Using His Head

[caption id="attachment_644" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="CV' goalie Rane Colvin uses his head to block a shot by Cerritos with teammate Daniel Olson assisting on Wednesday, September 30, 2009. (Roger Wilson/News-Press)"][/caption]

Chance of Showers

[caption id="attachment_641" align="alignnone" width="440" caption="An L.A. City Fire helicopter makes a drop on a small fire in the hills behind Harding Municipal Golf Course at Griffith Park in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon, September 30, 2009. (Raul Roa/News-Press)"][/caption]

Did city critic Barry Allen prank call Councilman Weaver?

At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Councilman Dave Weaver had an interesting story to share. According to Weaver, this weekend he was watching his beloved USC football team when he received a phone call from a man identifying himself as "John Kraft." The man said he was on an airplane and that a friend gave him Weaver's number to get the score of the USC game. Odd right? It gets weirder... According to Weaver, the next day he received an e-mail from city critic Barry Allen thanking him for speaking with his friend John Kraft "the cheese magnate." The e-mail was signed "your friend, Barry Allen." "I didn't know Barry Allen was my friend," Weaver said Tuesday. At that point, Weaver became suspicious and looked up the number that had registered on his phone. The number, he said, was registered to Barry Allen. Allen, a self describe "gadfly" and editor of "Vanguardians," has been notably absent from recent council meetings. Is he spending his new-found time making prank calls to city council members?

LCUSD Governing Board candidates ready for upcoming forums

With the LCUSD Governing Board election just one month away, the competing candidates are readying for two upcoming candidates forums. All six candidates, including incumbents, Joel Peterson, Susan Boyd and Scott Tracy and challengers Neal Millard, David Wilcox and Ernest Koeppen have confirmed they will participate in the Oct. 6 forum at the La Canada High School that's sponsored by the PTA. Only the three challengers, however, have said they will participate in the Oct. 1 forum at the La Canada Community Center that is being sponsored by the local GOP groups. Al Restivo, a local Republican leader, said his party will be making endorsements after they've heard what the candidates have to say.

Small blaze burning in Griffith Park

From the Los Angeles Times:

Firefighters are battling a brush fire this afternoon that is burning south of Travel Town in Griffith Park. Los Angeles city and county firefighters are at the blaze, which has burned about 5 acres and is going uphill. A park ranger noticed the fire and called authorities.

Public itinerary

So I'll be at the Tavern on Brand Blvd. tonight to co-mingle with readers, and then again at Oktoberfest this Saturday at 5 p.m. to serve wine at our paper's booth. Despite how this is shaping up, I don't think it's a pattern.

Meet the Editors – Tonight

Hey all, just a reminder that tonight is the Meet the Editors event at Tavern on the Brand, 208 N. Brand Blvd. in Glendale, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. I look forward to seeing you all.

Statement from Mayor Gary Bric

Statement from Mayor Gary Bric Burbank City Council Meeting September 29, 2009 There has been a lot of press recently regarding issues at the Burbank Police Department and I’m sure the community is concerned and wants to make sure that these issues are being appropriately dealt with. There have been a number of lawsuits and claims filed that contain multiple allegations of improper conduct ranging from wrongful termination, discrimination and retaliation to abuse of force and various forms of covering up such activities. These are all very serious allegations and I think it is clear to everyone that the police department is facing some major challenges. All of these allegations have arisen from sources within the department or from former members of the department. As a result of allegations prior to these lawsuits, a number of investigations have been initiated both by the department and by outside entities at the invitation of and with the cooperation of the city. These investigations began long before the filing of the lawsuits and claims mentioned above. Chief Stehr requested the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department come in and perform an independent investigation. The city also began an independent investigation using an outside attorney and an outside investigator, both of whom report directly to the City Attorney and City Manager’s office. Your Burbank City Council has met with the outside attorney in order to confirm that there are no limitations on the scope of the investigation and to indicate that any signs of lack of cooperation by anyone within the city are to be brought to the Council’s attention. The Sheriff’s department requested that the city hold off commencing its investigation until the Sheriff’s investigation was completed. In addition to these investigations, the FBI has been conducting their own investigation into these matters and we are cooperating with their inquiries to the city. It is our understanding that when the Sheriff’s investigation is complete, it will be forwarded by the Sheriff’s department to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. The city’s investigation is now ongoing and includes all of the issues raised by the lawsuits and claims that have been filed and will also include any additional issues that may arise in the future. While we cannot legally share the details of any of these investigations, we felt it was important to share with you that the issues in the Burbank Police Department are being taken very seriously and investigated by outside independent agencies. These investigations have been taking what seems like a very long time, but the investigators know the seriousness of the allegations and are making sure they do a complete and thorough job. We are frustrated that we cannot share more detailed information with you, but the integrity of the investigations and strict legal rules governing the privacy of police officers that may be under investigation prevent us from making any further comments. While we know the entire community is disappointed to know that there are issues within the police department, please rest assured that the City Council is taking every step possible to make sure all of the issues are identified and that steps are taken to make sure that any problems that are identified are dealt with in a manner that insures they are never repeated. This may mean some severe consequences for any persons involved in misconduct, but we believe the integrity of our police department is extremely important to this community and is our paramount concern. With our firm commitment to discover and correct any misdeeds within the police department, I can assure you the majority of the men and women in our police department are not involved in these issues and we would be remiss if we didn't recognize the excellent job they do protecting the safety of our community during these difficult times. Mayor Gary Bric City of Burbank

