Valley County is located in Baldwin Park.

Corona was Tased and arrested early Thursday morning after he allegedly smashed some windows at a Sandstone Street home. When police tried to stop him, they said Corona approached them "shirtless and sweaty."

Among the charges filed against Corona: driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, being under the influence of a controlled substance, felony vandalism and driving with an expired license.

Corona's colleagues say the outburst isn't like him.

"This is completely out of character for him," said Baldwin Park Unified School District Superintendent Mark Skvarna. "He has always been very professional. It is as much of a shock to me as it is for everybody."

Really? Baumfeld reports on....

In November 2001, his driver's license was suspended after police pulled him over for suspicion of drunk driving. While criminal charges of drunk driving were dropped, his license remained suspended for six months.

Police haven't released a motive yet in the most recent incident, but school board President Jack White said it had something to do with an ex-girlfriend.

What's love got to do with it?

Malibu is a wealthy beach community whose median income for a family was $123,293. In Lennox, which neighbors Inglewood and Los Angeles, the median income for a family was $27,991.

So, considering the disparity, how does this make sense:

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will vote on proposals that would increase garbage collection and disposal fees for single family residences in the Lennox area from $206 to $279 per year; and in Malibu from $120 to $180 per year.

Duff School: Although the name sounds straight out of The Simpson's, it's not. It's a Garvey School District elementary school that will likely be closing next year due to continuing declining enrollment in Rosemead. This will be the second closure in three years, which may surprise those who keep warning of "overcrowded" schools in Rosemead. . . .

 

Reporter Amanda Baumfeld will include this in a story for the weekend detailing the number of schools that will be closed in the San Gabriel Valley.

"Everyone's done it like this," Núñez said of previous legislative leaders. "The difference is there are some in politics who want to judge me in a certain manner.

"Because of the fact I am Mexican, they think I have to sleep under a cactus and eat from taco stands."

Núñez's spending included more than $47,000 in plane fare, more than $5,000 at a wine cellar in France, and more than $2,500 for "office expenses" at Vuitton, the Los Angeles Times reported last October

You'll recall Alvarez pleaded guilty to falsely claiming he won the Medal of Honor, which has touched off furor in the community and among local veterans.

As promised, Bowcock ripped Alvarez a new one and even called for recall campaign to remove Alvarez from his seat.

Alvarez' defense: "I said it," Alvarez said. "I regret it - the way that I said it."

You gotta love BP.

ARCADIA - Four-time Arcadia Mayor Charles Gilb, who helped changed the face of the city by spearheading several key civic projects, has died, his family announced.

Gilb died Sunday at his Arcadia home from malignant melanoma. He was 83.

He had served on the City Council for 16 years, beginning in 1974.

"In Arcadia's history there have been two dynamic personalities: one was Charles Gilb and the other was Lucky Baldwin," said City Councilman Roger Chandler.

Alvarez asked to resign
Will Bigham, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 05/21/2008 02:11:14 PM PDT

CLAREMONT - A local water representative called for the resignation this morning of director Xavier Alvarez, who has pleaded guilty to falsely claiming he won the Medal of Honor.

At a meeting this morning of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District, Director Brian Bowcock called Alvarez a "disgrace," read from a lengthy list of Alvarez's lies and urged Alvarez to have the "decency to resign your position."

"You are a disgrace to the district, a disgrace to south Pomona and a disgrace to the Latino people of the community," said Bowcock, who represents La Verne and Claremont. "But most of all, you have disgraced and embarrassed the servicemen and women of our country."

I just got these notes from reporter Brian Day, who went to the El Monte City Council meeting last night.

Word on the street was Mayor Ernest Gutierrez was going to be censured for alleged misappropriate behavior at a city-sponsored fund-raiser a few weeks ago.

Well, the censure didn't happen, but the following comments were made:

Councilwoman Patricia Wallach:

Regarding the item listed under her name regarding the city's Cinco de Mayo fund-raiser/dance, at which the mayor allegedly made some sort of offensive remarks, she said, "I wanted to put this on the agenda so that the community would not think that we are sweeping things under the rug. Normally we don't comment on things like that that are done in public comments. We do ask staff to look in to the matter, and that's exactly what happened."

Wallach then asked the City Manager, Mr. Mussenden, when the council would receive a report on the incident.

He added that the report will hopefully be presented at the next council meeting. "That item will be in closed session," he said.

Awwwwwwwwwwww.

Councilwoman Ishigaki was the only other council person to chime in, saying she had researched rules and norms regarding censure, "Which is what I think people want us to do," she said.

"I wasn't there, and of course I'd never approve of this," Ishigaki said. "The norms and procedures protect any elected official... on 1st Amendment rights. I think we need to spend more time on El Monte burning, with sewer assessment and trash issues and budget problems and employee problems. I think that's what we were elected to do."

I think I'm going to have to start attending city functions waaaaay more often.

Brian Bowcock said Alvarez's false claim that he won the Medal of Honor has embarrassed the district and bogged down staff members who continuously field calls and receive e-mails from people outraged over Alvarez's lies.

Bowcock said he will urge Alvarez to resign after reading a three- page list of what he says are Alvarez's lies at this morning's board meeting.

I confirmed just a little while ago the dealership will shut down on the 31st.
That means about $100,000 yearly loss to the city. The dealership is one of La Verne's top 10 sales tax generators.

The next door Hyundai dealership that just moved in from Glendora a few months ago isn't going anywhere I'm told.

In fact, Hyundai will be expanding out when Ford leaves -- making it the last standing dealership in La Verne.

Still no word on what city officials will be doing to fill the void, but Mayor Jon Blickenstaff tells me he would just like to see a successful business there.

Wouldn't we all.

By Amanda Baumfeld, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 05/19/2008 10:09:13 PM PDT

Hernandez declined to comment on his situation Monday but did say he will be retiring.