Glendale

Glendale police will be patrolling city streets Saturday night for motorists who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Officers with the department's DUI Enforcement Team plan to monitor neighborhoods from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m., when DUI arrests and collisions are most likely to occur. The team's patrols are funded through a California Office of Traffic Safety grant. Glendale police arrested 282 motorists for alleged drunk driving during the first three months of this year, according to the Police Department.

Despite plans by Gov. Jerry Brown to spend roughly $1.6 billion more on education, local school officials this week remained only cautiously optimistic about their financial prospects. The additional funding included in Brown's budget revision unveiled earlier in the week was the result of state revenues that came in $4.5 billion higher than projected for the first six months of the year. But local school district officials say it will take some time to decipher exactly what that will mean for their own beleaguered budgets.

In beginning her quest Friday to win a triple crown at the California Community College Track and Field Championships, Grace Zamudio didn't change her racing strategy. With a light breeze blowing, the Glendale Community College women's distance runner broke past the starting line in the 10,000-meter event and paced herself before breaking away from the pack in the final mile. Zamudio cleared the first hurdle in her quest to win three state championships, as she clocked 37 minutes:22.19 seconds to win the event at College of San Mateo and earn her first state title in track and field.

Several blocks in East Glendale were left without water Friday after a 12-inch water main broke, officials said. Water was shut off to homes in the 2300 to 2700 blocks of Canada Boulevard and the 1700 block of Capistrano Circle, according city spokesman Tom Lorenz. Repairs to the iron main break were expected to be completed by 5:30 p.m. The break occurred about 11 a.m. at Canada Boulevard and El Rito Avenue. -- Veronica Rocha, veronica.rocha@latimes.com Follow on Google+ and on Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA .

Glendale Unified students and teachers will have next April 24 off in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, following an agreement signed by school officials and the teachers union this week. Thousands of students of Armenian descent typically skip class on April 24 to participate in commemoration events, but the high truancy rates can decrease the school district's funding, which is tied to attendance. For years, parents, teachers and school officials have been discussing making April 24 a non-work day, and finally next school year the day off will be official.

Wall Street's biggest credit rating agency, Standard & Poor's, has affirmed Glendale's AAA rating, citing the city's strong financial performance and management practices. The stable outlook puts Glendale's credit worthiness higher than that of the federal government, which was downgraded by the S&P in 2011 from AAA to AA+. In a statement, City Manager Scott Ochoa said the rating was "a reflection of the sound financial fundamentals adhered to by the City Council. " "Little long-term debt, sufficient cash reserves, a lean organization and a promising future of economic development opportunities afford Glendale the promise of being viewed as a premiere municipality in [Los Angeles]

A 36-year-old man was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for kidnapping a Burbank woman in 2006 and raping her in a Glendale hotel room , officials said. Edward Nikolayan must also serve six to eight years concurrently for the additional charges of drugging, raping and assaulting the woman. “He treated her like a piece of meat,” Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Brook White said during Nikolayan's sentencing. “She could have died.” Nikolayan won't be eligible for parole for at least seven years and will be required to register as a sex offender.

Development continues to spread into Glendale's neglected southern section as a third large mixed-use building along the San Fernando Road corridor received initial approval from city officials this week. On Tuesday, the city council unanimously approved a preliminary design for The Link, a five-story apartment building with 142 units and 16,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. It will be constructed on a roughly one-acre lot on the northwest corner of Central Avenue and San Fernando Road.

Officer Bryan Duncan was running late to a drunk-driving enforcement operation on March 17 when he witnessed a major traffic collision on the Foothill (210) Freeway that quickly escalated into an inferno. Duncan jumped off his motorcycle, ran toward the collision - which involved a Dodge Challenger and a Nissan Sentra - and began calling for emergency crews. After Duncan and a passerby pulled the driver from the fiery Nissan, he tried using a fire extinguisher to douse the flames.

Looking to jump start his career, Angel Rodriguez left Cal State Northridge for an opportunity to join the Glendale Community College baseball team. Rodriguez, who spent last season as a redshirt at CSUN, sought the chance to receive more individual attention while looking to improve his overall pitching skills. Turns out things worked fine for Rodriguez, who helped the Vaqueros win their third Western State Conference South Division championship in a row and was tabbed the division's pitcher of the year.