Disaster Preparedness

Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams will speak on disaster preparedness at the Crescenta Valley Town Council meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in the community room of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station. Adams will make a presentation on how the Glendale Police Department, Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and local fire agencies came together during the Jan. 26 Metrolink train derailment, which killed 11 people and injured nearly 200 more. He will also speak on the importance of disaster preparedness in the event of any emergency.

Armed man holds up market in Costa Mesa A man robbed a Costa Mesa market at gunpoint early Monday, police said. The man walked into the El Faro meat market in the 1800 block of Monrovia Avenue at 11:40 a.m. and used a small, black semiautomatic handgun to demand money from a clerk and another employee, police said. The clerk gave him the money, and the man fled on foot with an unknown amount of cash. The suspect was described as a Latino man, 25 years old, 5 feet 6, with stocky build, police said.

A bill to improve emergency and disaster preparedness among California utilities was unanimously approved this week by a committee in the state Assembly. AB 1650, introduced by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge), requires public utilities to hold comprehensive disaster preparedness meetings every two years with the counties and cities they service in order to improve readiness for natural disasters. “In the wake of the fierce winds and power outages that caused so much damage in Southern California late last year, we need to look at these events in a different way,” said Portantino in a statement.

Judy Seckler ADAMS HILL -- The American Red Cross offers the gift of safety this holiday season for elementary- and middle-school-age children. Five sessions offer safety training, fun & crafts, and lunch and a snack from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Dec. 29 at the Glendale-Crescenta Valley American Red Cross, 1501 S. Brand Blvd. Each session is $15. The class schedule is: Wednesday -- Basic Aid Training Thursday -- Baby sitter's Training Dec. 27 -- Disaster Preparedness Dec. 28 -- Pet CPR & First Aid Dec. 29 -- Community Water Safety (session runs from 9 a.m. to noon)

Police and fire officials say they have been aggressively preparing Glendale and the foothills for a major disaster for nearly 20 years, but community members and residents who are not so prepared need to start making plans, officials said. "It's really about helping people help themselves," Glendale Fire Chief Christopher Gray said. "Because in the throes of a large-scale emergency, there is only so many of us to go around." The Glendale Fire Department will be hosting a disaster preparedness program Monday at 7 p.m. on GTV6 that will urge local residents to make disaster plans; stock up on food, water and supplies; and learn more about the different ways neighborhoods can pool their talents in the event of an emergency, Gray said.

Evident during the recent hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, the health and safety of seniors is particularly at risk in the event of a disaster -- natural or otherwise. And as with all segments of the population, it is important seniors are prepared. Aviva Goelman, executive director of the Costa Mesa Senior Center, said her staff is being trained on what to do in case of an emergency. She also said the center is a Red Cross evacuation center, and if a large-scale disaster takes place, the Red Cross would commandeer the facility.

Karen S. Kim SOUTHEAST GLENDALE -- If any sort of emergency situation were to arise while 12-year-old Bailey Drucker is baby-sitting, Drucker said she'll be ready. Drucker was one of 28 children to participate in the Santa's Safety Workshops offered by the Glendale-Crescenta Valley American Red Cross. "I feel a lot more confident now," said Bailey of La Crescenta. "I know that when you have the license to do CPR, you get a lot more baby-sitting jobs."

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Most days, 21-year-old Ana Kumarova is the average first-year nursing student at Glendale Community College. But Thursday, she was a family of eight who had been contaminated by nuclear waste after an explosion in San Bernardino County. "I came in through the [emergency room] and I had to ring a bell, and they had to come out and do an assessment," Kumarova said of her role in an annual disaster-preparedness drill at Verdugo Hills Hospital. After the initial assessment, Kumarova — who wore a special triage tag around her neck that documented her clinical history — was taken to a special washing area where hospital employees took her through a mock decontamination area.

A developer, a former mayor and the city's disaster preparedness coordinator were among the residents chosen Tuesday by the City Council to serve on the committee reviewing the city's operations and governmental organization. The 15-member Charter Review Committee will begin its task of reviewing city functions and organization and potentially reform city government in January. The committee will meet twice a month for a year and then make recommendation for changes that must be approved by voters.

Janine Marnien For volunteer organizations like STEP 2000, the path to getting funds can often be an arduous task -- the organization must first go to its local agency before approaching the state for grant money. But all that could change, thanks to Assembly Bill 2620, written by STEP 2000 founder and Chairwoman Pat Mumbauer. STEP 2000 is a program that provides disaster preparedness training to the community. "I started working on that about two years ago, after realizing what the frustrations were in getting funding," she said.

