THE FOOTHILLS PAPER - OCTOBER 16, 2015 by David DeMulle'

CITY COUNCILMAN FUENTES GETS REVENGE ON STNC See story below

FREE

FRIDAY • OCTOBER 16, 2015

TELLING THE TRUTH FOR OVER 10 YEARS!

VOLUME 11 • NUMBER 21

ST Neighborhood Council When Will It Stop? Evicted by CD-7’s Fuentes David DeMullé

spoke.” Things like that tended to make the council member’s Over the past year, efforts staff even more unreachable. to communicate with CD-7 I was in the Logistics Felipe Fuentes appear to have Manager’s office when the fallen on deaf ears. With a locksmith came in to change multitude of counselor aides the locks. I jokingly stated coming and going as though “Well at least you’re going to the front door was a turnstile, leave the master keys for the in Ed Rock’s office. I tried to no one seemed to be responstaff.” His answer was “No, speak with the councilman’s sible for anything other than I’m changing them all today.” making sure that no one got to This effectively would lock- aid, Asatur Hovannisyan, but Laena Shakarian, Fuenspeak directly with Fuentes. out the STNC from their city tes’ field rep, answered the Phone calls were not hall offices and create a major councilman’s office door and returned to media staffers or problem for City Employee re-iterated to the locksmith, even to STNC representatives. Ed Rock who is charged with “Change them all!” Some kind of media blackout putting together the agendas, Over the years, in became Fuentes’ trademark. making copies for all board speaking with different city And heaven forbid if one of members and setting up the councilmembers, it became his field reps—such as Wesley tables and chairs for the meetvery apparent to me that Hernandez—came out with ing. One other drawback of about one-third of them had a statement; it was quickly the eviction is the locking up see STNC, page 10 stated that “[Fuentes] misof all the community archives by

INSIDE: Vons Gets Locking Shopping Carts ................ Montrose Community Church Reunion ................

2 9

DEPARTMENTS What Folks Are Doing........... 2 My Two Cents....................... 2 View from the Rock.............. 3 Letters and Perspectives........ 3 Chef Randy........................... 5 Pets Page............................. 8 S-T Crime Stats................... 10 Take My Card..................... 11

Two senseless deaths on Foothill Blvd in the past two weeks. All that’s left are two simple memorials from their friends. by

David DeMullé

Last Friday James “Slim Jim” Ballard was struck and killed in front of Giamela’s Pizza on Foothill Boulevard. The driver was not cited or arrested because “It was an accident,” stated an LAPD

seargent who was directing the investigation. The most plausible story is that the driver did not see Ballard as he crossed the road heading to the 7-11 to get drinks for his friends. His friends were sitting on

see Memorials, page 9

Tujunga Gets Ready for The End of Daylight Savings Time by

David DeMullé

When Mark Seigel decided that enough time had passed since the clock worked correctly, he decided to fix it himself. What he found when he opened up the electrical box was that someone had cut off a length of wire. He was able to replace it and when he reconnected the Commerce clock, he set it back an hour so he won’t have to reset it in November. The Commerce clock cost the Commerce Owners & Business Restoration Association (COBRA) almost $13,000 and was attacked by Michael Higby’s “Mayor

Sam” hate site almost daily until it finally gave up and shut down operations in 2011. The clock stopped at 9:05 because a vandal cut and stole the wires going to it. With prodding by COBRA, Councilmember Krekorian sent a letter to the Bureau of Street Lighting to place a street clock at the corner of Commerce Avenue and Tujunga Canyon Boulevard as part of the revitalization of Historic Old Towne Commerce Avenue. One day later, the clock tower was approved and installation was scheduled to begin. No one had ever heard of the city process working so quickly.

