Glendale

The second day of searing temperatures and unseasonably strong Santa Ana winds kept firefighters busy Friday battling blazes that threatened homes in Ventura County, Glendale and Walnut, but the day ended with hope that cooling conditions would ease the siege. The day was filled with tense moments as the Springs fire lurched closer to homes near Thousand Oaks and a fast-moving blaze in Glendale prompted evacuations and temporarily shut down parts of a busy freeway interchange. Although the amount of burned acreage increased significantly Friday, the fires did not cause major damage to structures.

The second day of searing temperatures and unseasonably strong Santa Ana winds kept firefighters busy Friday battling blazes that threatened homes in Ventura County, Glendale and Walnut, but the day ended with hope that cooling conditions would ease the siege. The day was filled with tense moments as the Springs fire lurched closer to homes near Thousand Oaks and a fast-moving blaze in Glendale prompted evacuations and temporarily shut down parts of a busy freeway interchange. Although the amount of burned acreage increased significantly Friday, the fires did not cause major damage to structures.

Representatives for Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy are saying the goth rocker's blood-alcohol level was 0.01 when he was arrested March 16 on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol after an alleged hit-and-run collision in Glendale. According to Murphy's official Facebook page, the amount of alcohol in his bloodstream was well below the legal limit of 0.08. His representatives alleged that his blood alcohol level of 0.01 was the “lowest amount of alcohol that is able to register on a breathalyzer.

DreamWorks Animation has a bunch of cavemen to thank for getting some fresh Wall Street love. Analysts responded positively to news that the Glendale studio had scored with its prehistoric feature "The Croods," which helped drive first-quarter profit to $5.6 million. The results sailed past Wall Street expectations. The unexpectedly good numbers coming from DreamWorks triggered investors to snap up the company's stock. After closing at $19.28 on Tuesday, shares climbed 7% in after-hours trading after the studio reported financial results.

Re "The very nature of the city," Perspective, Feb. 4 Jessica Garrison's celebration of the transformation of Debs Park northeast of downtown Los Angeles conveyed a joy I too feel when discovering urban respites or helping advance their emergence from neglected spaces. A similar story is unfolding along Glendale's border with the Los Angeles River, where the city's community services and parks unit teamed up with the nonprofit North East Trees to install a true blight-buster, the recently opened Glendale Narrows Riverwalk Park.

The Jewel City may finally get some glitz. Kim Kardashian, famous for whatever it is she does, evidently has her eyes set on the top political post in my hometown, Glendale. Five years from now, she hopes to run for mayor. Alas, it's impossible for Kardashian to run for mayor of Glendale -- because Glendale doesn't elect a mayor. Its five council members , all of whom serve at-large, each year select one of their colleagues to serve in the city's top post. So endearing herself to Glendale voters presents only the first hurdle to anyone who hopes to launch her political career in the city.

Actress Michelle Stafford of "The Young and the Restless" has bought a house in Glendale for slightly more than $1 million. The two-story Monterey Colonial-style house of nearly 3,000 square feet features a central hall, a formal dining room, an updated kitchen, a den, three bedrooms and three bathrooms. The two-story house with basement was commissioned by a Loma Linda Hospital doctor and built in 1948. Other medical professionals bought or lived in the house over the years, earning it the nickname "The Doctor's House.

A multibillion-dollar proposal for a 28-acre park covering parts of the 134 Freeway in Glendale won resounding support from the City Council on Tuesday. The concept, known as Space 134, could stretch across parts of the freeway from Central to Glendale avenues and include transit stops, neighborhood park areas, trails, exercise equipment, an electrical car charging station and other amenities. “It's certainly worth pursuing without question,” Mayor Frank Quintero said. “I'm happy we've taken it to this level and hopefully we can continue it.” Although the size and the cost of the park may seem daunting, Melanie Smith - a partner at Meléndrez, the urban design firm that created the proposal - said the “freeway cap” could be done in manageable phases.

Homes on skinny, small lots in Los Angeles are so popular they sell out in neighborhoods like Silver Lake and Atwater Village over a weekend. Now, Glendale officials think what worked across the border can spark similar developments in some of the city's densest neighborhoods. "If they're successful in L.A., they can be successful in Glendale," said Glendale Principal Planner Laura Stotler. For years, Glendale has been down-zoning overdeveloped areas in south Glendale. But if a developer bought a lot on a street like Riverdale Drive, where old apartment buildings mix with single-family homes, the best option to maximize profit would be to build another apartment complex.

The L.A. Mart, a 12-story complex in downtown Los Angeles, has been purchased for about $55 million by Glendale investors. The 784,000-square-foot property at 1933 S. Broadway is a combination design center, office and showroom, real estate brokerage Madison Partners said. It serves the interior design, gift and home furnishing industries. Los Angeles County also leases more than 140,000 square feet of office space at the L.A. Mart. Vornado Realty Trust sold the property to a limited liability corporation called PHR LA Mart.

