Let’s all come together this 4th of July and celebrate our Community Independence Day
FREE
FRIDAY • JUNE 27, 2014
INSIDE:
Student Recognition Night ................
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Time to Explore Summer! ................ Missing Woman ................
THE PAPER WITH AN ATTITUDE!
VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 13
Sunland-Tujunga Celebrates Our Nation’s Birthday It all starts at 10 a.m. with the Rotary Club’s Parade down Foothill from Mt. Gleason to the Park
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Electrical Fire at Pinewood Elementary ................ Homeless Meeting ................ Education techniques ................ Wrecks of the Week ................
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Barouir Kradjian Passes ................
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DEPARTMENTS What Folks Are Doing........... 2 View from the Rock.............. 3 Letters and Perspectives........ 3 Chef Randy........................... 5 Artfully Speaking.................. 5 Take My Card....................... 9
The Rotary Club of Sunland-Tujunga/Shadow Hills welcomes our community to join us The theme of the parade is “Celebrating Arts in the Foothills.” An artist from McGroarty Arts Center is the Grand Marshal. We will have floats from the McGroarty Arts Center, Bolton Hall, Heaven on Earth Ranch and Century 21 among others. The Oldest Rock in Sunland-Tujunga will be joining us this year again along with marching bands, motorcycle groups, churches and equestrian groups to keep things lively along with scouts of all ages. The American Legion Color Guard and a huge flag will be opening the parade along with government officials. The Honorary Mayor Tom Smoker will be riding with Miss Tujunga Gissele Tohom. Award-winning vehicles will also be in the parade. So please… no water balloons, buckets or water cannons. This will
prevent any injury to people or property during this festive parade. For those who want a good soaking, join in behind the fire trucks that will be spraying water at the end of the parade to cool you off as usual. There is no entry fee for this event hosted by the S-T/SH Rotary Club. Applications are available at Sabrina.Godinez@essc.org or pick one up at OK Trophy in Sunland. Please get your applications in by July 1 to be placed in the line-up. Of course, you won’t be turned away after the 30th, but you will be placed farther back in the parade line-up.
2 — FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014 • THE FOOTHILLS PAPER
www.thefoothillspaper.com • VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 13
Student Recognition Night at LC Women’s Club The La Crescenta Women’s Club hosted their annual “Student Recognition Night” on Friday, May 9. The event was a huge success with over 80 people in attendance. The color guard for the evening festivities was Daisy Troop #5311. They presented the colors and led the attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance with pride. The Club honored eight outstanding students. The entertainment for the evening was a bassoon performance by the Roberta Kurtz winner, Jenna Bensen. Jenna is a student at Crescenta Valley High School and aspires to become a professional bassoonist. She was awarded a $500.00 scholarship. Scholarships of $500.00 each were awarded to Nelle Stepanyan of Hoover High School, who will pursue studies in Business Administration. Gissela Aguayo is going to use her scholarship assistance to become a nurse. She attends Glendale High School. Child Development is the goal of our next recipi-
ent, Isabelle Dassion. She attends Crescenta Valley High School. The fourth scholarship went to Nari Shin of Crescenta Valley High School. She sees herself creating a non-profit organization to aide people after college. The last scholarship award went to Rhys Teff, a student at Crescenta Valley High School. Rhys wants to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. The History Department was honored to award $200.00 scholarships to two great kids. Alexa Harris, of Crescenta Valley High School is going to become a nurse and Andrea Alvarado is looking forward to a career as a history teacher. She also attends Crescenta Valley High School. These bright children proudly stood on the stage to accept their scholarship checks to the applause of their beaming parents and friends. The ceremony was concluded with coffee, cookies and many kisses and hugs all around.
Time to Explore
Free Edendale Noon Concerts SOLO CELLO RECITAL featuring MAKSIM VELICHKIN at the EDENDALE UP CLOSE Concert Series at the Edendale Branch Library in Echo Park. Saturday June 28 from noon until 1 p.m. A COMMUNITY CONCERT at the Edendale Branch Library, 2011 W. Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90026. For more information, please call (213) 207-3000. FREE ADMISSION Concert in the Community Room. Free parking in the library lot. Program will feature works for solo cello by HENZE & J.S. BACH; Los Angeles based composers: GEORGE N. GIANOPOULOS & ALI HELNWEIN and works chosen from the 15 MINUTES OF FAME: www.voxnovus. com/15_Minutes_of _Fame/ Event website: www.edendaleupclose.blogspot.com. This concert is supported by a grant from the Hennings-Fischer Foundation. Future concerts in this free series at the Edendale Branch Library: BRAHMS FESTIVAL with the Edendale Ensemble! Saturday August 30 at noon until 1 p.m. featuring the Brahms Clarinet Quintet on Saturday September 6 at noon until 1 p.m. featuring Brahms String Quartet No.1, Op.51/1. Concert info will be updated at www.edendaleupclose. blogspot.com. •••
Crescenta Valley Sierra Club Hosts Hike & Brunch The Crescenta Valley Sierra Club Group invites the community to our annual July Hike and Brunch at Deukmejian Park in La Crescenta located at 3429 Markridge Road, between New York and Frederick Avenues, on July 12, Saturday at 8 a.m. Brunch will be served following the one hour to one and a half hour hike. Dr. Jim Adams, trained in the Indian ways of native medicines will instruct hikers about the natural medicinal plants growing in our hills. His book on the subject will be available. •••
Free Glendale Noon Concerts
FREE ADMISSION GLENDALE NOON CONCERTS Every FIRST & THIRD WEDNESDAY at 12:10-12:40 pm The Sanctuary at FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF GLENDALE, 209 N. Louise St. (at Wilson), Glendale CA 91206 (818) 242 2113 JULY 2: Improvisations BILLY CHILDS - piano MAKSIM VELICHKIN - cello JULY 16: KATHY MARSH Solo Recital: Works for solo flute and solo piccolo by MISHKAR NUNEZ-MEJIA and FREDERICK LESEMANN
AUGUST 6: Voice Recital MICHAL DAWSON CONNOR - bass-baritone TWYLA MEYER - piano CONCERT UPDATES: www.glendalenoonconcerts. blogspot.com/ •••
Music, Mayhem and Madness at the Pasadena Playhouse The Pasadena Playhouse presents SUMMER AT THE PLAYHOUSE – Music, Mayhem and Madness, three exciting productions playing this July. A Judy Garland Concert with Joey Luft features Judy Garland’s son Joey Luft making a rare public appearance (July 10-13) followed by PLAYHOUSE ROCKS! with Tony® Nominee Powerhouse MARY BRIDGET DAVIES, a Tony Award® nominee for A Night With Janis Joplin which was presented last season at The Pasadena Playhouse and was the venue’s highest grossing show in its history (July 17-20). The month will end with Henson Alternative’sPUPPET UP! – UNCENSORED created by award-winning director, producer, and writer Brian Henson and actor and improvisational guru Patrick Bristow with The Jim Henson Company’s renowned puppeteers (July 24-26). The Playhouse continues its tradition of distinctive and entertaining summer programming.
