The Green Scarf Bandit – Shootout in La Cañada, and an 8-Year-Old Hero Last week I covered the 1951 kidnap/robbery at the La Crescenta Shopping Bag by the “Green Scarf Bandit” who committed a string of robberies in which he kidnapped store managers and forced them to open the store safes. Local supermarkets were […]
The Extended Foster Youth Program – A Vision Unrealized Nine years ago California made history. In 2010, AB 12, The California Fostering Connections to Success Act, was signed into law. This made our state one of the first in the nation to create an extended foster youth program, an opportunity born from the federal […]
First off, I would like to thank Supervisor Kathryn Barger for appointing me a commissioner on the LA County advisory board focused on consumer affairs to which I sworn-in on Feb. 22. As you may know, I am passionate about protecting residents of Crescenta Valley from fraudsters who often target the elderly and those with […]
The Green Scarf Bandit – Kidnapped Twice in One Day Dec. 7, 1951, a date that will live in infamy – in the crime annals of La Crescenta anyway. That was the date that the infamous “Green Scarf Bandit” kidnapped and robbed a La Crescenta store manager and his wife twice in eight hours. It […]
Rest in Peace, Crescenta Valley Rotary Club Recently my friend Joe Kroening (owner of Andy’s Transfer in Montrose) sent me a write-up of the Crescenta Valley Rotary Club’s history in order to ask me a question about one point in the group’s history. The piece he sent me was fascinating! Here was this local […]
Verdugo Hills Golf Course Update A couple of weeks ago, I took the opportunity to attend a Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council meeting. I was interested in the presentations related to 6433 La Tuna Canyon Road, the former Verdugo Hills Golf Course property. Many in attendance expressed sadness at the loss of recreational space and frustration […]
Excessive Taxes Killing Small Business, Middle Class It’s my opinion that excessive taxes hold back a healthy economy. Glendale’s recent sales tax increase of 3/4% will generate $30,000,000. That brings our local sales tax effective April 1 to 10.25%, which totals $410,000,000. If only 50% of the $410 million was spent on taxable goods ($205,000,000) […]
Juvenile Delinquents of CV – A Gang Fight in Tujunga! We don’t know what led up to the fight, what offenses real or imagined caused two large groups of teenage boys to meet at Sunland Park with deadly weapons for a gang fight. We only know that police rolled up on the fight before it […]
Making Automation Work for Everyone Over the past 20 years, we have seen the fastest period of technological advancement in human history. The internet has become integral to daily life, bringing us into an era of unprecedented connectedness. Technology has enabled life-saving procedures in the medical field, provided increasingly sophisticated defense capabilities to our […]
Officer Matt Welcomed Back with Pie! When I heard that Officer Matt Zakarian was returning as our community liaison to the Glendale Police Dept., I just had to bake pies to bring to our neighborhood watch meeting. [At the meeting] we had an excellent briefing by Officer Matt and crew regarding our role as neighbors […]