Local News Roundup

A little lighter this week. This weekly post is more work than we expected, but hey, getting to write in the first person plural (the Royal We, if you prefer, and we do) is worth the effort.

Headline: Mixed use development The Burbank Collection is on schedule to open in June, provided drought continues. Read the story.
Our Take: You can't beat the location if you're looking for new urban pedestrian living (and if you've got $700,000 laying around). San Fernando Road continues to attract everyone. Young professionals, families, empty nesters, teens and the homeless. This area is without a doubt Burbank's primary community gathering place.

Headline: News Press editorial supports PATH's First Step application. Read the story.
Our Take: Good for the News Press. We'd reiterate that a program like First Step seems unlikely to cause an influx of chronically homeless persons. It is not a walk-in facility. It will be a lot of work to convince most of this population to come inside, but it's the right thing to do.

And just for fun, a nifty political campaign contribution record based on your Southern California zip code can be found here. We're not sure what you'd use it for unless you're working on a campaign, but what the heck.

Local News Roundup

Today marks the beginning of a new weekly feature here at Glenoaks and Spazier - the Local News Roundup. Each Friday we'll recap a few of the local news stories that affect our communities.

Story: PATH Achieve's app for a 25 bed shelter targeting the chronically homeless approved by Glendale Housing Authority, now heads to County. Read the story.
Our take: Cheers to the GHA for approving this program despite concerns of attracting more homeless people to the city. Entrance to the program will be by referral only, not by walk-in. I hope that Glendale might see the opportunity to be a moral leader in serving the homeless population among Southern California communities. Finding cities outside of LA willing to host services like this has been a challenge for the county, which would fund the project.

Story: Friday night Burbank hit-and-run kills pedestrian. Read the story.
Our take: From running the red light to leaving the scene, this is a tragic case of a teenager who had no business driving in the first place. A sobering story for drivers' ed instructors, parents, and young drivers.

Story: NBC will leave Burbank, relocate to Universal. M. David Paul & Assoc. likely buyers. Read the story.
Our take: This is a real bummer for Burbank, as NBC has been a fixture for decades. However, it sounds like there will be no empty space on the lot. The question of who will fill that space looms. NBC has impressive plans for a "green" skyscraper to be built over the Universal City Redline stop in Los Angeles, modeled after their 30 Rockefeller facility.

Story: House Committee approves Genocide recognition resolution. Read the story.
Our take: The timing is not ideal on this, not only because of Iraq, but because this happened nine decades ago. It's way overdue. The Turkish government seems bent on glossing over history and protecting "Turkishness" at the expense of truth. Their diplomatic retaliation threats are absurd, bullyish, and indefensible. Unfortunately, they may also be real. Whatever the outcome of the House vote in November, at the very least, it's a good thing that this is being discussed on a national and international level.