A bill to improve emergency and disaster preparedness among California utilities was unanimously approved this week by a committee in the state Assembly. AB 1650, introduced by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge), requires public utilities to hold comprehensive disaster preparedness meetings every two years with the counties and cities they service in order to improve readiness for natural disasters. “In the wake of the fierce winds and power outages that caused so much damage in Southern California late last year, we need to look at these events in a different way,” said Portantino in a statement.

It took just seconds for Muir Elementary School students to scurry under their desks Thursday morning, but it was a lesson officials hope will last a lifetime. The school community joined millions of Californians for the Great California Shakeout, a drill aimed at improving emergency preparedness in the private and public sectors. “I remember doing this as a student,” said state Sen. Carol Liu (D-La Cañada Flintridge), who visited the Glendale Unified school to observe the exercise.

Ten-year-old Mahta Marefat knows the importance of fire safety so much so that she created a fire plan for her home that outlined potential hazards and easy exits. The Glendale Adventist Academy fifth-grader doesn’t want her family to be unprepared if they need to escape a house fire, so she went over her plan with her parents and then wrote an essay about it. “I made sure that in case of a fire that we especially had more than one exit,” Mahta said. Her essay was so explanatory and informational that the Fire Department named her their honorary fire chief Thursday at the Junior Fire Program Picnic at Verdugo Park, retired firefighter Fred Castro said.

With the threat of the ?next big one? looming overhead, Crescenta Valley residents made a strong showing at Monday night?s C.E.R.T. town hall meeting held at CV High School?s MacDonald Auditorium. C.E.R.T., which stands for Community Emergency Response Team, is a nationwide organization that was started in 1985 by the Los Angeles City Fire Department. The program is endorsed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) and the National Fire Academy as a way to prepare citizens for a variety of disasters.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Most days, 21-year-old Ana Kumarova is the average first-year nursing student at Glendale Community College. But Thursday, she was a family of eight who had been contaminated by nuclear waste after an explosion in San Bernardino County. "I came in through the [emergency room] and I had to ring a bell, and they had to come out and do an assessment," Kumarova said of her role in an annual disaster-preparedness drill at Verdugo Hills Hospital. After the initial assessment, Kumarova — who wore a special triage tag around her neck that documented her clinical history — was taken to a special washing area where hospital employees took her through a mock decontamination area.

The Propositions that California voters will consider in November are as follows: 1A ? Transportation Funding Protection, Legislative Constitutional Amendment. Would amend the California Constitution to further protect transportation-related state sales-tax revenues from general-purpose use, require that any funds borrowed be repaid to the transportation fund, and authorize loans of these funds only in the case of severe state fiscal hardship. 1B ? Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality and Port Security Bond Act of 2006, Legislative Bond Act. Asks for approval for the state to sell $19.9 billion in general obligation bonds to fund state and local transportation projects aimed at relieving congestion, improving shipping-port security, improving movement of goods, improving air quality, improving seismic safety of local bridges and enhancing safety and security of the transportation of colleges and state colleges and universities.

ON THE AGENDA Here are a few of the items the Town Council will discuss tonight:   LIBRARY ARTISTS Town Council Chairwoman Sharon Hales will provide an overview of the six finalists interviewed to contribute art work for a $9 million La Crescenta Library project funded by the county. The six artists work in various mediums, including stained glass, tile, painting and sculpture. Whomever the Town Council chooses will work in conjunction with the project's architects and engineers.

"When the field is done it will be breathtaking. The No. 1 thing is to strengthen the athletic programs by having a state-of-the-art facility that holds 8,000 fans. It's a touchdown for everybody." -- Greg Krikorian, Glendale Unified School District Board member on the new synthetic turf and track being installed at Glendale High School. "We know anecdotally that kids are having more problems getting degrees because they have to work and study instead of just study. But that costs the state extra money [to educate]

Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams will speak on disaster preparedness at the Crescenta Valley Town Council meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in the community room of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station. Adams will make a presentation on how the Glendale Police Department, Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and local fire agencies came together during the Jan. 26 Metrolink train derailment, which killed 11 people and injured nearly 200 more. He will also speak on the importance of disaster preparedness in the event of any emergency.