Newspapers

In the 1984 spoof rockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap," the heavy metal band gets into trouble over the potentially offensive album "Smell the Glove. " But the gantlet the band members were forced to run seems mild compared to something two major newspapers had to endure recently for failing to push a glove under readers' noses. And if you zoned out in the middle of that last sentence because you're puzzling over whether I should have used "gauntlet" instead of "gantlet," you're in the right place.

Josh Kleinbaum Times Community News, the publisher of the Glendale News-Press and Foothill Leader, purchased two area newspapers this week, but pledged that the acquisitions will not affect the editorial content of any of the newspapers. The La Canada Valley Sun and the Crescenta Valley Sun will become members of the Times Community News family, joining six other community newspapers in the Los Angeles area. Times Community News, a division of the Los Angeles Times, purchased the weekly foothill newspapers from Century Group newspapers.

I am grateful for the News-Press letters to the editor, both that the paper provides it and that many people write in. From time to time one hears that newspapers might be on the decline, because of the Internet first and foremost. Yet the News-Press' Mailbag section is robust enough that it makes me think newspapers are still vital. What do you think, editor Dan Evans? Greg Dahlen Glendale Editor's reply: Thanks for the note, and for writing. Though newspapers do have their challenges, the News-Press is in a better position than most because of our unique connection to our community, and the letters page does reflect that.

The Crescenta Valley Sun and La Cañada Valley Sun newspapers have been sold to Times Community News, a division of the Los Angeles Times. Jerry Bean, owner of the newspaper for the past 15 years, and Will Fleet, publisher of the Glendale News-Press and two other local newspapers published by the Times, announced the sale during a Valley Sun staff meeting Wednesday. Fleet will oversee operations of the Valley Sun, News-Press other papers for the Times. Fleet said the two Valley Sun newspapers will continue as independent newspapers serving their communities.

On Friday, June 5 four members of Den 4, Pack 310 of Lincoln and Valley View elementary schools visited the offices of the Valley Sun newspapers. The boys, Anthony Wood , Vibhu Sharma , Tommy Lovato and Jacob Cook , are first grade students. All the boys are 7 years old. This is the first year of scouting for the boys and they recently completed the Tiger requirement and will soon become a Wolf. They visited the Valley Sun office to learn how newspapers are made.

Two groups toured the Valley Sun office on May 26. Tyler Chew, a Tiger Cub Scout from Pack 360 and a student at Dunsmore Elementary School who came last Friday with his family was joined by members of Pack 317, whose students attend Holy Redeemer and Fenton Avenue schools. The Chew family and the scouts learned how newspapers facilitate communication in a community, from classified and display advertisements to sports and news stories. "I learned that the newspaper gets stories to the printer via computer," said Tyler, who was joined by his mother and siblings Emily, Brandon and Sarah.

Times Community News is a division of the Los Angeles Times employing some 130 news and advertising staffers, who produce eight print and online community newspapers in the Southern California area. Our newspapers are delivered to some of the most affluent communities in the state with a combined 340,000 print readers, 165,000 online visitors and 769,000 monthly page views online. We produce a wide range of print and online publications covering news, entertainment, sports, real estate, classified and retail advertising.

Times Community News is a division of the Los Angeles Times employing some 130 news and advertising staffers, who produce eight print and online community newspapers in the Southern California area. Our newspapers are delivered to some of the most affluent communities in the state with a combined 340,000 print readers, 165,000 online visitors and 769,000 monthly page views online.   We produce a wide range of print and online publications covering news, entertainment, sports, real estate, classified and retail advertising.

JERRY LANE The other day I was talking with one of my exercise classmates at the YMCA. I don't remember what we were talking about, but I happened to say that I had awakened that day at about 3:30 a.m. He laughed and asked me, "Why? Do you deliver newspapers?" "No, but I used to," I told him. That got me to remembering how frustration had started me on my career as a news carrier. We had moved into a large apartment complex where we could not get our newspaper delivered.

Times Community Newspapers received major accolades in this year's California Newspaper Publisher Association contest, including 17 first-place awards and six second-place nods. Winners were announced Saturday at the statewide awards at the Sheraton Universal in Universal City. "It always feels good to be honored by your peers, and getting honored in so many different categories makes it that much more gratifying," Editor Dan Evans said. "Every single aspect of the paper, from design to sports, photography to investigative reporting, entertainment to online, received recognition.

