An apartment fire happened yesterday in Glendale at 1225 Mariposa St., in unit #7. The fire broke out shortly after 12 p.m. Plumbers working in the apartment were "sweating" a pipe with a blowtorch and that started a fire, according to the Glendale Fire Department. Residents were evacuated and the Fire Department extinguished the fire in about 30 minutes. The fire caused about $70,000 in total damages. In its press release, the Fire Department had this to add about the fire:

The apartment building was equipped with operable smoke detectors which activated and alerted the occupants, allowing them to evacuate safely. This is an example of the importance and effectiveness of working smoke detectors.

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Do you hate the feeling that comes with reading a good book but not having anyone to talk about it with? Well, if you live in Glendale you can have a whole city of like-minded readers to share a book with. Well, maybe not a whole city, but at least those who pay attention to Glendale Public Library promotions. The library has a citywide reading event called "One Book One Glendale". Librarians want everyone in the city to read the same book. And if you don't read it, they'll peer over their glasses at you and guilt you into reading it.

The book is "When the Emperor Was Divine," by Julie Otsuka. Younger readers are being asked to read "Weedflower" by Cynthia Kadohata. Readers will have an opportunity to meet the authors in events at the Central Library next month (see the link above for more details). And as part of One Book One Glendale, with its focus on Japanese culture, Saturday, Nov. 3 will be Glendale Day at the Japanese American National Museum in the Little Tokyo section of downtown Los Angeles.

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

The fund raising totals are in for the Glendale Relay for Life, and the event raised more than $185,000 for the American Cancer Society, according to organizer Linda Patrick.

The top fund raising teams were Hope Rises 3, which raised more than $20,000, the Hoover Tornadoes 1, which raised more than $10,500 and the West Wing Walkers, who raised more than $9,150. Hope Rises is a women's organization, Hoover is the high school and the West Wing Walkers is a group of City Hall employees.

The Glendale Relay for Life was a 24-hour walk and run relay marathon at the Glendale Sports Complex. Check out my article on the event here. Organizers plan to continue taking donations through the end of the year.

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Here's an update from the Glendale Police Department with the names of the two guys arrested in that shooting incident from last month (see yesterday's "Shooting up the minimart"). The names of the two men arrested are Natividad Delossantos, 37, and Armando Martinez Jr., 26.

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Glendale police say they have nabbed a suspect who shot up a minimart in an attempt to murder another individual. The shooting happened at a minimart on Lake Street and Western Avenue back on Sept. 21, said Detective Keith Soboleski of the Glendale Police Department. The shooter fired into the store from the doorway, missing his intended target but breaking a few items on the shelves, Soboleski said. He was accompanied by an alleged accomplice. There were a few other people in the minimart, and the police is considering them victims as well.

On Sept. 27, a SWAT team arrested the alleged shooter. Soboleski did not have the alleged shooter's ID, but I'll get that and update it on the blog when I have it. An individual - also unidentified - who was with the shooter turned himself in to gang detectives, Soboleski said. The two have been charged with attempted murder.

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

We have a couple nationwide stories out of Glendale today.
-- First on the list is that Glendale-based IHOP is eliminating trans fats from its fryer by the end of the year. What does that mean for anyone wanting to order a big stack of pancakes? Absolutely nothing, because they don't fry pancakes (unfortunately). But IHOP wants you to know that they're not just about pancakes anymore. They fry food with the best of them, and serve three solid meals a day, plus a pretty solid nighttime snack. The problem is that the hydrogenated vegetable oil they use for frying is just a little too solid, and it clogs up the heart. So they're switching to trans fat free vegetable oils to fry up shrimp, french fries and chicken tenders and whatever else they serve that's hot and crispy. Here's my story from the Daily News. IHOP is not the first restaurant to make the switch, and it comes after the city of New York banned trans fats in restaurants there.

-- The other story with national implications, although mainly to the Armenian-American business community, is that the Glendale-based Armenian American Chamber of Commerce is considering the formation of new chapters for Greater Los Angeles, Little Armenia (Hollywood), Las Vegas and Washington D.C. The organization's Central Committee will govern all the current and future chapters of the AACC. Check out the AACC's Web site here.

