Some Glendale PD Dirt

Woman has affair with cop, cop arrests her husband on fishy charges. Pretty seedy.

http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-lawsuit-20101217,0,3093746.story

Video of Monday's Robbery At Jewelry Mart

Less than subtle, but they're in and out in under 30 seconds. If you watch closely it appears that only one guy on the left side actually breached the case, everyone else is just smashing with hammers but the cases won't break. This was at about 1:30 on Monday at the Jewelry Mart at the corner of Brand and Wilson. 3 of the suspects have been caught, and police are still looking for the other 3.

Map of South Glendale Amenities Within Walking Distance

I have a friend who is considering a move to South Glendale, so I made her a personal map of my immediate neighborhood to illustrate some of the nearby amenities I make use of. One of the reasons I enjoy my neighborhood is because it is dense, urban, walkable and far removed from Glendale's reputation as a homogeneous suburbia.

Crazy Bird at Forest Lawn

I shot this video last week at Forest Lawn Glendale. According to the owners of the SUV (who were picnicking nearby) - the bird had been at it for HOURS.

Moonlight Rollerway in Gossip Music Video

Thoughts on Glendale

Tomorrow I've been asked to participate in some sort of interview with the firm working on Glendale's "brand development and marketing strategic plan". I've been thinking about my relationship to Glendale recently because my work situation is in flux. I hope to be back at my office in downtown Glendale soon, but if I'm not working in Glendale, why am I here? I've been here for three years. What is my relationship to this strange place? There are lots of things I like about Glendale and some that I don't. I've been pondering this for a few days and even considered fleeing in the general direction of Sunset and Vermont. To prepare for the interview I started brainstorming from the prompt "where has Glendale been, where is Glendale now, and where you would like Glendale to be in the future".

historical: negative associations

ultra-white, racist

historical: positive associations

red car link to downtown LA, eagle rock, burbank

small town downtown feel

semi-rural, agricultural

link to golden age of aviation

present: bad

schizophrenic mix of conservative and gaudy

unimaginative, bland, small-minded

nanny-state, over-regulated HOA mentality

soulless retail

eurotrashy conspicuous consumption (MINX)

those fucking frogs

lack of distinctive art/music scene

pedestrian holocaust

present: good

walkable, well-kept downtown

proximity to downtown, atwater, silver lake, los feliz, hollywood, eagle rock, pasadena

safe

good restaurants

wildly diverse (my zip code is 62% foreign born, fairly evenly distributed between armenian, mexican/latin american, filipino, and korean)

beautiful historic neighborhoods

mountainous, good hiking, also close to Griffith

beyond the Galleria and Americana, interesting independent businesses. off the top of my head: Damon's, El Morfi, Kozy Korner, Elena's , Brand Bookshop/Mystery and Imagination, Porto's, Jax, Urartu, Angela's Bistro, Ranch Market, Palate

where I'd like Glendale to go:

truly pedestrian and bike friendly

more open-minded, supportive of art and individuality

negative trends:

A Noise Within fleeing as fast as they can

rampant downtown retail vacancies, especially the feng-shui sucking death star that was Mervyn's

positive trends:

museum of neon art moving downtown (and already looking good with some nice window displays)

Laura Friedman on council

Goodwill moving to Brand/California

forthcoming update of bike master plan

Glendale Seeks Google

From Google:

Google is planning to launch an experiment that we hope will make Internet access better and faster for everyone. We plan to test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Our networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We'll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.

If you're sick of AT&T DSL and Charter Cable (and everyone I know is), you can help Glendale attract Google by nominating the city via Google's nomination form:

Nomination Form

Here are 9 reasons why Glendale is perfectly suitable for Google Fiber. You can find out more at Google4Glendale and join Google4Glendale on Facebook.

Mystery of the Ruins Solved!

I made a trip to the Glendale Central Library today to research the mysterious ruins in the Verdugos that I explored this weekend. I described the site to George in Special Collections and he quickly dug out a binder he thought might be useful. The binder was a treasure trove of photographs and documents relating to the city of Glendale's ill-fated Camp Clarence Edwards, built in 1933 and abandoned in 1938 due to frequent flooding.