The vandalized Commerce Avenue clock was repaired by Mark Seigel after months of trying to deal with the city and with no response. In his letter, he asked the Bureau of Street Lighting to use the existing streetlight electrical system for the clock, as it “makes the best

fiscal sense,” he wrote. With the rise in a pedestrian traffic along Commerce Avenue, residents took note when see Clock, page 9

All these stories and more can be seen at:

http://facebook.com/thefoothillspaper

MORE EXPANDED COVERAGE AND DISTRIBUTION SITES

2 — FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015 • THE FOOTHILLS PAPER

www.thefoothillspaper.com • VOLUME 11 • NUMBER 21

Vons Gets Locking Grocery Carts Bloomin’ Squares at Sunland Park Senior Center on Wednesdays

Just a few of the carts found in one hoarder’s yard. Vons in Tujunga finally got the idea and installed grocery carts with locking wheels. The idea is that if they can keep the carts in their parking lot instead of down the street, in the wash or in someone’s back yard, they will save money and have an abundance of carts for their customers.

One hoarder on Elmo Street had more than 40 Vons carts in his yard when the city forced him to clean up. That’s more than $4,000 that Vons had to pay out because of just one person. Now add up all the carts that the homeless use to transport their belongings and you begin to see why prices are rising.

NEW TIME 6 - 9 p.m. Our class will meet every Wednesday through the end of the year—unless they vote out December 23 and 30. Last Wednesday they voted yes to all! WOOD FLOORS Go check out our Meet-Up page. This class is moving fast and expected to finish Mainstream in December.

ups and Angels always welcome to stop in. Bring a snack to share if you’d like! 7:30 p.m.: MS/Plus DBD Workshop. In progress: Brushups and Angels always welcome to stop in. New classes begin Wednesday, January 6. Our club’s square dancing program: We dance and teach and dance the LGBT styling because it is far more energetic than traditional square dancing.

No need to bring a dance partner. Dance with different people all night long. You may bring a partner if you prefer. No need to purchase or where western wear, but you may if you prefer! There are Square Dance Clubs throughout the United States, Canada, and the world, so once you learn, you can dance just about everywhere in the world! Classes run about six months. www.meetup.com/BloominSquares/events/225939197/

DANCE TO ALL KINDS OF MUSIC; NO PARTNER REQUIRED. OPEN TO EVERYONE Wear casual comfortable clothing and shoes! 6:00 pm ~ Class level dancing. In Progress since July: Brush-

Dancers having a rip-roaring time!

My Two Cents

A Critical Review An app called Peeple, set to launch in November, lets people rate anyone they know on a scale of one to five for all the world to see. The creators see it as a way for people to learn what the world thinks of them. Here’s how it works: if you know someone’s cell number, you can create a listing for them and then rate them between one and five stars. You must tell if you know the person professionally, romantically or personally and give your real name. Isn’t it amazing how we continue to evolve with technology? Only now it seems we’re evolving right back to high school with this immature behavior. This is online bullying for adults. People usually only voice their opinion when it’s negative and they are angry. You’ll only fill out a customer

survey when you’re upset with service. You’ll only give customer feedback for your dining experience when dissatisfied with the restaurant. Surveys let you lodge your complaints and grievances. People don’t speak up when happy – there’s no need. Now, with this app, after a long, hard day at work, you can read that Jerry, in accounting rates you a one because he thinks you’re unqualified for your job and shouldn’t be considered for the promotion. Why would Jerry say this? Is it because he’s up for the same promotion? Could he have an ulterior motive? Will ex-spouses use this app to air their dirty laundry? Of course! Some will use it as their court of law to draw public opinion in their favor and sully their ex’s reputa-

off

On selected items.

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see Review, page 9

Cindy Argiento is a freelance columnist. To check out her book and laugh along at her other works, go to cindyargiento.com. She may be contacted via cargiento@aol.com.

For the absolute best steak this Halloween, get Harmony Farms’

Australian “Kobe-style” Wagyu Beef!

