Featured Articles from the Burbank Leader

Closing arguments wrapped up Friday afternoon for a lawsuit filed by a female police officer, who claims she faced discrimination and harassment because of her pregnancy, and retaliation when she complained. On Thursday, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge told jurors they could not consider other claims made by Officer Cindy Guillen in the lawsuit, including that she faced harassment based on her ethnicity and gender. Jurors will decide whether Guillen should be awarded up to $500,000 for pain and suffering, and up to $30,000 for lost wages due to allegedly being taken off an assignment in retaliation for lodging a complaint.

As Scott and Chelsey Schlatter prepared to finalize the adoption of their second child, they decided to take the celebration to the spot where she was born - the Corner Bakery in Burbank. On Friday, the couple and 15-month-old Lilah were joined by family members and friends at the eatery at the intersection of San Fernando Road and Grinnell Drive. It was there on Feb. 11, 2011 that Lilah's birth mother went into labor and, with the help of some customers, delivered the child on the floor in the middle of the dining area.

Location is everything. Unfortunately for the McCormick & Schmick's seafood restaurant in Burbank, its location appears to have led to its closure. The restaurant, tucked in an office/commercial corridor along Olive Avenue near Warner Bros. and NBC studios, had already stopped opening on weekends prior to its closure last week, said Burbank Deputy City Manager Joy Forbes. Forbes, who spoke with the restaurant's assistant manager on its last day of operation on Jan. 3, said the business had been relying on lunchtime crowds and happy-hour patrons who might stay for dinner.

A new Crunch gym has opened in downtown Burbank following the huge success of the company's West Hollywood location, which has become a trendy work-out spot for celebrities and entertainment-industry types. Burbank's identity as the “entertainment capital of the world” should fit right in with the gym's L.A. branding, according to company officials. It's only the second Crunch gym in the Los Angeles area, said Amita Balla, general manager of the new gym, located at 761 N. San Fernando Blvd., above Barnes & Noble.

Burbank Police Officer Cindy Guillen finds herself in court as a last resort, after complaints of gender and ethnic harassment were not investigated, prompting her lawsuit, her attorney said Monday. In his opening statements to jurors in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Guillen's attorney, Solomon Gresen, promised the full story behind his client, from humble beginnings, to fulfilling her dream of becoming a police officer in Burbank. Gresen described Guillen as an “outstanding police officer.” “There is no question about the caliber of her work,” Gresen said, adding that Guillen serves as the public information officer to the Spanish-speaking community.

Three local residents have filed a lawsuit against the city to stop a Walmart from opening in Burbank, alleging the city illegally cleared the way to issue building permits to the world's largest retailer without adequately investigating the store's environmental impact. After months of public outcry that included protests and opposition voiced at City Council meetings, Shanna Ingalsbee, Katherine Olson and Yvette Ziraldo filed the lawsuit Friday through their attorney, Gideon Kracov, who also represents United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 770. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges that the city has yet to make street improvements that were required before building permits could be issued for any new businesses in, or adjacent to, the Empire Center, according to a resolution approved by the City Council in June 2000.

As a former attendee of and longtime former lay leader at Little White Chapel, I have been interested in the cell phone tower debate now going on. While some neighborhood complaints I believe are unfounded and/or paranoiac, others appear legitimate. I wonder if the minister or current lay leadership has made any effort to alleviate those complaints or explain why they wish to use church premises for such a purpose, especially anything that detracts from the 70-year significance of the steeple that is a hallmark for this part of Burbank.

Hilda Akopyan on Thursday night sat down to do her homework, when she came to a realization. “I’ll never have homework for Burbank High again,” she said. “I’m so used to everything being the same, and now I am about to embark on a big change.” Akopyan, who plans to attend Pasadena City College in the fall, was one of 617 seniors who graduated on Friday night from Burbank High. Parents, grandparents as well as other family members and friends gathered at the Starlight Bowl to honor the graduates.

Within days of his pet canary of seven years dying, a Corvette crashed through Rene Zendejas' home, forcing him to miss his birthday dinner. "Bad things always come in threes," said Zendejas, a puppeteer who has lived in Burbank for 59 years. Insurance agents are estimating $60,000 in damage to his house. Pat Leeper, a 63-year-old Burbank resident, crashed his Corvette into Zendejas' home on the corner of Alameda Avenue and South Lamer Street around 7:30 p.m. Sept.

A brother and sister are in custody after they allegedly stabbed a family member's dog to death at a home in Burbank. Calling the bloody scene “pretty horrific,” Burbank police Lt. John Dilibert said Charissa Bodtcher, 23, and her brother, 18-year-old Timo Bodtcher, stabbed the older cocker spaniel mix “numerous” times with an 8-inch blade Saturday at their aunt's home in the 200 block of East Cedar Avenue. Police also arrested their mother, Maria Theresa Bodtcher, 47, after she allegedly helped them dispose of the knife near a dumpster at a shopping mall near Victory Boulevard and Vineland Avenue, Dilibert said.

After initially reporting the case as a suspicious death, police now say a woman in her 30s found dead in a Burbank driveway was the victim of a yet-to-be specified crime. However, a man who would only identify himself as "local business owner" said he knew the family, and that he believed the woman had died of a drug overdose. "I mean, I know," the man said Friday. "It's a small town. " The woman, who has yet to be identified, was discovered by Burbank firefighters at 7:31 p.m. Friday in the passenger side of a black Kia in the 500 block of North Sparks Street.

The Transportation Security Administration has halted a “long-standing” arrangement with Bob Hope Airport police when investigating unattended bags, raising safety and security concerns among officials at the airfield. In an April 19 email to his officers, the airport's police chief, Ed Skvarna, said TSA no longer will test swabs taken of unattended bags in the public areas of the terminal. That means Los Angeles County sheriff's bomb squad agents would have to be called in, creating a delay in determining if a bag contains explosive material.

Burbank residents are tired of Walmart spokespeople falsely claiming that Burbank wants a Walmart, and we're tired of being referred to as “special interests.” When it was announced that Walmart purchased the space formerly occupied by the Great Indoors, it was residents who launched Facebook pages and a Twitter account in an effort to organize; it was residents who stayed until midnight at City Council meetings to speak out against Walmart...

A Burbank gun store cited for violating weapon registration laws is closing this month, but new owners hope to relaunch the business. While the current owners of Gun World on Magnolia Boulevard declined to comment, a sheet of paper taped to the door tells the company's side of the story: "Because of the even stricter gun laws which have made operating our businesses next to impossible, Gun World has decided to close its doors. " Its last gun sale was Aug. 21. The sign said the store will stay open to sell accessories through Sept.