Bathroom

Allow me to set the scene: It's morning, after the bliss of sleep and before the bliss of school. Thing 2 is eating leftover orange chicken with her hands directly from the takeout container. Thing 1 stares at the TV as a trickle of sleep drool creeps down her chin and the Cinnamon Toast Crunch before it grows soggy. SpongeBob SquarePants has embarked upon the zany antics for which he's best known. Daddy, the only man in a house of women, takes the sports page and retires to his fortress of solitude … his office …his sanctuary …you get the idea.

Glendale fire crews are evacuating HomeGoods on Brand Boulevard, where someone reported feeling sick after smelling an odor emitting from the store's bathroom. Glendale Fire's hazardous materials team is responding to the incident, which was reported about 2:15 p.m., officials said. -- Veornica Rocha, Times Community News Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA

Three men were arrested within 45 minutes in an undercover sting in a men's bathroom at the Glendale Galleria, police said. A 37-year-old Pasadena man and a 39-year-old Los Angeles man were arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct, and a 34-year-old Los Angeles man was arrested on suspicion of loitering in a public bathroom in less than an hour on Thursday. Two of the men allegedly exposed themselves to a plainclothes Glendale Police officer in the men's bathroom near the children's department of JC Penney.

One family learned firsthand that a working smoke detector can save lives. A fire broke out about 8:38 p.m. Wednesday in the family's bathroom in the 400 block of East Acacia Avenue, Glendale Fire spokesman Capt. Carlos Guerrero said. The father heard the smoke detector activate and discovered flames in the bathroom and evacuated his wife and child, Guerrero said. The fire sparked from a floor heater in the bathroom, he said. The fire caused $120,000 damage to the structure and the contents of the apartment.

Gretchen Hoffman Internet sites abound telling men the best spots to visit while "cruising" for sex with other men -- and which ones to avoid -- and several local spots make the list. One of those is a bathroom in the Glendale Galleria, where Glendale Police officers have been catching violators for years. Officers responded to a men's bathroom near the children's department of JC Penney after someone called and said two men were having sexual relations in the bathroom July 3. A 19-year-old Apple Valley man was arrested on suspicion of touching himself while looking under a stall door at an undercover officer.

Extensive renovations to the Casa Verdugo library are nearing completion, but work on the adjoining fire station still has a long way to go. Even as a significant portion of the second floor at Fire Station 26 is being gutted, officials hope to open the Casa Verdugo library on the 1100 block of North Brand Boulevard before May 1 - excluding any construction delays, Libraries Director Cindy Cleary said. The library and fire station have shared the building since 1951. A complete teardown of the building had been planned, but when the economy took a downturn in 2008, those plans were quashed, said Glendale Fire Battalion Chief Greg Godfrey.

Progress is being made on the renovation of the Montrose Scout House on Montrose Avenue. The Girl Scout Mt. Wilson Vista Council broke ground on the project this past summer. The project marks the council’s third major renovation through its Today’s Girls, Tomorrow’s Future capital campaign. At the 4,161-square-foot Montrose Program Center, infrastructure upgrades underway include new heating and cooling installation and duct work, a re-piping of the building, Internet wiring throughout the facility, and new, expanded first-floor lighting.

The following information was taken from police reports: 1101 E. Chevy Chase Road: The owner of Europa Plus reported Wednesday that cash and about 40 cellphones, worth a combined $7,000, were stolen from the store. 201 S. Central Ave.: An Illuminations employee reported Wednesday that methamphe- tamine and a straw used to snort it were found in the store's bathroom. 600 block of West Broadway: A Glendale man reported Wednesday that his 2002 Kia Spectra was stolen.

Man restrained with bean-bag rounds MONTROSE -- A man threatening to kill himself and others sprayed police with pepper spray before they shot him with bean-bag rounds. The incident occurred Thursday night at a house in the 2900 block of Oakendale Place. A 40-year-old Glendale man was reportedly wielding a metal pipe and can of pepper spray, threatening to kill himself and others. When police arrived, the man ran into the backyard and locked himself in an exterior bathroom, police said.

Q. I’m concerned that my mom’s home might not be safe for her now that she is 90. She refuses to move and I honor that wish, but are there steps I could take to make her home safer for her? I’m concerned that my mom’s home might not be safe for her now that she is 90. She refuses to move and I honor that wish, but are there steps I could take to make her home safer for her? — Bill, La Cañada   There are ways to make her home less of a fall risk for her. Moving to assisted living sometimes increases a person’s fall risk due to being in unfamiliar surroundings.