THE FOOTHILLS PAPER • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015 — 3

VOLUME 11 • NUMBER 21 • www.thefoothillspaper.com

Butter or Astroglide? Well, boys and girls, the unthinkable finally happened to Sunland-Tujunga. The local social media hate sites finally pissed off our councilman Fuentes and he, without even saying “bend over,” stuck it to the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council (STNC) and the community as a whole (please read as three words). Over the last two years, I have been making comments about how some really mentally challenged Facebook fans have been fanning the flames and attacking our councilman whenever they could. Even the Tomi-Lyn Bowling site, The Sunland-Tujunga Independent, failed to exhibit restraint by allowing people to post derogatory statements. On the Michael Higby-moderated Foothills Observed Facebook group, pornographic caricatures of the councilman were allowed. And no one seemed to mind because he wasn’t replying. But it all came to a head a couple of weeks ago when STNC president Mark Seigel had a meeting with

Fuentes and a casual statement was made that community members were posting attacks on social media against the councilman. AND THEN IT HAPPENED! Out of the blue, the STNC was notified that their relationship with Fuentes was over, and, by the way, everyone had to be out of the building by October 15. Now that got their attention. After the typical cries of “HE CAN’T DO THAT TO US!” were repeated about 30 times and more crap was posted on Facebook, it became apparent that HE REALLY COULD DO THAT AND HE DID! And the attack was so fast that Ed Rock, the logistics manager for the STNC, was left wondering what he was going to do with all the STNC equipment, archives and files of daily community action materials. Various plans were quickly proposed and a few people actually called the councilman’s office and demanded that he rescind his eviction order. Well, that didn’t help. And as the days went by, the loudmouths were left behind and the real fighting went behind locked doors

VI EW

R OCK and the city union, city employees agency, and HRD were quietly and effectively spoken to. That brought the Fuentes fight to a standstill. The STNC was given 30 days to move under stringent guidelines. But at least people could get into the building and prepare for the move to places unknown. The Bloomin’ Squares LGBT dance group was assisted in moving to the Sunland Park Senior Center. No such help was offered or given to the STNC. The Fuentes “scorched earth” policy destroyed the

opposition so fast that they could not effectively create a counter-action. Yes, boys and girls, unless the STNC finds somewhere that they can afford, get their budget changed and okayed by the city’s Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE), this could be STNC’s final days. And the community will suffer the loss of their knowledge base and community activities. Things we took for granted will soon be missing, and we can’t even say, It was the water!

The Foothills Letters & Perspectives The STNC ShakeOut Boot-Out Lock-Out by

THE FOOTHILLS PAPER

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editor@thefoothillspaper.com TECHNICAL EDITOR Randall Fleming ftp@thepaper.ws WITH THANKS TO The ILS Foundation for Their Support

THE FOOTHILLS PAPER TheFoothillsPaper.COM P.O. Box 444, Tujunga CA 91043 818-951-0943

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Karen Perdue

Thursday is the Great California ShakeOut where people will practice how to “drop, cover and hold” in preparation for an earthquake. Here in SunlandTujunga, our Neighborhood Council has had it’s own version of ShakeOut: BootOut and LockOut of the North Valley City Hall. NVCH has been its home and meeting place for 11 years. The earth moved with great magnitude when councilman Felipe Fuentes CD-7 gave just a few weeks notice to the STNC to vacate their office on October 15. Last week, a city locksmith arrived early to change the locks at city hall. With much scrambling, the STNC managed to thwart the early lock-out. Councilman Felipe Fuentes’ position is that city hall is under-utilized. He plans to lease space to L.A. Family Housing and L.A. Conservation Corps to serve “everyone” in the community. There has been a groundswell of complaints to his office about the homeless in our community. Loud demands were made, often in a hostile, uncivilized manner. The homeless have been blamed for just about everything bad that happens here. This rose to a point of hysteria and a call to form vigilante groups, flamed by Facebook. A witch-hunt was brewing.

Community groups formed to deal with the problem. Then came the in-fighting, mob mentality and the “my-wayor-the-highway” group-think. Rational people either walked away or distanced themselves from the wackos. There are a few self-appointed lunatics amongst us who believe only they have the answers and all actions must be “cleared” through them. The next largest complaint the councilman’s office heard is graffiti and trash littering the streets. Community groups formed again and dealt with those problems effectively through their own actions and city services. The

