Montrose Park

Police are looking for the public's help with details on a small fire which was illegally started Monday at Montrose Community Park. An officer used an extinguisher about 8:15 p.m. to douse the fire, which burned the inside of a trash can near a picnic bench at the park on the 3500 block of Clifton Place, according to the Glendale Police Department. Police discovered a small mound of charred pine needles on the picnic table, a lighter and 24-ounce Coors Lite beer can near the fire.

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan A little less than a week remaining before Dave Ritchie finally ends his hectic schedule. A little more than a dozen games before Ritchie and his volunteers put an end to their Little League responsibilities. And then, at least for Ritchie, the District 16 Administrator, it's his turn to take a well-deserved vacation. But not before District 16 hosts the Senior Softball and Minor Baseball Section 2 Tournaments at Montrose Park, beginning this afternoon at noon and 1 p.m., respectively.

MONTROSE — Despite having to deal with some extenuating circumstances, Tommy’s Major Softball team battled all the way through its final plate appearance. Throughout most of the Tri-Cities District 16 Little League Tournament of Champions, Tommy’s barely had enough players to field a full squad. Sometimes the team didn’t have enough players to play an entire contest. Tommy’s saw its season conclude Friday night with a 7-6 loss to the Tujunga Dynamites in a tournament elimination game at Montrose Park.

MONTROSE — Scott Vinceri credits his experiences playing T-ball in the Crescenta Valley Little League system with helping him become a better student in school. Recently, the 8-year-old La Crescenta resident paid back the favor by winning an essay contest sponsored by small motor manufacturer Briggs and Stratton that offered a prize worth over $5,000 toward the beautification and maintenance of Montrose Park, the home field of Crescenta Valley Little League. “The biggest result of sports has been a sense of confidence in myself,” Vinceri said on Tuesday while quoting from the short essay that made him the Los Angeles winner of the national Diamonds in the Rough contest.

MONTROSE ? If it can receive good pitching and cut down on the fielding miscues, then the Foothill 9- and 10-year-old All-Star Softball program might be on its ways to a championship. Foothill managed to apply those two facets of the game to keep its season alive Monday night with an 8-6 victory against Tujunga in the championship contest of the Tri-Cities Little League District 16 All-Star Tournament at Montrose Park. Foothill will meet Tujunga at 5 p.m. today in the tournament?

MONTROSE ? Hundreds of families played games and snacked on snow cones Tuesday afternoon, paying only quarters to participate in the city?s annual Penny Carnival at Montrose Park. The ninth annual carnival kicked off Tuesday at Montrose Park, and is one of a series that will occur this summer at other city parks. The carnival showcased several games, including ring toss, Plinko and Tic-Tac-Toe, which cost participants just 5 to 25 cents. ?This is so great for the community, especially during these economic times,?

The Parks, Recreation & Community Services Division of the city of Glendale presents Summer Moonlight Movies on Fridays at dusk at various spots around town. The first movie was shown Friday night, with a viewing of "Are We There Yet." Upcoming movies in the series: "Napoleon Dynamite," Friday, Maple Park Community Center, 820 E. Maple St., Glendale. "The Incredibles," July 22, Pacific Park Community Center, 501 S. Pacific Ave., Glendale.

A quick recap of Tuesday's action from the Little League Junior and 9-10 Softball Section 2 All-Star Tournaments at Montrose Park. JUNIOR SOFTBALL Foothill-Tujunga 5, Arcadia American 3: The District 16 champion advanced to today's 5 p.m. championship contest against District 51's Lancaster Parkview at Montrose Park. The locals, who fell to Parkview, 2-1, on Monday, would need to win today to set up an if-necessary final at 5 p.m. Thursday. District 17's Arcadia American tied the game at 3 in the bottom of the third, but Foothill-Tujunga regained it in the sixth, thanks to clutch hitting from Kristin Bautista and Jennifer Monson.

With the Crescenta Valley Little League season just underway, Muir Chase is undefeated with a 4-0 record in junior softball level play. In its first game on March 8 at Montrose Park, Muir Chase edged Western,7-6. Muir Chase's Ashley Zika pitched a great game and teammates Emma Vine, Anna Edwards, Sofie Munoz all hit doubles. Kelsey Butler pitched a great game for Western. Nicole Salas hit a ground rule double under the right field fence. Brittanie Johnson also hit a triple for Western.