I am grateful for the News-Press letters to the editor, both that the paper provides it and that many people write in. From time to time one hears that newspapers might be on the decline, because of the Internet first and foremost. Yet the News-Press' Mailbag section is robust enough that it makes me think newspapers are still vital. What do you think, editor Dan Evans? Greg Dahlen Glendale Editor's reply: Thanks for the note, and for writing. Though newspapers do have their challenges, the News-Press is in a better position than most because of our unique connection to our community, and the letters page does reflect that.

When I first became the adviser to Hoover High School's newspaper, I had a foremost goal: for the students to produce the best high school newspaper in the country. Well, 20 plus years later, I am extremely proud to report that the Tornado Times has just been nominated for a Pacemaker award by the National Scholastic Press Association. That's akin to an Oscar in the high school newspaper world. The winners will be announced at a national convention in November. Allow me to gush over all the journalism students I have had the privilege to work with during the past couple of decades.

Great newspaper stories - like the shocking L.A. County tax scandal involving Assessor John Noguez - usually don't come from attending government meetings or going to press conferences. The tip that ignites a reporter's passion almost always comes in a telephone call, as it did last December for Randy Economy, investigative reporter for the Los Cerritos Community Newspaper, a 55,000-circulation weekly with a staff of five, including owner-publisher Brian Hews. What happened over the next eight months shows just how important professional news media still are in the age of the blogosphere - even small community and weekly newspapers - at a time when the total audience for local TV news and large daily newspapers is smaller than what the No. 1 station and dominant paper in a market used to attract.

A black bear with a hankering for meatballs returned to a North Glendale hillside neighborhood early Saturday morning, but this time he wasn't reported dipping into trash cans or getting into people's refrigerators. The bear was spotted at 2:50 a.m. in yards on the 3700 block of Cedarbend Drive and again at 6 a.m. on the 3900 block of Forestglen Drive by a newspaper delivery man, said Glendale Police Sgt. Dan Suttles. “He's getting more and more bold,” Suttles said, adding that when officers arrived on the scene both times, the bear was gone.

The Pasadena Sun, a weekly newspaper and companion website, launches Friday as part of the Los Angeles Times Community News' continued expansion. The new edition, from the publisher of the Burbank Leader, Glendale News-Press and La Cañada Valley Sun, will also cover South Pasadena and San Marino. Also debuting this weekend will be the Sunday Valley Sun, a combined edition with the La Cañada Valley Sun. In addition, the papers' staff will provide comprehensive 24/7 news, sports and analysis of the area at PasadenaSun.com, which launches Thursday, said Dan Evans, editor of all four papers.

In their response to a lawsuit filed by the Burbank Leader to obtain the amount of bonuses paid to individual public employees, city attorneys argued in a legal filing that releasing the information was tantamount to revealing private performance evaluations that would erode workplace morale. Burbank Senior Assistant City Atty. Juli Scott dismissed the arguments and legal precedent cited by Karlene W. Goller — an attorney for the Leader’s parent company, the Los Angeles Times — and Karl Olson of the San Francisco-based law firm Ram & Olson.

The Burbank Leader on Friday filed a lawsuit against the city of Burbank for refusing to disclose detailed information about millions of dollars in merit-based bonuses paid to employees during the past three years. Burbank officials initially provided a lump sum amount for fiscal year 2009-10, broken down by each employee or bargaining group that totaled $1 million in bonuses out of a budgeted $1.87 million. Glendale paid out roughly $1 million in bonuses to mid-level department managers and their executives between 1999 and 2008 and made the per-employee information available on its website.

In the 1984 spoof rockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap," the heavy metal band gets into trouble over the potentially offensive album "Smell the Glove. " But the gantlet the band members were forced to run seems mild compared to something two major newspapers had to endure recently for failing to push a glove under readers' noses. And if you zoned out in the middle of that last sentence because you're puzzling over whether I should have used "gauntlet" instead of "gantlet," you're in the right place.

The students behind Glendale High School’s newspaper have a sure thing for the next front page. Jason Castro, a 2008 “American Idol” finalist and Atlantic Records singer-songwriter, gave an interview to the journalism class, an opening act for a lunchtime concert in the school quad Thursday. The performance was the only show in Los Angeles County and one of 25 gigs in 25 cities to promote Castro’s first album out this spring. “We’re pretty lucky to have him,” senior class President Shant Alvandyan said.