L.A. Conservation Corps will help further to keep our city clean and green. Perhaps he is correct in bringing in these two non-profits to give us what we asked for. It IS what we asked for. The Sunland -Tujunga Neighborhood Council has enjoyed the benefits of an entire city hall building to themselves that most neighborhood councils do not. Needs are changing and times are changing. As I write this, there is a small gathering of people protesting the “eviction” of our neighborhood council. Foot stomping is not going

to stop the necessity for the S-T Neighborhood Council to find another meeting space. I wish them luck and hope that everyone is welcomed to the meetings and see more of those who have become disenfranchised. Fuentes heard what you had to say and he responded with solutions to the two biggest problems facing our city. So what is the problem? Next time, be careful what you ask for. Otherwise a council person will solve your problems for you. There has been a changing of the guards and who will hold the keys to this city. It’s about time.

4 — FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015 • THE FOOTHILLS PAPER

www.thefoothillspaper.com • VOLUME 11 • NUMBER 21

Former La Cañada-Flintridge Resident Is Keynote Speaker at Luncheon by

Attention All Veterans,

Sons, Daughters and Wives of Veterans

Come and Enjoy your local American Legion Post Help support Veterans and Veterans’ Causes

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October 17, 6:30 p.m. Auxiliary Dinner - Dance

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Suzie’s Sunday Canteen (Sundays Only)

American Legion Post 377

10039 Pinewood Avenue, Tujunga

(818) 353-9856 Events open to the Public

Canteen Hours - 7 days a week, 2- 10 p.m.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For Hall Rental, call Commander Dan at

(818) 521-1137

Arlene Massimino

Keynote speaker for the La Cañada-Flintridge Orthopaedic Guild (LCFOG) Book and Author Luncheon has been announced. Mary Beth Perrine, Senior Director, Community Outreach for the Orthopaedic Institute for Children (OIC) will address luncheon guests in her usual energetic, exuberant and friendly manner. The 58th annual Book and Author Luncheon will take place October 27, 2015 at the Angeles National Golf Club 9401 Foothill Boulevard, Sunland, CA. The festivities begin at 9:30 a.m. with an opportunity to greet authors, purchase their books and obtain autographs. There will be silent auction items waiting for your bid and raffle tickets to be purchased. First up on the program will be Mary Beth Perrine followed by the two authors and an illustrator. Mary Beth began “volunteering” at age 10 alongside her mother at Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital, now Orthopaedic Institute for Children. Her family moved to La Cañada from Chicago when she was nine years old. Her mother, Bernita Perrine, was a life-long member of LCFOG as well as the Children’s Charitable Guild (CCG) and eventually was an employee of the CCG in the Thrift and Gift Shops at Orthopaedic Hospital. Mary Beth spent numerous hours in that Thrift Shop with her mother and helped to sort and price items, stock shelves, hang clothes and whatever

else needed to be done. Dr. Robert Nichols, one of the founders of the OIC International Children’s Program (ICP) owned property in Arizona and he would take ICP kids there every summer. Mary Beth, who was in High School at the time, would bring along her guitar and as a camp counselor was in charge of a cabin of girls with whom she sang songs and did numerous camp activities. There was swimming, horseback riding, mess halls, cabins and camps fires. Mary Beth says “this was a life –changing experience for me and was part of what helped me to grow up”. She received her B.A. cum laude English/ Spanish from Southern Methodist University, Texas. She lived and studied in Madrid, Spain during college years. She now keeps in touch with her childhood community by attending LCFOG meetings as representative from OIC and she recently attended her 40th reunion of La Cañada High School. Mary Beth was first hired by OIC in 1989 as Director of Development. Not having any experience in fund-raising, she knew and defiantly loved OC. Mary Beth said “you didn’t need to ‘teach’ me to be passionate about the hospital…that came naturally for me!” and she worked at OIC for twelve years. Following that she was Director of Development for the Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach, Vice President of Development for Ability First and Director of Marketing and Membership

Mary Beth Perrine. for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. In 2011, Mary Beth returned to OIC as the Senior Director of Community Outreach which included OIC Volunteer Services and liaison to the OIC Support Groups, one of which is La Cañada Flintridge Orthopaedic Guild. LCFOG is excited that Mary Beth Perrine has accepted the role of keynote speaker for the 2015 luncheon. Her presentation will be compelling and riveting as she tells the story of one of OIC’s most interesting challenges. If you would like to attend the luncheon, please contact Marianne Jennings 818 249-5443 fajmlj@aol. com or Joan Cleven 818 2494603 candjclevin@yahoo. com and request an invitation be sent to you. If you are unable to attend and would like to assist OIC in caring for over 60,000 children with orthopaedic conditions each year, please send your donation to La Canada-Flintridge Orthopaedic Guild P.O. box 777, La Canada- Flintridge, CA 91012-0777.

