BURNING BRUSHES: Not every brush fire is...
BURNING BRUSHES: Not every brush fire is cause for alarm. Firefighters often burn wildland brush on purpose to renew plant growth, enhance wildlife and prevent huge fires. It’s all explained in today’s Valley Briefing (B5). . . . Controlled burns, however, can’t be conducted on “no-burn days” (above), when air quality is unacceptable. Overall, wild-land fires account for only 1% of County Fire Department responses.
REALITY CHECK: He was behind the plate for the Northridge Little League team that captured the national title. But on Tuesday, catcher Matt Cunningham was doing the same thing as millions of his peers. He was in school, behind a desk at Nobel Junior High. Worse yet, the eighth-grader was given homework on his first day. . . . “We weren’t ready to come back to school so soon,” he says.
BUNCH OF TRAFFIC: For years, the Brady Bunch tied up a generation in front of the tube. On Tuesday, it tied up traffic. Signs--props for an upcoming film based on the TV series--slowed traffic on the westbound Ventura Freeway (B1). . . . The movie was filmed this summer all over the Valley: Taft High, Birmingham High, a Northridge butcher shop and several homes in Encino.
POLO PREVIEW: Young athletes don’t take up water polo for the money. But that doesn’t matter to Notre Dame High’s Chris Crowley, who’s off to another great start--12 goals in two games. . . . Valley Sports profiles the new water polo season (C6).
SIDELINES: Cal State Northridge football coach Bob Burt compares opening night to giving birth. Agoura High water polo goalie Chris Miko scores an incredible goal. A Notre Dame field-goal kicker leads his team to victory. . . . These are just some of the items and notes in “Sidelines,” a new, twice-weekly column about local sports that debuts today in Valley Sports (C6).
No-Burn Days
The number of days AQMD designates as “no-burn days” has declined over the years, an indicator of improving air quality. No-burn days since 1990: 1990: 70 1991: 79 1992: 62 1993: 45 1994*: 46 * Through Aug. 25
Source: South Coast Air Quality Management District