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A Word, Please: Of adjectives and noun phrases
It's a billboard custom-tailored to grammar buffs. "Every day we help people get back to their everyday," proclaims the ad for Keck Medical Center of USC. In that single sentence, the copy writer does more to help people with grammar than I probably will in this whole column. But I'll give it a...
Altadena Junction: Civil War memorial, a summer market and rally
It's a little-known fact that Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena may have one of the largest collections of remains of Civil War veterans outside of the areas where the battles were fought.
Common Sense: Mothers Day musing
Nope, I'm not going out for brunch or dinner at a favorite restaurant.
Ron Kaye: An idea whose time hasn't come
My head spun when I heard Democrats with their super-majority in the state Assembly slammed through a bill that would make California the only state in the nation to let immigrants, legal ones, sit on juries.
A Word, Please: Going to the theatre, or the theater?
If it were possible to tally up all the moments of my life so far, the top activities would probably be watching "Simpsons" reruns, talking to computers over the telephone, and asking fellow diners, "Are you gonna eat that?"
On Education: James Ellroy enthralls GCC
If anyone worried James Ellroy might dumb down the salty language laced throughout his crime novels for an appearance at Glendale Community College this week, they wouldn't have been disappointed.
Ron Kaye: Standing up to the town bully
The sparse front page of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18 website expresses exactly the message Brian D'Arcy wants his members to get: Rotating photos of protesting workers waving "A DEAL IS A DEAL" signs.
Altadena Junction: Site readied for MonteCedro
MonteCedro — the long-planned retirement community on the site of the historic Scripps Home — plans to finally break ground late this summer.
Start the Presses: Burbank mechanic's amazing 'Shift It' commercial
Our reporters are hard at work nailing down the details of the deliciously ridiculous "Shift It" music video-slash-auto commercial-slash-Internet meme, but I couldn't let another second go by without embedding the video on our sites.
Intersections: Waiting for the ethnic identifier
Please don't let them be Muslim. Please don't let them be Hispanic. Please don't let them be Armenian.
On Education: The price of a fun, safe prom night
If you are the parent of a current high school student, you will spend about $250,000 to raise that child to the age of 18, give or take a few thousand depending on family resources, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Start the Presses: Transparency in print and in life
On Tuesday evening, I had the chance to speak to a class at Glendale Community College run by the school's police chief, Gary Montecuollo. I have spoken to this class before, which focuses on law enforcement's interactions with the larger community, and enjoyed it each time.
A Word, Please: Better grammar means better jobs?
Creators of a software program called Grammarly recently conducted a study of the grammar used in LinkedIn member profiles. They found that people with fewer grammar errors in their profiles ascended to higher positions, got more promotions and changed jobs more often.
Common Sense: Arias trial raises parenting questions
Thanks to Jodi Arias — the confessed murderer who is on trial for the brutal killing of her ex-boyfriend — Pasadena is known for one more thing.
Start the Presses: Remembering the Armenian Genocide
Each year Armenians worldwide commemorate the murder of 1.5 million of their ancestors by what was then the Ottoman Empire in the time around World War I. Each year, the United States government – fearing the backlash of Turkish rulers – fails to officially recognize this atrocity as a...
A Word, Please: A would-be worry that isn't
An island nation you can't find on a map can threaten your retirement savings. Your health insurer could refuse to pay your medical bills by arguing you're covered only if someone drops a baby grand piano on your head, not an upright. On any given day, a celebrity might say mean things to a singer...
Ron Kaye: Civic engagement and high expectations
It was the changing of the guard — Parcher Plaza at Glendale City Hall filled with people celebrating Mayor Frank Quintero with taquitos and cupcakes, a gathering of well-wishers that included Burbank Mayor Dave Golonski, who offered a framed memento in tribute.
A Word, Please: Who gets to make the language laws?
The Mid Devon District Council in southwestern England made headlines recently when it proposed to do away with apostrophes on street signs, changing King's Crescent into Kings Crescent and St. Paul's Square into St. Pauls Square.
Altadena Junction: Co-op reaches a major milestone
The Arroyo Food Co-op was founded in Altadena almost five years ago by locals who wanted a community-based alternative to large corporate grocery store chains. The co-op reached a major milestone last week as it signed a lease for the old George’s Market neighborhood grocery store in central...
Steve Greenberg: Ballad of "The Tonight Show"
Cartoonist Steve Greenberg gives his take on the departure of "The Tonight Show" from Burbank, its home since 1972. Jimmy Fallon will be taking the show to New York when he takes over hosting duties from Jay Leno in the spring of 2014.
A Word, Please: Copy editing clues to excellence
These days, everyone's a writer. And a reporter. And an editor. Thanks to the Internet, you can report any "fact" you want, be it a UFO sighting in your rumpus room or incontrovertible evidence that Donald Trump has a full head of hair.
A Word, Please: Open yourself up to grammar
A reader named Roy sent me an e-mail recently. He had a question – not for himself but for a friend. And, heaven help me, I really believe it was for a friend. Here's what Roy wrote:
Ron Kaye: Throwing rocks at the windows of power
What would your town be like if its harshest critic had a seat at the table of power?
