annihilation and changed its address and got a renovation. No small feat when the easy ticket would have been to let the city knock it down and forget about it.

EPHS:

In August 2002, a Craftsman apartment building threatened with demolition was moved in the middle of the night down Sunset Boulevard to a safe haven in Angelino Heights. It was only the beginning of a long journey through the renovation process for the building and its owner, Kevin Kuzma. Come take a look at the place and find out about the challenges Kuzma faced in rescuing and restoring this piece of Echo Park History. This presentation is part of the EPHS' quarterly meeting, which is free and open to the public
Meeting Date & Time: Wednesday, July 25 at 6:30 p.m. The house will be open to the public at 6:30 pm. A presentation will follow at 7 pm.

Location: : 1121 W. Marion Ave. (between Sunset Blvd. & Kensington Rd.)

The house used to be on Alvarado between the Downbeat and the Methodist Church. It sat on what now is the parking lot of the Edendale Library.

(Disclaimer: yours truly is on the board of the Echo Park Historical Society.)

It only occurs to me now, but some two years ago, when the sound of gunshots in Echo Park was fading down rapidly, Chicken Corner never would have called Echo Park the "drive-to" neighborhood except in irony. How quickly we fall asleep when things get quiet.

Saturday there was a fatal shooting near our house in Elysian Heights. We weren't home to hear the shots. I heard about it today. One reader emailed me:

As to "Echo Park, the drive-to neighborhood"....sadly it seems possibly also to be still "Echo Park, the drive-by neighborhood." Perhaps it was merely a lovers' quarrel, but the police tape across Baxter at Echo Park Avenue and up the hill at Vestal and word from police that a 24-year-old man had died brought back memories of the Echo Park of the 1980s when shootings were a regular thing.

Eating dinner outside at friends' on Altivo Way, we debated the two quick pops. Was it gunfire or leftover fireworks? The sirens and circling helicopter gave us the answer.

A typical conversation (even now, occasionally) in my house:

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah."

"How many did you hear?"

A friend on our street emailed the neighbors the following from the LA Times homicide blog:

Michael Joseph Lezay, 15, a Latino youngster, was found dead of a single gunshot wound in an alley after people heard shots coming from the 1600 block of Baxter Street in Echo Park at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, July 21. It was the first homicide this year in Echo Park. LAPD Northeast homicide detectives seek information. Call (213) 847-4261.

Fifteen? And the NRA says guns don't shoot people.

A short dog walk up to Park Drive, down the Baxter steps. Within about 200 yards, I start to notice license plates: there's Iowa, Washington the evergreen state, New York, Oklahoma's present and, then, of course, California. Lots of transplant. Everything and everyone. Even Rosie the dog is wearing out-of-state tags on her collar. That's the ecology around here. Except for the exceptions. Lots of buckwheat on one hillside, homegrown.

Kobie has been lost for over a week and a half. A fireworks party with leftover incendiaries several days after the 4th spooked -- terrified -- the large, emotionally fragile dog, a rescue of sorts, who broke out of his yard and ran. You may have seen the pet detectives' van that parked near Morton for a couple of days -- one of the investigators thought the dog was nearby, hiding in a temporarily feral state, the other thought he had run far. Or you may have seen any of the scores of large posters offering the reward. You may have followed with interest the vision of an animal communicator (presumably paid) who "saw" the brindled greyhound-mix near Avon Park Terrace, and the seriousness with which her report was followed by the dozens of Kobie supporters on the Echo Park Animal Alliance list -- and the many offers of help from neighbors who weren't on the EPAA list. Then there was Kobie's owner's plea to the neighborhood to wish for Kobie to be brave and come home. Still, no word of Kobie. Chicken Corner adds its two clucks to the harmony, "Come home Kobie."

On the Echo Park Animal Alliance list talk turned to crows this week. In numbers larger than usual.

I was in my back yard today [July 14] and heard a lot of crow noise. I looked up and saw about 10 crows flying toward the front of my house. I went up front and saw about 30 crows flying around two trees across the street from me. More crows kept coming, I think in the end there were about 50 to 60 crows, cawing, circling, flying. This went on for about 15 minutes and then they flew away. Something was really disturbing them; they were really agitated.

