Tropico Station: THE Glendale Blog

Last Minute March 2020 Voting Guide

2020-03-03T01:21:00.003-08:00

Hastily researching today's election while fumbling with the vote-by-mail ballot you never got around to mailing? Me too! I'm bit late, but here are my choices in today's election. In the local races, I've followed the city council for years and have met and seen most of the candidates in action. For the more obscure judicial races, I go by the L.A. Times endorsements and L.A. County Bar evaluations. For most of the races, I also read candidate statements at votersedge.org to find candidates who align with my generally progressive values.

You can also now vote at any Vote Center in L.A. County, which is likely different than your old polling place used to be. So while I'm sad I no longer vote at a Laser Tag arena, it's nice to have a wider choice of locations and hours. Find a voting center near you and get out there and vote!

Voting Center Locator

my choices:

Glendale City Council

Dan Brotman
Paula Devine
Ardy Kassakhian

State Senator, 25th District

Anthony J Portantino

State Assembly, 43rd District

Laura Friedman

U.S. Representative, 28th District

Adam B. Schiff

County Supervisor, 5th District

Kathryn Barger

District Attorney

George Gascon

Judges, by office:

17- Shannon Cooley
42- Robert Villa
72- Steve Morgan
76- Emily Cole
80- David Berger
97- Timothy D Reuben
129- Kenneth Fuller
131- Michelle Kelley
141- Lana Kim
145- Adan Montalban
150- Manuel Almada
162- David Diamond

County Central Committee, 43rd Assembly District:

Elen Asatryan
Jennifer Chang
Steven Fisher
Paul Neuman
Luke Klipp
Ingrid Gunnell
Angel Izard

Measure R:

Measure 13:

Presidential Primary:

Lord knows. I've been all over the place this primary, but I ultimately voted for Bernie Sanders (though Warren had an early rally in Glendale!)

Links:

A Guide to L.A. Area Helicopters

2019-09-01T15:48:00.000-07:00

“What’s that helicopter overhead?”

Here’s a guide to most of the helicopters you’ll see flying around Glendale and northeast Los Angeles. There are also apps (I use FlightRadar24 and OpenADSB) that show you the location and info of most (but not all!) helicopters and aircraft overhead, so with a mixture of app and eyeball, you’ll be able to ID just about anything. Photos were all taken by me.

Rules of thumb:

If they’re low and circling, they’re law enforcement
If they’re hovering (and not near an airport or helipad) they’re TV news
If they’re very loud and make a deep thumpa-thumpa sound, they’re probably LA County or LAFD firefighting helicopters

Law Enforcement

The most common helicopters I see throughout the L.A. area (even in Glendale) are LAPD Eurocopter AS350 A-Stars. Police helicopters generally circle overhead rather than hover, and will fly lower than most other helicopters you’ll see. LAPD helicopters have spotlights and round sensor balls.

LAPD AS350 A-Star

LAPD runs the largest municipal airborne law enforcement operation in the world, flying 19 helicopters, 14 of which are variants of the Eurocopter AS350 A-Star. Most of LAPD’s helicopters are now painted in black and white just like a patrol car, but a few have an older silver-and-blue paint scheme. In addition to the A-Stars, LAPD also has 2 Bell 206 Jet Rangers, and 1 larger Bell 412 utility helicopter (an evolution of the classic Vietnam-era “Huey”).

LAPD AS350 A-Star

LAPD Bell 206 (older silver & blue paint scheme)

LAPD AS350 A-Star (older silver & blue paint scheme)

LAPD AS350 A-Star sensor ball

Burbank and Glendale PD operate a joint air support unit based at the Burbank airport which operates 3 small MD520N helicopters, which are an evolution of the classic egg-shaped Hughes 500 (the “Magnum P.I.” helicopter), but with a NOTAR fan inside the tailboom rather than a traditional tail rotor. Thanks to the NOTAR system, MD520N’s are quieter and make a distinctive muffled “whoosh” sound. Occasionally you will see one land on top of Glendale PD headquarters.

Glendale/Burbank MD520N. Notice lack of of an external tail rotor.

Pasadena PD operates two OH-58/Bell 206 helicopters that are larger and heavier than the Glendale/Burbank MD520N's. They use a 2 bladed rotor that makes a percussive “thump thump thump thump” sound. They also operate an MD500E which is basically the same as the classic Magnum P.I. helicopter. Pasadena’s MD500E does not have the NOTAR fan system and uses a traditional tail rotor, so it’s slightly louder than Burbank and Glendale’s MD520N's. N224KB is one of Pasadena's OH-58’s, and I hear it over the eastern side of Glendale frequently. Pasadena PD's helicopters operate from the Benedict Heliport just north of the 210. In 2012, two of their helicopters were destroyed when they collided at the Heliport, but no one was seriously injured. NTSB narrative here.

Pasadena PD OH-58 over Glendale during recent brushfire in Eagle Rock at the 2/134 freeways

The LA County Sheriff also has an air bureau with 14 Eurocopter A-Stars painted in gold, yellow and green, as well as 3 AS332 Super Puma rescue helicopters. The Super Pumas are, by the standards of this list, enormous, and are primarily used for rescue and airlift duties.

An LA County Sheriff Aero Bureau Super Puma departs the helipad at Huntington Hospital

There are also surveillance helicopters used by federal agencies throughout the county, but they are fairly uncommon. They are usually AS350’s, don’t carry prominent agency markings, but may have a small sensor ball on the belly. This one was involved in a mishap at Fullerton Airport - if you look closely you’ll see the sensor ball.

The California Highway Patrol also has helicopters, mostly AS350’s and Bell 206’s, but I don’t see them often.

News

The second most common category of helicopter you’ll see overhead are TV news helicopters. As far as I know, all of the news stations in Los Angeles fly...you guessed it, Eurocopter AS350 A-Stars. Most local news helicopters are based at Helinet at the Van Nuys Airport, and there’s also a fleet of news helicopters operated by Welk Aviation based at Whiteman Airport in Pacoima. The local TV stations don't actually own their helicopters, they contract their helicopter operations out to Helinet or Welk. If you hear helicopters hovering, those are almost always news helicopters over the scene of an accident or other newsworthy event. You can also tell news helicopters by the stabilized cameras with huge zoom lenses on the front of the helicopter.

AS350 A-Star operated by Welk Aviation for NBC 4 News

AS350 A-Star used by ABC7

Civil

Most of the recreational helicopters you’ll see are Robinson R22’s and R44’s. R22’s and R44’s are, by the standards of this list, very light, small and inexpensive, and are also commonly used for sightseeing tours. You’ll see them flying tours over the beach and near the Hollywood sign very frequently. Their piston engines don’t have the high pitched turbine whine sound of the other helicopters I’ve mentioned. Robinson helicopters are built locally at the enormous Robinson Helicopter factory at the Torrance Airport, which you can tour (for free) - highly recommended!

R22 at the Robinson Helicopter factory in Torrance

An R44 at the Robinson Helicopter factory in Torrance. Nerds will note that it's wearing an Ecuadorian registration rather than a US N-number.

Firefighting/Rescue

If you hear an unusually loud helicopter overhead, it’s probably a firefighting helicopter. Both LAFD and LA County operate fleets of firefighting/rescue helicopters that see heavy use during summer fire season. LAFD primarily flies red and white AugustaWestland AW139 helicopters based at Van Nuys Airport, and LA County operates a mix of Sikorsky S-70 Firehawks (a firefighting version of the military Blackhawk) and Bell 412’s (an evolution of the Huey) painted yellow, white and black and based at Whiteman Airport in Pacoima. These helicopters can carry water to drop on fires, can hoist lost and injured hikers, and are heavier and more powerful than most of the other helicopters here, so if you hear a deep thumpa thumpa sound, it’s likely one of these guys. LA County also contracts an Erickson Air Crane helicopter (as well as 2 firefighting Super Scooper aircraft) during the summer fire season - the Air Crane looks like a big dragonfly and frequently has a hose hanging down for sucking up water. The Air Crane is based at Van Nuys Airport.

LAFD AW139 over the recent fire at the 2/134 freeways

LAFD AW139 at Hansen Dam

LA County Fire S-70 Firehawk

LA County Fire Bell 412

Erickson Air Crane (contracted to LA County)

Medical

If you’re near a hospital, you’re going to see medical helicopters used to transport patients taking off and landing. Most commonly, I see the two Sikorsky S-76’s operated (and donated) by Helinet which serve Children’s Hospital LA.

Military/Coast Guard

There are a number of military installations (Camp Pendleton, Pt Mugu, March ARB, Los Alamitos AAF, Fort Irwin) throughout southern California, and it’s common to spot military helicopters transitioning from one base to another or on a training exercise, frequently flying in pairs and following freeways. The most common military helicopters you'll see are variants of the UH-60 Blackhawk utility helicopter which is used by all branches of the military. I most often spot grey Navy Seahawks over Glendale, usually in pairs headed west along the 134, probably headed towards Pt Mugu. V-22 Osprey tiltrotors are also pretty common, and I’ll spot Marine Corps AH-1 Super Cobra attack helicopters as well every few weeks. Other Army helicopters like the tandem rotor Chinook or Apache gunship pop up occasionally, but not as often. Perhaps once a year there will be a larger scale military exercise with more military helicopter activity than normal.