Woman Missing, LAPD Searching
with each class having a different designated area to use each day. In addition, many schools across the country have eliminated recess time to devote more time to academics. We started wondering when kids got to play, “hang out” and just be kids. The center offers many opportunities to choose activities that provide hands on experiences and learning. We try and ask ourselves, “What did we do as kids? How do we help our children have some of those experiences?” During the summer, the school age program has a different theme each week. There are activities and a field trip planned around the theme. For
Los Angeles police are seeking information from the public to help find University of Redlands alumna Kimberly Blum, 44, of Los Angeles, who has been missing since June 5. Blum was last heard from in the 1000 block of Newhome Avenue in Sunland around 4 p.m., according to Los Angeles police officials. Blum is described as a white female with brown hair, blue eyes. She is about 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs around 144 pounds. She was last seen wearing a black tank top and wears prescription glasses. Lisa Beguelin, formerly of Redlands, graduated from UofR with Blum in 1991. They became friends while participating in the University choir, Beguelin said.
see Time to Explore, page 9
see Missing, page 9
Everyday is a learning experience. By Ramie Case Time to Explore Child Development Center is a locally owned business that opened in August 2004. (We will soon be celebrating our 10 year anniversary!) The center was founded with three overall goals: 1) Provide a safe place, both emotionally and physically, for children to develop and explore their world, 2) Enable children to be outside in as natural a setting as possible and 3) Help children develop into explorers and “life long learners”. For school age children, the center offers a balance to school which has become very academic and structured. Even recess can be very structured,
THE FOOTHILLS PAPER • FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014 — 3
VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 13 • www.thefoothillspaper.com
Who will step up to help the homeless?
Sunland-Tujunga has a major problem in getting the local churches and service organizations to play larger roles and to coordinate their efforts. During a recent hearing on the homeless camps in S-T, SLO Contreras tried to explain what the citizens could do and what he as a LAPD officer couldn’t. Everybody chimed in with their own ideas. Except for a couple of completely incoherent individuals, the meeting went off fairly well. The question not asked or answered was “What will you do next?” Over the past years, there were four “Safe Haven Shelters” for the homeless, managed by the homeless and self-sufficient through their efforts at working at a local recycling plant. So why did the Cleghorn machine with its hitman-sociopath Joe Barrett shut them down? I guess we will never know as no one here can say three words without lying. At first glance it appears that our neighborhood council really doesn’t want to find an answer much less a solution. You have to really ask yourself, why would the STNC reject a proposal that would have allowed up to 75 people to
stay on city-owned or private property, out of sight and off the sidewalks? Why did those people who could help shut down any discussion about re-opening Camp Louis Routh. Could it be that they were getting some kind of kickback from the L.A. Housing people? There was a real working program here that provided jobs, food, sanitary facilities and a safe place to stay when the TVR and 18th Street gangs were out “Bum Bashing.” All that was needed was a direct connection with the L.A. County Dept. of Mental Health. With that link, they could have broken the cycle of homelessness in the Foothills. So why is it that the city already spends more than $30 million a year in locally generated revenue on human services including year-round assistence at the San Fernando Mission? And now that it is gone, will they all come to live in Big Tujunga Canyon? So, what do we really need? First, churches need to step up. The city already allows religious organizations to have feeding operations in the park. Yet few religious entities have stepped up recently to host a homeless camp in S-T. We need a for-real Homeless
Working Group, not the eyewash bullshit L.A. social club that meets in the North Valley City Hall. City officials should find willing hosts and shepherd them through the process of how to help. We need a triage of opportunities for our local homeless: 1) Easy access to drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers; 2) Easy access to mental health groups: 3) A way of providing jobs to those who can work. It may sound cold, but we need to take care of OUR LOCAL homeless, the rest need to have an incentive to go away. That incentive is really simple: ENFORCE OUR LAWS PERTAINING TO RECYCLING AND THE LIQUOR STORES THAT CONTINUALLY SUPPLY LIQUOR TO THE DRUNK! We need to work with our neighboring cities rather than keep up the lie that they are “dumping” their homeless in S-T. Remember, the homeless are not one big mass. For those of you who really don’t know, here’s a quick breakdown: GOOD HOMELESS: People and families who through no fault of their own have fallen on hard times and need temporary shelter. BAD HOMELESS: Youths hanging
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ROCK out in packs at Finn Park doing drugs and drinking alcohol. Scumbag drug dealers and customers in the park who fight among themselves, aggressively panhandle and do drugs. We need to help the good homeless, and run the bad homeless out of town. Many homeless are not there by choice. Mental illness, unemployed or derelict, they still need help. We have a lot of do-gooders who are too busy helping Africa or other countries and should be doing more here. Sort the people out. Help the ill, create jobs and those that don’t want the help and are constantly being arrested— move them out. If we create working camps in the mountains with no access to drugs or alcohol, we will “lose” about 50% of the transient homeless population. Could things be any more simple? Oh, and we’ve got to stop the STNC members from drinking The Water!
