Alcohol

An extended-stay hotel will be allowed to continue serving alcohol to guests following approval by the City Council to extend a conditional-use permit. The Graciela Hotel, 322 Pass Ave., has had a conditional permit for alcohol renewed on an annual basis since 2002. The permit would have expired at the end of January without council action. Alcohol is served at the restaurant through room service, in-room mini-bars and in conjunction with food served in the lobby area.

Burbank: Then & Now The passage of the 18th Amendment prohibited the sale of alcohol in the United States, which lasted from 1920 to 1933. The ban of alcohol had gotten its roots during World War I, when Congress temporarily restricted the manufacture of alcoholic beverages to conserve grain. Prohibition had many advocates who thought excessive alcohol drinking was contributing to the decay of the American society. The passage of the 18th Amend- ment and Volstead Act, which provided the enforcement of Prohibition, began with the idea that social change could be made through law. Prohibition, however, did not stop Americans from drinking, but instead created an underground economy and a nation of lawbreakers who ranged from President Warren Harding privately serving alcohol at the White House to gangsters, moonshiners and bootleggers.

Ben Godar The man behind the wheel of a car that crashed into a MetroLink train, causing it to derail, might have been under the influence of alcohol, according to a Burbank Police Department report. The report, released this week following a nearly four-month investigation into the January collision, concluded 63-year-old Jacek Wysocki "was operating a motor vehicle with a measurable amount of alcohol in his system and may have been operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol."

North Glenoaks Boulevard and Rosita Avenue A 24-year-old woman was arrested July 1 on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 500 block of East Palm Avenue A 21-year-old Burbank man was arrested July 1 on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. North Hollywood Way and West Verdugo Avenue A 54-year-old Burbank man was arrested July 1 for an outstanding warrant for having a suspended or revoked license. North Buena Vista Street and West Burbank Boulevard A 21-year-old Burbank woman was arrested July 1 on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Will Rogers heaps scorn and undeserved abuse on those residents who don't want drug users in areas of single-family homes. To hear Rogers tell it, a neighborhood with a nearby day-care center, churches and a public school should be positively thrilled to welcome these affluent (albeit flawed) guests into their midst. In Rogers' fantasy world, we should be ordering up the Welcome Wagon and dropping home-baked cookies on their front porch instead of judging whether a single-family area is an appropriate place for high-priced commerce in lost souls.

Jenna Bordelon BURBANK -- A former John Burroughs football star pleaded not guilty to felony drunken-driving charges after a blood test showed he had almost three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system. Michael Thomas Barrett, 22, of Burbank, was arraigned Thursday in Burbank Superior Court on felony driving under the influence charges, with special circumstances added for great bodily injury. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 8. According to police reports, Barrett's blood-alcohol level was .22%.

CITY HALL — It’s margarita time. Well, almost. The City Council this week authorized city executives to allow owners of the downtown Don Cuco Mexican Restaurant to serve alcohol in a fenced-off section of the sidewalk. The 3-1 vote to grant the encroachment came after a cascade of questions from Councilman David Gordon, who expressed dismay upon discovering that the city failed to notify property owners within 100 feet. Guidelines for encroachments, adopted by the council in 1996, specify that “property owners within a 100-foot radius of the encroachment are to be notified prior to the granting of any encroachment agreements.

America should take lead in climate efforts Is all this talk about global warming really true? Is Earth’s temperature likely to jump nearly six degrees between now and the end of the century even if every country cuts greenhouse gases emissions as proposed? Carbon dioxide, mostly from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, is the main cause of global warming, trapping the sun’s energy in the atmosphere. Much of the projected rise in temperature is because of developing nations, which aren’t talking much about cutting their emissions.

As many of you know, the residents surrounding a proposed drug and alcohol rehab residence at 437 Grinnell Drive have banded together to protest this facility's location in the middle of an R-1 residential area bounded by Grinnell Drive, 5th Street and Fairmount Road. After reading the column authored by Will Rogers on the subject in the Feb. 9-10 edition of the Burbank Leader, I would like to take a moment to clarify a few points. Will Rogers' position is this: Our concern that this facility will have an adverse effect on our neighborhood is without merit.

