Marketing stunt prompts resignation
The general manager of the Cartoon Network, which operates out of Burbank, has resigned after a marketing campaign in Boston sparked a citywide bomb scare.
Jim Sample, who served as company president for 13 years, said that he was stepping down in hopes that his decision would allow the network to move beyond the incident.
Advertisers had placed light-boards depicting a character from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, a cartoon, near transportation points in the city, which authorities mistook for terrorist devices. Cartoon Network parent company Turner Broadcasting System agreed to pay $2 million to local, state and federal agencies to avoid legal prosecution for the incident.
Liquor store wins lottery award
The California State Lottery awarded Burbank store La Paz Liquor with the Retailer of the Month award for February on Jan. 17.
The convenience store at 4101 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank has been a lottery retailer since March 1999. La Paz Liquor has maintained a weekly lotto ticket sales average of over the past eight years of $18,000.
The store's total sales equal around $5.5 million, with $2 million of that amount going to fund California public schools.
Percentages of lottery ticket sales go to salaries and benefits for educators, instructional materials for classrooms and support of other public education programs and services.
The California State Lottery generates more than $1 billion a year for public schools in the state.
Owner Daniel Roh received the award in a ceremony given by the state lottery at the store.
