INDEPENDENT glendaleindependent.com
THURSDAY, JANUARY 09 JANUARY 15, 2014
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Volume 1, No. 22
Lee Baca stepping down as Los Angeles County Sheriff
Burbank Tournament of Roses Association -- "Lights! Camera! Action!" takes home floral Oscar ‘Most outstanding display of fantasy and imagination' in 2014 Rose Parade By Shel Segal and Terry Miller
An emotional Lee Baca said he decided to retire three days ago during the Monday press conference in Monterey Park
by terry miller -Photo by Rick Keshishi
The 2014 Rose Parade last week featured remarkable, floral-covered floats . However, none was more impressive than the Burbank entry: Loights Camera, Action according to float judges. The 2014 Rose Parade – with millions watching it in person and around the globe – kicked off at 8 a.m. on last Wednesday morning with six F-16s from the Air Force’s Thunderbirds screaming up
high in unison. Thousands lined the 5.5mile parade route – which starts at the Tournament of Roses House on Orange Grove Boulevard, makes a right down the main path of Colorado Boulevard before venturing left onto Sierra Madre Boulevard and ending at Victory Park, where most of the floats will be on Please see page 5
Asm. Mike Gatto introduces bill to prevent child-abuse
Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) introduced legislation today to prevent child abuse in schools by ensuring that school employees identify the abuse and stop it in its tracks. Recent reports showed that certain abuse was prolonged because large numbers of school personnel were unaware of the processes and their responsibilities for reporting abuse. Gatto's legislation, AB 1432, would require teachers and other school officials to pass an online
course on how to identify and properly report abuse, as a prerequisite before the start of each school year. Enacted in 1963, the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA) requires certain professionals, known as mandated reporters, to report to law enforcement or protective services known or suspected instances of neglect, or physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Mandated reporters include Please see page 2
In what can only be described as a highly emotional press conference Tuesday, Sheriff Lee Baca announced his plans to step down at the end of January. Hundreds of media representatives, colleagues and deputies plus numerous supporters of the embattled Sheriff attended
the press conference in Monterey Park. The news of Baca's decision to step down caught people by surprise inside and outside the county agency. He was in a tough re-election battle while dealing with many serious accusations of impropriety against him and at least 18 deputies under his command, particularly with
regard to the jails. Baca allegedly told told top officials in county government late Monday that he believed stepping down would help the department. Baca made a brief statement Tuesday morning then followed with a brief question and answer period. “I have been proud and honored to serve the Los
– Photos by Terry Miller
Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the people of Los Angeles County for the past 48 years – which has made this decision the most difficult of my professional life. I am not going to seek re-election to a fifth term as Sheriff, and I will retire at the end of this month. The reasons for doing so Please see page 3
Grants to create advanced Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library to add early learning learning opportunities area for children & families for students Glendale gets $50,000
Sixty-seven California school districts will receive more than $3.3 million in Specialized Secondary Programs (SSP) grants to help them develop innovative programs to help high school students learn, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today. The list of grantees is attached. “This grant has a long history of helping support innovative high school programs that help students develop realworld 21st century skills,” Torlakson said. “Now that these funds are available
again, California will carry on its work of developing cutting-edge programs so students can explore areas of study in a deeper way while developing their talents and skills for college or career.” Funds for the SSP, which is authorized by the California Education Code, were “flexed” in 2009 during the state budget crisis, meaning the funds could have been used for any general educational purpose instead of just for creating advanced Please see page 4
The Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library has been awarded a grant in the amount of $4,500 as part of the California State Library's Early Learning with Families 2.0 Initiative (ELF) in order to develop and expand early learning opportunities for children and families within the library. As part of the grant, the Children's Department will add a new early learning and literacy area which will include child friendly furniture, fixtures and toys for young children and their caregivers to use in the library. The Early Learning with Families area will
launch in February 2014 and will be available to families during the library's open hours. The equipment and toys - which include a play kitchen, a puppet theater, a lego activity table, a magnetic wall, a play carpet and toy cars, building blocks, puzzles and other learning activities - will be made available on a rotating basis. "We are thrilled we were awarded the Early Learning with Families area at the library", said Senior Library Clerk Diana Garcia. "Imaginative play is essential to the learning Please see page 5