Fear

I'm writing today in response to and in agreement with Carolyn Jackson's letter regarding Councilman David Gordon. The problems she cited, though enough to hopefully dissuade some from voting for Gordon, are only a part of the reason I find myself so dissatisfied with his City Council tenure. Gordon uses a tried-and-true political tactic, tugging on the strings of fear in order to advance a political agenda. We've seen him play up the day-labor center, the homeless shelter, water conservation rules, bike lanes - the list goes on and on. Doesn't the sky-is-falling routine ever get old?

At Burbank City Hall, fear over the future of healthcare, the economy and state education funding factored prominently in ballot decisions for some voters. And as in other polling stations across the region, voters were split on the issues, candidates and frustrated. Take 29-year-old Brandon Bennett, and Jake Johnson, 28, works in television production. For Bennett -- whose wife is a school teacher, his father superintendent -- a “yes” vote on Proposition 30 was very important.

As I sit here in Iraq missing Father’s Day with my family for the second time since Sept. 11, 2001, my mind wanders to the promise I made to my son the day he was born. As a former Marine who lost 241 brothers in the Beirut bombing on Oct. 23, 1983, Sept. 5, 2001, was the first time in 18 years that I knew why I wasn’t in that building. I held my son for the first time and thought of the Four Freedoms as four things I would promise him. If I could provide him these things, I would be a successful father.

Alex Leon Wind, rain or cold doesn't faze Kyle Mersola on the golf course. His swing might be off, his ball might spend more time in the rough than on the greens, and he might shoot in three digits. But no matter what the elements bring, the sun shines brightly every day for Mersola, a 15-year-old Village Christian freshman who plays for the Crusaders golf team. After all, Mersola is lucky just to be alive. Weighing a tiny 2 pounds, 3 ounces as the result of being born three months premature, all Mersola has to do is look in the mirror to be reminded of what he has had to live with his entire life.

Friggatriskaidekaphobia is the fear of the 13th day of a month falling on a Friday — a day when the superstitious tend to avoid black cats. Well, if black cats were being avoided, Black Cows were being embraced as members, friends and supporters of the Burbank Elks gathered at their Hollywood Way lodge for a 1950s-themed dinner dance on Friday the 13th. As bobby-soxed, poodle-skirted and bowling-shirted folks arrived at the lodge, they were greeted by Kelly Loporchio and Brittney Peale who were delving out the Black Cows — a concoction of soda, ice cream, chocolate syrup and whipped cream that became a staple of 1950s malt shops.

I read with interest your article on Assemblyman Mike Gatto's hearing in Glendale on pension reform ("Lawmakers talk pension reform following the Bell scandal," Oct. 21). It was abundantly clear that bureaucrats (whose interests align with the status quo) fear Gatto's reforms. Is that not reason enough to support him? Mary Ann Healy Burbank We need extradition treaty with Armenia Regarding the Oct. 14 story "FBI raid nets 15 accused in $100M Medicare case": It was reported on the same day that this story was published in the Burbank Leader that Mexican authorities had turned over suspected Valley Village bride-to-be killer Omar Armando Loera to Los Angeles Police Department detectives.

After four decades of entertaining late-night TV viewers from its studio in Burbank, "The Tonight Show" might be returning to its birthplace on the East Coast, which could be bad news for local businesses that have counted on the show's staff and audiences. NBC is considering handing over the 11:35 p.m. time slot to Jimmy Fallon, who tapes his “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” in New York City. Host Jay Leno's contract for “The Tonight Show” ends in September 2014, but there have been suggestions that the change may happen earlier.

Re Mariposa care facility: I am a new resident to the city of Burbank, having resided in the city only within the past year. In this time, I have grown fond of the city, with its small-town, family-oriented charm. Nonetheless, having read this article in its entirety, I have become discontented with the lack of community appreciation and ill reverence for our fellow man. Those averse to the idea of a residential care facility oppose it for three reasons: property value will decrease, an increase of traffic, and the inability to ride one's horse down an alley.

Robert Blechl MEDIA DISTRICT WEST -- As the millennium nears many people fret a Y2K catastrophe or an apocalyptic breakdown. But members of Burbank's Church of Religious Science aren't buying it. The Rev. Marlene Morris and church member and publicist Jeanne McCafferty have started the "Millennium Book," a tribute to things people at the brink of the millennium are thankful for. The book, which was signed by...

After four decades of entertaining late-night TV viewers from its studio in Burbank, "The Tonight Show" might be returning to its birthplace on the East Coast, which could be bad news for local businesses that have counted on the show's staff and audiences. NBC is considering handing over the 11:35 p.m. time slot to Jimmy Fallon, who tapes his “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” in New York City. Host Jay Leno's contract for “The Tonight Show” ends in September 2014, but there have been suggestions that the change may happen earlier.

