Top 10 Stories of 2001

Ryan Carter, Gary Moskowitz, Molly Shore and Laura Sturza

BURBANK -- The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks rocked the world, and the

city was no exception, even as it pulled together to honor a resident who

perished aboard one of the flights.

Free speech questions topped the issues facing City Council this year,

from its changes of public comment periods to voting against a temple’s

request to build a school. The First Amendment also reared its head in a

lawsuit filed against the city for allowing “Jesus Christ” into council

chambers. Perhaps the biggest news was not something that started this

year, but came to an end. After years of disagreements between the city

and Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport about expansion, the Airport

Authority pulled its application to build a new terminal.

Residents respond in various ways to Sept. 11 attacks.

The events of Sept. 11 in New York City, Arlington, Va., and a

Pennsylvania field shocked and terrified local residents.

“It’s incredible. I never thought I’d live to see something like

this,” Russ Koehler said of the terrorist attacks.

In the days that followed, some residents attended prayer vigils, some

stocked up on supplies at a local surplus store and others participated

in moments of silence for all those who perished.

The city’s grief continued when it was discovered that one of its

residents, Yeneneh Betru, died on the flight that crashed into the

Pentagon in Virginia. Friends and neighbors later rallied to fulfill

Betru’s dream of sending medical machines to his native home, Ethiopia.

Additionally, local groups including police and fire agencies

sponsored fund-raisers for the families of the attack victims.

Burbank High School students also sent banners of prayers to New York

City, along with $1,100 in relief funds.

Airport terminal project halted.

The waiting game for a new terminal for the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena

Airport was going on long before the year started, but it was Jan. 19

when the Airport Authority pulled its expansion application.

The group had requested permission to rebuild its terminal on an

81-acre parcel of land formerly owned by Lockheed Martin Corp. at the

southwest corner of San Fernando Boulevard and Hollywood Way.

The Airport Authority has placed its plans on an “indefinite

suspension,” officials said earlier this week.

Initiative limiting airport passes, city sues.

The proposition passed by 58% of local voters on Oct. 9 in the city’s

first mail-in ballot election.

The measure, originally known as the Restore Our Airport Rights

Initiative, calls for a mandatory curfew, a cap on flights and passengers

and limitations on expansion at the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport.

Days after the measure passed, the city filed a lawsuit against the

Airport Authority, asking the court to determine which portions of

Measure A are legal and which are not. The case is slated to be heard at

Los Angeles County Superior Court on Jan. 14.

City Council changes public-comment periods.

Prompted by the use of profanity and racial slurs during the Burbank

City Council meetings’ public comment period, the council voted to

implement changes to its format on May 29.

The new policy allows residents to speak for one minute on any city

matter during the first period of oral communications, four minutes to

address council agenda items during a second period, and three minutes to

address any city business during an added third period.

Previously, community members could speak about any city business for

five minutes during the first period of public comment, three minutes

during the second.

While Council members hoped the changes would curb offensive speech

while protecting First Amendment free speech rights, Council members have

continued to express disapproval of residents who still use racial slurs

and other derogatory phrases during public comment.

Burroughs’ Indian mascot stays, despite pleas for change.

John Burroughs High School’s Indian mascot has been scrutinized by

representatives of regional and national Native American groups, who

asked the school board to change the mascot.

After the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights called for a ban on the use

of Native American mascots by non-Native American schools in April,

school board member Trish Burnett placed the use issue on the board’s

agenda twice.

Burnett found no support from the four remaining board members and the

school’s Indian mascot remains.

Instead, Burroughs’ marching band was asked to stop playing its

“tomahawk chop” game music and principal Emilio Urioste has established a

student committee to study Native American history.

Judge says no to ‘Jesus’ in Rubin vs. City of Burbank.

A flurry of arguments were filed in a California appellate court this

year in response to a Los Angeles Superior Court judge’s injunction on

prayers that refer to “Jesus Christ” at the start of City Council

meetings.

City attorneys argued the injunction is a form of discrimination and a

violation of First Amendment free speech rights of the volunteer Burbank

ministers who administer them.

Not so, said Irv Rubin, a Jewish activist who filed the initial

complaint in 1999. It was the city that illegally bridged the separation

of church and state by allowing prayers that refer to a specific deity,

he said.

More than 30 California cities, including neighboring Glendale, argued

on behalf of Burbank while an atheist organization argued on behalf of

Rubin.

The case is pending in appellate court.

Mayor voted off ‘Adopt-A-Pet’ show.

In March, council members voted to replace Mayor Bob Kramer as host of

the “Adopt-A-Pet” cable television show, which he created and hosted for

five years.

The hope was to get other community members to host the show. Kramer

was shocked at the flap.

“I created it and started it, and I’ve enjoyed it for the last five

years,” Kramer has said. Councilman David Laurell has since taken on some

of the hosting duties.

The Empire Strikes Back

It started in September with Costco Wholesale, a 150,000-square-foot

“big box” wholesale shopping center -- the first of a series of stores to

open as part of the much-awaited Burbank Empire Center.

Developed by the Zelman Development Co., the 103 acre, $250 million

project includes a 400,000-square-foot office park and 620,000 square

feet of retail space.

Officials have high hopes for attracting business to the large

shopping hubs such as Sportmart and burgeoning food shops like Krispy

Kreme at the center.

Stough Canyon Nature Center opens after several delays.

After four years of work and four delays in completion, the Stough

Canyon Nature Center opened in March, just above the De Bell Municipal

Golf Course.

The $2.4-million, 4,000-square-foot facility houses two classrooms, a

50-seat amphitheater, a small library and 1,200 square feet of exhibit

space.

Referred to by project officials as the “jewel of our park system” and

an “asset for the community,” the project was stalled by at least

$240,000 in change orders that occurred during construction due to

changes made to the design of the project.

Vote against school sparks free-speech outcry

A City Council decision in June to reject a proposal by Burbank Temple

Emanu-El for a preschool and religious school adjacent to the synagogue

sparked cries of free speech violations by temple officials.

Mayor Bob Kramer, one of three council members who voted against the

expansion plans, insisted that land-use issues were the deciding factor

in his vote. Nearby residents said the proposed facility would be an

intrusion into their neighborhood and could lower property values.

The debate caught the attention of the L.A. County Democratic Party,

which asked council members to reconsider the decision. A second look

resulted in another 3-2 vote that killed the proposal in July.