Laser

BURBANK — Five boys were arrested Saturday after they shone a hand-held green laser beam at a police helicopter that was patrolling the downtown area of the city, officials said Tuesday. The Burbank police pilot and Glendale police flight officer had been conducting a routine patrol at 9:30 p.m. Saturday in the helicopter, which both police departments use, in the area of San Fernando Road and Palm Avenue when a laser beam illuminated the cockpit, Burbank Police Sgt. Travis Irving said.

Police release smoking ban figures Burbank Police Department records show that over the last months, five citizen calls have been placed to police dispatchers related reporting violators of the second-hand smoke ordinance. Between May 18 and June 18, officers responded to four calls, issuing warnings on the scene, said Sgt. Matthew Ferguson. The fifth complaint was called off before officers reached the location, he added. Customer complaints came primarily from restaurants and cafés and there were no repeat calls from the same locations.

In the spirit of the holidays, we hope that five boys who live in the Glendale-Burbank area have been converted into five wise men. At least, we assume they’ll be wiser in the future when it comes to handling two things: portable lasers, and any moving vehicle with a black-and-white exterior. The youths, aged 13, 14, 15 and 16, were arrested last weekend for shining a hand-held laser into the windows of a police helicopter manned by Glendale and Burbank officers, who run a joint patrol of the area.

An 18-year-old North Hollywood man has been indicted under a new law that makes it a federal crime to deliberately point a laser at an aircraft. Adam Gardenhire was arrested early Wednesday at his North Hollywood home for allegedly pointing a laser at a private Cessna aircraft on approach to Bob Hope Airport on March 29. He then allegedly pointed the laser at a police helicopter that had been called in to find the source of the flash. Gardenhire was named in a two-count indictment filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles under a statute signed by President Barack Obama in February that makes such laser incidents a federal crime, according to a joint announcement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Attorney's Office.

This week, the community has spoken, and two emaciated mountain lion cubs rescued off the streets of Burbank are one step closer to getting names. Readers will have until Monday to vote on the top six names submitted. The cubs, referred to as No. 1 and No. 2, are being rehabilitated at Zoo to You, a nonprofit conservation and educational organization based in Paso Robles. The cubs will likely make appearances at schools and universities and need real names, says David Jackson, Zoo to You's director.

BURBANK — A Fourth of July laser lightshow may replace the annual fireworks display at the Starlight Bowl, which was canceled this year due to concerns about fire hazards. The city announced the cancellation of the fireworks show at the end of May after Burbank Fire Department officials determined that vegetation near the bowl was far too dry to conduct a fireworks show safely. Since then, the city's Park, Recreation and Community Services Department has been pursuing possible alternatives to the traditional fireworks finale and was scheduled to meet with a company on Tuesday that puts on laser light shows, department Director Eric Hansen said.

The Starlight Bowl's annual Fourth of July celebration went off this year without a bang — or at least without fireworks. But that also meant a holiday without brush fires, without sudden flare-ups from misfired pyrotechnics and without putting Hillside District homes in danger. When the Burbank Fire Department called off the traditional fireworks display at the end of May due to potential fire hazards, the Park, Recreation and Community Services Department searched for an alternative grand finale to its show.

Authorities staged a full-scale emergency response at Bob Hope Airport Tuesday, an exercise required every three years by the federal government to test readiness in case of a real incident. On Tuesday, emergency crews simulated a jet fire, complete with rescued passengers, a triage and full scale firefighting response. According to the scenario, the pilot experienced temporary flash blindness caused by laser lights originating from a person on the ground. The blindness caused a hard landing and the aircraft penetrated a fence, striking multiple vehicles, some of which burst into flames as part of the staged event.

Molly Shore BURBANK -- Friends of the Burbank Library have launched a fund-raiser to turn used ink and laser jet printer cartridges into cash to buy books. Used cartridges will be collected in designated containers at Burbank libraries. Credit for these cartridges will be given to the Friends of the Burbank Library, which will use the money to purchase new books, group member Gloria O'Donohoe said. "The beauty of this particular program is the prepaid envelope," O'Donohoe said, referring to plastic envelopes into which the used cartridge can be placed and mailed to the recycling center.

