The 818 Now

In recent months, the Glendale City Council as well as the city’s Glendale Water & Power commission have discussed the brewing water crisis facing the state.

In addition to the growing water shortage, crumbling levies at the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta could result in a major disaster for much of the state, state officials have said.

Although the delta is hundreds of miles north of Glendale, city officials say its reliability and ecosystem issues trickle down in a big way to affect a significant portion of the city’s water supply.

If you are interested in learning more about the water issues facing the state, there was a special report on last night’s “60 Minutes” program on CBS. Click here to watch.

Brittany Murphy is photographed by The Times in 2001, the year she appeared in the Michael Douglas thriller "Don't Say a Word." (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Brittany Murphy, who died Sunday at the age of 32, moved to Burbank from Atlanta with her mother when she was 13, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times where, according to IMDB, she landed her first television role on the show 1990s television series “Blossom,” starring opposite Joey Lawrence and Melissa Manchester.

The actress died in the home she shared with her husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack.

The actress also attended John Burroughs High School, where she briefly attended but did not graduate, according to IMBD, and San Fernando Valley Professional School, according to the school’s alumni page.

The cause of death is under investigation, The Times reported Sunday, and an autopsy is planned for Tuesday, a coroner’s official said. Funeral arrangements are pending.

(Photo via Flickr user Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the BPL)

A new mapping and database site tracks historical maps through Google Earth. Old maps are scanned in then laid over with current street names and landmarks. 

Basically, you get to see what’s changed and what’s stayed. 

The San Fernando map dates back to 1880 when a state engineer surveyed water routes. The topographer drew in city land divisions, mountains, rivers, railroads and roads.

Worth 1,000 words (cartoon by Steve Greenberg via LA Observed)

Pick your poison: more cuts to education or more taxes. 

Students mostly from Cal State Los Angeles protested outside Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s downtown office this morning against likely $21 billion in additional across-the-board cuts. 

Like the UC and community college systems, CSU schools have raised fees while reducing services. 

The state of education, and the state of the state more broadly, is forcing some to wonder, is California is the next Dubai?

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday afternoon that “Wells Fargo & Co. would close 122 California bank branches as a result of its takeover of Wachovia Corp. last year, including the branch on Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada.

The closures are scheduled to occur in April, the paper reported. 

Wells Fargo, The Times reported, currently has 187 Wachovia offices in California. Of those, 101 will be closed, said bank spokeswoman Jennifer Langan. The company is also shutting 21 Wells Fargo locations. Employees affected by the closures would be given offers at other Wells Fargo branches if they wanted them, The Times reported.

Full story from the times >>>

The AIDS Ribbon (Image by WikiCommons)

HIV/AIDS remains an epidemic around the world. In this country, it has changed from being a mostly gay, white disease in the ’80s and ’90s to infecting many poor and minority people in the Southeastern and Southern U.S. 

World AIDS day began in 1988 by the United Nations organization that was renamed UNAIDS. 

According to the LA Gay & Lesbian Center and San Francisco AIDS Foundation:

- As many as 7,000 Californians will become infected with AIDS this year.

- African-Americans make up 6% of California’s population, but account for nearly 19% of those living with HIV/AIDS. 

- Someone is infected with HIV every 9.5 minutes in the U.S. 

- An estimated 56,300 people will become infected with HIV this year. 

- 1.1 million people are currently living with AIDS, 21% of whom are unaware. 

- Americans ages 13-29 account for 34% of all new infections, most of which are through sexual contact. 

- Racial and ethnic minorities account for about 67% of those living with HIV and about 70% of AIDS deaths. 

- AIDS is the single leading cause of death of women globally. 

For more check out the AIDS/LifeCycle.

(Image via WikiCommons)

A lot of things happening in Los Angeles Unified and South Pasadena Unified that mirror what’s happening, or will happen, in our own backyard.

Glendale and Burbank Board of Education members could follow South Pasadena, and other neighboring districts’ lead, in asking for a parcel tax.

