Commentary

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Updated: FBI and U.S. Justice Dept. decline to file charges in BPD probe

After extensive investigations into the now infamous 2007 Porto’s Bakery robbery in Burbank, the FBI and the U.S. Department have declined to file charges against any police personnel. In 2009, The Feds began looking into allegations of excessive force and civil rights violation by Burbank police involved in the investigation of that robbery. Late yesterday, Burbank Police Chief, Scott LaChasse, […]
Thursday, May 1, 2014

Updated:City Buzz: Burbank City Council selects new mayor

Finally, after eight years of being on the Burbank City Council, Dr. David Gordon, was selected as mayor during the council reorganization meeting this morning. Even though the mayoral position is pretty much a ceremonial one, there are perks that go along with the job. Maybe that explains why certain council members fight like heck to keep the position among […]
Sunday, February 16, 2014

City Buzz: Burbank Leader and Glendale News-Press controversy

It didn’t take long for readers of the Burbank Leader to react to the ludicrous plan to remove all the paper’s outside news racks from city streets. Glendale News Press readers, who are victims of the same screwball  decision, responded as well.  The uproar prompted a newspaper editorial/weak apology. Here’s the first paragraph. “Some changes went into effect this week […]
Thursday, February 13, 2014

Call-out: The Burbank Leader to remove all city news racks

Outside news racks for The Burbank Leader have been disappearing from the city streets for some time. I have been critical of that fact in the past. Now the word from the editor, Dan Evans, is that all the Burbank Leader news racks will be history soon. Bad news. Terrible idea. The reason, Evans says, it’s “theft.” In a recent […]
Friday, February 7, 2014

Jay Leno’s tearful farewell wraps final “Tonight Show” as host

It was the second time he has had to bow out from the primo job as host of the “Tonight Show,” but Jay Leno’s good-bye was still emotional. and quite touching. Leno handled the hosting duties on the talk show for the last time, last night, and scored huge ratings. That is no surprise really. Leno beat his competition in […]
Monday, January 27, 2014

Grammys: Daft Punk, high ratings, and bloated commercial breaks

The French helmet-wearing duo, Daft Punk, are probably feeling pretty lucky today and for good reason. They walked away with some the biggest awards at the Grammys last night, including, Record of the Year for “Get Lucky,” Album of the Year for “Random Access Memories,” and for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. I have not heard their entire album, but  the […]
Sunday, November 17, 2013

My Take: The unfriendly skies

After my scary flight on American Airlines last week, the friendly skies do not look so, ah, friendly. Turns out passengers on another commercial jetliner, a Southwest Airlines flight from Tampa, Florida to Raleigh, North Carolina, got an even worse fright from their pilot. Last Tuesday evening,  the Southwest pilot announced over the PA system: “We’re going down.” And the plane […]
Tuesday, August 27, 2013

City Buzz: Burbank sidewalk controversy – what’s the solution?

The 1900 block of North Screenland Drive sidewalk controversy has been festering, brewing, and churning for several years. Finding a solution is not going to be easy. Tonight, the Burbank City Council is scheduled to decide whether or not to go forward with the installation of sidewalks on this residential street near Luther Burbank Middle School. The sidewalk project is […]
Monday, August 26, 2013

Burbank sidewalk controversy revisited: An opposing view

Those opposed to installing sidewalks on North Screenland Drive tend to be passionate and tenacious about their position. None more so than long-time resident and North Screenland Drive resident, Janet Strong. She’s a retired motion costume artist turned activist and occasional guest blogger on Media City Groove. Here’s Strong’s opinion post, which appeared  in “Community Views: Sidewalk rift, common decency, and […]