Featured Articles from the Glendale News-Press

Hang on, everybody, for the wildest roller coaster ride of your life. Wall Street is gyrating crazily amid gloom and doom over America's downgraded credit rating. The Italians and Greeks are dismayed and perplexed that the bills for living beyond their means are coming due. Things are so bad in England that young people are rioting in the streets. I don't care who you are or what you are, rich or poor, black or white, or shades in between, man or woman, gay or straight, young or old, you had better be ready for a world that is becoming far different than the world you have known.

A man was shot and killed by Glendale police Thursday after he lunged at an officer with a knife, a department spokesman said. The man, 40, was shot once in the upper torso and rushed to the hospital by paramedics who were already on the scene responding to what had initially been reported as a possible drug overdose, police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. The officer was not hurt in the altercation, which occurred at about 1:15 p.m. in the 1700 block of Riverside Drive in West Glendale.

The city has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of an 11-year-old who suffered a roughly 5-inch gash on her forearm while on a school field trip at Verdugo Park nearly two years ago. Anahit Allakhverdian was pushing a younger student on a swing when a broken metal strap jabbed into her forearm, causing the injury, according to court records. After Armenouhi Ghourgoian, Anahit's mother, sued the city over the June 2010 incident, last week the city finalized a $28,000-settlement with the Sun Valley family.

Good news for motorists slapped with red-light tickets in Los Angeles. If you got the citation under the city's controversial camera program , you can ignore your ticket. You read that right. After a three-hour City Council committee hearing Monday on the future of the much-debated photo enforcement system, the session ended with a recommendation to stop issuing citations at the end of the month and "phase out" the program. The tickets are part of a "voluntary payment program" without sanctions for those who fail to submit fines, said Richard M. Tefank, executive director of the city's Board of Police Commissioners.

Lolita Harper PASADENA -- A Glendale pastor, who escaped torture in Iran to preach Christianity in the United States, faces up to nine years in state prison for charges which include assault with the intent to commit rape after a preliminary hearing Wednesday. Pasadena Superior Court Judge Judson W. Morris denied all motions to dismiss five counts against Robak Hoospianmer, 41, and ordered the pastor -- who had earlier been released on his own recognizance -- back into custody on $500,000 bail.

Despite a last-minute push from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) and others, Congress adjourned for the year on Wednesday without voting on a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide — a blow to proponents who will now have to contend with a much harder audience in a Republican-controlled House next year. "I am deeply disappointed that the Congress has now recessed without passing the resolution to honor the 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children who were lost in the first genocide of the 20th century, and I know that my feelings are insignificant when compared to the continued pain of so many in our community," Schiff said in a statement.

About a year ago, Councilman Ara Najarian moved four miles south from his home on a quiet, tree-lined street in the Montecito Park area in North Glendale to the denser city center. “I see the parking issue first-hand. I see the noise issue first-hand. I see the large-item pick-up issue first hand,” said Najarian, who was first elected to the council in 2005. “I've heard about these before, but until you're actually living there, you don't feel the pain that the others have.” In the past three decades, records show, only one council member has lived below the Ventura (134)

The over-reaction to a careless mistake is what comes across by the Glendale News-Press regarding dropping “Education Matters” columnist Dan Kimber. He should be allowed to publicly apologize for his omission in citing his source(s) and this could have been done by an article on “giving credit where credit is due” as an educational comment, as well as apologizing to his source(s). There was no purposeful intent to deceive, merely a careless mistake. You did not give him a chance to apologize.

Gary Moskowitz Dolores DeGrassi, a well-known teacher who taught in the Glendale Unified School District for about 40 years, died recently at her home in Glendale. DeGrassi, 79, died Oct. 9 after a five-year battle with ovarian cancer. About 200 people attended a public funeral service Wednesday at Holy Family Church, said DeGrassi's husband, Leonard. The burial was at Holy Cross Cemetery. DeGrassi taught Latin and world history at the former Toll Junior High School and at Toll Middle School from 1952 to 1993, including a one-year leave of absence.

An actor accidentally zapped by a defibrillator on a Burbank soundstage has sued the maker of the device designed to help heart attack victims, saying the incident has made him hesitant to ply his trade. Brando Eaton, who has had recurring roles on television shows including "Dexter" and "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," claims he was injured in December while filming an episode of the since-canceled CBS drama "Miami Medical" at Warner Bros. studios. On Dec. 18, 2009, he was acting in a scene that required another actor to apply a defibrillator prop to his chest, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

As police agencies in the tri-city area settle into new digital radio systems, many departments have made, or are considering making, those communications secret, saying it is a response to a growing propensity of listeners to interfere with operations. After spending $7 million on upgrades to comply with a federal 2013 deadline to switch police radio communications from analog to digital, Pasadena encrypted its main frequency, blocking access to outsiders. Listening in on police radio transmissions is a technique media organizations have used for decades to stay on top of breaking public safety events.

Trader Joe's today announced plans to host a grand opening at its new Montrose store Oct. 28. The long-awaited specialty grocer at 2462 Honolulu Ave. will kick off the day-long celebration at 8 a.m. with live music, raffles and more. At roughly 13,300 square feet, the store is expected to generate a much needed shot in the arm for the Montrose Shopping Park, where mom-and-pop shops have taken a beating amid the recession. The store will feature the cedar-covered walls and Hawaiian inspired design elements that Trader Joe's are known for, an addition to hand-painted murals that pay homage to the vintage Montrose Clock and other local streetscapes, according to the announcement.