The Foothills Letters & Perspectives STNC Meeting Gets Crazy THE FOOTHILLS PAPER
is published bi-weekly. All contents are copyrighted and may not be reproduced without written consent of the publisher. All submissions to this newspaper become property of THE FOOTHILLS PAPER and may not be republished in whole or in part. The opinions expressed by contributing writers do not necessarily express the views of the publisher nor staff of this newspaper. TFP is available free of charge. No person may, without prior written permission from TFP, take more than one copy of each edition (stated value: $1). Only authorized TFP distributors may distribute THE FOOTHILLS PAPER. THE FOOTHILLS PAPER has terminated its Non-Profit status so that it can more effectively address political and social problems within our community! EXECUTIVE EDITOR/PUBLISHER Dr. David DeMullé editor@thefoothillspaper.com PRODUCTION and DESIGN Randall Fleming ftp@thepaper.ws WITH THANKS TO The ILS Foundation for Their Support
THE FOOTHILLS PAPER TheFoothillsPaper.COM P.O. Box 550 Tujunga CA 91042 818-951-0943
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Dear Editor, It is said that the definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting a different outcome. Well, this must the cast and motto of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Watch meeting attendees. Once a month, we go to air out the concerns and issues that are pressing on our minds as homeowners. Again and again we are given the same idiotic reasons why the police cannot do their jobs…. yes, we know you are understaffed and overworked….but
who isn’t? Have you stepped into the shoes of your teachers and seen the hours they spend on grading, meetings, professional development and parent conferences? OK so I digress… the last meeting was the same old issues that had no answers. However, we now have Offices Contreras and Smalling. Dumb and dumber could have done a better job. They ignored hands raised and kept looking at the clock to run out the time as they side tracked every issue. What was their bottom line? Keep calling the police non-emergency number until someone notices your issue and can then file a paper to go in a file somewhere as a statistic! Really!
Our questions went unheard and unanswered. What happened to the earthquake preparedness meetings and training…..we don’t know. What about the homeless encampment and issues…..we don’t know. We have no answers and yet we go month after month expecting different results. Insanity? Yup! Jasmine Altounian •••
Powerhouse Fire Statement by Forest Service The U.S. Forest Service de-
termined the cause of the Powerhouse Fire to be electrical power lines creating a competent ignition source. All other causes were excluded. All fire causes were considered, investigated, and evaluated during the Powerhouse Fire investigation. The Powerhouse Fire began May 30, 2013 on the Angeles National Forest with full containment on June 10, 2013, burning more than 30,000 acres. For further information please submit a request for a copy of Forest Service Report of Investigation 13-057878776 through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process.
Fire at Pinewood Elementary Pinewood Elementary Schools smoke alarms went off last Friday. Fortunately classes were out for the summer vacation and only staff and pre-schoolers were on campus. LAFD 74 arrived and raced to Room 14 where copious amounts of smoke were coming out of the open doors. The school custodian had put the fire out with a dry chemical fire extinguisher and only the heavy smoke and chemical dust was left. There were no injuries, but some of the children became frightened by the loud alarm sounds and the smoke coming from the room. All Pinewood teachers and staff kept the children calm and it quickly became a carnival-like event with neighbors, friends and kids all talking about the fire.
Testing for hot spots in the ceiling.
