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Week in review
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| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Photographing a cross-country meet can be exciting and fun, but only for a few seconds as the leaders pass by your position on the course. Getting the standard eye-level shots of the lead runners shows the intensity on their faces, but there are other ways to show the race itself. This week, I was at the Arcadia Cross Country meet to photograph the Burbank and Glendale schools participating. Once I photographed the lead runners from an eye-level position and they passed me by, I put down the 300mm 2.8 lens and grabbed the second body I carry with the 16-35mm 2.8. Getting low to the ground, I snapped furiously as the girls passed by. The low angle and distortion the 16mm lens setting gives the image turned out to be complementary to the runners. While keeping the runner in front large and in the frame, the lens allowed for other runners to remain pretty sharp as they faded into the back of the picture. This shot gave me a squirrel’s view of the runners passing by. — Raul Roa |
PUBLIC SAFETY
When a woman drove her car through the front of Movses Golden Pastry five years ago, owner Armen Nazarian thought he could protect his store by installing steel barriers in front of the property. He was wrong.
Early Tuesday, police said, a Burbank woman in the parking lot slammed on the gas pedal of her white Toyota 4Runner and barreled through the Glenoaks Boulevard corner bakery. She evaded a steel barrier and smashed through a storefront window, refrigerators, tables and chairs. No one was hurt, police said.
The SUV skidded to a halt on the property after crashing through a second window and nearly rumbling off an elevated outdoor seating area facing Glenoaks Boulevard.
Assortments of pastries and Armenian breads sat amid shards of glass in broken refrigerated displays that cost about $10,000 each. Displays had fallen from shelves along the back wall of the shop, Nazarian said.
The 2004 crash had cost about $30,000 to repair, but Tuesday’s damage, combined with lost profits from days that Nazarian will have to close for repairs and health inspector visits will likely triple that total, he said.
He expected insurance to pick up the tab.
Glendale and Burbank firefighters used a rotary saw to clear a railing, allowing them to move the 4Runner off the elevated seating area and onto a flatbed tow truck. Employees at the 1755 W. Glenoaks Blvd. store said they feared for their lives upon hearing the SUV plow through the front of the shop.
No charges have been filed against the driver, Heranosh Baghomian, because the accident occurred on private property, Ballesteros said.
CITY HALL
The City Council on Tuesday paved the way for lease negotiations with the Museum of Neon Art, voting unanimously to move forward with talks on moving the Los Angeles-based nonprofit into a city-owned building on South Brand Boulevard.
The vacant building at 216 S. Brand Blvd., which once housed a Salvation Army branch and a Rite Aid, would give the museum a new permanent location to showcase its large collection of vintage neon signs and contemporary neon art after using a temporary spot in downtown Los Angeles for about two years.
The museum’s temporary space is able to accommodate only 20 of the signs in its collection, said Kim Koga, the museum’s executive director. The Glendale space would allow the museum to bring 40 more signs — including the historical Grauman’s Chinese Theatre dragon and the iconic Brown Derby sign — out of storage.
Under the proposed 15-year lease terms, the city would pledge up to $1 million in redevelopment funds to help renovate the vacant building.
BUSINESS
Indian Springs Shopping Center in Montrose, which houses a Vons grocery store, kicked off a transformation effort this week, just as Trader Joe’s begins negotiations for a nearby location.
Plans for the Vons and shopping center renovations have been in the works for years and were not connected to interest in the area from Trader Joe’s, said Brad Howard, real estate manager for Green Howard, which manages the center.
But Montrose residents have long complained of a lack of good grocery alternatives in the area, which prompted a city campaign to court Trader Joe’s in the first place, city officials have said.
Now, as the prospect of a new Trader Joe’s emerges and Vons shares in a major makeover, Montrose may soon have two attractive options where residents had none.
The shopping center and Vons, at 2039 Verdugo Blvd., will be refashioned from their current Spanish-style to a “mountain-craftsman look,” Howard said.
Although Trader Joe’s will be more than a mile away from the center, if it opts to move into the area, the two new-look sites will be a huge improvement for residents, Lawler said.
The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to authorize negotiations for a ground lease agreement with Trader Joe’s for a site on Honolulu Avenue that was once occupied by a Ford dealership.
