Los Angeles River

Officials expect to approve a set of guidelines for kayaking along a stretch of the Los Angeles River that flows near the Los Angeles-Glendale border by next summer. The guidelines would be welcomed with open arms by groups aiming to expand riverway expeditions that have been growing in popularity. After launching paid kayaking tours last summer near the Sepulveda Basin, the L.A. Conservation Corps and L.A. River Expeditions had hoped to bring their tours to a stretch called the Glendale Narrows this year.

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.

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.

Alex Coolman DOWNTOWN -- Enlightenment met conspicuous consumption Sunday as a group of Tibetan Lamas began work on an elaborate sand mandala inside the Glendale Galleria. The Lamas will be working on the mandala through Saturday as part of the Tools for Peace outreach program, which aims to build community and encourage peace. When it is completed, the mandala will be swept into the Los Angeles River. The public is encouraged to visit and contribute to a community mandala, which will complement the creation of the Lamas.

Firefighters pulled, anchored and teetered Saturday as they scaled the sides of the Los Angeles River to fish fictitious people out of the rushing water, as part of their yearly swift-water training. Nine companies of Glendale firefighters trained throughout the day. "In the event that someone falls into the river, we can do a land-based rescue," Glendale Fire battalion Chief Harold Scoggins said. "We're tied up with ropes and safety systems, to help the victim grab for safety and pull them to shore."

Gretchen Hoffman Hazardous materials units hurried early Tuesday to clean up a diesel leak in the Verdugo Channel, a feeder to the Los Angeles River. An aboveground diesel tank on Verdugo Hills Hospital property malfunctioned, and the fuel overflowed into a containment area outside the 200-gallon tank, Glendale Fire Capt. Robert Doyle said. It continued to flow into an outer area, which contained the fuel until a sprinkler system was activated. The water pushed the lighter diesel out of the containment area and into the channel, which runs under San Fernando Road north of the Ventura (134)

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.

Steve Schleier has kayaked spectacular and scenic rivers from West Virginia to Alaska. So when the Los Angeles lawyer heard that his hometown river was opening to public navigation for the first time in decades, he was all in. It didn't matter that the open section is a mere 2 1/2 miles long. It didn't matter that the riverbed is lined with concrete. And it didn't matter that the course features more warehouses than white water. For Schleier, like many Angelenos, the opening of a modest piece of the Los Angeles River on Monday was all about redemption and possibility.