Featured Articles from the Glendale News-Press

Sean Sauceda moved quickly through dry brush near a Pasadena freeway off ramp before dawn Tuesday morning, looking for the homeless people most at risk of dying on city streets. He stopped to peer inside a cluster of bushes. “People hollow them out by breaking the branches inside,” Sauceda said as he snapped a branch. “It's natural shelter. It's large enough where you can fit a dome tent inside of it. I've done it.” Sauceda, 41, a Fresno-area native, lived on the streets of Los Angeles for 13 years.

Fifty-seven townhomes priced between $231,700 and $315,500 - about 30% below the median price for the local market - are now available for first-time home buyers. The affordable housing development on the 300 block of West Doran Street is set to finish construction in two weeks, but 27 eligible homebuyers have already been pre-approved for loans and could snap up some of the homes, according to a report by developer Heritage Housing Partners. “This is a rather exciting time for us,” said City Manager Scott Ochoa as he presented an update on the Doran Gardens project to the City Council Tuesday.

A recent revelation that Leslie Combs Brand, the so-called Father of Glendale, probably fathered two children with a secret mistress came as a shock to many, but local history enthusiasts are downright delighted. Longtime Los Angeles Times columnist Cecilia Rasmussen, who concluded her “L.A. Then and Now” history column with the piece on Brand on April 6, backed up her scoop with a DNA test that linked Brand to a descendant of his alleged mistress, Birdie Esther Carpenter Gordon.

KATHERINE YAMADA Jessup Certified Farms, established in 1919 by Roger W. Jessup with just 40 cows, brought acclaim to Glendale as one of the largest individually owned dairies in the United States. By the 1960s, more than 1,200 cows were milked twice a day on the 27-acre dairy. Jessup was a young man living in Salt Lake City, working at a newspaper and raising a few cattle on the side, when he met and fell in love with Marguerite Rice, who had just spent the winter in San Diego with an aunt and uncle.

I can count on one hand the number of times I have been on a bicycle in the last decade. All of them were recreational, mostly swerving up and down suburban sidewalks in pursuit of my much speedier nieces and nephews. While I've continued to run and play soccer, the two-wheeler was relegated to a distant childhood memory. So as I slogged my way along Glenoaks Boulevard Thursday, loaner bicycle under me and loaner helmet up top, I questioned how it was that I allowed myself to be talked into penning a few graphs about commuter cycling in Glendale.

SCHOOL LUNCH MENU GLENDALE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Today: Nachos and sunflower seeds or chicken patty on a bun or ham and cheese on a French roll or chef salad and low-fat yogurt, includes salad bar with juice and milk. Wednesday: Bean and cheese burrito or hamburger or turkey ham and cheese deli stick or chef salad and low-fat yogurt, includes salad bar with juice and milk. Thursday: Barbecue beef on a bun or chicken nuggets or turkey ham and cheese on a croissant or chef salad and low-fat yogurt, includes ice cream cup, and salad bar with juice and milk.

CHARLES J. UNGER A promise is a promise. Those famous words were spoken by the King of Siam to the Julie Andrews character in "The King and I." Ms. Andrews' character had come to Siam in her capacity as an educator -- they were called teachers back then -- to instruct the children of Siam. Later in the musical, a discussion takes place as to whether the King of Siam will build the teacher a home, which was part of her original deal. The king, played by the inimitable Yul Brynner, uttered the previously mentioned quote.

Alecia Foster LA CRESCENTA -- Areg Hayrapetian's eyes lit up as he explained his science project: "The Effect of the Number of Divisions on the Accuracy of the Area." It's a mouthful to say and a bit complicated to explain but Hayrapetian did so with ease. "I like mathematics," he said with a smile. The seventh-grader was one of four students at Chamlian Armenian School who won in the 51st annual Los Angeles County Science Fair. Hayrapetian took third place in mathematics, while Maral Der Sarkissian took first in chemistry, Shant Krikorian took first in physics and astronomy, and Lara Injeyan captured first in engineering research.

Unemployment rates continued to drop in the tri-city area last month, boosted by job gains in trade, transportation and utilities, as well as leisure/hospitality and residential construction. However, after seeing some strengthening the past few months, the motion picture and sound recording industries reported some losses. The unemployment rates in Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena each dropped 0.5% to 7.5%, 8.1% and 7%, respectively, according to data released Friday by the California Employment Development Department.

Glendale Unified students and teachers will have next April 24 off in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, following an agreement signed by school officials and the teachers union this week. Thousands of students of Armenian descent typically skip class on April 24 to participate in commemoration events, but the high truancy rates can decrease the school district's funding, which is tied to attendance. For years, parents, teachers and school officials have been discussing making April 24 a non-work day, and finally next school year the day off will be official.

Nearly 60 pounds of marijuana was seized from a Studio City man who was released Tuesday after posting $100,000 bail. Police believe the man was trying to ship marijuana to the East Coast through FedEx. Glendale Police's vice/narcotics team watched Louis Adam Danhi, 28, take a large package to a FedEx location Monday in Beverly Hills. A narcotics dog later identified the box as containing marijuana, Investigator Manny Fernandez said. Detectives found 13 pounds of marijuana in the box. The officers stopped Danhi and allegedly found another 15 pounds of marijuana in his car. Detectives allegedly found another 30 pounds of marijuana in Danhi's home.

DOWNTOWN — Gabriela Walsh, a Valencia resident who works in Glendale, had her heart set on buying a condo at the Americana at Brand — until she learned it would cost her more than $700,000. Americana developer Caruso Affiliated recently announced that prices for the 100 condo units in the retail, residential and entertainment megaplex will start in the “low $700,000s” and cap at more than $2 million. “That’s a bit out of my range,” Walsh said.

Los Angeles County Coroner's investigators have released the name of the woman whose body ended up in a black Kia in Burbank Friday evening. Los Angeles Police have arrested an apparent suspect in the case. Dorothy Jean McGuire, 37, died near La Tuna Canyon Road and the 210 (Foothill) Freeway in the Sunland-Tujunga district of Los Angeles, police said. Her companion, David Andrew Perry, 43, drove her body to his Burbank residence. When McGuire, who lived in Sunland, did not return home, her boyfriend went to Perry's home to check on her, police said.