Ron Kaye: Respect for the Council of Governments
One of my first impressions when I called the San Fernando Valley my home nearly 30 years ago was that this vast middle-class enclave suffered from a bad inferiority complex, like it was populated by a lot of Rodney Dangerfields who just couldn’t get respect.
A Word, Please: Grammar rules can't be taken on faith
Most of what you think you know about grammar is wrong.
Start the Presses: Accusations and flying mud
For about 15 hours this week, I’ve been sitting in Vrej Agajanian’s AABC TV studio, serially interviewing each of the candidates for Glendale’s City Council, School Board and City Clerk.
A Word, Please: An Oxford comma could strip JFK's dignity
There's a cartoon about commas going around on the Internet.
Ron Kaye: Democracy wins a round
The setting was beautiful: a hill high above the intersection of the Santa Monica (10) and Long Beach (710) freeways, with panoramic views of downtown L.A. and much of the San Gabriel Valley, even on this dark and misty Thursday night.
Small Wonders: Collection has multiplied like rabbits
It's hard to take a place seriously that bills itself as “the hoppiest place on Earth.”
A Word, Please: Losing the apostrophe isn't always an option
Not long ago I wrote a column about how sometimes in terms like “teachers' union” and “homeowners' policy” the apostrophe is optional. If you really mean that the first noun possesses the second, an apostrophe makes sense. But if the first noun is intended as more of an...
Ron Kaye: Glendale seeks straight story
Twenty months after Gov. Jerry Brown and the state Legislature abolished community redevelopment agencies statewide, local officials have gone through all the stages of grief — from horror to anger to confusion.
A Word, Please: Don't let language cops impact your words
There are a lot of people out there who will think less of you if you use “impact” as a verb: A longer storm season will negatively impact tourism. Failure to study will negatively impact your grades. Technology will impact higher education.
Ron Kaye: A forefather's forethought
When I retired five years ago after a career as a rather maverick newspaperman bristling at the restraints of corporate journalism, I vowed to speak what was in my heart and to say “yes” to just about everything.
A Word, Please: An adverb lesson not for the faint of heart
Count the adverbs in the following sentence: Therefore, we should wait outside awhile because the very lovely and kindly family will be there soon to tell us fast whether everyone is well.
Altadena Junction: Another Neighborhood Market could be in the works for Calaveras Crater
One of Altadena's continuing enigmas is what's going to go in the Calaveras Crater. It may not be an enigma much longer.
Ron Kaye: It isn't utopia, but it's far from dystopia
Once long ago, during my year as an old-fashioned rewrite-man at the National Enquirer, the demonic man who owned and ran the tabloid as if it and its journalists were a figment of his over-active imagination sent a reporter around the world in search of utopia.
Start the Presses: Sweeney Todd at Burroughs High a hair-raising experience
About 30 minutes into watching the Wednesday night dress rehearsal of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” at John Burroughs High School in Burbank, I had an unsettling realization.
A Word, Please: Solving the case of the missing apostrophe
Somewhere out there, in the teachers' lounge at a teachers college, people are chatting and laughing and sipping coffee — blissfully unaware that they're living exhibits in the Weird Punctuation Hall of Fame.
Common Sense: Tune in to 'The New Jim Crow'
Some years ago, during the late 1960s, my younger sister, who at the time was attending UCLA's law school, was part of a project that took her to one of California's state prisons for men.
Altadena Junction: Sheriff cuts squeezing unincorporated areas, Walmart Neighborhood Market update, and more
Sheriff Lee Baca has clashed with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently about cutting deputy overtime, which has the immediate effect of reducing patrols in unincorporated county areas. Supervisors felt that Baca was favoring cities that contract with the sheriff's office for police...
Ron Kaye: The Gatto plot thickens
The clumsy statements by Assemblyman Mike Gatto's political team denying that he ran a slate of delegates for the 43rd Assembly District's seats at the state Democratic Party convention — and that challengers were threatened and intimidated — also contained a direct attack on a single...
A Word, Please: Misspoken word makes a point about precision
Here's an insightful observation: People don't like to sound stupid. In fact, that's the No. 1 concern of most of the people who ask me questions about language.
Altadena Junction: Voluminous book collection heads to auction
Even as a child, Art Ronnie loved two things fiercely: aviation and books. He would spend his odd-job money buying books about fliers and aircraft. When he was 14, he got a job washing planes for a flying school for 50 cents an hour (an extra dollar if he had to clean up some student's vomit), which...
Start the Presses: Recovering from a wrenching experience
I walk around my neighborhood with a long-handled socket wrench now. The metal has a comforting heaviness.
Ron Kaye: Party needs to clear the air
Assemblyman Mike Gatto's political director sent out an email blast urging Democrats in the 43rd Assembly District to show up with “as many friends and family as possible” on Jan. 12 at the IATSE union hall in Burbank to elect a dozen delegates to the party's state convention.
A Word, Please: Don't look here for the valuable en dash
There's a punctuation mark that most people have never heard of or noticed, even though they've probably seen it in print 1,000 times.
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