Healing

CITY HALL – Against the backdrop of waning support from rank-and-file officers and a frustrated City Council, Burbank Police Chief Tim Stehr on Monday announced his intent to retire effective Dec. 31. The announcement came less than a week after City Councilman David Gordon called on his colleagues to direct the city manager to place Stehr on administrative leave amid an FBI investigation into police misconduct and a growing stack of...

PORTER RANCH — The bereaved family of Burbank Police Sgt. Neil Thomas Gunn gathered for his service Thursday at Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter Ranch. Friends and family members memorialized the life of the 22-year award-winning department veteran who died last week of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the chest at the corner of North Sunset Canyon Drive and East Harvard Road. Some officers served as pallbearers, together flooding the room in a wash of deep blue.

Church member and professional conductor and composer Rhonda Kess has written a musical based on the story of St. Bernadette of Lourdes that will have its world premiere this week at St. Finbar Church. The production, “Lost and Found - The Trial of St. Bernadette,” is a fundraiser with proceeds benefiting youth activities, like retreats, sports programs, filmmaking projects, book groups and others that provide positive influences, Kess said. While it is based on a religious story and produced in a church, Kess said, one need not be Catholic to enjoy the production.

If readers missed the Leader’s Faith column “Contributing to political issues” (In Theory, Nov. 15) about major support of Proposition 8 by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, perhaps a recap is in order. In answering the question, “Was the church right to contribute so heavily to a political cause?” the responders felt it was anywhere from their moral duty to, at the very least, their right. Only one contributor, the Rev. C. L. “Skip” Lindeman, expressed personal opposition to Proposition 8 and, it turns out, even donated money to support his position.

Just in time for spring, glass artist Jeanice Deeb has created a colorful floral display on the fourth floor post-natal ward of Providence St. Joseph Medical Center. She hopes it will provide a cheerful greeting for newborns, their mothers and families, she said. Like a mother caring for her newborn, Deeb has lovingly handmade glass flowers. "Each flower is fused and slumped in a kiln and takes up to 12 hours for each firing," the Burbank resident said. The display has five glass flowers, she said.

Molly Shore When John T. Boal published his book, "Be a Global Force of One!," he said it got great reviews, but nobody bought it. Discouraged, he interviewed Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, co-creators of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books to find out how they became successful, selling 81 million copies of books in their series. "More than a year later, I got a call to be a participant on the [new] project," he said. Boal, one of six co-authors of the newest volume, "Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul," said he was once confronted by a woman who told him she thought the books were too "schmaltzy."

In a recent study, 57% of randomly surveyed adults said God’s intervention could save a deathly ill family member even if physicians said treatment would be futile. However, just under 20% of doctors and other medical workers said God could reverse a helpless outcome. Given this gap, how can someone discuss God with their physician?   Talk to your doctors with confidence. They are experts in medicine; you are an expert in what you believe and what God has done for you. As you “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” you will develop boldness and trust in the Lord that will direct your decisions and flow out in your conversations with others.

There is nothing more important in the world today than the memory of Sept. 11, the healing of our nation and other nations of the world and the elimination of terrorism. But the problems with the Burbank postal service are important, because they are designated with safe delivery of our mail, ranging from personal and confidential to junk mail. Residents have written letters and called me inquiring as to why I am involved in the postal problem. I love our community, and after living here since 1958 I want to contribute my 31 years of police investigative reporting experience to help resolve the situation.

Karen S. Kim MEDIA DISTRICT WEST -- Comedy fans throughout the nation breathed a sigh of relief Thursday after doctors described hospitalized comedian Bob Hope as "in stable condition." Hope, 98, checked into Providence St. Joseph Medical Center on Sunday after having trouble breathing at his Toluca Lake home. Diagnosed with pneumonia, Hope is being treated with antibiotics, intravenous fluids and respiratory therapy, and is expected to be released, Hope's personal physician, Lee Kagan, said at a press conference Thursday.

Hanks is superb Florence Ricchiazzi of Glendale is an administrative assistant at Glendale Community College. Another superb acting job from Tom Hanks, the 'Boss' of Cell Block E, death row, in 'The Green Mile.' John Coffey is a new inmate who is as gentle as he is big. John has strange magical healing powers. He heals Hanks' character's urinary infection, revives a dead mouse and makes a brain tumor leave a sick women's body. But there is more to this movie than John Coffey.