Chicago Sun Times

  GLENDALE — Crescenta Valley High graduate and former Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Parque confessed to using human growth hormone in a written statement released by the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday. The former Falcons standout was named in the Mitchell Report in 2007, but denied any use of performance-enhancing drugs at that point. Roughly two years later, however, he elected to clear the air. "I’m Jim Parque, former major-league pitcher, and I took human growth hormone," he began in his letter to the Sun-Times.

GLENDALE — Crescenta Valley High graduate and former Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Parque confessed to using human growth hormone in a written statement released by the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday. The former Falcons standout was named in the Mitchell Report in 2007, but denied any use of performance-enhancing drugs at that point. Roughly two years later, however, he elected to clear the air. “I’m Jim Parque, former major-league pitcher, and I took human growth hormone,” he began in his letter to the Sun-Times.

GLENDALE — Former area high school baseball standouts Gregg Zaun and Jim Parque were among 89 past and present Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report, former Sen. George Mitchell’s 311-page report that entails his findings as they relate to performance-enhancing drug use in the game. At a press conference in New York on Thursday, Mitchell released the long-awaited report. In it were specific examples found during a 20-month investigation that blamed management and players for the alleged steroid use in baseball.

“This is my story, and I hope that at least I have better informed you of the athlete’s side of this controversial issue. It does not justify our actions, but as men behind the uniforms, we feel the same things as everyone else. ... I hope my story starts conversation and encourages others to talk about their past decisions.” — Jim Parque in a letter to the Chicago Sun-Times   Steroids have quickly developed into one of the ugliest words in American culture these days.

Forgotten footage and lost stories dug out of the archives of La Cañada's Lanterman House are being brought back to life by Crescenta Valley resident John Newcombe in his new feature-length documentary Rancho La Canada: Then and Now. "I've been collecting images and postcards of the valley for over 10 years," said Newcombe. "At first, I was just thinking of putting together a little video presentation for the Crescenta Valley Historical Society. Mike Lawler's enthusiasm for local history is so infectious I thought I would throw something together for that group.

Editor's Note: Numerous instances of plagiarism have been discovered in Dan Kimber's “Education Matters” column, which ran in the News- Press from September 2003 to September 2011. In those columns where plagiarism has been found, a For the Record specifying the details will be appended to the piece. The outrage generated by the bloated salaries and pensions for top officials in the city of Bell has been amplified throughout the state, and for good reason it is resonating in our fair city.

“This is my story, and I hope that at least I have better informed you of the athlete’s side of this controversial issue. It does not justify our actions, but as men behind the uniforms, we feel the same things as everyone else. ... I hope my story starts conversation and encourages others to talk about their past decisions.” — Jim Parque in a letter to the Chicago Sun-Times   Steroids have quickly developed into one of the ugliest words in American culture these days.

GLENDALE — Crescenta Valley High graduate and former Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Parque confessed to using human growth hormone in a written statement released by the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday. The former Falcons standout was named in the Mitchell Report in 2007, but denied any use of performance-enhancing drugs at that point. Roughly two years later, however, he elected to clear the air. “I’m Jim Parque, former major-league pitcher, and I took human growth hormone,” he began in his letter to the Sun-Times.

  GLENDALE — Crescenta Valley High graduate and former Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Parque confessed to using human growth hormone in a written statement released by the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday. The former Falcons standout was named in the Mitchell Report in 2007, but denied any use of performance-enhancing drugs at that point. Roughly two years later, however, he elected to clear the air. "I’m Jim Parque, former major-league pitcher, and I took human growth hormone," he began in his letter to the Sun-Times.

GLENDALE — Former area high school baseball standouts Gregg Zaun and Jim Parque were among 89 past and present Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report, former Sen. George Mitchell’s 311-page report that entails his findings as they relate to performance-enhancing drug use in the game. At a press conference in New York on Thursday, Mitchell released the long-awaited report. In it were specific examples found during a 20-month investigation that blamed management and players for the alleged steroid use in baseball.