Confession

W ebsites where visitors can confess sins are reportedly becoming more popular in a society that has moved away from traditional modes of confession, such as one-on-one meetings with priests. Sites such as IveScrewedUp.com, DailyConfession.com and absolution-online.com reportedly offer ways for sinners to confess. At the same time, online confession sites reportedly give churches a vehicle to get people in contact with faith. What do you think of these new cyber-hubs for confession?

It?s been a good year or so since I have written a column pertaining to someone who was arrested and then tried to invoke his 5th Amendment right to remain silent. I?m sure you are all familiar with this from television, commonly known as one?s Miranda rights. I always advise my clients that if they are ever arrested, there is a reason they are given this right to remain silent, and they should exercise this right. In columns in which I have addressed this issue in the past, the story generally involves someone trying to invoke his or her 5th Amendment right to remain silent, and the question becomes whether the invocation of the right was clear enough to ward off further police questioning or whether some ambiguity in the request for 5th Amendment protection allowed the police officers to keep on questioning the individual.

REEL CRITIC 'Teenage' fan club "Freaky Friday" star Lindsay Lohan, right, portrays a New Yorker with dreams of stardom who moves to New Jersey in Disney's "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen." Our Reel Critics have a confession of their own: They liked the movie. SEE ENJOY!, PAGE A4. BUSINESS Closing Crazy after all these years After 11 years, Jack Tavares closed Crazy Jack's Country Bar & Grill, at 4311 W. Magnolia Blvd., on Feb. 3. SEE PAGE A6. SPORTS Tennis preview It has been almost 18 years since the Burbank High boys' tennis players lost to cross-town rival Burroughs in a Foothill League match.

I have a confession to make. I am the person at your office who takes the last cup of coffee, then leaves the empty pot smoldering on the burner without starting a fresh one. I occasionally ride my bike without my helmet on, and I never walk it across crosswalks. I ate all the good candy from my kids’ Halloween stash, and I let them watch too much TV when their mother is not home. And why, you may ask, is he confessing to these grave moral indiscretions? A few months ago, moved by I know not what, I was talking to the pastor at my church and asked him if there was anything we could do for the needy — the “least of these,” as we like to call them around the pews.

a word p8OK, readers. I'll make you a deal. If you write me to tell me I made a mistake in this column and you're wrong, I'll publish a whole new column on your mistake, making it clear that I am an untouchable authority I am and that you were wrong to ever challenge me. But if you point out a mistake I made and you're right, the silence that follows will be deafening. Deal? No? Aw, come on! OK. Then I guess I owe a little mea culpa to Professor Burton Karson, who I picked on in a recent column, but who more recently busted me for writing, "And it is this defiant nature of idioms that make it OK ... " (And who, no doubt, will pick right back at me for not writing "whom I picked on."

Jenna Bordelon PASADENA -- Holding a wad of tissues to his eyes, accused killer Stephen Kopy Jr. cried as a police officer played the tape of his muttered confession for a stunned Pasadena Superior Court jury. As the tape -- obtained by Burbank police Officer Dennis Offerman moments after the 64-year-old Kopy, of North Hills, allegedly traveled to Burbank and killed 63-year-old Andrew Camarata of La Crescenta -- unspooled Thursday, Kopy could be heard crying softly.

TODAY Dr. Angela Arango , an internist on staff at Providence Holy Cross and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, will discuss how to maintain healthy bones and learn more about good nutrition, at 9 a.m. at the Burbank Town Center, 201 E. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank. For more information, call (818) 566-8617. A two-day AARP Driver Safety Program will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. at Providence Health Center, second floor conference room 104, 3413 W. Pacific Ave., Burbank.

