Featured Articles from the Burbank Leader

I've noticed a creeping lack of civility overtaking our society. Whether it's the shopping cart left unattended in the middle of the aisle while the shopper chats on their phone, oblivious to all who are impeded by this thoughtlessness, or the self-important person allowing the door to slam shut in the face of an obviously disabled individual. The rampant lack of common courtesy and manners is stunning and offensive. We can't blame all of this on the problems with our economy, and we can't blame it solely on the self-contained “bubble” effect created when we're on our phones, tablets or music devices.

BURBANK — Burbank police officers on Wednesday arrested a 19-year-old man in connection with the Nov. 29 death of his father, Timothy Loock, assistant football coach at Burbank High School. Noah Loock faces one felony count of involuntary manslaughter and was released from custody on $25,000 bond. He is due back in Pasadena Superior Court on July 16, authorities said. The incident occurred shortly before 2 p.m. Nov. 29, when police responded to a fight at the family home on the 1800 block of North Avon Street.

NEWHALL - There is reason for the members of the San Marino boys' tennis team to feel like they have oversized targets on their backs. Along with being the No. 1 team in the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs, the Titans also have yet to be beaten this season and they came into Friday's second-round match having blanked their fair share of opponents in dominating fashion. If the Titans were under any pressure to live up to their lofty accomplishments it certainly didn't show Friday, as they were able to knock off host Hart in relatively easy fashion to the tune of an 18-0 victory.

“Whatever our vocation in life, we can sow the seeds of faith by how we conduct ourselves and by keeping God present in our daily lives,” said St. Finbar Parish's pastor, Father Albert Bahhuth. “Our honorees serve as great role models for us.” Those honorees - Auxiliary Bishop of the San Fernando Region, the Most Reverend Gerald Wilkerson and Dr. Raul Mena, who serves as the director of the Roy and Patricia Disney Family Cancer Center - were presented with 2012 Harvester of Faith Awards at the 10th annual Harvest Ball held at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center last week.

Despite an online petition that garnered over 200,000 signatures protesting the re-imagining of Pixar 's "Brave" heroine Merida, Disney has no intention of abandoning its sexier version of the Scottish archer. The modified Merida was created specifically to welcome the character into the company's princess collection. And according to a Disney representative on Wednesday, the image of Merida that sparked this maelstrom is part of a limited run of products including backpacks and pajamas.

Netflix has reached an agreement with the Disney/ABC Television group to become the only subscription streaming service to offer the popular children's shows "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" and the animated "Tron: Uprising. " The multiyear licensing deal also brings "Handy Manny," "Special Agent Oso" and "JoJo's Circus" to the movie and television service on a non-exclusive basis. The announcement follows a high-profile agreement last December, in which Netflix won exclusive pay TV rights to Walt Disney Studio films -- including its Marvel's superhero pictures, Pixar 's animated fare and Lucasfilm 's " Star Wars . " Continue reading > > -- Dawn C. Chmielewski  

Eight people from Glendale and Burbank were arrested on suspicion of insurance fraud after allegedly staging two car accidents and reporting fraudulent vandalism that, taken together, swindled multiple insurers out of $82,000, officials announced Monday. Investigators were tipped off roughly two years ago by reports that Suren Grigorian, 45, allegedly filed a fraudulent insurance claim for vandalism to his 2007 Mercedes sedan that was parked at his Burbank home, according to the California Department of Insurance.

Can believers and nonbelievers connect? Is there a common ground they can agree on? Writing in the New York Times, T. M. Luhrmann thinks there may be, but admits it's going to be difficult. The author of "When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship With God," about how evangelicals develop the skills to speak to God and how it can change their minds, says that there's a line in the sand between those with faith and those without, a line that cannot be crossed because of the fundamental differences in beliefs and outlook.

Amber Willard Frank Inn might not have lived in Burbank, but he certainly helped put the city on the map when he rescued a scruffy puppy from the Burbank Animal Shelter. The mutt went on to star as Benji in several films. Inn died July 27 at a nursing home in Sylmar. He was 86. Inn did not take in Higgins, who later became Benji, with the thought of making him a star. The poodle-terrier- cocker spaniel mix was the last of a litter dropped off at the shelter in 1960 and would have been put to sleep if Inn had not taken him in. A few years before, Inn started his own animal training business and a filmmaker visiting Inn's ranch saw Higgins and knew he had found the right dog for the job. "Higgins was an all-Amer- ican cross between Burbank and Hollywood," Inn said in an interview a year ago with the Leader.

The Burbank Metrolink station and a train on which there was thought to be a  bomb have been cleared by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's bomb squad, Burbank police announced on Twitter just before 2 p.m. All of the roughly 20 passengers were back on board, and the train was headed to Union Station, according to the Tweet. A train coming from Lancaster was evacuated soon after a call came in at 12:36 p.m. regarding a possible bomb on the train at the station, located at 201 N. Front St., said Burbank Police Sgt. Darin Ryburn.

A seven-car pileup had drivers trapped on the northbound 5 Freeway in Santa Clarita on Friday afternoon, after a crash that authorities said began with a hit-and-run left four lanes of the roadway blocked for an hour. California Highway Patrol officials said that about 11:12 a.m. they began receiving calls concerning a multi-car pileup on the freeway north of Gavin Canyon near Calgrove Boulevard, the L.A. Times reported. Seven cars were involved in the crash, which clogged the highway between downtown L.A. and the canyon communities, officials said.

It was a mix of frustration and bated breath among residents who attended a public meeting Monday on the progress of revamping the long-closed pool at Verdugo Park. The meeting - called for by the City Council after fielding complaints from residents who were frustrated by delays in reopening the community pool, which has been closed since 2008 - was meant to catch people up on city plans to move forward with the project. The council recently signed a nearly $5.2-million construction contract with Novus Construction to revamp the pool.

While the goal of playing the board game Monopoly is to acquire and develop as many of a community's transportation and utility companies, properties, houses and hotels as possible, the goal of the Boy & Girls Club is to acquire the needed funding to develop children and young people into productive, responsible and caring members of their community. Working to acquire that funding was just what the Boys & Girls Club of Burbank and the Greater East Valley did by staging its 18th annual gala fundraiser this past Saturday.

The porn star who's made a name for himself with his guy-next-door looks and role opposite Lindsay Lohan in an upcoming indie flick came out Thursday against a proposed initiative to require condoms on adult film sets in Los Angeles County. At a news conference inside an adult entertainment company in Burbank, the porn actor, James Deen, likened the “Safer Sex” initiative -- Measure B on the Nov. 6 ballot -- to an infringement on the civil rights of him and other performers. “The idea of restricting our ability to make choices of our own is insulting.