GIGA GRANADA HILLS

Here's a sample.

How, when, and by whom was it decided that the intersection of San Fernando Mission and Balboa should henceforth be known as Crazy Billboard Corners? First, the inscrutable advertisement for Hamer Toyota goes up, and now, a billboard that pinpoints the return of Christ as occurring on May 21, 2011. The Hamer Toyota ad, it seems, is intended to be a permanent fixture, but I'll be surprised if Save The Date stays up much past May 22. But then again, if all of the true believers indeed get rapturized out of town, maybe there'll be no one will be left to tear the thing down and replace it with a billboard for, say, Spearmint Rhino. Image from TheLatterRain.com The website the billboard directs us to puts the rapture at May 21 and the destruction of the earth on October 21, which means that the kids will be highly disappointed to learn they'll miss out on Halloween. But the good news is, this year, you don't have to feel guilty if you eat those bags of candy you bought...

COUNCIL DISTRICT 12 DINESH "DANNY" LAKHANPAL 163 1.98 KELLY M. LORD, JR. 536 6.51 BRAD SMITH 1,986 24.12 NAVRAJ "SINGH" SINGH 463 5.62 ARMINEH CHELEBIAN 301 3.66 MITCHELL ENGLANDER 4,784 58.11 In an outcome that was surprising to no one, Mitchell Englander, the oft-demonized Chief of Staff to outgoing Councilman Greig Smith, handily won the District 12 Councilman seat with 58% of the vote. Englander's formidable war chest, stoked by business donations that many feared would make for troubling obligations, by far outstripped that of any other candidate. Englander also had the heftiest list of endorsements, including that of the Los Angeles Times, The Daily News, and lefty Congressman Brad Sherman. Granada Hills Neighborhood Council Member Brad Smith, the second-biggest vote getter and the only candidate to secure the endorsement of the Democratic Party of L.A. County, brought in 24% of votes, not nearly enough to topp...

As of 9:21 pm, vote by mail results are favoring Mitch Englander at 4,784 votes with Brad Smith in second place at 1,986. The total of all alternative candidates is 3,449 to Englander's 4,784, which at this point means no runoff. And Dinesh "Danny" Lakhanpal's last place ranking means no monorail. Next GigaGranadaHills update will be tomorrow morning. DINESH "DANNY" LAKHANPAL 163 1.98 KELLY M. LORD, JR. 536 6.51 BRAD SMITH 1,986 24.12 NAVRAJ "SINGH" SINGH 463 5.62 ARMINEH CHELEBIAN 301 3.66 MITCHELL ENGLANDER 4,784 58.11

Just reminding you. I'm going to refrain from doing endorsements because, well, you don't need me to tell you how to think. I've done my best to give you the tools with which to make your own decision. I will say, however, that it's interesting how little attention most people pay to local elections. I've know people who tend to become exceptionally wound up with things that take place in Washington, yet not care a whit what's taking place in our own backyard. Don't be one of them. Go out and vote. It matters.