Popeye’s is Coming!

IT LOOKS LIKE WE WILL FINALLY GET A GOOD FRIED CHICKEN PLACE IN SUNLAND. If it is not same owner of Church’s or the old KFC, we’ve got a good shot of having some tasty, clean Louisiana Fried Chicken. Will keep you posted. (This sign is on the fence in front of the old Sunland KFC)

THE FOOTHILLS PAPER • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015 — 5

VOLUME 11 • NUMBER 21 • www.thefoothillspaper.com

Asparagus and Gruyere Quiche

Looking for something new to take on a picnic? Look no further. This quiche has body and, just as important, an amazing combination of flavors that pair with most anything you add to your picnic basket. Gruyère is a hard yellow cheese named after the town of Gruyères in Switzerland. It is sweet but slightly salty, with a flavor that varies widely with age. It is often described as creamy and nutty when young, becoming with age more assertive, earthy and complex. This recipe takes advantage of aging. The flavor and texture of my whole wheat crust adds yet another dimension of flavor that will make you yodel with delight. Crust Ingredients: 1½ cups whole wheat flour 1½ cups white flour 1 cup wheat germ 1½ teaspoon sea salt 1 cup plus 4 tablespoons butter 10 – 12 tablespoons cold water Filling Ingredients: 1 tablespoon butter 1 leek (white and light green parts only - halved and thinly sliced) 1 pound asparagus (tough ends removed stems sliced thin diagonally)

Artfully

SPEAKING

Routine is a Killer 4 large eggs 1¼ half-and-half ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper Pinch of ground nutmeg 1 cup aged Gruyère cheese (grated)

and asparagus; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until asparagus is tender - about 7 or 8 minutes. Set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Set aside .

Crust Directions: Stir together flour, wheat germ and salt. Cut butter into these dry ingredients (a pastry cutter makes this easy). When the dough is the consistency of rolled oats, sprinkle with enough of the water to hold the dough together. Form into a ball, cover and refrigerate for about an hour while you prepare the filling.

Baking Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Roll out dough and lay carefully in the baking pan creating a 1½-inch high crust up the sides of the pan. Sprinkle Gruyère on bottom of crust and top with asparagus/leek mixture. Pour egg mixture on top. Bake until center of quiche is set – about 50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Filling Directions: In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add leek

See Chef Randy’s food blog for more recipes at

http://valley-vegetarian.com

Last night I went to my regular Thursday night workshop to paint from the live model. I got there late and others set the model and had already begun. The model was nude and reclining. As a rule, nude or reclining is never a problem. I was not in the mind set to paint a nude or one reclining. I usually bring several sized canvas never knowing what I’ll need. This night, due to my rushing, I brought one canvas and an inappropriate sized canvas for reclining figure. My choice was either go home or come up with a solution. My usual enthusiasm about painting was diminished by the situation I now found myself. But I was determined not to let these factors deter me. All the “good” spots were filled by others except one spot way on the side. If I chose this angle I was faced with a strong foreshortening problem. Also the light was coming from the same direction with limited shadows on the form. I like to paint with strong light and dark areas. Faced with no other options, I placed myself and started to think of how I could make the best of a bad situation (in my mind at least). The interesting thing that took place was I had to start to think about what to do and how to create something interesting. If I had arrived there early and had the right canvas size, I would have placed myself in front and ended possibly with a mediocre painting. As

