Peace

At around 2 p.m. Saturday, a line of people could be seen walking slowly and silently down Kenneth Road, some wearing conical straw hats and others with the word "Peace" written on a sheet of paper taped to their clothing. Though it may have seemed to be an unusually quiet peace rally, the scene was in fact a demonstration of being at peace, put on by Glendale's Yoga at the Village in association with the Los Angeles chapter of Peace is Every Step — a group that holds these "walking meditation" events throughout the Los Angeles area.

Judy Seckler HOOVER HIGH SCHOOL -- The crowd that wound its way along the streets surrounding Hoover High School did not come close to the 2,000 people anticipated, but everybody there made peace a priority for the evening. The Glendale Community Peace Walk attracted about 200 adults, children and pets early Friday evening to heal from the wounds left by Raul Aguirre's death May 5. The parade of young and old marched out of the rear of the athletic field to walk the streets following the lead of Aguirre's parents, Raul and Leticia.

The Faith Communities in the Foothills are sponsoring the International Day of Peace observance at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 21 at Memorial Park. Everyone is invited to join fellow members of the community to petition for peace. The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations. ?It?s not political, not a protest; it?s just time set aside to pray for peace in the world,? Katy Sadler of St. Bede?s said. She explained that the first time the day was recognized locally was in 2003, when the Iraq war began.

Judy Seckler FOREST LAWN GLENDALE -- Co-executive Director Linda Maxwell of We Care for Youth will lead a workshop in "Tools for Peace," an exercise in universal and individual peace at the building site of the first Tibetan Shi-tro Mandala in the United States. Participants will have a chance to meet world-renowned Tibetan artist and sculptor Pema Namdol Thaye and his assistant, Kunzang Wangdi Thaye. Visitors will also have a chance to construct their own personal mandala with free materials.

Claudia Peschiutta GLENDALE -- State Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Glendale) will be the keynote speaker Saturday at a concert to promote peace. Schiff, chairman of the state Senate Select Committee on Juvenile Justice, plans to talk about combating youth violence at "Peace Through Music," sponsored by the Pasadena Human Relations Commission. The concert will feature several musicians and dancers, including pianist Vatche Mankerian and 11-year old violinist Christopher M. Ballard.

Once capable of causing pain, spent bullet shells were used by children at the Glendale Central Library on Sunday to create beauty. Rabbi Simcha Backman of Chabad of Glendale and the Foothill Communities led a workshop in which kids got to make their own menorahs by screwing bullet shells into a flat ceramic tile. "A bullet symbolizes weapons of war and we take this bullet and make a beautiful thing out of it," Simcha said. "This teaches the child that it's up to every single one of us to transform items of destruction into items of peace."

Alecia Foster HOOVER HIGH SCHOOL -- Plans for a Glendale Community Peace Walk are moving right along, but its organizers are hoping for some community help. Three Hoover High graduates organizing the event sent out 1,600 letters asking for donations of water, cookies and tealights for the walk. "Everything is coming together," said Jaime Reinoso, one of the organizers. "All we might be really short on is time." The walk, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. June 9, will circle the Hoover High, Toll Middle and Keppel Elementary cluster of schools, beginning and ending in the Hoover football field.

A s Israel remembers its victories over Arab armies 40 years ago this month in the Six-Day War, peace is fragile and at times doesn't seem to exist in the region. And recent fighting between Hamas and Fatah, in Israel's Gaza Strip — land Israel gained in the war — has reportedly put a dent in some hopes that Palestinians and Israelis can ever live side-by-side, given Hamas' call for the destruction of Israel. What are your thoughts on the prospects for peace in this region?

KIMBERLIE ZAKARIAN It seems that stress has increased for many people these days. Our world has become fast-paced and aggressive. While I myself love hard work and being busy, my husband and I also long to one day slow down a bit, having more time to take pleasure in life and people. Perhaps the days of our ancestors sitting on the front porch sipping lemonade in the company of a neighbor are forever lost, at least in Southern California. Our family used to go back to Boise City, Okla.

