No Wal-Mart forces take the fight to City Hall

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- The former site of The Great Indoors at 1301 North Victory Place in the Empire Center Burbank

 In the past few days, a number of media reports have come out about Wal-Mart finally fessing up to plans to move into the site once occupied by The Great Indoors, at the Empire Center over on North Victory Place. Wal-Mart owns the site now — but anti-Wal-Mart forces in B-town aren’t giving up the fight just yet.

The No Wal-Mart on Facebook group has organized a rally for today, on the steps of Burbank City Hall at 5:30 p.m. The small but vocal group is being joined by the politically savvy Burbank Democratic Club, which has urged its members to support the rally and speak out against Wal-Mart at the city council meeting at 6 p.m.

At last Tuesday’s city council meeting, Deputy City Manager Joy Forbes revealed Wal-Mart executives “… want to do a community forum… ” at the site sometime in mid-to-late-October. Well, the site is more appropriate for a P.R. event than a community forum to hear the concerns of  residents.

Clearly, these Wal-Mart suits aren’t really taking the community very seriously. They’re reportedly considering options like including a restaurant or nail salon in that 120,000 square foot building. Hey, there are already plenty of restaurants in the Empire Center and a lot of nail salons in Burbank. I guess the Wal-Mart bigwigs do not need to be very creative, when most of their customers only care about how many cheap products they can stuff into a shopping cart. That location at the Empire Center needs some imagination. Wal-Mart needs to add something different to the mix of  restaurants and retail.  However, that kind of  progressive thinking may be beyond the comprehension of the Wal-Mart executives.

A new Burbank Police Commissioner

The city council majority snubbed former Chair of the Burbank Police Commission, Bob Frutos, once again last Tuesday. Right after Frutos lost a close run-off for a city council seat against Emily Gabel-Luddy — the CCM refused to re-appoint him to his seat on the police commission.

Recently, Frutos tossed his hat in the ring for the commission seat vacated by Jim Etter, who moved on to the Los Angeles County Fish and Game Commission. Frutos got only two votes, Dr. David Gordon and Gary Bric. The CCM voted for former Paramount executive, Tom Bruehl, who has been kicking around in local political circles for a while.

But the CCM is not rid of Frutos just yet. A few weeks back, each council member made an appointment to the Citizens’ Charter Committee. This group will decide if changes are necessary for the city charter, which could open the door for a charter review committee to be set up.

Here’s how the appointments went down: Dr. Gordon named Bob Frutos, Gary Bric — Jackie Waltman, Emily Gabel-Luddy — Carolyn Jackson, Dave Golonski — Lee Wochner, and Mayor Jess Talamantes appointed Victor Georgino.

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Chevron GM Food Mart at Buena Vista Street and Olive Avenue September 1, 2011

Okay, we’re not seeing self-serve regular for $2 a gallon — but under $4 a gallon is still a good buy. A short while ago, regular gasoline at the pump appeared to be headed for the $5 a gallon mark.

The national average for regular today is $3.6, according to triple A.  However, on Labor Day weekend last year the average price was $2.6 a gallon for regular.

The same trend can be seen on the state and local levels. The Auto Club reports the state average for regular today $3.9 a gallon — a year ago at this time, $3 a gallon. In the Los Angeles-Long Beach area (which includes Burbank) the average price for regular is $3.9 — a year ago it was $3 a gallon. Those numbers are the same for Orange County as well.

In these tough economic times, which seem to be getting tougher, consumers could really use a serious break on fuel prices. Perhaps $3 a gallon regular gas will make a comeback soon. I hope so. Drive safely and enjoy the holiday weekend.

Photo courtesy Guest Blogger Jean Youn

There’s a proverb that says that having clear and sunny days all the time creates deserts.

Of course everybody wishes to have bright and happy days all the time, but if every single day was like that, we could forget what happiness is.

It is natural for there to be rain, snow, wind, thunder, and lightning on some days and for other days to be clear and sunny.

It is the human condition to be happy sometimes and sad other times. There are times we laugh and there also times we cry. This is all normal.

In order for a tree to produce a bright red and ripe apple, the tree has to go through the cold winter, sunshine, rain, and withstand sometimes harsh winds. All of those things are necessary.

These life conditions are similar to what I experience as a dry cleaner. There are times when I am happy and there are times when things are difficult.

Sometimes customers bring in clothes with stains that are easy to get rid of, other stains are a little more difficult to clean, and still there are other stains that won’t go away no matter how hard I try. There are days when there are a lot customers and there are days where there are very little.

If we could take all these things, good and bad, and decide that we are still going to be happy, I think we could make every day a happy day no matter what.

It is now towards the end of August. The summer is almost over.

I hope that you can enjoy every day as a happy day in the month of September!