4 — FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014 • THE FOOTHILLS PAPER
www.thefoothillspaper.com • VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 13
A Trip to Never- Saturday’s Homeless Never Land Meeting Review
Tim making the journey to try and get his sick friend released. By Bonnie Corwin Recently in Sunland-Tujunga, the homeless situation has progressively gone downhill while the homeless are moving uphill. Transients are coming to Sunland-Tujunga and pushing the homeless (many of whom are from this area) out of places they normally stayed and had been left alone. We are made aware from Facebook posts and from The Foothills Paper’s last edition that Tomi Lynn Bowling decided it was time to do something about the homeless situation in the community. Her method of solving the homeless/transient situation was to create and promote a “hate site” dedicated to the harassment and removal of the homeless form our community. Legal, yes; ethical for a STNC member, NO. Unfortunately, what has now occurred is harassment of the homeless that is escalating and the homeless feeling victimized–and sometimes rightfully so. Does that mean they should break the law? No. But if someone is constantly taking pictures of homeless individuals and their belongings, and threatening them, are the homeless breaking the law when they strike back? Should they find an advocate that would help them to file restraining orders? Does any one human being have the right to throw eggs at another human being just because they are less fortunate? On Friday, June 6, one of our local homeless was arrested on a trumped up misdemeanor charge. Bail was set at $100,000.00–for a misdemeanor. Dennis Bowden, his caregiver states that his friend was not given his free phone call. Bowden tried numerous times over the weekend to get through to the jailers; however, they never answered. He believes this is because of a prejudice against the homeless and the disabled. Besides being homeless, his friend is also disabled and needs to have his medication on a daily basis. It
was imperative that he have this medication. On Saturday, June 7, Bowden called Doc at The Paper while we were driving back to town and stated that an LAPD officer had just pulled his gun on him and his dogs. We were out of town then and probably got to that location about 15 minutes later. When the LAPD saw us they quickly left before we could park and speak with them. LAPD Senior Lead Officer (SLO) Smalling has taken a new tact and appears to be assisting in the attacks on the homeless population. She is not ever available to talk with. A sorry state of affairs for our community when the Tujunga SLO joins the “Liars Club.” On Sunday, June 8, Bowden discovered two notes on their personal carts (not grocery carts). Now, keep in mind there were about three to four other baskets on each side of their carts. These carts were on private property, by the way. Bowden’s friend’s cart was the only one that had a note. The note was on 8.5” by 11” white paper. Not a normal looking official document from the LAPD. On June 9, The Foothills Paper called LAPD to determine that this document was not an official document of the LAPD. On Monday, June 9, a young homeless man that I personally did not recognize came to The Foothills Paper around 9:00 a.m. and knocked on the door. He was very distraught because someone had taken his daughter’s bag of toys. He indicated that he did not care about anything else, he just wanted his daughter’s toys. I thought he was going to cry. His daughter’s toys were in the same location as the other carts. I walked with him to where the carts were stored. It was then that I noticed that Bowden’s friend’s cart had been vandalized. After speaking with Bowden later, it was determined that items were taken. Someone stole food, water, see Court, page 9
Everybody had a voice and everybody was heard. It was good to hear both sides of the problem discussed. By Bonnie Corwin Fifty stakeholders including about 15 homeless residents attended the Saturday meeting at the North Valley City Hall. Officer Contreras of the LAPD Foothills Division was the speaker. He commented on his surprise that neither Felipe Fuentes nor his representative attended the meeting. Nobody else was surprised. According to the way the meeting flowed, evidently Sunland-Tujunga individuals are not happy with the response of the LAPD when it comes to the homeless situation. In Officer Contreras’ words: “LAPD can only do as much as we can do.” He further mentioned that downtown L.A. is lost (to the homeless and the transients). The LAPD still reports that statistically there is a low crime rate in our neck of the woods–followed with “the agencies are doing the best they can with the resources they have.” Contreras suggested that our community leaders should support the people in our area who are doing something for the homeless instead of forming vigilante gangs like the Tomi Lyn Bowling surveillance group.
One of the happy stakeholders that attended Saturday’s meeting and expressed his personal feelings.
Lake View Terrace and Sunland-Tujunga now have their own City Prosecutor just for the Foothill LAPD Division. That does not make sense if crime is statistically low and going down, but then again, nothing the LAPD has said recently makes sense. Other LAPD divisions do not have their own prosecutor. Nevertheless, our very own newly dedicated prosecutor is Susan Chung. She supposedly is knowledgeable in the area of the homeless and the laws associated with them. Having our own prosecutor speeds up the prosecution process and will shorten the court process. No one defined exactly what steps are cut out. Contreras then explained a few of the laws already in place like sleeping on sidewalks. There are laws no matter whether stakeholders agree or not. Another law is that if property is deemed abandoned, it can be taken, but it is tricky on who and how that determination would be made. No one indicated who can or should take the property. Officer Nunez made the off-the-wall statement that “If you have someone storing an unattended cart on the sidewalk in front of your property, after 72 hours you can dump their items on the ground and report the cart stolen.” Even if it is not a grocery cart. If the property is in a county location, the issue is addressed by the county, not LAPD. Officer Contreras did point out that the laws can be tricky and that he as a police officer did not want to get involved, but that you as a stakeholder could do what you want. In other words, if property is left for 72 hours, then report it. Where it might get tricky is if the property contains medication that is important for a homeless person (you know, human being), to have access to that medication. Officer Nunez indicated that someone in the community needs to lead cleaning up our
streets. WE ARE ADDING THE WORD “LEGALLY.” The officers also pointed out to be careful what we wish for. If one area is cleaned up, then the homeless will move somewhere else. For instance, Sunland Park. You cannot call LAPD because a homeless and/ or transient person is sleeping in the park. Last, but not least, it was reiterated that our community individuals cannot beat up the homeless. No pictures can be taken “to document.” Peggy R., passionate for helping the homeless, gave her report about the existing programs available out there and one new program just implemented: the county will certify pets so that they can stay with their owners at homeless shelters. Was the meeting a success? Well, the homeless were given the opportunity to speak – some of them have bachelor degrees and need work. Others need a place to live. In order to get a place to live, one has to go through county and make sure they have valid identification. Since Officer Contreras wanted to dispel rumors in the beginning, The Foothills Paper stayed the entire meeting from beginning to end. Joe Barrett verbally abused a couple of women in front of see Meeting, page 6
Local community activist Joe Barrett suffered a mental incident when he confronted Tomi Lyn Bowling and other women at the meeting.