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Glendale City Councilman Bob Yousefian got down from the horseshoe at Tuesday's City Council meeting and addressed the council as a private citizen, speaking from the public speaker's stand about a setback ordinance that could affect his home, before climbing back up to his seat. That bit of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" populism was interesting enough, but the real fireworks happened after the meeting was over, when Yousefian and City Manager Jim Starbird got into a public argument. The tragedy of all this is that, while it was caught on video, there's no sound for the exchange between Yousefian and Starbird, just a lot of arm waving on the part of Yousefian and an attempt by Starbird to take Yousefian aside by grabbing his arm. The Glendale News Press judges the spat an "altercation." Anyway, let's just say that although the (silent) exchange was on cable access channel, it involved words that are more often seen on the other kind of cable TV. The video shows a police officer walking over to the counci horse shoe after the fight erupted. But needless to say, no arrests were made.

This has been brewing for years. I don't know how Starbird and Yousefian got along before this happened, but the members of this all boys club City Council have a history of taking some pretty juvenile snipes at each other. If you watch them long enough, it starts to remind you of watching high school kids in a cafeteria. There's the eye rolling, the dumb jokes and the clumsy attempts at self promotion.

Anyway, now Yousefian is saying that he's had enough. He told me he's going to next week's council meeting, and then he plans to take a couple weeks off for vacation. There was some talk of a Mexican getaway. For someone who is so married to the job that he actually - three years ago - asked his then-girlfriend to marry him in the middle of a City Council meeting, some time off may be just the solution.

What caused this rumble in the Jewel City? There was a proposal floating around that was spearheaded by Councilman Dave Weaver and would require setbacks ranging from 15 to 35 feet for the homes along part of East Glenoaks Boulevard, where Yousefian lives. It gets very technical very fast, but Yousefian was upset about a lot of things with the proposed ordinance. And he says he didn't get a notification letter from the city at his home address telling him what officials were planning to do on the setback issue. Anyone who wants more detail on this one is going to have to watch the video. Go to about 3:36:00 to watch the start of the council meltdown, when Yousefian steps down to the speaker's podium and demands to speak. If that's not exciting enough for you blood hungry council fans out there, skip ahead to 3:54:30, when the meeting ends and Yousefian and Starbird start acting like keystone cops in a silent movie.

Yousefian also said that speaking from the speaker's podium about house and home has convinced him that the council does not listen. "I can understand what it's like for the average citizen who goes to City Hall and tries to convince them that it's a problem," he said in a phone interview. "It's like talking to a wall."

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 4:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) |

The 4th annual Glendale Relay for Life will start on Sat. Sept. 29 at 10 a.m. It's actually a 24-hour event, and the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society. More than 38 teams and 600 people have signed up for this year's event. The reason it's called a relay is that each team is supposed to have one person on the track at all times, including during those wee hours of the morning. People say the whole event is like one big party. Opening ceremonies will include a “Survivors' Lap.”

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 6:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

In conjunction with the Getty's exhibition "Edward Weston: Enduring Vision," the Friends of the Glendale Public Library is hosting an event about the photographer. The tie to Glendale is that Weston opened his first photography studio on Brand Boulevard, although at the time that particular corner of the world was called Tropico (later annexed to Glendale.)

The Getty describes Weston as one of America's most revered photographers. He chose as his subjects everything from nudes to artichokes, along with coastlines and clouds. He even went through a phase of photographing peppers and other vegetables. The Getty event runs through Nov. 25, and the Glendale Public Library event is on Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 9:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

The victim has become the criminal in Las Vegas, as Alfred Beardsley has been arrested for a parole violation in Las Vegas, just days after he emerged as one of the victims of O.J. Simpson's alleged robbery. Beardsley is a sports memorabilia collector who is either from Burbank or Glendale, depending on what news agency you look at. Our story today says he's from Glendale. Beardsley was arrested today by deputies with the U.S. Marshals Service. We're looking into reports that Beardsley used to be tight with Irv Rubin, the late leader of the Jewish Defense League. We'll keep you posted as Beardsley goes through the revolving door of Las Vegas justice and ends up back in California to face a parole violation case.

