Five SoCal Must-Reads: Landscape Absurdism, Hinkley's Water & More
A big picture look at the region:
The richest of the rich accounts for 24% of political donations, according to a recent study. Martin Wisckol at the OC Register's Total Buzz blog takes a look at some of the Orange County residents on that list.
A federal agency wants states to ban cell phone use while driving -- even if used hands-free, reports Barbara Feder Ostrov at USC's Reporting on Health blog. She looks at other reports that may contradict the reasoning behind this. A 2009 KCET SoCal Connected report found that texting while driving may be as dangerous as drinking and driving.
The Atlantic Cities takes a look at the development of Southern California's far flung suburb of Las Vegas. Through the lens of satellite view on Google Maps, it does, indeed, look like "landscape absurdism." Does this remind anyone of California City in Kern County?
Is L.A.'s light rail system too slow and expensive? Reason says yes in this video, and Metro adds its perspective in this rebuttal.
The San Bernardino Sun's headline says it all on the latest about what Erin Brockovich brought to light in the 1990s: "Hinkley's plume of contamination appears to be migrating northward at a much faster rate."
Photo by Flickr user danagraves via KCET's Southern California Flickr pool