Flying High
[caption id="attachment_713" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="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)"]
[/caption]
[/caption]
[/caption]
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.
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.
[/caption]
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.”
Kodama said he was humbled by the honor.
“I just really appreciate the school thinking of me and doing this,” said Kodama, whose teams won seven league championships in his 23 years with the program. “For me, this honor is really all about the guys who played for me over the years. I wouldn’t be here without all of them.”
During the event, inductees were taken into the Burroughs gym where they were able to view their names permanently placed on a wall dedicated to the hall of fame honorees.
Said Alvord: "This one means a lot to me. I saw my name up there in the gym and I have to tell you, it gave me chills. Just to think that my grandchildren are going to be able to walk in there some day and say ‘That’s my grandma.’ That’s just so special.”
[/caption]
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.
A live grenade was found at GCC Garfield campus on Thursday. Click on photo for a gallery. [caption id="attachment_20908" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Crowds were evacuated after a live granade was found by construction workers at the Glendale Community College Garfield Campus construction site on Thursday, September 2, 2010. (Raul Roa/News-Press)"][/caption]
Menagerie: The Art of Animals exhibit at Forest Lawn Glendale [caption id="attachment_20898" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Andreas Deja's wire sculpture of a frog is part of the Glendale Forest Lawn Museum exhibit "Menagerie: The Art of Animals," in Glendale on Thursday, September 2, 2010. (Raul Roa/News-Press)"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_20904" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A member of the L.A. County Bomb Squad prepares to detonate a live grenade that was found by construction workers at the Glendale Community College Garfield Campus construction site. (Raul Roa/News-Press)"][/caption] [Updated 2:54 p.m. Bomb squad officers have detonated the grenade device in a pit covered with sandbags. No injuries were [...]
From the Glendale News-Press Rachel Keown has gone from rookie to record-holder. The newly-minted motorcycle racer, who works at Harley-Davidson of Glendale, broke the speed record for a 1,000 cc motorcycle this week at the BUB Racing Inc. Motorcycle Speed Trials at Bonneville Salt Flats outside Salt Lake City. The final results won’t become official [...]
From the Glendale News-Press Smokers in Glendale, which has one of the highest smoking rates in Los Angeles County, could gain free access to tools to help them quit smoking under a bill passed by state legislators Tuesday. County officials and health care representatives gathered on the steps of the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration [...]
From the Glendale News-Press LA CRESCENTA — The Crescenta Valley Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coalition on Tuesday was awarded a major federal grant that will total $625,000 over the next five years as they work to thwart substance abuse among local teens. The Office of National Drug Control Policy selected the coalition and 168 other [...]
From the Glendale News-Press SOUTH GLENDALE — Two women kidnapped another woman Wednesday afternoon, forced her to withdraw her bank savings and then burglarized her Pacific Avenue home, police said. The Glendale woman, who was unharmed in the incident, was walking home about noon at Pacific Avenue and Oak Street when she was approached by [...]
A state bill that increases the minimum age to start kindergarten passed the state Legislature Tuesday. To begin kindergarten, students must turn 5 years old by Sept. 1 of the school year. Previous law set the minimum at 5 years by Dec. 2 of the school year. If signed into law by the governor, it [...]
From the Glendale News-Press GLENDALE — A Glendale man who was stabbed last week after a road-rage incident was recovering from his injuries at home Tuesday, police said. The man was released Saturday from a local hospital after having sustained a stab wound that sliced his liver, Glendale Police Det. Keith Soboleski said. “He is [...]
Two hikers were rescued by helicopter Sunday night after reporting they got lost while trekking the Verdugo Mountains, police said. They called emergency dispatchers for help, but the calls kept disconnecting, police said. A helicopter was dispatched about 11 p.m. to the area to look for the hikers, who were severely dehydrated. The helicopter crew [...]
Subscribe to RSS