A 1989 RETROSPECTIVE : LIFE AND QUALITY OF LIVING

It was a year in which air quality, abortion, AIDS, automatic weapons and automobile traffic were all key issues. In a major turning point in the fight against smog, regional air quality officials approved a 120-point plan to bring the Southland into compliance with federal clean air requirements. The strategies, ranging from cleaner fuel for cars to updated chemical formulas for underarm deodorants, still must be approved by government agencies before taking effect. Los Angeles became a major battleground in the public opinion war between pro-choice and anti-abortion forces. Operation Rescue blockaded several abortion clinics and the group’s leader, Randall Terry, was tried and acquitted on two dozen misdemeanor charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice. Pro-choice groups held counter-demonstrations at clinics as well as a star-studded Rancho Park rally that drew dozens of politicians and tens of thousands of supporters. AIDS continued to plague Los Angeles, with county health officials reporting more than 2,200 new cases through November, up 28% from the same period in 1988. The Los Angeles County death toll from AIDS since 1981 now stands at more than 5,500. A recent victim was Chris Brownlie, 39, an AIDS-care activist for whom the first Los Angeles County-supported AIDS hospice, which opened last December in Elysian Park, is named. Reacting to an AK-47 rifle attack on a Stockton schoolyard which left five youngsters dead and more than two dozen wounded, city councils in Los Angeles, Compton and several other local communities approved ordinances outlawing the sale and possession of semiautomatic weapons. To help combat traffic woes, the Los Angeles City Council approved a mayoral plan to bar 70% of large trucks from city streets during rush hours. Still unclear is how the city plans to pay for the effort, since the Legislature, rejecting a lobbying effort by Mayor Tom Bradley, effectively barred the city from collecting fees from truckers. The City Council also watered down Bradley’s proposal by approving exemptions for grocery and utility repair trucks.