Funny, I have been noticing crows more than ever this year, too. I thought it was just me. For some reason I was seeing more and more of them. Maybe I was depressed. Except that I happen to admire crows. So, maybe I was happier than ever.

Narcissism aside (really?), EPAA list servers report seeing a lot of crows this year. Perhaps not for the jokiest of reasons. One member responded:

As the drought continues creatures will be hungry. Maybe that's all it was with the crows. Last week there were crows everywhere around the homes near Flat Top (Montecito Heights). I've never seen so many crows since I lived around pecan orchards. They're huge, too. ... Everything's hungry.

Another reader wrote:

Funny, walking in the park this morning I stopped to watch a few crows and realized there were several dozen of them right in the area I was watching, as if they were gathering for some reason. I've never seen that many in one area before and they're such big birds, it was impressive.

A few years ago I heard or read about a biologist who talked about crows roosting in large numbers at night, as I recall he was studying a place in Whittier where hundreds of them would gather at sundown, and then they would disperse during the day. I wonder if they're gathering in Echo Park?

That would be the posh crows. Boho crows are flocking to El Sereno.

Photo by Martin Cox: Echo Park Lake 2007

A Martin Cox photo is worth 1,500 words. And this one is lovely and horrible for all the noise it suggests. Then, today, I received a video clip of fireworks from blogger Kevin McCollister, who said, "I was at the 4th of July celebrations at Echo Park [Lake] and took this video (it seemed like a war zone)."

I forwarded the short clip to my husband, RJ Smith, and his response:

Wow -- that was kind of cool in a harrowing sort of way! A cross between Blair Witch Project -- if BWP's camera holder had been running between palm trees -- and tracer fire scene from some Vietnam movie. I hope the turtles were asleep in their shells.

Pretty good thumbnail history/selling-points profile of rural-like Elysian Heights in Sunday's LA Times Real Estate section, headlined "Sticks or the city."

Back in the days of the horse-drawn streetcar, Elysian Heights...

...residents were a diverse lot. Artists, writers and musicians lived side by side with grocers, bricklayers and factory workers. The assortment contributed to the neighborhood's ethnic and economic mix, as well as its reputation as a haven for liberal politics. Both are still evident today.

But...

As crime rates have fallen — about 60% overall since 2000, according to the LAPD — housing prices have soared. This has some longtime residents worried that gentrification will destroy the eclectic character of the neighborhood. Others would accept the boredom of a more suburban atmosphere in exchange for less graffiti and better schools. But it's unlikely dramatic changes will occur soon.

A couple of nice photos in print edition, and there you go.

Photo by Martin Cox, July 14, 2007: View from east side of Echo Park Lake of the fire on Alvarado, about 1/8 mile away.

Doors were open at the Downbeat this morning, which led some neighbors to think the wonderful cafe on Avarado was open for business. It is not. The fire Saturday led to extensive damage in both the Downbeat and the shop next door, La Dita, and both are closed. The fire was upstairs, and one person may have been injured. No news on whether the beloved Echo Park Film Center was hurt, too.

Chicken Corner had been planning to applaud Dan, the new Downbeat's owner, who bought the place from Dave several months ago, because Dan kept his word about not making changes. Apparently, he knew a good thing when he saw it. The staff stayed, the room remained what it was, the clientele -- which is quite diverse in terms of age, ethnicity and class -- held steady, the food was great. Dakota, who manages the kitchen, says he doesn't know what will happen now. They are taking stock of the situation. He said he was fine, but he sounded shaken.

Photo by Martin Cox, July 13, 2007

A domestic-style goose mingled with chairs. And with the invited, who had made her home their island Friday night during a pre-Lotus Festival fundraiser meal on the Echo Park Lake island. (The island, which usually is off-limits to human visitors, probably has a name.) The bird and turtles may have been put out by the Rec and Parks event and by the fireworks, but at least...

...the pedal boats seem to have been booked solid throughout the Lotus Fest weekend.