I?ll bet that on Dec. 19, Thomas Vanauken didn?t wake up and say, ?I think I?ll go out tonight, have something to drink, and then drive way too fast on the San Bernardino Freeway and kill somebody.? But the next morning, Vanauken, 43, was involved in a fatal car crash, and his blood alcohol content allegedly tested above the legal limit, according to a Los Angeles Times article posted online Dec. 20. I?d guess Vanauken had been out having an innocent, fun time with friends ?

North Glenoaks Boulevard and Rosita Avenue A 24-year-old woman was arrested July 1 on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 500 block of East Palm Avenue A 21-year-old Burbank man was arrested July 1 on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. North Hollywood Way and West Verdugo Avenue A 54-year-old Burbank man was arrested July 1 for an outstanding warrant for having a suspended or revoked license. North Buena Vista Street and West Burbank Boulevard A 21-year-old Burbank woman was arrested July 1 on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

To the students who think it was unfair that Burroughs High School Principal Emilio Urioste canceled the varsity baseball team's season and fired the coaching staff over a matter of underage drinking: Let it be a lesson. Yes, your older siblings probably got away with a lot more. And many of your parents almost surely did. But this is a different age. You are expected to be college-ready by the time you reach the 10th grade; media machines expect you to grasp concepts as adults; and your parents are much more litigious than theirs were.

The Pacific League lost a strong postseason contender this week after Burroughs High School administrators fired the varsity baseball coaching staff and canceled the rest of the team’s season. Saying there were “bad decisions made,” Burroughs Principal Emilio Urioste said Tuesday that he canceled the season and fired the school’s varsity baseball coach and his three assistants after discovering that one of them served players beer during a recent Arizona trip. Indians Coach J.R. Schwer acknowledged that a large number of players were served alcohol by an assistant coach — whom he declined to name — but said he learned of the incident last week.

The longtime sign that has served as a marker of help for those struggling with alcohol abuse in Burbank has been stolen. The refurbished six-foot tall “243” number sign that hung outside the Burbank Alcoholics Anonymous meeting place on the 200 block of East Angeleno Avenue was stolen from a parking lot sometime between March 4 and March 7, officials said. “Before the building was torn down, it was one of the only things we were able to save,” said the group’s secretary, Jane, who declined to give her last name due to confidentiality concerns.

I?ll bet that on Dec. 19, Thomas Vanauken didn?t wake up and say, ?I think I?ll go out tonight, have something to drink, and then drive way too fast on the San Bernardino Freeway and kill somebody.? But the next morning, Vanauken, 43, was involved in a fatal car crash, and his blood alcohol content allegedly tested above the legal limit, according to a Los Angeles Times article posted online Dec. 20. I?d guess Vanauken had been out having an innocent, fun time with friends ?

The news this week of the passing of South Pasadena High School senior Aydin Salek has made shock waves, from the scene of the incident and beyond. Reports indicate that Salek was attending an unsupervised party where he was offered alcohol. This is not unlike an incident in 1993 when a Crescenta Valley High School senior was killed at an unsupervised post-prom party. Who do you believe is at fault here? The parents? The students? Or both? What steps would you suggest to parents to deter this behavior?

DOWNTOWN — The number of people who killed themselves in Burbank this year has more than doubled compared with last year, leaving experts to speculate whether the economic slowdown has played a role. Thirteen people committed suicide since January, compared with six in 2008, according to records released by the Burbank Police Department. Calls for help from victims, family and friends have also increased, Burbank Police Sgt. Robert Quesada said. The calls for help come as a new federal government study showed more than 8 million Americans seriously consider suicide each year.

America should take lead in climate efforts Is all this talk about global warming really true? Is Earth’s temperature likely to jump nearly six degrees between now and the end of the century even if every country cuts greenhouse gases emissions as proposed? Carbon dioxide, mostly from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, is the main cause of global warming, trapping the sun’s energy in the atmosphere. Much of the projected rise in temperature is because of developing nations, which aren’t talking much about cutting their emissions.

CITY HALL — La Bamba, a tiny open-air restaurant serving California-eclectic cuisine, will be able to sell beer and wine along with seafood and salads after the Planning Board approved its application this week. The board, after hearing no opposition from neighbors, voted unanimously to grant a conditional-use permit to owner Chris Facchetti allowing the incidental sale of beer and wine from his 315-square-foot kitchen within the 500- square-foot outdoor dining patio. Facchetti, in the public hearing, said La Bamba patrons and neighbors of the eatery at 2600 N. Glenoaks Blvd.