San Fernando Valley

Armed with flashlights and clipboards, dozens of volunteers fanned out before dawn Monday to find the most vulnerable people living on the streets of North Hollywood and Sun Valley. The effort organized by the San Fernando Valley Homeless Coalition, a network of service providers, aims to help at least 75 people into stable housing and find them the services they need to stay off the streets. North Hollywood and Sun Valley are among more than 90 communities nationwide to join the 100,000 Homes campaign , an effort to house 100,000 homeless people by 2013.  L.A. NOW

Elected officials, and a handful of Los Angeles community members, celebrated the opening of the Orange Line extension on Friday, a 4-mile addition to the  popular busway  in the San Fernando Valley. The Orange Line travels 14 miles east-west from North Hollywood to Warner Center. The north-south extension runs between the Canoga station and the Chatsworth Metrolink station, allowing a one-seat ride between Chatsworth and North Hollywood, where passengers can catch the Red Line subway.

Yutaka Shimizu, who became a quiet institution among high school basketball coaches in Los Angeles during a career that began in 1959 and lasted the rest of his life, has died. He was 84. Shimizu, who had a lung ailment, died Sunday at a Lakewood hospital, said Derrick Taylor, the Bellflower St. John Bosco coach with whom Shimizu continued to work. He was the head coach at Hamilton High from 1959 to 1981, coaching future UCLA All-America Sidney Wicks and leading the team to a City Section runner-up finish in 1965.

Good morning, readers. Today is Wednesday, June 27, 2012 - hereby known as Stanley Cup Day in Glendale. You heard that right. The 35 pound silver trophy is heading this way at 11 a.m. as it tours the Los Angeles area following the Kings' long-awaited victory.   Glendale News-Press L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz showed support for a Sherman Oaks synagogue's controversial expansion plan on Tuesday. Residents near Chabad of North Hollywood have complained that the size of the building obstructs their pristine Valley views.

Good morning, readers. Today is Friday, June 29, 2012. It's been a hot week. Temperatures surpassed 80 degrees and I found myself making excuses to stay indoors. But is the city "ugly" in this climate? That's what Times columnist Hector Tobar explores in his article about summertime in Los Angeles . "Even the most loyal Angeleno can wonder: Do I really want to keep on living here?" he writes. Tobar also notes that this is his last column, as he is moving to the books section.

Good morning readers. Today is Tuesday, July 17. Today is a bit cooler, a nice relief from the scorching temperatures of late. As you settle into your day, check out these news bits from around the Valley.  Sheriff's deputies discovered a makeshift home in Tujunga near the 210 (Foothill) Freeway. Several marijuana plants were also found nearby . La Cañada Patch  NBCUniversal is moving toward its "Evolution Plan," which nixes a controveral proposal for 3,000 homes on the Universal Studios property.

Welcome back to the workweek. A short stack of news for you this morning, but rest assured, it's full of the vitamins and minerals a growing mind needs. Read on.  First up on the docket:  Scott Ochoa, the former city manager of Monrovia, and now Glendale, is asking his former city employer to restructure a loan made by the city in 2004. Ochoa, like many people, is upside down on his mortgage, and he doesn't want to sell it at a loss. Unlike most people, he makes $235K a year.

Welcome to the first edition of the San Fernando Valley roundup. We read through the news of the greater 818 area to bring you the best tidbits. Enjoy today's buffet of news from North Hollywood, San Fernando, Sherman Oaks and Conoga Park.  Did Steve Carell deliver a pizza in North Hollywood? Rumors are swiriling that the star of "The Office" jumped behind the wheel after someone failed to show up for work. North Hollywood Patch  A person was struck and killed by a Metrolink train in San Fernando Monday morning.

Happy Tuesday! As you get ready to relax and watch the fireworks tomorrow, check out what's happened in the 818.  A church in La Crescenta replaced a group of flags, representing diversity, in a ceremony Sunday. Participants said the theft had the opposite of its intended effect, bringing people together. Glendale News-Press A writer mourns the loss of Chez Nous in Toluca Lake, the third closure of an eatery in that neighborhood in a year. North Hollywood Patch  The Mutual UFO Network of Los Angeles is taking a July 1 sighting of a... something...

Raymond Marks contacted me to find out what days Verdugo Views was published in December 2003. Marks said he has the entire collection of this history column since it began in June 2001, and wants to purchase the December papers to keep his collection intact. Marks, who has lived in Burbank for 40 years, is very interested in local history. He is researching two towns that once existed where Sun Valley is now: Roscoe and Dundee. "These towns struck my fancy when I read a book on the San Fernando Valley written by Jackson Mayers," Marks said.

