Return of the natives -- planting at the L.A. River

Natassja Alluin and Anastasia Sandrak, 9-year-old fourth-graders who come soooo close to sharing a first name, do share some gardening chores near the L.A. River in Studio City. Carpenter Elementary School paired kids with plants and dirt Monday, a sure-fire success, and a bunch of native plants and trees are now greening up the atmosphere.

Yes, some local honchos were there: county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and Dean Efstathiou, the county's acting director of the Department of Public Works. The point of the event: to get people more interested in protecting the river's watershed. Fingers crossed that everyone there got the message.

-- Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times