SORE EYES: Irvine’s 2-year-old City Hall, which...

SORE EYES: Irvine’s 2-year-old City Hall, which cost $38 million and looks just fine most days, seems a bit, ummm, how shall we put this, hmmmm, well, tacky. Turns out December’s frost left many philodendrons and natal plums either dead or looking like it. Worried about public reaction, officials issued a press release explaining that leaving dead plants in place shields the survivors against further frost attacks. One city worker conceded the protection comes “at a cost to the aesthetic value of the landscape.”