Blackout

GLENDALE — A software glitch blacked out cable television service in nearly 35,000 households just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The blackout lasted for six hours. Charter Communications customers said service was still choppy Wednesday morning. Parts of Glendale, Burbank, La Crescenta and La Cañada were affected by the largest television service failure in recent memory, said Craig Watson, vice president for communications of western division operations for Charter Communications.

Underground cable blamed for blackout causing traffic problems and elevator rescues.GLENDALE -- A faulty underground cable caused power to go out to 14,000 Glendale Water and Power customers on Tuesday, leaving people stranded on elevators and snarling traffic in the northern part of the city. The lights went out at about 5:30 p.m. for residents east of Pacific Avenue and north of California Avenue all the way to the city limits, said Ritch Wells, the city's public information officer.

Blackout caused by failed cable City officials now believe the Friday night blackout that hit four downtown sectors was caused by a cable failure of some sort. "We know it's a cable that failed between Broadway and Wilson," said Ramon Abueg, electrical services administrator for Glendale Water and Power. "I'm trying to get more information on the cable age and what not." The blackout started at 8:12 p.m. Friday and affected a total of about 2,500 business and residential customers, Abueg said.

Josh Kleinbaum A faulty piece of underground wiring near The Exchange plunged much of downtown Glendale into darkness for three hours Friday afternoon, forcing stores to close, office workers to kill time and diners to eat by the glow of sunlight. The blackout, which occurred at 11:51 a.m., cut power to 701 Glendale Water and Power customers, said Bill Hall, the electrical services administrator for the utility. The outage hit Brand Boulevard, Orange Street and Maryland Avenue between Broadway and Lexington Drive, as well as one block on the south side of California Avenue between Glendale Avenue and Geneva Street.

Alex Coolman GLENDALE -- The Glendale Greens will hold a power-free meeting tonight as part of a worldwide protest against the United States' energy policies. The group, which was formed earlier this month and has only a handful of members, scheduled a meeting for tonight before anyone realized the significance of the day, member Nancy Kent said. Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. This year it's also the date scheduled for a protest that spread across the world on the Internet.

I would like to comment on Terry Bailey's March 22 reflections of the market strike because it contains so many misconceptions. When I saw the pickets out there for so long, I decided to find out why they were out there and why I should observe their picket line. The answer was a shocker. By the media, we knew what the company's offer was to the union. So I asked the pickets what the union's counter-offer was to the company. They said they didn't know, their picket captains didn't know and their union reps didn't know.

DOWNTOWN GLENDALE — A blackout in downtown Glendale Friday night shut down Brand Boulevard businesses, forced a show cancellation at the Alex Theatre and pushed actress Jane Fonda into a book signing in the dark. The lights went out in four sectors of the downtown area at 8:12 p.m., Glendale Police Sgt. John Gilkerson said. "As far as to why, I can't tell you that," he said. City officials did not have details as to what caused the outage and, by press deadline, how extensive it was. The blackout affected business along Brand Boulevard, between Wilson and California avenues.

Claudia Peschiutta LA CRESCENTA -- Local schools may be affected by power outages, officials said Friday. Some Glendale Unified School District campuses are served by the struggling Southern California Edison power company and could face blackouts of one to two hours. The schools that could be affected are La Crescenta, Monte Vista and Mountain Avenue Elementary schools, Rosemont Middle School and Crescenta Valley High School. Other Glendale Unified schools are served by the city, which has not been affected by the state's power crisis.

Wildlife interference causes city blackout A squirrel was apparently the cause of a power outage that cut power to 1,900 Glendale Water & Power customers Thursday night, officials said. Power went out at about 6:45 p.m. and it was restored about 25 minutes later, city spokesman Ritch Wells said. The area affected was bordered by South Aspen Oak Lane to the North, South Glenoaks Boulevard to the South, South Dwight Drive to the east and South Hillcrest Avenue to the west, Wells said.

Marlene Hitt Much information has been brought forth about the men in battle during the years of World War II. Renewed interest in those men and that war they fought has been documented on television, in movies and in journals. The war years left their mark at home, too. Many of us remember the blackout shades, war bonds and shortages. There were families who lost sons, and whose mothers went to work. Those few years caused a distortion in a once secure world.

