LAPD Dubs Atwater Village "Very Clear"

FROM THE LATEST Northeast LAPD crime update, Captain Bill Murphy says Atwater Village "continues to be very clear ... especially since the Toonerville gang takedown."

Dtox Day Spa: 3 Years and Counting

WHILE WE SADLY bid adieu to a fave gift shop in the neighborhood, we can still treat our pains at another local hot spot. Dtox Day Spa, 3206 Los Feliz Blvd., is celebrating its third anniversary. Save a receipt from a treatment in August, get $20 coupon for September. And the spa's Happy Hour Friday is Aug. 21, this time a detox/retox partnership with Bigfoot Lodge across the street. Soak it in, just like Lorelai Gilmore!

Food Porn: Beekeeper Takes Over Canele Bistro

FIND OUT WHAT you missed back on June 30 when Amy Seidenwurm of the Backwards Beekeepers took over the kitchen at Atwater Village's Canele Bistro. See the delicious photos and essay in LA Times Magazine.

When Does Atwater Village Get Mobile Ice Cream?

HERE'S A CALL to that architecture-themed ice-cream truck-about-town, Coolhaus. How about showing some cool, sweet love to your hometown neighborhood? According to Pasadena Star-News, one of the Coolhaus co-founders is an Atwater Village native. Does this mean we might see some Frank Behry or Mintamalism ice-cream sandwiches at the next Summer Nights event? I think it's worth asking. Let's all hound them on Twitter.

UPDATE: D'oh! They were here last Thursday. How could I have missed them?

Next Summer Nights Event: August 27

ANYONE STROLLING along busy Glendale Blvd. during last Thursday's Summer Nights on the Boulevard event could tell it was a success. Restaurants hopping, music on every corner, stores actually selling stuff! Atwater Village Chamber of Commerce was quick to announce the next Summer Nights event is Thursday, Aug. 27. See a lot of you there.

Illegal to Fish in the LA River? Don't Let That Stop You

People Really Do Fish Here, originally uploaded by Atwater Village Newbie.

Atwater Village's Haircut: Labonge Calls It River Glen

View River Glen or North Atwater Village? in a larger map

THE NORTHERN TIP of Atwater Village has the neighborhood's last remaining strip club, and now the whole area might be stripped from the neighborhood. Not that anyone really lives in this concrete industrial stem at the top of Atwater Village's banana, but Los Angeles City Councilman Tom Labonge has taken to renaming it River Glen. The new moniker appears on the LA River Revitalization Plan and other City documents, according to the Friends of Atwater Village blog. Labonge has also been using it in emails to describe development initiatives in the area. Never mind the name. (Not much Glen-like about it.) But splitting it from residential areas of Atwater Village seems rather arbitrary. Are we saying industrial and residential don't mix? Or could this be a clever ploy by Labonge's office to locate a waste treatment facility in North Atwater Village without approval from our usual stakeholders, like neighborhood council? The "River Glen" area is also adjacent to the Chevy Chase Park area, where LAPD recently raided Toonerville gang compounds and promises continued cleanup of the area. I suppose neighborhood stakeholders could want continued say in how both areas are governed. I only spent time in "River Glen" once, at a furniture sale. (Didn't buy anything.) But I wouldn't be surprised if people through it was part of the City of Glendale anyway.

Tonight: Summer Nights Festival on Glendale Blvd.

SUMMER NIGHTS on the Boulevard, tonight, Thursday July 23, 6:00pm to 10:00pm, in Atwater Village along Glendale Blvd., from Glenfeliz to Perlita.

Tomorrow: Summer Nights Event on Glendale Blvd.

TOMORROW MARKS the return of the street fest to Atwater Village. In 2008, our neighborhood enjoyed an April "Artwater" art festival, a June sidewalk festival, an October trick-or-treat event and a December holiday tree lighting festival. But this year, with anticipated budget cuts to neighborhood organizations, it looked like we'd get through all of 2009 without taking to the streets. No worries, now. Enter the Atwater Village Chamber of Commerce: Summer Nights on The Boulevard Thursday July 23, 6:00pm to 10:00pm Glendale Blvd., from Glenfeliz to Perlita [see map] Live music, dancers, stores open late, sidewalk dining The Complex, 3015 Glendale Blvd., live bands, dancers, art exhibits Parking lot, 3111 Glendale Blvd., DJ, art exhibit, massages, dancers Madera bumpout, 3147 Glendale Blvd., 10 bands, live dancers, CD release party Little Knittery, 3195 Glendale Blvd., live music Hugo's Tacos, 3300 Glendale Blvd., live jazz Woof Dog Boutique, 3172 Glendale Blvd., pet adoption

Top Chef Winner Cooking at Canele This Tuesday

NOT TO MISS: Top Chef season 2 winner Ilan Hall takes over the kitchen Tuesday July 21, 5:30pm to 10:00pm, at Canele, 3219 Glendale Blvd., in Atwater Village. Hall's 3-course prix fixe (price TBD) Scottish-influenced menu is predicted to include: roasted mushrooms with walnut-marrow vinaigrette chicken Haggis with braised corn and pureed potatoes shortbread lime bar with Bustello condensed milk

Toonerville Gang Raid: By the Numbers

Toonerville, originally uploaded by KID DEUCE.

JULY 9 gang raid in North Atwater Village is being hailed, not least of all by the raiders themselves, as an unqualified success. The numbers, from Northeast LAPD:

• 21 locations searched
  
• 19 suspects arrested (murder, attempted murder, narcotics trafficking, weapons violations)
• 2 additional arrests on scene (weapons violations)
• 63 firearms confiscated (48 in one house alone)
• 3 ounces of meth/cocaine confiscated
• 32 ounces of marijuana confiscated

Authorities sell the raid as the beginning of a turnaround for the residential area around Chevy Chase Park. Expect continued patrols, anti-gang programs and community outreach, similar to post-gang Drew Street in Glassell Park. Maybe even a street party.

Key to the long-term success of the raid will be preventing rival Rascals gang from filling gaps where Toonerville once reigned.

Involved agencies were Los Angeles Police Department, LA County Sheriff’s Department, City Councilman Eric Garcetti, Glendale Police Department and Drug Enforcement Agency.