Central Library

More triple-digit temperatures are expected Wednesday as a ridge of high pressure settles in over Southern California and the area continues to swelter. The heat wave is expected to last through Saturday, with the highest temperatures likely from Thursday on. But the differences between Wednesday and the rest of the week may be slight. “It may be hotter later in the week but you're not really going to be able to tell,” National Weather Service meterologist Rich Thompson said.

TODAY GLENDALE The Kenneth Village Merchants Assn. will meet from 9 to 10 a.m. at Meyers Coffee Co., 1407 1/2 Kenneth Road. The topics of discussion are August events, status on new waste and smoking receptacles, Beeline rerouting, and sidewalk cleaning. For more information, call 265-9833. Duplicate bridge games are at noon at the Regency Bridge Club, 303 W. Glenoaks Blvd. Card games and refreshments are $7; first-timers receive a coupon for a future replay.

Way back in 1909, a newspaper article lauded Glendale for its great transportation system. "The Glendale branch of the Pacific Electric Co. is one of the finest in the world," boasted a writer in a Los Angeles Herald Sunday magazine in October of that year. Once the P.E. line came to town in 1904, travelers could board the cars at the Pacific Electric building at the corner of Sixth and Main and be in Glendale in less than 30 minutes. This contributed to our city's phenomenal growth in the early part of the century.

A capacity crowd filled the new Adams Square branch library on Saturday afternoon as its doors swung open to the public for the first time. Eager children, parents and residents swooped in to the 2,200-square foot library, which has been dubbed “Library Connection @ Adams Square,” to check out the offerings of their new neighborhood branch. “It has lots of books,” said Zhorzhik Hovakimyan, 6, who was perusing a book on monster trucks shortly after stepping into the new facility.

TODAY GLENDALE Take Off Pounds Sensibly meets at 9:15 a.m. for a weigh-in and 10 a.m. and for a meeting at First Lutheran Church, 1300 E. Colorado St. For more information, call (800) 932-8677. English as a second language conversation classes, led by Jean Bernhart, will be at 9:30 a.m. at First Lutheran Church library, 1300 E. Colorado St. The classes last 90 minutes, and there is no charge. For more information, call 240-9000. "Mother Goose and Me" starts at 10:30 a.m. in the Central Library Children's Room, 222 E. Harvard St. The fun includes stories, music and poetry for ages 6 to 17 months.

Glendale Peace Vigil views "Control Room" as part of a three-film series on a variety of issues.DOWNTOWN -- The Glendale Peace Vigil, which has been protesting against U.S. involvement in the Iraq war since the conflict began, held a free screening of the documentary "Control Room" at the Glendale Central Library Sunday. More than 30 people attended the screening, which delves behind the scenes at the Doha, Qatar-based Al Jazeera Satellite Network during the build-up to -- and early days of -- the Iraq war in 2003.

Jo Van Amburg The Glendale Public Library's annual summer reading program is a great way to keep your kids reading. The eight-week program, which kicks off June 17 and 18 at the Central Library downtown and at branch libraries, is sponsored by the Los Angeles Times Reading By 9 program and the Friends of the Glendale Public Library. Participating readers will be asked to read at least eight books in eight weeks. Children who are not yet reading can read with a partner or be read to by a parent or family member.

Rima Shah It will be a week to remember. A series of events is planned through April 24 to mark the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Through film, panel discussions and theatrical and musical performances, the public is invited to learn about and remember the events of 1915 through 1918, when 1.5 million Armenians are said to have died at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. "The most important thing is awareness," said Alina Azazian, Armenian National Committee of Glendale, which has organized the events with the city.

Katherine Yamada The breakup of the vast estate granted to Jose Maria Verdugo began when his son, Julio Verdugo, took out a mortgage to build a house. Julio was already in his 70s when he and his wife, Maria de Jesus, began their building project. Perhaps their son, Jose Maria, instigated the building project, with the expectation that he would later inherit the house. As was often the case in those days, Julio was land rich but cash poor, and he had to borrow money to build his house, which he called Portosuelo, near what is now Verdugo Road and Acacia Avenue in 1861.