THE FOOTHILLS PAPER • FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014 — 5
VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 13 • www.thefoothillspaper.com
Macaroni & Cheese Toast
Ingredients: Leftover baked macaroni and cheese (refrigerated) 1 cup flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon cayenne 1 egg beaten with 2 ounces water
Artfully
1 cup Panko bread crumbs Oil for deep frying (pan with oil heated on medium heat–about 365 degrees)
Directions: Cut refrigerated macaroni and cheese into 1-inch thick slices. Cut slices into 1½-inch “sticks”. Season the flour with salt, pepper and cayenne. Dredge each stick through the flour and gently tap off excess. Dip coated sticks in the egg wash and then coat with the bread crumbs. Allow sticks to rest for 5 minutes so the crust can set. Heat oil in frying pan. How do you know if the frying temp is just right? Julia Childs
gave this advice in Joy of Cooking: “Drop a 1-inch square of bread into the oil. If it takes 60 seconds to brown, then the oil is 365º.” Very carefully drop sticks into hot oil and fry until golden brown. Remove sticks to paper towels to drain for 2 to 3 minutes. Serve hot.
See Chef Randy’s food blog for more recipes at
http://valley-vegetarian.com
Locking Cart Wheels
With the amount of grocery carts being stolen across Sunland-Tujunga, the larger stores are installing locking wheels on their carts. The carts that cost up to $100 each often times end up in the wash, the homeless camps and in one instance, as a BBQ in someones back yard. Ralph’s asked their landlord Gaska to allow them to install the locking lanes but were denied. The Sunland Ralph’s is rumored to be closing by the end of the year and they will be moving to Sun Valley.
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Unconscious Confidence I’ve sometimes been called arrogant or cocky, among other things. I’ve thought long and hard and tried to look inward and see if others were right. The conclusion I’ve come to is “yes” sometimes others are right, but the arrogance others see in truth is what I like to call “Unconscious Confidence.” This was developed in me mostly by my parents who, from an early age, encouraged me to be independent and didn’t clip my wings when I tried to fly as it were. I’ve made many mistakes in my youth, but have learned from my mistakes though sometime unwilling to do so. Bang your head on a brick wall long enough and you will eventually look for another way over that wall. Being older now, I wish I can say I don’t make mistakes anymore. But, in actuality all I can say is, I make less mistakes, but seem to many I know, still to be arrogant. But there is a major difference. Throughout my life this “Unconscious Confidence” has caused me no end of problems, until I began to gain real knowledge and real ability. I still leave room for being wrong, but when I believe I’m right, based on my experience and knowledge when in conversations with others; it still comes off as arrogance, but now I understand and can deal with it. All self-assured people; with either empirical or schooled knowledge; can look arrogant to others because those with actual knowledge are self-assured people who are persistent and undeterred
and speak with the knowledge they have gained. When I was younger, I thought I knew everything. Most children and young people feel the same. It is only through trial and error and wisdom that we begin to understand how little we know. Only then do we begin to learn about life; how it works and our place in it. Which brings me to the subject of art. I have been teaching painting and drawing for some time, and it seems the same dilemma transposes to art. While some students exhibit a facsimile of “Unconscious Confidence”, I have come to understand now how youth has this unconscious confidence build in, so to speak. It is a part of what youth is about. Young people need it to progress. One has to go head long into a situation sometimes not knowing they will fail or not succeed. It is almost a necessary process of life. If we don’t dare to move forward, even with little or no knowledge, will we ever dare to move forward? So, I have come to the conclusion that there are two versions of “unconscious confidence.” With youth, this unconscious confidence is ego driven and not based on real knowledge. If encouraged, as I was, it is the building blocks that cause someone to keep moving forward and hopefully acquire “real” knowledge to not only be a contributing human being but also a thinking artist who make works of substance and value.
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This is something you might find at county fairs this time of year. I actually saw deep-fried macaroni and cheese balls at the San Diego County fair one time. Although I didn’t try them, I did get the inspiration for this recipe using leftover macaroni and cheese. Kids (of all ages) love it!
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6 — FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014 • THE FOOTHILLS PAPER
www.thefoothillspaper.com • VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 13
Education Techniques erspectives for Teaching Inmates and Returning Citizens Iraq Again, Hell Never Ends!
