818 Roundup: Topping the charts and dropping the train noise
Good morning, 818. Today is Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016. Temperatures for today are forecasted to reach a high of 88 and a low of 55, according to the National Weather Service.
Here are your local headlines:
Civic News and Politics
Train ‘quiet zone’ picks up steam in Glendale
The 90 or so trains passing through Glendale every day may soon have to hold off on sounding their horns. Local officials want to implement a “quiet zone” along the tracks this year. The City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday to install a final series of improvements at three local rail crossings the Federal Railroad Administration requires to establish a quiet zone. With heightened safety infrastructure in place, engineers will not have to honk as often to let others know they’re coming. Glendale News-Press
A quest for signatures
Residents of La Cañada’s western “Sagebrush” area, who’ve been working for years to secure a transfer of homes from Glendale Unified School District’s jurisdiction to La Cañada Unified’s, are taking their mission to the streets. Their aim is to collect the 403 signatures necessary to take their case to the Los Angeles County Office of Education and potentially begin the procedure necessary to have a transfer adjudicated. La Cañada Valley Sun
Used book donations halted
Due to renovation work that has reduced the amount of storage space at the Central Library, Friends of the Glendale Public Library announced Wednesday it’s taking a temporary break from accepting donations of used books at the Harvard Street facility. Donations can still be made to other Library, Arts & Culture sites during their regular operating hours. Glendale News-Press
Burbank chooses new library director
After a seven-month, nationwide search, Burbank has selected a new director to lead its library system — Elizabeth Goldman, a second-generation librarian who said her mother, a librarian in her hometown in New Mexico, was a good “salesperson for the job” and remains enthusiastic about the work. Burbank Leader
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Education
Strong words for Burbank school board
A former Burbank Unified School District employee, who alleged in a lawsuit that she was sexually harassed and retaliated against by a manager, publicly criticized the district’s handling of the decade-long case at last week’s school board meeting. “If you are sexually harassed while working in a hostile work environment, the message you send while dragging somebody through a 10-year legal battle, is to shut up and go away,” Danielle Baez told the board members. Burbank Leader
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Business
Porto’s reaches No. 1 on Yelp’s ‘Top 100’ chart
Porto’s Bakery and Cafe in Burbank topped Yelp’s list of the Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S., based on an analysis of “which places were the all-time most popular and well reviewed” on the user-review website, according to the company, which published the list online Wednesday. Burbank Leader
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In the Community
Getting water-wise
There was not a more opportune time for Descanso Gardens to deliver a full, drenching day of water-wise education. At its inaugural Water Symposium on Saturday, Feb. 6, all water conservation consciousness collided at a time when many Southern California residents are thinking about El Niño and the state’s ongoing drought. Events ranged from rain harvesting, planning a native plant garden, information gathering from local water utility providers and even a sommelier water tasting. La Cañada Valley Sun
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Ryan Fonseca, ryan.fonseca@latimes.com
Twitter: @RyFons
