Nuclear Disaster

Stanley O. Williford  |   OW Editor
Mar 24 2011

However, Japan reactors could offer future challenges

Sensors in Southern California monitoring locations have yet to pick up any appreciable amount of radioactive fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors in Japan, and so far the diasater is said to pose no threat to residents of the state.

In its daily reports, the South Coast Air Quality Management District has continually stated that there has been no “increase in radiation levels above typical background levels” detected since the earthquake and tsunami in Japan that has claimed more than 9,500 lives.

Mar 22 2011

No health concern

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Trace amounts of radioactive elements consistent with the earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant in Japan were detected by monitors in Anaheim and Riverside, but at levels far below anything that could be considered harmful, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

Similar trace amounts of radioactive iodine, cesium and tellurium were also detected by monitors in San Francisco and Seattle. The material was detected Friday and analyzed over the weekend, according to the EPA.

Mar 18 2011

Emergency Response Council

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, along with the heads of city and county public safety departments, sought to calm fears today about the region's readiness for a major disaster and concerns about elevated radiation in the wake of Japan's nuclear crisis.

Villaraigosa issued five directives aimed at making the city's emergency response more efficient.

He called for the establishment of an Emergency Response Council, which he said will allow him to quickly activate only those city departments needed for a specific type of crisis.

Mar 15 2011

There is no reason to purchase potassium iodide

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The county's top health official said today that the risk of radiation exposure in Los Angeles County from the nuclear crisis in Japan was "minimal'' and "very remote.''

"There is minimal risk of harmful exposure,'' said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, the director of the county's Department of Public Health. He added that federal and local agencies were continually monitoring levels of radiation in the air, food and water supply with equipment that is "exquisitely
sensitive.''

Mar 14 2011

Firefighters, paramedics, emergency room doctors, structural engineers,

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A Los Angeles County Fire Department squad is in Japan today assisting in the aftermath of the destructive 8.9 magnitude earthquake.

A charter jet carrying the county's Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 2 departed LAX about 7:40 a.m. Saturday and landed about 15 hours later in Misawa Air Base in Japan, Los Angeles County fire Inspector Don Kunitomi said.

A separate jet, carrying 74,000 pounds of support gear, flew to Misawa from March Air Reserve Base near Riverside.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.