Sighting

Toll Middle School was briefly locked down this morning after a student reported seeing a man with a gun on campus who turned out to be an armored vehicle driver on routine business, officials said. The student was walking through the campus when he spotted the man and immediately alerted school officials, who locked down the campus about 9:55 a.m., said Steven Frasher, spokesman for the Glendale Unified School District. The lockdown was lifted about 10:10 a.m. after police discovered the man's identity.

Robert Chacon The sighting of a mountain lion Saturday on a residential street in La Canada Flintridge is just another example of the wildlife encounters humans can have if they live on the edge of wilderness areas. More than 400 mountain lion sightings are reported annually, according to statistics from the California Department of Fish and Game. That should come as no surprise, considering half of the state is considered mountain lion territory, Fish and Game spokesman Steve Martarano said.

Josh Kleinbaum After five mountain lion-related incidents in the area in the past three months, including a sighting in Brand Park, Glendale officials are warning hikers and bikers to be more careful and to report any sightings. But officials from the state's Department of Fish and Game said that while sightings have drastically increased throughout the state since Jan. 8, when two Orange County bicyclists were attacked by a mountain lion, lion activity has not changed.

LA CRESCENTA — California Fish and Game agents Wednesday tranquilized a black bear that was caught sleeping in the backyard of a La Crescenta home. A resident saw the bear snoozing in the bushes in her home’s backyard on the 2600 block of Prospect Avenue and called sheriff’s deputies, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Lt. Angela Shepard. “He went to sleep in the bushes and he didn’t want to be bothered really,” she said. Deputies reported the sighting to state Fish and Game agents who tranquilized the bear just after 4:30 p.m. before placing it on a stretcher, Shepard said.

GLENDALE — A mountain lion was spotted early Tuesday in the foothill neighborhood above north Brand Boulevard, officials said, prompting warnings to residents and hikers to keep their wits about them, especially in the hillside areas. Residents reported seeing the mountain lion just after 1 a.m. Tuesday roaming the area of Cielito Drive and Deermont Road, said Hillary Gatlin, Pasadena Humane Society’s community resource assistant. But the mountain lion didn’t stick around, and may have been long gone when the society’s animal control officers arrived, she said.

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.

Burbank police officers on Thursday reported seeing a mountain lion walking between parked cars near Kenneth Road and Brown Drive before it continued up Woodstock Lane and into the hillside, where it disappeared, the city announced today. Mountain lion sightings aren't uncommon in the foothills and hillside areas in the heat of summer, when dry conditions drive some of the cats down into urban areas in search of food and water. They are typically skittish and avoid human contact, but city officials urged residents to keep pet food and water dishes indoors to cut down on temptation.

A black bear that continues to rummage through residential trash cans in a North Glendale hillside neighborhood is being closely monitored by California Fish and Game officials. The latest bear sighting has some residents concerned about what could happen if it continues to visit their neighborhood, which sits along the Verdugo Mountains just south of the Foothill (210) Freeway. “My fear is just the surprise element,” said resident Elva Sherman, who spotted the bear about 10 p.m. Tuesday walking around her Cedarbend Drive home.

LA CRESCENTA — California Fish and Game agents Wednesday tranquilized a black bear that was caught sleeping in the backyard of a home. A resident saw the bear snoozing in the bushes in her backyard on the 2600 block of Prospect Avenue and called sheriff’s deputies, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Lt. Angela Shepard. “He went to sleep in the bushes, and he didn’t want to be bothered really,” she said. Deputies reported the sighting to state Fish and Game agents who tranquilized the bear just after 4:30 p.m. before placing it on a stretcher, Shepard said.

You know how grammar buffs can be a little, well, difficult to be around? Judgmental? Quick to correct? And you know how even when they're being quiet you can almost hear the unspoken criticisms seeping through their pores? Well, this grammar buff is about to take that dynamic to new heights, making the leap from simply abrasive to utterly insufferable. That's because I, an already-devout smarty-pants, recently outsmarted one of the most authoritative sources in language: I found a mistake - or at the very least some fuzzy thinking - in the Associated Press Stylebook.

Whether chasing a CIF Southern Section divisional team title like the Crescenta Valley High boys, an individual crown like Glendale's Mickey Mowry or somewhere in between like Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, today and Friday's divisional preliminaries at Riverside Aquatics Center can't be overlooked. That's where seeds are established and cuts are made with a top-20 finish in each heat required just to advance to Saturdays finals at the same venue and a top-10 finish needed in order to compete for big points and individual titles.

Toll Middle School was briefly locked down this morning after a student reported seeing a man with a gun on campus who turned out to be an armored vehicle driver on routine business, officials said. The student was walking through the campus when he spotted the man and immediately alerted school officials, who locked down the campus about 9:55 a.m., said Steven Frasher, spokesman for the Glendale Unified School District. The lockdown was lifted about 10:10 a.m. after police discovered the man's identity.

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.

A black bear that continues to rummage through residential trash cans in a North Glendale hillside neighborhood is being closely monitored by California Fish and Game officials. The latest bear sighting has some residents concerned about what could happen if it continues to visit their neighborhood, which sits along the Verdugo Mountains just south of the Foothill (210) Freeway. “My fear is just the surprise element,” said resident Elva Sherman, who spotted the bear about 10 p.m. Tuesday walking around her Cedarbend Drive home.

When asked how this year's team looks, Glendale Community College softball Coach Dave "Hawk" Wilder didn't hesitate. "I don't want to say this because it will probably jinx us, but I think this is going to be the best team Glendale has ever had," said Wilder, who's entering his 13th year as the head of the program. Entering the season, Wilder has nothing left on the wish list for his team, which is composed of six sophomores, 10 freshmen and a handful of transfers that stand to make a big impact this year.

When you are competing with the likes of Spielberg, Scorsese, Clooney and Brad Pitt for an Oscar, it can be tough to get any attention, but the producers of the film “The First Grader” had a surprising secret weapon for their film: two young actresses from Burbank. When 11-year-old Allie and her 8-year-old sister Olivia saw the film, they were touched by its inspirational theme. They approached their father Darin Shea and asked him to help with the support of their newly formed Shea Family Foundation.

Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) - faced with being termed out of office next year - is seeking the endorsements of two local Democratic organizations for a run at state Sen. Carol Liu's seat in a newly redrawn district. Portantino's move into the state Senate race for the 25th District - which includes Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena - is a marked shift from his stance in June, when he said he planned to run in Rep. David Dreier's San Gabriel Valley district.

Ask Michael Bledstein to name a favorite movie and he reels off his top-10 picks - in alphabetical order. “I just love every decade and genre in cinema,” said the 27-year-old Burbank resident. It is an uncanny ability that has served Bledstein, who has Asperger's syndrome, well as he pursues his dream of becoming a film editor at Video Symphony, a Burbank-based production school that prepares students for careers in media and entertainment. And it is one that he might not have shared with a stranger even just 18 months ago, before a collaborative effort by members of his support cadre to provide him with the structure and tools needed to thrive in an academic and professional setting.

La Cañada Flintridge residents welcomed a visit from yet another member of the animal kingdom last Sunday when a bobcat took a daytime stroll down Melinda Thompson and Bill Scherkey's front porch on the 1400 block of Flanders Road. With multiple sightings of coyotes and bears already having occurred this year, bobcats are just the latest critter to make their presence known. Glenn Houser of the 5000 block of Jarvis Avenue also encountered a bobcat on the morning of Aug. 9. Ricky Whitman of the Pasadena Humane Society said that bobcats are a common sight in foothill areas.