Around the Valleys

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY Burbank Joe: Burbank-ites can choose from yet another coffee house option with the opening of Romancing the Bean in Burbank Village. The 20,000-square-foot shop, adjacent to Gordon Biersch, sports a European-style d & #233;cor and will in the future, host live bands and an open mic night. Owner Kerry Krull has also developed a menu of gourmet salads, sandwiches, deserts and light breakfast entrees to go along with the organic coffees and teas and coffee drinks. Glendale Healthy: Officials and hospital staffers broke ground Aug. 17 on a new Ambulatory Surgery Center at Glendale Adventist Medical Center in Glendale. The 15,500-square-foot facility, at Chevy Chase Drive and Sinclair Avenue, will house four surgical operating rooms, a procedure room and recovery room. It will specialize in outpatient surgical procedures in which patients will be able to return home within a few hours of being treated. Construction is scheduled to finish by next October. Reseda Wizard: The post office at 7320 Reseda Blvd. in Reseda will be renamed after the celebrated UCLA basketball coach John R. Wooden. President George W. Bush on Aug. 17 signed legislation to officially name the Reseda facility the Coach John Wooden Post Office Building. Wooden, 95, is a 30-year Encino resident, although the Encino post office at 5805 White Oak Ave. was named after Los Angeles Lakers sportscaster “Chick” Hearn in 2002. The Reseda facility was the next closest, near where Wooden’s daughter, Nancy Muehlhausen, lives. Before retiring in 1975, Wooden coached to UCLA Bruins to 10 nation titles, seven consecutively. The official ceremony will take place Oct. 14, Wooden’s 96th birthday. ANTELOPE VALLEY Palmdale Grant: The Palmdale Regional Airport received a $900,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Small Community Air Service Development Program. The grant supports a revenue guarantee program for regional jet service on a network carrier from the Palmdale airport. Local governmental agencies contributed $3.7 million for the program. The program seeks to attract regional jet service from Palmdale to a connecting hub market such as Phoenix, San Francisco, or Dallas/Ft. Worth. Los Angeles World Airports, owner and operator of the Palmdale airfield, has been in discussions with several network carriers expressing interest in re-introducing service to Palmdale. SANTA CLARITA VALLEY Valencia Bond: Voters in November will be asked to approve a $160 million bond measure to fund an expansion of the Valencia campus of College of the Canyons. The money would pay for technology upgrades, safety improvements and new classrooms, labs and other facilities. It would also make available an additional $70 million from the state. The 36-year-old community college has faced a space crunch in recent years as more students enroll. This spring, the student population topped 18,000.