Outreach

Earlier this month comments were made by Steven Gallegos and Michael Olivares, Glendale Adventist Medical Center tobacco outreach workers, to the Glendale City Council and to the News-Press that are uncharacteristic of our approach to promoting community health. These outreach workers were not authorized to make these comments and they were not speaking on behalf of the hospital. In fact, our Tobacco Control Program team regards city leaders as key partners in the process of improving the health of the community.

Robert Chacon Rosaly Lopes, a planetary scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was awarded the 2005 Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communications, acknowledging her outreach efforts. Lopes, a principal investigation scientist for the Titan radar mapper on the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and its moon, Titan, has been active in reaching out to the global community since joining the Galileo mission team in 1991, spokeswoman Annie Carone said.

Alex Coolman THORNYCROFT -- The city is planning a major effort in the months ahead to make sure that users of the recently opened cold weather shelter at the National Guard Armory get along with the surrounding community. More than $30,000 would be directed at an effort both to beef up security and to increase outreach in the area of the Colorado Street facility under a proposal to be considered today by the Housing Authority. Stacy Rowe, a senior administrative analyst for the Community Development and Housing Department, said the move is a response to problems that occurred in years past when the shelter opened.

Crescenta Valley High School Theatre Outreach Program performed several play scenes Tuesday and Wednesday at the MacDonald Auditorium. The program paired CVHS drama students with elementary students from around the CV area., all supervised by Leslie Boyce and Brent Beerman, director of the school's drama department. For several months, students would meet Saturday mornings at the high school and learn about theatre and acting. They were honed their memorization skills, became comfortable with public speaking and were trained in basic acting techniques.

GLENDALE — A domestic violence outreach program at the Glendale YWCA tailored to reach Armenian women will debut this summer, coordinators said. The new program is in the final stages of being translated into Armenian as the organization looks to reach what has so far been a "closed system" of women, said Kathie Mathis, the program's author and director of domestic violence programs at the YWCA. The program — called "Louys," Armenian for "light" — will train Armenian-English bilingual women in how to recognize domestic abuse among their peers, and what to do once it's identified.

Chevy Chase Drive repairs The Glendale City Council on Tuesday awarded a $733,515 contract and $73,000 reserve to E.C. Construction Co. for street repair and rehabilitation of Chevy Chase Drive. WHAT IT MEANS All of the construction expenses will be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on a reimbursement basis. ? Allen , Pacific avenues The council approved a roughly $1-million contract and $107,000 reserve to Imperial Paving Co. Inc. for street the repair and rehabilitation of Allen and Pacific avenues.

A Noise Within's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" that we saw last night is another outstanding production by an outstanding theater company. Along with many others, I suspect, I was both disappointed and a bit miffed when it seemed to abruptly abandon Glendale. But we should put such feelings aside and welcome it back to Glendale because such a talented group would be a great community asset for both its remarkable entertainment and its community outreach. I certainly hope the city along with other community leaders will do all in their power to get A Noise Within back to Glendale.

Tunnel outreach meeting tonight State and county transportation officials will present updated information on a proposed underground tunnel in Pasadena that would connect the Long Beach (710) and Foothill (210) freeways. Glendale is one of a number of area cities with a stake in the outcome of the proposed project, with opinion divided over its potential impact to traffic on the confluence of local highways. Officials will host a public outreach meeting tonight to discuss underground tunnel technology and the results of recently completed soil testing for the project.

Temple Sinai of Glendale, a Reform Jewish congregation for 78 years, will hold three open houses for potential new members on Friday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m. and Wednesday, Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m. A program of speakers, including religious leader Rabbi Rick Schechter, will highlight various aspects of the Temple Sinai of Glendale community's life, from adult education and religious school for children, to social action and outreach, and much more. Also speaking will be Cantor Mariana Gindlin, Education Director Carolyn Moore-Mooso, Temple President Keith Rohman and other key personnel.

Alex Coolman GLENDALE -- The city's winter homeless shelter, which has had an uneasy relationship with its neighbors, will remain in its Colorado Street location at the National Guard Armory if the Housing Authority follows staff recommendations today. The shelter, which provides a cold-weather refuge for those who have nowhere else to go, has been housed in the Armory since 1993. But the location -- just across Colorado Street from the Adult Recreation Center and close to the Central Library and downtown shops -- has been controversial.