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Jean Youn is the owner of Value Village Cleaners at 912 West Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale 91202. For details on services, coupons and more, check out the Value Village Cleaners website  here.

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Burbank Recycle Center 500 South Flower Street Burbank

Lately, the Burbank City Council has been peppered with tough questions from residents about the status and alleged mismanagement of the Burbank Recycle Center over on South Flower Street. This is not the first time rumors have been flying about something “not right” going on at the center.

Yesterday, the City of Burbank put out a statement about the center and its involvement in the operation.

City Statement on Burbank Recycle Center

BURBANK, Calif. (August 22, 2011) – On January 29, 2010, the State of California denied the City’s Application for Renewal of its Curbside Registration (Application), which allows the City to receive revenue from the State’s beverage containers recycling fund (CRV Fund).  The State denied the City’s Application because it accused the operator of the City’s Recycle Center, Burbank Recycling, Inc. (BRI) and Geoff Folsom, of failing to comply with State law and regulations dealing with the recycling of beverage containers at another recycling facility.  A hearing on the accusation against Mr. Folsom is still pending.

The City appealed the State’s denial of its Application because we believed that the City had acted fairly by waiting for the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to provide a hearing on the allegations to BRI.  It needs to be emphasized that the City has not been accused of any wrongdoing by the State.  The reason the City’s curbside certification was denied was simply because it uses BRI to operate the Recycle Center and to process the curbside materials.

The appeal hearing was held on March 29 and 30, 2011 and on May 13, 2011 the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) affirmed the denial of the City’s Application on the basis that Mr. Folsom had failed to comply with the State law and regulations. The ALJ did not find any wrongdoing on the part of the City of Burbank and found that the City had acted reasonably in waiting for CalRecycle to provide a hearing to Mr. Folsom. CalRecycle adopted the ALJ’s decision as its final decision on May 24, 2011. On June 7, the City Council decided not to appeal the decision.  The decision took effect on June 25, 2011.

While the denial of the curbside registration affects the City’s ability to collect CRV revenues, which totaled $20,432.23 in fiscal year 2010/11, it does not affect the City’s ability to continue operating its highly effective curbside recycling program that diverts about 40 tons per day of material from landfill disposal.  This program is part of the City’s comprehensive source reduction and recycling efforts to reduce land filling by at least 50 percent as required by Assembly Bill 939 (AB 939), which became law in 1989, and the City’s sustainability efforts to reach zero waste by 2040.  BRI is continuing to operate the Recycle Center on an interim basis while the City pursues its options.  The City of Burbank is committed to delivering excellent, uninterrupted curbside recycling services while an operational transition is completed at the Burbank Recycle Center. Residents and businesses should continue to place their recyclables in the proper carts and bins for collection and processing.

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The stock market took a beating again today. Some dramatic swings in the market over the past few days. Worries about the country tumbling into another recession reportedly caused the market to plunge more than 500 points today. When the market closed stocks had gained some ground — ending the day down 419 points.

More on the stocks and the economic fears, which have investors jittery and scrambling for cover here on Reuters.

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- The Great Indoors at the Empire Center 1301 North Victory Place, Burbank

A lot of chatter  these days about Walmart. Is the world’s largest retailer coming to Burbank — bringing along its unsavory baggage of poor labor practices — including a reputation for discriminating against minorities – particularly women?   

Apparently Walmart has plans to open in Burbank at The Great Indoors location in the Empire Center.  Recently, Walmart bought the site from Sears. The Great Indoors is expected to close this weekend.  

There are reports Walmart is going to try to head-off the negative reaction and win over the public with a series of community forums to explain itself. Well, I hope residents don’t  fall for that high-powered promotional campaign. We need a company that will enhance the area — not lower the bar.

DIMPLES

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Dimples Restaurant 3413 West Olive Avenue, Burbank 91505

Dimples Restaurant is known more for its karaoke than its food and drinks. The exterior is a bit shabby, but for years it’s been a popular joint to hang out and have a good time. Also, it claims to be the first karaoke club in the country. 

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Dimples Restaurant 3413 West Olive Avenue Burbank 91505

“Captain America: The First Avenger” remains at the top of the box office today. Over the weekend, the Marvel comic book-inspired movie  debuted with a mighty $65 million. That’s the best superhero film weekend opening so far this summer.

On Monday, “Captain America” held onto its title as the number one flick in the country, by scoring $7.7 million. Yesterday, another top performance by the patriotic crusader with the film earning $7.8 million.  It stars Chris Evans as the physical weak, but strong in heart patriot, Steve Rodgers, who gets transformed into the super soldier Captain America during World War II. 