a result of having to leave my “comfort zone”, I created what turned out to be a very interesting painting, one good enough to exhibit. Since all these factors forced me into an unfamiliar place, I also had nothing to lose. I chose to play with color. I didn’t settle on normal flesh tones that might have developed had I had a better placement. I keyed all my colors away from reds and went into more greens and yellows for flesh tones. The results were better than I could have hoped. I forgot one important danger in painting. Routine. I had developed routines and recent work was showing lackluster results. I had fallen into a rut of doing the same thing again and again. The lesson for me is- try an alternate approach. If what you are doing feels too good, maybe you should make it a little uncomfortable, be a little off balance. I had a wonderful painting teacher who once told me if you’re feeling dull and stuck in your painting, get into a deliberate mess and try and work yourself out of it. Use the wrong color; put too much paint down too soon, change brush size, change mediums. Your mind is forced to rethink old ways of doing things. And your creative process, along with your training helps you discover new ways of working. It will get you out of your routine and expand your mind.

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6 — FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015 • THE FOOTHILLS PAPER

www.thefoothillspaper.com • VOLUME 11 • NUMBER 21

Haggen’s Pharmacy Customer: Contact Arianna Pharmacy for an easy transfer of your prescriptions

to avoid any interruption in receiving your medications.

VOLUME 11 • NUMBER 21 • www.thefoothillspaper.com

THE FOOTHILLS PAPER • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015 — 7

Foothills Pet Page

8 — FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015 • THE FOOTHILLS PAPER

www.thefoothillspaper.com • VOLUME 11 • NUMBER 21

I Don’t Even Know Where Peruvia Is by

Jim Laris

I’m an addict. No, it’s not alcohol. Or tobacco. I don’t snort cocaine. I don’t shoot up heroine. I don’t even know what the hell meth is. I’m into something much, much worse. Groupons. If I were at a meeting, I would have to step up and say, “Hi, I’m Jim. I’m a Groupon addict. Please, I wish all of you wouldn’t give me the finger at once.” First of all, maybe some of you don’t even know what Groupons are. No, it’s not some kind of new group sex thing. (I could never find more than one person at a time that could even tolerate me.) No, Groupons are simply coupons you get online. That’s it. They send you emails every day, which offer you 50 percent discounts on most everything. I guess they feature restaurants. I know that’s what I feature. It all started a couple of years ago. I received this innocent little email offering me a $50 coupon to eat at a BBQ rib joint and it would only cost me $25. And I said, maybe there is a god. I bought the coupon,

I mean the Groupon, and off I went into a spiral of uncontrollable gluttony and complete abdication of what remaining sense I had. I was hooked. I went down to The Smokin’ Joint on 3rd Street in L.A. and I plopped down my Groupon and said to the guy, “Here’s my Groupon that I bought for $25 and I would now like my $50 worth of BBQ shit.” I really thought I had been had, and that the guy was going to throw me out of the place or something. I thought it had to be too good to be true. But alas, it was not. He limped over to my table with this enormous stack of BBQ’d animals on a plate and I kept waiting for some kind of catch. I was more paranoid than a chicken at a KFC, but I just ate my food, and I waddled out of the restaurant. And, like I said, I was hooked. So, they kept sending me these emails and I kept buying them. At first, I only bought the ones in the San Gabriel Valley. I figured, being a member of MENSA, that I would probably be more likely to

go to restaurants close by. I don’t know why I am still But after a while, I wanted married to her.) to use the Groupons as a Anyway, I said, “My way of forcing me out of my little Loofah Love Toy, how regular, boring routine into would you like to go to a some new, boring routine. nice Peruvian restaurant I wanted to seek out a new tonight for dinner?” And she comfort zone that might batted her eyelids and said, possibly be even more “Where the hell is Peruvia?” comfortable than my current I told her it was very close comfort zone. to Loofah. Therefore, I started to buy Well, as you might have Groupons for Vietnamese guessed, my little Love Toy places in Claremont, and was not speaking to me there for Moroccan restaurants for a while. So to win her in Glendora, and for Greek back, I told her that because Tavernas in La Verne. I even her happiness is what I lived got one for some Ethiopian for and because my only little hole-in-the-wall somegoal in an otherwise wasted where near Duarte, but I life was to please her, I haven’t gone yet, because wondered if she would like I know I’m going to feel to go have some gourmet guilty about eating what French food. She hesitated little food the Ethiopians for a second, and I pounced. have left after their famines. I whipped out a Groupon Nobody ever said life would from my hefty, alphabetized be easy for a Groupon adstack of Groupons and threw dict. it down on the table like the And just the other day, I Queen of Spades in Hearts. sprang one of these little “Duke Snider is going to take Groupon suckers on Marge. his Loofah Love Toy to the We were doing a crossword Café Massilia in Monrovia,” puzzle and she actually I announced with an apknew that one of the answers propriate romantic flourish. was LOOFAH. And this was She said, “I thought you just after she had told me didn’t like French food.” I that she had never heard of said, “I don’t. I hate it. But Duke Snider. (You’re right. you’re not going with me.