GLENDALE — City officials requested Saturday that residents and businesses conserve energy due to the wildfires that burned throughout Southern California and caused some rolling blackouts in the Los Angeles area. Glendale Water and Power, along with the Los Angeles Department of Water and city of Los Angeles requested the energy-reduction measures to help eliminate blackouts and disruptions of service caused by the Sylmar fire that started Friday night. The fire, which was 30% contained, blackened more than 9,400 acres and consumed about 615 homes as of press time Sunday, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department officials.

GLENDALE — A software glitch blacked out cable television service in nearly 35,000 households just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The blackout lasted for six hours. Charter Communications customers said service was still choppy Wednesday morning. Parts of Glendale, Burbank, La Crescenta and La Cañada were affected by the largest television service failure in recent memory, said Craig Watson, vice president for communications of western division operations for Charter Communications.

Wildlife interference causes city blackout A squirrel was apparently the cause of a power outage that cut power to 1,900 Glendale Water & Power customers Thursday night, officials said. Power went out at about 6:45 p.m. and it was restored about 25 minutes later, city spokesman Ritch Wells said. The area affected was bordered by South Aspen Oak Lane to the North, South Glenoaks Boulevard to the South, South Dwight Drive to the east and South Hillcrest Avenue to the west, Wells said.

GLENDALE — Three unrelated power outages struck Glendale, La Crescenta and Burbank Wednesday morning, causing blackouts to more than 4,000 customers. Two of the outages were caused by strong winds and the third was the result of an electrical accident that sent an electrical worker to the hospital. None of the blackouts lasted more than two hours. At about 10:52 a.m., nearly 2,000 Glendale residents lost electricity when a power wire short-circuited near the corner of Kenneth Road and Valley View Road, Glendale spokesman Ritch Wells said.

Blackout caused by failed cable City officials now believe the Friday night blackout that hit four downtown sectors was caused by a cable failure of some sort. "We know it's a cable that failed between Broadway and Wilson," said Ramon Abueg, electrical services administrator for Glendale Water and Power. "I'm trying to get more information on the cable age and what not." The blackout started at 8:12 p.m. Friday and affected a total of about 2,500 business and residential customers, Abueg said.

DOWNTOWN GLENDALE — A blackout in downtown Glendale Friday night shut down Brand Boulevard businesses, forced a show cancellation at the Alex Theatre and pushed actress Jane Fonda into a book signing in the dark. The lights went out in four sectors of the downtown area at 8:12 p.m., Glendale Police Sgt. John Gilkerson said. "As far as to why, I can't tell you that," he said. City officials did not have details as to what caused the outage and, by press deadline, how extensive it was. The blackout affected business along Brand Boulevard, between Wilson and California avenues.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Not even darkness could stop Jane Fonda. The two-time academy-award winning actress forged through a book-signing at the Glendale Public Library Friday night despite a power outage that took out lights in several areas of downtown Glendale, including the library. Before things went black, Fonda spent about 30 minutes speaking before a crowd of more than 300 people about her life and her book, "My Life so Far." Her appearance at the library was part of the Friends of the Glendale Public Library's lecture series, "Authors, Artists, and Friends."

Underground cable blamed for blackout causing traffic problems and elevator rescues.GLENDALE -- A faulty underground cable caused power to go out to 14,000 Glendale Water and Power customers on Tuesday, leaving people stranded on elevators and snarling traffic in the northern part of the city. The lights went out at about 5:30 p.m. for residents east of Pacific Avenue and north of California Avenue all the way to the city limits, said Ritch Wells, the city's public information officer.

Monday's power outage would not have been so extensive for Glendale and Burbank had a new Magnolia Power Plant been up and running, power officials said. Although the outage lasted less than two hours and originated in Los Angeles, it still showed the effects of the delay in getting the $230-million state-of-the-art plant commercially operational, Burbank Water and Power General Manager Ron Davis said. "The impact would have been a lot less," Glendale Electrical Services Administrator Ramon Abueg said.

Glendale residents need not fear any power interruptions, despite rolling blackouts that affected up to a half-million residents throughout Southern California this week, a Glendale Water and Power official said. The blackouts were caused by the temporary loss of a major transmission line between Oregon and Southern California, according to a statement from Southern California Edison. The line's failure forced the California Independent System Operator, which runs the state's power grid, to ask Edison to implement the controlled blackouts.