Levitated Army UH-60 over Levitated Mass at LACMA

An Army UH-60 Blackhawk at Long Beach Airport

Army UH-60 Blackhawk

UH-60 Blackhawks based at Los Alamitos Army Airfield

V-22 Osprey tiltrotor

Marine Corps AH-1 Super Cobra landing at French Valley Airport

The United States Coast Guard also operates an Air Station based at NAS Pt Mugu and flies bright orange-red HH-65 Dauphin helicopters that make a high pitched turbine whine. They are not as common inland, but I did see a Coast Guard Dauphin over Silver Lake recently.

Coast Guard HH-65 Dauphin at NAS Pt Mugu

Bonus: Presidential

Not very common, but quite spectacular: If you see a mixed gaggle of large military helicopters that includes two white and green Sea King helicopters, those are the helicopters used by the president. They are pre-positioned locally about a week before POTUS arrives in town, and they do a dry run, flying all over town familiarizing themselves with the routes and landing zones they will use so things go smoothly and safely when POTUS is on board. I’ve seen the dry runs several times, and in 2013, I watched President Obama’s helicopters take off from the field at Toll Middle School in Glendale.

Marine One (with President Obama aboard) taking off from Toll Middle School

CH-53 Super Stallion taking off from Toll Middle School

This list should cover 95% of what you'll see nearby, but if you can't ID something, feel free to tweet me @tropicostation with a photo. Hat tip to John Wiseman for inspiring this with his guide. If you're interested in this stuff, follow Matt Hartman at Shorealone Films; if an aircraft or helicopter is flying in Southern California, Matt has taken better quality photos of it than I have.

I recommend visiting the American Heroes helicopter show at Hansen Dam on November 9th, where you can see most of these helicopters up close, talk to the crews and learn more about the roles they serve.

Another great place to watch helicopters is on the patio at the 94th Aero Squadron at the Van Nuys Airport. Helinet is a few hundred feet away, and during summer the Super Scoopers and Sky Crane are based right next door. LAFD's base is also just across the runway on the other side of the airport, so there's always interesting activity. Happy spotting!

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Grayson Dirty Energy GWP Meeting Report

2017-10-17T20:20:00.002-07:00

The Glendale Water & Power Commission meeting last night was very well attended, with over 50 members of the public taking time out from their busy lives to oppose the Grayson dirty energy proposal and advocate for a cleaner Glendale. We had to wait over 2.5hrs to have our say, but when the time came, 21 people got up and spoke against the project in its current iteration, and not one member of the public spoke in favor of the proposed $500 million dollar expansion. My comments to the Commission are below. I was very moved by the sincerity and depth of knowledge of those who showed up.

Two big takeaways from the meeting for me were:

a) GWP's General Manager Steve Zurn admitted that this proposal is the result of lack of foresight from GWP a decade ag o [video], when they could have foreseen the need for modest, phased upgrades to the plant to smoothly bridge the gap towards cleaner energy sources, but failed to act.

b) GWP's highly paid consultants ADMITTED they had not deeply studied many cleaner alternatives in their draft EIR [video], such as sites already controlled by the city of Glendale that could accommodate solar installations.

So the geniuses who didn't foresee the need for phased upgrades now propose throwing $500 million dollars away on a massive fossil fuel plant expansion right as cleaner, less expensive alternatives are becoming available. Inexcusable.

All of the Water & Power commissioners asked some good questions, particularly Roland Kedikian and Sarojini Lall. All of the commissioners saw the need for upgrades to Grayson, but questioned the size of the GWP proposal in the face of projected energy needs. Everyone seemed baffled by GWP's failure to include cleaner alternatives in a diversified matrix of solutions instead of one giant outdated fossil fuel plant.

If you didn't make it out to last night's meeting, there is another meeting on Thursday, October 19th. Also, please e-mail the members of the Glendale City Council and and ask them to do what LADWP did and commission an independent study of cleaner alternatives. The public also has until 11/3 to submit comments to Erik Krause in the City Planner’s office: ekrause@glendaleca.gov

my comments:

Please watch Daniel Brotman's point by point takedown of the rationale given by GWP:

Full video of the meeting is here: http://glendale.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=17&clip_id=6426

Some highlights:
0:00-1:18 draft EIR presentation
1:18 questions from commissioners begin
1:45 stranded asset questions
1:48 retirement age of boilers question from kedikian
1:49 "should have planned for this 20 years ago" answer from Zurn
2:05 discussion of lack of alternative energy analysis
2:13 discussion of projected capacity vs need, and excess capacity
2:16 "balancing this out" comments from avanessian
2:24 public comment begins with a thorough takedown of the proposal from Professor Daniel Brotman
2:42 me
....lots more speakers...
then
3:23-3:34 additional comments from commissioners
3:35 oral communications, 1 additional speaker against

Previously: Don't Let GWP Increase Air Pollution in Glendale

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Don't Let GWP Increase Air Pollution in Glendale

2017-10-09T17:36:00.002-07:00

Glendale Water & Power proposes spending $500 MILLION DOLLARS to replace nearly all of the existing, aging Grayson Power Plant (which produces around 16% of Glendale's electricity) with a much larger fossil fuel powered natural gas power plant.

Digging through the draft EIR, here it is in black and white on page 4.3.34. THE NEW PLANT WILL INCREASE MAXIMUM EMISSIONS in Glendale relative to the old plant:

Despite vague GWP claims that the new plant would be "cleaner," the proposal significantly increases the generation capacity of the plant far beyond what is required for Glendale's needs, and it is designed to be run much more often than the current plant, which is now mainly used only at peak times. The result is if you are anywhere in Glendale, Burbank, Atwater Village or Eagle Rock, you and your children will breathe more pollution every day under this proposal than you do today.

This astoundingly expensive proposal is especially misguided given that much cleaner renewable alternatives to a gas powered plant are available now, and prices for renewable energy solutions are falling dramatically every year. Additionally, the state legislature passed SB350, which mandates 50% clean energy in California by 2030, and this year nearly passed SB100, which would require 100% clean energy in California by 2045. Does it make sense to make a decades long $500 million dollar investment right as the price of clean alternatives plummet and state mandates make it a strong possibility that the plant would need to be retired well before it's paid for?

The timing of this proposal is so profoundly bad it makes you wonder if GWP spent top dollar on VHS tapes just as DVD players were getting cheap. California currently has a glut of electricity, and electricity use across the state is FALLING due to more efficient appliances and the rapid adoption of residential solar. In fact, the L.A. Department of Water & Power recently put all of their similar "repowering" projects on hold until they can more thoroughly investigate cleaner choices, rather than locking in decades of expensive and dirty fossil fuel power generation.

We in Glendale must demand better from our government and require them to protect our health while preparing Glendale's electrical system for a cleaner future. A gas powered plant was forward thinking in 1941, but it's a huge step backwards in 2017.

I'm reprinting this excellent information sheet from the Glendale Environmental Coalition, which makes a well informed, fact-based argument as to why this is the wrong idea at the wrong time at the wrong price. Please read, investigate and take action.

-scott (yes, this is important enough to dust off the 'ol blog!)

_________________________________________

From the Glendale Environmental Coalition:

Glendale wants to rebuild the Grayson gas plant at San Fernando and Flower. They call it a “repowering” but it is actually an expansion which will produce vastly more power than Glendale needs and place a huge financial and environmental burden on residents for 30 years. They are rushing headlong into the project without having fully considered clean energy options. We call on the Mayor and City Council to pause the CEQA process and conduct an honest and independent study of the alternatives to this big, expensive and dirty project.

Grayson will impose huge financial costs and economic risks on residents

Glendale plans to take out a bond for $500 million to finance the project (about $7,500 for a family of four). Residents will be on the hook for repaying this plus interest over 30 years.
Glendale has not been transparent with its financial assumptions and there are serious risks. They are expecting to generate extra power and sell it on commodities exchange.
First, what happens if they can’t sell the excess power at a profit? California is facing a power glut right now and prices are low. GWP is betting our financial future on prices rebounding. Do we really want our city playing in the markets with our money? Anyone remember Enron?
Second, California utilities must be 50% renewable by 2030 while Grayson is 0% renewable. GWP expects to make up the lost renewable portion by purchasing external power but so are many other utilities. This will lead to a spike in the cost of renewable power and a substantial risk to Grayson’s financing. We should instead build local renewable energy for price security.
Third, California’s cap and trade program requires all power producers to pay a cost per ton of CO2 emitted. The price is expected to go up significantly but GWP is sticking with their low ball assumptions. Are they fooling themselves or just us?
Grayson sits on a mapped Liquefaction Hazard Zone which makes it susceptible to ground movement in the event of an earthquake – not unlike what we recently saw in Mexico City. It is likely that the gas and water lines leading to the plant will rupture, causing explosions and fire, or at best putting the facility out of commission when we need it the most. Clean energy alternatives are not subject to these kinds of risks.

