Mark Alexander

Robert Chacon It came as no surprise Thursday to school district and city officials that the state failed to pass its budget on time. In fact, they expected it and are taking a wait-and-see attitude to see how their budgets are affected. "I did not expect legislators to pass the state budget by [Thursday], they are dealing with a lot of issues," said Mark Alexander, La Canada Flintridge's city manager. The city's fiscal year began Thursday. La Canada Flintridge's conservative approach to its budget, and anticipation of fewer dollars from the state, allowed the city to avoid making cuts to last year's budget.

Robert Chacon City officials are satisfied that the state's top lawmakers have reached a deal for a new state budget, but they are wary of the state's ability to dip into local revenue in the future. The three-weeks late budget proposal limits the amount of times the state can dip into the revenue earmarked for cities and counties to twice every 10 years. All of the state lawmakers still have to ratify the deal and then send it to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for approval.

Robert Chacon With its franchise agreement with Charter Communications expired, La Canada Flintridge city officials are reviewing the company's performance in hopes of gaining leverage when renewal negotiations begin. At tonight's meeting, the City Council will discuss allocating $8,000 to hire a consultant to survey residents and perform other studies about the company. The city has maintained an agreement with Charter Communications since 1994 for the east side of the city, and since 1999 for its west side.

Janine Marnien Sprint PCS has filed a lawsuit against La Canada Flintridge, although officials have yet to learn why. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court on Jan. 16, and names the city of La Canada Flintridge, the City Council and each individual council member as defendants. However, those named in the suit have yet to be served papers, Assistant City Manager Mark Alexander said. He would not speculate on why the papers hadn't been served.

Josh Kleinbaum While La Canada Flintridge officials have made progress in negotiations with Caltrans about the location of an electronic message sign, the City Council will not discuss the sign at tonight's meeting. "We're still working with Caltrans on the location information," City Manager Mark Alexander said. At two previous council meetings, Caltrans presented the city with proposed locations for the sign, which will display safety messages for drivers approaching Angeles Crest Highway.

Josh Kleinbaum Three weeks late, the La Canada Flintridge City Council will hold a public hearing today on an environmental impact report for sewer districts 3A, 3B, 4 and 5 during its 7 p.m. meeting. The hearing was originally scheduled for the council's June 16 meeting, but it was postponed when other items on the agenda ran long. Residents had also requested the postponement. The environmental report, called a Mitigated Negative Declaration, concludes that no significant environmental effects will result from the sewer projects, and the council is expected to approve a resolution accepting the report.

Janine Marnien An eroding trail in La Canada Flintridge is going to get some help thanks in part to $160,000 in Proposition A funds from Supervisor Michael Antonovich's office. Flint Canyon Trail is one of the two main trails into Hahamonga Watershed Park, and the only one that continues all the way to South Pasadena, said Mary Barrie, president of the city's trails council and chairwoman of its ad hoc trails committee. "For our trail network, it's imperative that we get that repaired," she said.

Though La Cañada Flintridge suffered its share of downed trees and busted fences Thursday, the worst issue appeared to be a continuing citywide power outage.  According to residents, the outage began at approximately 9 p.m. Wednesday, and has continued throughout the day, the result of a regional wind storm. Ron Garcia, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, said he was unable to say when power would be turned back on, though he hoped to have more information by the early evening.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — City leaders accused transportation experts Tuesday of spinning the results of a study that found that extending the Long Beach (710) Freeway to connect to the Foothill (210) Freeway would not negatively impact surrounding communities. They also contended that the study failed to address the environmental issues that were at the crux of the request for a study. "There's no mention of the potential environmental impact to our community," City Councilwoman Laura Olhasso said at Tuesday's La Canada Flintridge City Council meeting.

Josh Kleinbaum J. Kenneth Brown, city attorney for La Canada Flintridge since its incorporation in 1976, is stepping aside so one of his proteges can take over. City Manager Mark Alexander said Thursday that Brown had submitted his resignation to the city. In the letter of recommendation, Brown said he wanted to give Mark Steres, another attorney in his firm and assistant city attorney for La Canada Flintridge, the opportunity to take over the job, Councilman Dave Spence said.