Bastille Day? It's a coincidence. The Echo Park Lake fireworks this weekend are in celebration of the lotus festival. I'd say they were in celebration of the lotus themselves, but the lotus didn't show up the party this year. They simply neglected to grow. Except for a very small fraction on the guest list (I'd say one for every forty). But the fireworks will crackle nonetheless. Which makes me think once again of the fireworks of week gone past: a reader named Darren Sirkin emailed me with an account of watching both the fireworks at the lake and a neighbor hosing down his roof in the midst of festivities.

According to Sirkin:

Echo Park [Lake] - July 4, 2007: probably the best, longest free fireworks show ever witnessed.

Well, not if you're a goose or duck or palm tree.

Here's a portion of Daniel Hernandez's LA Weekly account of 4th of July, a la Echo Park.

You would think, given the risk levels of handling fireworks, that police and fire squads would blanket Echo Park Lake every July 4, but the exact opposite is true. They just stay away. When a tall palm on the east side of the lake caught fire two years ago, a lone LAFD engine showed up to put it out. The very crowds who were lighting the fireworks cheered on and applauded the firefighters who fought the flames with a hose, while little boys kept lighting bottle rockets on the sidewalk, directly in front of the engine. Everyone was having a blast. I remember the firefighters, after they doused the burning palm tree, posing for photographs with proud mothers and their small children, a reminder that immigrants, more than they’re given credit for, really love and admire the most classic icons of American heroism, cops and firemen.

Even as Echo Park changes into a more high-income area, enforcing L.A.’s fireworks laws at the lake on the Fourth will never really be feasible. The big secret about law enforcement in Los Angeles is that if a certain code or statute contradicts the social traditions of the massive Mexican and Central American work force that keeps the city running, it simply isn’t enforced. Look at street vendors, or the gardeners with their blowers. And in the grand American tradition of fusion, the Fourth of July in particular has evolved into an immigrants’ holiday. Fireworks, widely used in Latin American religious and patriotic festivals, are reminders of home. And the fact that the tradition is illegal is hardly a hindrance. We’re celebrating liberty here, remember? Lighting illegal fireworks is basically an expression of American independence, in the raw.

If you live in Echo Park -- or walk Elysian -- you've probably seen the signs. It's a party! The now-annual poop pick-up in Elysian Park. Dog owners, walkers, dogs, park lovers who just want to help keep the western trails of Elysian Park beautiful all come for a morning of stooping for poop. Of course there's talk and snacks, the satisfaction of park husbandry. After last year's pick up I could see the difference. The western trails were cleaner.

Info:

Please join us on Sunday July 15th from 8:30 to Noon. Meet us at the memorial garden, aka the watering area just east of the park entrance located at the top of Park Drive. We will provide bags, snacks and water.

Why should we pick up the poop? The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority believes:

1. Dog waste left on the trail is not only unsightly, but also extremely dangerous, transmitting disease to wildlife and people. It contains harmful parasites, bacteria, and odors that wild animal waste does not.

2. Domestic dog waste left on the trail gets washed away contaminating our storm drains, rivers, lakes, streams, beaches and oceans. This contributes to algae blooms in our waterways, which affect water quality and marine wildlife. Children play in the swash zone where fecal contamination is greatest.

3. Children or a person with a weakened immune system can get toxicaris, a disease cause by the eggs of round worms, which can lead to permanent blindness.

4. Dog waste left on the trail adds significant amounts of nitrogen to the soil, encouraging the growth of non-native plants.

Photo by Martin Cox, July 8, 2007

Well, canceling the boats (NOT!) may have lifted the dowdy little pedal-powered craft high on a wave.

Martin Cox, who has worked hard to keep Chicken Corner informed where the lake is concerned, offered this pedal boats report. July 8:

Spoke to lifeguard today, last name Castro, been there six years, said ridership is at max, all boats rented all day. I waited in line with ten people for 30 minutes to get one!

Never was a wait in line so welcome.

Then, come this morning, Eric Garcetti gave a press conference in front of the boathouse. Garcetti's news was all good. (Not a word about sick lotus or ugly parking structures. To be fair, no one asked about those things, not even yours from Chicken Corner.) The boats were back, Eric said it in English and Spanish. As for next year, "As long as I'm a councilmember the boats won't go away."

