Women

Glendale Memorial Hospital awarded $118,263 to nine local nonprofits on Thursday. The recipients of this year's grants were the Armenian Relief Society, Ascencia, Glendale's Commission on the Status of Women, the Corporation for Supportive Housing, the Glendale Assn. for the Retarded, the Glendale Community Free Health Clinic, Glendale Healthy Kids, the Glendale Salvation Army and the YWCA of Glendale. The money, awarded through the hospital's Community Grants Program, is provided by Glendale Memorial's parent company, Dignity Health.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — They described it as one of the best trips of their lives. It was memorable. It was thrilling. It was also devastating. Burbank High graduate Christine Kepenekian and Arpine Amirkanyan — who have each played for the Homenetmen Glendale Ararat Women's Basketball team — had what seemed like a perfect trip to Armenia. They were chosen to play for Armenia's women's national team and led their team to one victory after another in the European Championship Women Division C Tournament in Yerevan.

After she stepped on to the all-weather track Saturday, Grace Zamudio realized the weather conditions would be conducive while looking to further elevate her decorated racing career. There was less wind and more heat around Antelope Valley College for the Southern California Championships, paving the way for the Glendale Community College women's track and field star to gobble up some more individual accolades while also looking to punch her ticket to the California Community College Track and Field Championships.

A 15-year-old former Glendale High School student has been arrested in connection with groping three students and two women near the campus, police said this week. The boy, whose name wasn't released because he's a minor, was expelled from the high school following the sexual battery reports, but he is being home-schooled, said Steven Frasher, spokesman for Glendale Unified School District. The boy touched three girls at the high school and two women in separate incidents that occurred in neighborhoods near the campus, Glendale Police Sgt. Harout Bouzikian said.

GLENDALE — Though she's only been the head coach of the Glendale Community College women's basketball program for four months, Carrie Miller isn't going to use the lack of time in the position as a crutch. Known for having a sharp eye at evaluating talent, Miller didn't have the opportunities that her counterparts had in exploring the recruiting trail this past summer in an attempt to find players who might be able to grasp her strategies. That doesn't mean the current cast of players at Glendale college doesn't fit the bill, though.

Karen S. Kim Gregg's Artistic Homes might have lost its chance to develop the Oakmont View V hillside property, but over the past 70 years, the Gregg family has built more than its fair share of Glendale. More than 3,000 homes in the city have been developed by the Greggs since Alice Lee Gregg started the business in 1934. Gregg homes are mainly in northwest and northeast Glendale and La Crescenta. "In those areas, it's hard to drive around without seeing one of our homes," Vice President Bob Gregg said.

GLENDALE — One starter — Zareh Zargaryan — just completed his collegiate career at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Another starter — Narbeh Ebrahimian — was the starting point guard for Glendale Community College this past season. A third presumed starter — Zareh Avedian — finished his playing career at Cal Lutheran in 2004, but has competed in international tournaments and can still dominate games. The trio of stars on the Glendale men's basketball team will join locals who have shined in the area to represent their city and the Homenetmen Ararat Chapter in the fifth annual Pan-Armenian Games in Yerevan, Armenia.

Having already captured three Western State Conference and Southern California championships, Grace Zamudio would next like to make a name for herself statewide. The Glendale Community College standout distance runner will seek to complete the task when she takes to the track Friday and Saturday at the California Community College Athletic Assn. Track and Field State Championships at College of San Mateo. The sophomore will look to close out her fabulous career at Glendale by attempting to win the 10,000-meter race Friday and the 5,000 and 1,500 on Saturday.

A former assistant volleyball coach is scheduled to appear in court next week to face charges that he used a cellphone to take photos up a woman's skirt at the Glendale Galleria, police said. John Puncel, 50, of Sylmar, turned himself in to Glendale police on Oct. 15 after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with the Jan. 30 incident, Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. Puncel faces one felony count of possessing child pornography, three misdemeanor counts related to the skirt incident as well as a misdemeanor count of battery on a Glendale police officer, according to a Los Angeles County Superior Court complaint.

GLENDALE — In the Glendale Police Department community room tonight, fists will fly, elbows will drop and women will get tough, all under the tutelage of a self-defense trainer who specializes in teaching women. It’s the first in a monthlong series of events coordinated by a collective of Glendale nonprofits and city agencies who are looking to promote women’s issues during National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In the coming weeks, the public will be invited to a host of awareness-raising community events, including the traditional Take Back the Night solidarity march — but tonight it starts with physical defense, said Kathie Mathis, director of the Glendale YWCA’s domestic violence program.