CV volleyball tournament kicks off today

Crescenta Valley High will host the inaugural Falcon Girls’ Volleyball Tournament beginning today at 3:30 and continuing through Saturday afternoon. Two local Pacific League squads will participate – host Crescenta Valley and Hoover – with a total of 10 teams set to participate.

The participating teams, which include Providence, Saugus, South Pasadena, Pasadena Poly, Los Altos, Lutheran, Righetti and Taft, will split into four pools and play three best-of-three matches to 25 on Friday.

Gold and Silver playoff brackets will be set up on Saturday with play beginning at 9 a.m. and concluding with the championship match around 1:30 p.m.

Accused killer back in Glendale

Accused killer John Levin arrives at the Glendale Police Department after being brought from Washington State on Thursday evening, October 29, 2009. Levin faces charges of killing his wife and fleeing the state. (Raul Roa/News-Press)

Glendale Tennis Sevana Zargarian vs. Burbank H.S.

Burbank Police Sgt. commits public suicide

From the Burbank Leader:

HILLSIDE — A Burbank Police sergeant who was listed in an FBI probe into police misconduct shot himself to death Thursday morning on the corner of a residential street, authorities said.

Burbank Police Sgt. Neil Thomas Gunn Sr., 50, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the corner of North Sunset Canyon Drive and East Harvard Road, Lt. John Dilibert said.

“This incident is a devastating tragedy,” Dilibert said in a statement. “The members of the Police Department and all our city employees share in the grief with his family during this difficult time.”

A 22-year veteran of the department, Gunn received several commendations for his work, including the Ministerial Officer of the Year in 1992, and two departmental professional esteem awards, one in 1997 and one in 2004.

Full story here.

La Cañada sports notes, Oct. 29

The Spartans boys’ water polo  team showed no mercy to San Marino on Thursday, beating the Titans 15-6 at home to reaffirm their place in the Rio Hondo League after a tough overtime loss to South Pasadena on Tuesday.

The Spartans were all over the Titans, with Jack Depew, Bo Mattix and Trevor Roszkos scoring three goals each.

“I didn’t have to do much coaching today,” Spartans Coach German Lopez joked.

La Cañada is now 8-14 on the season, 5-1 in Rio Hondo League play, and still tied for first with South Pasadena.  The Spartans will have a big test at Temple City on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.

—————

The entire season comes down to the final match against Temple City next Tuesday for La Cañada girls’ tennis, as the Spartans must win (or lose and make it close) in order to advance to CIF.

La Cañada, which is no. 3 in Rio Hondo League standings, just in at the CIF cut, has a 5-4 league record, while Temple City has 4-5, said Spartans Coach Will Moravec.

If Temple City wins, the two teams tie in league record, and if they win by 11-7 in sets or more, they take over third place.

La Cañada beat Temple City earlier this year, 10-8.  The tiebreaker after win-loss league record is head-to-head sets record.

For all you pumpkin carvers out there…

(latimes.com)

If you haven’t yet carved a pumpkin to display this Halloween, the Los Angeles Times has a great slideshow of elaborate pumpkin carving ideas to inspire you.

You can check it out here.

Torture bankers with your iPhone

There’s an app for that.

The Apple App Store (image via Flickr by jeffwilcox)

For .99 cents you can beat up bankers and obliterate them with a laser cannon and a tank.

The No. 23 most popular paid app boasts, “Take revenge on bankers … Defend the White House and save the U.S. taxpayers’ money before it gets stolen! It’s time for you to give them what they deserve.”

Anti-bailout sentiment is popular on the app store. There’s iStimulus, also for .99 cents, where gamers catch free-flowing money with a barrel.

Obsessed with the national debt? The National Debt & Bailout app provides a live ticker of the national debt, bailout allocations, payouts and repayments.

And for the wonks, $1.99 will get you the actual text of the 2008 bank bailout bill, the granddaddy of them all.

What 1.5 million gallons of water will get you…

A chlorine gauges at the Verdugo Water Pump Station in Glendale. (Scott Smeltzer/News-Press)

The water meter at Escott Norton’s North Glendale home showed that 1.5 million gallons of water passed through it within a 64-day period. That’s equal to about 24,000 gallons a day and nearly 17 gallons per minute. Norton is disputing the amount — and the $6,000 bill. To put things in perspective:

• 1.5 million gallons is enough water to fill a 3.5-foot-deep pool the size of a football field.

• Glendale High School, where about 3,000 students attend classes on weekdays, flushing toilets, competing on irrigated fields and showering in locker rooms, uses less water each month: about 1.2 million gallons. It would be approximately twice that amount during a 64-day period.

• Burbank’s 18-hole, 67-acre DeBell Golf Club, which uses reclaimed water, could be completely irrigated for nearly four days using that total.

Burbank Leader poll

Poll results: A federal judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. of polluting the surrounding area with chromium 6. Do you think the lawsuit is valid?

(1) No. Disney officials have denied the charges levied in the lawsuits, citing a soil investigation that found chromium levels well within California and EPA regulations. (14 votes, 34%)

(2) Yes. I side with the plaintiffs who allege that for decades Disney pumped groundwater for its air-cooling system and added chemicals. (27 votes, 66%)

Current poll: A group of protestors recently said the media is doing a poor job of covering the president and his “socialist agenda.” Do you agree?

Yes. The media hasn’t truly examined Obama’s plans and I worry about the direction of this country.

No. The protestors complaints are unfounded; Obama doesn’t have a “socialist agenda.”

Cast your vote now at BurbankLeader.com.

Glendale News-Press poll

Poll results: Residents and mobile carriers will get their first chance to weigh in on a draft ordinance meant to regulate the placement of cellular antennas. Should Glendale be able to deny permits for antennas if they aren’t keeping with the city’s aesthetic?

(1) Yes. The city should require carriers to not only prove why they need to place their antennas at desired locations, and face denial if their proposals are deemed unsightly. (40 votes, 56%)

(2) No. This gives the city too much control over cellular antennas – we don’t do this for similar services, why single out mobile phone carriers? (32 votes, 44%)

Current poll: Police arrested protesters at health insurer CIGNA after they refused to leave the lobby of the Glendale building while chanting slogans like “Patients, not profits.” Are these tactics affective?

Yes. Protests and arrests draw attention to the health-care reform debate. Extreme times call for extreme measures.

No. These stunts don’t foster discussion between the public and insurers. It’s time to rethink the strategy.

Cast your vote now at GlendaleNewsPress.com.