Thomas DeBoe chairman of the Echo Park Advisory Board offered a few words as well, including the news that a photography club would be documenting the lake as a project.

Then it was time for Eric to ride a boat. Photo op. But his staff members had taken two boats -- which had been made available special for the occasion -- and had pedaled too far to get back right away. So everyone waited. "They're having too much fun," someone said. But they rushed back to shore, pedaling hard, and Eric got his brief turn, with cameras for company.

Some LAUSD elves scurried out last week and removed the strange signs -- see photo above -- that had been posted on and in the vicinity of Marathon Street. As the posted information was untrue, the elves agreed to take them down. It's July 9, and they are no longer available for viewing, though Marathon Street is, of course, still open for business.

...at this point, says Mitch O'Farrell of Eric Garcetti's CD-13 office. Mitch said the council president's office was taken aback by news that the LAUSD had posted signs announcing it would close Marathon Street permanently on July 9 -- without having received permission from the city council to take the street from the city.

According to Mitch, the district has "no authorization to [vacate the street] whatsoever. They have received no permits. It hasn’t gone through the city council process. All they’ve done is put in an application." For some, wishing is believing.

Apparently, the school district has realized its folly because they agreed to take down the signs immediately.

"I find this disappointing, and I'm a little stupefied by the gall," Mitch said, adding that he was very glad they were removing the signs.

...but Echo Park Lake does.

Notice of Street Vacation: LAUSD has posted signs near Marathon Street declaring that the public street will be closed permanently -- from Mohawk to Alvarado -- starting July 9. The district does not seem to think it needs a permit to do so. But, according to reliable sources, it DOES need a permit -- obtained from the Bureau of Engineering after city council authorizes it by vote -- and it does NOT have one. And the council president, Eric Garcetti, who represents this area, is on record strongly opposing the LAUSD project of building a school building at the Marathon Street site. It's the infamous "Site 9A," where 200+ have been kicked out of their homes. Once again, the LAUSD has hewn to its principle of grab first, ask never.

Meanwhile, reports of eery quiet in Echo Park over Independence Day Wednesday were greatly exaggerated. It did get thoroughly noisy. Never louder so than at Echo Park Lake, which is now littered with fireworks debris, and burned palm trees.

At least the pedal boats are still kicking. During the day on the 4th, they were all taken as people celebrated the news that the boats will be back in business until September. Friends of mine had to race down to the boathouse to make sure they could get a boat.

The Echo Park Improvement Association broke the story in its EPIA newsletter: Lucha Libre in the Echo.

…right next door to the Del Mor [apartment building on Echo Park Ave.] is – whump! – a gray industrial shed that houses a ring for Lucha Libre, the Mexican-style of wrestling….Lucha Libre is a pastime of Sergio, the Del Mor’s building manager, who uses the ring to train would-be wrestlers in the sport. Sergio has even been known to hand out a few free passes to Mexican wrestling matches to tenants in the Del Mor.

Vive la lucha!

A brand new gone. July 3: 10 a.m. no sign of demolition as I cruised down Echo PArk Avenue in my dusty Jetta. 8 p.m., on foot, I walked past two bulldozers that hadn’t been there earlier. The Headstart preschool building is rubble. Gone. Piles of drywall and wood and plastic piping probably from a children’s climbing structure. In the yard is a plastic playhouse and a plastic slide turned over on its side. The banner advertising Headstart sign-up is still hanging from the chain link. I had heard that the owner of the property, a longtime resident and property owner from Echo Park, had planned to do away with the Headstart building. This rumor was true.