The Early Edition – Burbank Leader

[caption id="attachment_1197" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="After relative silence, the City Council Tuesday revealed that the Burbank Police Department was under some stage of investigation by the FBI, county sheriffs and an outside attorney over allegations of misconduct within the ranks."][/caption] FBI probes Police Dept. CITY HALL — Four days after the city released a statement calling the latest lawsuit filed against its Police Department “baseless and disingenuous,” Mayor Gary Bric on Tuesday said the FBI was investigating allegations of misconduct within the ranks. Creative solution for fundraising BURBANK — Burroughs High School students Desiree Martinez and Brittany Lewis spent their Saturday night sleeping in a cardboard box. Park patrol plans on hold CITY HALL — Residents will have to wait another nine months for the possibility of a dedicated park patrol officer after city officials last week decided to exhaust a dwindling federal grant for the service through June. Three students catch H1N1 BURBANK — Students at three Burbank Unified School District schools have been stricken with swine flu, but administrators said the virus has not reached levels forecasted by state health officials. Win is big step for Burbank BURBANK HIGH — The Burbank High and Crescenta Valley girls’ volleyball teams want to participate in the playoffs in November. Locals run well in league opener ARCADIA — There’s still two more Pacific League meets left to be run this season, but on Wednesday, Arcadia High took the first step toward possibly dethroning six-time girls’ league cross-country champion Crescenta Valley. EVERYONE’S BUSINESS: Civil speakers prevail Hello, fellow Burbank folk. Some of you know me, or at least my words. I have written letters to the editor and spoken to the City Council numerous times over the past few years, opining about the Chandler streets and bikeway, the outdoor smoking ordinance, council behavior, water conservation, beautification of city streets and other things.

The Early Edition – Glendale News-Press

[caption id="attachment_647" align="alignleft" width="237" caption="Cyclists, from left, Matthew Warrick, 28, from Topeka KS., Justin Morrissette, 28, from Alexandria, MN., and Elvis Khachatryan, 26, from Glendale, CA., get ready for their fundraising trip across America at Carr Park on Tuesday. The three friends will take off from Manhattan Beach and head out to St. Augustine, Florida, on a two-month trek for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. (Raul Roa/News-Press)"][/caption] Pedaling for a cause Elvis Khachatryan said he usually considers Los Angeles to Texas to be a short trip. Pilots are prone to thinking the country is much smaller than it is, he said, which is one reason he and two colleagues will depart this morning and bike nearly 3,200 miles in a two-month trek to St. Augustine, Fla., near Jacksonville. Teacher makes it to the sweet 16 UNIVERSAL CITY — Kris Kohlmeier, a teacher at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, leads mock trials and investigations with his history students that resemble a plot from “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” more often than giving classwork. Bookings, fire inspections add fees CITY HALL — With city finances tight, fire and police are the latest city departments to introduce new fees as a way to recover the costs of providing services. Residents see hazard in crosswalk near church GLENDALE — A crosswalk at Central and Fairview avenues has drawn the ire of community members who fear that the curved walkway poses a safety risk to preschoolers and parishioners from the nearby Church of the Incarnation. A champion in the wait? This is the final installment of a three-part feature story on the life and career of undefeated Glendale boxing phenom Vanes “The Nightmare” Martirosyan. A WORD, PLEASE: Putting a stop to semicolons. Period. Thursday was National Punctuation Day. It’s a time when punctuation lovers of all stripes set aside their differences and unite in celebration of those little marks that are the fine line shielding us from communication chaos.