CITY COUNCIL HEARD AND RESPONDS

In a recent edition of the CV Weekly, I read with interest Scott Ziegler’s letter to the editor titled “Flirting With Disaster In Montrose” [Viewpoints, Oct. 21] and thought that his observations and comments deserved a response.

The issue of speeding in the Montrose Shopping Park is not new.  Vehicles traveling eastbound along Honolulu Avenue from Rosemont pick up speed on a 60-foot wide road, which funnels down to 30 feet at Las Palmas as drivers enter the Shopping Park.

From the four-way stop sign at Rosemont Avenue, there is not a single stop sign or streetlight until Ocean View Boulevard. That’s the length of the 2500, 2400 and 2300 blocks of Honolulu Avenue.

One of the conditions the City of Glendale has placed on the new Trader Joe’s development is the addition of a four-way stop sign at the corner of Honolulu and Orangedale.

In the last week, I spoke with Steve Zurn, Glendale’s director of Public Works about this situation and an examination of this stretch of Honolulu Avenue was made.

The City of Glendale has come to the same conclusions expressed by Mr. Ziegler and numerous others who have been in contact with me and my council colleagues on this subject.

The result is that new four-way stops were installed at the corner of Honolulu and Orangedale as well as Honolulu and Wickham Way.

Thank you to Mr. Ziegler and many others in the community who have taken the time to bring this issue to the fore.

John Drayman

Glendale City Council

A COMMUNITY THANK YOU

Life as we knew it, has changed … forever. On Oct. 11, 2010, our home burned [NEWS, “Fire on Las Palmas claims house,” Oct. 14] leaving our family of eight in need of shelter and clothing. Instinctively, we switched into “survival mode” to get through the moment to focus on the immediate needs for the children and how to remain in compliance with county requirements as foster parents to four foster children ranging in ages from 2 months to 18 years old.

Within moments we had offers for food, clothing and shelter from you, our new angels. You, our friends and neighbors and community, embraced our family and literally scooped us up. Our dogs were safe on leashes (which we would like to return but we don’t know who they belong to), our children were being watched down the street, safe from the horror of our burning home. Relief efforts were being formed to help us rebuild our lives even before the fire was out.

To the Glendale Fire department, you are our heroes … always. While containing the fire and keeping our neighbors safe, you also managed to save irreplaceable family photos and artifacts.

“Thank you” are two words that will never define the huge amount of gratitude in our hearts. The generosity and love that has been bestowed upon our family is overwhelming.

Thank you.

Lisa and Chuck Fenton

and Sam, Lena, Claudia, J.J. Kat, and William

QUESTIONS VALUE OF DRILL

On Oct. 21, Crescenta Valley High School students performed an unrealistic disaster drill. Everyone was to evacuate. Because it was a cloudy, drizzling morning, before the performance of the disaster drill, an announcement was made that all students were to enter the gym if it was raining or if it wasn’t raining, then we would go with the original plan, which was to go out to the football fields. When the time came for the disaster drill to occur, a special bell sequence went off and students were told to evacuate to the gyms because it was sprinkling outside.

As I was seated at my assigned spot, I gazed up and suddenly realized how many big lights were hanging, speakers, and other poles were above my own, and hundreds of other students’, heads. I wondered how dangerous it could be if a real disaster were to occur how unsafe the gym could be. Then in my mind, I thought that I would much rather be in rain where only water falls on your head than inside a gym, where lights, poles, speakers and/or whatnot could fall on your head.

Aren’t drills supposed to be acted as if a real disaster just occurred? Policemen have very realistic drills where they stop all the cars on the freeway if there was an accident up ahead. But if they do not practice these drills realistically on roads, stopping traffic to prevent injury, then how will they know how to act if there was a real situation of an accident?

Paramedics do not get ready for weather if a person was injured outside; their first priority is to take care of the injured. If a school were to do a disaster drill, we should perform it like a real disaster has occurred. If the weather is ceasing us from doing the drill like it is supposed to, why change the course if it is not to be followed at a real disaster? Would you rather enter a building capable of collapsing on you, or outside, in the rain?