The $500 million proposed plant will generate 175% of Glendale’s need

With the combination of today’s Grayson and electricity imports, Glendale currently has over 400 megawatts (MW) of power capacity. This is enough to cover Glendale’s needs which average about 225 MW in summer months and can spike up to almost 350 MW a fews days per year. The proposed expansion would increase the capacity to over 500 MW. That means Glendale would be sitting on 45% more electricity than needed at our absolute peak. Who will buy it?
This power excess increases over time as residents install more rooftop solar and energy efficiency drives down demand. By 2035, if the Grayson expansion goes ahead, GWP will have almost 550 MW of power vs. a peak demand of 300 MW, or an excess of 75-80%.
Why is Glendale proposing to oversupply like this? GWP’s internal documents show how GWP plans to sell excess power at a profit to other cities. Glendale wants to speculate in the power markets to make up for its non-utility budget problems! They will say that they need the excess capacity for emergency power but Grayson is on an earthquake liquefaction zone and in a flood zone so having a single point of failure power plant is not a safe backup power source.

An expanded Grayson will damage our environment and health

The proposed plant will increase greenhouse gas emissions at a time when California is aggressively moving to cut climate pollutants and many neighboring cities are setting zero carbon targets. Are we willing to accept being so out of step with the rest of the State? Do we want to contribute to more extreme heat, drought and fire risk?
The new plant will emit more pollutants into surrounding neighborhoods because much of it will now be running 24/7 to maximize sales (the current plant operates more as a backup for when demand peaks). These pollutants – carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur oxide (SOx), nitrogen oxide (NOx), particulates, and volatile chemicals (VOC) like Benzene, Formaldehyde, Toluene, etc – add to our smoggy skies and are known causes of asthma; cancers; heart and kidney disease. They will affect not only nearby residents, schools and businesses but a broad region including Glendale and neighboring Burbank and NELA. The air in the area already fails to meet federal guidelines. We need less pollution, not more.
Demolition of the existing facility and soil remediation will take at least 26 months and stir up lung-piercing particulate, asbestos, and other unknown toxins that are better left intact.

There are clean energy alternatives today and more are on the horizon

There is over 400 MW rooftop solar capacity in Glendale. On top of this, acreage at Scholl Canyon (assuming the dump is closed) and elsewhere could accommodate large solar installations contributing another 70 MW of capacity.
Glendale could move faster on energy efficiency to meet its peak power needs through building retrofits, incentive programs to households and other programs at a fraction of the $500 million it would cost to build Grayson. The cheapest energy is the energy we don’t use!
Large-scale commercial battery energy storage facilities are becoming common and are already cheaper per megawatt-hour than gas solutions - and prices are plummeting. A massive rooftop solar project combined with battery backup would provide the capacity and emergency power we need and also take advantage of the significant federal money that is available.

Action

GWP is trying to scare us with dire warnings of plant failures and blackouts, but these are empty threats. We can continue to use the existing units for several more years. If absolutely necessary, GWP could adopt a phased approach by purchasing one or two small, fast-ramping gas units as an insurance policy against summertime demand spikes. There are many low-cost, low-risk options that do not require spending $500 million and which would keep our options open to transition to a clean energy future.
Email Glendale City Council members and ask them to do what LADWP did - commission an independent study of clean energy alternatives. The public also has until 5pm on Nov. 3rd to submit comments to Erik Krause in the City Planner’s office: ekrause@glendaleca.gov.
Attend hearings at City Hall (613 E Broadway, 2F) on October 16th at 6pm or at the Grayson plant (800 Air Way) on October 19th at 6pm, or attend BOTH!

_________________________________________

Ok, Scott here again. Some further reading:

L.A. Times Investigation: "Californians are paying billions for power they don't need" (highly recommend reading this article)

"The Case Against Grayson Repowering", Glendale News-Press op-ed by Daniel Brotman

Stop Grayson Power Expansion Facebook Page

LA DWP Puts Natural Gas Plants on Hold

GWP Grayson Repowering Proposal Site

Solar Glendale: presents several interesting clean energy plans at similar or lower cost than GWP proposal

Draft Environmental Impact Report (5000+ pages in total, but 4.3 "Air Quality" and 4.5 "Greenhouse Gases" are of particular interest)

Glendale Environmental Coalition

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Car vs Fire Hydrant At The Americana

2014-05-27T15:55:00.001-07:00

Reader Nina Mudick sent in this spectacular photo of a Mercedes vs. traffic signal vs. fire hydrant collision taken outside The Americana at Brand this Sunday. Welcome to #helloGlendale, Bourbon Steak! You are now one of us.

Here's a video taken shortly after the incident via Youtube:

Meanwhile, on Glendale's eastern border, this is what you currently see when entering city limits via Colorado Blvd (photo via @greyrot):

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Spectacular Photos of Presidential Helicopters Over Glendale

2013-11-26T15:35:00.004-08:00

Today President Barack Obama visited Dreamworks Animation in Glendale, marking his second visit to Glendale as President. His retinue of helicopters landed at Toll Middle School in Glendale before the motorcade departed for Dreamworks. I took these photos of the helicopters departing Toll's playground.

The President travels in one of two identical VH-3D Sea King helicopters - the helicopter with the President aboard is known as Marine One. The two Sea Kings were also accompanied by two enormous CH-53E Super Stallion support helicopters. Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) is the squadron responsible for Presidential helicopter transport.

Earlier in the day, I was able to catch a glimpse in the distance of Marine One descending towards Toll.

This video from Father Vazken Movsesian of St. Peter's Armenian church shows the Presidential entourage's visit to Toll most comprehensively, as it was taken from inside the police perimeter.

Here's the best video I've found of all four helicopters lifting off from Toll.

Here's MY video of all four helicopters lifting off. Apologies for the shaky quality, I was shooting the video with my left hand and taking the stills you see above with my right!

A History of Presidential Visits to Glendale

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A History of Presidential Visits to Glendale*

2013-11-26T02:14:00.005-08:00

President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak at Dreamworks Animation in Glendale today. Inspired by a rare presidential visit to the Jewel City, here's a list of documented visits to Glendale made by Presidents of the United States. If I'm missing any, please let me know:

President Barack Obama, 2010 and 2013

In 2010, President Obama did a radio interview in the Unum Building in downtown Glendale. He is scheduled to speak at Dreamworks Animation today.

*11/27/13 Update: Here are my photos of Marine One and support helicopters over Glendale on 11/26/13. Here's a write-up of Obama's visit from Bret Marnell, an editor at Dreamworks.

President Bill Clinton, 1996

In 1996, President Clinton spoke at Glendale Community College and had lunch at the Rocky Cola Cafe in Montrose afterward. In 1992, while President-elect, Clinton stopped in Glendale to shop at the Glendale Galleria.

President Gerald Ford, 1976

Ford stopped by the Days of the Verdugos festival and spoke in front of Glendale City Hall.

President Harry Truman, 1948

Truman made a brief campaign speech in Glendale during his successful 1948 re-election campaign.

President Herbert Hoover, 1932

The earliest record I could find of a presidential visit to Glendale was made by Herbert Hoover, who visited the Jewel City in 1932. Looks like he's having a great time!

Visits by Presidents to Glendale that were not made during their term:

Richard Nixon, 1952, 1956, 1962

In 1956, then Vice President Richard Nixon made an Ike-Dick campaign stop in Glendale. In this photo he's speaking from the steps of Glendale City Hall. Nixon apparently also visited Glendale as a vice-presidential candidate in 1952, and campaigned in Montrose during his unsuccessful 1962 gubernatorial run.

Ronald Reagan, 1940 and 1966

In 1940, Ronald Reagan married actress Jane Wyman in Glendale at Forest Lawn's Wee Kirk of the Heather church. In 1966, Reagan visited Forest Lawn again, this time as governor of California.

If I'm missing any other documented visits, please let me know and I'll add them to the list.

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The Truth Behind The Meatball/Glendale Bear "Copyright Dispute"

2013-11-19T00:21:00.000-08:00

Sarah Aujero, the creator of "The Glendale Bear" persona, is a friend. I’ve spoken with her regarding most of these events as they unfolded, and she has extensive documentation backing up her story.

Sarah created the Meatball/Glen Bearian/Glendale Bear twitter account in April 2012. Her tweets recounting Meatball’s tales of life in Glendale were hilarious, and the account became wildly popular, rapidly garnering nearly 30,000 followers on Twitter. As the account became popular, Sarah copyrighted various derivations of the name to protect herself legally from imitators (several sprang up). The popularity of her account dramatically raised the profile of the hungry bear who kept returning to Glendale and turned it into a national news story. When the bear was recaptured after having been relocated and having returned to Glendale twice already, the attention she brought to the story was instrumental in saving the bear’s life.

A sanctuary in Colorado offered to take in the bear, and Sarah starting selling Meatball-related merchandise related to the bear (much of it designed by me) to help raise funds for Meatball’s relocation. When the bear was prevented from being sent to the Colorado sanctuary by a Colorado state law; Lions, Tigers & Bears in Alpine, where the bear was being held temporarily, was good enough to step up and take the bear in permanently. Despite having no legal obligation to do so, Sarah donated all of the profits from the merchandise that were initially for the bear’s relocation to LTB (and has receipts). Sarah was also able to get her employer to match her donations, so in total she has been directly responsible for nearly $4,000 in donations to Lions, Tigers & Bears.

