Featured Articles from the Glendale News-Press

Development continues to spread into Glendale's neglected southern section as a third large mixed-use building along the San Fernando Road corridor received initial approval from city officials this week. On Tuesday, the city council unanimously approved a preliminary design for The Link, a five-story apartment building with 142 units and 16,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. It will be constructed on a roughly one-acre lot on the northwest corner of Central Avenue and San Fernando Road.

GLENDALE — An attorney has filed a lawsuit against two Glendale police officers, one of whom he claims was having an affair with his wife, and he says the pair conspired to have him arrested. The attorney, Robert Yousefian, claims his wife admitted that she was having an affair with Glendale Police Officer Michael Lizarraga, who arrested Yousefian on drug and assault charges in August 2007, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Despite "overwhelming evidence" that Yousefian had not committed a crime, Glendale police maliciously investigated him, which led to an improper prosecution that violated his civil rights, the lawsuit claims.

Police on Monday found a kilogram of cocaine inside a car and arrested one man after a foot pursuit prompted a roughly three-hour lockdown of a nearby neighborhood. The driver, Jabbar Lattimore, 30, was arrested after he and his passenger allegedly fled during a traffic stop on Western Avenue near San Fernando Road at about 9:35 a.m., Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. Police locked down Ruberta, Justin and Sonora avenues from San Fernando Road and Glenoaks Boulevard in search of the second man. K-9 units were brought in to assist, but the man, who was described as heavyset and Latino or white, wasn't found, police said.

A blaze that started in the family room of a Glendale home on Saturday caused roughly $500,000 in damages, fire officials said. No one was injured in the blaze, which occurred about 5:07 p.m. in the two-story home in the 1500 block of Puebla Drive, according to the Glendale Fire Department. A resident was evacuated from the home as firefighters attacked the blaze. Damage to the home's structure was estimated at $300,000 and loss to its contents was $200,000. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Art class was in session Saturday, but there were no desks or whiteboards out on Honolulu Avenue, just artists showing their paintings and sharing their techniques with the public during the Montrose Art Walk and Sale. Artists are encouraged to demonstrate and talk about their techniques during the show, said Rose Gamble, administrative assistant for the Montrose Verdugo City Chamber of Commerce, which coordinates the event four times a year. “The purpose of the art walk is to bring knowledge and enrichment to the local community and to make them aware of the local artists who do beautiful artwork of the local and surrounding areas,” Gamble said.

A 31-year-old man remained in Glendale police custody on Tuesday after allegedly driving his two young daughters unrestrained in car seats while under the influence of alcohol. The man, Juan Peralta, initially told officers he was trying to rush his children to the hospital. But in addition to the smell alcohol on his breath, police reported another incriminating tip: six Budweiser beer cans inside his youngest daughter's diaper bag. Peralta was stopped by police Friday when he allegedly failed to pull over after hitting a Volkswagen at about 1:07 p.m. on Brand Boulevard near California Avenue.

Karen S. Kim Gregg's Artistic Homes might have lost its chance to develop the Oakmont View V hillside property, but over the past 70 years, the Gregg family has built more than its fair share of Glendale. More than 3,000 homes in the city have been developed by the Greggs since Alice Lee Gregg started the business in 1934. Gregg homes are mainly in northwest and northeast Glendale and La Crescenta. "In those areas, it's hard to drive around without seeing one of our homes," Vice President Bob Gregg said.

The top high school coaches from the 2009-10 season were selected by the sportswriters of the Glendale News-Press. 1 Jan Sakonju, Crescenta Valley boys' water polo and boys' swimming : After winning two league titles and a CIF crown in 2008-09, Sakonju entered the past season as the reigning News-Press Coach of the Year and retained that distinction with another outstanding year for both of his teams. The Falcons boys' water polo team was undefeated in its Pacific League title defense, which came down to a come-from-behind overtime win over Glendale in the league tournament.

GLENDALE — One starter — Zareh Zargaryan — just completed his collegiate career at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Another starter — Narbeh Ebrahimian — was the starting point guard for Glendale Community College this past season. A third presumed starter — Zareh Avedian — finished his playing career at Cal Lutheran in 2004, but has competed in international tournaments and can still dominate games. The trio of stars on the Glendale men's basketball team will join locals who have shined in the area to represent their city and the Homenetmen Ararat Chapter in the fifth annual Pan-Armenian Games in Yerevan, Armenia.

Peter Murphy, lead singer of British Goth rock band Bauhaus, was arrested Saturday after he allegedly rear-ended a vehicle in Glendale, injured the driver and then fled to Los Angeles, where he was blocked by an eyewitness until police arrived, officials said. The eyewitness followed Murphy, 55, from the crash at Central and Goode avenues in Glendale to the 3400 block of Barham Boulevard in Los Angeles because “he was afraid [Murphy] would kill someone with his driving,” according to Glendale police.

A third man who was sought in connection with a violent Glendale home-invasion robbery in January pleaded not guilty this week to charges stemming from the incident, officials said. Gino O'Neal, 24, is charged with four counts of home-invasion robbery, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count each of burglary and illegal possession of a firearm, according to Los Angeles Superior Court criminal records. O'Neal was arrested Monday in the 8000 block of Antwerp Avenue in Los Angeles, months after police took two men - Cole Richman, 27, of Lake Balboa and Sylas Joseph, 28, of Los Angeles - into custody in connection with the Jan. 2 robbery, according to Glendale police.

When Doug Motley was born in 1946, his family was living on Highland Avenue in northwest Glendale. His father, Watson, was an engineer with Pacific Telephone Company. Watson Motley had studied engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and trained as a military cadet, but left school in his junior year to serve in the U.S. Army in France during World War One. There he attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. “He was a courier of sorts, delivering messages all over France by way of motorcycle,” Doug Motley said.

It was a week Zareh Sinanyan will never forget. The man who left the Soviet Republic of Armenia as a 14-year-old a quarter century ago took his seat as a Glendale City Councilman on Monday, faced harsh criticism from residents during public comment on Tuesday over hateful comments he posted on the Internet several years ago, attended several community events in his official capacity and then sat down to clear the air. "I engaged people in conversation...