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By Jeremy O. Bamidele
The jail’s student population differs from that of most schools. Additionally, students self-select to attend class. It is important to attend to these differences in order to maintain an acceptable attendance level. The jail populace is ripe with mental deficits and many adult students possess less than an elementary education. Furthermore, most students maintain learning styles not typically catered to in the average classroom. As a result, an instructor may need to utilize teaching techniques formerly unfamiliar to them. The instructor must be careful not to extend students academically beyond their range as this can lead to disenchantment and disengagement with the learning process. The necessity of education to enter into occupations that provide a livable income, makes education one of the primary tools of reducing recidivism rates. The inability to enter and compete in the mainstream job market leads to crime, by forcing individuals to enter into the criminal job market. The academic article, “Identifying the Effect of Unemployment on Crime,” states unemployment is strongly correlated with the likelihood of committing a property crime—a significant portion of all crimes. Increasing the percentage of inmates that participate in and complete post-secondary education would drastically reduce recidivism rates. According to the aggregate study, “Post-Secondary Correctional Education and Recidivism: A Meta-Analysis of Research Conducted 19901999,” published in the, “Journal of Correctional Education,” postsecondary education training reduces the percentage of those who recede within three years by almost a half. The prison population has a disproportionate amount of kinesthetic and visual learners. This contrasts auditory learning, the style of learning most catered to in the traditional learning environment. Unlike auditory learners, who can learn through lecture, visual learners understand and recall information better when it is presented in the form of graphics, moving media, and visual demonstrations. On the
other hand, kinesthetic learners learn best by doing. These students are often incorrectly labeled as being hyperactive or in some cases as having Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). Since most traditional education environments do not cater to these students, many end up feeling ostracized and discontented with education and in many cases systems as a whole. As a result, many prisoners resist participating in educational programs. Therefore, the challenge of instructors is how to incorporate those who have been disenfranchised back into the educational fold. This task is made more difficult due to security restrictions that prevent the use of many of the teaching strategies that are suited to these types of students. Education seeks to achieve two basic goals, understanding and memory recall. These goals are interrelated as studies prove that one is more apt to remember what he understands and one is more able to understand information tied to that which he already knows. The web method of instruction capitalizes on the interconnectedness of these two goals by attaching new information to as many pieces of currently held information as possible, creating a metaphysical web. Information is perceived in relation to previously held information, allowing it to be understood from multiple perspectives. Furthermore, this method increases the amount of recall cues attached to a piece of information allowing the memory to be more salient and therefore easier to recall. The web technique is made increasingly useful because of its adaptability to multiple learning profiles. The web method of instruction allows kinesthetic learners to attach information to physical action, forming a personal sign language that can be used to understand information as well as recall it. One such example is learning to count with one’s fingers. The technique also fares well with visual learners; for example, representing numerical data spatially through graphs. The web method’s adaptability makes it a useful tool in a teacher’s arsenal. The web method of
By Glenn Mollette Iraq - now we know where hell is. Hell is supposed to be a place of torment reserved for some people after death. Unfortunately, too many have ended up there before they died. Is there no end to the turmoil in Iraq and Afghanistan? We will never see peace and quiet in either of these two countries. Hell never ends. The religious factions of these countries hate each other. They want to kill each other. These factions are crazy. America is killing itself and our troops trying to fix crazy religious people. The only thing worse than a crazy person is a religious crazy person because they invoke the name of God or Allah or somebody during every crucifixion or beheading they perform. As they torture, murder and rape they move on in the name of their religion.
Meeting from pg. 4 eyewitnesses after the meeting was over. He verbally attacked TFP editor Doc and went into one of his Turrets Syndrome modes and began calling everyone around him “f*cking a**holes and pieces of sh*t.” This from the Cleghorn-backed Sunland-Tujunga Alliance officer. One of our readers informed us that Barrett continued to verbally attack others in the meeting room after we left,
Returning from pg. 6 instruction is only one of many techniques which can be institutionalized as an accessible approach for learning. If more cur-
Some Americans thought we were finished in Iraq. When it comes to Iraq or the Middle East there is never a period but always a comma. Craziness does not end but only grows. The only way to have some civility in Iraq or Afghanistan is to station 30,000 soldiers in five or six bases throughout each country. We can be assured if we do there will never be a time that our soldiers will not be in danger of ambush, bombs or the native soldiers turning on us as has happened numerous times. I think this is a bad idea. Most Americans did not want us to go to Iraq or Afghanistan but we did. Over four thousand troops have died fighting the Iraqi cause. Where did all of that death get us? What do Iraq or America have to show for it? The same scenario will happen in Afghanistan. Thugs
sometimes called the Taliban will band together to steal, kill and retake any part of the country that surrenders to them as played out in Iraq recently. Do we keep 30,000 troops in Afghanistan to help them police their country and continue to lose our American troops? Physically, emotionally and financially we can’t keep thousands of troops in Afghanistan or send thousands back to Iraq. There is no ending to this boiling pot of the world. Turbulence in the Middle East will never stop. In recent months we could have justified sending troops to Syria as well and then we could be in three countries. How thin can we spread our soldiers, as well as stretch our American dollars? Hell is a hot place and we will never extinguish the fire. Glenn Mollette is an American columnist and author. Contact him at GMollette@ aol.com.
most specifically Tomi Lyn Bowling. Reportedly she began to cry and Barrett did not back off. It is good in one sense to see Cindy Cleghorn and the STNC helping the mentally deranged find fulfillment in life, but on the other hand, it really does not bode well with the rest of the community to have her hitman attack so many people at one time. Joe is a fine candidate for placement in the Day Street apartments as he meets the
mental requirement. He has his own hate blog called the “Flop and Suckit” wherein he attacks just about everyone. Cindy Cleghorn of the Chamber of Commerce supports his hate site to the chagrin of the normal people in the community. There are more meetings to be scheduled in the future regarding our community and how the LAPD is involved. Stay tuned for the next “dog and pony show.” Maybe SLO Smalling will attend.
riculum development was geared towards the implementation of the web method, educators, teachers and professors could potentially see vast improvement in the achievement
levels amongst the academically behind clientele of prison industrialized complexes. This in turn would lead to lower recidivism rates and decreased societal cost of keeping inmates interned.
see Returning, at right
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VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 13 • www.thefoothillspaper.com
WreckS O Ff T H E W E E K Slow down and live...
Another bicyclist run over by a fast moving car. Oro Vista at Grove.
This bicyclist was hit from behind by this BMW who was driving at a high rate of speed on La Tuna Canyon. ALL LANES ARE BIKE LANES.
This motorcycle was squashed between a pickup and a car on Foothill Blvd. The truck driver had no insurance card.
Good Samaritans help a downed biker in front of Tujunga 7-11. The biker came out of the 7-11 driveway and was hit by a fast-moving PT Cruiser.
There were way too many accidents to cover here; visit
Facebook.com/thefoothillspaper
THE FOOTHILLS PAPER • FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014 — 7
8 — FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014 • THE FOOTHILLS PAPER
www.thefoothillspaper.com • VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 13
Foothills Pet Page HARMONY FARMS IS SPONSORING A PET APPRECIATION DAY ON JUNE 21 and requesting donations of pet food and toys for the pets of our local homeless
Please help us help them! Their pets need love and food. Von’s-Tujunga, Harmony Farms, and Wag My Tail-Sunland have donation boxes at their stores.
