Glendale

Glendale resident and violinist Movses Pogossian received the annual Forte Award that goes to California “visionaries championing new and modern classical music” by Jacaranda, a musical organization that puts on a series of concerts. Pogossian studied violin in Armenia where he completed his doctorate. At 19, he became the youngest ever first-prize winner of the USSR National Violin Competition. Since making his critically acclaimed American debut with the Boston Pops performing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in 1990, Pogossian has recorded various new music compositions and is the artistic director for the Dilijan Chamber Music Series.

The embarrassing display of councilmen positioning themselves to be next mayor highlights the need to change the way Glendale selects its top leadership (“Glendale delays naming new mayor,” April 4.) The current practice is such a relic of the past that it's like having our own dinosaur exposition. For many years, those of us who have observed these proceedings unfold interpreted the trading of favors as preconditions to the selection of mayor. It seems to us that with Glendale's representation in the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the Metropolitan Water District and the Bob Hope Airport commission, the game of naming the next mayor hinges on who is promised each of these coveted seats, all of which give council members a voice on big, and sometimes huge, public contracts.

Three people suffered moderate injuries Saturday after a driver accelerated into a Salvation Army store on San Fernando Road, police said. Few details were available the crash, which occurred about 1:30 p.m. at San Fernando Road and Linden Avenue. The victims were inside the Salvation Army Family store and Donation Center, when a driver accidently accelerated instead of stepping on the brake and went through the front of the store, Glendale Police Sgt. Mark Hess said. No arrests were made in connection to the crash.

Two Burbank men pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder charges in the death of a 25-year-old missing Glendale man whose body was discovered in a shallow grave in the Angeles National Forest. Donald Thurman, 26, and Erik Pearson, 21, each face one felony count of murder in the death of Nicholas Carter, according to a Los Angeles County criminal complaint. Prosecutors allege Thurman and Pearson beat Carter to death and then dumped his body in the forest. They then stole his credit cards, according to a statement from Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Glendale police will conduct a sobriety checkpoint Friday in an undisclosed neighborhood in the city. Officers also will be checking for valid drivers' licenses at the grant-funded checkpoint, which will start at 8:30 p.m. Friday and end at 3 a.m. Saturday. So far this year, Glendale police have made 161 more arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs than at the same time last year, according to the department's monthly crime statistics. ALSO: Woman's purse stolen on Brand contained green card, pay checks Fitch downgrades Airport Authority bonds Lanes on 134 freeway to be closed Thursday, this weekend -- Veronica Rocha, Times Community News Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA  

Thieves broke into a Glendale pharmacy early Monday for the second time in an attempt to steal prescription drugs, police said. Officers discovered a shattered glass door about 5:18 a.m. at Adams Square Pharmacy in the 1100 block of East Chevy Chase Drive, and noticed a variety of scattered pill bottles and open drawers inside. Thieves burglarized the same pharmacy in November 2011 and stole prescription painkillers, including Tylenol with codeine and Vicodin, police said. Four pharmacies have also been burglarized in the past six weeks in Burbank.

A man who apparently jumped to his death Wednesday morning from an overpass of the Glendale (2) Freeway near Chevy Chase Canyon, snarling the morning commute, left a suicide note, police said. The Glendale man, whose identity had not been released Wednesday afternoon pending notification of his family, jumped before 6 a.m. from the northbound overpass, landing on to Chevy Chase Drive, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. A witness seated inside his parked car under the overpass heard screams just before seeing the man in his 30s fall, Lorenz said.

By next year, all grocery, convenience and liquor stores in Glendale will have to get rid of their plastic bags and start charging 10 cents for paper ones after the City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the ban. The vote was expected after all five council members last week voiced support for the ordinance at a public hearing. Glendale now joins several California cities that have enacted similar bans, including Pasadena, Los Angeles and San Jose. Glendale's ordinance is modeled after a ban enacted in the unincorporated Los Angeles County areas in 2011, but will also include farmer's markets and city-sponsored events.

The Glendale City Council this week gave communities the ability to assess themselves and to use that money to pay for improvements. The so-called community benefit districts would act in a similar way to the more well-known business improvement districts, in which business owners assess themselves a fee or tax each year and then use that money to pay for infrastructure upgrades and other amenities. Participating property owners in a community benefit district would contribute money and then decide which improvements they'd like made using those funds, including marketing materials, extra security and additional litter removal beyond what the city provides.

BOYS' BASKETBALL Glendale 50, Grant 42 : Vahe Aristakessian finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds Friday to lead the Nitros (5-6) in a pool-play game of the Hart Tournament. Arthur Terzyan had eight blocks for the Nitros, who will meet Hart in the tournament's championship game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Flintridge Prep 77, Troy 65 : Robert Cartwright and Jedrick Eugenio had 20 points apiece Friday for the Rebels (7-3) in a semifinal game of the Santa Barbara Holiday Classic.