Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Tuesday, February 25, 2003

 

Page 3

 

Courthouses Near Epicenter Weather Quake Without Damage

 

By a MetNews Staff Writer

 

Mountain courthouses rode out Saturday’s earthquake near Big Bear with no damage, San Bernardino Superior Court District Supervisor Becky Streich said yesterday.

In the Big Bear courthouse, where the 5.4 earthquake was centered, only a single acoustic ceiling tile became dislodged. The Twin Peaks courthouse suffered “absolutely no damage,” Streich reported.

The Twin Peaks court has, however, experienced intermittent power failures during recent bouts of stormy weather, she added.

“Generally, when we have storms in the mountains, the electricity is in and out,” she stated. “We just wait until it comes back on.”

The power outages have had little impact on the court’s ability to conduct its business, she said.

Court Services Manager Patty Bowers agreed.

“It’s pretty common in bad weather,” she observed. “It hasn’t affected our business. We have initiated procedures to deal with it.”

Wendy Sellnow, a facilities manager for the Court Executive Office, said she was not aware of any damage to the Central Courthouse. The 1926 building, which is located about 45 miles from Big Bear, has been identified as being seismically vulnerable, and is slated to undergo a seismic retrofit beginning this fall.

“I didn’t even get any calls that anything fell,” Sellnow said. “That’s a good sign.”

 

Copyright 2003, Metropolitan News Company