Medfly Blues: She was the only Mediterranean...
Medfly Blues: She was the only Mediterranean fruit fly found in the Los Angeles Basin since 1994. . . . But her timing was terrible. The fertile but unmated female landed in a Burbank trap the same day officials lifted California’s last medfly quarantine, declaring victory. New traps are quickly being set. . . . If another is caught, new eradication measures will be likely. (B1)
Valley on Wry: The Valley was mentioned along with some pretty big players on the world stage this week when news of its secession movement appeared in The Economist. . . . “To the secessionist ranks of the Quebecois and the Chechens, now add the Valley people,” the esteemed British news weekly observed. Apparently judging Valley separatists as determined as the others, it wryly predicted: “Even if this effort at secession fails, the Valley may make other attempts. If at first you don’t secede, try again.”
Good Citizens: Camp Max Strauss, the Jewish Big Brothers’ youth facility in Glendale, has a new a baseball field, basketball and volleyball courts and horseshoe arenas. . . . And what’s more, the 2.2-acre sports complex has “responsible” landscaping. The San Fernando Valley Chapter of the California Landscape Contractors Assn. coordinated the volunteer project. At Saturday’s ribbon cutting, chapter President George Pondella touted its drought-tolerant plants and water-budgeting sprinkler controllers.
80 and Counting: A grim milestone was reached in a takeover robbery at the Northridge Citibank Saturday. . . . It was the 80th bank robbery this year in the Valley. There were 45 Valley bank robberies in all of last year. (B3)