Family Tragedy on Hofstetter Fire Road By by David DeMullé A family on a fun hike in La Tuna Canyon Park with their two dogs had a fatal turn of events for the family dogs. The two family dogs couldn’t handle the 95 degree heat and their body systems began to shut down. Using all the water they had to try and cool down the overheated dogs was not enough to save the larger one. Dr. Ann Hohenhaus, of the Animal Medical Center in New York, recommends: If you have refrigerated water handy, pour it over your dog, completely soak a towel in water, put your dog in the backseat covered with the wet towel and get to the veterinary clinic. But don’t
Heat kills, so please don’t take your pets on hikes without being prepared for heat stroke. waste time trying to find cold water or ice if it’s not readily available, she says. Just get the dog to a veterinarian immediately. “Don’t spend an hour try-
ing to cool down the dog,” she says. Dogs can’t tell you they are see Tragedy, page 9
THE FOOTHILLS PAPER • FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014 — 9
VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 13 • www.thefoothillspaper.com
And pant. And pant. And pant. Before you leave home, pack two bath towels big enough to cover your dog and over heated, it is up to you the owner to enough refrigerated water to pour over a make sure that they have more than small dog or to soak the towels. enough water to keep them cool. Even You don’t have to worry about your when in the shade, if the temperature is dog getting too cold, she says. But using just too high, a dog can get heatstroke. cold water, even ice packs beneath your Dogs with any health condition that imdog, while you drive to a clinic, won’t pairs normal breathing can suffer it too. harm a dog with heatstroke, she says. If Also, it’s important to remember that just because you might be able to tolerate a dog is merely panting heavily and seems overheated, but can still drink and 98 degrees in the shade with a cool drink move around, you’re probably safe coolin hand, it doesn’t mean your dogs can. You can sweat – like crazy if you need to. ing it down on your own. But if the dog has gray or purple lips, You also can tell when it’s getting to be or can’t drink and stand on its own, Hotoo much and leave the event if need be, go into an air-conditioned building on the henhaus advises proceeding immediately grounds, or even drive around in your car to a clinic. Heatstroke can lead to seizures, coma and death. Only a veterinarwith the air conditioning on full blast. ian will be able to tell you when the dog Your dogs can do none of those things, except sweat a tiny bit through their paws. has recovered.
Tragedy from pg. 8
Court from pg. 4 blankets, and paperwork–important documents. Was this a set up? The homeless are human beings that need food, water and blankets to survive. When Bowden and I went to the courthouse three days after his friend was arrested, Bowden explained how many hours he had been on the phone just trying to speak with a jailer over the weekend. I personally had to leave before the hearing commenced. Bowden later informed me that they lowered his friend’s bail to $35,000.00. Bowden explained that it would take $3,500.00 to bail his friend out of jail
and he was too sick to be in there. He was so forlorn because he felt that Tomi Lyn Bowling and the LAPD won. Bowden is terrified that they will now go after his dogs. As of today, Bowden was successful after many hours of speaking with the lead public defender and homeless advocates. It turns out that his friend was let go because all of the evidence was completely disputed. You know those cameras that are in most of the parking lots now? They come in handy sometimes. Bowden’s friend was let go and in time to continue on his medication. This time it has a happy ending. What about the next time?
DID JOE BARRETT STEAL THE STNC CAMERA? No one knows where the camera is. The Foothills Paper will pay $100 To anyone that can provide Joe Barretts Address. (Where he lives). Contact editor@thepaper.ws
Missing from pg. 3 Blum studied American government and international studies at University of Redlands. She studied political science at the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies in Redlands. Begulein said she last spoke with Blum in February when Blum sent her a Facebook message about a logo she had posted on her profile. Begulein describes Blum as a really laid back and a “very sweet, kind, funny, easy going person and sarcastic in a really funny, witty sort of way, but just all around a good person.” Blum left her job as a senior department assistant at the California Institute of Technology last month, according to her Facebook profile. She is the owner of The Garage
Time to Explore from pg. 2 example, one week is “Summer Fun” and will include making ice cream from scratch and a field trip to a cherry orchard to pick cherries right off the tree! Another week will focus on the night sky with a field trip to the Griffith Park Observatory. The goal of the field trips is to have fun and learn something new in a way that sort of “sneaks” the learning in! One of my favorite memories occurred on one of our overnight camp outs. After we watched a beautiful sun set, one child ran over to me and gave me a hug and said it was the first time he had seen “it go from day to night”. He was awed and amazed. That’s the kind of experience that I think many of our children are missing out on today. It sounds simple but it’s so important and life affirming. The center also encourages children to be a part of the community. For us, it’s not enough to be located in the community we want to empower our children to be active partners within the community. I still remember several years ago when a developer bulldozed the lot next door knocking down several trees. The kids started yelling at the driver to stop. The center staff took this as a real-life learning opportunity. We talked about what was appropriate to say to the driver, what was appropriate to write on their signs, and really fo-
Fairy in Sunland, where she currently resides, according to her profile. She lists her hometown as Framingham, Mass. Anyone who has seen or has any information regarding Blum’s whereabouts may contact Missing Persons Unit Det. C. Carlton at 213-9961800. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on “webtips” and follow the prompts. cused on how you convince someone else that you think what they’re doing is not okay to do while still respecting their feelings and the job they’re supposed to do. The center’s staff and children have also been involved in community activities such as Coastal Clean Up Day in Tujunga Canyon, the Watermelon Festival, the Fourth of July Parade, and the Sunland Park Cleanup. I want to leave children with the type of experiences that fill them with wonder and amazement and empower them to be involved in their world. If you’re looking for something different, then we might be just the place for your family. We offer a preschool for ages 3 to 5 with open enrollment year round. Our preschool program is part of LAUP (Los Angeles Universal Preschool). We offer a full time program as well as a part time program. We also offer an after school program for grades kindergarten thru 6th. We pick up at several local schools. We provide a nutritious snack and help with homework. We not only make sure homework is done, but that they understand what they are doing. And of course, we are open full day during the various school breaks. The center is located at 11120 Oro Vista Ave. (where it turns into Big Tujunga Canyon). We are open from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.
