John Muir and the Woodcutter When we think of the famed naturalist John Muir, we usually think of him in terms of Northern California, locales such as Yosemite. But Muir did spend time in the Los Angeles area and made some treks into the San Gabriel Mountains above us. One of these forays, in […]
Montrose Search and Rescue – Surviving a Plane Crash This tale chronicles an unusual event – a plane crash in the San Gabriel Mountains in which everyone survived! In June 1991, four young men in their 20s decided on a fun weekend in Laughlin, Nevada. One of the friends, Michael, was a good pilot. […]
Montrose Search and Rescue – Snowbound on Mt. Baldy In 1991, on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, boyfriend/girlfriend Chris and Cynthia set off on their traditional turkey-burning hike to Mt. Baldy peak from the top of the ski lifts. With them were Chris’ two young daughters, a third girl, a friend of the daughters, […]
Montrose Search and Rescue – The Missing Fisherman Last year I wrote several thrilling stories from the Montrose Search and Rescue team, one of the premier SAR teams in the nation. I recently connected with Sue Lapham, who joined the team in 1981, one of the first women to do so. She has offered up […]
Frank Lanterman: From Scrooge to Father Christmas for the Mentally Handicapped Frank Lanterman’s name is ubiquitous in our area. The Lantermans were the founders of La Cañada and Frank continued their legacy of community building. As such they left their name on a street, a historic home and museum, and a popular auditorium. Even […]
The Fate of the Green Scarf Bandit The last two weeks we’ve been following the crime spree of the Green Scarf Bandit, so-named because of the green scarf he wore over his face. He had been following a pattern of kidnapping grocery store managers from their homes at night and forcing them to open the […]
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 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 […]
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 […]