La Cañada History: Alleged Mexican Mafia hit of motorcyclist shuts down 2 Freeway near 210

Ten Years Ago

Manuel Vincent Martin, a 30-year-old Venice man believed to be a member of the outlaw Mongols Motorcycle Club, was riding his motorcycle on the connector road between the 210 Freeway and the southbound 2 Freeway, when he was shot dead by an assailant at about 2 a.m. on Oct. 8, 2008. (Follow up: According to a 2014 news report, Richard Clayborne, 40, and Jose Gonzalez, 36, were convicted in March of that year for Martin’s murder and the attempted murder of his cycling companion that night, Ronald Hamburg. Martin’s murder, the article stated, was reportedly a hit ordered by the Mexican Mafia.)

Twenty Years Ago

La Cañadan Donna Shirley, who had just retired as the manager of the Mars Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was inducted into the Oklahoma Aviation Space Hall of Fame at a gala dinner and awards event. Shirley had been employed at JPL for 35 years.

Thirty Years Ago

La Cañada Unified School District Supt. Judith Glickman asked the school board to appoint a committee to determine the feasibility of a special parcel tax election to support the city’s public schools.

Forty Years Ago

Members of the state Legislature, Caltrans officials and La Cañada Flintridge representatives gathered near the Holly Street onramp of the northbound Glendale (2) Freeway to unveil a plaque in honor of La Cañada resident and state Assemblyman Frank Lanterman. The plaque named the 3.1-mile stretch from the Ventura (134) Freeway to the Foothill (210) Freeway the Frank Lanterman Freeway in honor of the man who served in the state Assembly from 1950 to 1978 and, as ranking member of its transportation committee, was directly involved in development of the new freeway.

Fifty Years Ago

Community concern over “proper” developments and the appearance of the facility caused a delay in the final approval of a zone exception needed for a proposed Volkswagen agency on Foothill Boulevard at Gould Avenue. The application was submitted by Bob Smith and Edward H. Lacey. Some locals, including officials with the La Cañada Chamber of Commerce, were saying the agency’s new car lot would be acceptable, but that used cars should be located outside the community.

Sixty Years Ago

Former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson, who had twice been the Democratic Party nominee for U.S. president, attended a luncheon in Flintridge to show his support for local woman Rudd Brown, who was running for a seat in Congress. Brown’s grandfather, William Jennings Bryan, and Stevenson’s grandfather, Adlai E. Stevenson, who had served as vice president under Grover Cleveland, ran together on the Bryan-Stevenson ticket of 1900.

Compiled from the Valley Sun archives by Carol Cormaci.