Featured Articles from the La Canada Valley Sun

La Cañada Flintridge Feb. 19-26 Vandalism and petty theft: 5000 block of Louise Drive, between 9 a.m. Feb. 19 and 10 a.m. Feb. 26. Charter Communications reported that a cable equipment box had been broken into and batteries valued at $540 taken. Damage to the box totaled $130. Feb. 25 Burglary: 5400 block of Burning Tree Drive, between 7 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Cash totaling $4,000, a PlayStation 3 valued at $300, and a Coach leather purse valued at $300 were reported stolen.

On a recent Saturday night at Flintridge Proper, well-dressed couples and multi-generational families occasionally left their tables or bar stools to talk to people they knew across the room. The 3,000-square-foot La Cañada Flintridge bar and restaurant feels more like the inside of a neighbor's living room than a place that serves oysters and champagne cocktails. Two separate rooms evoke two different atmospheres - one a library with historic memorabilia and photos, the other a chic lounge with tall, custom-made chairs and bartenders in suspenders mixing up vintage cocktails.

Home buyers are skipping the traditional holiday hibernation in the residential real estate market, vying for available properties and pushing price increases in cities in and around Pasadena. The average purchase price of homes in Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge rose in November compared to a year earlier, continuing a trend that took hold in the second half of 2012. In La Cañada, the average price of a home sold in November was $1.66 million, according to statistics compiled by agent Keith Sorem at Keller Williams in Glendale.

Dancing is her passion. Kelly Phelan has been taking dance instruction classes ? from ballet and tap to jazz, Broadway and lyrical ? for just about half of her 8-year-old life. The youth said there?s nothing she?d rather do than tap her toes and move her feet. But, there?s more to this week?s Valley Sun All-Star than rhythm, tempo and talent. The Palm Crest Elementary School third-grader also has a passion for people and making life a little brighter for those less fortunate. Kelly?

With a road match, young team and first appearance in the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs, there were a number of excuses lined up for an underdog La Cañada High boys' volleyball team. The Spartans didn't need any of them, as they swept through Golden West League-champion Segerstrom of Santa Ana, 25-14, 25-23, 25-14, to net the program's first playoff victory since 2006 on Tuesday. “We were the underdog,” first-year La Cañada Coach Otto Lacayo said. “They were a good team, but we were going all out and playing aggressive.

LA CAÑADA - The La Cañada High boys' volleyball team was outplayed in the first two games of its CIF Southern Section Division III quarterfinal playoff match Saturday against Hemet and, as a result, found itself in a big hole. Despite losing the first two games, the Spartans played better in the third, but still found themselves facing match-point and trailing by four points. But the Spartans held on for dear life, scoring six straight points to win the third and force a fourth game.

LA CAÑADA - With some clever pitching and clutch two-out hitting, the La Cañada High baseball team earned something dear to them on Wednesday afternoon - a piece of the Rio Hondo League championship. It's something that's been a work in progress for the Spartans for nearly a decade. Anthony Mizrahi and Alexander Bang made sure they would deliver for the Spartans. Mizrahi hit a three-run home run in the first inning and Bang pitched five solid innings to lead host La Cañada to a 3-2 league victory against San Marino.

Brian Sullivan started his career at Descanso Gardens with no experience. But after 18 years at the La Cañada Flintridge facility, he is moving on to a larger garden in New York City. Sullivan will leave his role as Descanso's director of horticulture on Friday. On April 1, he will become vice president for landscape, gardens and outdoor collections at the New York Botanical Garden, a 250-acre site in the Bronx that was founded in 1891. After living in California for more than 20 years ago, Sullivan said he never expected to leave.

While La Cañada Flintridge officials consider a new citywide regulation for recreational vehicles, a hot spot has been on Tondolea Lane. Resident David Hotchkin and his neighbor Amir Hemmati have clashed over the presence of Hemmati's RV at his home, and Hotchkin has a history of raising the RV issue with city officials. In July 2011, Hotchkin appeared at a City Council meeting to appeal the city's approval of a project on Los Amigos Street that included space for RV parking.

Diners looking for a nice sit-down meal in La Cañada Flintridge have a couple of options, but local entrepreneur Brady Caverly is betting that they are ready for one more. Caverly is in the final stages of launching Flintridge Proper, an upscale restaurant in the space formerly occupied by Los Gringos Locos on Foothill Boulevard. The La Cañada resident hopes to open by February. Caverly cleared a final procedural hurdle last week when the city Planning Commission voted 4 to 0 and approved his request to extend alcohol-sales hours, allowing Flintridge Proper to offer drinks as early as 7 a.m. and as late as 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Farmer's markets are not just for farmers anymore. Many of them, such as the weekly La Cañada Flintridge Farmer's Market, play host to purveyors of artisanal and specialty foods . From canapes to coffee, you can fill your basket with every ingredient for dinner, not just for the salad. Things are buzzing right at opening time of 9 a.m. each Saturday at the LCFFM. The first thing you'll want to do is get a cup of coffee at Forge. They roast the beans in small batches every Friday night close by in the San Fernando Valley so you can be sure you're getting the absolute freshest coffee Saturday morning.

A recent Eagle Scout project in Hahamongna Watershed Park improved a stretch of local trail, but it also gave rise to a border dispute between Los Angeles County and the city of Pasadena. On Dec. 8 members of La Cañada Flintridge Troop 507, their friends and family came out to help Makoto Inouye, 17, finish the Eagle Scout project he had planned with the help of county Parks and Recreation Department employee Ron Beltran. The volunteers repainted the concrete pedestrian and equestrian tunnel that passes under Oak Grove Avenue, added 130 feet of split-log rail fencing, put down decomposed granite to improve the trail and added a new sign.

With USC's acquisition of Verdugo Hills Hospital finalized last week, doctors on staff at Verdugo Hills are saying the merger's impact likely will be a mixed bag. Dr. Ben Pradhan, an orthopedic surgeon, said USC's acquisition of the hospital will have upsides and downsides for healthcare in the foothills area. “It's win-lose if they improve the facilities, but they'll also send patients down [to Keck Medical Center] and do the cases at USC, as opposed to at a local hospital,” he said.