Glendale Community College

An upright piano installed near the administration building at Glendale Community College last month as part of a three-week performing arts project is slated to become a permanent fixture on campus. The piano was one of 30 placed at public sites around Los Angeles County by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra to celebrate 15 years under the leadership of music director and pianist Jeffrey Kahane. “One of the best parts of having the piano outside on campus is to see students with no other access to musical instruments just playing with it and having fun,” said Peter Green, chairman of the visual and performing arts division at Glendale Community College.

Cadets at the Verdugo Fire Academy will soon get to practice life-saving skills on a 100-foot ladder truck. The Glendale Fire Department on Monday donated the surplus 1990 Seagrave ladder truck to the Glendale Community College academy, which trains cadets for careers in the fire service. The truck “reached the end of its service life” with the department and no longer had value on city books, according to a city report. The truck would have required major and costly repairs if it had remained in service with the department, the report stated.

The hunt for an interim president at Glendale Community College is down to a short list of finalists, officials confirmed Friday. College trustees have conducted multiple interviews, whittling down an applicant pool of 22 to “several” top candidates, said board of trustees President Armine Hacopian. “It is all dependent on the reference checks,” Hacopian said. “Every board member is doing reference checks and we have to come together to see [the results]. That is where we are right now.” Trustees could announce the interim president as early as June 25. Candidate interviews were conducted on an accelerated schedule.

An equipment malfunction at Glendale Community College on Tuesday night caused a second power outage in as many weeks, forcing officials to close the campus into Wednesday. College spokeswoman Wendy Grove said the power failure was likely related to the same equipment. There were no students on campus Wednesday morning. “They haven't let anybody on,” she said. Interim Supt. Jim Riggs met with officials Wednesday morning and said a crew was addressing the problem. More information would be available later in the morning, he said.

COLLEGE BASEBALL Glendale Community College 9, Citrus College 8 (16 innings): The visiting Vaqueros won their fifth straight game and their second extra-inning win in the last three games, as Julian Jarrard drove in the game-winning run on one of his four hits. . GCC is now 10-2 and remains in first place in the Western State Conference South Division and is 15-5 overall. Sergio Plascencia had three hits and three runs, including the game-winner on Jarrard's RBI. Justin Jones also had three hits.

Glendale Community College officials this week welcomed Gov. Jerry Brown's state budget outlook that for the first time in four years doesn't include major funding cuts to higher education. While the state budget isn't likely to be approved until late June at the earliest, Ron Nakasone, executive vice president of administrative services for the college, deemed Brown's proposal “a welcome change.” Brown's budget would provide $197 million more for community colleges in 2013-14, potentially giving Glendale enough resources to restore classes that have been cut over the past year due to funding shortfalls.

New statewide rules for registering for classes at community colleges are expected to complicate life for students who are already experiencing huge wait lists, officials say. Unanimously approved by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors this week, starting in 2014 first-priority registration will go to active members of the military, veterans and current and former foster children. A second change gives priority to new students who attend orientation, have an outlined academic plan and less than 100 units.

After lopping $6.8 million from its budget last year, Glendale Community College now faces a potential $7.75-million deficit that could trigger layoffs and the cancellation of hundreds of classes. Ron Nakasone, vice president of administrative services, laid out the projections at a special board of trustees meeting Tuesday, where he described the college's 2012-13 budget as the most difficult he has ever seen. Included in the looming $7.75-million deficit is $4.1 million the college will lose mid-year if Gov. Jerry Brown's tax initiative fails in the November election.

The nationwide search for the next superintendent of Glendale Community College is in full swing as officials look to make the hire by May 1. The college agreed to spend $25,000 for Community College Search Services - the same group that facilitated the mid-1980s search that lead to hiring insider and longtime Glendale College Supt. John Davitt, who retired in 2006 - to compile a list of candidates. Community College Search Services' Eva Conrad - a longtime academic herself - told the college's board of trustees this week that she's accessed a database of 400 people who may be interested in the job. “I already started going through that and made several phone calls today,” Conrad said Monday.