La Canada’s 2008 Year in Review
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January
•?“Rainforest Fiesta,” La Cañada Flintridge’s entry in the 2008 Rose Parade, garnered the Animation Trophy. It was this city’s 30th year of participation in the world-renowned parade. That afternoon, USC beat Illinois in the Rose Bowl.
•?A series of three storms swept through the area, dropping some 6.36 inches of rain on La Cañada, the most rain recorded here in a single month since 2004. No flooding or serious damages were sustained, although some boulders washed down a hillside on Corona Drive and the Community Center saw “buckets of water” come through the roof and flood the ceramics area.
•?Students at La Cañada Elementary School were preparing to say good-bye to their prinicpal, Ivette Ellis, who had served at the campus for five years. Ellis was moving to the East Coast with her husband, who had accepted a new job with ITT Corp.
•?Barbara Marshall was installed chairman of the board of the La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce and Taylor Segal was named Miss La Cañada Flintridge when the chamber held its annual installation dinner at Oakmont Country Club.
•?Three La Cañada High School alumni, all members of the Class of 2001, were inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. They were Lonnie Dietz, Lauren Guza and Nicole Bonino.
•?Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in marking its 50th anniversary, invited educators to its campus for a weekend conference to learn about the history of JPL and its Explorer 1.
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February
•?Larry Naeve, the longtime boys’ varsity water polo coach at La Cañada High, announced his retirement after a 21-year career studded with 30 All-Americans and five CIF Coach of the Year awards.
•?La Cañada High sophomore Kate Hansen outraced the entire women’s singles field to capture the gold at the Junior World Luge Championships in Lake Placid.
•?Coach Tom Hofman got league win No. 200 with his LCHS boys’ varsity basketball team when the Spartans beat the So. Pas Tigers. “I love this job,” Hofman said.
•?A fowl-friendly revised animal ordinance was before the LCF Planning Commission after months of clucking between residents, city council and city staff over what should, or should not, be included. Limitations were to be placed on ducks, chickens and geese; roosters were restricted.
•?Although inclement weather threatened to reroute the Amgen Tour of California around La Cañada Flintridge, shortly before the last stage of the race started in Santa Clarita it was decided it could follow the mapped-out route through this city to the finish line in Pasadena.
•?La Cañada Flintridge residents Don and Cayce Sheppard were the recipients of the 2007-’08 Golden Apple Award for their service to the La Cañada Unified School District schools and its students.
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March
•?Three familiar faces at the La Cañada Flintridge Public Library retired: the facility’s manager, Sue Renyer, and reference librarians Susan Hewitt and Eric Goldberg.
•?The school board promoted well-respected LCHS 7/8 Principal Wendy Sinnette to the position of superintendent for human resources, effective Aug. 1.
•?Some 750 supporters of the LCUSD packed into the Langham Hotel in Pasadena to attend the gala fundraiser staged by the La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation. The most successful live auction item of the evening was a walk-on, non-speaking role on “Hannah Montana.” Two couples bid $27,500 each for that prize, so two such roles were offered, bringing $55,000 in for that item alone.
•?Dave Spence ended his fourth term as mayor of La Cañada Flintridge having ,first served as mayor in 1994. Steve Del Guercio accepted the gavel to serve his second term in the top post. Laura Olhasso was elected by her colleagues to serve as mayor pro-tem.
•?A proposal to sell the LCUSD’s former district office on Palm Drive failed when the board could not get the required three-fourths vote to put it on the market. Dissenters were Joel Peterson and Cindy Wilcox. Peterson told the Valley Sun it would be prudent to hold onto the home until the real estate market improved. Wilcox said she wanted to hold onto the property as part of the district’s inventory and perhaps see it put to other uses.
•?The varsity basketball team of Renaissance Academy, a private school in La Cañada, with a 27-3 record on the season, qualified for the CIF Div. 5 state championship game in Sacramento, but fell short of capturing the title.
