Noise

About 25 residents attended a workshop at Bob Hope Airport on Thursday, many of them complaining that they don't qualify for a program to soundproof their homes despite the intrusions of aircraft noise. The workshop was designed to get public input as part of an update to a study looking at the impact of aircraft noise on areas surrounding the airport. One of the main reasons the airfield is conducting the study is to continue receiving federal funding for its residential sound insulation program.

Los Angeles residents, concerned about the noise from media and sightseeing helicopters flying low over their neighborhoods, turned out to complain to the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday night at a public hearing in Sherman Oaks. The FAA sought testimony from residents, community groups and helicopter pilots about the extent of the problem, where the noise is the loudest, which operators are the worst offenders and how the noise can be reduced. "The helicopter flights are like having a group of bikers living next to you," said Jack Wilson of Studio City.

Paul Clinton MEDIA DISTRICT WEST -- Students at Providence High School will have to continue living with traffic noise from the Ventura (134) Freeway after Caltrans turned down a request to install a sound wall at the school's south end. The private, 555-student Catholic school at 511 S. Buena Vista St. has long been impacted by buzzing traffic from the nearby freeway. "The sound from the freeway is very apparent throughout our campus," Providence Principal Sister Lucille Dean said.

The deafening roar of airplanes taking off from the Bob Hope Airport will no longer interrupt students and teachers during class in Luther Burbank Middle School. The school board on Thursday approved the final payment of $5,000 to Ove Arup & Partners California LTD for its acoustic services at Luther Burbank Middle School, which is located just over a mile away from the airport. Noise abatement modifications to the building were completed in August as part of Burbank Unified School District's modernization of the school.

Danielle Cohen The legend of the curse of "Macbeth" won't stop A Noise Within from kicking off its 12th season with a performance of the Shakespearean classic. The company has never performed "Macbeth," which previews on Sept. 20, partly because it's been difficult in the past to find actors who will perform the play. "There's the old curse thing with 'Macbeth' and it scares people away ... actor-wise," group co-founder Geoff Elliott said. "Actors often take it very seriously."

The most recent gambit between the city of Burbank and the Bob Hope Airport comes in the formation of what they call the noise working group. It came into being as part of the airport development agreement. The development agreement has one overall purpose, in my opinion. It seems it is to facilitate airport expansion without public disclosure -- that both agencies want to advance airport business. To fend off public objection to apparent noise increases from the airport, the working group seems to be a clever way to imply that work will be done to reduce noise.

JOYCE RUDOLPH Relationships take center stage during A Noise Within's new season falling under the umbrella title "State of the Union -- A Celebration of the Ties that Bind." State of the Union is a play on words as this is an election year, said Julia Rodriguez Elliott, who is co-founder and co-artistic director with her husband, Geoff Elliott, of the Glendale classical theater company. "But the plays we are producing look at relationships inside the family or political relationships, and we are really examining the strength of relationships," she said.

Paul Clinton AIRPORT DISTRICT -- The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority released a revised schedule for the upcoming "listening sessions," in which airport officials will take public comment on the Part 161 noise study. The Part 161 study, which the authority formally launched July 17, will measure the impacts of a mandatory nighttime curfew on aircraft operations. The authority will submit the completed study to the Federal Aviation Administration as an application for the noise measure.

The second phase of Burbank-Glen- dale-Pasadena Airport's Part 161 noise impact study started Friday. The study, which commenced in July 2000, is an in-depth noise analysis required by the Federal Aviation Administration before it will consider approving a mandatory curfew on flights. If Burbank succeeds in obtaining federal approval, it will be the first airport in the country to do so. The first phase of the study provided a forecast of future aviation activity and passenger traffic without a 10 p.m.-to- 7 a.m.-curfew.

managing director A Noise Within co-artistic directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez Elliott have a lot to celebrate as the second production of the season, "Triumph of Love" opens tonight in Glendale. The company received two Ovation Award nominations for last season's productions and are welcoming a new managing director. Bill Mesnik was nominated for Featured Actor in a Play for his work in "Love's Labour's Lost" and Lily Nicksay was nominated for Featured Actress in a Play for "The Wild Duck."