Library: 1, Internet: 0.

Apologies for the image quality, I snapped these shots on my iPhone through protective plastic so there are some reflections.



From the Glendale News-Press, March 8th, 1938:

CAMP CLARENCE EDWARDS FACES ABANDONMENT BY CITY

Conceived during the depression years, maintained in a constant struggle with violent nature, Camp Clarence Edwards today faced abandonment by the city parks department. At a meeting of the city parks and recreation commission yesterday afternoon, J.T. Allen, parks superintendent, reported that the flood erosion damage at the camp had been extensive, that ordinary maintenance costs were excessive and that the area constituted an ever-present hazard.

Urges Investigation

While withholding definite recommendation in regard to the camp, Allen urged the commission to make a personal investigation of the property. No action was taken by the commission but members individually agreed to inspect the camp.

Started with the two-fold purpose of providing work for the unemployed and furnishing young people's organizations with a camping place, the camp was finally completed after expenditure of several thousands of dollars. Some of the money for the enterprise was furnished by the American Legion and the remainder by the city.

Named For Fire Victim

At impressive dedication ceremonies, the camp was named in memory of Clarence Edwards, Glendale resident who lost his life battling a fire sweeping the hills back of Glendale.
Despite the work of the CCC in soil erosion and flood control, each heavy storm has spread destruction, the flood of last Wednesday finally completing the havoc, according to Allen.
The problem, Allen told the commission, is an engineering one of providing adequate protection for residences at the mouth of the canyon.

Mysterious Ruins of the Verdugos*

This is what I hoped being on the board of the Glendale Historical Society would involve: exploring mysterious, unknown ruins in the local mountains.

Leading up to the mysterious site is a canyon with the foundations of three structures that were apparently washed out during the 1934 flood. This canyon leads to a debris catch basin. Around the other side of the catch basin, up another canyon, lie the stone foundations of a camp, approximately a dozen structures. At the center of the "camp" is a large flagpole with a concrete base.

View Mysterious Ruins in the Verdugos in a larger map
Unlike the very accessible Brand Cemetery, unless you are an experienced bushwhacker I can't recommend you explore the site yourself. It requires trespassing and avoiding rattlesnakes, bees, and dense thickets of poisonous sumac. Here are two rattlesnakes I had a close encounter with:


My best guess at the moment is that the site was a Civilian Conservation Corps camp - I believe they worked on the nearby catch basin, so that would make sense. The only thing that feels odd about that hypothesis is the permanence of the rock foundations - it feels overbuilt for a temporary camp, and I haven't found references to a CCC camp near Glendale other than in Griffith Park and Tuna Canyon. Perhaps a base for the Army Corps of Engineers working on nearby flood control projects? Or a private ranch? A Boy Scout Camp? If you have any ideas, let me know.*

*Update: Mystery solved (by research in an actual library). Camp Clarence Edwards, 1933-1938.

Glendale Looking For An Art Installation Consultant

This should help liven up some of the many vacant storefronts downtown. From the request for proposals:

"PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Glendale Redevelopment Agency (“Agency”) is requesting qualifications and
proposals from art installation consultant teams that can provide the following services:

• A. Coordinate and manage installation of art displays in vacant storefronts; and
• B. Coordinate and manage temporary art galleries using vacant tenancies."

*Armed Robbery Suspect CAUGHT At the Americana

**UPDATE: The suspect has been caught.

A police chase that started in Burbank ended just outside of Barnes and Noble at Orange and Colorado. Two suspects were taken into custody but one suspect escaped on foot towards the Americana's parking structure. Police have a perimeter around the Americana and are evacuating the area. The SWAT team has just arrived.

Live streaming video:

http://www.kpsplocal2.com/Content/CBS-Livefeed/default.aspx

More info.

*Update from Burbank Police interview on KCAL at 12:45pm: Everyone at the Americana is on lockdown. The police chase started after a liquor store robbery in Burbank. The suspect on the loose is the person who actually committed the robbery (with a handgun) and is also suspected in 5 other robberies in Burbank over the last few weeks.