•?After an extensive manhunt, a suspect in a Colorado kidnapping case was arrested at a bus stop on Foothill at Cornishon on Easter Sunday. A vehicle matching one owned by the suspect was spotted earlier on Tondolea Lane, with neighbors theorizing he might have been staying in a vacant house there.
•?In their initial venture into FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) competition held at the L.A. Sports Arena, the LCHS Engineering Club won the “All Star Rookie Award” and were invited to compete in the national contest in Atlanta.
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April
•?The Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station welcomed its new commander, David Silversparre, who was promoted to captain on the occasion.
•?La Cañada’s revamped skate park on Cornishon reopened to rave reviews.
•?The Pier 1 building on Foothill Boulevard sold for $4.7 million to an undisclosed buyer. The imports retailer continued to lease the property.
•?It was reported that between April 1-5, some $30,000 in appliances and tools had been stolen from six different project sites in La Cañada and the CV Sheriff’s Station investigators were seeking the public’s help in solving the crimes.
•?An accident between a Viper driven by a La Cañada man and a big rig passing through town on the Foothill (210) Freeway snarled traffic for at least eight hours one Saturday. Only minor injuries to the drivers and an 11-year-old passenger in the Viper were reported.
•?Ollie Johnston, a member of an elite group of Disney animators known as the Nine Old Men, died at the age of 95. He’d been a resident of Flintridge since 1945.
•?It was announced a canine drug protection program would soon be employed at the LCHS campus.
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May
•?Longtime area volunteer Mary Gant was named La Cañadan of the Year by the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada.
•?In his sixth year as coach of the LCHS golf team, Richard Tetu’s 2008 team scored his 100th win, putting his record at 100-17.
•?Nearly 30,000 visitors turned out for the annual open house at JPL.
•?Local residents Merrily Hake, Clyde Hemphill, John Olsen and Regina Saavedra were presented with the prestigious Les Tupper Awards for community service by the LCF Coordinating Council.
•?“DeFlocked,” a comic strip drawn by area resident Jeff Corriveau that debuted in the Valley Sun in 2006, became nationally syndicated.
•?The Spartan boys’ swimming team claimed CIF championships, led by a standout effort by co-captain Ian Mirisola.
•?After 34 years with the Los Angeles County Fire Dept., Battalion Chief Matt Gil retired.
•?The Foothill Municipal Water District announced its intentions to ask local residents to take extraordinary water conservation measures to battle impending water shortages.
•?The Phoenix spacecraft managed by JPL, after traveling 21 million miles, landed on Mars.
•?Although unseasonably chilly weather blanketed the valley for Memorial Day weekend 2008, the annual Fiesta Days celebration presented by the LCF Chamber of Commerce was deemed a hit with locals. Rain washed away one planned event, an outdoor movie.
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June
•?After five years at the helm of La Cañada United Methodist Church, Pastor Rob Calderhead gave his last sermon before retiring from a nearly 35-year career.
•?Members of the class of ’08 from LCHS collected their diplomas in a traditional graduation ceremony held at the football stadium. Graduating senior Connor Oakes gave the commencement speech.
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July
•?Fifteen years after the hit-and-run killing of La Cañada photographer Doug Burrows, the driver who struck Burrows down on a Los Angeles street pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and felony hit and run. He was sentenced to no more than 11 years and will be eligible for parole after 85% of the sentence has been served.
•?Work was getting underway to replace the old multi-purpose room on the Palm Crest Elementary School campus. The work was funded by 2004 school bonds.
•?After months of deliberation, the La Cañada High School Athletics Department picked German Lopez, then assistant coach, to replace the retiring Larry Naeve as head coach of the water polo team.
•?Citing years of drought and the likelihood that water shortages could be ahead, Foothill Municipal Water District announced its intention to form the Water Conservation Team, made up of volunteers who would help their neighbors learn ways to reduce water consumption.
•?Father Antonio Marti was tapped to step into the role as president of St. Francis High School, as the longtime president of the school, Father Matthew Elshoff, had been elected to become Provincial in the Capuchin Franciscan Order’s Western American Province.