God bestows upon His children peace and joy. What are the meanings of these two gifts? If we look at the definition for peace in Philippians 4:9, ?Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me ? put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.? The word for peace here in Greek is ?shalom.? This signifies ?wholeness.? I Thessalonians puts it another way: ?May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.? When I think about needing the peace of God, I often reflect upon another passage in Philippians 4:7, which tells us that, ?

Civic and religious leaders gathered in Pasadena on Sunday to launch a peaceful crusade against violence after Christmas Day incidents in which a resident was gunned down in a drive-by shooting and two others -- including a Glendale woman -- died in a crash caused by a parolee allegedly trying to evade police. Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard told a crowd of nearly 300 at the steps of All Saints Episcopal Church near City Hall that the task is to rid the city of gun violence and replace it with hope and guidance.

The flurry of traditional Japanese arts and crafts in Southern California this month is not in Los Angeles proper. L.A. County Art Museum's majestic Pavilion for Japanese Art remains the West Coast's greatest showcase, but three unrelated Pasadena events form a fascinating cultural convergence. They signify a quietly strong century of Japanese-American history in the area. After a $6.8-million upgrade, the Huntington Library in San Marino has just reopened its historic Japanese Garden.

It is common for writers at the end of the year to give a summation of the previous 12 months' events and to end on a hopeful note for the new year.  Forgive me for being so common. No matter your political persuasion, the world lost 3 villains in 2011:  Moammar Kadafi i, Kim Jong-il, and, of course, Osama bin Laden.  The world also saw people take control over their governments in the Middle East.  U.S. troops left Iraq to return home to their families.  And the economy finally showed signs of improvement.  When was the last time so many positive events took place in the span of a year?

Sept 27, 1922 to Oct 30, 2011 Mavis Mahan Cain died surrounded by family on October 30, 2011 in San Rafael, CA.  Mavis was part of the greatest generation.  Born and raised in San Francisco to Dr. Eugene Mahan and Alma Meherin Mahan, she came of age in the Depression, matriculated from the Convent of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco, then UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Political Science in 1944.  The war years on the Cal campus created an opportunity...

A letter on this page was critical of the Occupy Wall Street movement (“Occupy Wall Street a cause for concern,” Nov. 8). Is the person who wrote it OK with the bonuses in the finance industry? For example, the insurance giant AIG gave more than $165 million in bonuses shortly after it received a $170-billion taxpayer bailout. Is it OK that taxpayers bailed out financial institutions “too big to fail,” but foreclosures are allowed to continue - foreclosures that bring down the property value of a neighborhood if too many are in the same area?

My heart is heavy after learning that one of the best athletes to ever come out of Hoover High School, Hector Lopez, passed away. I had the pleasure of going to school with Hector and was cheering for him in the 1984 Olympics. May you rest in peace. I'm a better person for knowing you. Robert “Scott” Wallace Glendale

For years, residents in the Pelanconi Estates neighborhood have pressed for a so-called quiet zone along Glendale's portion of the San Fernando Road corridor. Plans discussed at a public meeting this week should give them hope: a planned $9.8-million upgrade for two rail crossings that, combined with future safety enhancements at three others, could eventually qualify the stretch for quiet-zone status. If all the rail crossings get safety improvements, including upgraded signals and impassible vehicle gates, the section could qualify for the quiet designation, meaning train engineers wouldn't need to sound their horns before each crossing.

Inside Que Linda, Victoria da Salla's peaceful La Crescenta boutique, water babbles in fountains and aromatic incense burns. The items da Salla offers - body oils, polished stones, clothing, jewelry, music, loose leaf teas and books - are meant to assist anyone in their personal, spiritual journey. Although this can be difficult to convey in a few words of advertising copy, da Salla said, many of her customers have learned about the store by word-of-mouth. Her shop's list of Facebook followers continues to grow.

In Tuesday’s paper, there was an article about the number of dump trucks traveling up and down our local streets (“Down on the dumps,” Feb. 16). I made my choice to live where I do for the quiet streets, wonderful views and the safe neighborhood. I absolutely agree that the traffic, noise and exhaust from the dump trucks are getting on my nerves. However, I am thankful for the clean-up crews who are working around the clock to prevent any more events like last week’s.