La Cañada History: Viper collides with big rig, shuts down 210 Freeway for 8 hours

Ten Years Ago

A La Cañada man who had just driven onto the westbound Foothill (210) Freeway at Berkshire Avenue lost control of his Dodge Viper and struck the center of a passing big rig truck twice. The truck subsequently jackknifed and slid across all lanes of traffic, leading to the shutdown of the westbound side for a full eight hours. The Viper’s driver and his sole passenger, his 11-year-old son, got out of their car after the final impact just in time to escape flames when it caught fire. No serious injuries were reported in the incident.

Twenty Years Ago

A grand reopening event was held at the La Cañada Flintridge Public Library on Oakwood Avenue, which had been closed temporarily for an extensive refurbishing project.

Thirty Years Ago

It was reported that former La Cañada resident Anthony Frank had been named postmaster general of the U.S. While living on Chevy Chase Drive here in the 1960s and ’70s, Frank was head of Citizens Savings and Loan Assn. He was postmaster general from March 1988 to March 1992, then, from April 1992 until June of 1993 he served as the founding chairman of Independent Bancorp of Arizona.

Forty Years Ago

The La Cañada Flintridge Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit (with 32 conditions attached to it) allowing Muller Chevrolet to build a new car dealership on a 4 ½-acre site on Verdugo Boulevard beneath the transitions of the Foothill (210) and Glendale (2) freeways.

Fifty Years Ago

La Cañada voters in the spring of 1968 passed a $4.5-million bond measure, the highest one to have been submitted since the La Cañada Unified School District was formed in 1961. The funds were said to be needed to alleviate student population growth, with just over $2.7 million earmarked for improvements to La Cañada High School, then less than five years old.

Sixty Years Ago

Construction of a $155,000 concrete church school complex was soon to begin the La Cañada Presbyterian Church campus. It was the most ambitious project since the 1956 completion of the church’s 600-seat sanctuary two years earlier.

Compiled from the Valley Sun archives by Carol Cormaci.