Daniel Lee, CVHS student

La Crescenta

THERE IN SPIRIT

We recently read Viewpoints of Oct. 7 (Mr. Ron Klint, a former C.V. teacher, sent it to us). We would have loved to been there for the [50th CV High School] anniversary celebration, but the miles were too great and our schedule conflicted. We were certainly there in spirit.

Crescenta Valley High, with its wonderful faculty and staff (both past and present) has been and always will be such an integral part of our lives. I was not on the original faculty back in 1960 – however, I was on Rosemont’s original faculty when we all participated in that famous first semester of CV when there were only the tenth graders. In the fall of 1960 the new Clark and Rosemont buildings were not quite completed – so while the tenth graders of Crescenta Valley used the main administration building, Clark and Rosemont used the rest of the campus. Clark’s hours were from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Rosemont was in session from 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Clark and Rosemont had 40 minute periods with no lunch or snack (CV’s tenth graders were on a regular school time schedule). From 11:00 to 12:30 students from all three schools were on campus and classroom space was really tight! After the Christmas break both Rosemont and Clark moved into their new buildings and the CV sophomores were left all alone. The next year the new tenth graders moved in, and finally in 1962-63 CV was a full-fledged high school.

I taught at Rosemont for four years, Wilson for three (a sabbatical year in between) and then in the fall of 1968 I joined the CV faculty. My 23 years of teaching at CV (and eight years of subbing after I retired in ’91) were so enjoyable and memorable – part of our hearts will always be there. My wife, Glo, also did substituting at CV, and all six of our kids graduated from CV – six more reasons for wanting to be at that 50th anniversary!

Also of note – Glo’s sister and husband (Dick and Trudy Winther Sommer) were members of CV’s first graduating class (that happens to be the only class that held their graduation in the auditorium), and Trudy wrote the words of CV’s alma mater.

As you can tell – we’re Crescenta Valley fans through and through.

Joe & Glo Jensen

Riverton, Utah

First I must say how much I enjoy reading the Crescenta Valley Weekly.  Thank you.

I found the “cartoon” about the pacemaker for a dog interesting.  Recently my brother-in-law and friend died.  My sister had asked me to make arrangements in advance which I did.  He worked with dogs all of his life.  He and she wanted his pacemaker removed before his cremation to be given to be used for dogs.  I did not know that dogs could use human pacemakers.  The mortuary delivered the pacemaker to my sister for her to donate.

I had never heard of this and I thought others may not have either.  What a nice thing to do especially in view of the figure given in the “cartoon” of $6000.  Perhaps others may want to make such a donation. Certainly it would be less traumatic for family than an organ donation (which I support wholeheartedly).  Another way to “recycle”.

I did read more about it at pets with pacemakers.org and

Just an idea.

Pearl Turpin

Glendale, CA

Thank you Crescenta Valley!

On Saturday, October 30th, the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce shipped out 186 Christmas stockings weighing over 600 lbs. to our troops in Afghanistan.

When we were asked if we could count on enough community participation, our answer was, “YES”.

With only one month to complete this project, we received more than we hoped for, more than we had stockings for.

Along with all these donations, the troops will receive hand made cards from students at Wilson Middle School with comments such as, “Thank you for fighting and risking your lives  for us, you have a lot of courage, come home safely, hopefully we will win, do your best, GO USA” and several other encouraging notes along with  hand made pillowcases and neck scarves.

La Crescenta Girl Scout Troop 391 raised money to contribute and deliver items.

Residents and students filled the stockings and packed them up for shipping.  UPS and the La Crescenta Post Office went out of their way to help.

We wish we could list all those who helped, but the list is long.  Many we knew, many we didn’t.

The items left over are going to organizations in need, such as the YWCA Women’s Domestic Violence, Veterans in hospitals, the new Firehouse Teen Center and others.

The La Crescenta Woman’s Club collects coupons from the newspapers, cuts them out and sends them to Afghanistan.  You can help with this by bringing your coupons to the chamber office and we will make sure they receive them.

We thank our community, we never had a doubt that you would help.

We also thank Nancy Riehl and the community of Long Beach.

Jean Maluccio

  letters to the editor, Viewpoints