Assembly

Claudia Peschiutta GLENDALE -- The Assembly will soon decide whether Glendale and a handful of other areas will be benefit from a $2.1-billion park bond act. Due to what appears to have been an error in the drafting of Proposition 12, which excludes areas with populations between 200,000 and 300,000 from funding, Glendale lost out on funding from the bond measure for parks and open space. But a bill introduced by state Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Glendale)

Students at Rosemont Middle School and Crescenta Valley High School will be presented a powerful assembly next week that will deal with the aftermath of violence on a campus and how they can make a positive change simply by the way they view others at their school and in their community. Rachel’s Challenge is coming to the middle and high school as part of an educational tool that focuses on improving school safety. “We will have two assemblies here [at Rosemont]

Tim Willert GLENDALE -- A bill that would grant marriage benefits to domestic partners passed the state Assembly on Thursday, despite strong opposition from a pro-family organization. Assembly members Dario Frommer (D-Glendale) and Carol Liu (D-La Crescenta) were among those who voted for the bill, which would grant domestic partners more than a dozen health and legal benefits, including power of attorney and the right to adopt the children of a partner.

A powerful and important assembly was presented to Rosemont Middle School and Crescenta Valley High School students, their parents and fellow community members this week. It was just one man, Craig Scott, standing alone on stage speaking about the loss of a sister that he loved and admired. For a little over an hour this devoted brother held students spellbound with his humor, his dramatic testimony and his sister’s legacy, Rachel’s Challenge. “My codes may seem like a fantasy that can never be reached, but test them for yourself, and see the kind of effect they have in the lives of people around you. You just may start a chain reaction.

R.D. White Elementary School students added a new chapter to the "Star Wars" legacy on Friday. With Darth Vader in tow, kindergarten through third grade students impressed upon their classmates that The Force was with them. "Focus on reading comprehension every day," they said in unison, adding a past-tense "D" to the word "force. " The Sith lord had something to say and leaned into school Principal Suzanne Risse's ear. "He's saying you must read to comprehend," Risse told the assembled crowd of about 600 students, parents and teachers.

Gary Moskowitz For Narek Kassabian, this week will be about coming together while at the same time celebrating cultural uniqueness. Kassabian and her Armenian Club students at Hoover High School will read poetry and perform traditional Armenian dances for the student body Monday during an assembly she hopes brings students together. The assembly is not open to the public. Kassabian's students are among many local and area residents this week celebrating Armenian culture and commemorating the 88th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Members of Glendale High School's Spanish Club celebrated their heritage Friday morning with the group's first assembly of the year. Named Sangre Latina, or Latin Blood, the club kicked off the upcoming year by paying tribute to "family, song and a love of Latin culture" through the hourlong assembly. Students played guitar and sang songs and the Horace Mann Folklorico dance group gave a performance for the event. The club, which includes about 50 members and 30 active members, was established to provide social opportunities for students who speak Spanish.

Fremont Elementary School students danced and sang to mariachi music during an assembly on Nov. 14. The Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano performed for the students during an assembly that had students up on their feet, clapping their hands and dancing. The mariachi band was part of the Music Center’s outreach program. The school’s PTA sponsored the assembly. Students learned about the musical instruments used and a little history of the mariachi. The band has a 45-year history and is based in Los Angeles.

Where do Californians get their water? How does it get here? These and other wet questions were explored during Fremont Elementary School’s assembly titled, “H-2-O: Where do you go?” The PTA-sponsored assembly on Oct. 13 explained to students where and how water arrives in California. The assembly was enhanced with a little science presented by performers William Barrett and Tuba Heatherton. “You know, Southern California is a desert,” Barrett explained to the auditorium packed with students.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich knows what Republicans in the state Assembly are feeling right now, staring at the prospect of a session where Democrats have a two-thirds majority. Antonovich was Assembly Republican whip during the 1977-78 session, the last time the Democrats held a supermajority in the lower house. He said Republican members face a challenge in such circumstances in getting their voices heard. "I'd encourage them to work harder and smarter," Antonovich said.