•?Resident Lisa Phelan, fed up with loud, sometimes aggressive peafowl in her neighborhood, asked the city to pay for damages when a peacock, seeing his reflection in a visitor’s car, attacked it, leaving marks on both sides and the front of the vehicle.
•?With the new Sport Chalet store poised to open within weeks, La Cañada Properties posted a ‘For Lease’ sign on the existing building on the south side of Foothill Boulevard.
•?Familiar faces were beginning to show up in different area real estate offices, a sign of the slow housing market. Keilholtz Realtors announced its merger with Dickson-Podley, and several local agents formed their own office of Coldwell Banker, setting up a new office in the Plaza de La Cañada.
•?The Public Works Commission approved plans for a new canopy, guard center, bus stop and round-about entrance at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
•?A late-morning, 5.4 earthquake with its epicenter near Chino rattled this area, closing a local market for about 30 minutes while workers swept up broken glass. At Paradise Canyon Elementary School where summer school was in session, the youngsters had the opportunity to practice their duck-and-cover skills.
•?A mountain lion was seen dragging away a pet dog belonging to a resident of Fairhurst Avenue in the upper Ocean View area. It was the second dog the same family had lost in a short period and they presumed the other had also been the cougar’s victim.
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August
•?Penguin’s Frozen Yogurt Place marked its 20th anniversary in La Cañada.
•?The new, 45,000-square-foot Sport Chalet store opened with a weekend-long celebration. It was the first business to open its doors in the newly-completed La Cañada Town Center.
•?After an eight-year lull, San Bernardino County sheriff’s detectives announced they were reopening the cold case involving the Feb. 9, 2000 murder of a La Cañada couple, Skip and Joni Tillman, and were seeking the public’s help.
•?The building that once housed the Flower Pavilion — and before that, a service station — on the southeast corner of Foothill Boulevard at Chevy Chase Drive was demolished to make way for the construction of a new building that is expected to one day be the new home of Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeehouse.
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September
•?Members of the Flintridge Riding Club celebrated the club’s 85th anniversary with a gala event.
•?Dave Silversparre, the owner of the Union 76 service station on the northwest corner of Foothill Boulevard at Angeles Crest Highway, marked 50 years in business, having started with a station in Eagle Rock before coming to La Cañada.
•?Houri Aposhian and Linda Taix were the locals feted when state Sen. Jack Scott and Assemblymembers Anthony Portantino and Paul Krekorian included them in their annual Women of the Year awards.
•?The city filed suit against the Metropolitan Transit Authority, challenging its “failure to study the environmental impacts of proposed 710 Tunnel project,” which was included in a half-cent sales tax measure on the November ballot.
•?Several workers at Hill Street Café lost their cars, but only one person was reported injured after a big-rig truck lost its brakes on Angeles Crest Highway at about 6:50 a.m. on a Friday, luckily got a green light at Foothill Boulevard and entered the restaurant’s parking lot. There it crashed into several vehicles and a concrete wall before coming to a halt.
•?Another pet dog, this time belonging to a family on Castle Knoll, was attacked by a mountain lion and was fighting for its life after being rescued by its owners.
•?Memorial Park was filled for the 6th annual Food and Wine Tasting supporting the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada Flintridge, the LCF Educational Foundation and the Community Center of LCF.
•?Fifty marijuana plants were found in a house in the 4800 block of Alta Canyada Drive during an early morning raid by investigators who were following up on an arrest in Orange County.
•?Cakery Bakery in La Cañada started selling elephant and donkey cookies as part of a nationwide election 2008 “Cookie Poll.”
•?The Cornishon Skate Park was opened up to BMXers after a successful campaign by two youths who were looking for a place close to home to enjoy their BMX bikes.
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October
•?An alert La Cañada resident called the sheriff’s station when she witnessed suspicious activity on her street. Her call led to the arrests of two men, one with a La Cañada address on his driver’s license. A search of the apartment the two were sharing in Montrose led to the recovery of more than 1,000 stolen items.