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 5:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Today at 2 p.m., the Glendale Fire Department will be throwing a party for outgoing Fire Chief Christopher R. Gray. He is retiring, following a 30-year career of firefighting. The retirement party will be at Glendale Fire Station #21, at 421 Oak St. in Glendale. Gray, 50, says he is retiring for family reasons. City Manager Jim Starbird has praised Gray, saying his departure will be a loss.

Gray will be replaced by Don Biggs, who last week was appointed interim fire chief by the Glendale City Council. Biggs has been a firefighter for nearly 35 years. Most recently, he was the director of emergency services at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank. Biggs is only expected to lead the Fire Department temporarily, until a permanent replacement is found. Then he will go back to working at the studios.

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

A Glendale woman who was stabbed by a homeless man became the city's first homicide victim Monday, said Officer John Balian, a spokesman for the Glendale Police Department. The alleged assailant is Hector Marroquin, 23. Here's the story from the Daily News:

GLENDALE - A 32-year-old woman suffered fatal wounds from a stabbing on the patio of an alcoholics anonymous meeting and her alleged killer, a 23-year-old homeless man, was in custody in connection with the case. The drama began about 5:45 p.m. Monday at the Glendale Windsor Club, at 123 W. Windsor Road. The woman, whose name was being withheld until officials could notify her relatives, was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center where she died, said Cheryl MacWillie, a watch commander at the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. Police arrived and found three witnesses holding the alleged assailant, identified by police as Hector Marroquin, who was being held at the Glendale Jail.

Police said that before the attack the suspect hit the victim's car with possibly a helium tank before allegedly stabbing the woman. But police didn't know what prompted the attack and it was unknown whether Marroquin knew the woman.

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Lisa Burks of valleynews.com has another report from the Grand View psychodrama. The Glendale City Council has voted to pursue a nuisance abatement action against the cemetery. The council voted to do this instead of spending $400,000 to clean up the tinder-dry cemetery. Burks quotes a couple angry councilmen in her dispatch.

"This cemetery is a nuisance and a fire hazard," said council member Bob Yousefian, who warned that the costs for fire suppression, should a wild fire break out on the property, would amount to three times or more what the council was being asked to currently consider spending to avoid such a disaster.

"I'm prepared to expend this money, however I'm also prepared to change direction and go with an adversarial position," said council member Frank Quintero. "For me, personally, I've had enough. I'm not going to continue to spend tax payer money and somehow have to tip-toe around the owners of this cemetery," he added.

Read the rest of Burks' story here.

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

The Alex Theatre is going to be having its 8th annual Vaudeville Extravaganza! on Saturday, Sept. 15, which the theater is proclaiming in a press release as the "most anticipated family event held annually at the grand theatre." That's right folks, the artform that brought us the terms big time and alley-oop is coming to the Alex.

The Alex Theatre opened as a Vaudeville and movie house in 1925. Shortly after that, movies got sound and thousands of movie house musicians hit the street looking for work, along with squeeky-voiced actors. Then television was invented and everyone realized they'd rather get their entertainment for free, sentencing us all to years of interviews with George Burns telling us about the "good old days."

The Alex Theatre's show will feature "The Night Blooming Jazzmen" playing nostalgic music, then Reid & Faversham in a tribute to Stan and Ollie (wait that's Laurel and Hardy, who also have a movie in the program), then Farrah Siegel, America's Yo-Yo Champion, then a couple other acts who I'm not sure what they do. The evening will conclude with a cartoon, a vintage newsreel, the Laurel and Hardy movie "The Music Box" and the Three Stooges movie "An Ache in Every Stake."

Suddenly I feel like I should be typing on an Underwood Five typewriter and going out to Ebbets Field to watch the Dodgers play. Actually I'll stick with the computer and Chavez Ravine. But for all you Vaudeville buffs, the show is Saturday, Sept. 15 at 8 p.m., and the cost is $25, and $17.50 for seniors and children. The event is put on by the Alex Film Society, and AFS members get in for only $12.50, unlike the rest of you bananas.