Jim Laris is Jim Laris. You’re going with Duke. I hope you have a nice dinner.” Hey, I didn’t know a small woman such as Marge could throw such a large object at an even larger husband and throw it accurately and with such force and I was just wondering if maybe the Groupon people were going to offer a nice discount on Huntington Hospital Emergency Room services. Jim can be contacted at jimlaris@mac.com

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THE FOOTHILLS PAPER • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015 — 9

VOLUME 11 • NUMBER 21 • www.thefoothillspaper.com

Montrose Community Church to Host A Reunion of Former Members

Montrose Community Church members past and present! Montrose Community a.m. has started, as well as Church (MCC) is experiencan evening study for all on ing “New Beginnings” as the Thursday evenings at 7:00 church received a new senior p.m. A new worship team pastor, Terry Neven, on Auhas been developed with gust 16. He was asked to step current worship choruses in as interim pastor in early along with classic hymns July, but was set in as senior being sung each Sunday at pastor during the summer. the 10:00 a.m. service. Since then many wonderful This Sunday a fellowship changes have occurred at the meal will follow the service. church. Anyone visiting this Sunday A Women’s Bible Study on is welcome to stay to enjoy Thursday mornings at 10:00 “Tacos on a Plate!” Bring a

Review, from pg. 2 tion. Will some use it ridicule a fellow high school classmate (from 20 years ago) to extract revenge for being physically bullied? Of course! Now, twenty years later, bullying has turned from physical to virtual.

Clock, from pg. 1 a freshly painted red curb seemed to eliminate needed parking spaces near Greeley Street. Council member Krekorian urges the city’s Department of Transportation to remove a portion of the

Memorials, from pg. 1 the steps of the AA building when they saw him struck and killed. Many of them raced across the street and attacked the driver giving him a bloody nose. A passer-by that knew Ballard waded in and stopped the fight. The LAFD arrived and took Ballard to Holy Cross where CPR and electro-shock could not revive him. He was pronounced dead in the hospital. Many of his friends stayed up all night talking amongst

friend! In an effort to solidify MCC’s history in the community and create an opportunity for those who have been a part of the church to reconnect, MCC is hosting a “Reunion” weekend. There will be a Dessert Fellowship on Saturday, October 17 at 7:00 p.m., an Hors d’oeuvre Reception on Sunday, October 18 at 4:00 p.m. ($10 donation) and a

Worship Service that evening at 6:00 p.m. The service will involve singing some of the “Maranatha” worship songs from the “One Way Inn Songbook” lead by current and previous members of the church, testimonies from previous members and a message, “One In the Spirit” by Pastor Terry Neven. Anyone who has been a part of MCC, or would like to join in the festivities is

welcome! To help preparations, an RSVP would be appreciated. One can RSVP by email to montrosecommunitychurch@gmail.com or call the church office at (818) 488-4375. If you would like prayer, or more information about the reunion or any of the church ministries, Pastor Terry would be happy to pray or talk with you. The church is located at 2416 Montrose Ave., Montrose, CA 91020.

