Clues

Hitchcock, this ain't Gabrielle Reynolds is a prop buyer for Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale and is married to fellow critic Patrick Reynolds. Foreshadowing and suspenseful music. Mysterious goings-on next door. Dark, unexplained looks. Clues, clues, clues! Unfortunately, the clues don't point to the story in "What Lies Beneath" as much as they do to the Hitchcock classics and other recent thrillers that are being ripped off. Alan Silvestri cheats his way through a thin reworking of Bernard Herrmann's "Psycho" score, and his music gives the heaviest cues as to when we are supposed to be scared in this manipulative melodrama.

Welcome to the fourth and final installment of the Crescenta Valley Columnist Contest. E-mail your choice of writer to jason.wells@latimes.com or mail it to Crescenta Valley Columnist Contest, Glendale News-Press, 221 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA 91203. We’ll announce the result Thursday.   It doesn’t have a cracker barrel and it’s not a general store, but the Star Donut shop in La Crescenta is one of those rare places where coffee, a fresh doughnut and good conversation is available every day. The proprietors, Jack and his wife, Lori — Cambodian refugees of the “killing fields” and now proud American citizens — are host to a motley assortment of characters who daily visit to read their paper and discuss any and every topic, from sports to politics.

Two Florida men were arrested this week on suspicion of possessing a half-kilogram of cocaine after they were stopped for talking on a handheld cellphone while driving, officials said. The men - Herwood Barrington Walters, 25, and Courtney Lalor, 28 - were taken into custody about 9:18 p.m. Tuesday on North Central Avenue and Glenoaks Boulevard on suspicion of possessing cocaine for sale, according to Glendale police reports. The pair provided officers with few clues about why they were in Glendale, but police believe “they were probably trying to sell the cocaine,” Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

Amber Willard NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- Glendale Police were searching Tuesday for information about a stabbing in which a man allegedly attacked his victim outside a restaurant and then chased him. Masis Grigoryan, 42, was being held in a secure ward of a Los Angeles hospital Tuesday after his arrest Sunday. Grigoryan suffered cuts to his head after crashing his car in the 1100 block of West Glenoaks Boulevard, then got out and stabbed Sedrak Avakyan several times, police said.

Jackson Bell Glendale Police investigators are asking the public's help in providing information on two men suspected of slaying a Glendale man during a home robbery more than a year ago. Nur Alawaneh, 22, and Arutyun Avagyan, 26, both of North Hollywood, are accused of killing Herair Jordan during a daytime robbery at his home in the 1000 block of Dolorita Avenue. Jordan, 66, was found by his son Aug. 25, 2003, bound and unconscious in the hallway of the home.

Earthquake awareness month ends with a reminder of the devastation the shakers can cause by looking into the past to help understand the future. And, with the Sierra Madre Fault line running through the San Gabriel Mountains, Crescenta Valley would do well to become familiar with quakes and understand that one striking here could cause destruction of property, if not loss of lives. At 5:12 a.m. on April 18, 1906 San Francisco was destroyed by a 7.9 earthquake. In accounts of the quake people spoke of the ocean being pulled back, the sand shifting under their feet and buildings almost bending before crashing to the ground.

For all the sophisticated computer forensic evidence and what was described as a 3-foot-high stack of bank records, Glendale police detectives said that during their yearlong embezzlement investigation into John Drayman, it was discrepancies in the reporting of pony ride proceeds at the Montrose Harvest Market that solidified their suspicions. The revelations, contained in hundreds of pages of grand jury testimony unsealed on Friday, provided a glimpse into how the police investigation unfolded over time as detectives started looking into the former Glendale councilman's finances.

These days, everyone's a writer. And a reporter. And an editor. Thanks to the Internet, you can report any "fact" you want, be it a UFO sighting in your rumpus room or incontrovertible evidence that Donald Trump has a full head of hair. There are benefits to this democratization of reporting. We get more information from a greater diversity of perspectives. But this comes with a downside: There's a lot of bad information out there, and it's on us to sniff it out. Say what you will about the bad old days of near media monopolies.

Careful hands sifted through clues at a middle-school library crime scene. In rotating teams of three or four, the eighth-grade science students at Wilson Middle School reached over yellow caution tape to handle evidence. "We now have suspects Anderson, Barry and Chambers," science teacher Robert Kiel said. Three students had robbed the library, leaving behind fingerprints, soil from their shoes, footprints, hair, shirt fibers and an incriminating note. It was up to the 29 would-be crime-scene investigators to solve the mystery of some stolen baseball cards, model cars and antique dolls worth more than $500.

Gretchen Hoffman In tracking down evidence linking a suspected killer to his or her crimes, often what the detectives are looking for can be as innocuous as a newspaper clipping or a family photograph. To their trained eyes, however, the simplest scrawl on a piece of notebook paper can be the key to an additional decade in jail. Anyone convicted of a violent felony is punished by an additional 10 years if investigators can prove he or she has associated with a street gang.

