818 Roundup: Murder sentence, Glendale veterans' housing project breaks ground, state superintendent of school visits to talk Common Core, state exams

Feb. 20, 2014 7 AM PT

Greetings, 818 readers! Today is Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014. Temperatures for today are expected to reach a high of 81 degrees and a low of 52.

Here are some of the top headlines in the area:

San Gabriel resident Jorge Villalobos, 47, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Glen Giles, a Burbank resident who was found dead on his neighbor’s porch on Feb. 26, 2008 with 32 stab wounds. Villalobos was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
The city of Glendale broke ground Wednesday on a new affordable housing complex catered to U.S. veterans. The $20.4 million project for low-income residents at 327-331 W. Salem St. is expected to be under construction for 15 to 18 months.
As Glendale’s development boom continues, the city’s councilmembers took the first step on Tuesday to review rezoning a small industrial area near the city’s border with Los Angeles to permit mixed-use residential development. City officials hope the proposed change will “create a small urban neighborhood,” according to a city report.
A Highland Park man was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly waived a 22 1/2-inch machete at motorists along San Fernando Road in Glendale.
State Supt. Tom Torlakson was in town on Wednesday at the home of Glendale Council PTA President Sandy Russell, where he fielded questions from about 10 local parents about the new Common Core State Standards and computerized state exams that students will begin taking next month.

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818 Roundup: Murder sentence, Glendale veterans’ housing project breaks ground, state superintendent of school visits to talk Common Core, state exams