Flying High
Crescenta Valley quarterback Kyle Cota vaults over the Glendale High defense to push the ball forward on Friday, October 9, 2009. (Roger Wilson/News-Press)
Crescenta Valley quarterback Kyle Cota vaults over the Glendale High defense to push the ball forward on Friday, October 9, 2009. (Roger Wilson/News-Press)
Glendale Community College women’s cross-country Coach Eddie Lopez acknowledged on Friday that sophomore captain Katie Dunn, who has participated in just one of the team’s six races this season while battling back and hip problems, may not return to the Vaqueros at all this season.
Dunn cheered on the Vaqueros in street clothes, as the team ran to an overwhelming victory in the Western State Conference preview meet at Pierce College on Friday afternoon.
“She might be out for the year,” said Lopez of Dunn, a member of Saugus High’s 2007 state championship squad, who led the Vaqueros’ charge to Western State Conference and Southern California titles and a runner-up finish at state as a freshman. “Today she told me she still hurts.”
"Inferno" by Roger Wilson
I want to announce the winners of this month’s internal writing and photography contest. The contest drew from the staff writers and photographers from the Glendale News-Press, Burbank Leader, and La Cañada Valley Sun. The three papers make up the members of Times Community News, North.
(The other members of our little chain are the Daily Pilot, Coastline Pilot, and Huntington Beach Independent. They make up the members of Times Community News, South.)
The contest features categories: news or feature, sports, photo, and online. And, to make things as fair as possible, I’ve asked my colleagues in Orange County to judge the entries.
The online category has two awardees, both based on the number of pageviews. The story of any type (news, feature, or sports) on any of the three papers’ websites that gets the most hits, or pageviews, wins the website award. In turn, the most popular blog post – also judged by pageviews – receives the blog award.
Congratulations to the September winners!
Most popular online story: Veronica Rocha, “Michael Jackson: Pop icon laid to rest” (Glendale News-Press, Sept. 4) 9,360 pageviews
Most popular blog post: Christopher Cadelago, “Woman jumps to her death at Burbank Holiday Inn” (Following the Leader, Sept. 13) 527 pageviews
Best news story: Melanie Hicken, “Minimizing utility risks” (Glendale News-Press, Sept. 26)
Judges’ comments: It’s pretty difficult to make water pipes interesting, but with sold reportage and crisp writing, Melanie seems to have done it. The hook of the story – that Glendale’s pipes are in better shape than L.A.’s – shows an awareness of current events and a skill for localizing a broad or regional story. The lead puts you right in the office of the engineer for Glendale Water & Power, so the story starts strong and ends stronger (“It’s like painting the Golden Gate Bridge”), which is a telltale sign of good writing.
Best sport story: Gabriel Rizk, “The rise of an Olympian” (Glendale News-Press, Sept. 28)
Judges’ comments: The series is compelling and well written. As you read the stories, it becomes increasingly clear that a lot of reporting went into the project. Gabriel tells this story as an insider, which lends it authority. The details give the reader that “inside” feeling, as if you know Vanes Martirosyan and his family. The quotes – and there are multiple points of view – provide lively color and move the story along. For a long piece, it’s well structured and doesn’t lose its way.
Best Photo: Roger Wilson, “Inferno” (Glendale News-Press, Sept. 1)
Judges’ comments: This photo, showing the massive fire looming at the edges of city lights, is informative and impactful. It’s worth, as the cliché goes, a thousand words because of its perspective and framing. The reader gets a feel for the scope and magnitude of the fire, which seems to be poised to rush over the Verdugo Mountains into nearby neighborhoods.
I hope I can get away with making this a tradition. After all, it’s Friday, that means it’s only two days until the next episode of my favorite show ever, and of all time.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEUjKZmqRvM&hl=en&fs=1&]
The state controller released a report today announcing a new billion dollar budget gap compared to the one passed by the California Legislature.
Local governments are already angered by the state’s grab of city money to cover the previous budget gap, so this could only deepen local cuts.
From the Los Angeles Times:
State revenue has already fallen more than $1 billion short of assumptions in the budget lawmakers passed less than three months ago, according to a new report from the state controller.
Disappointing income tax receipts are the main culprit, falling 11% below what lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger expected when they agreed on a patchwork budget during the summer, halting the state’s issuance of IOUs. Sales and corporate taxes have also slid below projections.
“While there are encouraging signs that California’s economy is preparing for a comeback, the recession continues to drag state revenues down,” said Controller John Chiang in a statement. He called the new figures “a major blow to a budget that is barely 10 weeks old.”
Click here for more.
From the La Cañada Valley Sun
Law enforcement officials are on the lookout for two suspects driving a gray Dodge minivan who are suspected of burglarizing three homes, and attempting to burglarize a fourth, this week in La Cañada Flintridge.
The suspects, who are described as black males, ages 18-30 and between 5’7” and 5’10” and 190-200 lbs., allegedly broke into the homes through rear entrances by force and grabbed many small high-value items, including jewelry.
“We’ve put out extra patrols,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept. Sgt. Ray Harley. “We hope this will help deter the crimes. The investigation is currently pending.”
Read more here.
From the Los Angeles Times:
USC Coach Pete Carroll and defensive coordinator Rocky Seto stopped by La Canada St. Francis Thursday afternoon to chat with Coach Jim Bonds, then returned to watch the Golden Knights defeat El Rancho, 42-7, Thursday night.
