Halloween

I would like to send a thank you out to the person or persons that feel on Halloween, it gives them a free ticket to vandalize the neighborhood. This year and last year, I had my pumpkins crushed on my street. Because of this, I did not do my regular Halloween decorations. [Monday] morning I saw pumpkins on fences of the Credit Union, crushed up and down the street I drove down. This is not funny, it is very sad. Do the young people of our community have to vandalize?

Jenna Bordelon BURBANK -- To ensure kids have a safe and happy Halloween, drop by any Burbank fire station to pick up a free Halloween candy bag. Each bag will be emblazoned with the Burbank Fire Department's name. The bags are colored a bright white, so drivers can easily spot trick-or-treaters as they fill up the bags on Oct. 31. Parents can pick up one bag per child from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Sunday at any Burbank fire station. Fire station locations: 311 E. Orange Grove Ave. 644 N. Hollywood Way 2713 Thornton Ave. 2305 W. Burbank Blvd.

Darleene Barrientos With Halloween fast approaching, local law-enforcement and safety officials want children to stay safe during the dark, spooky holiday. The night usually sees young children wandering darkened streets in search for candy from homes inhabited by people who are oftentimes strangers. "We are gearing up for a little more activity," Burbank Fire Capt. Ron Bell said. "There will be extra firefighters in the field." Burbank Police, Glendale Police's traffic bureau, the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station and California Highway Patrol officers offer these tips for a fun, safe Halloween.

Vampires, Power Rangers and incarnations of Superman were some of the most popular Halloween costumes at Miller Elementary School on Tuesday. Students showed-off their attire at the school's costume parade, which gathered a crowd of camera-toting parents and visitors. The playground was transformed into a runway as students walked around in a circle in their costumes, waving to their parents and friends. Aidan Beach, 6, came dressed as a skeleton. "I just got this costume from last year's Halloween," Aidan said.

In a quaint backyard near Chandler Boulevard, a helmet-clad executioner clutched a bloody ax as he loomed over a guillotine. Inside the house, the scenes were just as grizzly: a man strapped to an execution chair, a large coffin, scattered body parts on the ground and a dismembered head floating in a fish tank. But the blood and gore was all in good fun, part of a haunted house that Burbank residents Todd Ryan and Kevin Mulligan, aka The Executioner, built to give a sightseers a Halloween scare free of charge.

A 6-foot-tall Jack Skellington from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” still needed its appendages. It sat in the Kaufmanns' living room, along with a 7 1/2-foot tall Oogie Boogie, two singing skeletons and three singing pumpkins. Bill Kaufmann and his son Thomas, 21, put the finishing touches on their animatronic creations this week, making sure the pins and other parts were still able to hold Jack's remaining limbs in place. They also tested the computer program that makes various characters fly, wave, tilt their heads, smile or roll their eyes to music.

Frank Pita will pay you to eat less candy on Halloween. rank Pita will pay you to eat less candy on Halloween. In fact, the Burbank-based orthodontist is holding a “Halloween candy buyback weigh-in” Nov. 2, when he’ll buy uneaten candy with the hope of saving his patients’ teeth. Pita treats patients ranging in age from 6 to 70 from around the area, including Glendale, Burbank and La Crescenta. He has practiced orthodontics for 18 years and held his candy buyback for the last five years.

The Burbank haunt “where screams are made” is back for Halloween - full of ghosts, goblins and folk tales. Those looking to get their fright fix this weekend can head to “The Haunted Wilsley Manor” at 907 N. California St., where longtime resident Preston Meyer and his family have been scaring costumed kids and trick-or-treaters with their haunted house for more than two decades. The idea originated 23 years ago as a birthday party for Meyer's 9-year-old daughter, who was born just five days before Halloween.

A fluffy pink rabbit brought joy to physical rehabilitation patient Connie Andonegui. The toddler in her Halloween costume offered a respite to Andonegui, who has been at Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center recovering from heart operation and double pneumonia since Sept. 4. Seeing the children in Halloween costumes, she said, allowed her to stop thinking negatively about her illness. “I loved it,” Andonegui said. “It was so important because it helps me stop thinking about being sick.

Melissa Meyer walked past a pair of rabid rats and into a spinning tunnel. Unfazed, she stepped out onto a swirling yellow- and red-brick pathway leading into a dark entryway. “This is what would have happened if Dorothy had gone down the red brick road,” Meyer said. The setup is part of the haunted house experience Meyer — along with family and friends — has been working on since August. A twist of the classic story of Dorothy’s homeward adventure down the yellow brick road, the stand-alone structure that currently occupies the Meyers’ front yard and driveway is aptly titled “Wizard of Odz.” This is the 18th year of the Meyers’ haunted house tradition and the most intricate setup by far, Meyer said.

