Fireworks

Sang Lee BURROUGHS HIGH -- Who said life doesn't have any happy endings? Struggling through a trying baseball season, Burroughs High's forgotten hero, Tim Murphy, came out of hibernation Tuesday to hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to help defeat Hart, 4-1, in a Foothill League game at Burroughs High. Having struggled through the worst season of his baseball career, last year's Burbank Leader All-Area Player of the Year is hitting below .200 in league.

BURBANK — Thousands crammed into the Starlight Bowl for a set of Fourth of July performances and a fireworks spectacular Saturday funded by the city, even as it has struggled to cut costs during the recession. Children danced between picnic baskets and lawn chairs in the hill above the sold-out venue, while grown-ups sipped wine and took in the sounds of the Burbank Philharmonic. As the three-hour event came to a close, the bowl’s lights were shut off and the crowd of more than 4,000 turned their gazes — and cameras — skyward for a $25,000 pyrotechnics show.

The Starlight Bowl summer concert series will kick off on July 4 with a “spectacular” fireworks show, officials announced. The event will kick off at 6:30 p.m. with jazz favorite High Street Band slated to take the stage. Throughout the rest of the summer, artists BOSTYX, Lights, Country Nation, Ozomatli and the Fab Four will perform. Tickets for the July 4 celebration start at $12 for lawn seating. For the rest of the season, tickets are $6 for children and seniors and $12 for adults.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — Fiesta Days, this Memorial Day weekend, will be an opportunity to honor the men and women who have fought and died for this country, but it is also a time to celebrate life, organizers said.   "It's a time for family and friends as well as a time to honor the military," said Pat Anderson, executive director of the La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce, who has helped organize the event for the past three years. "We observe Memorial Day to remember the sacrifices our men and women have made in the military but it is also a time to celebrate life, and family, and togetherness."

It's nice to be back with those of you who read my weekly blog after going on vacation. Last week was the 4 th of July meaning it was time for fireworks. Despite decades of a ban on fireworks in the Burbank and Glendale area, it seems to me (and sounds to me) that more and more people ignore the city's ordinances and buy fireworks in communities where it is legal, then set them off here at home.  Where I live in Burbank I am very fortunate to have a front yard seat to the city's wonderful pyrotechnic display.

The Starlight Bowl's annual Fourth of July celebration went off this year without a bang — or at least without fireworks. But that also meant a holiday without brush fires, without sudden flare-ups from misfired pyrotechnics and without putting Hillside District homes in danger. When the Burbank Fire Department called off the traditional fireworks display at the end of May due to potential fire hazards, the Park, Recreation and Community Services Department searched for an alternative grand finale to its show.

Burbank’s drive-in movie- themed float didn’t pull out a win at Thursday’s 120th Tournament of Roses Parade, but the loss hasn’t discouraged organizers from planning next year’s float. This year’s “3-D Double Feature” float was designed to look like a drive-in movie theater and was the city’s first float to include pyrotechnics. But the fireworks were not the only firsts for the city’s float — the float also emitted a popcorn scent.

Small fires follow fireworks show The Burbank Fire Department brought in some extra equipment Monday night to tackle small fires left behind from the fireworks show at the Starlight Bowl. The audience at the outdoor music venue was held in place until the fires were extinguished because vehicles had been parked nearby, Burbank Fire Department Capt. Ron Bell said. The fires were in the hillside just below the city dump used as the launching site for the fireworks, Bell said.

Ryan Carter With exceedingly dry conditions baking the Burbank hillsides, there's a chance the city's Fourth of July fireworks show at the Starlight Bowl could be canceled. "This is an extreme year," Burbank Fire Marshal Dave Starr said of the dry conditions. "Right now, our brush conditions in June are more what we'd expect in September." The fireworks show will be preceded Thursday by the "Proud to be an American!" concert, which starts at 6:30 p.m. The annual show is expected to bring 4,000 to 5,000 people to the hillside while many others watch from their homes in the area.