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) |

Barry Allen, self-appointed public watchdog number one, is still going after Glendale City Councilman Dave Weaver over Miss Asia USA. This month, Allen filed a complaint with the city attorney, accusing Weaver of "improper use of the official position" of city councilman for his involvement with the Miss Asia USA Pageant. Weaver has been a member of the pageant's executive board. In his complaint, Allen accuses Weaver of making improper use of Glendale police officers for the event, commandeering a city library auditorium so the girls could rehearse, making Glendale Water and Power send cases of bottled water and a host of other allegations.

Weaver and City Attorney Scott Howard, whom the complaint was addressed to, declined to comment.
One of the most interesting allegations has to do with payments made by Benvani Inc. to the Alex Theatre for the use of the facility for the beauty pageant. Allen says Benvani Inc. paid $12,500 to the Alex Theatre for Miss Asia after getting $6 million from the city for some open space.

As an exhibit attached to his complaint, Allen included a letter from Weaver to Police Chief Randy Adams asking for some cops to hang out at the pageant for security.

Posted by Alex Dobuzinskis at 6:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

A few things to wrap-up the week:

• It's The New York Times' turn to quiz IHOP CEO Julia Stwart about her Glendale-based company's impending takeover of Applebee's. Who knew her nickname among the franchisees is "Velvet Hammer?"

• Burbank city leaders are anxiously monitoring the effort to rescue the Utah coal miners trapped after a mine collapse. The city -- along with Glendale, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Pasadena and Riverside -- owns a stake at a Utah coal powerplant that gets 5 percent of its fuel from said mine. Leader

• Two new executives at Burbank Unified School District -- Lori Ordway-Peck was appointed to the position of Assistant Superintendent, Business Services, and Kathy Granger was appointed to the position of Director, Human Resources Services. Ordway-Peck comes to the District from the Palmdale Unified School District where she has served as Deputy Superintendent. Granger comes to Burbank from the West Covina Unified School District, where she served most recently as middle school principal. via BUSD release.

• Santa Clarita realtor and blogger Linda Slocum left a review of a Garlic Jim's pizza pie from the chain's Valencia outlet in our comments box. The Washington-based chain is opening an outlet in Burbank.

Posted by Eugene Tong at 1:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

At noon Thursday, Unite Here Local 11, the union trying to organize the Glendale Hilton, will stage a picket to welcome the hotel's new owners.

via Unite Here

On Wednesday August 8, 2007 Eagle Hospitality Trust shareholders voted to sell the Glendale Hilton to AP AIMCAP, a joint venture of Apollo Real Estate Investment Fund V LP, Aimbridge Hospitality LP and JF Capital Advisors LLC.

Workers at the Glendale Hilton hotel cite poverty wages, a lack of affordable health insurance, and dangerous working conditions as some of the problems they have endured. In September 2005, Glendale Hilton employees requested a fair process to decide whether to form a union. The employees' request was met with fierce resistance from the hotel.

In April of 2006 Glendale Hilton workers called for a boycott of their own hotel. 70% of the workers at the Glendale Hilton signed a petition calling on customers to boycott the hotel. Since then, the boycott of the Glendale Hilton along with a boycott of other hotels owned by the same company has cost the outgoing owner of the hotel, Eagle Hospitality more than $1 million in lost business.

Hotel workers hope that the Glendale Hilton's change in ownership will mean an end to this long-running dispute and allow them to end the boycott. "We hope that the hotel's new owners will allow us to decide whether or not to join the union without any interference or harassment from management. I hope they know that we are prepared to stay in this fight as long as it takes, and we are not giving up," said Angela Reid a bartender at the Glendale Hilton hotel.

Earlier:
What Frequent Stay Points Get You at the Glendale Hilton
State of Protest

Posted by Eugene Tong at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Jennifer Mann's story on IHOP CEO Julia Stewart in The Kansas City Star looks into pher past as president of Applebee's International, which is the Glendale pancake house chain is looking to pick up for $2.1 billion.

In 2001, Julia Stewart left Applebee’s International after three years as president when it became clear she was being passed over as the eventual chief executive officer.

