Glendora Ca

Even by the notoriously nasty standards of small-town politics in Glendora, the late-night arrest of two teenagers last week has taken local elections in this little city to a bracingly new low. The 18-year-olds, Keleigh Marshall and Christina Giammalva, set out the night of Feb. 19 to engage in some mischief by putting stickers on the political signs of Glendora elected leaders.

The case of two Glendora teenagers accused of vandalizing the political signs of city officials seeking reelection was referred Monday to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office for possible prosecution, said Glendora Police Chief Chuck Montoya. Montoya, who had declined to comment on the case in detail last week, on Monday rebutted some claims by the young women after they were arrested the night of Feb. 19. Although they said that they were held by police until nearly 2 a.m.

Nearly half a century ago, a 20-year-old Southern Californian named Michael Rubel decided for reasons all his own to build a stone castle with a clock tower. So he bought a 2 1/2 -acre citrus orchard in the foothills of his hometown and embarked on a project that would take up nearly the next 30 years of his life.

Police were searching Saturday night for a man who shot and wounded a patrol officer late Friday. Frank Fidel Beltran, 35, allegedly fired on an officer who had been sent to check out a call from a home near Foothill Boulevard, police said. As the officer and a partner approached the home about 11 p.m., the suspect shot the officer in the hand, authorities said. The officer, whose name was not released, was treated at a hospital and released early Saturday, police said.

Time after time, a development company saw its plans to build homes in the foothills above Glendora rejected by city officials. But that company has come up with a new strategy that critics consider both ingenious and disturbing. The developer is asking voters today to approve a land swap that would allow it to tear down the Glendora Country Club, which the company would then relocate -- at its cost -- on the hillside land.

After the votes were tallied in Glendora, one thing was absolutely clear: There wasn't going to be a land swap that would clear the way for more than 300 new homes at what is now a country club. Glendora voters rejected the measure by a 10 to 1 ratio Tuesday, causing developer Kim Scott to speculate that he might try to sell his property to the city or another developer. "The vote was clear," said Scott, whose firm, NJD, owns the parcel. "The citizens of Glendora did not like our plan."

Nestled unobtrusively at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, the city of Glendora hardly seems a place stewing with political controversy. Its streets are quiet, its parks plentiful, its light poles proudly decorated with names of servicemen and women fighting in Iraq. But over the last several years, this quiet little town has waged a series of spirited, sometimes angry and sometimes frankly ludicrous debates.

A Glendora police officer chasing a stolen pickup was injured Friday evening when his patrol car skidded off the 210 Freeway, investigators said. The driver of the pickup left the freeway and, after being cornered in a cul-de-sac, abandoned the truck and fled on foot into a wooded area south of the freeway, police said. The suspect, who was not identified, was caught shortly before 10 p.m. near a Glendora sports park, police said.

A 20-year-old Glendora man who worked part time at a prep school was charged Thursday with multiple counts of child molestation involving nine boys, authorities said. Jonathan Poyner was charged with two counts of forcible lewd acts on a child, 18 counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 and two counts of attempted molestation, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Lee Mitchell. Poyner appeared in court Thursday before Superior Court Judge Terry Smerling, but his arraignment was postponed until Jan. 3.

A preschool worker who gave birth to twins and then smothered them in a plastic bag was sentenced Thursday to 25 years to life in prison. Lori Renee Hurd, 29, of Glendora, was convicted last month of two counts each of second-degree murder, assault and child abuse and one count of possession of methamphetamine. On Nov.