July 4, early afternoon: last night was the quietest pre-4th I have ever experienced. Virtually no premature fireworks. Not to be compared to any pre-4th I've known in Echo Park, where firecrackers and roman candles as well as the bigger stuff lights for days before the actual holidays and the whole neighborhood raises its voice in the heat. July 3, 2001, for example. We had both fireworks and a gun battle nearby. The cats could tell the difference. When the gunfire started, they RAN for the house, together, instead of merely cowering and slinking into the bushes as they did with fireworks. Lively is good, gunfire bad. But yesterday was quiet, even more so than usual these days, as many people are out of town and so natural ambient noise is a bit lower. It was as if no one in the neighborhood was speaking out loud or playing music. At my house, we're doing our best to rectify the situation by blasting the White Stripes and Willie Nelson and hanging out in the front yard. And tonight, after the fireworks start, dog owners all over the neighborhood will be trotting out their White Zombie CDs. While the dogs are sleeping, let’s hope the Dodgers don’t burn Elysian Park to a crisp. July 3, Warren Olney discussed the matter of fire safety on this historically tinder-dry Independence Day in Los Angeles.

This past weekend, while my husband and daughter walked to Delilah Bakery, I went yard-saling with my dog and ended up with the following tossed into the backseat of my car: A candle sconce from Mexico, a picture frame, a paper umbrella, a paperback copy of Women in Love (only to discover later I already owned a copy), Baby Gap PJs for a 3-year-old, a metal thing with floral elements and no obvious purpose. The Things She Drove Around. At one group sale a woman -- who turned out to be Rochelle of Park Drive -- called out: "Do you write the blog?" She sounded friendly, so I admitted it, why, yes (feathers a-flutter), that's me.

"I recognize your dog. Not even your dog. I recognize your dog's nose."

I looked down at Rosie. Yes, that was her own nose she was wearing, just as she does in the photograph above. She was standing on some of the baby clothes that had been carefully folded and laid out.

Rosie, you're famous.

Speaking of dogs, this just in from a member of the Echo Park Animal Alliance, where discussion has turned to protecting our pets from fireworks trauma (some people suggest loud noise indoors as an aural antidote to the bombs exploding outside):

We found loud punk rock or heavy metal works really well (that is if your dog is accustomed to hearing it). We played White Zombie a few years back – worked like a charm. The dog didn’t even notice the fireworks once we put that CD on; fell asleep immediately.

Maybe Rosie will like the Arctic Monkeys. Or My Bloody Valentine.

Splashing good news. 11:45: Josh Kamensky of Eric Garcetti's CD-13 office tells me:

We'll definitely have the [pedal] boats out tomorrow. More to come....

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Can we have our weekends back, too?

Here's a vintage postcard of Echo Park Lake that Martin Cox sent to Chicken Corner -- dated July 1910. The lake looks quite different these days. It changes with the times, a reflection of its city.

The city has provided -- let's hope for the time being only -- even more reason to leave the neighborhood come the weekend. Or maybe what it provided is less reason to visit Echo Park Lake. Chicken Corner did, in fact, make a beach run on Sunday, but heard through the grapevine that the boats on the lake have been shut down. Because they are "financially unsustainable." Does it really cost that much to run the historic and enriching concession? Does a soccer field -- which has to be mowed and tended, etc. -- have to make money? Isn't free, or low-cost, enjoyment of recreational services worth something? Isn't recreational enjoyment -- of a lake that the city maintains for the public anyway -- the kind of service that strengthens families and builds civic morale?

Garcetti's office said they were on the case. But the boats were unavailable this weekend.

Given that the city's strapped in so many directions -- hospitals, schools, for two -- I wouldn't raise my voice to call for a new boathouse, a new lake and a new boats concession. But, once we already have these things, to let them rot seems penny-pinching, informed by a very poor sense of asset management and maximization.

Weekends are crowded at Echo Park Lake, but it seems a portion of the hood likes to sun-and-run at El Matador, too. A Sunday visit to the beach, north of Zuma, brought us face-to-face with lots of people we see in northeast LA. We ran into two pairs of folks from Echo Park and one group from nearby in Glendale. Our friend and EP neighbor Roger Guenveure Smith, a mid-afternoon arrival at the shore, said he ALWAYS runs into Echo Park neighbors at El Matador. He suggested a carpool sign-up at Chango Coffeehouse. Not a bad idea, not a bad idea at all. Meanwhile, Jonathan Lethem's hipsters in his latest novel wouldn't go to any beach other than Matador. But Lethem's You Don't Love Me Yet characters all seem to be from downtown and Silver Lake, and I didn't spot any of them this past Sunday.