Los Angeles County

California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown Thursday declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles County due to a series of high-powered storms that battered the Southland this week and forced the evacuation of more than 500 homes in local foothill communities. Five days of inclement weather has snarled traffic, hampered air travel and forced the closure of schools. In the Station fire burn areas, public safety officials continued to sound alarm bells even as the fourth and most powerful rainstorm began to break Thursday night.

Attorneys representing five people who were charged with beating and torturing two loan modification agents asked for more time last week to reach a potential settlement. Attorney Stephen Wegman and three other defense attorneys asked Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Teri Schwartz Jan. 7 if the case could be extended to Jan. 27 to accommodate negotiations on a possible settlement with the district attorney. Schwartz sent the case back to Burbank Superior Court to be settled.

Troop participates in feed your neighbor day On the afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 5, members of La Cañada Cadette Girl Scout Troop No. 7721 joined with Girl Scouts throughout the Los Angeles County to collect donated food for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. The Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles hosts a Day of Service each December. The 2009 event, Feed Your Neighbor Day, was an effort to address the problem of more than one million people in Los Angeles County who are at risk of going hungry.

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Foothill communities are on high alert after a handful of brush fires broke out across Southern California this week. Hundreds of firefighters battled blazes in Camp Pendleton, Walnut and Camarillo, where 55 homes were placed under voluntary evacuation. Smoke from the Camarillo fire spread Tuesday to northern Los Angeles County, casting a brown hue over the San Fernando and Crescenta valleys and prompting alarmed calls from residents, officials said. "We got about 200 [calls]

GLENDALE — A push by Los Angeles County to free up access to landfills for mud excavated from foothill debris basins is not expected to impact the main site in Glendale, officials said. As mud dumping sites reach capacity, county officials have been scrambling to find places to store large amounts of dirt, especially with more rain on the horizon. The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday directed officials to seek temporary fee waivers from state and city agencies to dump the dirt at landfills in an effort to minimize costs.

HANSEN DAM PARK — An ongoing homicide investigation cast a cloud over a prayer gathering at the Station fire interagency command center here early Friday for two firefighters who died battling the massive blaze, which authorities now believe was deliberately set. After firefighters met for the brief service, Incident Commander Mike Dietrich briefed reporters on the status of the 148,258-acre blaze and denounced the deadly act of arson that...

Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighters from Station 82 in La Canada remembered 9/11 early Thursday morning. Stations from across Los Angeles County joined in an 'All Call' followed by a moment of silence. The All Call is a series of tones that is a tradition among fire departments to honor those who have given their life while on duty. "With   the All Call, it memorializes and pays tribute to what occurred [during 9/11] and those that lost their lives," said Station 82 Capt.

Recently the La Cañada Flintridge Trails Council earned recognition for completing a 12-mile loop of trails around the city. It is nice to see the volunteers rewarded for their arduous, decades-long effort. That's because La Cañadans and visitors are rewarded every day by the work the Trails Council, the city, county and state lawmakers put in to design, fund and build the loop trail. People on horseback, bike seat and running shoe move through the corridors - former City Councilman Greg Brown called them “linear parks” - that snake through the city and reach parks and hiking trails on the city's perimeter.

Several La Cañada High School special education students, upset that their teacher, Frank Pace, was being transferred to Foothills School, staged a walking protest on Foothill Boulevard.   Twenty Years Ago Foothills resident Mary Pinola was named a "Dodger Hero" by the Los Angeles Dodgers in pre-game ceremonies. She was given the honor for her volunteer activities, including serving on a committee that raised funds for stadium seating at CV High School and handling community relations for Verdugo Hills Hospital.

Foothill communities are on high alert after a handful of brush fires broke out across Southern California this week. Hundreds of firefighters battled blazes in Camp Pendleton, Walnut and Camarillo, where 55 homes were placed under voluntary evacuation. Smoke from the Camarillo fire spread Tuesday to northern Los Angeles County, casting a brown hue over the San Fernando and Crescenta valleys and prompting alarmed calls from residents, officials said. "We got about 200 [calls]

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge last week cited budget and staffing cuts before postponing the sentencing of a Glendale man who pleaded no contest to possessing child porn and an assault rifle. Appearing frustrated inside his courtroom, Superior Court Judge William Ryan said recent budget cuts to the court system were taking their toll on overworked staff, and said it was the reason he had only just received papers from the defense team for Walter Loustari. The paperwork had been filed at the downtown court Wednesday.

Fundraiser for local Scout to attend National Jamboree A percentage of sales at the Roundtable Pizza in La Cañada between 5 and 9 p.m. April 28 will assist Adam de Lucia of Boy Scout Troop # 509 in La Cañada to raise the necessary funds to attend the National Jamboree this summer in Washington, D.C., and Virginia. De Lucia is a Life Scout who has completed his Eagle project with the TreePeople, planting 28 35-gallon trees in a local park as part of the Million Trees for LA project.

A state appeals court on Tuesday reinstated murder charges against the driver who lost control of his big rig last year, killing two people in La Cañada Flintridge at the base of the steep Angeles Crest (2) Highway. In overturning a lower court decision to throw out the charges, a panel for the California 2nd District Court of Appeal on Tuesday ruled there was sufficient evidence to suggest that Marcos Barbosa Costa was aware of the “great risk” involved as he drove his five-axle truck down the Angeles Crest Highway on April 1 last year.

If you ask 13-year-old Lukas Bartke or 14-year-old Clayton Bonura, ?Star Wars? is the best song to play at the Verdugo Youth Musicians Assn. As the orchestra inches to the intro, and the conductor announces the song, all the kids let out a sigh of relief. In 2001, the association began providing classical music training from professional musicians to children of all ages who live in Glendale, Burbank, La Cañada, Pasadena and the San Fernando Valley. As part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Partnership Program, the collaboration gives children their first seat next to a monstrous cello or drum.

Local agencies have until April 7 to file for federal reimbursement of costs related to recent rain storms and subsequent debris flows, officials said Wednesday. The announcement came during an information session on Wednesday that was hosted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and attended by dozens of representatives from agencies across Los Angeles County. “I can’t emphasize enough,” said Michael Baldwin, a FEMA public assistance officer. “If for some reason this is not in by April 7, we don’t have any provisions to provide any kind of assistance.

Bill would require sale of houses in 710 path A state assemblyman last month introduced a bill that would require the sale of the hundreds of properties acquired by the state for a surface extension of the Long Beach (710) Freeway. Introduced by Assemblyman Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park), the bill would require the California Department of Transportation to sell the surplus properties and use the proceeds to fund local transportation projects within Los Angeles County. Officials estimate Caltrans owns more than 500 residential properties along the unconstructed portion of the 710 corridor, with some bought more than 50 years ago. If passed, the bill would essentially make the equally controversial proposed underground tunnel the only option for the proposed freeway extension.

A rainstorm is expected to soak the foothills starting Friday night, potentially forcing an additional round of evacuations in some La Cañada Flintridge neighborhoods. Residents in the Station fire burn areas have been issued evacuation orders six times since January. The most recent evacuation was last Friday, but only 20% of residents complied with the initial order to leave, said Nicole Nishida, spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The actual percentage may have been higher, as deputies generally do not make a second round of door-to-door calls, and do not know who may have left after an initial refusal to do so. The weekend rain did not trigger significant mudflows, and county crews resumed the ongoing cycle of excavating local debris basins.