If they do, here’s hoping they don’t make the same mistake as South Pasadena officials, who now must spend $15,000 unrestricted money to get the tax in the books of the Los Angeles County assessors office, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Glendale and Burbank education officials must also choose between cutting deals with their employees or layoffs. A deal was struck with LAUSD officials and some of their unionized employees, however none of them were teachers, which in Glendale’s and Burbank’s case, are the most influential union.

About 20,000 cafeteria workers, bus drivers and other support workers agreed to furlough days, which will save about $7.7 million for the district, according to union officials in the Times.

District officials also asked its union to accept a future 12% pay cut to in the face of this year’s $60-million shortfall and a forecasted $480-million deficit next year, the Times reports.

L.A. is making deals. In Glendale, not so much.

The shirt reads, "Don't make me unFriend you." (Image by unfriend at Cafe Press)

It looks like Facebook is the big winner.

The brains behind the Oxford American Dictionary Word of the Year settled on “unfriend” instead of the dozens of competitors that reflect Twitter, a global recession and Barack Obama.

Unfriend is a verb and the Oxford folks use it this way: “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight.”

I believe “defriend” is also acceptable.

The WOTY had stiff competition. Hashtag, paywall, sexting were close runners up. Hashtag is a Twitter term for popular topics denoted by a # sign, paywalls are one way newspapers can create revenue online and sexting, well, talk to your teenager about that.

Obamaisms continue to dominate the lexicon. Some positive connotations, some negative, they run the gamut from Obamaeur to Obamalicious.

Check out Oxfords explanation here.

I couldn’t help but think of Crescenta Valley while I was reading a recent Washington Post series, chronicling the heartbreaking stories of teens struggling with heroin addiction in Centreville, Va.

With the recent formation of the Crescenta Valley Drug and Alcohol Council and recent youth drug arrests for hard drugs, I know that teen drug use has been on the minds of many community members.

So I thought I would share the link to the articles. The stories speak for themselves:

Alicia’s death at 19 on March 5, 2008, would throw light on the existence of a highly organized heroin ring operating among more than 50 teens and young adults in Centreville. Many were current or former students at Westfield High School; they were soccer players, basketball players, cheerleaders, AP students. By the time the ring was broken, there had been several overdoses and four deaths.

You can read the series here.

The publisher for Sarah Palin’s new book announced the ex-Governor of Alaska will bypass Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and other big cities and their outlying regions on a book tour for her upcoming memoir “Going Rogue.”

Palin’s schedule features audiences in smaller, more conservative destinations such as Fort Wayne, Indiana; Washington, Pennsylvania; Roanoke, Virginia; and Jacksonville, Florida, CNN reports.

Palin will kick off the tour in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Nov. 18, one day after her book is released. A spokeswoman for Palin’s publisher said more cities could be added to the tour, according to CNN.

You might recall, John McCain’s advisers began saying Palin went “rogue” after she publicly disagreed with the campaign’s decision to withdraw resources from Michigan in October 2008.

From ABC 7:

Click here for more coverage.

Addys Gonzalez, an office assistant at Disney Elementary School in Burbank, was quoted on A1 of The New York Times today.

Image via Flickr (by Joe Shlabotnik)

“I didn’t think I was going to be in the newspaper,” Gonzalez said.  “I was shocked when you told me. “

The story by Jennifer Steinhauer examines Halloween protocol in school districts from Burbank to Illinois.

Steinhauer called Thursday and identified herself as a reporter with the Times. She had three questions, Gonzalez said.

She wanted to know Disney’s policy for its Halloween parade, the school’s relationship to Disney Studios and if the school was public or chartered.

It was Gonzalez’s first time in The New York Times.

“Anything to give our school some good news is great,” she said. “It’s awesome.”

The Glendale New-Press recently ran a story about the seven protesters arrested at health insurer CIGNA offices in Glendale.

