Grocery

The following items were taken from Glendale Police Department reports:     1500 block of East Wilson Avenue: A Los Angeles man reported Wednesday that the doors of his Nissan 240 were forced open.   130 block of North Glendale Avenue: A Glendale man reported Thursday that $1,381 worth of alcoholic beverages were stolen from a grocery store.   1400 block of East Colorado Street: A Glendale woman reported Wednesday that a man impersonating an LAPD officer entered a bank and asked to see security tapes.

GLENDALE — A majority of Southern California union grocery workers voted Sunday in favor of a new contract, paving the way for higher wages and erasing regional concerns of a possible strike. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which represents about 70,000 Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons employees in Southern California, is hailing the new four-year contract as a "huge victory" for workers. "We got what we wanted," said Jorge Valero, a Ralphs clerk at the 211 N. Glendale Ave. store.

Unions and grocery store representatives took a break from seven straight days of negotiations. "The mediator mandated a recess," said Michael Shimpock, United Food and Commercial Workers Union spokesperson. "The [mediator] thought it would be best to [take the time] to look over the proposal on the table." The unions and grocery store representatives went back to the bargaining table on Wednesday, just days after the union members overwhelming voted to authorize a strike.

GLENDALE — Employees of Southern California Albertsons grocery stores, including two in Glendale, voted on Sunday to authorize their union to call a strike if ongoing contract negotiations reach an impasse. The vote is the United Food and Commercial Workers union's latest effort to put pressure on the grocery giant as the two parties remain engaged in confidential contract negotiations. Though the union did not release specific information about the results, union spokesperson Mike Shimpock said the measure "passed overwhelmingly."

Crescenta Valley residents can be counted on to talk about the weather ? but generally in terms of sunshine and warm temperatures. This past weekend, however, everyone from the checkers at the grocery stores to the people shivering at gas stations pumps was talking about one thing: the cold, cold weather. Descanso Gardens recorded a low of 26 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday and the flowers felt the freeze. "We did have some damage," said Avery Econome, of Descanso's public relations office.

Ralphs Grocery Co. accused of illegally rehiring workers during store lock outs in 2003-04.GLENDALE -- It was business as usual at Ralphs' seven grocery stores in Glendale and Burbank Friday in the wake of a 53-count indictment filed by a federal grand jury Thursday, but one local couple said if the chain is found guilty of violating criminal labor law they will shop elsewhere. The indictment alleges that Ralphs Grocery Co., the owner of about 270 Los Angeles-area supermarkets, secretly and illegally rehired hundreds of locked-out employees under false names and false Social Security numbers during the 2003-04 grocery workers lockout.

Vons employee allegedly robbed Deputies are on the lookout for a suspect who allegedly robbed a Vons employee Thursday in the grocery stores' parking lot, 635 Foothill Blvd. The Vons employee told police he was walking in the parking lot at about 4:30 p.m. when a man approached him, asked for directions, then pulled out a knife and demanded his money, Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Lt. Robert Lopez said. The robber took the man's $30, then jumped into a white Toyota pickup truck and fled, Lopez said.

Police arrested a Glendale man after he was accused of trying to rob a grocery store while in a wheelchair, police said. Dominic P. Bongiovanni, 51, of Glendale was arrested Thursday after he allegedly pulled out a handgun and pointed it at an employee at Vons, 561 N. Glendale Ave., according to police reports. The employee tried to detain Bongiovanni, who was in his wheelchair, after he allegedly stuffed a bag full of items and tried to leave without paying, according to the police reports.