Jason Wells

Firefighters are trying to contain a brush fire near DeBell Golf Club in Burbank that was reported shortly after 12:15 p.m. The size of the brush fire was not immediately known as firefighters converged on the area near Stough and Wildwood Canyon parks above East Harvard Road and East Walnut Avenue. Water-dropping helicopters had been called in to assist with the firefighting effort. Speaking from the pro-shop at the DeBell Golf Club, David Gallegos said he could see “plenty of smoke” rising from the hills behind the course, but that golfers had not been asked to evacuate.

The northbound Golden State (5) Freeway will be closed overnight Monday at Lankershim Boulevard as crews continue work on new carpool lanes. The closure will be in effect from 11 p.m. Monday to 5 a.m. Tuesday, according to the California Department of Transportation. Traffic will be diverted off the freeway at Lankershim Boulevard for a detour. Vehicles will be allowed back on the I-5 at Paxton Street. Crews will be removing temporary construction supports on the section of freeway during the closure, according to Caltrans.

State transportation officials this week warned that all lanes of the northbound Golden State (5) Freeway will be closed for five hours starting at midnight Thursday between State Route 118 and the Hollywood (170) Freeway. The closure is necessary so crews can readjust temporary construction supports on the northbound I-5 as they continue to build out the freeway to accommodate new carpool lanes. The $140-million project is expected to be completed in late 2014. During the closure, which is expected to end at 5 a.m. Friday, traffic will be detoured off the freeway at Lankershim Boulevard.

State transportation officials on Thursday announced a slate of ramp and lane closures on the Golden State (5) and Ventura (134) freeways starting Friday as crews continue work on new carpool lanes. Both projects combined carry a price tag of nearly $179 million and are expected to be completed in late 2014, according to the California Department of Transportation. For a list of all the lane and ramp closures, visit the Caltrans information page for the I-5 corridor improvements.

Residents who live within a roughly two-block area near the Chandler Bikeway may want to plan on being out early Saturday. Beginning at 7 a.m., Burbank Water and Power plans to shut power to the area roughly bounded by Chandler Boulevard, Maple Street, Magnolia Boulevard and West Evergreen Street, according to an announcement from the city on Thursday. The outage, which is expected to last up to three hours, is needed so crews can convert the distribution voltage from 4kv to 22kv.

Burbank police on Thursday discovered nearly $500,000 worth of methamphetamine and a shotgun inside a baby's crib while serving a search warrant at a home in Sun Valley, officials say. The gun and roughly 10 pounds of meth were found resting on top of the mattress when Burbank narcotics investigators served the warrant at the home in the 8500 block of Glenoaks Boulevard, Sgt. Joshua Kendrick said. No one, including a baby, was home at the time of the search, he added. Burbank police also declined to release the identity of the suspect they were looking for, citing the ongoing investigation.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday began the process of considering two controversial cases involving whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry: Proposition 8, California's 2008 ban on gay marriage, and the Defense of Marriage Act, which since 1996 has defined marriage for federal purposes as a union between a man and a woman. Burbank residents Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo were catapulted onto the national stage when the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would rule on the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 , which the pair sued to overturn, along with a lesbian couple.

Police officials and other employees at Bob Hope Airport on Tuesday donated a combined $2,125 to a 6-year-old girl who -- having been diagnosed with a form of pediatric kidney cancer -- has been raising funds for cancer research. It all started with a goal to raise $300 at her lemonade stand. But as word of Aleyna Doche's campaign spread, the money poured in. On the first day, she raised more than $1,500 alone. Since then, Aleyna's little lemonade stand has grown into quite the fundraising operation.

A John Burroughs High School student is making a public plea for help in raising funds for an Eagle Scout project that would restore a portion of the San Gabriel River - with the help of musician Jack Johnson. Griffin Armstorff needs to raise $1,323 for his habitat restoration project, which includes removing the invasive plant tamarisk from the East Fork of the San Gabriel River and planting trees within the campsite. The money will cover materials, tools and other costs to carry out the project.

If you're a registered voter in Burbank, chances are you've recieved one or more mailers supporting certain school board candidates from political action committees backed by StudentsFirst. The L.A. Times has a profile out today on Michelle Rhee, founder of the advocacy group that is positioning itself as the political counterweight to teachers unions. In Burbank, two committees backed by StudentsFirst has spent more than $26,000 in promotional material supporting school board candidates David Dobson and Charlene Tabet - far more than any school board candidate has raised so far in this year's race.