Stewart moved on and in 2002 became the CEO at IHOP Corp., then a tired and flat pancake chain. She and management, in her words, reinvigorated the business by selling most of the company-owned stores to franchisees and updating the restaurants, menu, uniforms and marketing.

Now, with IHOP’s pending $2.1 billion acquisition of Applebee’s, she appears poised to assume the role she initially missed at Applebee’s — running the company. She believes applying a similar recipe to Applebee’s can return the company to growth.

“A strong point of difference — that’s what Applebee’s desperately needs because we all fall into the ‘look like everybody else, act like everybody else,’ ” Stewart said. “I don’t think anybody in casual dining is setting the world on fire, and it was the same situation when I came to IHOP … but we distinguished ourselves in the (family dining) category, and I don’t view the challenge any differently at Applebee’s.”

The fix may be a bit more complicated. IHOP’s revenue is a third the size of Applebee’s, which is the country’s largest casual dining chain. Stewart intends to finance the $25.50-a-share acquisition and turnaround by selling Applebee’s 508 company-owned restaurants and using a sophisticated debt transaction paid off by future franchise revenues for the two operations.

Posted by Eugene Tong at 5:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Speaking of Dave Weaver, what was up with his lashing out at the Glendale city employee unions at the council meeting last week?

It was an oddity that aligned the councilman with his nemesis -- City Hall gadfly Barry Allen -- who blames unions for what he believes is an overstuffed city payroll.

The clip starts at 3:43, when Weaver, who got no love from the Glendale Management Associaiton, and the police and fire unions (the GMA gave $11,000 to incumbent Rafi Manoukian, who lost) wanted to strip their right to contribute to council candidates.

Weaver: One thing I like to see ... I would like to see every association in this city, GMA, fire, police, not be allowed to give a single penny to any council candidate.

To this day, GMA has not congratulated me. the police have not congratulated or spoke to me, fire has been kind enough just to say congratulations. Now there's no dialogue, all because the association sat out there and forced-handicapped who's going to win. We wanted to be on the winning side. I was supposed to lose -- well gee I didn't ... and now we ahve a problem. I love to see that removed off the books.

Uh...not so fast Dave. Isn't there a First Amendment issue here? City Attorney Scott Howard was around to remind our honorable councilman: "With regard to a ban on union contributions, I'm somewhat reticent about recommending that you can do that pursuint to Supreme Court deicions."

In fact, while the city can prevent city employees from donating to City Council candidates due to conflicts of interest (it's in the city charter), it can't prevent individual employees from participating in the political process -- a First Amendment right -- through their unions. Still, the city could set contribution limits.

Weaver wouldn't have any of it -- "I say ban it! Let them defend themselves in court."
Howard: "Actually if we impose our ban as a government, we would be defending ourselves in court."

I wonder which Constitutional right Weaver will try to curtail next...just because some person or group didn't congratulate him on his council win.

Posted by Eugene Tong at 5:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

If you're into following the money, the latest round of Form 460 campaign disclosure statments covering March 18 - June 30 have hit the Web, at least in Glendale.

(In case you're wondering, the Burbank forms were not too exciting...check this space -- the City Clerk may have it up soon.)

According to latest campaign finance disclosures due last week, Rafi Manoukian, the incumbent councilman who lost despite spending nearly $222,000, was the top fundraiser in the April council election with $150,382 from the first half of 2007.

First-place finisher John Drayman collected $73,740, while reelected Councilman Dave Weaver received $68,771.

In comparison, Gray Bric, who won a seat on the Burbank City Council in earlier this year and was the race’s top fundraiser, received just over $21,000 in contributions in the same period. Burbank has a $250 per donor contribution limit, unlike Glendale, where the sky's the limit.

But Bric and candidate-turn-Councilwoman Anja Reinke, who raised nearly $13,000, both enjoyed support from an independent political committee. Working Californians, spent more than $18,000 campaigning for Bric and about $5,000 for Reinke.

Among the biggest donors in the Glendale race — Weaver received a total $17,500 from developer Rick Caruso’s Americana at Brand LLC, the company behind its namesake downtown retail and residential project.

The Glendale Management Association — a City Hall union — gave Manoukian $11,000.