Why, I’d venture to guess some will post photos (of their target) alongside the review. And I’d venture to guess the photo will be unflattering. There’s a quote, “It’s none of your business what others think of you,” which we would be wise to remember and agree with. red curb to allow for additional parking spots. Officials hope to have a resolution on this issue very soon. The Commerce Clock is a sign of the community’s beginning revitalization and a sign of community pride. Good job, Mark. themselves re-living the accident. The previous Saturday, Lucinda “Cindy” Williams body was found in the dirt across from McDonald’s on Foothill Boulevard. The coroner’s office has not yet stated the cause of death. Both these people were locals who lived and worked in Sunland-Tujunga in better days and had elected to “live out of the grid.” All that is left of Cindy and Slim Jim are two roadside memorials placed by friends in their honor.

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Yolanda immediately responded saying that ONLY the locks on room 104 were going to be changed Friday. A quick move to stop a barrage of negative comments being directed at her boss. Tuesday was business as usual in the NC Logistics office as protesters picketed outside on the sidewalk. A STNC general meeting was scheduled for Wednesday and the eviction was one of the line items. In any event, even if the NC is allowed to stay, the bad feelings generated by Fuentes will be a bad odor in the S-T chambers.

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no interest in working with the neighborhood councils (NC) as a pipeline to their constituents. In fact, whenever the city budget came up, many would suggest the disbanding of the NCs altogether. So why would Fuentes play landlord and evict the NC? Many thoughts flowed about this. Everything from the STNC members bashing him on Facebook, to the myriad calls from residents that felt that he was useless and spending too much time in other areas such as San Fernando—where he has no political ties—yet where he was bestowing city funds for their projects. But it doesn’t matter what Fuentes thought; his unprofessional manner of attacking and evicting the NC that had been housed there for more than 11 years makes him look like a vengeful dictator. STNC president Mark Seigel held a meeting with Fuentes to discuss upcoming NC activities when he was informed that the STNC was going to share the building with new tenants such as the L.A. Family Housing Services and the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, two 501(c)3 organizations that deal with the city’s homeless population. He further stated that all organizations using the building would be paying a token amount of rent. No opportunity was given to Seigel to change the STNC status quo and sign a lease arrangement. And as an aside, Fuentes told him that his staff had been monitoring the social media and that a lot of them hated the NC for a variety of reasons. Seigel was also told that community member Facebook pages were being monitored by the councilman and his staff and that he had noticed several people hated the NC. Fuentes has this ability to play Napoleon as his mood suits him. This was not a good moment for Seigel. On Friday, October 9 after talking with the locksmith and getting no real answer from Fuentes’ office, I went back to the office and wrote an opinion piece for Citywatch which was immediately pooh-poohed by readers as being inaccurate. Unbeknownst to the less intelligent of the attackers, NC secretary Cindy Cleghorn had also written a companion piece and called Yolanda Fuentes, Fuentes’ Field Director. Her story stated:

TO: Felipe Fuentes: The Field Deputy at the Sunland-Tujunga Field Office, Laena, just changed the LOCKS to the STNC office as well as all access. ARE YOU AWARE OF THIS ACTION ON HER PART? We have understood that our access to North Valley City Hall, that of our small office and storage is good until October 15. Today is October 9. We have yet to receive any schedule of future access beyond the October 15 date that would include who will open from your staff, who will close and who to call in the event of emergency. Today’s actions by your Field Deputy are loose and need to come in to control, be respectfully managed and not emotionally managed. Here’s the run down that Ed Rock relayed to me: • Locksmith is in the area -- he’s on vacation next week thought he would drop by this morning and change the locks. • Reviews locks with Laena and CHANGES the STNC office door locks and “MASTER KEY” She decides on the spot to make these changes. • Laena tells Ed Rock he cannot access the office until October 13 after 12 noon. Uncertain of exact time someone will be there to open the building. He will “just have to wait”. • Asked when can he get in to work at the STNC office and the answer is “When we Get Here”. Mr. Fuentes, Ed Rock is “City Paid Staff” and is on a schedule in the mornings during the week. We already know Monday is a holiday. Your staff are making decisions on your behalf without clear and complete communication to everyone involved. This is not right. They are making decisions ON THE FLY and wasting taxpayer dollars. Please advise, in writing, the truth. Cindy Cleghorn, Secretary, STNC

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