Power play

Southern California Edison and construction workers were hard at work today trying to remove and replace a troublesome power pole along Honolulu Terrace in Whittier -- and it only took a helicopter, evacuations and a daylong power outage to a little more than a dozen homes.

Edison has been planning this power-pole replacement for months now, and it's one of the most difficult because of its location: in the narrow backyard of a hillside home.

About 2:15 p.m.. a helicopter was used to haul away the transformer from the old 45-foot power pole -- which ended up being chopped down on site -- then lifted the new 40-foot pole into place.

Residents were evacuated, roads were closed, and the power is out until later this afternoon, officials said.

Pick up Thursday's paper for the full story.