Extensive renovations to the Casa Verdugo library are nearing completion, but work on the adjoining fire station still has a long way to go. Even as a significant portion of the second floor at Fire Station 26 is being gutted, officials hope to open the Casa Verdugo library on the 1100 block of North Brand Boulevard before May 1 - excluding any construction delays, Libraries Director Cindy Cleary said. The library and fire station have shared the building since 1951. A complete teardown of the building had been planned, but when the economy took a downturn in 2008, those plans were quashed, said Glendale Fire Battalion Chief Greg Godfrey.

Glendale fire crews are evacuating HomeGoods on Brand Boulevard, where someone reported feeling sick after smelling an odor emitting from the store's bathroom. Glendale Fire's hazardous materials team is responding to the incident, which was reported about 2:15 p.m., officials said. -- Veornica Rocha, Times Community News Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA

Are bathrooms without handicap grab bars blight? According to the Glendale Redevelopment Agency, they are. On Tuesday, the agency declared bathrooms at Fire Station 26 and adjoining Casa Verdugo Library blighted in order to use $305,000 in redevelopment money to pay for upgrades at the facilities. The upgrades have been on the city's capital improvement wish list two years in a row, but budget shortfalls have kept them from being funded.  City officials said in a report to the City Council Tuesday that there were “no other reasonable means of financing the improvements.”  The move shows the extent to which Glendale relies on its Redevelopment Agency, which the state is trying to eliminate.

Allow me to set the scene: It's morning, after the bliss of sleep and before the bliss of school. Thing 2 is eating leftover orange chicken with her hands directly from the takeout container. Thing 1 stares at the TV as a trickle of sleep drool creeps down her chin and the Cinnamon Toast Crunch before it grows soggy. SpongeBob SquarePants has embarked upon the zany antics for which he's best known. Daddy, the only man in a house of women, takes the sports page and retires to his fortress of solitude … his office …his sanctuary …you get the idea.

DOWNTOWN — Wheelchair-bound Jorge Acevedo, a longtime Glendale police volunteer, has struggled for 10 years to get around his home because it isn’t outfitted with disability-accessible equipment. But that could soon change. Glendale police employees on Thursday hosted a fundraiser at Damon’s Steakhouse for disabled-access upgrades to Acevedo’s home in Los Angeles. The remodel would allow Acevedo, 39, to become more independent and less reliant on his parents for help, he said.

There are few things more annoying, grating and distasteful than the sound of your own voice. I hear mine in a recording and picture Gilbert Gottfried with a head cold. I can’t believe no one has pointed this out to me before. I also hate watching myself on video. It’s not only my voice now, but my posture, my slowly distending abdomen, my teeth. That obnoxious facial tick. A few weeks ago we spent the night in a hotel. The bathroom in our room had a huge wall-to-wall mirror that kept no secrets.

It was the middle of second period at Hoover High School as two students made their way back from their lockers with their heads through the sleeves of a bright yellow vest, wearing it like a scarf. Down the hall, another student wore an orange vest with a black “9A” across his shoulders, a reference to the classroom where the student is a teacher’s assistant. “We look like highlighters,” senior Eric Briggs said. The vests resemble what workers wear on construction sites and represent Hoover High School’s newest tactic to keep kids in class and strangers off campus.

LA CRESCENTA — Two Strike Park has a new addition to the landscape this summer in the form of some eye-catching murals. Brianne Johnson, 15, a member of La Crescenta’s Girl Scout Troop No. 290, recently completed her Gold Award project, which included the creation of Two Strike Park’s new pond and garden, as well as a series of colorful and informative murals. The murals, which also serve to educate the public on native plants, were temporarily placed on the outer walls of the park’s restroom facilities last week, and that’s where they will hang permanently once the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department procures the necessary protective glass and frames.

Q. I’m concerned that my mom’s home might not be safe for her now that she is 90. She refuses to move and I honor that wish, but are there steps I could take to make her home safer for her? I’m concerned that my mom’s home might not be safe for her now that she is 90. She refuses to move and I honor that wish, but are there steps I could take to make her home safer for her? — Bill, La Cañada   There are ways to make her home less of a fall risk for her. Moving to assisted living sometimes increases a person’s fall risk due to being in unfamiliar surroundings.

Progress is being made on the renovation of the Montrose Scout House on Montrose Avenue. The Girl Scout Mt. Wilson Vista Council broke ground on the project this past summer. The project marks the council’s third major renovation through its Today’s Girls, Tomorrow’s Future capital campaign. At the 4,161-square-foot Montrose Program Center, infrastructure upgrades underway include new heating and cooling installation and duct work, a re-piping of the building, Internet wiring throughout the facility, and new, expanded first-floor lighting.