In addition to directly donating all merchandise profits (times two, since her employer matched those donations), Sarah promoted Lions, Tigers & Bears’ own fundraising efforts and events, and encouraged her fans to donate directly to the sanctuary. Meatball is a star fundraiser: since that time, Lions, Tigers & Bears has raised nearly $250,000 towards a new bear habitat intended for Meatball and several other bears. At a $100 a person fundraising event I attended at LTB with Sarah and several other friends from Glendale (Sarah bought my ticket, and also bought tickets for several family members), Bobbi Brink, LTB’s founder, told the story of Meatball, and, while a person in a “Meatball” bear costume danced on stage, in a few short minutes raised nearly $30,000 in pledges specifically for the new bear habitat. Sarah’s guests from Glendale, including me, all pulled out our checkbooks and donated to the new habitat.

Enter the book.

Sarah was contacted by a publisher interested in publishing a children’s book about Meatball that Sarah would write. Sarah contacted LTB with the good news:

Hi Bobbi,

I left a message on your voicemail earlier today.

Would love to speak with you briefly about an opportunity that came up.

A publisher contacted me about writing a children's book about Meatball.

I only want to do it if I can donate part of the proceeds to him at the sanctuary.

I'm excited about this opportunity and I hope something can be finished in time

for the Christmas party and the Rose Parade.

Please give me a call so we can discuss this further.

Best,

Sarah

Bobbi Brink, founder of LTB, spoke to Sarah on the phone: an LTB donor had ALREADY written a children’s book with Meatball that they were planning on publishing. This had never been mentioned to Sarah previously. Sarah contacts LTB’s PR person, Jen:

Hi Jen [LTB PR person],

I just got a call from Bobbi and she told me they already have a children's book coming out for him and will be available starting mid-November.

I'm really excited about the book coming out, and it will be really great publicity for the fundraiser. Unfortunately, I'm also disappointed that I was completely kept me out of the loop on this one because there are some things that need to be discussed.

Legally, I registered the copyright to his name first, since April 2012, as soon as the Twitter account started getting a lot of buzz and months before Meatball was sent to LTB. As such, it would be advisable if the sanctuary's attorney (&/or whomever is representing the author and the rights to the children's book) contact me as soon as possible, before the book is released.

Also, I would like to work out an arrangement to still release my own children's book for Meatball and I will donate a portion of the proceeds to the sanctuary as originally planned.

Hope to speak to you soon,

Sarah

Jen, the PR person responds:

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for your email. I have been meaning to email you after I spoke with Bobbi on Wednesday but hadn't had a moment to do so. I'll certainly work with the LTB team to determine the next best steps. Can you tell me, exactly, what you registered for his name (i.e., his public name, "Meatball," or his "Twitter" name, "Meatball the Glendale Bear)?

Thank you, and we will be in touch soon!

Jen

Sarah responds:

The copyright registration is for all of it, "Meatball" - "Meatball the Glendale Bear" - "Meatball the Bear" and "Glen Bearian."

The trademark is for "Meatball" and "Meatball the Bear" both of which have been in use since April 2012 and sold in commerce since August 2012. I dont want to prevent the sanctuary from raising money in any way nor jeopardize the protections of his name.

The whole point of the registrations was to prevent anyone else from taking advantage of the name and fail to donate the proceeds to the sanctuary, as I have been doing from the beginning. As such, the sanctuary can certainly sell Meatball items to make money for itself but there are licensing and other legal issues that need to be discussed as soon as possible.

Thanks again for your help!

On October 25th, Sarah was sent and told to sign a legal document from Lions Tigers & Bears’ lawyers that required her to sign over all of her copyright and trademark rights related to Meatball; hand over domain names, turn over existing merchandise, “cease and refrain” from using the Meatball copyright (which would mean handing over or closing @theglendalebear), and “in exchange,” be allowed to return to Lions, Tigers and Bears to visit Meatball.

In a nutshell: we’ll twist your arm by banning you from visiting the bear you helped save unless you sign everything you’ve created over to us.

Sarah refuses to sign.

In an October 31st e-mail from Sarah to LTB:

You're more than welcome to continue using the name(s). And I will continue to support this bear and the sanctuary. Thanks again for taking such great care of Meatball.

November 1, Bobbi responds:

Sarah

The attorneys will reach out to you

Bobbi Brink

Founder, Director

Lions Tigers & Bears

On November 12th, after the story broke and in the wake of negative media attention, Bobbi issued the following statement on the LTB facebook page:

At no point has LTB demanded control of the twitter handle (@TheGlendaleBear) or formally banned Sarah from the sanctuary. The issue at hand is that LTB has a book at the publisher in which all proceeds will go to Meatball the bear. This book cannot be published because of Sarah’s trademark on the Meatball name. We asked her participation, and she not only declined but threatened with legal action, leaving us unable to move forward with publishing, which would result in the inability to fundraise for the bear.

Let’s review this against the settlement agreement that LTB sent to Sarah and insisted she sign:

"At no point has LTB demanded control of the twitter handle (@TheGlendaleBear)"

Okay, let's check that one:

"or formally banned Sarah from the sanctuary."

Let's check that one too:

"This book cannot be published because of Sarah’s trademark on the Meatball name. We asked her participation, and she not only declined but threatened with legal action, leaving us unable to move forward with publishing, which would result in the inability to fundraise for the bear."

Sarah didn’t “threaten legal action” - she offered them a gratis license that would accommodate their book and fundraising needs but would still keep her trademark protections intact. She explicitly and in writing granted them use of the name for free so they could publish their book and continue to fundraise.

So here are the two key facts that make this entire affair ridiculous:

1) Sarah has, in writing, given Lions, Tigers & Bears permission to use the name Meatball without restrictions, for free.

2) There is no dispute as to who owns the actual copyright and trademark - Sarah registered the copyright in April 2012 and has sold Meatball related merchandise (which activates the trademark) since long before Lions, Tigers & Bears was involved in the Meatball saga. (And though she had no legal obligation to do so, Sarah has donated all profits from Meatball-related merchandise to Lions, Tigers & Bears.)

Anyways, that’s about where we are at the moment. Frankly, the way Sarah has been treated by LTB and the lies they have told make me angry. Despite this, Sarah continues to support Lions Tigers & Bears, but won’t sign away her creative work to visit the bear that she has worked so hard to help. Viva Meatball!

On a more positive note than this absurd episode, Meatball will be featured on the City of Glendale's Rose Parade float this year. On November 23rd the City of Glendale will be holding a fundraiser that includes a meatball tasting competition featuring various meatballs from local restaurants (Sarah's idea!); proceeds from the fundraiser will go to the float and Lions Tigers & Bears. Again, despite the misguided idiocy detailed above, Lions Tigers & Bears does good work and the real bear deserves your support.

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Weirdly Lit Bloomingdale's Opens In Downtown Glendale*

2013-11-08T13:35:00.001-08:00

Bloomingdale's opens today at the corner of Brand and Broadway downtown Glendale. During the day, the building looks a million times better than the drab brick fortress that existed before.

At night, however, the embedded lighting seems both underlit and overlit in a way that's distracting, and some have brought up safety concerns. The LEDs are way too bright, but the rest of the exterior is barely visible at all. Lowering the intensity of the LEDs and adding some upward pointing lights at the corners of the building to provide some soft illumination of the building itself would decrease the harsh contrast and be less distracting. You can also see in the picture that the streetlight on the corner wasn't working, which further increases the contrast between super bright and super dark. When I compared the reality of the lighting to the rendering of the "night view" presented to the City Council*, I was struck by the difference.

Despite these details, which will hopefully be worked out, it's good to have this corner activated again. For many months, three of the corners at Brand and Broadway were vacant. As of this week, all four corners are occupied and bustling with activity.

*Update: I found this description of the lighting system on page 25 of the council packet:

Lighting: Portions of the mosaic facade containing glass will be back lit to produce a glowing pattern at night. At the northeastern corner of the building where the panel systems meet, a gap between these systems will be lit and create a strong vertical light well. Additionally, the upper floors step back slightly from the black tile first floor to create a small shelf for concealed lighting that will wash the mosaic pattern with light. This effect would be accentuated if a reflective material such as stainless steel projected 8 inches from the roof to "catch" the up-lighting and create a thin cornice of light.

Is the lower concealed lighting just not operational yet?

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Downtown Glendale Building On Fire Again*

2013-05-27T20:17:00.001-07:00

Last night's fire at 233 N. Brand apparently rekindled and is still burning as I write this. Downtown Glendale resident Erik Yesayan sends the following photos:

*Update at 8:20pm: the latest photos from the scene show the fire apparently under control. Let's hope it stays that way this time!

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Dramatic Photos and Video of Huge Brand Boulevard Fire

2013-05-27T13:20:00.002-07:00

Here are some dramatic photos and videos of the large fire that occurred at 233 N. Brand Boulevard in downtown Glendale shortly after midnight last night. One man jumped from a second story window to escape the flames and suffered minor injuries. Two firefighters also suffered minor injuries while fighting the flames. I'm not sure yet about the extent of the damage to local favorite Skaf's Lebanese Cuisine or the other businesses on the ground floor of 233 N. Brand, but fortunately the Brand Bookshop was undamaged in the blaze.

