BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS

Author to speak about Africa on TV show

Host Larry Zarian will bring on author Raymond Kupelian to discuss his life and experiences in West Africa that laid the groundwork for his book “African Symphony.”

The book is a compilation of 18 short stories inspired by his 20 years living in Africa. It is Kupelian’s second book.

Zarian will explore Kupelian’s time in Africa, the majority of which was spent in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where he had his own auto repair shop — or what he called a “window into humanity” that provided fodder for many of his stories.

Upon immigrating to Glendale in 1979, Kupelian started another auto repair shop on Garfield Avenue.

The live television show airs at 7 p.m. Thursday on Channel 26. The call-in number is (818) 547-3668.

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Community group to discuss development

The Crescenta Valley Community Association will meet at 7 tonight at the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station at 4554 N. Briggs Ave., La Crescenta.

Comprising mostly activists from La Crescenta, Sunland-Tujunga, Montrose, Glendale and La Cañada-Flintridge, the group lends its collective focus on land-use issues that affect the whole valley.

Topics of discussion tonight are slated to include the Verdugo Hills Golf Course, the La Crescenta — formerly MayLane — Motel, a planned retail project at the corner of Foothill Boulevard and Sunset Avenue and a condominium project proposed for Park Place in Montrose.