West Hollywood

The parents of an autistic teen who left Bob Hope Airport on Wednesday and was found hours later in West Hollywood did not pay the airline for an attending escort, an aviation source said - allowing the boy to escape the notice of officials until he was long gone. Cameron James Smith was scheduled to fly to a specialized school in Salt Lake City. When he was found seven hours later, he told police he was running away because he did not want to return to the school. Cameron was spotted a little after 5:30 p.m. by two people in the heart of West Hollywood.

GLENDALE — The aging Department of Motor Vehicles on Glenoaks Boulevard is about to get some work done under its hood — a major renovation that will close the branch for more than two months, officials said. Starting Aug. 20, the branch at 1335 W. Glenoaks Blvd. in Glendale will be closed through October as crews install a new heating and air conditioning unit, flooring, furniture, paint, signs, and wire and fencing upgrades, DMV spokesman Armando Botello said. The branch's 51 employees will be reassigned to nearby DMV offices to help with increased customer traffic, he said.

Paul M. Anderson GLENDALE -- Two Russian nationals accused of robbing and stabbing a Glendale man were ordered held without bond when they appeared in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles Wednesday. The FBI and Los Angeles police arrested Alexander Zinchenko, 31, and Tairov Dzamshit, 45, of West Hollywood Monday morning. They are accused of taking part in two carjackings of a Glendale man, the U.S. District Attorney's office announced Wednesday. The Glendale man was stabbed several times Sept.

Joyce Rudolph A Noise Within has dinner show PASADENA -- A Noise Within is celebrating 10 years of performing classical theater with a Mexican Fiesta Dinner and show June 9 at the historic Pasadena estate El Roble. Dinner begins at 7:30 p.m., followed by the performance at 8:30. Dress is California casual. The show is a retrospective of the company's first decade of classical repertoire, from "Hamlet" to "Life is a Dream." El Roble is at 1412 N. Grand Ave. in Pasadena.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- The Glendale Redevelopment Agency Tuesday issued $350,000 in bonds to help finish paying for the development of a $2.65-million 24-unit family housing unit. The bonds will help the developer of the project, West Hollywood Community Housing Corp., secure additional tax credits and more investor equity to cover a gap in the construction costs. In 1997, the City Council approved up to $2.5 million in tax-exempt bonds be issued to the Bank of America Community Development Bank.

Bestselling author of "I'm With The Band" Pamela Des Barres celebrates her new book with a signing in LA. "Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies" shares the salacious stories of 24 rock muses and their tantalizing adventures backstage and in bed with some of the biggest names in rock 'n roll history including Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa and Kurt Cobain. The book signing is on Thursday, July 19, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd.

Karen S. Kim NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- Glendale Community College instructor Jane Bade will will get her share of the limelight today as she's featured on House and Garden Television, or HGTV. The television show "Designer's Challenge" features three designers who compete to design a proposed project. Today in the show, Bade will transform a living and dining room and kitchen for a West Hollywood condominium. The show airs at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. Bade has taught Decorating Like a Pro, a GCC community services education program, for 15 years.

JOYCE RUDOLPH The Glendale Youth Orchestra will have auditions for musicians in the sixth to the 12th grades on Sept. 7, 11, 14 and 18. Auditions are five minutes long and consist of performing one solo piece, the playing of major and minor scales, sight reading and the performance of short orchestral excerpts. Applications and orchestral excerpts may be picked up at Thomas Metzler Violin Shop in Glendale at 246-0278 and Grayson's Tune Town in Montrose at 249-0993.

WEST HOLLYWOOD ? It's true that the Glendale Adventist Academy boys' volleyball team hadn't made the playoffs in six years. The Cougars weren't fazed by their lack of experience during Friday's CIF Southern Section Division V first-round playoff match against the Pacific Hills School. However, what did faze the locals was Pacific Hills' height advantage, as the Bruins earned a 25-12, 25-17, 25-15 victory at Pan Pacific Park. In every game, the Bruins built early leads, but the Cougars were stubborn.

Glendale Police asked for the public's help Tuesday in finding a transient man suspected of molesting a 9-year-old boy. Cesar Esquivel, 23, is wanted on a $400,000 warrant in connection with the case, which allegedly occurred over a one-year period beginning in October 2002, Glendale Police spokesman Sgt. Kirk Palmer said. Palmer declined to specify the relationship between Esquivel and the boy or where the alleged incidents occurred, to protect the boy's identity.