10 — FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014 • THE FOOTHILLS PAPER
www.thefoothillspaper.com • VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 13
S-T Crime Stats
Burglary 06/02/14 05:00 PM 8200 BLOCK OF FOOTHILL BL
Theft 06/02/14 08:30 PM 1900 BLOCK OF VERDUGO BLVD Theft 06/12/14 02:12 PM 10400 BLOCK OF SUNLAND BL Theft 06/13/14 01:00 AM 10700 BLOCK OF MCVINE AV Theft 06/14/14 09:00 PM 10800 BLOCK OF TERECITA RD Theft 06/14/14 07:10 PM 9600 BLOCK OF TUJUNGA CANYON BL Theft 06/15/14 04:00 AM 7700 BLOCK OF JAYSEEL ST Theft 06/15/14 08:00 PM 10900 BLOCK OF MATHER AV Theft 06/16/14 02:00 PM
10400 BLOCK OF GLORY AV Theft 06/16/14 04:45 PM 00 BLOCK OF FORSYTHE AND SHERMAN GROVE Theft 06/17/14 04:00 AM 10400 BLOCK OF SUNLAND BL Theft 06/17/14 06:00 PM 10100 BLOCK OF MOUNTAIR AV
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Attention All Veterans, Sons, Daughters and Wives of Veterans Come and Enjoy your local American Legion Post Help support Veterans & Veterans’ Causes
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(818) 353-9856 Events open to the Public
$10 OFF 1-800-567-PEST (7378)
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THE FOOTHILLS PAPER • FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014 — 11
VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 13 • www.thefoothillspaper.com
Fire on Oro Vista at Big Tujunga May Have Been Caused by Morons By David “Doc” DeMullé While everybody is touting “The Gateway,” we should be talking about the incredibly STOOOOOPID people we have living here. The fire at the intersection of Oro Vista and Big Tujunga last week was caused by people smoking in their cars, having a gabfest and smoking away. LAFD 24, 74 and 77 rolled on this, but 74 put it out before anyone else arrived. My witness stated: “ I saw these two cars next to each other, one black and one white. Then this guy was jumping up and down like a crazy man, and that’s when I saw the fire and smoke. I saw him throw out something blue, then he jumped into his car and they both drove off at a high speed.” After the moron with the cigarette set fire to the brush, he tried stomping it out, then he threw a bag of ice on it. When that didn’t work, he drove off like maybe no-
LAFD Squad 74 respond to brush fire at the intersection of Big Tujunga and Oro Vista and make sure it stays out! body would notice. week? Get ready for a rash of fires Remember the pictures I took of caused by stupid people who don’t the cigarette butts on Reverie last know how to live in a rural area.
12 — FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014 • THE FOOTHILLS PAPER
Pet Food Drive
www.thefoothillspaper.com • VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 13
Glendale Community College Graduates Include S-T Residents
Ms Sunland-Tujunga Gissele Towhom, Edith W., Laura Tohom and Bonnie Corwin “man” the donation booth at the Tujunga Von’s grocery store.
Recent graduates of the Glendale Community College office management program include many residents of Sunland-Tujunga. The Glendale College Garfield program is open to all residents and provides proficiency certification in office skills and help in finding employment.
Steve Miller Honored for 24 Years as Exec Director of Tierra del Sol
Harmony Farms Owner Sonny and Chapel of the Hills Homeless Advocate Pattee Colvin show off the more than 200 pounds of pet food that was donated by various groups for the pets of our local homeless. No matter what you think of the homeless situation, their pets need care and food also.
At the meeting of the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich recognized the contributions of Steve Miller, Executive Director of the Tierra del Sol foundation, for his retirement after 24 years. He is also Supervisor
Antonovich’s appointee to the Los Angeles County Commission on Disabilities. “As the executive director of Tierra del Sol since 1990, Steve helped establish critical education and training programs that provide employment
and independent living for people with developmental disabilities,” said Antonovich. “Under his leadership, Tierra del Sol has grown to serve more than 500 men and women in the San Fernando Valley and throughout the county.”
Aerin Holt Presents
in association with California Contemporary Ballet
creators of “The Snow Queen” ballet
A tiny girl goes on a BIG adventure. With set design perfectly suited for a fairy, you don’t want to miss this summertime ballet!
Fri. June 27, 7:30pm Sat. June 28, 2:00pm Sun. June 29, 2:00pm Glendale Community College Theater
1500 N. Verdugo Rd, Glendale, CA 91208 Reserved Seating: (advance tickets) $25 adults/$20 for children (16 & under/Seniors) At the Door: $30 / $25 More Information & Tickets available at
CalBallet.com or call 818-583-7406
“From the opening moments to the grand finale, I was transported into a world of living enchantment!” --P. B.