Both the revamped center and a potential Trader Joe’s would help businesses by drawing more visitors to attractive storefronts, said Jean Maluccio, president of the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Habitat for Humanity is hoping its plan to add an affordable-housing development in Glendale will persuade residents, businesses and community groups to defy penny-pinching trends as organizers ramp up a fundraising drive for the project.
The group hopes to raise at least $400,000 by August for the five-unit condominium complex at 624 to 630 Geneva St., said Elaine Wilkerson, former Glendale planning director and the organization’s chairwoman for the development.
Habitat for Humanity plans to collect another $200,000 to cover all costs for the project, but needs only the base amount to break ground, Wilkerson said.
But raising $600,000 during a time when most area residents have cut spending and expenses to bare minimums is not going to be easy, she said.
Donations to the San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity have plummeted from some key contributors, said Sonja Yates, executive director for the regional chapter.
Foundations, hurt by shrinking endowments during the recession, have slashed their support for new developments by about 80%, while corporations have cut back on donations by as much as 50%, Yates said.
Contributions from individual donors, down about 20%, have become more critical for the organization, which is trying to encourage a broader group of individuals to donate whatever they can in order to reach the target for the Geneva project, Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson has planned a fundraising dinner Oct. 13 at BJ’s Restaurant on Brand Boulevard, where the group will charge $20 a person for advanced ticket sales to the buffet dinner.
All sales will go toward the Geneva project, which will benefit five families in desperate need of housing, she said.
For more information on the fundraiser, e-mail wilkere@aol.com.
EDUCATION
Students at three Glendale Unified School District schools have been stricken with swine flu, but administrators said the virus has not reached levels forecasted by state health officials.
Seven cases have been reported at Rosemont Middle School, two at Crescenta Valley High and one at Monte Vista Elementary, Deputy. Supt. Richard Sheehan said.
The H1N1 influenza virus spreads rapidly, and state health officials have projected that one in four Californians will be infected, a message Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger emphasized at a Sept. 8 news conference at John Burroughs High School in Burbank.
Glendale Unified recently purchased $12,000 worth of hand sanitizer, which would be available in classrooms. The district also purchased disinfectant wipes for computer labs.
The district could inform parents of an outbreak or school closure within three minutes with its ConnectEd phone system, Supt. Michael Escalante said.
In Burbank, students at John Muir Elementary and Luther Burbank Middle School were diagnosed with swine flu in late August. District officials said they have not had any additional confirmed cases.
NOTABLE QUOTABLES
“I didn’t really expect that this was going to happen again.”
— Armen Nazarian, the owner of Movses Golden Pastry, which was smashed this week for the second time in five years by an out of control driver. A woman plowed her SUV through the store Tuesday after mistakenly slamming on the gas pedal, police said.
“It’s a numbers game for sure.”
— Jan Mendoza, spokeswoman for the Department of Motor Vehicles, referring to the infrequency of out-of-control driving among California’s 26 million motorists.
“They are all pluses for Montrose, definitely.”
— Mike Lawler, president of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley, on the renovation of Vons and the Indian Springs Shopping Center, which is occurring just as Trader Joe’s is entering negotiations with the city for a ground lease agreement at a Montrose site.
“It’s been disappointing.”
— Sonja Yates, executive director of San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity, on plummeting donations for the organizations efforts. The group is hoping to beat back that trend with a drive for $600,000 to fund a new Glendale affordable housing development.
“In MONA is an opportunity to establish Glendale in the area of arts and culture in our downtown.”
— Councilman John Drayman, on bringing the Los Angeles-based Museum of Neon Art to downtown Glendale.
“The goal has really been to look to improve service delivery.”
— City Manager Jim Starbird on a City Council-endorsed reorganization of four of the city’s key departments.
“Last year was pretty devastating. Everyone thought it would turn around, and it was worse.”
— Dale Dawson, president of the Montrose Shopping Park Assn, on last year’s holiday shopping season.
“There are a lot of drugs that haven’t been here, and it looks like it’s going to be here for a while. We have a lot of kids who are fearless of drugs and willing to try anything.”
— Steve Toly, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy, on teen drug use in the Crescenta Valley.
“The idea is that we’re trying to get a snapshot of how many people are walking and biking in Glendale and where.”
— Colin Bogart, a liaison with the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition, on a community-wide pedestrian and bicyclist census.
