Healing

Money can't bring back lives lost. It can't bring back grandmothers, grandfathers, parents, children or ancestors never known. But it can be a step on the long road to healing, justice and a better community. Representatives from the Glendale-based Armenian Educational Foundation and Burbank-based Armenian Church of the North America Western Diocese received checks this week for more than $333,000. It was part of a settlement reached last year in which insurance company New York Life agreed to settle with descendants of victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

Jacqui Brown Like everything else that got sliced and diced by budget cuts last year, Burbank Adult School took a hit, but that's about to change. Starting in January, the school will offer 14 new classes, after the Burbank Unified School District board voted Thursday to accept the expansion of these new, fee-based programs. Cherise Moore, director of adult education, said that after visiting several neighboring programs, she felt the need to expand their classes.

Jackson Bell Jon Buratti began his career as a traditional naturopathic doctor about seven years ago -- as a patient. About 70 pounds overweight and riddled with health problems, Buratti met a naturopathic doctor though a psychiatrist friend. A short while later, the doctor relocated to the East Coast and for a short while moved in with Buratti, who was living in Baltimore at the time. "He got my weight down in six months and got me feeling better about myself," he said.

Ben Godar A caravan of fire engines rolled through Burbank and Glendale on Thursday, but instead of fighting fires, those on board were on a mission to raise money for burn victims. The events were part of a weeklong fund-raiser by Firefighters Quest for Burn Survivors, a group founded in 1997 after Glendale Firefighter Bill Jensen and five other firefighters were injured fighting a blaze in Malibu. Glendale Fire Department Engineer Tom Propst and others began raising money to help their families, but Propst said the response was so successful they continued to raise money for other victims.

Ryan Carter . LAKE VIEW TERRACE -- Mollie is a horse with a bad eye. Wendy Baker is a woman with a replaced hip. Baker, a Burbank resident, wants to keep riding the horse but not if she's in pain. Baker owns Mollie, a 15-year-old Arabian who developed a form of glaucoma after a small piece of roofing metal lodged in her eye about six years ago during a wind storm. Baker said Mollie's owner at the time might have saved her vision with proper treatment.

Gary Moskowitz MEDIA DISTRICT WEST -- A new class for women suffering from cancer will be offered in Burbank later this month. A free fitness class, Lying Down and Letting Go, will meet from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Mondays in the Lockheed Conference Room at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, 501 S. Buena Vista St. in Burbank. The first session will be Oct. 15, and classes will offer help through a gentle fitness program designed for women in any stage of recovery.

Lolita Harper MEDIA DISTRICT WEST -- Turning 21 is a big deal for many people because of one thing: It means finally getting into the cool bars and legally buying alcoholic drinks. But for Paola Pina of Dana Point, being 21 means finally being able to read a book, drive a car and go jogging again. Pina, who has no medical insurance, underwent the first surgery to restore her eyesight Tuesday thanks to Dr. Lawrence Green, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center and Healing the Children Inc. Pina developed cataracts on both eyes that clouded her lenses and blurred her vision to the point where she was legally blind.