Panorama City

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to extend for another year land-use controls designed to stop overdevelopment of the commercial core of Panorama City. The controls prohibit the floor space of any development from exceeding by 1 1/2 times the size of the lot. The measure introduced by Councilman Ernani Bernardi and in effect since 1988 puts a freeze on commercial development projects in the area until a specific plan can be drafted, said David Mays, Bernardi's chief deputy.

Word that Wal-Mart is opening a Neighborhood Market in Panorama City is getting a markedly different reception than the criticism heaped on a similar grocery-only store that the retailing giant plans to open in downtown Los Angeles. Residents of the northeast San Fernando Valley have watched as the recession turned once-thriving commercial hubs into vacant storefronts. The Vannord Center, a 90,000-square-foot-center at the corner of busy Van Nuys Boulevard and Nordhoff Street, has been hit particularly hard with more than half of its 30 tenants closing their doors.

Nicole Cabell, a 27-year-old soprano from Panorama City, has won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition in Wales. On Sunday, Cabell -- a recent graduate of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, the Lyric Opera of Chicago's training program -- was presented with a trophy and a check for 10,000 pounds (about $18,000) by opera veteran Joan Sutherland, the competition's patron. Previous winners have included soprano Karita Mattila and baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced plans to open a grocery store in Panorama City, part of a big push by the nation's largest retailer into the highly competitive Southland grocery business. The 31,000-square-foot store will be located in the Vannord Center at 14530 Nordhoff St. in the vacant space once occupied by Valley Foods Warehouse, the company said Monday. "There is no doubt that Panorama City residents need more affordable grocery options," said Wal-Mart spokesman Steven Restivo.

A Granada Hills youth died Wednesday after his motorcycle collided with a car in a Panorama City intersection, Los Angeles police said. Nirmal Sukhija, 16, was pronounced dead at Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills after the 7:30 a.m. accident, Officer Bill Mulvihill said.

A man who was killed when he fell from a rocky hill in Chatsworth known as Stoney Point has been identified as William Shadley, 23, of Panorama City, a county coroner's official said Saturday. Shadley had climbed to the top of a massive boulder about 5:45 p.m. Friday alone and without ropes before he fell 150 feet to his death, Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Terry Jacobsen said.

A speeding motorist whose car was being chased by police was killed when his car crashed into three parked vehicles in a Panorama City neighborhood early this morning, Los Angeles police said. The pursuit began about 3:30 a.m. near Kester Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard when police spotted the speeding car. The chase, which lasted about three minutes, ended when the motorist's car slammed into three parked cars and the driver was ejected. Police estimate that the driver was traveling at about 80 m.

A 38-year-old Panorama City man was killed Thursday morning when his car crashed into a traffic light pole on Burbank Boulevard, police said. The motorist, whose name was not released, was driving west on Burbank near the Hollywood Freeway off-ramp about 5:50 a.m. when his car drifted into the pole, Los Angeles Police Officer Frank Zedroy said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. "He could have fallen asleep at the wheel," said Zedroy, adding that there were no signs of alcohol use.

A Reseda man was shot to death in the parking lot of a Panorama City apartment complex, Los Angeles police said Saturday. Paul E. Kaufman, 24, was shot in the chest just after 9 p.m. Friday, said Police Sgt. Wendi Massa. Kaufman, accompanied by his mother, pulled his car into the parking lot near Parthenia Street and Willis Avenue, where he was accosted by two males, Massa said. One, armed with a handgun shot Kaufman as he sat behind the wheel of the car, police said.

"Advantageous" was not a problem. But when asked to spell "reasonableness," Guadalupe Murillo, a 12-year-old from Pacoima Elementary School, was filled with doubt. She faltered. Still, Guadalupe was the only San Fernando Valley elementary school student to take home a prize--second place--from the city of Los Angeles' second annual Housing Authority spelling bee.

The perjury and voter fraud case against Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon rests in part on the modest amount of water and electricity used at a Panorama City house that he claims as his residence, according to a grand jury transcript obtained Monday. Alarcon and his wife pleaded not guilty to 24 felony charges that accuse them of making false statements about where they live on voting forms, drivers' licenses and other documents. The 1950 tract house in Panorama City allowed Alarcon to meet a requirement that council members live in the district they seek to represent.

Maybe it's finally time for Richard Alarcon to go home, if only he could figure out where that is. On Nordhoff, in Panorama City, where he's registered to vote and which lies within the district he was elected to represent? Or on Sheldon in Sun Valley, outside the district, in another home owned by his wife? Alarcon and his wife, Flora Montes de Oca, were indicted Thursday on charges of perjury and voter fraud after allegedly lying about their true residence. If the charges are true, Alarcon took office in a district in which he was ineligible to serve.

A grand jury has handed down a 24-count felony indictment against Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife, Flora Montes de Oca, accusing them of perjury and voter fraud stemming from their assertion in that they lived in a home in Panorama City. In an indictment unsealed Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Grand Jury said Alarcon and his wife falsely claimed that they lived in a house within Alarcon's 7th Council District in the San Fernando Valley. Alarcon and his wife both pleaded not guilty and were released on their own recognizance.

A grand jury unsealed a 24-count felony indictment on Wednesday against Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife, Flora Montes de Oca, saying they committed perjury and voter fraud when they listed their home as being in Panorama City. Ending a 15-month investigation by Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley's Public Integrity Division, the criminal grand jury accused Alarcon and his wife of falsely claiming that their home was at an address in Alarcon's 7th Council District, which takes in a portion of the northeast San Fernando Valley.

Six employees of Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon have been ordered to appear before a grand jury this week, six months after prosecutors obtained search warrants to determine whether the councilman has been living at his legal residence. Alarcon said Monday that his chief of staff, Saeed Ali, and five other workers in his office have received subpoenas instructing them to testify on Wednesday. Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley's office received permission in January to search two homes owned by Alarcon's wife, Flora Montes de Oca -- one on Nordhoff Street in Panorama City, the other on Sheldon Street in Sun Valley.

Six employees of Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon have been ordered to appear before a county grand jury this week, six months after prosecutors obtained search warrants to determine if the councilman has been living at his legal residence. Alarcon said Monday that his chief of staff, Saeed Ali, and five other workers in his office have received subpoenas instructing them to testify on Wednesday. Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley's office received permission in January to search two homes owned by Alarcon's wife, Flora Montes de Oca — one on Nordhoff Street in Panorama City, the other on Sheldon Street in Sun Valley.

This was supposed to be a breakthrough year for John Ennis. Following in the giant footsteps of former Monroe High pitching aces Joel Zamudio and Wayne Nix, both high-round selections in the amateur draft in recent years, Ennis has finally broken through to become one of the area's dominant pitchers. It just took a few months longer than expected. Ennis is a big reason--6-foot-4, 185 pounds--Panorama City (21-5) qualified for the District 20 double-elimination playoffs that began Tuesday.

Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon said Friday that he should have been notified by L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley's office that a case involving an intruder at his home had been dismissed and the suspect released from a state mental hospital. Alarcon spoke out one day after an intruder broke into his Panorama City home for a second time in six months. Lawrence Lydell Payton, 42, was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of burglary at Alarcon's Nordhoff Street home.

I am gliding across the ice on bended knee -- a Prince Charming wedding proposal, a disco move gone very, very bad. I think my jeans just came unbuttoned. In one hand, a broom; in the other, a significant chunk of Scottish granite. Curling, will you marry me? "The thing about curling is that there's no booing," one of my instructors says. "Curling is a gentleman's sport." Yeah, right. Till now. For the first time in my life, I am curling. For the first time in my life, I am better at something than 99% of humankind.