(photo by Tony Petborisooth)

Here's an incredible video by Greg Shear of the fire at its peak:

(photo by Erik Yesayan)

More coverage of the fire:

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Zareh Sinanyan Finally Apologizes For Hateful Comments

2013-05-01T03:47:00.000-07:00

A week after Zareh Sinanyan admitted responsibility for the hateful online comments first reported here nearly two months ago, he finally publicly apologized for the content of those comments at last night's City Council meeting:

“I apologize to anyone who might have been offended by my past comments. I am truly sorry. Many have said they look forward to my future performance, and as I have said many times, my performance will speak for itself. When I appeared before the council as a candidate and addressed the subject of these blog posts, I explained that they were not me, they were not reflective of my character. That was true then, just as it is now. I am here to serve the people of Glendale. All of the people. It truly does not matter to me if you are Armenian, or Latino, or Anglo, or Korean; it doesn’t matter if you’re gay, or straight. And it doesn’t matter if you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu. As my life experiences have demonstrated, the only thing that matters to me is that I want to serve Glendale. Working together to improve our homes is who I am. That is reflective of my character, and I fully welcome and invite people to use this standard to measure my success and effort.”

Good apology; it's frankly amazing he didn't give it two months ago instead of attacking and obfuscating. The apology begins at approximately minute 32 of last night's meeting.

(update: the News-Press just put up their story on the apology.)

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A Genocide Denied Is A Genocide Repeated

2013-04-23T02:05:00.001-07:00

The forthcoming Armenian Genocide Museum of America in Washington, DC, has produced a powerful short video with the message that a genocide denied is a genocide repeated:

The efforts to build the museum are being led by the Armenian National Institute, which has an excellent website with information about the genocide, in which the Ottoman Turks are well documented to have killed approximately 1.5 million Armenians between 1915-1920. Glendale's annual Armenian genocide commemorative event is April 24th at the Alex Theatre (04/23 update. The City of Glendale now says "there are no more tickets for the Armenian Genocide Commemoration Event on 4/24. There will be a stand-by line that evening at the Alex Theatre for tickets."). The flyer for that and other city commemorative events is below:

The Glendale News-Press also has an article with information about a number of other commemorative events this week:

Armenian Genocide Commemoration Events Scheduled Citywide

(Hat tip to my friend Edlin, who is involved with outreach efforts for the new museum and sent me the video. You should also check out another non-profit she's involved in called One Armenia, which uses crowd-funding and transparent reporting to support various environmental, humanitarian and cultural projects in Armenia.)

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Glendale City Council Member Zareh Sinanyan Admits Responsibility For Online Comments

2013-04-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

In response to deeply felt criticism of his hateful online comments from members of the gay and Muslim communities at his first ever city council meeting, Glendale City Council Member Zareh Sinanyan has now publicly admitted responsibility and expressed regret for those comments.

He was particularly moved by the eloquent words of Glendale High student Zehra Siddiqui, who noted that Muslim students in Glendale are often bullied for their religion, and that it's important for role models in the community to take responsibility for their actions, whether good or bad.

From Ron Kaye's column in the Glendale News-Press:

"She was the one who got to me. After she spoke all I could think about was, 'Why would I say something that would insult someone like her?' I would just hope that she would forgive me, I didn't mean those things. They were obviously made in anger.

"I will do my best to represent her to the best of my abilities. I see her as the future of America. By my actions, I will show who I really am, that those words are not me."

Clearly, Sinanyan will be living in a fish bowl for quite a while, at the center of tensions over the ascendance of Armenians in the political, economic and cultural life of a city that was very different a quarter century ago when his family arrived in the area.

For him, and for Glendale, this presents a great challenge to overcome divisions and a great opportunity to move forward and build a greater city together.

I absolutely agree with the closing line. I hope Sinanyan will continue in the spirit of healing and accountability and fully defuse tensions by also apologizing for attacking others, including me, rather than immediately taking responsibility for the comments he has now admitted to writing. If he offers such an apology, I will consider the matter resolved and wish him best of luck on the council.

Sinanyan is smart and was well prepared at the community forums. We both share a sincere interest in South Glendale issues and I'm sure he can put this behind him, both for his own good, and the good of the city.

Zareh, get in touch: tropicostation@gmail.com.

PREVIOUSLY:

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Zareh Sinanyan Attacks, But Still Hasn't Denied Writing Hateful Comments or Apologized For Them* (04/19 Update: He Has Now Admitted Responsibility & Expressed Regret)

2013-04-09T01:08:00.002-07:00

*4/19/13 UPDATE: Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments

The Glendale municipal election is over, and Zareh Sinanyan has secured a place on the Glendale City Council. A mere 356 votes separated him from Chahe Keuroghelian, who came in fourth. Voter turnout was low, at an estimated 18.2% of registered voters.

The Burbank Blog did a write up on the election results that I highly recommend reading.

If you’re reading this, I’ll assume you’ve also read the hateful comments that every available piece of evidence shows were written by Zareh Sinanyan over a period of several years. Not because I or anyone else says so, but because the allegations are verifiable using cached versions of both the comments and Zareh’s confirmed online accounts. If you haven’t read my previous posts on the allegations, please read them now to understand why this is serious:

Neither Sinanyan, nor anyone else has provided one shred of evidence challenging his authorship of the comments. All it would have taken to fully exonerate Sinanyan was documentation from Google that his account had been hacked for the period in question. When asked directly if he wrote the comments, Sinanyan (campaign motto: "Bringing Transparency and Accountability to Glendale"), gave one of the most misleading non-denials the world has ever seen.

Truly, the video must be seen to be believed:

So just to be crystal clear on this:

Sinanyan has neither denied writing the hateful comments, nor apologized for their content.

Rather than responding to the evidence against him, Sinanyan and his supporters accused anyone drawing attention to the comments of conducting a “well-funded, well-organized racist smear campaign." Sinanyan himself, on the record, at a city council meeting, claimed that an anonymous source on *my blog* claimed their goal was to “take the Armenian community in general down.” This is 100% factually untrue. It was a cynical lie, meant to bully me and others who would demand an explanation into silence, close ranks within the Armenian community, and polarize Glendale along ethnic lines. I cannot find words to express my disgust.

The attacks directed at Councilmember Laura Friedman were far worse. For example, in an Armenian-language interview on Horizon TV posted on his official campaign Facebook page, Sinanyan compared Friedman to a Turk who doesn't care about Armenians* (minute 24):

SINANYAN: "And do you know what is unfortunate, maybe she has a small group of people with Armenian names, who aren't really true Armenians, they give her political legitimacy. In other words, you know when you meet some Turks and the first thing a Turk will say to an Armenian - and this is a really well known thing - is you're Armenian? I have many Armenian friends. And this is like Laura Friedman."

In Glendale, saying something like that is inflammatory and inexcusable. It should be denounced in the strongest possible terms by any organization or political candidate with a shred of decency**. The only reason these shameful tactics continue is because members of the community who should know better - most appallingly, The Glendale Teacher’s Association - remained silent.

So where does that leave us? It leaves me embarrassed for Glendale by what can only be explained by either tacit acceptance of bigotry or ignorance, enabled by low turnout. Local elections have a far bigger impact on day to day life than national elections, and proportionally, your vote is thousands of times more important to the outcome. Yet hardly anyone pays attention. Sinanyan was voted for by approximately 4% of Glendale's population. If you're catching up on this now and stayed home during the election, you deserve some of the blame.

Sinanyan will be sworn in at the City Council Reorganization meeting on April 15th.

Until Sinanyan takes responsibility for his actions and apologizes for both the comments*** and the cynical, divisive response to a scandal of his own making, the community must continue to demand an explanation from Sinanyan for his behavior.

PREVIOUSLY:

notes:

* I had this translated by two different Armenian-speaking friends to verify the context and accuracy of the translation.

** Here’s a challenge for my Armenian-speaking readers: if you see anyone involved with Glendale politics saying something hateful in Armenian language media, record the TV program or save the article and send it to me with a summary in English. I will have an Armenian speaker verify the accuracy of the content and, if it is offensive, will post the original media together with an English language transcript so that the community at large can judge for themselves. Alternately, if you see a non-Armenian candidate using racially charged or discriminatory rhetoric towards Armenians and have a recording or a quote in English language media, send me that too. There should be one standard for hateful racial rhetoric in Glendale, not an English-language standard and an Armenian-language standard. Such rhetoric should be universally condemned.

*** Or provides actual exonerating evidence!

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John Wayne's Childhood Home in Glendale For Sale

2013-03-28T10:12:00.001-07:00

This Redfin listing caught my eye:

"Astonishing craftsman duplex in the heart of Glendale. The front house has been completely remodeled. Must come to see. John Wayne's childhood home."

John Wayne was born in Iowa, but moved to Glendale when he was four and attended Wilson Middle School and Glendale High School, where he played football for the 1924 champion team. Legend has it that a local fireman first called Wayne "L'il Duke" because Wayne always walked to school with his dog, Duke.

