Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

 

Page 1

 

Power Failure Said to Have Minimal Impact on Courts

 

By a MetNews Staff Writer

 

The power failure that gripped parts of Los Angeles, including the Civic Center, yesterday had little impact on judicial operations, a Los Angeles Superior Court spokesperson said.

A few matter’s were delayed until later in the day or postponed, the spokesperson said, as a result of the failure, which occurred while most courts were closed for lunch.

But most operations were resumed later in the day, and the spokesperson said there did not appear to be any need to ask for an emergency declaration such as that which was issued when a transformer failed at the Criminal Courts Building — now the Foltz Criminal Justice Center — in 1998.

A judicial emergency order allows speedy trial and other deadlines to be extended.

The Associated Press reported that about 2 million people were affected by the power surge and outages, which were reported from downtown west to the Pacific Coast and north into the San Fernando Valley. Much of the power, which failed at about 12:30 p.m., was restored within less about 21/2 hours.

Several workers who were installing an automated transmission system hooked up the wrong wires, according to Ron Deaton, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

 

Copyright 2005, Metropolitan News Company