Graffiti

Trucks to work on removing city graffiti The city of Glendale last month introduced two new graffiti response vehicles. The trucks, a major component of the city?s graffiti-removal efforts, are equipped with a heated pressure washer, an airless paint sprayer, 120-volt electricity, 150 gallons of water, eco-friendly removal chemicals, cover-up paint and other tools. To report graffiti, contact Neighborhood Services at (818) 548-3700 or report it the department?s website.

SOUTH GLENDALE — The Adams Square Mini Park gas station has continued to be a target for vandals, with the most recent defacement the worst one yet, officials said. Vandals scribbled graffiti all over the circa 1930s gas station at Palmer and Adams streets sometime last week, but city crews quickly removed the markings. Most of the damage to the gas station was paint, which was removed in less than two hours, said George Chapjian, director of the Community Services & Parks Department.

Starting today, government agencies can better recover costs from vandals, restaurants may no longer use trans fats in cooking, and authorities can impound vehicles used for illegal dumping and prostitution. They are just a few of the dozens of new laws that take effect today. California Assembly Bill 576 defines local government agencies, including Burbank and Glendale, as “victims,” allowing them to seek restitution for damages committed by convicted vandals charged with graffiti.

LA CRESCENTA — For the second time in less then four months, a building under construction at Crescenta Valley High School has been vandalized, causing thousands of dollars in damage, officials said. Last week someone entered Building 1000 and spray painted graffiti on several surfaces. The building is part of the school’s repair project to correct poor construction that occurred during a $41-million remodeling project in 2002. In March, four Crescenta Valley High students were arrested on suspicion of vandalizing classrooms in Building 7000, which was also under construction at the time.

Vito D. Erasmo thinks everyone in Glendale should do their part to keep it a beautiful place. In January, Erasmo decided to do his part and joined the Adopt-A-Block program offered through Neighborhood Services after seeing an advertisement for it in the Glendale News-Press, he said. The program allows an individual to adopt a certain block and make sure the area remains trash and graffiti free, Erasmo said. The longtime Glendale resident — who broke a vertebrae in 2006, leaving him unable to work — said the volunteer program is perfect for him. “I don’t have to work at a desk, which is great because I can’t always get out of bed and do work,” Erasmo said.

The L.A. Board of Supervisors Tuesday awarded a contract to Superior Property Services of Pico Rivera for graffiti removal and abatement in a number of unincorporated areas, including La Crescenta and Montrose. Amount of the contract for the local area is five years at $62,016. Total contract awarded was $352,000. The contract is renewable by the county for five years, with a potential 10% increase for contingencies. Superior has a total of 31 employees, and has been doing graffiti removal for 10 years.

Hundreds of volunteers Saturday fanned out across Glendale to paint over graffiti, remove overgrown weeds and plant rosebushes as part of an effort to foster civic pride and improve the quality of life in the Jewel City. Glendale’s 21st annual Great American Cleanup, which runs in conjunction with a nationwide effort of nearly 3 million volunteers beautifying more than 17,000 communities, is one of several local events organized by the Committee for a Clean and Beautiful Glendale and the Neighborhood Services Division.

NORTHWEST GLENDALE — Despite an injunction, Toonerville gang graffiti has increasingly been seen directed at a rival gang, officials said. Glendale Police Det. Rafael Quintero said the gang has not spray-painted any graffiti in the city in retaliation to the injunction, as most members are afraid of it. The graffiti has appeared on businesses and city property outside the Los Angeles River and Glendale Safety Zone and has been directed at a rival gang, he said. The zone is defined as a 4.5-square-mile area that includes Verdugo Road, south Glendale, the Glendale (2)

BURBANK — Sen. Carol Liu answered questions from residents about education, health care, the state’s budget and deficit, and new tax hikes during a town hall meeting Saturday. Adult education student Alejandro Plata, who lives in Huntington Park, heard rumors in school that it could be closing because funding approved from the state budget only finances kindergarten through 12th-grade instruction, he told Liu. Plata, who is a high school dropout, can’t afford to lose his schooling because he said he wants to graduate.

CENTRAL GLENDALE — City employee Javier Covarrubias sprayed a solvent liquid on “hate graffiti” and gang-related graffiti Tuesday spray-painted on an exterior wall at the First Evangelical Church on Broadway. Church leaders found profanity directed at Armenians spray-painted in red along a brick wall, next to black gang tagging Saturday morning. The hate graffiti was the eighth marking of its kind Covarrubias removed in the city in two days, he said. Covarrubias and another city employee cleaned markings off of 250,691 square feet at 2,650 sites for the 2007-08 fiscal year, said John Brownell, the city’s Neighborhood Services supervisor.