“The stupidest thing are the parents. Why did they get this car? Why?”
— Armen Neemak, who works with loseparts.com, on the decision to buy a group of teenagers a Ford Explorer that was involved in a fatal crash in Orange County. The crumpled car was used during a safe driving seminar for youth at Maple Park on Thursday.
“The fire was like a volcano.”
— Francisco Bernal, a student at R.D. White Elementary School, on the Station fire.
When a woman drove her car through the front of Movses Golden Pastry five years ago, owner Armen Nazarian thought he could protect his store by installing steel barriers in front of the property. He was wrong.
Early Tuesday, police said, a Burbank woman in the parking lot slammed on the gas pedal of her white Toyota 4Runner and barreled through the Glenoaks Boulevard corner bakery. She evaded a steel barrier and smashed through a storefront window, refrigerators, tables and chairs. No one was hurt, police said.
The SUV skidded to a halt on the property after crashing through a second window and nearly rumbling off an elevated outdoor seating area facing Glenoaks Boulevard.
Assortments of pastries and Armenian breads sat amid shards of glass in broken refrigerated displays that cost about $10,000 each. Displays had fallen from shelves along the back wall of the shop, Nazarian said.
The 2004 crash had cost about $30,000 to repair, but Tuesday’s damage, combined with lost profits from days that Nazarian will have to close for repairs and health inspector visits will likely triple that total, he said.
He expected insurance to pick up the tab.
Glendale and Burbank firefighters used a rotary saw to clear a railing, allowing them to move the 4Runner off the elevated seating area and onto a flatbed tow truck. Employees at the 1755 W. Glenoaks Blvd. store said they feared for their lives upon hearing the SUV plow through the front of the shop.
No charges have been filed against the driver, Heranosh Baghomian, because the accident occurred on private property, Ballesteros said.
CITY HALL
The City Council on Tuesday paved the way for lease negotiations with the Museum of Neon Art, voting unanimously to move forward with talks on moving the Los Angeles-based nonprofit into a city-owned building on South Brand Boulevard.
The vacant building at 216 S. Brand Blvd., which once housed a Salvation Army branch and a Rite Aid, would give the museum a new permanent location to showcase its large collection of vintage neon signs and contemporary neon art after using a temporary spot in downtown Los Angeles for about two years.
The museum’s temporary space is able to accommodate only 20 of the signs in its collection, said Kim Koga, the museum’s executive director. The Glendale space would allow the museum to bring 40 more signs — including the historical Grauman’s Chinese Theatre dragon and the iconic Brown Derby sign — out of storage.
Under the proposed 15-year lease terms, the city would pledge up to $1 million in redevelopment funds to help renovate the vacant building.
BUSINESS
Indian Springs Shopping Center in Montrose, which houses a Vons grocery store, kicked off a transformation effort this week, just as Trader Joe’s begins negotiations for a nearby location.
Plans for the Vons and shopping center renovations have been in the works for years and were not connected to interest in the area from Trader Joe’s, said Brad Howard, real estate manager for Green Howard, which manages the center.
But Montrose residents have long complained of a lack of good grocery alternatives in the area, which prompted a city campaign to court Trader Joe’s in the first place, city officials have said.
Now, as the prospect of a new Trader Joe’s emerges and Vons shares in a major makeover, Montrose may soon have two attractive options where residents had none.
The shopping center and Vons, at 2039 Verdugo Blvd., will be refashioned from their current Spanish-style to a “mountain-craftsman look,” Howard said.
Although Trader Joe’s will be more than a mile away from the center, if it opts to move into the area, the two new-look sites will be a huge improvement for residents, Lawler said.
The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to authorize negotiations for a ground lease agreement with Trader Joe’s for a site on Honolulu Avenue that was once occupied by a Ford dealership.
Both the revamped center and a potential Trader Joe’s would help businesses by drawing more visitors to attractive storefronts, said Jean Maluccio, president of the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Habitat for Humanity is hoping its plan to add an affordable-housing development in Glendale will persuade residents, businesses and community groups to defy penny-pinching trends as organizers ramp up a fundraising drive for the project.
The group hopes to raise at least $400,000 by August for the five-unit condominium complex at 624 to 630 Geneva St., said Elaine Wilkerson, former Glendale planning director and the organization’s chairwoman for the development.
