Los Angeles County

Elected officials this weekend called for federal assistance for residents whose homes were severely damaged by debris flows that pummeled the foothills below the Station fire burn area. Heavy rain early Saturday morning overwhelmed the Mullally Debris Basin in La Cañada Flintridge’s Paradise Valley area, sending the mud and boulders that caused severe damage to homes before flowing down Ocean View Boulevard and onto Foothill Boulevard. On Sunday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger toured the Paradise Valley neighborhood as shell-shocked homeowners and Los Angeles County crews continued to survey the damage and begin clean-up efforts.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE ? [Updated 7:24 p.m.] The foothills below the Station fire burn area were pummeled with mud and debris Saturday, severely damaging several homes and pushing dozens of parked cars across roadways. Los Angeles County officials ordered the mandatory evacuation of nearly 500 homes in La Cañada and La Crescenta Saturday afternoon as crews worked to clean up mud-clogged streets. Heavy rain early Saturday morning overwhelmed the Mullally Debris Basin in the Paradise Valley area, sending the mud and debris that caused severe damage to homes before flowing down Ocean View Boulevard and onto Foothill Boulevard.

LA CRESCENTA — Foothill residents began returning home Friday, days after they were ordered to evacuate under threat of debris flows and mud damage. A series of four storms forced 1,230 evacuations and were expected to trigger mudflows as they battered the foothills, but officials have reported relatively minor damage. Two homes in La Cañada were hit with minor mudflows, but no injuries were reported. Glendale officials lifted emergency evacuation orders Friday morning for the more than 300 affected homes in the hills near the Station fire burn zone, as Los Angeles County officials posted return notices address by address on their website for La Crescenta and La Cañada Flintridge residents.

On-location film productions in Los Angeles County plummeted 19% in 2009 — the largest drop since the figure was first recorded in 1993 — contributing to the decline in working opportunities for the regional entertainment workforce, experts and observers said. Entertainment industry spending generates the majority of economic activity in Glendale and Burbank, where major motion picture and television studios — as well as related businesses ranging from prop shops to rental houses — are, experts said.

STATE OF CALIFORNIA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger www.govmail.ca.gov/ Los Angeles Office 300 S. Spring St., Suite 16701 Los Angeles, CA 90013 (213) 897-0322 (213) 897-0319 fax Senator Carol Liu (D-21st District) senator.liu@sen.ca.gov 710 S. Central Ave. Suite 310 Glendale, CA 91204 (818) 409-0400 Senator Bob Huff (R-29th District) senator.huff@sen.ca.gov 2605 E. Foothill Blvd.

PASADENA — Attorneys representing five people who were charged with beating and torturing two loan modification agents asked for more time Thursday to reach a potential settlement. Attorney Stephen Wegman and three other defense attorneys asked Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Teri Schwartz if the case could be extended to Jan. 27 to accommodate negotiations on a possible settlement with the district attorney. Schwartz sent the case back to Burbank Superior Court to be settled.

The San Fernando Valley ? the nation?s largest geographic non-municipal entity ? has grown more educated and diverse in recent years as it expanded to include 1.74 million people, according to a report released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau. The report was based on the American Community Survey of 2008 and shows that the region, made up of portions of Glendale, Burbank, San Fernando, Calabasas and Los Angeles, as well as some unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, has developed into a multicultural region, a trend that could be further amplified in the 2010 Census, experts said.

As Dawn Beno sat on a Burbank delivery table, breathing and pushing for the birth of her new baby, the attention in her hospital room turned toward a television screen and a countdown toward midnight Friday. Doctors, nurses and family members in the room at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center watched a replay of New Year’s festivities in New York City and cheered as the new decade began. “We counted down with Dick Clark,” Beno said. Twenty-three seconds later, Beno gave birth to her daughter, Khloe Renay Beno — the first child of the decade in Los Angeles County.