Schiff acquires rail safety funds

Congress has approved a request by Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat who represents Burbank, for $500,000 in federal funding to pay for safety improvements to Metrolink including median separators and locked gates to limit vehicular access to rail tracks including those in Burbank.

The request comes on the heels of January's deadly Metrolink crash.

The bill also included language from Schiff that requires the Federal Railroad Administration to study safety practices called into question after the derailment of a Metrolink train in Glendale.

Schiff said rising traffic congestion and the cost of gas will force commuters to increasingly rely on public transportation.

The funding was included in H.R. 3058, the Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, Judiciary, District of Columbia Appropriations Act 2006.

Forum scheduled for special election

The League of Women Voters of Glendale/Burbank will present a televised candidates' forum for the Burbank Special Council election at 7 p.m. Dec. 8 in the Burbank City Council Chambers, 275 E. Olive Ave.

The public is invited to submit questions for the candidates before the forum through the league e-mail at questions@gb.ca.lwvnet.org or via the league phone at (818) 247-2407.

Citizens will be allowed to ask questions and learn about the candidates' vision for Burbank at the forum.

The special election was scheduled when former councilwoman Stacey Murphy resigned Aug. 30 after being charged with one felony count of cocaine possession and one misdemeanor count of child endangerment.

The council has operated with only four members since then.

Murphy, 47, resigned saying she did not want her legal troubles to be a distraction to the council's city business.

Voters will have a field of five candidates to choose from in a Jan. 24 special election: attorney Vahe Hovanessian; Michael Dontanville, a retired air traffic controller; Bill Wiggins, a former councilman and mayor who now serves on the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority; David Gordon, an optometrist and former city Planning Board member; and attorney Amy Lawrence.

The ballots for the all-mail election will go out Jan. 3 and must be returned to the city clerk by Jan. 24. The results will be announced that evening.

The term expires in May 2009.20051119gzu364ke(LA)Stacey Murphy20051119i6lcuukfNo Caption