Los Angeles River

The Glendale City Council this week unanimously approved spending $800,000 on two bridges, one of which will connect the Glendale Narrows Riverwalk to the other side of the Los Angeles River and an expanse of parkland there. The riverwalk has been discussed for more than a decade and is part of a larger effort to beautify and restore the Los Angeles River for recreational use. Its components range from equestrian amenities to bike and pedestrian paths. About $1.7 million in construction work for the first phase of the project, from Bette Davis Park on Paula Avenue to the edge of DreamWorks Animation near Flower Street, is already underway.

Gary Moskowitz NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- Bette Davis Park in Glendale will be the meeting spot for those interested in helping to clean up the Los Angeles River Saturday. Friends of the Los Angeles River will host its 13th annual Great Los Angeles River Cleanup or "La Gran Limpieza." at 9 a.m. Saturday at Bette Davis Park, at the intersection of Victory Boulevard and Riverside Drive. Volunteers will haul trash from the river while enjoying free music, refreshments and raffle prizes.

Claudia Peschiutta GLENDALE -- Rep. Adam Schiff and other members of the California Congressional delegation are asking for an answers about chromium 6 and its effects. Schiff (D-Glendale) and 10 fellow legislators sent a letter Tuesday urging the National Toxicology Program to conduct a study to determine the carcinogenicity of chromium 6 in drinking water. Low levels of chromium 6 have been discovered in drinking water available to Glendale.

City's wastewater treatment plant meets deadline from state water board. BURBANK -- The city has completed $11.5 million in improvements to its wastewater treatment plant to meet a state board requirement to keep ammonia from getting into the Los Angeles River. In 2003, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board required Burbank, Glendale and Los Angeles to significantly reduce the amount of ammonia released into the Los Angeles River from its wastewater treatment plants.

Amber Willard GLENDALE -- Glendale Fire officials are reminding residents to stay away from flood channels, which run throughout the city. Flood channels carry water from tributaries to the Los Angeles River and into the ocean. November is Flood Channel Safety Month, with officials stressing the danger of the areas, which includes being swept away in the water and drowning. Only a few inches is enough to knock a person off his or her feet and carry them away, Glendale Fire Battalion Chief Don Wright said.

The 45 bicyclists who took to the streets and bike paths in Griffith Park and along the Los Angeles River on Sunday strapped on their helmets to help make a child's wish come true. Proceeds from the event, which featured 10- and 25-mile courses, go toward the Glendale Kiwanis Club's Fulfill a Dream program, which aims to grant wishes of seriously or terminally ill children in Glendale. Over the past 15 years, the club's program has helped children attend a L.A. Dodger game and meet its players, go for a ride in a Ferrari and build a backyard recreation room.

A hazardous materials unit was called in Saturday after workers tried to hose down a chemical spill, pushing the liquid toward a storm drain, Glendale Fire officials said. Workers at Chromatic Lithographers, 127 Concord St., were unloading a delivery truck on Friday when they dropped a 55-gallon drum of printing chemicals. They hosed the liquid down an alley and toward a storm drain, where loose debris and leaves soaked up the chemicals, preventing it from leaking into the Los Angeles River.

LOS ANGELES -- An unidentified woman fell 50 feet into the Los Angeles River after she was ejected from her vehicle Friday morning following a collision on the Colorado Street interchange near the Golden State (5) Freeway. The woman lost control of her Mercedes sedan while exiting eastbound off the freeway at an "unknown rate" of speed, crossed over a raised median and was struck on the passenger side by a westbound delivery truck shortly before 8 a.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Derrick Peterson said.

Susie Campana of La Crescenta was "so pleased" to see the article about Flora Weston, as remembered by Ann Marie Shelton Parker, on Jan. 6, 2006. "Flora Weston was my great aunt. My father, Edward Chandler, grew up in Glendale and has many great memories, such as playing hooky from school to fish in the Los Angeles River." Bea Reynolds would like to know about the history of Henrietta Avenue in La Crescenta. It runs parallel to Foothill Boulevard. I looked it up on a list of Glendale street names given to me by reader Marilyn Chrisman, but it wasn't included.

Alex Coolman There were garbage trucks and power tools and sewer pipes and even a few tadpoles: Almost everything a body could ask for was assembled Thursday at a special Public Works Day celebration. The event, which showed off the wide variety of services performed by the able employees of the city's Public Works Department, was attended by hundreds of students. Some of them even got to try out the equipment. Jake Amar, the city's senior environmental engineer, showed off some creatures from the Los Angeles river, including toad tadpoles and a small, scampering creature that liked looking at things.