The parents of an autistic teen who left Bob Hope Airport on Wednesday and was found hours later in West Hollywood did not pay the airline for an attending escort, an aviation source said - allowing the boy to escape the notice of officials until he was long gone. Cameron James Smith was scheduled to fly to a specialized school in Salt Lake City. When he was found seven hours later, he told police he was running away because he did not want to return to the school. Cameron was spotted a little after 5:30 p.m. by two people in the heart of West Hollywood.

GLENDALE — The aging Department of Motor Vehicles on Glenoaks Boulevard is about to get some work done under its hood — a major renovation that will close the branch for more than two months, officials said. Starting Aug. 20, the branch at 1335 W. Glenoaks Blvd. in Glendale will be closed through October as crews install a new heating and air conditioning unit, flooring, furniture, paint, signs, and wire and fencing upgrades, DMV spokesman Armando Botello said. The branch's 51 employees will be reassigned to nearby DMV offices to help with increased customer traffic, he said.

G lendale filmmaker Carly Lyn chose the unlikely pairing of genres — Western and science fiction — in her new film "A Foundling." Lyn, 25, wrote and directed the film receiving its premiere at the Dances with Films festival next week in West Hollywood. Another twist was the casting of two Asian actresses in the lead roles. It was all these elements that piqued the interest of film festival producers, said Leslee Scallon, co-founder of the festival. "We are looking for films as interesting for as many minutes as they are on the screen," she said.

DOWNTOWN — A plan to allow billboard-sized advertisements on the Americana at Brand and Glendale Galleria will go before the Redevelopment Agency today, even as the Americana continues to illegally display a set of large, temporary advertisements, officials said Monday. The shopping centers have applied for zoning changes to gain permission to install the set of ad spaces, but any city concessions for the signs would not affect the Americana’s temporary advertisements for its Excelsior condominiums, for which the mall never applied for an exemption, officials said.

It was the sort of luncheon group that makes every historian and journalist squirm with the regret of being unable to transform into that proverbial fly on the wall. It was a unique moment in the White House when then-President George W. Bush hosted President-Elect Barack Obama, and former Presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter for lunch and private discussions on such topics as national security to raising children in the public eye. Fortunately, parents lack that fly on the wall ability as well, otherwise my cousins and I seated around a table at Barney’s Beanery in Burbank on a recent Saturday night might have eaten in silence.

Like cupid with his bow and arrow, the owner of a two-year-old speed-dating company hopes to hit a bull’s-eye with a British approach to introducing singles in the Glendale area. Anoush Lauren, owner of Beverly Hills-based SpeedLA Dating, introduced her unique first-date experience to Glendale on Tuesday night at Katsuya in the Americana at Brand. Lauren started the business in London, where she was born and raised. “When I moved here two years ago, I hired all English girls to help me,” she said.

Bestselling author of "I'm With The Band" Pamela Des Barres celebrates her new book with a signing in LA. "Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies" shares the salacious stories of 24 rock muses and their tantalizing adventures backstage and in bed with some of the biggest names in rock 'n roll history including Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa and Kurt Cobain. The book signing is on Thursday, July 19, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd.

We are constantly amazed by the brazen hypocrisy of those self-styled "Christians" who choose to ignore the teachings of their own Christ, instead justifying their personal prejudices with selective excerpts from every book of the Bible except the four Gospels. Jesus of Nazareth taught his followers to love one another, to feed the hungry, clothe the poor and nurse the sick. He taught them to pray privately, not to make a self-aggrandizing show of their faith. He condemned no one but the rich, the hypocritical and religious profiteers.

WEST HOLLYWOOD ? It's true that the Glendale Adventist Academy boys' volleyball team hadn't made the playoffs in six years. The Cougars weren't fazed by their lack of experience during Friday's CIF Southern Section Division V first-round playoff match against the Pacific Hills School. However, what did faze the locals was Pacific Hills' height advantage, as the Bruins earned a 25-12, 25-17, 25-15 victory at Pan Pacific Park. In every game, the Bruins built early leads, but the Cougars were stubborn.

A donation by area Vons stores will help to fund cancer awareness programs at Glendale Adventist Medical Center. "We are just thrilled to receive this wonderful donation from Vons," said Melina Thorpe. "This gift is very much appreciated." Vons was scheduled to present a check to the hospital at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. Employees at Vons stores in District 47 which includes locations in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Pasadena, Burbank, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, conducted a variety of fund-raisers to bring in more than $82,000 for Glendale Adventist Medical Center.