Long-time rival shopping centers Americana at Brand and the Glendale Galleria are tying the knot with splashy new improvements on Brand Boulevard in downtown Glendale. The changes come as the side-by-side malls usher in new premium tenants - Nordstrom moving from the Galleria to the Americana in September and Bloomingdale's opening just down the street in the Galleria in November. Los Angeles real estate developer Rick Caruso, who owns the Americana and a portion of the Galleria, announced $60 million in improvements to the Americana focused on linking the Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's stores under construction at the two malls.

You can have almost anything delivered to your door. If you're craving pizza and wings with breadsticks at midnight, that's easy. Fresh sushi? Done. You can even order an entire week's worth of groceries. And the next time you need a Whopper, you can have Burger King deliver too -- if you live in Glendale. A Burger King franchise location in Glendale is piloting a new delivery program for the fast-food brand. Franchise owner Bob Stevens, who owns eight Burger King locations, began taking delivery orders at his store on North Central Avenue on April 9. Stevens' location is the first in California to deliver.

A Burger King restaurant in Glendale wants its customers to have it their way -- right to their front door. Since April 9, the Burger King on North Central Avenue has been delivering a handful of orders each day -- the first Burger King in the state to do so, said franchise owner Bob Stevens. "We were chosen to be the first Burger King franchisee to have delivery in the state, so it's quite a feather in our cap," Stevens said. Following in the footsteps of delivery programs in Miami, Washington and Houston, the fast-food company is bringing its delivery program to California.

A Glendale resident was arrested Monday on suspicion of attempted murder after he allegedly kicked a 39-year-old man's head multiple times outside Dave's bar, police said. The injured man, whose name wasn't released, remained hospitalized Tuesday at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center , where he was being treated for blunt force trauma to the head and face, according to Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz. The man's medical condition was not immediately available, Lorenz added.

A 20-year-old Glendale man was arrested early Saturday morning after allegedly ramming his BMW into a Glendale home while drunk, police said. A neighbor reported the incident about 4 a.m. after seeing the suspect - identified by police as Mikia Anteranik - run from the car after crashing it, said Glendale police Lt. Bruce Fox. The incident occurred near Concord and Dryden streets. Police located the man nearby on West Glenoaks Boulevard. No injuries were reported. A wall, window and the sprinkler system of the home were reportedly damaged, though a damage estimate was not immediately available, Fox said.

A series of tire slashings on luxury cars and SUVs early Saturday in northwest Glendale was a "random act" of vandalism, according to police. In some cases, all four tires were slashed on the high-end cars, most of which were parked in home driveways and on the dimly lighted streets of Vista Drive, West Mountain Street, Grandview and Winchester avenues, and Cumberland and Kenneth roads, according to Glendale police. One of the cars, a Cadillac CTS, belonged to City Manager Scott Ochoa and had all of its tires slashed.

Neighbors reported spotting a black bear in the Chevy Chase Canyon neighborhood of Glendale recently. The black bear is described as 3 to 4 feet tall and weighing about 200 pounds, with a fondness for hummingbird sugar water and a taste for honey. This dietary insight is based on its snacking habits during multiple neighborhood visits over the past year. The latest sighting is reminiscent of the bear dubbed "Meatball," who was moved to an animal sanctuary in San Diego County after twice being relocated deep within Angeles National Forest last year following regular forays into Glendale.

An apartment complex with small units intended to appeal to young people eager to get away from roommates and parents into a place of their own is nearing completion in downtown Glendale. The $34-million mixed-use project named Eleve Lofts & Skydeck is designed for the tastes and needs of Generation Y - people between the ages of 20 and 34, said Alan Dibartolomeo of AMF Development. Research by the Huntington Beach company found that many young adults would prefer to live in a small place alone than to live in a larger space with a roommate, even if it costs more to do so. AMF razed a former Circuit City electronics warehouse store on the corner of Maryland Avenue and Broadway in Glendale's urban shopping district to make way for Eleve.

Three teenagers were cited this week on charges of burglarizing seven homes in Burbank and Glendale and stealing four guns, cash and jewelry, police said Wednesday. Police cited and released a 17-year-old Sun Valley youth and two Burbank youths, ages 16 and 17, to their parents Monday after they admitted breaking into the homes and taking various items, according to Burbank Police Sgt. Darin Ryburn. The boys' names weren't released because they are minors. The mother of the 17-year-old Burbank youth called Burbank police about 4:45 p.m. Sunday after she found a safe containing cash and a 9 millimeter handgun in her son's bedroom, Ryburn said.

Inmates at the Glendale city jail didn't just pay their debt to society 2012. They also paid about $96,000 to stay at the facility. For $85 a day, prisoners sleep in separate quarters from other inmates, have access to phones, showers and day-room areas. But they still must perform laundry and janitorial tasks inside the jail. They get two cold meals and one hot meal a day. The pay-to-stay program generated $96,475 in 2012, up from $67,995 in 2011, according to Glendale Police Department reports.