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Tropico Station's 2013 Glendale Municipal Election Endorsements

2013-03-27T12:29:00.005-07:00

I went to two community forums, have personally spoken with most of the candidates, have been attacked at a city council meeting by one of them (!), and talked to dozens and dozens of Glendale residents about who they support and why. And of course, I've been watching the incumbents on the dais for years. The research phase is over.

Here are the conclusions I've come to and why. I've also linked to the Glendale News-Press endorsements so you can see what they have to say.

CITY COUNCIL

I endorse Laura Friedman, Sam Engel and Ara Najarian for City Council. Particularly at the candidate forums, they were much, much better informed than the rest of the field; usually by a large margin. The incumbents have a huge advantage in that they have been dealing with these issues day in and day out for four years, but in my opinion none of the non-incumbents besides Engel (and occasionally Roland Kedikian*) showed they could handle the complexities of managing our fine city.

I disagree with what Ara Najarian says pretty frequently, but he usually votes the right way, and his position on the board of the MTA is good for Glendale. Even though I disagree with him sometimes I respect his capabilities.

In her four years on the council Laura Friedman has developed a strong record of bike and pedestrian advocacy, support for the arts, and, with Ara, helped balance the city’s budget by negotiating for city employees to pay more of their pension costs while reducing salaries and maintaining the high level of services we expect in Glendale.

Sam Engel recently retired from years of service to the city as Neighborhood Services Administrator, and at the candidate forums showed a detailed understanding of Glendale issues and neighborhoods. I believe his years of experience would be an asset on the council. He and Laura are also the only City Council candidates to be endorsed by the LA County Democratic party.

Glendale News-Press Endorsement of Ara Najarian, Laura Friedman and Sam Engel for City Council

CITY CLERK

I'm voting Ardashes Kassakhian for City Clerk. Ardy has encouraged me many times over the years to post more items encouraging voter registration and participation at city meetings and events, and has taken many proactive measures to promote the city and make public information available online. I believe him to be an honest and competent City Clerk.

Glendale News-Press endorsement of Ardy Kassakhian for City Clerk

SCHOOL BOARD

I've paid less attention to this than the city council race, but after talking to many people who pay closer attention to the school board than I, I am comfortable voting for incumbents Joylene Wagner, Chris Walters, Greg Krikorian...and newcomer Dan Cabrera. Of course, you can only vote for three, but I've heard many good things about the incumbents and think Dan Cabrera is a great guy. So there you go.

BALLOT MEASURES

YES on Measure A
"Shall the Charter be amended to convert the position of City Treasurer from elected to an appointed position; the appointment be made by the City Manager; be at-will; that the City Manager may assign certain duties to other deputies or the Director of Finance; that the minimum qualifications shall be in the Charter by reference to the Government Code; that the bond and oath of the City Clerk be filed with the City Attorney?"

For me, the best case for Measure A is this particular election: there's only one candidate for treasurer who is even willing to run! The person entrusted to manage the city's money should be the best person in a pool of qualified applicants, not literally the only person willing to run for office.

Cities with appointed treasurers also pay significantly less to borrow money. From the National Bureau of Economic Research:

Cities with elected treasurers also had more debt on average, were more likely to have directly elected mayors and clerks, and had lower per capita income and a less educated population all of which could also influence borrowing costs. Controlling for those factors, cities with appointed treasurers paid 13 percent less to borrow than cities with elected treasurers.

To get at the issue of causality, this study further refines the sample to examine the 31 cities that held a referendum during the period to replace an elected treasurer with an appointed one. Ten cities approved such a change. From that sample, he finds that cities spend 23 percent less to borrow money if they have an appointed treasurer.

Councilman Dave Weaver wrote a letter in favor of Measure A to the News-Press that I would recommend reading.

Official Measure A arguments (all links are PDFs):

Glendale News-Press endorsement:

No on Measure A (their original endorsement said that the council would appoint the treasurer, it has since been updated to reflect that the city manager would appoint the treasurer with the approval of the council)

YES on Measure B
"Shall the Charter be amended to update accounting provisions to eliminate obsolete funds and to reflect generally accepted accounting principles, to ensure proper accounting by establishing separate water and electric utility funds, and to clarify existing language regarding fund transfers?"

Measure B brings existing city budget and utility revenue accounting and transfer practices up to date with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. We should eliminate the contortions required to conform with accounting practices last defined in an era when it was still a great idea to put swastikas on lamp posts.

Official Measure B arguments (all links are PDFs):

Glendale News-Press endorsement:

Yes on Measure B

NO on Measure C
"Shall the Charter be amended to reflect the correct title of the Director of Finance, remove obsolete language regarding petty cash handling, require that the budget be adopted by June 30, and eliminate inefficiencies in bond sales by allowing flexibility?"

I'm voting no on Measure C because it opens the door for conflicts of interest by Wall Street firms seeking influence in municipal elections. The SEC has called the municipal bond market "illiquid and opaque" and their investigations have found that bond firms made pay-to-play political contributions to get contracts, engaged in questionable sales practices and excessively marked up bond prices. Though Measure C may have some other benefits, those must be weighed against the risk of possible future malfeasance.

Official Measure C arguments (all links are PDFs):

Glendale News-Press endorsement:

No on Measure C

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Visit GlendaleVotes.org, the City of Glendale's official election portal. The Glendale News-Press has also been doing excellent election coverage, here are their endorsements. The "mailbag" section has also recently been full of arguments for and against just about everyone and everything, I'd recommend reading those letters as well to get a good range of opinions. You can watch the City Council and City Clerk candidates in action at the League of Women Voters candidate forum on Youtube.

Now get out there and vote on April 2nd!

*Though I am not endorsing him in this election, I want to give an honorable mention to Roland Kedikian. I believe that in this election, Sam, Ara and Laura are a better choice, but he impressed me at the forums with his reasoned thinking and dignified manner. I hope he stays involved with city politics.

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Glendale Approves Disney's Grand Central Air Terminal Renovation Plan

2013-03-26T10:32:00.002-07:00

The Grand Central Air Terminal, the elegant but long-neglected centerpiece of Glendale’s role in aviation history, is finally going to get the restoration it deserves. Glendale’s Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously to approve Disney’s plan for the restoration of Grand Central, which includes extensive structural stabilization and seismic upgrades, restoration of the exterior and rehabilitation of significant interior spaces so the building can be adaptively reused as a visitor center, offices and event space for the surrounding Disney Grand Central Creative Complex. According to the 2000 agreement between Glendale and Disney (pdf link), limited public access is required, probably through a reservation system. There will be a media wall and interpretive displays illuminating the history of Grand Central. Excitingly, many of the renderings show an airplane out front. An actual airplane (or two!) in front of Grand Central would provide historical context in a way no media wall can.

I spoke at the meeting to comment on the Grand Central Air Terminal proposal. Here's what I said:

I really like the proposal. I have 3 comments:

1. I understand that Disney is only required to provide "limited public access" through a reservation system, but I would hope that as a gesture of goodwill toward the community Disney will increase the scope of public access and not require reservations to visit the terminal. Perhaps in addition to the historical displays they could even add rotating exhibits of items from the Disney Archives, which are located nearby, to encourage the public to visit and learn about the rich history of both the Grand Central Air Terminal and the Walt Disney Company. I recently visited the Reagan Library, and there was a temporary exhibit of Disney memorabilia there that was very well attended. It would also be great if local non-profits such as Ascencia or The Glendale Historical Society could use the event space for fundraisers in what will be the most beautiful and historic building in Glendale.

2. In the proposal, having a plane on the taxiway is presented as a mere "possibility." Having a plane out front is a fantastic idea that instantly provides historical context in a way no "media wall" possibly can. I would recommend at least two planes: a twin engined DC-3 airliner, which occupies the taxiway in many of the most iconic photographs of the Grand Central Air Terminal; and also a P-38 Lighting*, the sleek twin-tailed fighter that operated from Grand Central in great numbers during World War Two.

A P-38 flying out of Grand Central.

3. I also would like to suggest allowing limited public access to the control tower itself, which the proposal mentions cannot be "legally" used as it contains only one means of access. I'm not sure if the city could grant an exemption of some kind to allow access, or perhaps visitors could sign a waiver before entering. I'm sure the views from up there are great. It would be especially cool if that area were restored to the way it looked when Grand Central was a functioning airport and give visitors an evocative glimpse into this piece of Glendale, and now Disney, history.

The HPC approved the project unanimously with 2 conditions -- that Disney add a beacon element to the control tower, and use glass in one area for historical accuracy -- and 2 considerations, which the commission cannot require Disney to do but request they consider: allow greater public access than required in the 2000 development agreement and place an airplane of the appropriate period on the site.

The Air Terminal building and control tower at 1310 Air Way is just about all that remains from Glendale’s once thriving Grand Central Airport. Grand Central was the departure site for the nation’s first regularly scheduled coast to coast flight, piloted by Charles Lindbergh. Other famous names in aviation who flew from Grand Central include Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post, Jack Northrop and Howard Hughes. The airport became a military base during WWII, and was used to train pilots to fly the P-38 Lightning fighter. The airport closed in the late 1950s and the area has been offices and warehouses ever since. The Air Terminal building itself fell into disrepair in the early 1990s, and Disney purchased the building in 1997.

