Hit-and-Run Accident in Central Atwater Village

ACCORDING TO this eyewitness, a driver hit a parked car yesterday, July 11, on Valleybrink Road in a heavily residential area of central Atwater Village. See the full-size photo here. Los Angeles Fire Department arrived on the scene, but the witness says the injured driver took off, and no one else was hurt. Still, looks like a mess.

New Pedestrian Bridge Over Untroubled Waters?

ALTHOUGH ITS precise location has yet to be planned, and its precise cost could range from $2 million to $30 million, depending on designs, Glendale City Council wants to connect its city with LA's Griffith Park by building a new pedestrian bridge over I-5. LA Times reports:

Residents from Glendale, Burbank and Atwater Village — especially local equestrians and bicyclists — have also expressed support for the proposed bridge.

The bridge is planned as a future third phase of the Glendale Narrows Riverwalk along the Los Angeles River. (With any luck, it'll connect the industrial east bank with the well-tread bike path across the river.) The riverwalk's first phase breaks ground this summer, upstream from Atwater Village, just past Flower Street, behind ABC-7 and Dreamworks studios.

Download Glendale's 33-page riverwalk presentation, with photos and detailed plans.

Tweet Me Like a Newbie

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS too small to blog, too big to ignore, from the Atwater Village Newbie Twitter feed:

• Grab the kayak! EPA declares LA River "traditional navigable waters" @LATimescityDesk
• "Tam O'Shanter in Atwater Village... as ersatz as can be, a Disney version of a Scottish inn" @laweeklyfood
• On newly expanded Trader Joes in Silver Lake, Katie from Atwater Village says: "It seems huge" @TheEastsiderLA
• New studio in Atwater Village, it's called Brazilian Yoga and Pilates, 3191 Casitas Ave.
• Marijuana shop at 3153 Glendale Blvd may be violating zoning ordinances and regulations by also offering classes

Follow Sasha's Story, From the End

TRAGEDY STRUCK an Atwater Village family last week when 15-year-old Sasha Rodriguez, a high school student and drill team member from the neighborhood, died after attending the Electric Daisy Carnival rave. While funeral services are planned for today, July 6, 2:30pm at Forest Lawn Glendale, the LA Times has been following the aftermath of Sasha's death, including policy changes at LA Coliseum. Catch up here:

• June 30 - Girl, 15, dies after weekend rave at LA Coliseum
• June 30 - LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky calls for moratorium on raves at LA Coliseum
• July 1 - Overload from Electric Daisy Carnival - Coliseum officials suspend raves after teen girl's death.
• July 2 - Girl's rave death raises questions whether such parties are getting too big to handle
• July 3 - Girl who died after LA rave didn't tell family she was going, spokesman says
• July 5 - Electric Daisy Carnival: drug-infested all-nighter - All law enforcement officers know that the whole idea behind raves is to take Ecstasy. Whoever approved the use of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for this event should be held civilly responsible.
• July 5 - Four girls touch the world, two in death and two in life

Friends and family have organized a funeral fundraiser on Facebook and a fundraising dinner Saturday, July 10, 5:00pm.

Schedule: Atwater Village Outdoor Movies

SEE SOME CLASSICS this summer under the stars of Atwater Village. The annual movie series takes place at the Los Feliz Municipal Golf Course, 3207 Los Feliz Blvd., where blankets and picnics are encouraged, but tall chairs, pets and smoking are rightly shunned. Gates at dusk, showtimes at dark.

• July 9 - Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
• August 13 - Young Frankenstein (1974)
• September 10 - E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Summer of Food Trucks and Wine

BASED ON THE round-the-lot blockbuster success of a recent visit from the Grilled Cheese Truck, 55 Degree Wine announces a summer month's worth of gourmet food trucks coming to the parking lot at 3111 Glendale Blvd. above, with wine and beer pairings in the cool basement tasting room below.

• Crepe'n' Around: Wednesday June 30, 7:00pm to 10:00pm
• FrySmith: Saturday July 3, 1:00pm to 4:00pm
• Grilled Cheese Truck, Wednesday July 14, 7:00pm to 10:00pm
• Nom Nom Truck, Wednesday July 21, 7:00pm to 10:00pm
• Cupcakes a GoGo: Wednesday July 28, 7:00pm to 10:00pm
• LA FuXion: Wednesday August 4, 7:00pm to 10:00pm

New Short Film Shot in Atwater Village

SHOT IN Atwater Village, the new fiction short film, "Through the Window," is written and directed by Regina Gomez, and features the song "Pray for Death" by Pawz1. The cop, played by Gomez, shows up at the 4:30 mark to deliver the twist ending.

Reporting Graffiti? There's an App for That

NO FLYING CARS just yet, but Los Angeles city government is at least going futuristic with its latest citizen reporting mechanism: iPhone apps. So reports the LA Times:

"It's like having a city official in your pocket," said John Chuldenko, who recently used the app to report graffiti he spotted while strolling through his Atwater Village neighborhood. He was floored when the graffiti was gone a week later. "I've never been the type to report all these things," Chuldenko said. "But now that it's so easy, I do it all the time."

In addition to council district 13 residents using the "Garcetti 311" iPhone app, citizens all over LA can report graffiti and other city government issues the old-fashioned way by calling 311.

(Council district 2 has similar apps for iPhone and Android.)

Tick Tock, Food Truck

THE GOURMET FOOD truck Vizzi (menu, tweets) rolls into Atwater Village for pre-show dining before the Saturday night performance of "Tick Tock" at Atwater Playhouse, 3191 Casitas Ave. Truck's at 6:30pm, play's at 8:00pm (tickets $15).

Jamming in South Atwater Village

A VICTIM OF the United States Postal Service posts on the AVNC forum: "Is anyone else having problems with our mailman (south Atwater)? Today I arrived home to find our mailbox completely destroyed inside the house. This is because he continues to forcibly jam as much mail as possible into the small mail slot at once, rather than a few pieces at a time (like a normal person would). I get that he has a lot of houses to visit, but a little patience on his part would have saved me from having to replace my mail slot and fix the interior wall. I'm going to complain to the postmaster (for whatever good that'll do), but wonder if others have a similar experience so I can be armed with more information."

And She Doesn't Look a Day Over 80

Tracks Into Atwater Village, 1927, originally uploaded by Atwater Village Newbie.

REMINDER: The Atwater Village Centennial Street Festival, marking 100 years since a field of poppies became a genuine subdivision (named after Harriet Atwater Paramore), is Sunday, June 13, 2010, 11:00am to 4:00pm in the 3100 block of Glendale Blvd. Expect the usual: food, music, dance, arts, crafts, family fun, entertainment, all your neighbors out and about.