Forest Lawn Memorial Park

Media from across the world packed into tents Thursday facing the entrance of Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park, beaming reports to Russia, Brazil and Japan in an effort to sate the voracious appetite for information about the slain pop star. ?For me it?s a mixed experience,? said Jessica Maldonado, a reporter whose Univision dispatches on the life and times of Michael Jackson have informed the Spanish-language audience for years. ?It doesn?t matter where you are in the world, to the smallest town in Mexico, he was the king of pop. With him, the language never mattered.

Hordes of spectators surrounded the perimeter of Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary in the Hollywood Hills on Tuesday morning as they strained to catch a glimpse of Michael Jackson’s coffin and private funeral caravan. Fans engulfed a grassy area across the Los Angeles River as the late pop star’s motorcade — a chain of 30 cars led by five Rolls-Royces followed by more than two dozen California Highway Patrol vehicles — entered into the tightly controlled cemetery.

Branch 102 of the Italian Catholic Federation has planned a fundraising trip for its charity program. Members and guests will spend three days and two nights from Sept. 10 to 12 at the Riverside Hotel in Laughlin, Nev. The cost is $99 per person for double occupancy and $119 for single occupancy. Price includes a fun book and three buffet dinners. The bus will depart promptly at 7:30 a.m. Sept. 10 from St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 3801 Scott Road, Burbank. Parking is available behind Holy Cross Hall.

Send DATEBOOK items to Burbank Leader, 221 N. Brand Blvd., 2nd Floor, Glendale, CA 91203 or fax to (818) 241-1975. Submissions must be received two weeks before publication. TODAY "All in the Timing ," five one-act comedies by David Ives, continues in the Glendale Community College Auditorium Studio Theatre. Guest artist and former student Matt Foyer is the director. Performances are at 2 and 8 p.m. today and 2 p.m. Sunday. The plays contain adult language and are not recommended for children.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT Along with Burbank on Parade, organizers are scheduling a Crafts Festival and Talent Showcase for the first time this year. The added events are in answer to the question the committee hears most from the public, parade President Sally Hooper said -- "Why isn't there something else to do on parade day?" "This gives a full day of family activity," she said. The crafts festival runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at George Izay Park, 1111 W. Olive Ave. Beginning at 11 a.m., the parade travels east on Olive from Keystone Street to the park.

Case of Burbank man declared mistrial SANTA ANA -- A mistrial was declared Friday in Orange County Superior Court in the case of a Burbank man accused in the shooting death of a community college student 13 years ago. The jury could not decide whether 35-year-old Mark Glen Morales shot Steven Merritt, a student at Saddleback College, in February 1989 after the boy and some friends allegedly crashed a party at ...

A bright sun shone over Liberty Hall at Forest Lawn Memorial Park on Saturday as members of the Bellarmine-Jefferson High School Class of 2007 made last-minute preparations for their graduation ceremony — smoothing out their robes, straightening their tassels, laughing out their jitters. Once inside the auditorium, they processed in twos down the center aisle, splitting a veritable sea of adoring smiles, colorful bouquets and flashing cameras. They did it. The class had many members who were standouts this year academically, said Sister Cheryl Milner, school principal.

48 HOURS Mario Di Gregorio is a member of a big, happy family -- the Glendale Centre Theatre family. His appearance as Mayor Shinn in the theater's current production of Meredith Willson's "The Music Man" marks his 100th play as an actor with the company. "He has also directed at least 30 or 40 shows since 1961," said Tim Dietlein, executive producer of the theater. When it comes to performing community theater, Di Gregorio said, few can compete.

choreographer 48 HOURS Onna White has many wonderful memories as choreographer for the 1968 Columbia Pictures' film "Oliver!" The most thrilling, however, was winning the honorary Academy Award for outstanding choreography achievement. "It was a surprise," she said by phone from her home in West Hollywood. "I didn't know they gave Oscars to choreographers but mine was a special one -- it's a one-of-a-kind achievement award." The academy had discontinued the Dance Director category in which it gave awards from 1935 to 1937, according to the book "Oscar A to Z," by Charles Matthews.

48 HOURS "The Secret Garden," the 1933 film based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is the final segment in the Family Film Series at 2 p.m. today at The Alex Theatre in Glendale. An orphaned girl, Mary Lennox (Kate Maberly) discovers a secret garden at her uncle's home and shares the special refuge with her cousin and friend. Pre-show activities at 1 p.m. include an arts-and-crafts project for children. The theme of the series has been to promote literacy among young moviegoers, and there will be a book drawing of many children's books.