The south lake of the Los Angeles State and County Arboretum has dropped from three acres in surface area to about two acres. In 1958, the center depth was nine feet. Now it is two feet.
A rugged, two-tier rock drinking fountain, family-built and designed, now sits in a palm-shaded grove at the Arboretum. It is a tribute to retired Pasadena Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Sprankle.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has extended the summer concert series at the Arboretum for an additional five years. The California Philharmonic is under the direction of Victor Vener.
County supervisors called a halt to a plan to merge the Department of Arboreta and Botanic Gardens with the county Museum of Natural History because the county's Economy and Efficiency Commission has not made sufficient progress on it and because the board needs to replace recently retired arboreta department head Francis Ching.