The View From My Bedroom Window

Before, After

Caucasian Hot Delicacy

If I ever become a rapper, this will be my name:

Photo taken at the always excellent (and frequently amusing) Ranch Market on Central.

Vote Glendale Blogger America's Most Stylish

And it's definitely not me! Vote for Tiffany Tse, the Glendale fashionista who blogs at Style Sophisticate.

From the LAT's Image blog:

Tiffany Tse, an indie fashion blogger based in Glendale, is competing to be "America's Most Stylish Blogger" in a national contest sponsored by AOL lifestyle website Stylelist.com and online designer retailer Bluefly.com.

She's one of eight finalists in the competition -- in which Bluefly sends bloggers a mystery item of clothing every week to style as they see fit. The bloggers then post photos of their styled outfits and are judged by a panel of experts via video. But voting takes place online -- with America picking the weekly winners on Bluefly.

Jewel City Photo: Glendale From Griffith Park

LA Live Steamers Haunted Train Ride: Awesome

Last night my girlfriend and I stumbled into the LA Live Steamers Halloween Haunted Train Ride in Griffith Park. It's $5, and was way, way, better than I expected - GO NOW. note: small children may actually be pretty scared!

The LA Live Steamers museum is about a mile east of Travel Town- Travel Town has full size trains, and LALS has smaller model trains - that are still large enough to take you on rides. It's separate from Travel Town and pretty easy to miss.
http://www.lals.org/

Porto's Burbank Was Robbed In 2007

This caught my eye while reading about the current FBI investigation into conduct at Burbank PD this morning.

From LA Now:

Federal officials are seeking use-of-force complaints or allegations generated in response to a Dec. 28, 2007, robbery of Porto's Bakery a well as records in connection with the Aug. 23, 2007, arrest of Rene Escarsega, the subpoena states.

How did I not hear about this? The only information I could dig up about the Porto's robbery is in a post today on the SemiChorus Burbank blog, and it's fascinating:

The reason why the LASO came in was because of a serious robbery down at Portos. That’s right, the fantastically lucrative Portos Bakery was robbed here in Burbank a few years ago, and you never heard about it in our little local newspaper, as far as we can detect. This Portos crime was big news to us when we first heard about it awhile back, and apparently there might have been a good reason to keep it all quiet, because it has turned out to be more than just a simple robbery.

We’re trying to get a line on just what happened, but apparently for now, the Sheriff’s investigators happened upon Burbank police misconduct in the course of their findings, and then called in the FBI, which is why the federal agency got involved. And things branched out from there, as they often do.

The linchpin in all of this is Portos. We understand the DA’s office placed this robbery case within their organized crime division for investigation, but we’re not sure if this means possible gang participation, or whether the DA thinks the city itself is the organization that conspired to do something wrong.

Either way, it was Portos that dragged in both the FBI and the Sheriff’s Office, not Gary Bric or anyone else in the city on their conscientious own, and then things got complicated and out of hand.

If you have any information about the previously undisclosed robbery, please post it in the comments.

GCC Planetarium: The Coolest Thing I've Ever Seen In Glendale

The GCC Planetarium show is the most amazing thing I've ever seen in Glendale. If you've seen the planetarium show at the Griffith Observatory it will merely function as a warmup for the planetarium at GCC. At Griffith, an actor holding a glowing orb narrates a (pretty cool) movie about the universe, which is projected onto the dome. GCC's show is entirely different. For onething, the dome is much smaller, so the effective resolution and brightness of the projected images is much, much better than Griffith.

Most importantly, at GCC, an actual very knowledgeable astronomy professor (Paul Buehler) uses an amazing digital 3d system to literally fly you around the universe, and shows you whatever you, the audience, want to see, while very knowledgeably explaining the actual science behind why we know these things and what they mean. Nearly the entire presentation is based on the questions asked by the audience.

The first question was asked by a 4 year old girl: "Do fairies live on other planets?" Professor Buehler calmly explained that given what we now know about the number of habitable planets in the universe, statistically, its very likely that fairies DO exist out there on some other planet.