Public safety officials have issued a slew of warnings for parents as they prepare to take their children trick-or-treating this Halloween night. Chief among them: beware of drunk drivers, marijuana-laced candy, and dark streets and alleys. Halloween is the third busiest night of the year in terms of car and pedestrian accidents and trips to the emergency room, officials reported, adding that 41 million trick-or-treaters are expected to hit the streets tonight nationwide. Police asked that trick-or-treaters travel in pairs or groups, carry a flashlight, wear costumes that don't obstruct their vision, watch for cars, and don't enter the homes of strangers.  At a joint news conference with Los Angeles police Wednesday, Burbank Capt.

The Burbank haunt “where screams are made” is back for Halloween - full of ghosts, goblins and folk tales. Those looking to get their fright fix this weekend can head to “The Haunted Wilsley Manor” at 907 N. California St., where longtime resident Preston Meyer and his family have been scaring costumed kids and trick-or-treaters with their haunted house for more than two decades. The idea originated 23 years ago as a birthday party for Meyer's 9-year-old daughter, who was born just five days before Halloween.

Good morning, readers! Today is Sunday, October 21. Knitting still has a place in 2012. A group in Studio City still enjoys making things by hand. La Knitterie Parisienne even offers classes to those who don't know how to turn a ball of yarn into a sweater . Daily News A driver went through the Salvation Army store in Glendale Saturday afternoon, injuring three people, reports the Glendale News-Press . It was a historic reunion. On Saturday, Holy Family High School celebrated 75 years of operation with some of the school's first students, who are now in their 80s . Glendale News-Press What's going on today?

A 6-foot-tall Jack Skellington from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” still needed its appendages. It sat in the Kaufmanns' living room, along with a 7 1/2-foot tall Oogie Boogie, two singing skeletons and three singing pumpkins. Bill Kaufmann and his son Thomas, 21, put the finishing touches on their animatronic creations this week, making sure the pins and other parts were still able to hold Jack's remaining limbs in place. They also tested the computer program that makes various characters fly, wave, tilt their heads, smile or roll their eyes to music.

When I hear “luxury resort” I usually think palm trees, bright blue pools and as many combinations of tequila and fruit as my bartender can muster. The Meyer family's idea of “luxury” involves alien pods, space cocktails and heavy construction. For the past 21 years, the family has turned its North California Street home into a behemoth monument to Halloween. Calling their annual creation a “haunted house” completely undersells the engineering, planning, craftsmanship and creativity that goes into their Franken-houses.

Halloween screams into town once a year, but for artists Tony Gleeson and Tim Gore, their fascination with things that creep, crawl and possibly ooze continues year round. Gleeson, who released four new drawings in his new "Fanciful Visions of…Dinos & Dragons" portfolio at the one-night-only show at Dark Delicacies on Magnolia Boulevard on Oct. 23, says the limited edition prints represent a return for him. "I've been working as a digital artist for sometime and I wanted to return to putting a pencil on a sheet of paper," Gleeson said.

Halloween often means going to parties, balls or masquerades. People dress up in their finest costumes, hoping to outdo one another. Unique Vintage in Burbank, at 2013 W. Magnolia Blvd., is the place to go for those looking to dress in clothing from the 1920s to the ’60s — such as a 1920s-style neon pink and black fringe flapper dress, an authentic vintage white eyelet over pink swing dress, or a 1940s-style queen of Heartz eggplant satin cocktail dress, including quinceañera dresses and bridesmaid dresses.

Frank Pita will pay you to eat less candy on Halloween. rank Pita will pay you to eat less candy on Halloween. In fact, the Burbank-based orthodontist is holding a “Halloween candy buyback weigh-in” Nov. 2, when he’ll buy uneaten candy with the hope of saving his patients’ teeth. Pita treats patients ranging in age from 6 to 70 from around the area, including Glendale, Burbank and La Crescenta. He has practiced orthodontics for 18 years and held his candy buyback for the last five years.

Halloween often means going to parties, balls or masquerades. People dress up in their finest costumes, hoping to outdo one another. Unique Vintage in Burbank, at 2013 W. Magnolia Blvd., is the place to go for those looking to dress in clothing from the 1920s to the ’60s — such as a 1920s-style neon pink and black fringe flapper dress, an authentic vintage white eyelet over pink swing dress, or a 1940s-style queen of Heartz eggplant satin cocktail dress, including quinceañera dresses and bridesmaid dresses.

DOWNTOWN — Halloween retailers have taken up prime positions in Glendale and Burbank, moving into unfilled space left behind by box stores Circuit City and Mervyns. The stores are adding to increasingly fierce competition for Halloween consumers, who will have at least five choices in Burbank and four in Glendale to search for gorilla masks and superhero costumes this season. While the stores have generated traffic in areas that haven’t seen much activity for months, they have also been a surprising change for some shoppers, managers said.