Tragedy

Vanguard Repertory Company has kicked off La Cañada Flintridge Shakespeare Festival’s summer season with “Tragic Women” and “After the Autumn,” a duet of powerfully moving, world-premiere pieces. Inspired by some of the Bard’s best known tragedies, these one-acts are excellently paired given their unconventional styles and poignant performances. In “Tragic Women,” a trio of Shakespeare’s female characters sentenced to Purgatory must face the effects of their individual demons.

It's strange how fiction and reality can often cross paths. In my last blog post, I talked about the classic novel “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” a fictional story set in Brooklyn over 100 years ago about the struggles of an impoverished immigrant family to make a life in the U.S. This week, the real Brooklyn was brought to the forefront of the news surrounding the true story of the tragic killing of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky.  Leiby was...

A recent tragedy has become a rallying point for Glendale residents to come together and continue efforts for change and accountability that have become the hallmarks of effective Glendale city development. In doing so, moreover, civic leaders, law enforcement and other agencies are trying to bring some solace and closure to the Sandoval family and their friends who suffered the great loss of Elizabeth Sandoval ? who was struck down in her prime last week by the driver of a speeding car. Sadly, this same tragedy that has brought together our residents, law enforcement and civic leaders has also become a magnet for certain elements in our community to shamefully pursue their own personal and political interests in the horrific aftermath of this communal tragedy.

GRANT GORDON "Only the good die young." -- Billy Joel I didn't know La Crescenta's Christopher Oliver or Granada Hills' Nicholas Roth. I don't know Glendale's Michael Lee. Therefore, maybe I shouldn't be writing about them or the collision that took Oliver and Roth's lives and still jeopardizes Lee's. Yet I feel moved to write about what happened last Friday night, not by an editor or any sense of duty, but by myself. You walk on eggshells when speaking or writing of death.

Alina Ana Azizian In this melting pot known as the United States of America, we are always eager to celebrate the victories of our neighbors and the memories of international icons. Take, for example, the widely celebrated Cinco de Mayo festivities, marking the victory of the Mexican Army against Spain, or the popular St. Patrick's Day festivities in honor of the 5th century patron saint of Ireland. Regardless of race, creed or religion, people are more than willing to pick up a beer and toast to the fallen heroes of the past.

A recent tragedy has become a rallying point for Glendale residents to come together and continue efforts for change and accountability that have become the hallmarks of effective Glendale city development. In doing so, moreover, civic leaders, law enforcement and other agencies are trying to bring some solace and closure to the Sandoval family and their friends who suffered the great loss of Elizabeth Sandoval — who was struck down in her prime last week by the driver of a speeding car. Sadly, this same tragedy that has brought together our residents, law enforcement and civic leaders has also become a magnet for certain elements in our community to shamefully pursue their own personal and political interests in the horrific aftermath of this communal tragedy.

The devastation experienced on the campus of Virginia Tech this week has sent a shock wave across the nation that has prompted comment from local and state representatives. "We are all deeply saddened by the horrific loss of life by the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech," said Sen. Jack Scott in a prepared statement issued Monday afternoon. "It is a call to action for us to review our own procedures to ensure the safety of our public schools and college campuses. "We have enacted many laws to restrict weapons on campus, but we must also ensure that our school and college personnel have security plans and trained personnel ready to respond when these senseless acts of violence take place.

Michael J. Arvizu Alexis Ledoux says the thing she will remember most about her best friend Angelina Posca is her face. She had a great personality. She liked to play games. She was a ballroom dancer. But most of all, she was a best friend. “I am going to miss her very much,” Alexis said, sobbing. “She was very nice and kind to everyone. We were ballroom dancers. We were actors.” Alexis’ mother, Gloria, adds that her daughter’s school had just won first place in a dancing competition.

Recent disasters like Hurricane Ike, the earthquakes in China and Taiwan, and even the recent Metrolink accident can overwhelm people with emotions like fear, anger, frustration and even dread. What do the Scriptiures tell us of coping with the aftermath of these disasters, and how can we become better people as a result? Disasters, be they natural or human caused, are some of the most defining moments in human existence. How we respond in the face of tragedy can often speak volumes about the character of a certain person, community or nation.

Flag critics quickly become flag wavers I would like to thank the gentleman who owns the Shell Station on Pacific Avenue for the wonderful display of flags that he has. People say he uses the flags to draw attention to his business, but I don't agree. I have passed that station for years, stopping for gas only once or twice. The flags are a beautiful sight. When the tragedy in New York City happened, how many Americans owned a flag? I say not many.

