Californians

The thing that really scares Californians -- more even than the words "sorry, pal, we're out of decaf cappuccino" -- is fire.You'd figure earthquakes, right? Earthquakes scare the willies out of non-Californians. But to the natives, meaning anyone who has lived there at least six months, earthquakes are nothing more than a 15-second trip through time, a surreal amusement-park ride.The earth moves, some china gets chipped, and conversation turns to something other than movie deals and Rodney King.

If there's one thing local news tends to be good at, it's scaring people.  And if the coverage of this weekend's temporary closure of a 10-mile stretch of a Los Angeles highway is any indication, the news is still doing what it does best.  Nearly 2,000 news stories posted today included the non-alarmist phrase "Carmageddon. " Reports included hospitals preparing for emergencies, residents fleeing town and bracing for "dire warnings" of disaster.  On "The Colbert Report" last night, comedian Stephen Colbert put the whole issue into perspective.  "Californians have survived earthquakes, drought, wildfire, Laker victories, even alien invasions," he said.

Hey, dude, have you heard they moved the Preakness to Hollywood Park?Or am I just California Dreamin'?It's the "Surf's Up!" Preakness, the year Pimlico decided to have the race and imported the horses, trainers and jockeys from La-La Land.Usually there is at least one hometown runner -- the Fighting Notions, I Am The Games or Harrimans -- from the local outfits.But this year there's none, unless Forty Something, the last-place finisher in the Derby who now-and-again is bedded down at Laurel, suddenly surfaces.

The National Aquarium Institute has tapped a California aquarium industry veteran to be the organization's next CEO. John C. Racanelli, 55, will be expected to increase the ocean conservation and educational messages delivered through the National Aquariums in Baltimore and Washington. Visitors should see some physical improvements in the public exhibit areas, too, according to the board chairwoman, Jennifer Reynolds. The new CEO will also take over the organization's key fundraising role, including the $50 million capital campaign for construction of a new National Aquarium building on the Mall in Washington.

LOS ANGELES -- Until this month, Chris Purkiss saw beauty rather than menace in the rugged landscape that surrounds her family's home in suburban Glendora.But now, after a 6-foot-long, 140-pound mountain lion snatched a Doberman pinscher from the deck outside her bedroom, Ms. Purkiss looks over her shoulder when she walks to her car on the way to work."Now I'm looking and making sure there is nothing behind me, even though they say they caught the one who did it," she said. "Nothing like this has ever happened before.

With the state mired in a budget crisis for the fourth year in a row, most Californians support raising taxes and expect Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature to adopt that approach, a new Los Angeles Times poll has found. The Republican governor has resisted calls by Democrats to cushion spending cuts with higher taxes, but in recent weeks has hinted at flexibility, given the depth of the state's fiscal troubles. The poll found that the public strongly favors increasing taxes in at least several areas.

The NFL is determined to have the CFL catch on, with Baltimore its launching pad. It absolutely insists.Peter Angelos is a union local lawyer first and foremost. He cannot afford to be seen employing scabs no matter how rich he is. It's that simple.The Japanese don't know as much about earthquake-proof building as Californians thought.

An article in yesterday's editions of The Sun on relations among black, Hispanic and Asian-Americans should have stated that there are two Californians of Asian descent in the House of Representatives. They are Robert T. Matsui and Norman Y. Mineta, Democrats, both of Japanese descent.The Sun regrets the errors.

Buchanan's last gasp is to promise Californians that, if elected, he will ban all further immigration from New York.Alex. Brown paid two employees $14 million last year. Those guys have a good union.Cheer up. China is going to get new army uniforms designed by Pierre Cardin.Vivian McDonnell (of Bel Air, who had triplets at age 51) for Marylander of the Year!Pub Date: 3/25/96

Who says Bawlmer is through as an industrial city? That plant FTC fire and hazardous plume in Fairfield was just like the old days.The Bicentennial federal courthouse on Lombard Street, the architectural wonder of 1976, must be replaced. Justice is blind, but judges are not.How satisfying it would be to see those Yankees lose, but not to southern Californians (yuk!) from the National League (double yuk!).Pub Date: 10/16/98

Two-thirds of the way through yesterday's Silver Columbia Triathlon at Centennial Park in Ellicott City, Chris Lieto found himself in familiar territory. Having made up considerable ground during the bicycle portion of the race, Lieto now had a different, albeit more desirable, problem to contend with. "When you're in the lead, you don't know what's going on behind you," said Lieto, who was in first place going into the final leg based on his outstanding performance on the bike. "You're not running scared, but you don't get any input, either."