Their focus was on St. Francis running back-defensive back Dietrich Riley, who scored three touchdowns and has emerged as one of the most sought-after college prospects in the Southland.
Click here for more.
Burroughs Athletic Hall of Fame inductees and family members were honored Thursday at Memorial Field (Roger Wilson/The Leader).
From a coach, to athletes to a city official and alumna who has helped support the school’s stadium renovation project, the honorees ran the gambit Thursday as the latest class was inducted into the Burroughs Athletic Hall of Fame.
Former Indians standout players Keith Jarbo, Jennifer Wagner (Penczar), Mary Ann Wagner (Murret) and Alfonso Tucay joined former boys’ soccer Coach Mike Kodama and Mary Alvord were honored at the induction event at Memorial Field.
“It’s just awesome to be honored like this,” said Jarbo, a former All-CIF and all-league football and basketball player. “This is something that I would have never even dreamed of. Just to be still thought about is great.” … Continue Reading
From the Burbank Leader:
BURBANK — After investing some $7 million to achieve a nighttime noise curfew at Bob Hope Airport, local government officials are gearing up for one last push.
A team of Burbank officials will join Mayor Gary Bric and Councilman Dave Golonski on a trip next week to the nation’s capital before the Federal Aviation Administration renders a decision by Nov. 1.
The group plans to meet with lawmakers, particularly those who oversee transportation and aviation committees, to discuss options to deliver meaningful nighttime noise relief.
The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority commissioned the Part 161 Study — a roughly 800-page document required to restrict all departures and landings at Bob Hope Airport between 10 p.m. and 6:59 a.m. — after decades of noise and air pollution complaints from neighbors. FAA officials said it was the first study of its kind to make it through the review process.
Read the full story here.
From the Burbank Leader:
Burbank resident Marina Manukian, at home on Thursday October 8, 2009, shows a photo of a branch that fell on her car in August, 2009. (Raul Roa/Leader)
BURBANK — Marina Manukian pulled her Infiniti G35 into a curbside parking space across the street from her Andover Drive home just 10 minutes before a large tree limb came crashing down.
“I heard a big bang and then saw that a parkway tree limb had fallen onto the roof, trunk and smashed the window,” Manukian said of the Aug. 4 incident. “If it happened just a few minutes earlier I could have been badly hurt, or killed.”
Falling limbs, pine cones and fruit have become a common side effect of an urban canopy in an semi-arid urban environment that’s home to some 30,000 city-owned trees of varying species.
As is the case in cities across the country, dozens of residents annually report damage to their vehicles and property caused by snapped branches. Last fiscal year, 32 claims for damages were filed against Burbank, and 20 have been filed since July.
Read the full story here.
The Glendale Police Department took a Glendale News-Press photographer on a helicopter ride for an aerial view of the the Station fire burn areas.
Burbank resident and Former Dodgers outfielder Willie Davis, 69, died this morning, police said.
Authorities continue to investigate and are waiting for the coroner’s report detailing cause of death, Burbank Police Sgt. Robert Quesada said.
Davis, who made his debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1960, was a speedy outfielder during his baseball career, with 20 [...]
From the Burbank Leader
A Burbank Unified School District teacher turned herself in Monday for having sex with a 14-year-old student from March to September last year, police said.
Amy Beck, 33, a sixth-grade teacher at Jordan Middle School, surrendered Monday afternoon to Burbank police with her lawyer, and was being held on $400,000 bail, Burbank Police [...]
From the Glendale News-Press
Three candidates vying to fill a vacant seat in the 43rd Assembly District faced off in a bilingual forum Sunday that featured perspectives on the state budget, the economy and the Armenian Genocide.
The Assembly hopefuls were non-confrontational while expressing their often starkly different takes on solving state challenges, with one calling [...]
From the Glendale News-Press
CITY HALL — The mayor of Topeka, Kansas, signed a proclamation renaming the city “Google” for the month of March. The mayor of Duluth, Minn., jumped into icy Lake Superior to proclaim his love for the Internet giant in a video posted on YouTube.
Glendale officials this week joined the fray — [...]
Soroptimist International of Glendale is welcoming colorful and innovative creations for its seventh annual Bras for a Cause fundraiser on April 10 at the Embassy Suites Hotel.
Participants can decorate a bra with this year’s theme in mind “Bras for a Cause Salutes Television, ” or create their own theme. The entry fee is $100 and [...]
A Noise Within surpassed the $10 million mark Sunday night in its capital campaign to raise $13.3 million for its new Pasadena theater, it was announced in a press release tonight by company Co-Founders/Co-Artistic Directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott. The goal was reached weeks before the groundbreaking, the duo added.
A board challenge, which matched [...]
Clouds opened up from time to time Saturday in La Crescenta. In La Cañada Flintridge, residents inspected the Mullally Debris Basin on Manistee Drive in the Paradise Valley neighborhood after a short but strong downpour with lightning and small hail.
Flitridge Prep High School played at home vs. Santa Paula High School at home Friday.
Lonnie Kauppila will likely generate a great deal of attention during his senior season with the Burbank High baseball team.
Having already signed with Stanford, college coaches are no longer hounding the senior shortstop. Instead, it’s the professional scouts who have been coming out of the woodwork to take a look at Kauppila.
“We have a lot [...]
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