Verdugo Mountains

LA CRESCENTA — A 40-acre parcel of undeveloped land abutting Crescenta Valley Park was left hanging Tuesday after no one bid on it at a public auction in Pomona. Newport Beach-based Surfside Funding Corp. sent the Mountain Oaks land to auction in an attempt to recoup a failed $4.39-million loan to developer M. Jorjezian Investments Inc. The British Columbia-based development firm incited heavy community protest in 2006 when it unveiled plans to build an Armenian high school and condominium village on part of the parcel, which is considered prime open space between Crescenta Valley Park and the Verdugo Mountains.

LA CRESCENTA — The fate of 40 undeveloped acres known as Mountain Oaks will be left to the highest bidder today as a finance company tries to recoup a failed $4.39-million loan to the property’s developer. The land became a flash point in the 2007 City Council election after the developer, British Columbia-based M. Jorjezian Investments Inc., unveiled plans to build an Armenian high school and condominium village on the parcel, which is considered to be prime hillside open space between Crescenta Valley Park and the Verdugo Mountains.

Gary Moskowitz NORTHWEST DISTRICT -- Burbank and Glendale residents will have an opportunity to discover their "other backyard" in the Verdugo Mountains next week. The Verdugo Mountains community hike will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and will take off from three different starting points. Interested hikers can begin at La Tuna Canyon, at the intersection of La Tuna Canyon Road and the Foothill (210) Freeway; the Stough Canyon Nature Center, 2300 Walnut Ave. in Burbank; or Brand Park, 1601 W. Mountain St. in Glendale.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- The battle for Oakmont has only just begun. At least that's the message members of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club will get in the coming weeks. Sierra Club meetings are set for tonight in Glendale and Thursday in Tujunga. Letters have gone out to more than 3,000 members in the region urging them to attend. Leaders of the club, which includes members in Glendale and surrounding hillside communities, said they are preparing to fight the Oakmont View V development and other future projects in the Verdugo Mountains.

Tim Willert GLENDALE CITY HALL -- Charter Communications Channel 6 will televise Wednesday night's public hearing on the proposed Oakmont View V project beginning at 6 p.m. The meeting will be at Glendale Civic Auditorium, 1401 N. Verdugo Road. At the special meeting, the Planning Commission will discuss the merits of the proposed development in the Verdugo Mountains and decide whether to recommend the project to the City Council. Wednesday's hearing will be replayed three times: at 6 a.m. Friday; following the City Council replay Friday; and 10 a.m Sunday.

Two hikers were rescued by helicopter Sunday night after reporting they got lost while trekking the Verdugo Mountains, police said. They called emergency dispatchers for help, but the calls kept disconnecting, police said. A helicopter was dispatched about 11 p.m. to the area to look for the hikers, who were severely dehydrated. The helicopter crew spotted a glow from a flashlight at 3,000 feet and flew to the mountain ridge, where they found the hikers, police said.

Glendale land bid uncertain GLENDALE --Although the city was expected to bid on a 20-acre piece of undeveloped land at the foot of the Verdugo mountains Sunday, there is no word yet on whether a bid was made. "It was a closed session item, and until it goes back to another closed session, there will be no information released at this time," said Vicki Gardner, Glendale's assistant public information officer. The City Council is trying to maintain its commitment to buy open land on hillsides to keep large housing developments out, as it did in 2002, when the city bought a 250-acre plot being proposed for the Oakmont View V development.

GLENDALE — The city of Los Angeles purchased 80 acres of park land in the Verdugo Mountains above Burbank from a private developer, further expanding the fourth-largest wildlife refuge in the San Fernando Valley. Verdugo Mountain Park, a more than 500-acre refuge located northeast of the Bob Hope Airport, provides a dense haven of brush and chaparral plants for everything from lizards to snakes to bobcats and mountain lions, said John Kirk Mukri, general manager of Los Angeles' Department of Recreation and Parks.

Crews rescue two hikers in Verdugos Rescue crews saved two hikers Sunday afternoon after they called for help because one was injured on a mountain, fire officials said. One of the two hikers called emergency officials at 2:50 p.m. Sunday from his cell phone after he was injured while climbing in the Verdugo Mountains near Brand Park, said Capt. Chris Guerrero of the Glendale Fire Department. The hikers needed help off the mountain, so a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department helicopter rescued them, he said.

As Liliana Hernandez dashes over trails in the Verdugo Mountains 10k race on Sunday, she will hear the voice of her murdered coach saying, "just one more hill. " Hernandez's coach, Gretchen Lohr Corrales, was gunned down November 2012 in downtown Los Angeles. Not only was she a mentor, she was also Hernandez's friend and running partner. They were the top female finishers in last May's race, which draws hundreds of runners from throughout Southern California. "I think she is going to be there in spirit," Hernandez said.