CREPAC/BORPAC, the political arm of the California Association of Realtors, gave $4,000 to both Weaver and Drayman. Local contractor Alen Builders Inc. also gave Drayman $5,000.

Posted by Eugene Tong at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

To the disappointment of the Glendale and Burbank police departments, pregnant celebutant Nicole Richie will doing her four-day DUI jail sentence at a Casa de Baca -- or Lynwood jail, the same county slammer where Simple Life co-star Paris Hilton served most of her sentence.

Richie was sentenced to four days in jail, three years probation and 21 days in a drug rehab program for her Dec. 11 DUI arrest in Burbank -- she was driving her black Mercedes SUV the wrong way on the Ventura Freeway. The reality-TV star and Hilton BFF (still? I've lost track..) failed a field-sobriety test and told police she had taken a pain killer and smoked marijuana.

Last Friday she entered a guilty plea -- her second DUI conviction (the first was in June 2003) and she could have been jailed for up to a year.

She was allowed to choose between a county and city jail. Although a city jail is considered less arduous, she would not be eligible for early release and would have to serve her full sentence there.

Earlier this week, Richie told the sheriff’s department she will serve her time in a county lockup, said sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore. Lynwood is the only county jail for female inmates, which is where Paris Hilton served most of her 23 days behind bars for driving on a suspended license while on probation for HER DUI arrest.

Richie has until Sept. 28 to serve her time. Because county jails are overcrowded, some are guessing nonviolent inmates like her could score an early release.

Earlier:
Getting elbowed in the head on the Nicole Richie beat

Posted by Eugene Tong at 7:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Via City of Glendale:

The City of Glendale is conducting an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) self-evaluation and transition plan. Areas to be evaluated include facility and program accessibility, accommodations for individuals with disabilities, and administrative policies and procedures.

Individuals who would like to provide input are invited to complete a survey. Surveys are available for organizations that represent individuals with disabilities, community members, employees, and other interested individuals who wish to participate in the evaluation.

Your comments and opinions are important to us and will provide valuable information regarding how the City of Glendale can better serve individuals with disabilities. Surveys can be mailed to you or are available at:

City of Glendale – City Hall
Parks, Recreation & Community Services Department
613 E. Broadway, Room 120
Glendale, CA 91206
(818) 548-2000

Surveys are also available online at: www.ci.glendale.ca.us

Please contact Barbara Thorpe, Disability Access Consultants, Inc at (800) 743-7067 if you have questions or comments. You may also request the survey in an alternate format.

The City of Glendale complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Public Law 101-336, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability.

Posted by Eugene Tong at 7:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

A few bits of news of nominal interest:

• Two Vineland Boys members pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and murdering a witness and accepted terms of life in prison without parole. Jose "Peps" Ledesma, 24, and Javier "Coco" Covarrubius, 23, faced multiple charges stemming from the 2003 murder of 16-year-old Martha Puebla, who was going to testify against one of the gang members, and for dealing methamphetamine. Both men, who are from Sun Valley, pleaded guilty as jury selection for their trial got under way. They would have faced the death penalty if convicted. Daily News

  But it's not over yet -- besides David Garcia, who is facing state murder charges for the 2003 slaying of Burbank Police officer Matthew Pavelka, word this morning from Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Young (whose team got a commendation for the Vineland Boys prosecution) is Horicio Yepiz may yet see his day in court. He was in an institution after he was ruled incompetent to stand trial, but that could change with a compentency hearing Monday.

• Beeline service cutbacks for Glenoaks Canyon. News Press

Posted by Eugene Tong at 1:09 PM | Permalink |

GLENDALE — A 61-year-old man has been jailed without bail after he allegedly shot and stabbed four of his relatives during an argument, and was later subdued when his victims fought back, police said Wednesday.

Police found Valodia Balabekyan of Tujunga pinned by three men and a woman Tuesday morning when they arrived at an apartment on the 500 block of S. Belmont Street, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday at Glendale Superior Court.

The victims — either uncles or siblings to Balabekyan and resided at the apartment — were shot with a small-caliber handgun. Some also suffered stab wounds and were covered in blood when police arrived. They were treated at area hospitals and were in stable condition.

