Minors

The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level. Alonzo Gonzalez (Glendale Community College, 2012) Gulf Coast League Blue Jays pitcher: Gonzalez began his first professional winning streak Friday, as he recorded his second win in as many starts in the Gulf Coast Blue Jays' 7-3 victory over the Gulf Coast Pirates. The former Vaquero lasted five innings in which he gave up six hits and three runs. Gonzalez gave up two singles to start the third inning, but got out of trouble with two ground balls and when a runner was caught stealing second.

Claudia Peschiutta GLENDALE -- Ernesto Martinez has a simple reason for wanting to keep tobacco out of the hands of kids. "I wouldn't want my child to buy tobacco products," he said. The manager of a local gas station, Martinez was among nearly 100 store managers and employees from throughout the area who attended a workshop Tuesday at the Hilton Glendale to learn ways to keep minors from buying everything from cigars to to pipes. The free workshop was put on by the Coalition for Responsible Tobacco Retailing, a group made up by manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, including Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. The organization sponsors the "We Card" campaign and provides free training sessions and materials to businesses throughout the U.S. "Retailers want to do the right thing," said Read deButts, the coalition's executive director.

GLENDALE ? Police ticketed dozens of store owners and cashiers Tuesday during a citywide sting targeting markets that sell alcohol and tobacco to minors. Undercover officers visited 44 markets and convenience stores during a three-hour period Tuesday, sending in decoys between the ages of 15 and 18 to try to buy alcohol or tobacco products, Glendale Police Officer John Balian said. Fourteen people were arrested on suspicion of either selling alcohol to a person under the age of 21 or selling tobacco products to a minor, Glendale Police Sgt. Scott Johnstone said.

Alecia Foster GLENDALE -- Look at this way, kids, there's still late-night TV. A minor change to one city law could allow police to enforce a nighttime curfew for minors. Police had not been able to enforce a 1995 law after similar laws were declared unconstitutional almost three years ago. "Right now we can't file any charges," said Glendale Police spokesman Sgt. Rick Young, in reference to nighttime curfew violations. Police have been able to arrest minors on suspicion of other charges like drinking in public, he said.

GLENDALE — After a recent survey found that 24% of Glendale tobacco retailers would sell to minors, a group of local youth have called on the City Council to make a stand against tobacco sales to minors. The Glendale Healthy Youth Advocacy Coalition — a group formed through Glendale Adventist Medical Center to fight tobacco use in children — spoke to the City Council on Dec. 5 and suggested an ordinance be passed that would require tobacco retailers to obtain a permit for sales, just as alcohol retailers do. "We had our day in City Council and I was very pleased with the result," coalition director Steven Gallegos said.

GLENDALE ? Nearly one in four tobacco retailers in Glendale were willing to sell tobacco products to minors, a Glendale Adventist Medical Center study found. The hospital's Youth Purchase Study showed that 24 of the 100 vendors surveyed were willing to sell to minors. That figure is more than twice the 10.2% of tobacco retailers statewide that a 2005 State of California study found were willing to sell tobacco products to minors. "That's pretty shocking," said Steven Gallegos, Glendale Adventist's Community Advocate.

Seminar on small business upcoming NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- A seminar on marketing a small business will be from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. May 19 in the conference room of the Service Corps of Retired Executives, 330 N. Brand Blvd. The seminar is designed for new business owners who want to learn how to market their businesses. Cost is $20. For more information, call 552-3206. Liu bill to protect financial security LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- A bill introduced by a local legislator that would protect the financial security and privacy of minors has passed the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee.

GLENDALE — Dreams of becoming professional baseball players turned into reality for a handful of former area standouts who once excelled at the high school and junior college levels. From coast to coast, more than 10 of them played on minor league baseball teams. Wherever they played, each did their best to make an impact for their respective teams — whether it was at the plate or in the field or on the mound. Some encountered time spent on the disabled list, while others made it through their season without suffering a major injury.

GLENDALE — An ordinance requiring store owners to have a city permit to sell tobacco products is nearly complete and promises to light up a grass-roots movement for a citywide smoking ban. The new permit would be in addition to the state license vendors must have and is meant to cut down on tobacco sales to minors. This comes after a 2006 study that found 24% of Glendale retailers were "ready and willing" to sell cigarettes and similar products to children under 18. Tobacco retailers would be required to pay a proposed $250 annual fee to maintain the permit, which could be revoked if retailers are caught three times in five years selling to minors, according to the licensing ordinance, which is scheduled to go before the City Council on Aug. 28. The ordinance represents two years of coordination between a coalition of health and youth advocates, the city, local hospitals and business owners, said Guadulesa Rivera, community advocate for Glendale Adventist Medical Center, which has devoted thousands of dollars toward studying the issue and developing the proposal.