Some plans and renderings from the proposal are below.

I highly recommend looking through the whole report, there are many great details:

Staff Report and Disney Proposal for Grand Central Air Terminal Renovation Project (PDF link)

After the restoration, Grand Central will once again be the most beautiful and historic building in Glendale. I just hope the public can visit!

previously:

* City Clerk Ardy Kassakhian is an aviation buff and has been saying a P-38 should be out front for years, so credit to him for that. I also know that P-38s are staggeringly rare, a replica would be fine, perhaps with the markings of a unit that actually flew from Grand Central during WWII.

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Why Solar Won't Work in Glendale

2013-03-25T20:30:00.002-07:00

Cadillac Ends Up on Glendale Rooftop (LA Weekly)

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Glendale's "Space 134" Freeway Park Concept To Be Presented to City Council

2013-03-25T20:22:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow night the Glendale City Council will review an initial concept presentation exploring the idea of capping the 134 freeway to create park space between Central and Glendale Avenue, similar to Seattle's Freeway Park, Boston's Rose Kennedy Greenway and the proposed park over the 101 Freeway in Hollywood. Hopefully people will come speak at the meeting and send the council letters in support of a project along these lines that would create more badly needed park space in Glendale. The funding to explore the idea came from a grant front the Southern California Association of Governments, and has been led Glendale's mobility planner Mike Nilsson in conjuction with planning and urban design consultants Melendrez. Seeing something of this scale come to fruition would take many years, but the project is set up in phases that can be implemented if the support is there within the community.

Here's the staff report with the details:

Space 134 Project Concept (PDF link)

Renderings of the idea and possible short and long term implementations of the concept:

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Zareh Sinanyan Defends Himself Against Youtube Allegations*

2013-03-14T13:52:00.004-07:00

*4/19/13 UPDATE: Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments

City Council Candidate Zareh Sinanyan took the opportunity to clear the air Tuesday night against allegations that he was responsible for a large volume of hateful comments on Youtube over a period of several years. You can stream the full meeting if you wish. This exchange begins at approximately 2:51.

ARA NAJARIAN
Once and far all, let’s be clear about it. Zareh, you deny these comments, is that correct?

ZAREH SINANYAN
Mr. Najarian, I answered the question twice. One correction; I was appointed to CBDG in 2008 by Bob Yousefian; Ms. Friedman removed me in 2009, you merely reappointed me. Thank you. I answered the same question, I’m happy to talk about city issues, but I can’t be brought back to answer the same question over and over again. I stated in my paper, that's it, I answered. So, with that in mind... [moves to sit down]

LAURA FRIEDMAN
Wait, wait - you said they're ‘not you.’ Did you write those posts? Did you write any of the Youtube posts that were attributed to you?”

ZAREH SINANYAN
It’s not a simple question. It’s not a simple question.

LAURA FRIEDMAN
How is that not a simple question?

ZAREH SINANYAN
It’s not a simple question because…I don’t know what I’m looking at. I don’t know what I’m looking at because…a certain blogger, who’s related to you, very closely, keeps threatening that there are more posts, that these are posts, that there’s this, there’s that…this happened, that happened. So…unless I see what it is that I’m being faced with, I’m not answering that question more so than I’ve already answered it.

LAURA FRIEDMAN
There are several Youtube comments on that blog with your name on them. I’m sure you saw those. Did you write any of those posts that have your name on them that were on that blog? It’s a very simple question.

ZAREH SINANYAN
Personally I haven’t been on that blog, nor do I care to, but I know what’s on it because it’s been conveyed to me. I answered the question, you can ask me five more times, and you’re going to get the same answer.

LAURA FRIEDMAN
You’re not denying having written any of those?

ZAREH SINANYAN
I told you that these are not my statements, they don’t reflect me, they don’t reflect my qualities…

LAURA FRIEDMAN
I understand they "don’t 'reflect' your qualities," but did you WRITE them?

ZAREH SINANYAN
I am telling you that I am investigating this issue and trying to understand. You’re asking me to answer about something… [indignant] they don’t reflect me, I don’t write stuff like that. You can’t bring one person who will say that Zareh talks like that, Zareh acts like that, Zareh writes like that. That’s the point.

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Why It's Unlikely A "Hacker" Was Responsible For the Alleged Sinanyan Comments*

2013-03-11T03:51:00.002-07:00

*4/19/13 UPDATE: Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments

If City Council candidate Zareh Sinanyan chooses to deny the allegations that he made dozens of obscene Youtube comments in front of the City Council on Tuesday night (PDF) rather than apologizing and moving forward with his campaign, I'm guessing he will claim some variation on "I was hacked!"

There are two possible scenarios that explain the events we’ve seen. One in which Sinanyan is responsible for the comments, and one in which a supposed “hacker” is responsible.

A commenter named D. Johnson on the Glendale News-Press article makes a concise case against a supposed “hack” quite nicely, that I've expanded on:

Five years ago, someone named "Zareh Sinanyan" posted a comment on YouTube that said, among other things, "your entire family is composed of whores and ****suckers." In that same 5-year-old comment thread on YouTube, that same "Zareh Sinanyan" also said "I'm a business litigator"

Now, there are only a few possibilities here:

1. The comment was posted 5 years ago by the same Zareh Sinanyan now running for Glendale City Council

2. The comment was posted 5 years ago by some other Zareh Sinanyan, not the person currently running for Glendale City Council, but also a business litigator

3. The comment was posted 5 years ago by some nasty person using the name "Zareh Sinanyan", knowing that Zareh Sinanyan would be a political candidate sometime in the future, and that the comment could then be used to smear him

4. The comment was posted anonymously 5 years ago under a pseudonym that due to Google+ and YouTube interaction later became linked to the real name of Zareh Sinanyan

The simple fact is that makes #4 by far the most likely option is that the comment was posted to YouTube 5 years ago - unless you believe that YouTube, which is owned by Google, the world's largest and most secure website, is in on the "conspiracy."

Additional evidence against the possibility of a nasty person impersonating Mr. Sinanyan is that somehow, that person would need to:

fluidly write hundreds of comments in a mix Russian, Armenian and English, the exact languages Mr. Sinanyan speaks
in addition to the vulgar and racist posts; have the literary imagination to write dozens of comments about Armenian and Russian history, completely banal posts (“Wow, ribeye steak in Yerevan!”), and otherwise maintain a lively online life with lots of back and forth comments on dozens of threads over a half a decade period
somehow get into Mr. Sinanyan’s Google account to merge it with the Youtube account WITHOUT Mr. Sinanyan knowing or realizing the two had been merged, since Mr. Sinanyan apparently continued to use the Google account normally after the two were merged
break into Mr. Sinanyan’s absolutely 100% verified Facebook account in September to leave a comment referring to “Mongol Tatars,” a favorite enemy of the Youtube persona
change the username of the Youtube account from “Zareh Sinanyan” to “Thomas Paine” and then “Lightbulb”
Change the name used on the Google account linked to the Youtube account to "Thomas Paine," and send an official campaign related e-mail via Sinanyan’s personal e-mail address to the Glendale Association of Realtors that linked Sinanyan’s e-mail address to the renamed “Thomas Paine” account

More things that don't make sense if an impostor was involved:

Why would any impersonator conduct a thorough cover-up of the damaging posts right after the e-mail with the tip had been circulated but before most of the public was aware of the allegations?

Would an impostor really go to the trouble of creating FIVE YEARS worth of fake posts, then not leave them up online for the world to see? Wouldn’t they leave them up instead of hoping local media could put the pieces together using incomplete cached versions of the comments? I’ve found dozens of very nasty posts in the cached versions of the comments, but those who viewed the original e-mail and looked through the full set of comments made by the Youtube account before the cover-up saw many, many more incriminating posts that were deleted and not cached.

Which explanation is most likely to be true?

As with any event that one does not personally witness, you can only verify information to a degree of probability based on the evidence available. And every single piece of publicly available evidence in this matter thus far points to a high probability that Mr. Sinanyan was responsible for the content of the posts and attempted to hide his connection to the Youtube and Google account when knowledge of the obscene comments became public.

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Sinanyan Scandal Updates & Detailed Responses to His Defenders*

2013-03-11T03:04:00.001-07:00

*4/19/13 UPDATE: Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments

In the wake of the scandal that broke here Tuesday linking City Council candidate Zareh Sinanyan to a large volume of obscene comments on various websites, additional prominent political leaders have rescinded their earlier support. In addition to Congressman Adam Schiff, Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greuel, and Paul Krekorian have also all retracted their endorsements. To Sinanyan’s credit, he has promptly removed references to them from his official campaign website. The ongoing scandal has since been covered in the Daily News, Glendale News-Press, LA Observed and LAist.