As Liliana Hernandez dashes over trails in the Verdugo Mountains 10k race on Sunday, she will hear the voice of her murdered coach saying, "just one more hill. " Hernandez's coach, Gretchen Lohr Corrales, was gunned down November 2012 in downtown Los Angeles. Not only was she a mentor, she was also Hernandez's friend and running partner. They were the top female finishers in last May's race, which draws hundreds of runners from throughout Southern California. "I think she is going to be there in spirit," Hernandez said.

John Keoshkarian got more than he bargained for Sunday evening while biking down the Verdugo Mountains: a big black bear in his path. Thing is, since the bear was standing on a blind corner, neither of them realized they'd crossed paths until after it happened and Keoshkarian skidded to a stop. When they both turned to look back, the bear then dashed into the brush and got across the Wildwood Canyon area in Burbank before Keoshkarian managed to snap a photo. Keoshkarian, who said he's biked down the fire access road from Mt. La Tuna about four days a week for eight years, described the bear as larger than a trash dumpster.

Overnight campgrounds nestled among Glendale's 5,000-plus acres of open space are on the drawing board as city parks officials launch two public input meetings next week. Jeff Weinstein, the city's trails and open-space specialist, said his staff hopes to create two campgrounds in the Verdugo Mountains, Deukmejian Wilderness Park or the San Rafael Hills. The Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and local church groups would be the likely users of the reservation-only sites, he said. "Rather than driving hundreds of miles to a state park or forest, we want to give people a first taste of outdoor life," Weinstein said.

Two hikers were rescued by helicopter Sunday night after reporting they got lost while trekking the Verdugo Mountains, police said. They called emergency dispatchers for help, but the calls kept disconnecting, police said. A helicopter was dispatched about 11 p.m. to the area to look for the hikers, who were severely dehydrated. The helicopter crew spotted a glow from a flashlight at 3,000 feet and flew to the mountain ridge, where they found the hikers, police said.

Thanks to the help of four Glendale volunteers, a group of seedlings in the Verdugo Mountains have a better chance to survive. Part-time naturalist Dave Moreno and three Glendale residents carried 5-gallon water bottles up and down a mountain for nearly three hours Saturday morning as a part of a program to maintain the trees that were planted after a fire in 2005. The bimonthly tree maintenance, spearheaded by Moreno, has been happening for three years now. But the project, he says, is an extension of a more than 50-year-old experiment to introduce nonnative but noninvasive tree species to these mountains.

GLENDALE — Eight hikers were rescued Saturday from hiking trails above Brand Park after they became dehydrated and exhausted from heat during their trek, fire officials said. Glendale firefighters searched the Verdugo mountainside for the hikers, who were members of a Los Angeles-based youth group, after receiving their cell-phone calls about 3:12 p.m. Saturday, Capt. Vincent Rifino said. “Definitely, heat was a factor,” he said. Temperatures reached 100 degrees Saturday afternoon, overwhelming the hikers on the trail, Rifino said.

CITY HALL Fiscal conservatives seized upon the dread of tax day Wednesday to protest what they characterized as the overreaching bailout of corporations and the propensity of lawmakers to balance budget gaps on the backs of taxpayers. More than 300 protesters amassed on the steps of Glendale City Hall as part of a nationwide Boston Tea Party-styled campaign to vent over the billions in federal aid spent to prop up corporate giants like AIG and General Motors. Across California, frustrations also extended to the slate of upcoming state ballot propositions hashed out as a linchpin in a deal to close a $42-billion budget gap. On May 19, California voters will decide the fate of Propositions 1A through 1F, which were hammered out between state lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as part of an effort to break a three-month budget stalemate.

Working at the newspaper and coming off La Cañada’s auto transporter disaster story last week, I was pretty darned pooped. The staff here at the Valley Suns worked tirelessly to bring the story to our readers quickly, adding information to the websites as it became available. La Cañada Valley Sun in particular kept our reporters’ noses to the grindstone as each was assigned a component to follow and report. I have to say “kudos” to our staff. They did a stellar job. In this week’s edition of the Crescenta Valley Sun, on Page 3, you’ll find an overview of the newly-installed signs along the ’Crest to warn drivers of the dangers of traveling the twisty, steep highway.

Crews rescue two hikers in Verdugos Rescue crews saved two hikers Sunday afternoon after they called for help because one was injured on a mountain, fire officials said. One of the two hikers called emergency officials at 2:50 p.m. Sunday from his cell phone after he was injured while climbing in the Verdugo Mountains near Brand Park, said Capt. Chris Guerrero of the Glendale Fire Department. The hikers needed help off the mountain, so a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department helicopter rescued them, he said.

It was the greening of the Verdugos on Jan. 10 when more than 30 volunteers from the Crescenta Valley first caravaned, then hiked into the experimental forest in the Verdugo Mountains. The trek was one of several organized by the city of Glendale’s Parks and Recreation Department as part of an ongoing effort to replant the nearly three-quarters of the forest damaged by past fires. Ranger Dave Marino and Glendale’s Trail Supervisor Jeff Weinstein organized the excursion which began at the intersection of the Hostetter Fire Road and La Tuna Canyon.