Visually, the dome is amazing. Hundreds of different datasets from satellites and probes can be loaded into the system and shown on the fly, as well as high resolution imagery from Hubble or any other source. It's way, way cool -- and a tremendous mental workout. For the first 45 minutes I was able to keep up with the staggering scale changes and conceptual leaps necessary to understand the universe, but after that I just let the narration wash over me and soaked in the imagery. My mind was blown.

http://www.glendale.edu/planetarium/

"Evening With the Stars" schedule:

http://www.glendale.edu/planetarium/Public_Shows/EWTS/ETWS.htm

Video of SUV Crashing Into Movses Pastry

Unbelievable video of an SUV plowing into Movses Pastry on Glenoaks this Tuesday. The action starts a minute into the video. Their baklava is delicious, by the way. (via Vince and Harsanik)

Related story in the News-Press.

Free Zankou Wraps

Yes, a buy one wrap-get one free deal at the Zankou on Glenoaks. This coupon was in yesterdays Pennysaver that was stuffed in my mailbox - and which I usually throw out immediately. I will start paying attention to them if they have Zankou coupons!

Museum of Neon Art Coming To Glendale!

Fantastic news - the Museum of Neon Art is moving to a city owned building in downtown Glendale! The museum will be in the building on Brand that housed Rite Aid before Rite Aid moved just across the street to the Americana. This is the most exciting bit of movement downtown in a long time. How nice to have an actual attraction downtown rather than endless, boring retail. I'm also excited because the museum also hosts concerts and other cultural events, and I'm sure they will continue that in Glendale as well. Thanks to the city council, and especially John Drayman, who actively pushed to make this happen.

LAT

Glendale News-Press

Franklin Avenue

Museum of Neon Art

Next - lets get an art theater into the Mann Exchange 10 when its lease expires...

Glendale Murder #2: Michelle Levin, 35*

Michelle Levin, 35. Here she is with her husband John, who is suspected of murdering her (and their dog) with a knife. Police found Michelle's body on Friday at their apartment in the 200 block of West Fairview Avenue. John went missing, and was apprehended by Border Protection agents at the Canadian border. Here's a picture of John from his Facebook profile.

from the News-Press:

The Los Angeles County district attorney on Monday charged John Levin with one count of murder, identifying the weapon as a knife. He was also charged with one felony count of animal cruelty, according to the complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

In an announcement from U.S. Customs, officials noted that John Levin’s wrists “were injured and oozing blood” at the time he was taken into custody.

Glendale police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said it appeared as if Michelle Levin had been dead for several days when discovered. Police officers responded to the scene after receiving a call from someone concerned about the pair’s whereabouts, he added.

“The evidence and investigation lead us to believe that there was some foul play, and because the husband was nowhere to be found . . . we put a missing-persons alert out on him,” Lorenz said.

from Customs and Border Protection:

CBP officers of the Blaine Anti-Terrorism Contraband Enforcement Team were conducting routine outbound operations at the Peace Arch port of entry when John Levin, 44, approached the officers driving his 2009 Volkswagen EOS. A query of the vehicle’s license plate resulted in an NCIC alert for a missing person. The record also stated that Levin’s wife had been found deceased under suspicious circumstances.

The CBP officers immediately removed Levin from the vehicle. When placing him in handcuffs, they noticed that his wrists were injured and oozing blood. The Glendale Police Department was contacted by CBP and they confirmed their interest in Levin as a murder suspect. After Glendale police obtained a no bail felony arrest warrant, CBP turned Levin over to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office to await the arrival of Glendale detectives.

Update 06/15/11:

John Levin has been found guilty -

A 46-year-old Glendale man was found guilty today of killing his wife and microwaving his Pomeranian to death before fleeing the state, officials said.

Jurors deliberated for a day and half before finding John Levin guilty of the second-degree murder of his wife, Michelle Levin, said Jane Robison, a Los Angeles County District Attorney spokeswoman.

John Levin pleaded guilty to a felony animal cruelty for microwaving his dog before jurors returned with a verdict, she added.

He is expected to be sentenced July 19 in the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Pasadena. He faces 16 years to life in prison for both counts, Robison said.

I did a quick update post here.

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On Vacation: Ruins

On Vacation: Normandy

Omaha beach.

Point Du Hoc.

On Vacation: Museums