Berry

GLENDALE — While every new season brings its share of significant departures and fresh faces, the 2010 softball campaign that begins today will be one of perhaps unprecedented turnover. Crescenta Valley High, which has won three straight Pacific League titles and advanced to the CIF quarterfinals or farther in each of the last two seasons, is without graduated state home run queen Baillie Kirker, along with fellow standouts like Heather Bacon, Kali Cancelosi and Stephanie Ziemann.

GLENDALE — With nary a league title or a playoff win among local softball teams a season ago, the 2011 season that opens today will be one in which improvement is sought across the board. Crescenta Valley High, the area's most storied program, finished just a game away from claiming the Pacific League title despite going through what many deemed a rebuilding year, while Flintridge Prep and Holy Family worked their way into the postseason only to fall in the wild-card round.

Lee isn't a Jewish last name. That didn't stop Helie Lee, a Glendale resident who immigrated with her family to the San Fernando Valley from North Korea in the 1960s, from trying to be like her Jewish-American classmates, Lee told a crowd assembled at Clark Magnet High School Tuesday night. Lee spoke at the Tuesday night event, which was sponsored by the Glendale Unified School District Intercultural Office Project as part of a celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

PASADENA ? First the members of the Crescenta Valley High girls softball team showered their veteran coach with a bucket of cold water before unveiling seven artistic signs commemorating his latest milestone. The messages on the signs were poignant in reference to Coach Dan Berry, who picked up his 500th career coaching victory at Crescenta Valley on Friday after the visiting Falcons posted a 23-1 Pacific League win against Muir. Berry had an opportunity to reflect on the achievement shortly after the game concluded on his long journey that began in 1983 at the school.

"There's no quit in this group, they fought. You can't ask for any more. " Dan Berry after a game Over the seasons, in this forum, upon these pages and in my own words, I've referred to Dan Berry in a lot of ways - good, bad, ugly and everything in between. You'd be hard-pressed to find a happier man than Dan Berry after a Crescenta Valley High softball victory. He beamed. He joked. And you'd be bewildered, perplexed and taken aback when faced with the grumpy retorts from a displeased Dan Berry after a Falcons loss.

Dan Berry, who formed and coached the Crescenta Valley High softball team to a CIF Southern Section championship and 20 Pacific League titles, died Wednesday morning. He was 65. _________________________ FOR THE RECORD: This corrects an earlier version that stated Berry was 66 when he died. _________________________ Berry was taken to Verdugo Hills Hospital on Oct. 11 after suffering two seizures inside the Crescenta Valley coaches' office. After paramedics arrived, Berry went into cardiac arrest and was treated at the scene before being taken to the hospital.

It's been a busy holiday season for the Glendale Police Officers' Association. Last week they spread holiday cheer at two schools and an adult center before throwing a party at the station for 250 needy children. "It's nice to have positive contacts with the people in the community that need it the most. It's an uplifting experience for us going into the holidays," said GPOA member Todd Stokes, a sergeant in the department's financial crimes unit. The first visit was to Self-Aid Workshop, located at 6512 San Fernando Road in Glendale.