News Press

INDEX Around Town, A7 Classifieds, B1-4 Community Forum, A2 Enjoy!, A4 Police Report, A7 Public Safety, A6 Reel Critic, A4 Schools, A5 Sports, A10-11 WEATHER Sunny, with highs expected to top off at 91 today. That's right. It's that time of year again. The News-Press is seeking nominations for its annual Top 103 list of the most influential people in Glendale, La Crescenta, La Canada Flintridge and Montrose.

Two front-page News-Press stories regarding the flying of flags at a local gas station were incorrect. The stories were Saturday's "City staff gives thumbs down to Old Glories" and Monday's "Old Glory keeps flying." In the stories, the News-Press reported that city code enforcement officials on Friday cited a Glendale gas station attendant for flying American flags at his station, and that the officials ordered the owner not to fly the flags. City officials were not contacted by the News-Press for comment on the alleged incident, an error in direct violation of this newspaper's firm belief in balanced and fair reporting.

CHUCK SAMBAR The Glendale News-Press is in the midst of celebrating its 100th anniversary. This is an unsolicited testimonial and my personal congratulations and best wishes to its staff on this important milestone. As a 36-year contributor to its pages, the News-Press has had a profound positive influence on my life, and I am grateful and appreciative to its staff for publishing my commentaries and for giving me the freedom to express my views.

Amber Willard GLENDALE -- The News-Press has won four awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association, but will have to wait until August to find out how it placed in the contest. The awards, which are either first or second place, will not be announced until CNPA's annual convention on Aug. 11 in Monterey. One of the awards is for front page design and content on Jan. 15, 2000. Another is for a series of columns written by Will Rogers that year.

Gary Moskowitz GLENDALE -- Memorial services were held Sunday in Glendalefor Alice Norman, a former News-Press secretary and church volunteer. Ms. Alice Arnolda Norman, 81, died Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001, in a Glendale hospital. She was born June 15, 1919, in Wildrose, N.D. After growing up on a farm in Washington state, Ms. Norman attended Northwest Bible College in Seattle and present-day Vanguard University. She did missionary work in the Kentucky mountains before coming to Glendale in the 1950s.

The News-Press and Burbank Leader won a combined four awards in this year's California Newspaper Publishers Assn. Better Newspapers contest. News-Press columnist Dan Kimber won second place in the Columns, Commentary, Criticism category for daily newspapers with a circulation of between 25,001 and 75,000. Kimber has been writing the "Education Matters" column, which appears Fridays in the News-Press, since September. The Burbank Leader won three awards for weekly newspapers with a circulation between 11,001 and 25,000.

Joan Borsh GLENDALE -- The Rev. Karl E. Kniseley, a former senior pastor at the First Lutheran Church of Glendale and former News-Press religion columnist, has died. Kniseley died Monday at Windsor Manor in Glendale. He was 84. Kniseley was born May 30, 1917, in Port Royal, Pa. While attending Susquehanna University, he met his future wife Margaret, known as "Billie." They were married in 1939. After graduation, he went into the seminary at Lutheran College in Philadelphia and graduated in 1941.

The school board Tuesday presented the News-Press with the 2003 Burtis E. Taylor Community Education Award. The board also presented Deputy Supt. Joann Merrick and Edison Elementary School choral teacher Jennifer Russell with the 2003 Robert A. Sanchis Award. The annual Burtis E. Taylor Award, named after the district's first superintendent, recognizes individuals and community organizations that have supported the district. Taylor retired as district superintendent in 1982 after 35 years of service to public education.

An Academy award-winning movie, "Grand Hotel" (1932) included the famous line, "Grand Hotel, where people come and go and nothing ever happens." The picture's premiere audience at the Alex Theater knew better. The film was loaded with sidebar plots. Glendale is a city where people come and go, but things do happen here. The News-Press welcomes a new sports editor, Hamlet Nalbandyan, a young writer who graduated from Glendale High School after coming to our land from Armenia at age 9. At that time, he spoke no English, but now, 12 years later, he hasn't a trace of an accent.