The group of insurance-industry critics was part of a larger demonstration with dozens of protesters waving signs denouncing private insurers for focusing on their bottom lines, not patients.

Health-care worker and protester Matt Hendrickson recently described the experience on the Physicians for a National Health Program’s blog and why he was arrested.

Creative Commons

Lately, things have been a bit doom and gloom in the Golden State.

You’ve seen the headlines. A billion dollar deficit. Lawmakers deadlocked. Housing foreclosures. Major drought. Raging wildfires. And the list goes on…

Well a recent Time Magazine cover story says we don’t really have it so bad after all.

Ignore the California whinery. It’s still a dream state. In fact, the pioneering megastate that gave us microchips, freeways, blue jeans, tax revolts, extreme sports, energy efficiency, health clubs, Google searches, Craigslist, iPhones and the Hollywood vision of success is still the cutting edge of the American future — economically, environmentally, demographically, culturally and maybe politically. It’s the greenest and most diverse state, the most globalized in general and most Asia-oriented in particular at a time when the world is heading in all those directions. It’s also an unparalleled engine of innovation, the mecca of high tech, biotech and now clean tech.

The article that continues is an interesting look at California’s past and future.

What do you think? Is California still a great place to live?

From the Daily News:

DECIDING which candidate is best suited and qualified to represent the 2nd District on the Los Angeles City Council has become much easier. The Sept. 22 primary narrowed the field from 10 candidates, down to two.

After considering their track records and what they consider important, the Daily News Editorial Board unanimously supports Paul Krekorian in the Dec. 8 runoff election.

The job of a City Council member is to balance serving the people of the district with the larger needs of the whole city – making sure constituents get the services and help they deserve, while being a legislator and a policymaker.

We believe Krekorian has established a record of doing just that.

Read the full editorial here.

From the Associated Press:

(Roger Wilson/News-Press)

LOS ANGELES — The biggest wildfire in Los Angeles County history is finally fully contained.

The U.S. Forest Service says the 250-square-mile Station Fire was declared 100 percent contained at 7 p.m. Friday, 52 days after it began.

Authorities had kept the containment figure at 98 percent since late September even though for weeks there were few signs of fire in the Angeles National Forest.

After moderate rain last week, crews hiked in and completed containment lines on a portion of the fire in the San Gabriel Wilderness area.

Two firefighters were killed during the blaze and 89 homes were lost.

The fire got its name because it started in the vicinity of a ranger station. Investigators say the cause was arson.

From Episcopal Life Online [official publication of the Episcopal Church]:

An overflow congregation packed historic St. Luke’s of-the-Mountains Church in La Crescenta, California for an October 18 Service of Reconciliation and Healing that became a joyous family reunion, a celebratory new beginning and an open invitation to all — but no victory party, according to Bishop of Los Angeles Jon Bruno.

“Any time two Christians walk in different directions, it’s not a victory. What we did was gain an opportunity to minister in this place,” Bruno told about 300 people who gathered in the stone and glass-walled church in the hills below the Angeles National Forest.

After three years of costly, bruising litigation that at times made him “want to turn tail and run,” Bruno said emphatically, “We fought for this property, for the people. We fought for its history, for the reality of the Episcopal Church. We fought for justice, for mercy and, most importantly, for our baptismal covenant. We will respect the dignity of every human being and work for justice and mercy.”

In 2006, a majority of members of St. Luke’s voted to join three other dissident area congregations who, citing theological differences over the ordination of women and gays, disaffiliated from the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Los Angeles but sought to retain property and assets.

Click here for the full story.

From the Pasadena Star-News:

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE — Coroner’s officials released the name Saturday of a woman who was killed in an apparent murder suicide at her home.

Genny Herrera, 39, was fatally shot and was pronounced dead in her home in the 4500 block of Lasheart Drive, according to sheriff’s and coroner’s officials.

The name of the suspect, a 47-year-old La Crescenta man who fatally shot himself, was not released Saturday pending notification of his family members, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Investigator Sherwood Dixson said.