"Four people get shot, which could've been a horrible situation," Lorenz said. "Amazingly they're alive."

Posted by Eugene Tong at 7:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Policy wonking and mad-cap violence:

• Amid concerns about a soft real estate market, the Glendale City Council on Tuesday finalized the details of a proposed fee on local development projects to finance parks and libraries. The draft Development Impact Fee ordinance -- considered a watered-down version by at least one councilman -- could return for approval later this month. Daily News

• As for bizzare crime -- a 61-year-old Tujunga man has been arrested for allegedly shooting three men and a women in a south Glendale apartment after an argument. Police arrested Valodia Balabekyan on suspicion of attempted murder at the South Belmont Street unit 7:45 a.m Tuesday. The victims were all related and were in staple condition. News Press

• Burbank City Council, where free speech is valued at the expense of time and meetings usually run well past 11 p.m, is once again talking about ways to streamline their meetings. One proposal would require a majority vote for a meeting go run past 11 p.m. What did they decide? We don't know since that meeting ran long and past the Leader's deadline.

• A milestone at Bob Hope Airport -- passenger traffic of 2.86 million for the first half of the year is 23 percent higher compared to the same period in 2001, before the air travel industry tanked after 9/11. Leader

Posted by Eugene Tong at 1:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Looks like another flap between six Southern California cities (including LA, Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena) and Utah area cities over the Intermountain Power Project.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports the California cities, which take 75 percent its power, are blocking the construction of a third coal-fired generator to the 1,800 megawatt plant. They cite California state laws aimed at rolling back greenhouse gases, but the 23 Utah cities operating the power plant say they could use the extra juice.

Six California cities, concerned about global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, are refusing to allow a third coal-fired generating unit to be built at the Intermountain Power Project near Delta.

Their action promises to pit California's tough new environmental laws and the state's commitment to rolling back greenhouse emissions against the interests of thousands of Utah consumers who eventually may need the electricity that a third generating unit could provide.

The six California cities take 75 percent of the electricity generated at the IPP. As a result, their votes far outweigh those of the 23 Utah municipal members, which are represented by the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, or UAMPS, and Rocky Mountain Power.

The whole matter could wind up in court, with the Utah municipalities and Rocky Mountain Power vowing to do whatever is necessary to clear the way for the new unit.

"We have no problem if they don't want to participate in building that unit," said spokesman Dave Eskelsen of Rocky Mountain Power, which takes 4 percent of the power produced by IPP and is interested in getting more to meet its customers' demands.

Rocky Mountain Power, however, considers it improper for those California cities - Los Angeles, Pasadena, Anaheim, Burbank, Glendale and Riverside - to block needed generating capacity in Utah to satisfy California's environmental laws.

You may recall last fall when Intermountain asked the six cities to renew their energy contracts until 2044 (the current contract expires 2027), but the Sierra Club pressure them to sit it out. All did except for Burbank, which unknowingly signed the renewal, and later managed to wiggle out of it after Intermountain agreed to extend the deadline until 2023.

Still, the Six Cities won't be cutting ties to the plant any time soon-- they lent $3.2 billion to construct the project and it has paid them back in cheap power at the cost of roughly 15 million tons in carbon-dioxide emissions per year.

Posted by Eugene Tong at 7:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

via the
News Press

A choir director at Incarnation Catholic Church was arrested Friday in Pasadena after he allegedly gave a 17-year-old parish boy alcohol and suggested "inappropriate sexual activity," according to Pasadena Police.

Russell Jackson, 46, of Pasadena, faces three misdemeanor charges stemming from the alleged July 1 incident. Those charges include child annoying, exhibiting harmful material to a minor and providing alcohol to a minor, said Janet Pope, spokeswoman for the Pasadena Police Department.

Jackson, who was also a music teacher for the Incarnation Catholic School, was fired from both jobs the day the incident was reported on July 6, said Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

Jackson turned himself in Friday on advice from his attroney, and was cited and release. Arraignment is Aug. 16.

Posted by Eugene Tong at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Glendale Unified School District has agreed on a raise for members of its teachers union, wrapping up salary talks that lasted nearly a year, a union official said today.