In July the Court of Appeal in the greater San Francisco area reversed a conviction that, in my opinion, was an easy call. This is the story of a bully and his victim, the death of the bully and what is appropriate justice. It is also the story of the Santa Cruz County Prosecutor's Office, which has now had three convictions reversed since April. Each case had one thing in common; the Deputy District Attorney trying the case argued that certain jury instructions should not be given, the judge bought it and the Appellate Court found that the defendant had not gotten a fair trial.

“Death and the Maiden,” currently at Toluca Lake’s Sidewalk Theatre, is a courageous but technically and emotionally limited production. The SkyPilot Theatre Company deserves praise for staging this brutally relevant show about truth and justice. However, doing right by this stunning play means having the resources — the time and the money and the focus — to create this parallel universe as completely as possible. The play begins in a deceptively peaceful way. All alone in a quiet beach house sits the lovely Paulina.

New signals slow traffic but help drivers get acquainted I would like to congratulate the traffic division for slowing us all down on the streets in Burbank. I can see now how it's been a real problem having traffic moving efficiently through the city. It's much better to slow everyone down and have us wait at the new, longer stop lights being put up all over the city. Now there's plenty of time to read that new book you just bought, balance your checkbook or make that cell phone call to your long lost cousin Bob. There's plenty of time to scan through all the radio stations and reprogram your radio.

I have a confession to make. I am the person at your office who takes the last cup of coffee, then leaves the empty pot smoldering on the burner without starting a fresh one. I occasionally ride my bike without my helmet on, and I never walk it across crosswalks. I ate all the good candy from my kids’ Halloween stash, and I let them watch too much TV when their mother is not home. And why, you may ask, is he confessing to these grave moral indiscretions? A few months ago, moved by I know not what, I was talking to the pastor at my church and asked him if there was anything we could do for the needy — the “least of these,” as we like to call them around the pews.

It?s been a good year or so since I have written a column pertaining to someone who was arrested and then tried to invoke his 5th Amendment right to remain silent. I?m sure you are all familiar with this from television, commonly known as one?s Miranda rights. I always advise my clients that if they are ever arrested, there is a reason they are given this right to remain silent, and they should exercise this right. In columns in which I have addressed this issue in the past, the story generally involves someone trying to invoke his or her 5th Amendment right to remain silent, and the question becomes whether the invocation of the right was clear enough to ward off further police questioning or whether some ambiguity in the request for 5th Amendment protection allowed the police officers to keep on questioning the individual.

W ebsites where visitors can confess sins are reportedly becoming more popular in a society that has moved away from traditional modes of confession, such as one-on-one meetings with priests. Sites such as IveScrewedUp.com, DailyConfession.com and absolution-online.com reportedly offer ways for sinners to confess. At the same time, online confession sites reportedly give churches a vehicle to get people in contact with faith. What do you think of these new cyber-hubs for confession?

a word p8OK, readers. I'll make you a deal. If you write me to tell me I made a mistake in this column and you're wrong, I'll publish a whole new column on your mistake, making it clear that I am an untouchable authority I am and that you were wrong to ever challenge me. But if you point out a mistake I made and you're right, the silence that follows will be deafening. Deal? No? Aw, come on! OK. Then I guess I owe a little mea culpa to Professor Burton Karson, who I picked on in a recent column, but who more recently busted me for writing, "And it is this defiant nature of idioms that make it OK ... " (And who, no doubt, will pick right back at me for not writing "whom I picked on."

REEL CRITIC 'Teenage' fan club "Freaky Friday" star Lindsay Lohan, right, portrays a New Yorker with dreams of stardom who moves to New Jersey in Disney's "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen." Our Reel Critics have a confession of their own: They liked the movie. SEE ENJOY!, PAGE A4. BUSINESS Closing Crazy after all these years After 11 years, Jack Tavares closed Crazy Jack's Country Bar & Grill, at 4311 W. Magnolia Blvd., on Feb. 3. SEE PAGE A6. SPORTS Tennis preview It has been almost 18 years since the Burbank High boys' tennis players lost to cross-town rival Burroughs in a Foothill League match.