It was way back in 1983 when a 15-year-old California girl and her baseball fanatic father were watching the World Series on television and she became smitten with the ice-blue eyes of the Orioles' young shortstop. About a decade later, Wendy Harding fell in love for real with her now-husband Charles, a big-time San Diego Padres fan. But the 39-year-old Long Beach, Calif., woman never completely tossed away her crush on Cal Ripken Jr. And Charles Harding is OK with that. "I've always said that Cal Ripken is the only man who could come between me and my wife," joked Charles Harding, whose wife placed first this year in the San Diego County Fair's sports division for her Ripken memorabilia collection.

The auctioneer stood at the pulpit yesterday where a minister once did and preached the gospel of opportunity, hoping to convert his congregation of the curious into true buyers. For sale -- the chance to claim a once-powerful Ashburton church, an imposing structure of stone once known to some as "the cathedral of Baltimore." Though some in the crowd had their eyes on individual pieces of the former St. Mark's United Methodist Church -- the breathtaking stained glass that, panel by panel, depicts the Jesus story, the nearly 100-year-old pipe organ, the elaborately carved panels and doors -- the most serious bidders only wanted the whole Gothic package.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Now that Californians have rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's four initiatives along with two others that he endorsed, there will be much talk about how precipitous was his fall. He was a man, after all, whose popularity not long ago was driving a movement to amend the Constitution to allow the foreign-born to be president. But Governor Schwarzenegger never was that popular. Sure, there was a lot of excitement when he became governor - the "governator" and all that.

Gemcraft Homes donating to charity in Md., Pa. and Del. Gemcraft Homes Group Inc. is donating $1,000 to Ronald McDonald House Charities for every home it sells in selected regional counties through the end of the year. Gemcraft, which started the initiative June 1, makes the donation for most houses sold in Cecil County in Maryland; Chester County in Pennsylvania; and New Castle, Sussex and Kent counties in Delaware. The donations will be made only by Harford County-based Gemcraft's Delaware division, one of the six within the Forest Hill company.

Bill Jones strode to the podium at the Republican National Convention last week and, in a speech that lasted two minutes, took a telling verbal detour. As fellow Republican Senate candidates delivered tag-team endorsements of President Bush, Jones mentioned the head of the Republican ticket once, almost as an afterthought, while praising a certain former movie actor three times. "The California dream is alive and well with Arnold Schwarzenegger as our new governor," Jones said during the convention's opening hours, his voice echoing through New York City's mostly empty Madison Square Garden.

Gemcraft Homes donating to charity in Md., Pa. and Del. Gemcraft Homes Group Inc. is donating $1,000 to Ronald McDonald House Charities for every home it sells in selected regional counties through the end of the year. Gemcraft, which started the initiative June 1, makes the donation for most houses sold in Cecil County in Maryland; Chester County in Pennsylvania; and New Castle, Sussex and Kent counties in Delaware. The donations will be made only by Harford County-based Gemcraft's Delaware division, one of the six within the Forest Hill company.

SAN PABLO, Calif. - This gritty little San Francisco Bay Area city ran short on luck decades ago. Industry declined, jobs disappeared, crime and poverty grabbed hold. Tucked innocuously between the cascading traffic of Interstate 80 and the brine of San Francisco Bay, San Pablo slumped into the 21st century. This week the blue-collar town of 31,000 saw its fortunes turn. In a big way. Residents learned that a 255-member Indian tribe plans a gargantuan casino - the nation's third-largest - at the front doorstep of San Pablo.

With the state mired in a budget crisis for the fourth year in a row, most Californians support raising taxes and expect Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature to adopt that approach, a new Los Angeles Times poll has found. The Republican governor has resisted calls by Democrats to cushion spending cuts with higher taxes, but in recent weeks has hinted at flexibility, given the depth of the state's fiscal troubles. The poll found that the public strongly favors increasing taxes in at least several areas.