Mystery

The police chief of Glendale Community College was placed on leave on Tuesday, leaving the 13-member department in the hands of an officer while campus executives determine their next move. College officials refused to discuss what prompted Chief Steven P. Wagg's leave, saying it was a confidential personnel matter. They also declined to confirm if his captain, Nidal Kobaissi, had been placed on leave as well, although an officer in the department, Erin Kurasz, was named as interim supervisor.

I've been to many local theatrical productions. I usually take my seat at a performance with an air of hopefulness about me, wondering at each show if I might be pleasantly surprised. Thus, I was completely unprepared for the high level of quality exhibited by the actors performing in the Glendale Centre Theatre's current run of Agatha Christie's "A Murder Is Announced. " The Glendale Centre Theatre added an extra touch of realism to a play that takes place entirely in one woman's living room.

Nine people sat on stools around a wooden table inside the Apple store on Wednesday to learn how to operate their new iPads — including Janice Serote, who got hers for her 70th birthday. The La Crescenta resident taught keyboarding at Glendale Community College for 38 years before retiring. But the iPad was Serote’s first foray into Macintosh and tablet computers. After buying an “iPad for Dummies” book, she enrolled in Wednesday’s free class at the Apple store in the Galleria.

Maurice Barnfather "And Then There Were None" is the Agatha Christie play that time never forgets. Ever since its New York premiere as "Ten Little Indians" in 1944, having been adapted by the author from her 1939 book, it has never been shunned by our theaters. But, in George Strattan's immaculate revival for the Glendale Centre Theatre, it not only gets a career- defining performance from Jerry Kokich as Capt. Philip Lombard, but reminds us of Christie's talent for combining English hypocrisy with comic despair.

Claudia Peschiutta GLENDALE -- More than a year after the San Rafael Hills fire charred the hillsides above Glendale and La Canada Flintridge, investigators said Thursday the cause of the blaze remained a mystery. "We've done all that we can," said David Westfield, an arson/fire investigator for the L.A. County Fire Department. "It probably won't go any further." No downed power lines or faulty transformers were found in the area, he said. "If Edison repaired anything, they don't have any record of that," Westfield said.

Marshall Allen LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- Local author Jerrilyn Farmer will share lessons learned from writing her Madeline Bean Mystery series with interested writers at La Canada Flintridge Public Library tonight. Farmer will offer would-be authors advice for how to get published and the best ways to start their novels. Farmer's best-selling culinary mysteries have earned many American mystery honors in the four years they've been published. Her latest, "Dim Sum Dead," follows the characters Maddie Bean and Wesley Westcott into the worlds of mah-jongg, mu shu and murder as they operate an event planning and catering business.

DAVID SILVA My mother called me the other day to tell me that my nephew and his wife were expecting another child. I did a double take on that piece of information. Hadn't the two of them, Andrew and Susanna, just gotten home from the hospital with their last newborn? "I know, I know," Mom sighed. "And Susanna really had a hard time with that last pregnancy. Someone really needs to talk to your nephew about the birds and the bees." It took every ounce of self-control I had not to laugh out loud at that last part.

Paul M. Anderson GLENDALE -- Nearly two weeks after firefighters put out the San Rafael Hills brush fire, investigators are still trying to figure out what sparked the 524-acre blaze and warnings are going out to homeowners to clear dry brush around their properties. Initial reports indicated the fire was caused by a blown electrical transformer or a downed power line. But fire investigators have not determined if that was the case. "We're still looking at every possibility.

Judy Seckler HOOVER HIGH -- No one may ever know why Hoover High School student Benjamin Valentine allowed his life to slip away in an instant. The 17-year-old was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head the morning of June 23 at his Glendale home, Glendale Police said. Valentine lived with his father, who was the owner of the gun. Valentine was a saxophone player and part of the Hoover jazz ensemble. He was always talking about jazz, friend Andrew Bruns, 17, said.