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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26 - JANUARY 01, 2013 - Volume 1, No. 20
Former Grand Marshal joins PETA in Opposing Sea World’s 'PR Ploy' in 2014 Rose Parade entry
Vet hunters are on the front line of ending homelessness for military veterans and families
Median home prices jump 23% in October
by SHEL SEGAL The median price for sold existing single family homes in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area has jumped a whopping nearly 23 percent in October of this year over the same time a year ago, according to a report released by the California Association of Realtors. However, sales of existing single family homes dropped nearly 9 percent over those two time periods, the report said. The median price for sold existing single family homes in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area in October 2013 was $391,450 – up 0.2 percent from a month earlier – and up from $318,660 in October 2012, the report said. Please see page 5
Cloris Leachman opposes TOR’s decision to include SeaWorld float – Photo by Terry Miller
Cloris Leachman was proud to be the 2008 grand marshal of the Tournament of Roses—but she's less than thrilled about the Rose Parade's decision to allow a SeaWorld float in this year's parade. In a letter sent to the president of the Tournament of Roses Association recently on PETA's behalf, the venerated comedian—who says she "hate[s] to rain on this parade, but …"—points to the hit documentary Blackfish, which exposed SeaWorld's practice of tearing baby orcas away from their mothers and locking them in tiny concrete tanks, where they suffer physically and psychologically. "Many orcas at SeaWorld have been stuck in tanks that amount to glorified bathtubs for decades," Leachman writes. "They have been deprived of everything that is natural and important to them and are forced to swim in endless Please see page 4
Swastikas Who is fighting for and hatethem? The Vet Hunters Project is a San Gabriel Valley filled based non-profit that was founded by Joe Leal, an comments Iraq combat veteran and tireless advocate for Ameritarget ca’s homeless heroes. Together, with a dediPlease see page 3 African Longtime lawman Robert Castro sworn in as Americans 18 year old Glendale’s Chief of Police arrested Department as a police caby SHEL SEGAL -Courtesy Photo
One of the only things colder than the temperature outside at midnight of late, is the stark reality that there are so many people with no place to call home. Many, the same brave men and women who served our country and fought for our rights, now find themselves homeless and hope-
Longtime law enforcement officer Robert Castro was sworn in on Thursday as the ninth chief of police of the Glendale Police Department before a packed room of family members, friends and supporters. Castro comes to Glendale after serving as police chief for the city of Glendora, starting in 2011. Castro began his law enforcement career working for the Glendora Police
less.
cated and determined army of Vet Hunters, Leal is shedding light on a population that oftentimes tries to remain hidden while changing the lives of hundreds of underserved and neglected veterans across the country. “We conduct daily search and rescue missions of our displaced veterans
throughout the country and connect them to the resources and knowledge they need by bringing it to where they are,” said Leal, whose office is wherever the veterans are whether it be on the streets, by railroad tracks, under bridges or in broken down cars. “We take the word
det in 1985. He was hired as a police officer in 1986 and worked his way up through the ranks to chief of police. In Glendora, Castro is credited with transforming the police department into a highly effective and efficient organization, an evolution hastened by the recent recession. Difficult financial conditions resulted in a 20 percent person-
-Courtesy Photo
Please see page 2
An 18-year-old man was taken into custody on suspicion of spray-painting hate messages around Burbank according to Burbank police reports Drew Benda was arrested at 4:50 p.m. Monday at Wilbur Avenue and Bel Aire Drive when he was seen with evidence that connected him to swastikas and hateful comments toward African Americans spray-painted in numerous locations. He is being held on $50,000