Click here for the full story.

Area residents take a tour of Deukmejian Wilderness Park, the first time since the recent Station Fire, in Glendale on Saturday October 10, 2009. Residents learned what the city is doing to curtail mud flows in the coming rainy season. (Raul Roa/News-Press)

Though I’m usually a pretty regular reader of Bill Boyarsky’s blog on LA Observed, I have to admit I missed his Oct. 9 post regarding the Station Fire. I first met Bill during his time on the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission. He was a commissioner, and I was a senior investigator for the CEC. Prior to that point, I only knew him by reputation — a tough, but fair, journalist and writer. During commission meetings, I was consistently impressed with Bill’s ability to cut through the bureaucratic b.s., and to make complicated issues transparent.

His post, a portion of which is below, excoriates what he feels are the real villains of the fire. It’s pretty tough stuff. Read the full post here.

The flames of the Station fire will be blamed for the floods that may follow in the denuded San Gabriel Mountains. But let’s place the blame where it belongs, on land development, acquiescent local officials, and a tax structure that subsidizes hillside building.

I was interested to read the Los Angeles Times story on the U.S. Geological Survey’s warning that winter rains may produce huge mudslides and floods in communities just below the San Gabriel Mountain areas hit by the huge blaze.

In 2004, fellow journalist Emmett Berg and I studied this area for the Center for Governmental Studies and wrote a report entitled “Losing Ground: How Taxpayer Subsidies and Balkanized Governance Prop Up Homebuilding in Wildfire and Flood Zones.” We did it after major loss of life and homes in the 2003 wildfires and floods.

Since there was no big fire or flood in 2004, our report was pretty well ignored, as we had predicted: “When fires and floods kill people and destroy residential areas, the disasters bring out heavy television news broadcast and print media coverage. But once the danger has past, the media, always in search of something new, shows little interest in examining systemic or policy-based causes. Those involved in dry and fire-free year discussions of potential danger are treated like Henny Penny, warning the sky is falling.”

Our report showed how taxpayers all over Los Angeles County—from rich to poor—subsidize the high cost of fire protection for subdivisions built on the edge of Angeles National Forest and just below it. In addition, we reported how state forest fire personnel, financed by state revenues are now “suburban firefighters, battling house by house to save homes in suburban areas.”

These subdivisions shouldn’t have been built. But now they are there, let local homeowners and government pay for firefighting costs in areas around and below the forest. Why should working people in Pico Rivera pay for firefighting in affluent and high-risk neighborhoods in the San Gabriel Mountain foothills? [...]

From NBC Los Angeles:

First the nation sat riveted to the story of 6-year-old Falcon Heene, who, they thought, was sailing over Colorado in a runaway balloon.  Turned out Falcon was safe at home, hiding in the attic. Reporters asked Falcon’s dad, Richard Heene, why Falcon would hide like that.

“He said it’s because I yelled at him,” said Richard Heene, who lived in Burbank a few years ago. “I’m sorry I yelled at him.”

His former landlady is dubious. When Heene rented a home from Carrie Cavalier in Burbank a few years ago, he wasn’t exactly the picture of responsibility.

Heene lived in Burbank for a few years, trying to live the Hollywood dream. He met Cavalier before she rented him her home, and she took headshots for him, so he could pursue an acting career that never got off the ground.

“So, of course, you know, I let him rent it,” she said. “And he was supposed to pay me money and the rent was late.”

Things went sour soon after she rented the house. By the time he skipped town in 2007, moving the family to Colorado, Heene owed Cavalier $6,000, she said.

“He was supposed to pay me security and last month’s rent, and then I said, ‘wWhy don’t you fix my roof?” she said.

He claimed he fixed the roof, Cavalier said — but it still leaked.

“He just never followed through with it, ” she says.

When Heene left, she took pictures of the damage he left behind. She’s still waiting for her rent money.