Leticia Avila's battle with cancer lasted three years. She died just days before Christmas at age 53, leaving behind two sons and two daughters, including her youngest, Maria Cruz Castaneda Avila. At 10 years old, the fifth-grader at Horace Mann Elementary - who goes by Mari - must now face a future without her parents, having lost her father five years ago to liver complications. But that doesn't mean the girl whom teachers describe as gifted, smart and driven will be alone. A teacher at Horace Mann Elementary has started a districtwide campaign to establish a college fund for Mari - who reads at the sixth-grade level - so her dreams of attending USC don't fade.

On Dec.14, I was sitting in a session of the Los Angeles City Council for a pending council matter when a news flash came across my iPhone on the Newtown, Conn. school shooting. My heart sank and a shiver went through my body like it did for so many other people across our country. The eerie coincidence for me was that later that afternoon, employees at Southern California Edison, where I work, were observing a moment of silence for the colleagues we lost almost exactly a year ago when an employee committed the same kind of rampage in the workplace.

Like a punch to the gut, the reaction to the shooting massacre of 20 elementary school children in Newtown, Conn., was wrenching. Those were our daughters, sons, nephews, cousins. If it could happen there, it could happen here. And like all great national tragedies, we all took part in the process of healing and support. In Burbank, about 150 elementary school students, teachers, elected officials and residents gathered at Jefferson Elementary School to honor those who lost their lives that day at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE - - The Glendale YMCA Quarterback Club, in its 70th year, meets Tuesdays at the Elk's Lodge. The following are odds and ends from the first meeting of the year. FORMER KNIGHT ADDRESS CLUB During the last several years, Kevin Danni has done his share of public-speaking engagements concerning the tragic events that unfolded on Sept. 11, 2001, when the United States was attacked in four separate terrorist incidents. Danni, a former St. Francis High quarterback, had graduated from Occidental College the previous spring and accepted a job with Morgan Stanley, a financial service provider.

It was just before 2:30 in the afternoon of Sunday Dec. 7, 1941 when a New York radio station interrupted the broadcast of the New York Giants football game with a shocking news bulletin: The Japanese had staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Naval base in Hawaii. Broadcast of the game quickly resumed after the brief report. It was the same across America as NBC, CBS and other radio networks broke into Sammy Kaye's Sunday Serenade, a performance of the “Inspector General,” an intellectual discussion of Canada's role in the war in Europe - and then returned to normal programming.

It's strange how fiction and reality can often cross paths. In my last blog post, I talked about the classic novel “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” a fictional story set in Brooklyn over 100 years ago about the struggles of an impoverished immigrant family to make a life in the U.S. This week, the real Brooklyn was brought to the forefront of the news surrounding the true story of the tragic killing of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky.  Leiby was...

Vanguard Repertory Company has kicked off La Cañada Flintridge Shakespeare Festival’s summer season with “Tragic Women” and “After the Autumn,” a duet of powerfully moving, world-premiere pieces. Inspired by some of the Bard’s best known tragedies, these one-acts are excellently paired given their unconventional styles and poignant performances. In “Tragic Women,” a trio of Shakespeare’s female characters sentenced to Purgatory must face the effects of their individual demons.

GLENDALE — A bullet hole on the floor of a Glendale family’s Doran Street apartment is a small but vivid reminder of how narrowly they escaped tragedy Wednesday night. Anashe Torosian, 19, was lying on the living-room floor of her parent’s one-bedroom, second-floor apartment about 5:30 p.m. when she suddenly heard an explosion and sensed something fly past her face. When she looked down at the floor she saw a small object, so she picked it up. It was hot to the touch. Seconds later, her father, Soltan Torosian, walked into the apartment and she gave him the object — a stray bullet.

I was engaged in a very interesting discussion last night about the nature of compassion and its ability to positively shift the energetic force of our world. I, for one, believe our thoughts are extremely powerful — even more so when a group of people gathers a single collective thought in their mind, especially a positive one. This isn’t to say I believe thought alone does all the work. Positive thought or intent leads to positive action, which leads to positive change. So what’s with this week’s “new-age philosophical rant,” you ask?

GLENDALE — When George Pondella first heard the news that there had been a serious accident involving spectator fatalities at the California 200 off-road desert race in the Lucerne Valley on Saturday evening, his thoughts immediately went to the group of his loved ones that were lining his own race team's pit area miles away from where he and dozens of fellow racers were being held up at a checkpoint waiting for more information. "We had seven people who went up there to watch and take pictures and all I could think about were them," said Pondella, owner of Glendale-based Pondella Motorsports, whose own 800-horespower Duralast trophy truck was speeding along about 25 miles down the course from where a horrific scene of pandemonium was breaking out. "I had chills down my spine when I heard people were hurt and there was no way to radio out. " After an agonizing wait of about two hours, Pondella enlisted the assistance of a ham-radio operator to make contact with his pit and got confirmation no one in his party was among the eight killed and 10 more injured when the modified Ford Ranger pickup driven by Brett Sloppy of San Marcos careened out of control and off the race course and into a crowd of nearby onlookers.