Habitat for Humanity plans to collect another $200,000 to cover all costs for the project, but needs only the base amount to break ground, Wilkerson said.
But raising $600,000 during a time when most area residents have cut spending and expenses to bare minimums is not going to be easy, she said.
Donations to the San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity have plummeted from some key contributors, said Sonja Yates, executive director for the regional chapter.
Foundations, hurt by shrinking endowments during the recession, have slashed their support for new developments by about 80%, while corporations have cut back on donations by as much as 50%, Yates said.
Contributions from individual donors, down about 20%, have become more critical for the organization, which is trying to encourage a broader group of individuals to donate whatever they can in order to reach the target for the Geneva project, Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson has planned a fundraising dinner Oct. 13 at BJ’s Restaurant on Brand Boulevard, where the group will charge $20 a person for advanced ticket sales to the buffet dinner.
All sales will go toward the Geneva project, which will benefit five families in desperate need of housing, she said.
For more information on the fundraiser, e-mail wilkere@aol.com.
EDUCATION
Students at three Glendale Unified School District schools have been stricken with swine flu, but administrators said the virus has not reached levels forecasted by state health officials.
Seven cases have been reported at Rosemont Middle School, two at Crescenta Valley High and one at Monte Vista Elementary, Deputy. Supt. Richard Sheehan said.
The H1N1 influenza virus spreads rapidly, and state health officials have projected that one in four Californians will be infected, a message Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger emphasized at a Sept. 8 news conference at John Burroughs High School in Burbank.
Glendale Unified recently purchased $12,000 worth of hand sanitizer, which would be available in classrooms. The district also purchased disinfectant wipes for computer labs.
The district could inform parents of an outbreak or school closure within three minutes with its ConnectEd phone system, Supt. Michael Escalante said.
In Burbank, students at John Muir Elementary and Luther Burbank Middle School were diagnosed with swine flu in late August. District officials said they have not had any additional confirmed cases.
NOTABLE QUOTABLES
“I didn’t really expect that this was going to happen again.”
— Armen Nazarian, the owner of Movses Golden Pastry, which was smashed this week for the second time in five years by an out of control driver. A woman plowed her SUV through the store Tuesday after mistakenly slamming on the gas pedal, police said.
“It’s a numbers game for sure.”
— Jan Mendoza, spokeswoman for the Department of Motor Vehicles, referring to the infrequency of out-of-control driving among California’s 26 million motorists.
“They are all pluses for Montrose, definitely.”
— Mike Lawler, president of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley, on the renovation of Vons and the Indian Springs Shopping Center, which is occurring just as Trader Joe’s is entering negotiations with the city for a ground lease agreement at a Montrose site.
“It’s been disappointing.”
— Sonja Yates, executive director of San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity, on plummeting donations for the organizations efforts. The group is hoping to beat back that trend with a drive for $600,000 to fund a new Glendale affordable housing development.
“In MONA is an opportunity to establish Glendale in the area of arts and culture in our downtown.”
— Councilman John Drayman, on bringing the Los Angeles-based Museum of Neon Art to downtown Glendale.
“The goal has really been to look to improve service delivery.”
— City Manager Jim Starbird on a City Council-endorsed reorganization of four of the city’s key departments.
“Last year was pretty devastating. Everyone thought it would turn around, and it was worse.”
— Dale Dawson, president of the Montrose Shopping Park Assn, on last year’s holiday shopping season.
“There are a lot of drugs that haven’t been here, and it looks like it’s going to be here for a while. We have a lot of kids who are fearless of drugs and willing to try anything.”
— Steve Toly, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy, on teen drug use in the Crescenta Valley.
“The idea is that we’re trying to get a snapshot of how many people are walking and biking in Glendale and where.”
— Colin Bogart, a liaison with the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition, on a community-wide pedestrian and bicyclist census.
“The stupidest thing are the parents. Why did they get this car? Why?”
— Armen Neemak, who works with loseparts.com, on the decision to buy a group of teenagers a Ford Explorer that was involved in a fatal crash in Orange County. The crumpled car was used during a safe driving seminar for youth at Maple Park on Thursday.
“The fire was like a volcano.”
— Francisco Bernal, a student at R.D. White Elementary School, on the Station fire.
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