Sting

Eight people were arrested Friday during a police operation focused on looking for motorists driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, officials said. Glendale police officers arrested six motorists on suspicion of drunk driving, while the remaining two drivers were taken into custody for allegedly driving under the influence of drugs , according to Glendale police reports. Police stopped 48 vehicles as they roamed the city in search of DUI drivers, performed 12 field sobriety tests and impounded five vehicles during the operation.

CENTRAL GLENDALE — The large furry rabbit walking between Central and Garfield avenues Wednesday was no hallucination, especially for drivers who failed to yield. For an hour and a half, Glendale Police Officer Tom Broadway donned the eye-catching costume during an enforcement sting aimed at educating motorists to yield for pedestrians walking along unmarked crosswalks. Police cited 24 motorists on suspicion of failing to yield to Broadway as he walked across Central.

More than 80 people were cited Friday on suspicion of talking or texting on hand-held cell phones while driving in South Glendale’s rush hour traffic, police said. Glendale police issued citations to 77 drivers who were allegedly talking on their cell phones while behind the wheel, Sgt. Dennis Smith said. Another six motorists got tickets for allegedly texting while driving, he added. “Most people do recognize that it is wrong,” Smith said. Friday’s sting was the first grant-funded operation to be conducted during rush hour traffic, he said.

Swarms of jellyfish that have been appearing at Orange County beaches since last week continue to sting beachgoers as lifeguards all along Newport's beaches report seeing "hundreds of thousands" of the creatures floating near shore. The threat of being stung was enough to keep some people out of the water Monday afternoon. Instead of the throngs of people usually seen swimming in the water on a hot day, the sandy shore was crowded with cautious onlookers, searching the surf for jellyfish.

Darleene Barrientos On her way home to Los Angeles after visiting her parents in Glendale, Lillian Anjargolian said she was driving toward the Glendale (2) Freeway when she swerved to avoid a man who stepped off the curb near Verdugo Boulevard and Park Place. A Glendale Police officer immediately pulled over Anjargolian for failing to yield to a pedestrian. The incident occurred during one of the department's four pedestrian sting operations held in the past three months.

Alecia Foster DOWNTOWN -- Several contractors who turned out Tuesday to bid for work on a Glendale got more than they anticipated. Six of the 10 contractors walked away with citations from the California Contractors State License Board for various violations, including operating with out a license. The citations were handed out as part of a sting by state board officials conducted in conjunction with the Glendale Police Department. Fifteen to 16 contractors were called and asked to bid for work on a the home on the 800 block of East Elk Avenue.

Well, I am not certain how many letters have been written about the “bunny sting” and the outrage people have expressed here in Glendale, but I for one am in complete agreement with Glendale Police Department (“Sting like a bunny,” April 1). I lived in the valley for more than 30 years before moving here. The LAPD did this kind of thing to get the public’s attention with great success every year in different locations. Oh yes, they used costumes like a bunny, Santa Claus or Abe Lincoln.

Amber Willard NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- A Glendale Police sting operation on illegal street vendors netted two arrests over the weekend. An officer patrolling Palmer Park made an additional arrest Saturday. The sting, which was held Saturday, was in response to complaints officials have received about vendors selling food from pushcarts without city permits, police said. The permits, which require the applicant to pass a county health department inspection, are intended to protect residents from hazards like undercooked food, officials said.

I don?t usually shoot nature photos. When I got a last-minute assignment to shoot Montrose resident Susan Stone and the honeybee hive in her backyard, I was a little apprehensive about the potential sting operation. Stone took me to the backyard where the bees were and showed little fear in moving close to the hive, telling me to move slowly. I followed her advice and got in closer. The bees were buzzing around, occasionally bumping into me. I got my shot of Stone next to the hive and started to look around for a detail shot of one of the bees.

Charles Rich CRESCENTA VALLEY HIGH -- The yellow ball spun on top of the choppy waters when Mike Hoy went to retrieve it late in the third quarter Thursday. Then Hoy, the starting goaltender for the Crescenta Valley boys' water polo team, placed his right hand on top of the ball and received an unpleasant surprise -- a bee sting to his palm. Now Hoy had been stung before, but never during a water polo match. The stinger was removed, courtesy of a credit card that belonged to Crescenta Valley Coach Jan Sakonju, but Hoy was stung again in sudden death Thursday.