The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level. Christian Bergman (St. Francis High, 2006) starting pitcher, Tulsa Drillers: After being named the California League Pitcher of the Year, Bergman has shown he's eyeing more awards with the Tulsa Drillers, the Colorado Rockies double-A affiliate. Bergman threw six shutout innings Friday in his debut with the Drillers, allowing just one hit, after being promoted from the class-A advanced Modesto Nuts, where he was spent last season and was given the aforementioned accolade.

Strong winds that whipped through Glendale Monday night caused a small tree fire and minor property damage, officials reported. Wires that got caught in tree limbs started a small blaze in a tree in the 1600 block of Ramona Avenue, according to Steve Zurn, who heads public works and Glendale Water & Power. A downed tree caused minor damage to a home on Cottage Grove Avenue and a broken limb damaged a car, Zurn added. No major damage was reported, although there were plenty of fallen palm fronds and street debris.

A 32-year-old Glendale police jail inmate was arrested after allegedly attacking a custody officer on Tuesday, officials said. The 43-year-old officer suffered a small cut on his right elbow from his incident with the inmate, who was identified as Mohamed Mousa of Los Angeles, according to police. The officer was moving Mousa from the attorney visitation area to a holding cell when Mousa reportedly moved to stare at a female inmate in the next cell, police said. When the officer told Mousa - who was in custody on a warrant for domestic violence - to leave the female inmate alone, he suddenly starting yelling and flailing his arms, police said.

About 150 Glendale Water & Power customers lost power for nearly two hours Tuesday night after a palm frond caused a fuse to open in La Crescenta, officials said. Strong winds blew the palm frond into the fuse about 6:12 p.m. at Fourth Street and Dunsmore Avenue, causing homes in the area to lose power, city officials said. Power was restored about 8:18 p.m. to residents in the area of Third, Fourth and Fifth streets between Dunsmore and Lauderdale avenues. City officials said the outage was the only wind-related issue reported Tuesday night.

Firefighters on Friday knocked down a two-alarm house fire in Glendale, where pack rat conditions complicated the response, officials said. The fire was reported at 1:03 p.m. at a single-story house in the 1300 block of North Jackson Street, where firefighters arrived to find a woman standing outside fighting the blaze with a garden hose, city spokesman Tom Lorenz said. The woman, who was not identified, suffered unspecified minor injuries, he added. When firefighters attempted to access the attic from inside, pack rat conditions forced them to tear holes into the roof instead, Lorenz said.

After being released by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in late July, Trevor Bell began to explore any potential options about a return to Major League Baseball. On Monday, Bell found a suitor after he checked his cell phone messages. Bell, a former Crescenta Valley High star and All-Area Baseball Player of the Year selection, signed a minor league free agent deal with the Detroit Tigers, who advanced to the World Series this past season against the San Francisco Giants, on Tuesday.

On Election Day, anticipation and those gratifying “I voted” stickers you attach to your shirt are everywhere. The lines are long, the process sometimes confusing, but for one day in the U.S., we are all permanently glued to our televisions - and now our Twitter feeds - to find out our fate for the next four years. No matter who you are casting your votes for, it's an exciting and nerve-wracking day. For many who have just turned 18, it's an important coming-of-age milestone, for some a lifelong tradition.

A winter storm cell moving over the region dropped hail and caused minor flooding in La Cañada Flintridge Thursday afternoon. Flooding was reported at a home in the 5400 block of Godbey Drive in La Cañada, said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Tom Richards. A patrol vehicle was at the home, where flooding appeared to minor, he added. Fast-moving water flowed down Ocean View Boulevard and into the nearby Mullaly flood control basin, but there appeared to be little mud or debris coming down from this hillsides, Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station Sgt. Debra Herman said around 3 p.m. Weather forecasters issued a flash flooding alert until 4:45 p.m. as the storm passed overhead, bringing with it hail, lightning and periodic downpours across the region, including in Glendale.

Soon after being taken by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2012 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft, Alonzo Gonzalez realized his life had changed drastically. Not just because of the increased potential to someday make a lucrative living and a name for himself competing at the highest level of his game, which appears to be a realistic aspiration after an impressive minor-league debut for the left-handed pitcher, but in the more immediate sense of going from a college student to a professional baseball player in a matter of weeks.

The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level. Alonzo Gonzalez (Glendale Community College, 2012) Bluefield Blue Jays pitcher: Gonzalez started his climb up the minor-league ladder Wednesday when he was assigned to the Bluefield Blue Jays, the Toronto Blue Jays rookie affiliate in the Appalachian League. Gonzalez got the call after he logged his seventh start with another of Toronto's rookie affiliates in the Gulf Coast League Tuesday. He threw five innings of three-run ball and picked up a no-decision against the visiting Gulf Coast Phillies.