Glenoaks Boulevard

Members of the Burbank Police Department, led by four developmentally disabled athletes, handed off the Special Olympics torch to their Glendale counterparts Wednesday in a 5.5-mile leg of a ceremonial run to signify the start of the games Friday in Long Beach. Burbank employees handed off the torch at Glenoaks Boulevard and Alameda Avenue to members of the Glendale Police Department, who passed on the torch to officers of the Los Angeles Police Department Northeast Division. “Glendale police puts out such a great effort and support for the Special Olympics,” said Kim Bondie of the Tri-Valley Special Olympics chapter.

Amber Willard HILLSIDE DISTRICT -- Police officer Peter Eirich avoided injury when his bicycle, which he uses to patrol the city, was hit by a car in an intersection. Eirich was headed south on Glenoaks Boulevard on his way to a call at 7:10 p.m. on April 1 when he stopped for a red light at Olive Avenue. After he thought he made eye contact with the driver of a car that was going west on Olive Avenue and stopped at the intersection, he rode his bicycle into the crosswalk on a green light, police said.

The following items were taken from Burbank Police Department reports: MEDIA CITY CENTER 800 block of Glenoaks Boulevard: A 23-year-old Sun Valley man was arrested on Monday on suspicion of possession of marijuana. MEDIA DISTRICT NORTH 900 block of North San Fernando Boulevard: A 39-year-old Van Nuys woman was arrested on Monday on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. 1500 block of Glenoaks Boulevard: A 46-year-old Burbank man was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of being drunk in public.

Gretchen Hoffman Burbank Police Det. Carl Costanzo waved an American flag as he ran down Glenoaks Boulevard on Wednesday next to Sgt. John Dilibert, who held a torch high for passing drivers to see. Dilibert handed the torch to Glendale Police Officer Maribel Sumner, who set off at a jog with 11 other Glendale officers and Fergie, a drug-sniffing Labrador. The handoff at Glenoaks Boulevard and Alameda Avenue joined two legs in a law enforcement relay across the area to draw attention to the summer games of the Special Olympics of Southern California.

Ryan Carter BURBANK -- Police are searching for someone who stole several American flags this week and vandalized others. On Wednesday and Thursday, police received at least six complaints of thefts and at least one report from a witness who saw someone take a flag from a front yard and tear it up, Burbank Police Lt. Kevin Krafft said. Many of the reports came from neighborhoods above Glenoaks Boulevard, between Olive Avenue and the Glendale border, Krafft said.

BURBANK — A redevelopment project started Monday on Olive Avenue as construction began on sidewalks, driveways and the street between Glenoaks Boulevard and Sixth Street. The 1/3-mile stretch of street will be repaved, and damaged curbs, gutters and pedestrian ramps will be reconstructed, Public Works Director Bonnie Teaford said. “It was in very poor condition,” she said. “We like to get in, get it all done and get out of there.” The $380,000 project was financed through a community development block grant that helps low-income neighborhoods revitalize the area, Teaford said.

Amber Willard GLENDALE -- A Glendale man was arrested early Thursday on suspicion of felony drunken driving and first-degree murder following a crash near the Burbank-Glendale border that killed a man who was riding in his car. Armen Aharonian, 27, was speeding on West Alameda Avenue shortly after 12:30 a.m. when he failed to stop at a stoplight at Glenoaks Boulevard and hit another car, Glendale Police said. Police from both Burbank and Glendale responded to the collision.

Ryan Carter A 70-year-old Burbank woman died Friday after the car she was in was broadsided by a minivan that did not stop at a stop sign, police said. Lida Khrimian of Sun Valley was riding with her husband Thursday night in their Subaru station wagon when it was hit as he drove north on Glenoaks Boulevard, Police Det. Paul Orlowski said. Bhavna Patel was driving her Toyota Sienna west on Lamer Street and allegedly failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection with Glenoaks Boulevard.

Area 1 Empire Avenue at Lincoln Street Ana Alicia Bustillos, 41, was arrested Dec. 18 on suspicion of burglary, petty theft, grand theft, outstanding warrants and driving with a suspended license. Empire Avenue at Lincoln Street Miguel Clay Camacho, 30, was arrested Dec. 18 on suspicion of burglary and possession of methamphetamines. 2900 block of San Fernando Road Christopher Joseph Hawk, 39, was arrested Dec. 19 on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Several incidents that occurred over the past several days have been reported by the Burbank Police Department: A bicycle roof rack valued at roughly $800 was stolen Nov. 7 from a 2009 Honda Civic on Cornell Drive, police said. A third row seat from a 2009 Chevy Tahoe parked on Keystone Street was stolen Nov. 6. Two gas pump receipt printers valued at $2,000 were stolen from a gas station on Glenoaks Boulevard. It was unclear how the printers were stolen. They were reported missing Nov. 9. Three residential burglaries were reported on Nov. 8 in which residents reported stolen jewelry.

Now that I?ve become a renowned journalist (insert smiley face here) people keep coming up to me with ideas for my column. Bill really thinks I should look into the horrible state of repair many of our streets are falling into, especially Buena Vista Street between Riverside Drive and Alameda Avenue. He?s heard from a city worker that they have a backlog to keep them busy for many decades. Sort of makes you wonder where the heck all our tax money is going, doesn?t it? Lisa and Mary both asked me what I thought about the new configuration of Verdugo Avenue.

The following were taken from daily booking reports from the Burbank Police Department.   AREA 1   Burbank and Vineland boulevards Patrol officers saw a driver who was not wearing his seat belt and attempted to stop him for the violation before he took off through residential streets at speeds in excess of 70 mph in a 25 mph zone. The motorist on March 2 drove through several red lights and stop signs for nearly four miles before being boxed in at West Victory Boulevard and Manning Street.

PASADENA ? Two North Hollywood men convicted of four counts of attempted murder for shooting a Glendale man and his friends on Halloween four years ago were handed lengthy prison sentences Thursday. Mkrtich Melkonian and Hrant Barsegyan, both 21, were sentenced to 57 years and 16 years in prison, respectively, after a jury in June found the pair guilty. Each of the total seven counts represented the number of victims who were reportedly inside the van that was shot at on Oct. 31, 2005.

Perhaps the region’s most accomplished shoemaker was wearing flip-flops. Grisha Nazarian stood in the corridor of his custom shoe workshop Tuesday and reflected on his initiation into the hardscrabble business. “My father took me to the nearby shoemaker and dropped me there,” said Nazarian, a Burbank resident and the owner of Grisha’s Custom Shoes. “He said, ‘The kid is yours. Whatever you want him to do, he will do.’” Nazarian, 60, has spent 53 years making shoes the way few people still make them — from start to finish, by hand.

BURBANK — The United States Postal Service is studying the possibility of shuttering the Glenoaks Station Post Office at the end of the year and merging its operations with Burbank’s main postal station on Hollywood Way. The news comes less than one month after U.S. Postal Service officials announced plans to close the Magnolia Park Post Office at the end of the year. The decision to possibly halve the number of Burbank post offices, from four to two, is part of a cost-cutting measure, U.S. Postal Service spokesman Richard Maher said.