Eight people were cited last week for allegedly contracting without a license during an undercover sting at a vacant hardware store in Glendale, officials said. Posing as property owners, members of the Statewide Investigative Fraud Team obtained bids from the men for floor covering, concrete work and interior and exterior painting, according to the California State License Board. The contractors were Luis Dominguez of Winnetka, Jose Medina of Pico Rivera, Semisi Moala of Montclair, Juan Manuel Ortega Sanchez of Fontana, Enrique Felix-Salinas of Alhambra, Jose Miguel Giraldo of Palmdale, Jose Antonio Giraldo Zelada of Palmdale and Abel Contreras of Granada Hills.

LA CRESCENTA - Not all losses are created equal or at least that was the outlook Crescenta Valley High boys' basketball Coach Shawn Zargarian took after his team fell to Westlake, 86-78, in the third-place game of the Falcon Classic on Friday. Even though the Falcons suffered their second loss in a row, their resilience and energy in battling back from a huge early deficit to get withing four points late was a bit of a victory in itself. “Flat out energy and effort,” Zargarian said when asked about the difference between Friday's loss and Thursday night's 58-55 loss to Kennedy in which the Falcons squandered a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Eight people were arrested Friday during a police operation focused on looking for motorists driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, officials said. Glendale police officers arrested six motorists on suspicion of drunk driving, while the remaining two drivers were taken into custody for allegedly driving under the influence of drugs , according to Glendale police reports. Police stopped 48 vehicles as they roamed the city in search of DUI drivers, performed 12 field sobriety tests and impounded five vehicles during the operation.

More than 80 people were cited Friday on suspicion of talking or texting on hand-held cell phones while driving in South Glendale’s rush hour traffic, police said. Glendale police issued citations to 77 drivers who were allegedly talking on their cell phones while behind the wheel, Sgt. Dennis Smith said. Another six motorists got tickets for allegedly texting while driving, he added. “Most people do recognize that it is wrong,” Smith said. Friday’s sting was the first grant-funded operation to be conducted during rush hour traffic, he said.

Kudos to the Glendale Police Department for their recent “sting” operation (“Crack-down hits distracted drivers,” March 8). I don't know whether it's just plain stupidity or arrogance in the minds of these people who drive around with a cellphone in their ears, but whatever, I'm really pleased to read about such crackdowns and would like to see more. Gary Mercer Glendale What’s diversity got to do with it? I read with interest your article recently on the problems Glendale Community College is having from the officials who are investigating their accreditation with the Western Assn.

From a dust up over a giant bunny pedestrian decoy, to revelations that an affordable housing developer under investigation for fraud funneled thousands of campaign contributions to City Council members, the news cycle was all over the map in 2010. Even a chicken that set up shop at a busy intersection at Glendale Community College got its 15 minutes of fame. Let's not forget the UCLA dropout who caused a national media sensation when she decided to run away instead of telling her Glendale family that she'd been faking her college career.

CITY HALL — Less than halfway through the current fiscal year, city officials are bracing for yet another multimillion-dollar budget shortfall next year as the tab for employee pensions skyrockets and revenues remain in the can. Final numbers for last fiscal year show revenues to the General Fund — sales and property tax returns, as well as construction-related permits and other fees — down several million from what was expected....

LOS ANGELES — Police efforts earlier this month to go after motorists talking or texting on hand-held cell phones yielded 714 citations in Los Angeles County, officials said Thursday. Authorities made the announcement during a safe-driving promotional event that featured an obstacle course at Dodger Stadium. California Highway Patrol stations throughout the county cited 494 drivers on Oct. 5 for various distracted-driving violations, including texting and talking while driving, Southern Division Chief Steve Beeuwsaert.

Regarding Maria Smart's Aug. 9 letter, "Drivers must be slowed," we should all be saddened by the actions of a reckless driver who struck and injured her mother on Glendale roads. However, apparently, Smart did not actually read the two articles in the Glendale News-Press that she sites as she criticizes Councilman John Drayman in her anger at the driver who struck her mother. In the first article, Drayman stated that police resources should be placed out in the community busting speeders and reckless drivers rather than dressing police personnel in rabbit costumes ("Sting like a bunny, April 1)

When I was a boy, I was always the dirtiest kid on a camping trip. I was the one that searched through the forest for scraps of wood and pinecones to feed the campfire. I then spent the rest of the evening making sure the fire stayed lit. I was also the one that the smoke gravitated to no matter where I sat. My friend Eric calls this "riding the dragon," and that's the person you want to sit farthest from. Maybe this is why the family gave me a backyard fire pit for Father's Day. Or, maybe my wife was taking notes every time she noticed me coveting our neighbor's fire pit whenever they have us over for cocktails.