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Memorial Pays Tribute to Burbank COVID-19 Victims

Photo courtesy Marcos Lutyens
Burbank Tournament of Roses Association members Robin Hanna and Judith Miller attach felt roses to a fish net for a Rose River Memorial exhibit, which honors those killed by COVID-19. A local memorial with more than 240 such roses will come to City Hall for a week starting on Monday.

When Marcos Lutyens started making felt roses in honor of the Americans who had died from COVID-19, the death toll was at about 180,000 people. He thought — he hoped — that he’d have to make about 200,000. He was wrong.

As of this month, the coronavirus has killed about 600,000 people in the United States — including more than 240 Burbank residents.

“It just got worse and worse,” Lutyens said. “But at the same time, as it got worse, the community response got stronger and stronger.”

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Burroughs Wins Playoff Opener; Burbank is Eliminated

By Austin Green

Burbank Leader

Senior designated hitter Devin LeClair capped off a seven-run second inning with a towering grand slam over the right field fence and the Burbank High School’s baseball team never looked back, handing Baldwin Park Sierra Vista an 11-3 drubbing in their CIF-SS Division 5 playoff opener.

Burbank (13-5 record) only recorded six hits, but also worked nine walks and took advantage of all four errors Sierra Vista committed on Tuesday.

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Reyes, Mosley Help Bulldogs Shock Top Seed in OT Win

Photo by Eric Danielson / Burbank Leader
Sattwik Banerjee was one of five Burbank players to score in double digits and helped the Bulldogs edge No. 1-seeded Santa Ana Foothill, 79-77, in a thrilling double-overtime CIF-SS Division 3AA quarterfinal on Tuesday.

By Austin Green

Burbank Leader

In his second year as Burbank High School’s head boys’ basketball coach, Sid Cooke has celebrated each major victory with a five-word mantra. He said it when the Bulldogs beat Los Angeles Shalhevet to open the season and again when they rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Crescenta Valley on the road in league play. 

So when Burbank upset Santa Ana Foothill, the No. 1 seed in the CIF Southern Section 3AA bracket, 79-73 in a double-overtime thriller on Tuesday, Cooke knew exactly how to describe it.

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Bears Edged in Opener; Burbank Advances By Forfeit

Photo by Eric Danielson / Burbank Leader
Olivia Kam (pictured in a game earlier this season) belted a double and drove in two runs in the Bears’ 5-4 loss at Temple City in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs.

By Austin Green

Burbank Leader

Burroughs High School dropped its CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoff opener, 5-4, at Temple City on Tuesday, as the host Rams edged the Bears in a hard-fought game. 

With the game tied at 4-4 and a runner on third in the bottom of the sixth inning, Temple City got a two-out bloop single to fall into left field and take the lead for good. 

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Bears Defeat Downey, Advance To CIF Semifinals

Photo by Eric Danielson / Burbank Leader
Burroughs head coach Victoria Oganyan has guided the girls’ basketball program to back-to-back CIF-SS semifinals appearances.

History repeated itself for the Burroughs High School varsity girls’ basketball team on Wednesday when it outlasted host Downey, 49-47, in a CIF Southern Section Division 2AA quarterfinal.

The Bears (14-8 overall record) advanced to the semifinals for the second consecutive year and will host undefeated San Bernardino Cajon tonight at 7 p.m. The winner of the game will advance to the championship game and face the winner of the other semifinal between Mission Hills Alemany and Lawndale Leuzinger. The championship game is scheduled for Thursday, June 10.

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Foundation Helps Loving Animals — and Their Owners

Linda Venegas and her dog Ottie getting pampered by groomer Deborah Stevens. Photo by David Laurell / Burbank Leader

In the aftermath of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Gary Michelson, a renowned spine surgeon and prolific medical inventor, founded a nonprofit organization he called Found Animals. 

Beginning with the establishment of the first free pet microchip registry, today the Michelson Found Animals Foundation has gone on to create the Better Neighbor Project, which delivers pet food and wellness services to pet owners in need.

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At Last, Community Gardens Project Takes Root Today

After more than a decade of discussion and false starts, two empty sites in Burbank are showing early signs of blooming into community gardens, with a nonprofit holding a public planning meeting this morning.

The Los Angeles Community Garden Council is hosting the kickoff event from 9-11 a.m. at 3705 W. Clark Ave. There, council representatives will explain plans for cultivating that site, as well as one at 1141 N. Pass Ave., into community spaces at which residents will be able to rent plots to grow crops, flowers and other plants.

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BUSD Bolsters Policy Against Racial Slurs in School Materials

After two readings and hours of discussion, the Board of Education approved on Thursday the revision to selected board policies that bans the N-word from any instructional materials that are mandated for all Burbank Unified School District students to read. 

The five-member board unanimously approved the new policy with an amendment that states supplemental material given by teachers that includes offensive language or racial slurs must be approved by Superintendent Matt Hill.

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