Glendale Community College

GLENDALE — This year’s Glendale Community College baseball team will feature some intriguing freshman talent, as well as some sophomore holdovers returning for their second year at Stengel Field. But for Coach Chris Cicuto, much of the heart and soul and, ultimately, the success of the Vaqueros will rest on their core of third-year players. Infielders Danny Casey from Bellarmine-Jefferson High, Burroughs’ Miguel Alvarez, outfielders Brian Ward and Chris Arredondo and pitcher Tony Banuelos, Jr. — another former Indian — all of whom have redshirted a year during their stint at Glendale college, are back for their final year of eligibility and all will be asked, to varying degrees, to take a leading role in the clubhouse and on the field.

Local education officials this week said President Obama’s expansion of federal aid for college-bound students could make the process less intimidating for those seeking financial help. Provisions included in the so-called health-care reconciliation bill expand the range of Pell Grants and federal financial aid for lower-income students, a move that Glendale Community College officials and high school guidance counselors said would simplify what has been an arduous financial aid system for students.

GCC Professor emeritus shows art work GLENDALE -- Glendale Community College professor emeritus Martin Mondrus has always been a working artist, and his retirement from full-time teaching has not meant a retirement from his craft. His latest exhibit, "Paintings by Martin Mondrus," is running through April 30 in Forbes Hall at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica. Call (310) 829-5436 for gallery hours and address. Mondrus teaches life drawing at GCC on Monday nights.

Legacy gala benefits projects helping women The YWCA programs for women will benefit from the sixth annual Legacy Luncheon on Wednesday at the La Canada Country Club. The fund-raising event will honor "Women of Heart and Excellence." Honorees are Georgia M. Abelmann, former News-Press Woman of Achievement; Lina M. Harper, Glendale Unified School District Board member; Gladys I. Kabateck, Glendale Community College counselor and community volunteer; and Sonia B. Peltekian, president of the Armenian Relief Society.

Buck Wargo GLENDALE -- Charter Communications has joined with Music Television for a voter registration drive at the Glendale Community College. The voter drive starts today and runs through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the San Gabriel Plaza at the college, 1500 N. Verdugo Road. Charter and MTV will also have a voter drive at the Burbank Media Center, 201 E. Magnolia Blvd., on Saturday and Sunday. The sign up will be on the first floor in front of Macy's between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. As a sweepstakes incentive to encourage voter registration, Charter is presenting a $500 Media Center gift certificate, 100 MTV caps and 100 MTV T-shirts.

Michael E. Stern, Photoshop instructor and professional photographer, has not always been willing to do most of his work at a computer. He used to hang out of helicopters for aerial shots and carry heavy equipment around location shoots. But health problems that affected his bones and nerves and limited his mobility led the Burbank resident to the desktop to learn digital technology. Stern, an instructor at Glendale Community College, is now featured in the July 2001 issue of Professional Photographer magazine.

Karen S. Kim NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Glendale Community College's first Battle of the Bands gave its audience a chance to enjoy a large variety of musical styles and genres on Saturday. The fund-raiser also gave the college's Scholars Program, which sets students on a specified path for transferring to state schools or universities, an extra $2,000 for scholarships, school officials said. Sixteen bands, from hip-hop to punk to Beach Boys tribute bands, performed from 11 a.m. to midnight in the college's J.W. Smith Conference Center.

Softball players learn from Olympians A group of local youth softball players got the opportunity to learn fundamentals of the sport from some accomplished athletes. The Burbank Madness, coached by Carmen Roberts, traveled to Lancaster last weekend to take part in a clinic. At the event were U.S. gold medal Olympic members Crystal Bustos, Lovieanne Jung, Jenny Topping, Amanda Freed and Tara Mimms-Flowers. Although temperatures dipped into the 20s, the girls endured and learned many things, from the proper batting stance and how to hit and catch, as well as taking part in throwing and baserunning drills.

David Machuca spent just one season as head football Coach at Bellarmine-Jefferson. However, in that one season he helped the Guards get back to the CIF Southern Section playoffs. Unfortunately for Bell-Jeff, Machuca, 28, - who is also the school's athletic director - has announced that he has stepped down as the program's coach. Machuca said he is leaving the post and has accepted the position of offensive coordinator at Glendale Community College under Vaqueros Coach John Rome.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — Five yards away from a potential game-tying touchdown, the Glendale Community College football team may have fumbled away its best chance of winning this season. A botched exchange between third-string quarterback Anthony Carter and running back Joe Wiggan at the five-yard line was recovered by Los Angeles Pierce College with a little over a minute left and preserved a Brahmas' 28-20 Pacific Conference American Division win Saturday night at Sartoris Field.

GLENDALE — Much like the program itself, the 2011 Glendale Community College men's golf team has become better and better as the season has progressed. It's a huge factor as to why the Vaqueros are set to make their inaugural appearance in the state championship, which will be held at 8 a.m. Monday at Kings Country Club in Hanford. "We have a good lineup and we have some experienced players," said Glendale college men's Coach Greg Osbourne, whose team finished second at the Southern California Regionals on Monday at Bermuda Dunes Country Club and will be one of eight squads competing for state prominence.

Local education officials this week said President Obama’s expansion of federal aid for college-bound students could make the process less intimidating for those seeking financial help. Provisions included in the so-called health-care reconciliation bill expand the range of Pell Grants and federal financial aid for lower-income students, a move that Glendale Community College officials and high school guidance counselors said would simplify what has been an arduous financial aid system for students.

VAN NUYS — What the first three quarters lacked in excitement, the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s first Sports Scholarships USA Junior College All-Star game at Birmingham High more than made up for. The South team, which included Glendale Community College athletes Jorge Chaidez — a Bellarmine-Jefferson High graduate — Kalii Robinson, Cerone Woods, Willie Youngblood, John Schachtner and Roger Garcia, traveled 55...

BURBANK ? Former Burbank High and Glendale Community College standout Freddy Sanchez will be staying put on the West Coast. Sanchez, a three-time All-Star and the 2006 National League batting champion, signed a two-year extension Friday with the San Francisco Giants. Terms of the deal weren?t announced, though mlb.com reported that Sanchez?s salary package might exceed the two-year, $10 million deal the Pittsburgh Pirates offered him shortly before trading him to San Francisco on July 29. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Sanchez, a second baseman, will be paid $6 million per year.

VALENCIA — In holding College of the Canyons’ offense scoreless for the final 52-plus minutes of Saturday night’s Northern Conference National Division contest at Canyons, the Glendale Community College football team showed it really is just as good, if not better, than its recent string of stellar performances would indicate. But with another frustratingly mediocre performance, the Vaqueros’ offense did nothing to shake the reputation for ineffectuality that it has simultaneously developed.

CITY HALL — With more than a week still to go before the start of the autumn term Aug. 17, non-resident student enrollment in the Burbank Unified School District has already jumped 17% from fall, officials announced Thursday. The news came as the Board of Education discussed its goals for the upcoming year, including its hopes for raising the amount of students who enroll in college after graduating from high school and for improving the quality of education in the district.