The district and the Glendale Teachers Association, which represents 1,400 instructors, nurses and psychologists, reached a tentative agreement after a 20-hour negotiation session that went from Thursday to Friday morning, said Steven Field, the union’s bargaining chair.

Both sides have declined to discuss the terms of the multi-year contract until it is announced to the union’s membership, which has to approve the deal. It will be retroactive to the 2006-07 school year.

The teachers union has sought a 12.6 percent raise for the 2006-07 while the district has held firm at 5.1 percent. The district declared an impasse in March, which led to intervention by a state mediator.

In May, the district offered a two-year proposal -- 6.1 percent for the 2006-07 school year, then another 2.6 percent for 2007-08.

Posted by Eugene Tong at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Grand View watcher Lisa Burks spotted this sign making the rounds outside the cemetery last weekend.

From what I could see, the grass continues to turn brown, with patches of weeds here and there. Many of the trees are turning brown, and one that I could see appeared to be completely dead.

The majority of the color inside Grand View these days comes from artificial flowers that have been left at previous city-sponsored limited visitations. Although, oddly enough, there are some brilliantly flowering vines growing near the front gates, indicating that there is still some life left in the old girl.

More photos at her flickr page.

Meanwhile, still no word from City Hall on when the twice-a-month visitations will resume, though a staffer I spoke with last week said it's looking like mid-August (at least September, according to the city's Web page today)-- officials have to decide whether to clear the hazardous dry growth themselves or hire a crew.

Posted by Eugene Tong at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Rabbi Meyers became the first female rabbi to lead a congregation in the area when she took over Temple Sinai in Glendale in 1986. She died of bone cancer Thursday at her Los Angeles home, 10 weeks after she was diagnosed, according to the Times.

Here's a June 2001 Jewish Journal story about Meyers' departure from Temple Sinai to raise her two sons.

Posted by Eugene Tong at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Let me say that early reports of a light crowd at the Galleria Target were GROSSLY exaggerated.

On the way to the overpriced churrascaria stand in the Galleria food court (and at the behest of my LAist-reading editors), I decided to dive into the three-story belly of a retail beast that has been a subject of obsession for LA's Web dwelling hipsters.

My first sight of the red bullseye -- 12:45 p.m. Friday -- were the shopping bags hulled by a group walking through the mall toward Mervyn's. Surely they couldn't be --gasp! -- Target shoppers!

After walking through one end of the mall to the other, I arrived at the Target's mall-side entrance -- there they were: clerks in red polo shirts, Starbucks, Pizza Hut and a row of check-out stands. At first glance -- a good crowd of 30-50 shoppers with moms, kids and downtown workers on their lunch break. It's the same scene upstairs and down, some pushing red shopping carts, others with a few sundries in hand.

All-in-all, a fair lunch-time crowd -- not quite as busy you'd expect in more established Targets as Burbank, Valencia or Pasadena, but not exactly empty either. The parking structure behind the building is about half-to-2/3rds full, with some folks opting to park in the sun (which I'm sure they wouldn't if the lot was empty).

Okay, so it's not exactly the weekend madness and traffic nightmare and meat market that is the West Hollywood Target, but hey, maybe after a few weeks?

Besides, those couple blocks of downtown Glendale are still a work-in-progress -- Rick Caruso's Americana won't open until next summer, which will definitely mess with the area's retail dynamic.

Posted by Eugene Tong at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) |

Three-story Targets are all nice and good, but for Echo Park blogger Hexdous, it's all about Armenian beer at the Galleria food court.

The real story about the Glendale Galleria is the food court. Not talking about Pollo Campero here, I am talking about the fact that you can buy beer in the food court. What a concept, I know - but I don’t think most malls sell beer - do they?

Anyways, the International Grill sells kebabs, but they also have a fridge full of Erebuni beer from Armenia. So go there, knock back a few and then buy a bunch of stuff in the Apple store.

According to brewer Kotayk's Web site -- "It’s harmony in strength and flavour makes Erebuni the beer of choice."

Posted by Eugene Tong at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

A tip from a source got me out of bed a whole hour earlier this morning for a trip to the Glendale courthouse, where celebri-tant Nicole Rich