Democrats Chris Holden and Mike Gatto expanded their leads ahead early Wednesday morning in the race for the 41st and 43rd Assembly seats, respectively.  With about a quarter of precincts reporting as of 1 a.m., Gatto received 29,436 votes, or 59.1%, a nearly 20-percentage point lead over his opponent, Republican Greg Krikorian, according to the California Secretary of State. The 43rd District covers Burbank, Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge as well as parts of the city of Los Angeles.  In the 41st District, Holden, a longtime Pasadena city councilman, pulled in 42,891 votes, or 57.2%, compared to his GOP rival, Claremont businesswoman Donna Lowe with 40% of precincts reporting.

The two candidates in the 43rd District Assembly race - incumbent Mike Gatto (D-Silver Lake) and longtime Glendale Unified school board member Greg Krikorian - squared off in a sometimes contentious debate Thursday in front of a spillover crowd at Glendale City Council chambers. The debate, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Glendale/Burbank, ranged from the candidates' positions on everything from job creation and education funding to political attacks lobbed from either side of the forum.

Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway is urging donors in the Sacramento suburbs to push the author of Proposition 8 out of a heated Assembly race and rally around the GOPincumbent. In a letter to donors this week, Conway said Andy Pugno, author of the ballot measure banning same-sex marriage in California, was breaking his pledge not to campaign against the top GOP voter-getter in the June primary, Assemblywoman Beth Gaines (R-Rocklin), and mounting an "expensive and counter-productive campaign" against the incumbent.

The Republican candidate in the 43rd Assembly District who has touted himself as a “business conservative” extinguished more than $49,000 in credit card debt after he and his wife emerged from Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, court records show. Candidate Greg Krikorian's wife, Christine, filed for bankruptcy in March 2011. He was added to the case as a co-debtor a month later, after the bankruptcy court noted that Christine had failed to list him in her filing as her husband and as a source of income.

Incumbent Mike Gatto is clinging to a five-point led over challenger Greg Kirkorian in the 43rd Assembly contest. With just under 4% of the votes counted, Gatto, a Democrat, has 7,527 votes to Republican Kirkorian's 6,775. Under California's new open primary rules, both candidates will continue on to the general election in November.  -- Dan Evans, Times Community News email: dan.evans@latimes.com Twitter: @EditorDanEvans    

Calls for increased transparency of state Assembly budgets and spending have failed to gain traction at the state capitol this year, even after lawmakers lost a lawsuit requiring that the information be made public. In December 2011 the Los Angeles Times - parent company of this newspaper - and the Sacramento Bee won a lawsuit requiring Assembly leaders to release budget records for individual state representatives, policy committees and party caucuses. The records showed members of both parties routinely use caucus and committee funds to supplement their personal budgets, and observers said party politics often trump policy-making when the funds are portioned out. But in April, Democrats on the Assembly Rules Committee killed legislation by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge)

A bill to improve emergency and disaster preparedness among California utilities was unanimously approved this week by a committee in the state Assembly. AB 1650, introduced by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge), requires public utilities to hold comprehensive disaster preparedness meetings every two years with the counties and cities they service in order to improve readiness for natural disasters. “In the wake of the fierce winds and power outages that caused so much damage in Southern California late last year, we need to look at these events in a different way,” said Portantino in a statement.

A bill designed to protect senior citizens and others from having their bank accounts drained passed the state Assembly recently by a 69-0 vote. The legislation, introduced by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Silver Lake), stipulates that funds in bank accounts with more than one signer belong to each person based on their contributions. Gatto wrote AB 1624 after a divided California Court of Appeal ruled that whoever withdraws money first from a bank account becomes the owner of the money, which can lead to accounts held by seniors and others being emptied by individuals who did not put funds into the account.

Longtime Glendale Unified school board member Greg Krikorian is throwing his hat in the ring to run in the redrawn 43rd state Assembly District against incumbent Mike Gatto (D-Silver Lake), who has already raised nearly $500,000 for his reelection campaign. Krikorian said he's running as a Republican, but he describes himself as a moderate. “I'm business conservative and socially open-minded,” he said. “Social issues aren't going to get us jobs or fill up our tanks.” Krikorian decided to enter the race because of what he said was a dysfunctional state government.