Most importantly, it was covered in this agenda item for this Tuesday’s City Council meeting (PDF), where the City Council will inquire into whether Mr. Sinanyan authored the comments. Mr. Sinanyan serves as a commissioner at the pleasure of the council, so if a majority of the council believes it’s likely he is responsible for the comments and that it is damaging to the reputation of the city to have him continue as a Community Block Grant commissioner, they are free to remove him from his appointed position.

Among Zareh supporters in the comment section on my previous posts (first post, second post) there there have been five main defenses against the allegations. As it is impractical for me to respond to each individual comment, here are the main defenses I've heard and a detailed response to each one.

**warning: many of the image links below contain offensive content**

1. It was a smear campaign by an anonymous source/shady political operative/Turkish Intelligence!

While I’m sure Mr. Sinanyan does have political enemies, and the timing is potentially damaging to his City Council campaign, these observations do nothing to challenge the volume of third-party evidence that shows that he is very likely to have said was is alleged to have said. As I documented in my previous posts, I did not publish any information from the original anonymous e-mail that was sent to many in Glendale without investigating it myself, verifying the links between the account that made the comments and Sinanyan's confirmed accounts and describing my process. The Glendale News-Press also investigated the claims and came to similar conclusions. Every bit of information alleged in the initial anonymous e-mail was verifiable by third party sources with no stake in the election, including the cached files of several of the world’s largest and most secure tech companies. The technical skills required to uncover the comments initially weren’t hacker-level ninjitsu - anyone who has ever used a search engine could find them just as easily by simply typing the candidate’s name into Google or Yahoo. It would be a smear campaign against Mr. Sinanyan if the allegations weren’t true, but as one commenter noted, using someone’s racist and vulgar statements to portray them as being racist and vulgar isn’t a smear; it’s accountability.

And yes, I did get a comment blaming it on Turkish Intelligence, as well as numerous anonymous comments decrying the anonymity of the original tip with no apparent sense of irony.

2. He was only attacking people who were denying the Armenian Genocide.

This was claimed by the highly partisan Asbarez Armenian newspaper. They are correct that some posts were on videos and comment threads that discussed the Armenian genocide, in which the Ottoman Turks are well documented to have killed 1.5 million Armenians between 1915-1920; but many of the disturbing posts were on videos and topics unrelated to the horror of the genocide, including MMA videos.

3. The comments weren’t really so bad! Who hasn’t gotten into a heated argument online?

I certainly have. But not like this, this or this. Especially disturbing are the numerous posts referring to Muslims as “raghead cockroaches” and wishing them death. I have many, many more examples of these comments that will singe your hair. The sheer volume and inventiveness of obscenity is stunning. If you think this is acceptable language for a candidate for higher office, so be it, but it would be far-fetched for Mr. Sinanyan to claim that he didn’t know that city commissioners and candidates for elected office would be held to a higher standard of behavior than the average Youtube flame-war participant.

4. Perhaps Sinanyan wrote the comments, but an anonymous hacker got into his home computer and made them public! That hacker should be prosecuted!

The allegations in the initial anonymous e-mail had nothing to do with linking the comments to a specific computer or IP address; the allegations are linked to Sinanyan via his Google account, which he could log into from any computer he had access to. The comments themselves were openly published online and didn’t require any “hacking” to view - they were all freely visible under Mr. Sinanyan’s name. Additionally, the connections shown between the Youtube account and the Google account were all made using information that Mr. Sinanyan himself had chosen to make public in various online profiles, no special access or “hacking” required.

5. He didn’t write the comments at all - he was hacked by an impostor!

This is the big argument that keeps coming up, so I've written a post with an analysis of why a "hack" of the necessary scope and duration is highly unlikely.

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Adam Schiff Withdraws Sinanyan Glendale City Council Endorsement in Light of Allegations*

2013-03-07T14:19:00.001-08:00

*4/19/13 UPDATE: Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments

Congressman Adam Schiff has officially withdrawn his support for Glendale City Council candidate Zareh Sinanyan in light of the allegations that became public at Tuesday's City Council meeting.

From Patrick Boland, Communications Director for Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Burbank):

"When this issue was brought to his attention on Tuesday, Congressman Schiff immediately directed his staff to inform the Sinanyan campaign that he was withdrawing his endorsement. In the letter to the Sinanyan campaign from his campaign, Schiff confirmed that he could not support anyone who made such deeply offensive and bigoted statements."

The letter sent by Congressman's staff is below:

"It has been alleged that Mr. Sinanyan may have posted deeply offensive and bigoted messages on websites and social media platforms. We certainly hope that this is not the case, and that he has no connection to the vile comments that are being attributed to him.

Until this matter is resolved, however, Mr. Schiff must withdraw his endorsement and ask that his name not be included on any campaign materials. The comments alleged are deeply disturbing and not befitting any member of the public let alone one seeking to represent the city on an elected body."

Here's some background on the allegations that I published on Tuesday: I received a tip about the comments on Monday morning via an anonymous e-mail. I know others in Glendale received the same e-mail, and I've had several people contact me this week (before I published my post) asking if I knew about the alleged comments. So I didn't uncover the comments per se, though I was the first person to publish them besides Sinanyan himself. When I first received the e-mail, I checked and verified that all of the comments were online from the account linked to Sinanyan's name, that all of the timestamps were correct (since some of the posts go back five years), and I verified that all of the information in the screen captures I received was accurate and not Photoshopped. And indeed, all of the comments were publicly available online at Youtube at that time, with that time stamp information, under the name Zareh Sinanyan. I also looked at other comments made by the same account, and there were dozens, maybe hundreds of additional comments, all similarly vulgar. By Monday afternoon the comments started disappearing from YouTube, presumably as Sinanyan got word that people were poking around his comment history. Also, I believe that for most of the account's history, it was an "anonymous" account -- but that Sinanyan unwisely chose to link his YouTube account to his Google Plus account, which retroactively revealed him as the author of the formerly anonymous comments.

I also would also like to highlight criticism of the allegations from the lively comment section under the initial post:

Anonymous commented:

"I can't believe the amount of people who have given these accusations any real merit. What if I took your name and doctored comments on your behalf, passing them out to your neighbors saying you're a thief? What would you do?
These are a fool's attempt to discredit Zareh, who is the right choice for this city."

To address the very valid concerns of this commenter:

I fully agree with you that it would be terrible if someone doctored comments to incriminate a candidate. I am very concerned about that very possibility when dealing with anonymously sourced information. As a result, I took extensive steps to verify myself that all of the comments in the screen captures I received were accurate with what had been published online over a period of many years. In doing so, I concluded that the images I received were not doctored, that the comments were easily findable, on many sites, and part of a much larger pattern of vitriolic comments going back years. Most of the trail of comments is still online in some form. Googling "Zareh Sinanyan" and various obscenities yields many results on many sites over a long period of time.

Additionally, I checked Sinanyan's Google+ profile (The name has since been rather preposterously changed to "Thomas Paine," but the original name is still visible in Google searches. The Youtube account is part of his Google+ Profile), and it lists his Google + connections as M Toumajan, Hovanes Manucharyan, Sarkis Jacob Babachanian, and Stepan Boyajian. I checked Sinanyan's Facebook profile -- the completely official profile through which he comments on his campaign -- and every single one of those people is Facebook friends with Zareh through his official Facebook account.

This proved to me that it was overwhelmingly likely that the Youtube account belonged to the same Zareh Sinanyan and not an impostor or someone with the same name.

respectfully,

Scott Lowe
Tropico Station

The Sinanyan campaign has not addressed the matter publicly. The Glendale City Council will be inquiring into the matter at next Tuesday's council meeting.

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Zareh Sinanyan's Infamous Alleged Youtube Comments***

2013-03-05T19:11:00.000-08:00

*4/19/13 UPDATE: Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments

Glendale City Council candidate Zareh Sinanyan, who has garnered an impressive amount of financial and political support, rather foolishly, and under his own name*, appears to have left an astonishingly filthy and vitriolic trail of vulgar, bullying, homophobic, anti-Muslim, and racist comments on youtube going back 5 years. I understand that people get worked up online sometimes, but man, these are pretty astoundingly vile. In light of these comments, I won't be voting for Zareh, which is too bad, as he made a good impression on me at the candidate forums. Many of the comments have since been deleted, but before they were removed I did verify that they were online from the account linked to his name -- specifically the comment where, in the course of a rant, he mentions being a business litigator. Take a look at the comments and see for yourself. The comments go back over five years, so if someone was to try to frame him, they would have to go back in time to do it. The screen captures below are also but a small sampling of the comments left -- most have since been deleted, but there were hundreds. At the Glendale City Council meeting tonight, Sinanyan's removal from the Community Development Block Grant committee was added to the agenda for next week's council meeting. Zareh will be there to defend himself, so the meeting promises to be quite interesting.

XKCD said it best:

*I believe that for most of the account's history, it was an "anonymous" account -- but that Zareh unwisely chose to link his YouTube account to his Google Plus account, which retroactively revealed him as the author of his formerly anonymous comments.

UPDATE (WITH VIDEO) -

City Council Candidate Zareh Sinanyan took the opportunity to clear the air at last Tuesday's City Council meeting against allegations that he was responsible for a large volume of hateful comments on Youtube over a period of several years. You can stream the full meeting if you wish. This exchange begins at approximately 2:51:

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