After more than 100 people submitted nearly 200 possible names for the two mountain lion cubs rescued in Burbank last month, these two names were your favorite: Olive and Magnolia. Readers voted in an online poll where Olive and Magnolia took the top spot with 125 votes. LaserFur and the Fangster came in second with 57 votes, Scratchy and Itchy with 45, Lucy and Ethel with 38, Hope and Carson with 34, and Willow and Laurel with 24, respectively. David Jackson, the executive director of Zoo to You, where the cubs are being rehabilitated, wanted the public to submit names that reflect the cubs' Burbank origins.

An 18-year-old North Hollywood man has been indicted under a new law that makes it a federal crime to deliberately point a laser at an aircraft. Adam Gardenhire was arrested early Wednesday at his North Hollywood home for allegedly pointing a laser at a private Cessna aircraft on approach to Bob Hope Airport on March 29. He then allegedly pointed the laser at a police helicopter that had been called in to find the source of the flash. Gardenhire was named in a two-count indictment filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles under a statute signed by President Barack Obama in February that makes such laser incidents a federal crime, according to a joint announcement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Attorney's Office.

This week, the community has spoken, and two emaciated mountain lion cubs rescued off the streets of Burbank are one step closer to getting names. Readers will have until Monday to vote on the top six names submitted. The cubs, referred to as No. 1 and No. 2, are being rehabilitated at Zoo to You, a nonprofit conservation and educational organization based in Paso Robles. The cubs will likely make appearances at schools and universities and need real names, says David Jackson, Zoo to You's director.

In the spirit of the holidays, we hope that five boys who live in the Glendale-Burbank area have been converted into five wise men. At least, we assume they’ll be wiser in the future when it comes to handling two things: portable lasers, and any moving vehicle with a black-and-white exterior. The youths, aged 13, 14, 15 and 16, were arrested last weekend for shining a hand-held laser into the windows of a police helicopter manned by Glendale and Burbank officers, who run a joint patrol of the area.

BURBANK — Five boys were arrested Saturday after they shone a hand-held green laser beam at a police helicopter that was patrolling the downtown area of the city, officials said Tuesday. The Burbank police pilot and Glendale police flight officer had been conducting a routine patrol at 9:30 p.m. Saturday in the helicopter, which both police departments use, in the area of San Fernando Road and Palm Avenue when a laser beam illuminated the cockpit, Burbank Police Sgt. Travis Irving said.

The Starlight Bowl's annual Fourth of July celebration went off this year without a bang — or at least without fireworks. But that also meant a holiday without brush fires, without sudden flare-ups from misfired pyrotechnics and without putting Hillside District homes in danger. When the Burbank Fire Department called off the traditional fireworks display at the end of May due to potential fire hazards, the Park, Recreation and Community Services Department searched for an alternative grand finale to its show.

Police release smoking ban figures Burbank Police Department records show that over the last months, five citizen calls have been placed to police dispatchers related reporting violators of the second-hand smoke ordinance. Between May 18 and June 18, officers responded to four calls, issuing warnings on the scene, said Sgt. Matthew Ferguson. The fifth complaint was called off before officers reached the location, he added. Customer complaints came primarily from restaurants and cafés and there were no repeat calls from the same locations.

BURBANK — A Fourth of July laser lightshow may replace the annual fireworks display at the Starlight Bowl, which was canceled this year due to concerns about fire hazards. The city announced the cancellation of the fireworks show at the end of May after Burbank Fire Department officials determined that vegetation near the bowl was far too dry to conduct a fireworks show safely. Since then, the city's Park, Recreation and Community Services Department has been pursuing possible alternatives to the traditional fireworks finale and was scheduled to meet with a company on Tuesday that puts on laser light shows, department Director Eric Hansen said.