I'm writing today in response to and in agreement with Carolyn Jackson's letter regarding Councilman David Gordon. The problems she cited, though enough to hopefully dissuade some from voting for Gordon, are only a part of the reason I find myself so dissatisfied with his City Council tenure. Gordon uses a tried-and-true political tactic, tugging on the strings of fear in order to advance a political agenda. We've seen him play up the day-labor center, the homeless shelter, water conservation rules, bike lanes - the list goes on and on. Doesn't the sky-is-falling routine ever get old?

At Burbank City Hall, fear over the future of healthcare, the economy and state education funding factored prominently in ballot decisions for some voters. And as in other polling stations across the region, voters were split on the issues, candidates and frustrated. Take 29-year-old Brandon Bennett, and Jake Johnson, 28, works in television production. For Bennett -- whose wife is a school teacher, his father superintendent -- a “yes” vote on Proposition 30 was very important.

Good morning, readers. Today is Tuesday, September 11. Taking a breath of fresh air was a bit of a challenge in many parts of the Southern California region yesterday. Authorities believe that a foul smell reported by thousands of residents was most likely caused by a fish die-off at the Salton Sea, combined with strong winds that pushed the smell into the area . The smell was reported as far east as Palm Springs and as far west as Ventura County. Los Angeles Times Leaders of community colleges in the San Fernando Valley fear that a failure to pass Proposition 30 could result in drastic cuts in classes and the loss of many services .  Campuses such as L.A. Valley College have already been forced to cut library and records services.

Next week, you'll probably be huddled on blankets at the Starlight Bowl, waiting for our annual viewing of fireworks to begin. It will be a grand affair, a fitting topper to a day of barbecues, star-spangled dinnerware and the occasional nod to the historical significance of July 4, 1776. There will be a few attending Burbank's Fourth of July festivities who will have a slightly different perspective on the revelry. You will likely hear them after the first “dud” firework sending its booming reverberation through the chests of all gathered.

Plans to open a 24-hour Taco Bell restaurant at one of the most dangerous intersections on Buena Vista Street have nearby residents fuming. Taco Bell plans to demolish a building that once housed Conroy's Flowers at the intersection of Buena Vista and Burbank Boulevard to make way for a new restaurant that would have a drive-through, a dining room and onsite parking. Burbank Traffic Engineer Ken Johnson looked at accident rates at major intersections along Buena Vista from the beginning of 2006 to mid-2010.

City officials this week upped the repair estimate for water damage to the Central Library — including nearly 1,000 spoiled books — to roughly $125,000. The main branch reopened on Monday after officials closed the building for a week to repair the water damage, including new piping, carpet and dehumidifying the interior at a cost of nearly $100,000. Another $25,000 worth of nonfiction books, some of which can’t be replaced because they’re out of print, were destroyed by the water, officials reported.

The City Council this week voted to move $9.5 million in redevelopment revenue to pay for public projects, including a revamped park and roadways, as part of an ongoing effort to protect the money from possible budget raids by the state. The council's decision comes two weeks after authorizing the transfer of agency-owned property and $13 million in Redevelopment Agency debt to the city as Gov. Jerry Brown seeks to dissolve the local agencies as part of his budget plan. This time, the council allocated the money to Johnny Carson Park renovations, and revamped portions of the North San Fernando Boulevard and Victory Boulevard corridors.

While the prospect of having the big bad government swoop in and throw down a sidewalk on your lawn may sound extremely distasteful, consider this: There's already a sidewalk; it just happens to be a dirt path instead of concrete. That the City Council voted narrowly to put Burbank at risk of losing at least $125,000 in federal grant funding just to appease the fears of a handful of Screenland Drive residents borders on negligent. Burbank has received more than $3 million in federal assistance as part of a program to improve pedestrian walkways and routes throughout the city — and deciding to roll over to the residents on Screenland Drive will almost surely ding future applications for funding.

I read with interest your article on Assemblyman Mike Gatto's hearing in Glendale on pension reform ("Lawmakers talk pension reform following the Bell scandal," Oct. 21). It was abundantly clear that bureaucrats (whose interests align with the status quo) fear Gatto's reforms. Is that not reason enough to support him? Mary Ann Healy Burbank We need extradition treaty with Armenia Regarding the Oct. 14 story "FBI raid nets 15 accused in $100M Medicare case": It was reported on the same day that this story was published in the Burbank Leader that Mexican authorities had turned over suspected Valley Village bride-to-be killer Omar Armando Loera to Los Angeles Police Department detectives.