•?A teen was arrested on the La Cañada High School campus with seven balloons of heroin in her possession.
•?It was announced Sakura, a steak, seafood and sushi restaurant, would open at the La Cañada Town Center in January.
•?Traffic was snarled for hours, creating a headache for commuters, after a Venice man was shot and killed by an unknown assailant on the Glendale (2) Freeway, near Verdugo Hills Hospital. Police shut down the freeway while the murder investigation was underway.
•?HomeGoods held a ribbon-cutting event at its new store in the Town Center, welcoming a crowd of eager shoppers.
•?Quinn Young, a senior at La Cañada High School, and Mary Gaule, who attends Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, were named to the 2009 Rose Court.
•?After hearing from advocates of peafowl as well as from those who wanted them out of their neighborhood, the City Council voted to reduce the flock to a manageable, but sustainable number of 14 birds.
•?The school board, which had been considering a parcel tax vote in the near future, decided to table that idea until the country’s economic conditions improved.
•?Less than a week after an 8-year-old boy hopped out of his mom’s car near Palm Crest Elementary School and banged into another car, his mother was involved in an accident on Foothill at La Cañada Boulevard, where she accidentally struck two adults in a crosswalk. One victim, 78, sustained a broken ankle in that incident and the other, a 48-year-old, had minor injuries.
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November
•?Two former mayors, Carol Liu and Anthony Portantino, cruised to easy victories in the general election, as the Democratic Party celebrated historic wins nationally. Liu won the seat left open by termed-out state Sen. Jack Scott while Portantino was reelected to the state Assembly.
•?Church of the Lighted Window returned to its roots, renaming itself La Cañada Congregational Church, which had been its moniker when it was founded in 1897. A special service was held, followed by a ribbon-cutting and luncheon in Fellowship Hall.
•?Chipotle Mexican Grill opened in the La Cañada Town Center. The day before the official opening the eatery offered free burritos to all takers.
•?Area schools participated in the Great Southern California ShakeOut earthquake drill, the brainchild of La Cañada’s own Lucy Jones, chief scientist for the U.S. Geological Survey. More than 5 million people in the Southland signed up to participate in the exercise.
•?The La Cañada Flintridge Outreach Committee presented a $41,163 gift to the La Cañada Educational Foundation.
•?The LCHS Spartan girls’ varsity volleyball team captured the CIF Division II-A championship, only its second in history, having won it before a long time ago — in 1976.
•?About 1,400 participants turned out for the Run for the Hungry on Thanksgiving Day. The event is organized every year by the Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge.
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December
•?La Cañadans knew Christmas was around the corner when local Girl Scouts hosted the annual tree-lighting in Glenola Park and the La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce staged its annual Festival in Lights at Memorial Park, complete with snow and an official visit from Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus.
•?As they have for more than 20 years, the volunteers of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station organized their annual food and toy drive to serve families in need during the holiday season.
•?Joel Peterson was elected by his colleagues to serve as 2009 president of the LCUSD Governing Board. Jeanne Broberg was elected vice president.
•?Following on the heels of a warmer-than-usual November, December brought cold weather and much-needed rain to the Foothills.
•?Four people filed their candidacy papers for the two open seats in the March 2009 LCF City Council elections: incumbents Steve Del Guercio and Dave Spence; challengers Robert Richter and Vance Haemmerle.
•?The team of La Cañada High students calling themselves the Axis of Assume, captured first place in the JPL Invention Challenge, which this year called for entrants to build and race miniature aerial cars.
•?A burglary suspect was arrested after a photo surveillance camera caught his clear image and all of his actions while he burglarized a Haskell Drive home.
•?Dave Silversparre, who just a few months earlier marked 50 years in business, announced he would close his service station on Foothill at Angeles Crest because of a decline in business, some of which he blamed on new traffic barriers built in conjunction with the Town Center project.
•?Work was feverishly underway on “Mechanical Melodies,” La Cañada’s float entry in the New Year’s Day Rose Parade, and the La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Assn. was seeking additional volunteer help.