The Glendale City Council this week unanimously approved spending $800,000 on two bridges, one of which will connect the Glendale Narrows Riverwalk to the other side of the Los Angeles River and an expanse of parkland there. The riverwalk has been discussed for more than a decade and is part of a larger effort to beautify and restore the Los Angeles River for recreational use. Its components range from equestrian amenities to bike and pedestrian paths. About $1.7 million in construction work for the first phase of the project, from Bette Davis Park on Paula Avenue to the edge of DreamWorks Animation near Flower Street, is already underway.

City officials are pressing for nearly $1 million more in state funding for the second phase of the long-awaited Glendale Narrows Riverwalk, which has moved forward slowly in recent years due to roadblocks involving property access and funding. The project is part of a much larger effort to beautify and restore the Los Angeles River for recreational use. Its components range from equestrian amenities to bike and pedestrian paths. But the state financial crisis, coupled with hang-ups over property easements, has extended the timeline for Glendale's portion.

The long-awaited Paddle the Los Angeles River pilot program got off to a wobbly start Monday as two dozen civic leaders in hard hats and bulging life vests stepped into kayaks and pushed out through murky ripples in the Sepulveda Basin. The group of flood control officials and City Councilmen Tony Cardenas and Ed Reyes was chaperoned by experienced kayakers and naturalists on hand to make sure no one tipped over into the treated urban runoff or entangled themselves in the heavy brush laden with shredded clothing and plastic bags that lines the 70-foot-wide channel.

CITY HALL — After years of delays, construction finally is set to begin next week on a long awaited pathway along the Glendale portion of the Los Angeles River. Discussed for the past decade, the so-called Glendale Narrows Riverwalk project received concept design approval from the City Council in 2006, but in recent years has met a number of roadblocks. Those roadblocks ranged from a funding freeze during a previous state budget crisis to the sluggish approval process at a variety of public agencies that have jurisdiction along the Los Angeles River channel.

SOUTH GLENDALE — Lomita Avenue resident Margarita Yeroomian was a regular at Maple Park, and so when signs went up announcing an overhaul, the anticipation was palatable. On Thursday, Yeroomian brought her 2-year-old granddaughter Sofia to play at the park when she saw community leaders and city officials gathering to celebrate the groundbreaking of $3.5 million in renovations, featuring an overhaul of the community building. Yeroomian said many of the park's regular visitors had read signs notifying them of the project and were eagerly awaiting the upgrades.

CITY HALL — A revamped walkway along the Glendale stretch of the Los Angeles River that got tied up in right-of-way issues could be a reality next year, with construction of the first phase set to begin this summer, officials said Monday. The Glendale Narrows Riverwalk project, which has been discussed for more than a decade, received concept design approval from the City Council in 2006, but has faced several roadblocks in reaching the construction phase. “It’s a complicated project because there are a lot of stakeholders,” said Sonia Nicholson, project manager with Northeast Trees, the nonprofit that is designing and building the walkway.

CITY HALL ? With construction on the first phase of Glendale?s portion of the long-awaited walkway along the Los Angeles River set for this summer, parks officials Thursday gathered input from residents on future extensions. More than 30 residents filled the Pacific Park Community Room on Thursday evening to learn more about the Glendale Narrows Riverwalk project. Many residents said they were surprised to hear that the project, discussed for more than a decade, was moving forward, while others said they knew nothing about it. ?

CITY HALL ? The City Council on Tuesday will consider allocating grant funds to create more plans for the long-awaited walkway along the Los Angeles River, even as ongoing negotiations with DreamWorks hold up the first phase of the project. Project officials hope to break ground on the Glendale Narrows Riverwalk project this summer, but protracted negotiations on a 15-foot strip of land on the DreamWorks Animation campus necessary for the river walkway remain ongoing. The two sides reached an agreement more than six months ago, and city officials have maintained for months that the negotiations would soon end. But the proposed easement has been in a holding pattern as attorneys continue to review the agreement.

Two Girl Scouts will have the best seats in the house when this year’s Tournament of Roses parade heads down Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Day. Anna Stapelseldt, 17, of La Crescenta, and Kaitlyn Ross, 17, of Burbank, will be carrying the banners for the trophy-winning floats. “This is really exciting to represent my community,” said Anna, who is a senior at Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena. Kaitlyn had always watched the parade on TV, but she’ll get an even closer look, she said.

CITY HALL — Six months after city officials said a deal with DreamWorks Animation on a 15-foot strip of land for a walkway along the Los Angeles River was nearly complete, the project remains in a holding pattern as attorneys continue to review the agreement. The long-awaited Glendale Narrows Riverwalk project first received concept design approval from the City Council in 2006, but has hit a number of roadblocks along the way. The walkway was first put on hold in February when the state froze a $1.1-million grant because of the budget crisis.