Singer Bobby Brown, ex-husband of the late Whitney Houston, was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated in Tarzana early Wednesday morning, his second such arrest in the San Fernando Valley in about six months. Los Angeles Police Department Officer Venus Hall told the Los Angeles Times that officers pulled Brown over near the intersection of Ventura Boulevard and Corbin Avenue about 1 a.m. and "when they approached him, they smelled the alcohol. " Hall said it was unclear if Brown took a Breathalyzer test but said he was booked and released.

Good morning, readers. Today is Friday, July 27. Celestial sightings are going to get a little clearer for Valley dwellers. The city of Los Angeles is working on replacing streetlamps with LED lights , which are expected to cut down on light pollution. The color is also supposed to mirror the light of the moon. NoHo Patch Two schools in Canoga Park were put on lockdown Thursday as police searched for a suspect who had an arrest warrant. He was found by a police dog in the afternoon.

Good morning readers. Today is Monday, July 23. It looks to be another beautiful Southern California day. But remember your sunblock! A good Samaritan saves a man from a burning car in Sun Valley.   North Hollywood Patch  Glendale-based DreamWorks Animation SKG has agreed to pay $155 million to purchase Classic Movies, which owns the rights to movies and television shows like "Lassie" and "Casper the Friendly Ghost. " Associated Press  Los Angeles Sherrif's deputies rescued two hikers in the Angeles National Forest who overheated.

Good morning, readers. Today is Thursday, July 19, 2012. In the mood for some Shakespeare? What about a zombie parody of one of the Bard's plays? The Antaeus Company, which often puts on quality double-cast productions, is bringing "Macbeth" to North Hollywood . Down the street, Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre is competing with their own deranged version of the play. L.A. Weekly A few blocks over from the NoHo Arts District, a teenage boy was killed in an apparent gang-related incident.

Good morning readers. Today is Tuesday, July 17. Today is a bit cooler, a nice relief from the scorching temperatures of late. As you settle into your day, check out these news bits from around the Valley.  Sheriff's deputies discovered a makeshift home in Tujunga near the 210 (Foothill) Freeway. Several marijuana plants were also found nearby . La Cañada Patch  NBCUniversal is moving toward its "Evolution Plan," which nixes a controveral proposal for 3,000 homes on the Universal Studios property.

Good morning, readers. Today is Thursday, July 12, 2012. Some good news and some bad news: Crime is down in the region, but homicides are on the rise this year. Shootings have decreased 34% in the San Fernando Valley. The Los Angeles Police Department has reported 33 homicides in the area  for 2012 .  Daily News Over in La Cañada Flintridge, burglaries have dropped . Valley Sun For the second time in the past month, a car chase has ended on the Hollywood (170)

Good morning to you, readers. As you get ready for the week, check out these headlines from La Cañada, North Hollywood and Encino.  Walmart, which is looking to open a store in Altadena, is planning a community meeting this Thursday in that community.  The mega-retailer tends to make people nervous, so there should be a pretty good turnout. Altadenablog   After 10 years, the farmer's market in La Cañada is still going strong. Check it out on Saturdays from 9 am to 1 pm, or or just look at the photos.

Good morning readers. As you recover from the rare mid-week holiday, feast your tired eyes on these news bits from around the San Fernando Valley:  Officals are saying a man attempted to kill himself in the Horse Flats Campground area Wednesday. The campground is in the Angeles National Forest, about 30 miles from La Cañada. La Cañada Patch  Burbank police nabbed a man they say was driving a purloined Bentley. The suspect, oddly adorned in a motorcycle helmet and American-flag themed pants, was taken into custody after a brief chase.

Happy Tuesday! As you get ready to relax and watch the fireworks tomorrow, check out what's happened in the 818.  A church in La Crescenta replaced a group of flags, representing diversity, in a ceremony Sunday. Participants said the theft had the opposite of its intended effect, bringing people together. Glendale News-Press A writer mourns the loss of Chez Nous in Toluca Lake, the third closure of an eatery in that neighborhood in a year. North Hollywood Patch  The Mutual UFO Network of Los Angeles is taking a July 1 sighting of a... something...

Welcome back to the workweek. A short stack of news for you this morning, but rest assured, it's full of the vitamins and minerals a growing mind needs. Read on.  First up on the docket:  Scott Ochoa, the former city manager of Monrovia, and now Glendale, is asking his former city employer to restructure a loan made by the city in 2004. Ochoa, like many people, is upside down on his mortgage, and he doesn't want to sell it at a loss. Unlike most people, he makes $235K a year.