North Hollywood Ca

In the latest effort to revitalize North Hollywood, a panel of experts strongly cautioned Los Angeles officials against trying to develop large commercial projects in the area in the near future. Instead, the city and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority should focus on creating an "urban village" of high-density housing near the Metro Red Line subway station, while fostering an environment that would help the local arts scene thrive.

Eight months after he bought a rundown motel and promised to repair it, a Burbank man was charged Thursday with 17 misdemeanors for allegedly failing to fix up the Magnolia Boulevard property. Manji Vaghashia, 46, violated an array of health and building and safety codes by leaving the 25-unit Econo Inn & Suites in an unsafe condition, Los Angeles Deputy City Atty. Michael R. Wilkinson said.

Suspected gang members shot and killed a 21-year-old North Hollywood man Sunday morning, police said. Dave Cortez was shot around 12:30 a.m. in the 7200 block of Fulton Avenue, according to Lt. Brenda Crump of the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood station. Cortez died at the scene.

As the workweek began Monday at the Bank of America, it was not easy to forget there had been a war here. Dozens of bullet holes in mailboxes, trees and signs provided stark evidence of one of the bloodiest bank robberies in city history. But employees and customers seemed determined to put the ordeal aside and return to their workaday life.

The Los Angeles City Council has voted to give North Hollywood and Studio City residents $600 to buy walkie-talkie radios for use in a civilian anti-crime surveillance program. At the recommendation of Councilman Joel Wachs, the council voted Tuesday to subtract the money from Wachs' public service account, which provides $10,000 annually to fund communities groups. Los Angeles Police Capt.

A schism erupting over a seemingly noncontroversial park improvement project in North Hollywood caught Los Angeles Park and Recreation Department officials off guard when opponents and supporters packed a recent neighborhood meeting to discuss the $200,000 project. The plan calls for upgraded restrooms, landscaping, benches and picnic tables and upkeep of an existing baseball diamond and an off-leash dog park at Weddington Park South at Bluffside and Valley Heart drives.

The bullet holes in walls have been patched up and life is finally returning to normal in North Hollywood after the spectacular Bank of America robbery. Lauded as heroes and saviors, officers of the LAPD have suddenly added the roles of curators and historians to their job description--the task of recording, analyzing and preserving the events of Feb. 28.

More than 120 firefighters fought a blaze Saturday afternoon in a shoe warehouse just southwest of Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. The fire was reported about 1:30 p.m. at 6818 Vineland Ave., and firefighters battled the blaze for nearly an hour. One firefighter and one civilian were assessed for non-life-threatening injuries, said a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. -- Rong-Gong Lin II

A Lancaster man died after being shot several times as he sat in a car on a North Hollywood street, Los Angeles police said Thursday. Raymond Guerra, 30, was pronounced dead at the scene of the Wednesday afternoon shooting in the 8400 block of Rincon Avenue, Det. Juan Rodriguez said. Guerra was parked by the curb of a residence when the shooting occurred, police said, adding that they are looking for two suspects who fled in a pickup truck.

Firefighters quickly extinguished a blaze at a one-story strip mall around noon Sunday, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman said. Ten fire companies and four rescue ambulances responded to the blaze in the 5400 block of Whitsett Avenue and extinguished it in 27 minutes, preventing significant damage to the four mall units, depart- ment spokesman Brian Ballton said. Officials reported no injuries. The cause of the fire was under investigation.