When the Richest Man in California Called Sunland Home George Bernhard followed in the footsteps of his older brother William on his journey from Imperial Germany to San Francisco in 1872. William had arrived years earlier and settled close to Napa. A decade later, William headed south to become one of the Sunland area’s earliest […]
Madman Muntz Got His Start in Glendale The “madman” salesmen trope has been around for decades. Crazy Gideon was LA- based, always being shown being hauled away by doctors. Crazy Eddie sold electronics (until he ended up in prison for fraud). Of course there was Cal Worthington and “his dog” Spot. Recently we had Sit […]
Crossing Paths with a Graceful Enigma Having lived in the Crescenta Valley for 17 years since moving here from England, I’ve come to appreciate the familiar rhythm of our town. Working at Bob Smith Toyota on Foothill Boulevard, I see the usual ebb and flow of daily life along our streets. But recently, a singular […]
Forgotten Friendship of William and Moses William took a moment to give his horses a few gentle strokes before hopping into the seat of his buckboard wagon. He’d spent a good part of the morning loading up crates of grapes, peaches and apricots for the long journey downtown. He’d grown this produce on his 80-acre […]
Reviewing the Budget Earlier this year, Governor Newsom released a budget proposal that kicked off negotiations with the Legislature over everything from how we fund our schools to public safety. This year, as we navigated the challenging financial climate made worse by the passage of HR 1 and repeated hostile actions from the Trump Administration, […]
Doubts Value of Investigation Adam Schiff is going to investigate oil companies [“Schiff to Introduce Legislation to Investigate Oil Companies,” CV Weekly, July 9] – companies that help get about 31-plus million households to work, to school and to the market [but] need to be investigated. For what? Selling their products instead of donating to all […]
A Darker Side of The “Father of Glendale” Cecilia Rasmussen was the local history writer for many years for the LA Times. She wrote on subjects similar to those that I often cover: crime, cons, murders, tragedies; in other words, the darker side of local history. I admired her for that. This side of history […]
La Crescenta is Getting Hotter – Let’s Plant Trees Growing up, I didn’t know any kids who loved blacktop. Grass meant you could fall and get up; asphalt meant you fell and got all scraped up. Grass was cool underfoot on a June morning; asphalt was already radiating by 9 a.m. I don’t remember ever […]
Refurbished Owl Park Has Safety Concerns I am writing about Glendale’s Mayor’s Bicentennial Park, which can be seen just east of the CA-2 Freeway. We bring our grandsons to the park. It is nice and quiet and has a great path to walk. There are bridges on the path and my grandson renamed it “Bridge Park.” In […]
History Hunt for the Monte Vista Dam We’ve come to the end of the America 250 Trail. Originally developed for the bicentennial in 1976, this repurposed journey has taken us to 24 of the 25 historic locations that were highlighted in the Sunland-Tujunga area. It’s all come down to this: the hunt for the Monte […]