Heavy Subject: The Burbank Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast...

Heavy Subject: The Burbank Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast booked Pat Boone as its speaker before the Christian singer made his bare-chested appearance as heavy-metal rocker at the American Music Awards. . . . But organizers of the May 8 event said their concerns were soothed by a letter “from Pat himself saying that he apologized if there was any misunderstanding and that . . . he hasn’t changed as far as his beliefs.”

War Stories: At Cal State Northridge, meanwhile, organizers of a May 4 brunch want to stir things up. . . . They invited Valentin M. Berezhkov, who was Joseph Stalin’s interpreter, to a benefit for the Russian language program. . . . History professor Alexander Muller said that Berezhkov’s tales aren’t “the usual dry, diplomatic versions of what went on.”

Happy Day: Dave Powell, executive director of the YMCA’s West Valley branch, and Mayor Richard Riordan, above, were among those in attendance at the rededication Thursday of the newly rebuilt West Valley Family YMCA. . . . The facility was badly damaged in the Northridge earthquake.

Business Windfall: With high winds forecast for the region this week, tree trimmers can expect more work. . . . They were already busy pulling fallen trees off houses and driveways earlier. . . . Said a receptionist at a Lancaster service: “In the middle of the night, that’s when we get all the emergency calls.”