When former Councilman John Drayman didn't turn in money he collected from the Montrose Harvest Market on time, that should have been a warning sign that something was amiss, said an accountant who spoke to market officials about improving their financial practices. “Obviously, the fact that he didn't make deposits in a timely manner should have been a red light” even though Drayman was a trusted person, said Pasadena accountant Steven Fishman at the Montrose Shopping Park Assn.

Board directors for the Montrose Shopping Park Assn. on Thursday voiced support for holding closed-door meetings, with proponents saying the open format discourages frank discussion about potentially uncomfortable topics. The group is a quasi-governmental association set up by the city decades ago, but members say they've gotten mixed messages about whether they have to follow state public-meeting laws. “It depends on who you talk to,” said Executive Director Dale Dawson, adding that for years the group has been following state rules just in case.

Two shop owners with keen eyes for marketing are set to take seats on the board of the Montrose Shopping Park Assn. The new members -- It Takes a Village…Kids owner Gigi Garcia and Grayson's Tune Town owner Ken Grayson -- said they plan to focus on marketing businesses in the shopping park during their terms after the 104 ballots were counted Thursday. How to increase business for the roughly 185 shops in the business improvement district along Honolulu Avenue has long been a predicament for for years.

Police are looking for the public's help with details on a small fire which was illegally started Monday at Montrose Community Park. An officer used an extinguisher about 8:15 p.m. to douse the fire, which burned the inside of a trash can near a picnic bench at the park on the 3500 block of Clifton Place, according to the Glendale Police Department. Police discovered a small mound of charred pine needles on the picnic table, a lighter and 24-ounce Coors Lite beer can near the fire.

Two games into the Little League District 16 Major Baseball Tournament, the Crescenta Valley All-Stars have looked unstoppable. In two games that have lasted a combined eight innings, Crescenta Valley has scored 30 runs, belted eight home runs and limited its opponents to a total of two runs. Half of those runs and three home runs came Sunday, as Crescenta Valley defeated Burbank, 15-1, at Montrose Park to advance to the championship game of the tournament. The game was called at the end of the fourth inning because of the 10-run mercy rule.

As coach of Warren Printing, Mike Vinceri watched his team slug its way to the District 16 Major Baseball Tri-Cities championship in June. As coach of the District 16 Crescenta Valley Major Baseball All-Star Team, he's looking for a similar pattern to continue in July. Some of the players from Warren Printing will be a part of Crescenta Valley's squad, leaving Vinceri eager to see if the offense will continue its torrid hitting. "It will be interesting seeing if the bats do come alive again, but you are also now facing tougher competition," said Vinceri, whose team will look to repeat as tournament champion.

MONTROSE — They knew they were playing an undefeated team. It didn't matter. They didn't lack confidence. The members of the Warren Printing Major Baseball team played like a confident squad against Foothill's Two Guys from Italy on Thursday. Warren Printing, from the Crescenta Valley Little League, smacked 12 hits – "that's all," Two Guys Coach Hutch Arzoumanian joked – en route to defeating a strong Two Guys squad, 11-1, in the District 16 Tri-Cities Tournament at Montrose Park.

Grand jury testimony in the embezzlement case against John Drayman - unsealed Friday - painted a picture of lax oversight of the former city councilman's collection and accounting of proceeds from the Montrose Harvest Market, an operation that consistently lost money until more stringent controls were implemented.  During his years of running the Sunday market, from which Drayman allegedly embezzled at least $304,000, the Montrose Shopping Park...

The association in charge of the Montrose Shopping Park is looking to add another employee to its ranks, making it the city's only business improvement group with such a robust workforce. The Montrose Shopping Park Assn. board of directors, which decides how roughly $360,000 gets spent to promote the quaint shopping district along Honolulu Avenue, is mulling over adding a “Montrose Ambassador” to meet with business owners and bring their comments or complaints back to the board.

Two newcomers will be taking seats on the Montrose Shopping Park Assn. Board of Directors. Copy Network owner Andre Ordubegian and Joselito's Mexican Restaurant owner Corey Grijalva will be replacing President Alyce Russell, who owns Andersen's Pets, and Treasurer Maureen Palacios, who owns Once Upon a Time, according to votes tallied on Thursday. The election highlights renewed interest in the board by business owners, many of whom have not participated in leadership activities in the past.