Recycling event at local church

First Baptist Church La Crescenta is hosting a free collection/recycling event from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14 at the church. Accepted electronic devices include TVs, phones, tape players, photo copy machines, household batteries, computers, monitors, printers, cords and other computer hardware. These will be safely and legally recycled by E-waste Center, Inc. www.ewastecenter.com.

The goal is to divert 10,000 lbs. from the landfills. The proceeds will go to the church library that is open to the community Sunday – Thursday. Questions can be directed to the church office at (818) 249-5832 or call Nancy Jacobson at (818) 249-1603.

The church is located at 4441 La Crescenta Ave.

Traffic grant received

More traffic enforcement and safer streets are coming to Glendale beginning this month thanks to a recent $150,302 grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety. New speed measuring devices and increased special traffic enforcement measures are on tap for the Glendale Police Department. The grant also provides funding for the purchase of five handheld Lidar speed measuring devices and overtime to conduct special enforcement activities. New this year is the addition of two special Motorcycle Safety Enforcement Operations. Motorcycle fatalities have been on the rise in California, increasing 175% statewide in the last decade, from 204 killed in 1998 to 560 killed in 2008.

Glendale police officers will be conducting specialized enforcement efforts throughout the course of the next year. Extra officers will be on duty patrolling areas frequented by motorcycles. Officers will be cracking down on traffic violations made by motorcyclists, and other vehicle drivers, that result in far too many motorcycle collisions, injuries and deaths.

Hearing on oak tree removal

A public hearing is being held at 9 a.m. on Nov. 17 at the Los Angeles Hall of Records regarding a proposal to remove two oak trees to create two single family lots on 0.38 gross acres at 2748 Frances Ave. in La Crescenta. The oak tree permit is a request to authorize the removal of the two oak trees and the encroachment into the protected zone of nine oak trees. The meeting is being held in room 150 of the Department of Regional Planning, 320 W. Temple St., Los Angeles.

Spirit to move a little at a time

Engineers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory plan to begin the extraction of the Mars’ rover Spirit from its stuck position in the planet’s red soil on Monday night. The rover has been in the same location for about six months. Engineers have been working on different extraction scenarios  with an earthbound prototype in what they call the “sandbox” at the lab. The first few moves on Mars will be very slight but will increase as the process continues. Another issue engineers are watching closely is a few cases of amnesia Spirit has been having lately. “This is when the flash system failed to mount. It has happened four times before but this time it happened and persisted,” said John Callas, rover project manager. And then there’s the upcoming Martian winter.  Spirit has a difficult road to go before its engineers can sleep.

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