These days, everyone's a writer. And a reporter. And an editor. Thanks to the Internet, you can report any "fact" you want, be it a UFO sighting in your rumpus room or incontrovertible evidence that Donald Trump has a full head of hair. There are benefits to this democratization of reporting. We get more information from a greater diversity of perspectives. But this comes with a downside: There's a lot of bad information out there, and it's on us to sniff it out. Say what you will about the bad old days of near media monopolies.

For all the sophisticated computer forensic evidence and what was described as a 3-foot-high stack of bank records, Glendale police detectives said that during their yearlong embezzlement investigation into John Drayman, it was discrepancies in the reporting of pony ride proceeds at the Montrose Harvest Market that solidified their suspicions. The revelations, contained in hundreds of pages of grand jury testimony unsealed on Friday, provided a glimpse into how the police investigation unfolded over time as detectives started looking into the former Glendale councilman's finances.

GLENDALE — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted this week to extend a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who killed 83-year-old Jean Clinton Roeschlaub in her downtown Glendale condominium more than three years ago. Supervisors extended the reward for the second time Tuesday, which was established in January, hoping to help Glendale detectives with leads on the cold case. But police have yet to receive any tips, said Det. Keith Soboleski, the lead investigator on the case.

Welcome to the fourth and final installment of the Crescenta Valley Columnist Contest. E-mail your choice of writer to jason.wells@latimes.com or mail it to Crescenta Valley Columnist Contest, Glendale News-Press, 221 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA 91203. We’ll announce the result Thursday.   It doesn’t have a cracker barrel and it’s not a general store, but the Star Donut shop in La Crescenta is one of those rare places where coffee, a fresh doughnut and good conversation is available every day. The proprietors, Jack and his wife, Lori — Cambodian refugees of the “killing fields” and now proud American citizens — are host to a motley assortment of characters who daily visit to read their paper and discuss any and every topic, from sports to politics.

GLENDALE — Police are asking for the public’s help with their investigation of a Sept. 16 drive-by shooting that left a 17-year-old boy injured by gunfire. No one has been arrested, and police do not know the motive for the shooting, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. Jesus Acosta was riding his bicycle home in the 600 block of Chestnut Street just before 10 p.m. Sept. 16 after playing basketball at Pacific Park. As the 17-year-old rode through the neighborhood, he was struck on the right forearm by gunfire that came from a passing car. Jesus is recovering from his gunshot wound, his mother, Christina Hernandez said.

When school lets out and kids are looking for vacation fun and adventure, they can join La Cañada Flintridge Library's Summer Reading program "Get a Clue!" From June 25 to August 18, kids can sign up for the program and receive a reading game to record their reading throughout the summer and earn prizes at the "Gumshoe Gifts" store. On Tuesdays at 2:30 p.m. the library presents Summer Fun Stories and Crafts for school-age children featuring the following special themes: July 3 ?

Careful hands sifted through clues at a middle-school library crime scene. In rotating teams of three or four, the eighth-grade science students at Wilson Middle School reached over yellow caution tape to handle evidence. "We now have suspects Anderson, Barry and Chambers," science teacher Robert Kiel said. Three students had robbed the library, leaving behind fingerprints, soil from their shoes, footprints, hair, shirt fibers and an incriminating note. It was up to the 29 would-be crime-scene investigators to solve the mystery of some stolen baseball cards, model cars and antique dolls worth more than $500.

Earthquake awareness month ends with a reminder of the devastation the shakers can cause by looking into the past to help understand the future. And, with the Sierra Madre Fault line running through the San Gabriel Mountains, Crescenta Valley would do well to become familiar with quakes and understand that one striking here could cause destruction of property, if not loss of lives. At 5:12 a.m. on April 18, 1906 San Francisco was destroyed by a 7.9 earthquake. In accounts of the quake people spoke of the ocean being pulled back, the sand shifting under their feet and buildings almost bending before crashing to the ground.

Jackson Bell Glendale Police investigators are asking the public's help in providing information on two men suspected of slaying a Glendale man during a home robbery more than a year ago. Nur Alawaneh, 22, and Arutyun Avagyan, 26, both of North Hollywood, are accused of killing Herair Jordan during a daytime robbery at his home in the 1000 block of Dolorita Avenue. Jordan, 66, was found by his son Aug. 25, 2003, bound and unconscious in the hallway of the home.

Gretchen Hoffman In tracking down evidence linking a suspected killer to his or her crimes, often what the detectives are looking for can be as innocuous as a newspaper clipping or a family photograph. To their trained eyes, however, the simplest scrawl on a piece of notebook paper can be the key to an additional decade in jail. Anyone convicted of a violent felony is punished by an additional 10 years if investigators can prove he or she has associated with a street gang.