Residents living near Bob Hope Airport who have been waiting to take advantage of a federally funded residential soundproofing program shouldn't wait any longer. After more than a decade and a half of installing new windows and doors in homes surrounding the airport, the eligible area for the soundproofing program is going to shrink, airport officials said during a Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority meeting on Monday. Due to quieter aircraft and fewer flights in general, the airport is projecting a much smaller noise-impact zone over the next five years - and that projection is used by the Federal Aviation Administration to determine which homeowners qualify for soundproofing projects.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) on Wednesday announced plans to take up legislation to regulate low-flying helicopters above residential neighborhoods in Los Angeles County, saying voluntary controls for the "persistent fly-overs” were clearly insufficient. The announcement comes amid longstanding complaints from residents, particularly in the San Fernando Valley, of low-flying police and news helicopters intruding on their suburban soundtracks. Some news stations voluntarily curtailed the number and hours of helicopter flights during the second Carmageddon event on the 405 Freeway after fielding numerous complaints from residents and calls for restraint from L.A. officials.

Bob Hope Airport will host a public workshop Wednesday to gather input from nearby residents about aircraft noise. Residents can also learn about the study the airport is conducting to analyze the current and five-year forecast for aircraft noise at the airfield. The primary purpose for the study is to continue receiving federal funding for the airport's ongoing residential sound-proofing program, which has provided new window and doors, as well as other sound insulation measures, to more than 2,220 residences and four schools around the airport at a cost of more than $100 million since the early 1990s.

Bob Hope Airport will host a public workshop from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to gather input from nearby residents about aircraft noise. Residents can also learn about the study the airport is conducting to analyze the current and five-year forecast for aircraft noise at the airfield. The primary purpose for the study is to continue receiving federal funding for the airport's ongoing residential sound-proofing program, which has provided new window and doors, as well as other sound insulation measures, to more than 2,220 residences and four schools around the airport at a cost of more than $100 million since the early 1990s.

Good morning, readers. Today is Wednesday, August 15. The Los Angeles City Council showed support Tuesday for a bill that would curb helicopter noise, an issue that residents have recently complained about. The bill would direct the Federal Aviation Administration to set minimum altitudes for helicopters . L.A. Times Meanwhile, one floor below council chambers, a laceration room has opened. Los Angeles  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he wanted to "make sure that people who are coming back after having a child can feel comfortable and safe," reports City News Service.

Good morning, readers. Today is Thursday, August 9. Feeling hot? Good news: Dozens of public Los Angeles pools will remain open through Labor Day. Many were slated to close next week, but the heat wave pushed the City Council to keep them open . Daily News A man who barricaded himself in a North Hollywood home for over three hours was arrested Wednesday . He apparently told police he had a gun, but no weapon was found. L.A. Times Like living in a big city, but just wish helicopters wouldn't fly over your home at dinnertime?

Los Angeles residents, concerned about the noise from media and sightseeing helicopters flying low over their neighborhoods, turned out to complain to the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday night at a public hearing in Sherman Oaks. The FAA sought testimony from residents, community groups and helicopter pilots about the extent of the problem, where the noise is the loudest, which operators are the worst offenders and how the noise can be reduced. "The helicopter flights are like having a group of bikers living next to you," said Jack Wilson of Studio City.

About 25 residents attended a workshop at Bob Hope Airport on Thursday, many of them complaining that they don't qualify for a program to soundproof their homes despite the intrusions of aircraft noise. The workshop was designed to get public input as part of an update to a study looking at the impact of aircraft noise on areas surrounding the airport. One of the main reasons the airfield is conducting the study is to continue receiving federal funding for its residential sound insulation program.

Bob Hope Airport officials on Monday launched a study that could reduce the number of property owners eligible for a federally funded program to soundproof their homes from aircraft noise. About 1,900 property owners have yet to sign up for the 12-year-old program and some of them could be left out in the cold if the eligibility area shrinks. Noise pollution at Bob Hope Airport has steadily declined over the years with quieter aircraft and more efficient management of air traffic, officials say, reducing the area for which soundproofing is needed.

I am writing to ask Greg Hiscott (“Enforce the noise laws,” April 7, Glendale News-Press) if I can use his letter in our Burbank Forum page. We will make a few changes, like substitute Burbank for Glendale, the Village for the Americana. We don’t have the Beeline buses, but we do have loud cars, bikes, window-down SUVs, helicopters and loud, smelly fire department vehicles driving through the Village and up East Palm on their way back from coffee breaks. In Burbank, I don’t think leadership, including the police, is aware of noise problems.