Frigid overnight temperatures have led to an influx of homeless in the city, some of whom have been erecting tents and loitering at a park near the Adult Recreation Center, intimidating seniors who use the space to do tai chi, city officials said. In one case, officials found one tent that had a microwave. Last weekend, some transients began fighting. Many of those who have been causing problems at Glendale Central Library or in the park are homeless people who don't use the emergency winter shelter at the National Guard Armory on Colorado Boulevard.

Earlier this month comments were made by Steven Gallegos and Michael Olivares, Glendale Adventist Medical Center tobacco outreach workers, to the Glendale City Council and to the News-Press that are uncharacteristic of our approach to promoting community health. These outreach workers were not authorized to make these comments and they were not speaking on behalf of the hospital. In fact, our Tobacco Control Program team regards city leaders as key partners in the process of improving the health of the community.

Police are planning to step up their anti-theft “Lock it, Hide it and Keep it” campaign after a 25% increase in petty thefts over a 30-day period in North Glendale. The jump in thefts from unlocked vehicles and home front lawns occurred from July 15 to Aug. 12, a trend that has prompted police officials to remind residents to safeguard their valuables, lock their cars and be vigilant of any suspicious activity. Police explorers will hand out fliers with theft prevention tips to residents in several North Glendale neighborhoods, Officer Matt Zakarian said.

Glendale officials will host two public meetings to make sure the community knows everything there is to know about a planned “road diet” in Montrose that will test the viability of dedicated bike lanes on Honolulu Avenue. The road diet will essentially cut two lanes out of the four-lane Honolulu Avenue between Ramsdell and Orangedale avenues and replace them with a designated bicycle lane in each direction. As Honolulu Avenue gets closer to the Montrose Shopping Park, the road is too narrow for a bike lane, so it will instead get street signs denoting that bicyclists and cars must share the road.

The Armenian Relief Society of Western USA held a fundraising event at its regional headquarters in Glendale on Aug. 14 in which the organization raised more than $15,000 for domestic violence outreach objectives. It was the first such fundraising event the Armenian Relief Society has ever held to address domestic violence. The Armenian Relief Society Shelter coordinated with local organizations' shelters such as Door of Hope and the YWCA. The Armenian Relief Society Shelter Committee Chair Aida Babayan presented a report on the society's outreach program addressing domestic violence and discussed the establishment of a telephone hotline service.

Thousands of people celebrated Armenian culture this week at the Civic Auditorium through art, dance, history and food — lots of it. The Armenian Relief Society of the Western United States ushered thousands of people to its Armenian Festival at the Civic Auditorium, where there were endless servings of shish kebabs, yershig sandwiches, sarma, tabouleh and baklava. On Saturday alone, organizers said 4,500 people attended the festival. Dozens of singers performed, and folk dance groups entertained in traditional clothing.

CITY HALL — Fundraising for Tuesday’s Glendale City Council race remains far behind the levels reached in 2007, the last time two seats on the council were up for grabs, but it has advanced significantly from where it was just four weeks ago. As of March 19, former Glendale City Councilman Rafi Manoukian had the largest campaign war chest, with $32,156 raised between Jan. 1 and March 19, according to the latest campaign finance filings filed...

Kaitlan Reininger, 17, began volunteering with the Christian Assembly Day Laborer Outreach program to practice her Spanish. What she has gotten out of the experience has been far greater than a language lesson. The Crescenta Valley High School senior began volunteering with the organization through her church, the Christian Assembly of Eagle Rock, as a freshman. Every Sunday at 8 a.m. for the past few years, Kaitlan has met with the church outreach group at a day laborer center at a Home Depot parking lot in Glendale to sing worship songs, hold a service, serve food and pray with a group of day laborers.

CITY HALL — The City Council on Tuesday began wading through what had turned out to be an arduous review of city codes for window replacements. City officials presented the council with enforcement options to alleviate the significant number of illegal window replacements that have been completed throughout the city. But council members were hesitant to fully back any of the potential moves — including a citywide survey of windows to find potential offenders and an inspection program for illegal work at the time of sale — without additional information and public outreach.

Chevy Chase Drive repairs The Glendale City Council on Tuesday awarded a $733,515 contract and $73,000 reserve to E.C. Construction Co. for street repair and rehabilitation of Chevy Chase Drive. WHAT IT MEANS All of the construction expenses will be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on a reimbursement basis. ? Allen , Pacific avenues The council approved a roughly $1-million contract and $107,000 reserve to Imperial Paving Co. Inc. for street the repair and rehabilitation of Allen and Pacific avenues.