Here’s the rest of the weekend’s top five.  “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ slipped to second after only one week in the number one spot — with $47.4 million.  New romantic comedy, “Friends with Benefits” collected $18.6 million — good enough for third place. Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis star as a couple of wanta-be friends/business associates who try to keep their relationship light, but end up falling for each other.

The sci-fi actioner, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” lands in fourth with $12 million, and in fifth, the comedy “Horrible Bosses” with $11.8 million.

The long-awaited film featuring the patriotic superhero, Captain America, finally hit movie screens today. “Captain America: The First Avenger” reportedly earned around $4 million at midnight screenings — besting “Green Lantern” and “Thor” for those early shows.

“Captain America,” which stars Chris Evans as the Marvel-comic- book inspired shield -wheeling hero, could be on track to make $60 million this weekend. Question is does the red, white, and blue crusader have enough power to boot the kid wizard, Harry Potter, from the number one spot? Ticket buying movie fans will make the call. More box office results later.

A magical opening weekend for the final installment in the Harry Potter movie series. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″ has broken all kind of records since opening to huge audiences at midnight screenings last Thursday.  Yesterday, its  estimated weekend take at the domestic box office was a gigantic $168. 5 million. The actual numbers were released today — and the Harry Potter finale did even better than expected — it pulled in $169.1 million for  a new all time weekend record.

Here are the top five grossing weekend movie openings

1. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″  —– $169.1 million

2. “The Dark Knight” —– $158.4 million

3. “Spider-Man 3″ —– $151 million

4.”The Twilight Saga: New Moon” —– $142.8 million

5. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” —– $135 million

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″ shattered the record for midnight shows with $43.5 million and for the biggest opening day — with $92.1 million last Friday.  Talking about ending on a high note.

Harry Potter easily captured the crown for the number one film in the country from the sci-fi action hit “Transformers 3″ — which was a distant second with $21.3 million. Rounding out the top five at the box office, the adult comedy, “Horrible Bosses” $17.7 million,  the family comedy “Zookeeper” $12.3 million, and the animated sequel “Cars 2″ $8.4 million.

British author Jane Austen is a superstar in the literary world.  Only six of Austen’s novels were published: “Emma,” “Sense & Sensibility,” “Mansfield Park,” “Northanger Abbey,” “Pride & Prejudice, ” and “Persuasion.”  Austen died on July 18, 1817 at the age of 41, but  the writer still has plenty of buzz these days.

Her novels have been the inspiration for movies, TV series, and other books. Austen is as popular as ever.  Last week, an unfinished manuscript by Austen sold at auction for $1.6 million. The handwritten draft of “The Watsons,” including author editing notes, was purchased by the Oxford University Bodleian Library, according to publishing site Galleycat.  The manuscript is only 68 pages — and the first 12 pages are  owned by  a New York institution. More here.

Movie audiences are really wild about Harry — as in Harry Potter and the finale of the popular novel-based movie series. Tons of Potter fans stayed up late last night  — to catch the first showings of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2.”  In fact, the eighth installment of the series reportedly earned $43.5 million at the domestic box office during those midnight screenings. That blows away the previous record  of $30 million set by “Twilight Saga: Eclipse” back in June 2010.

Internationally, this Harry Potter flick is cleaning up at theaters as well.  Deadline.com has an extensive report on those numbers.

Final Harry Potter movie breaking records

The end is near for the zillions of Harry Potter movie fans. The eighth and final installment in the Potter film series opens tomorrow at midnight. All ready, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″ is breaking records for movie screens and ticket sales.  Nikki Finke has the scoop over on deadline.com

Jaycee Dugard’s book sells 175,000 copies 1st day

The 18-year kidnap ordeal of Jaycee Dugard has really grabbed public interest. Dugard’s interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer last Sunday brought in huge ratings  last Sunday. Nearly 15 million viewers reportedly watched the two- hour special. Yesterday, her memior detailing her years held captive in a tent by convicted sex offender, Phillip Craig Garrido and his wife, Nancy, debuted.  “A Stolen Life” sold 175,000 copies on Tuesday, according to Galleycat.  More here.

Hollywood & Carmageddon

Some folks in Hollywood are making plans to  avoid what may be a real life disaster. The shutdown of  the 405 freeway, between the 10 and 101, this weekend. It has been dubbed Carmageddon. The Wrap has details on what some local entertainment companies are doing.

“Transformers 3″  makes $21 million on Thursday

“Transformers 3″ is packing them at movie theaters. Yesterday, the sci-fi  flick scored $21 million  — bringing its two-day haul to around $60 million. The question now is how close to $200 million will the film get before the fireworks celebrations wrap up on July 4th?

“Thor 2″ on the way

“Thor ” is still playing in theaters, but a sequel is already in the works.  So far, “Thor” has earned close to $178 million at the domestic box office. “Thor 2″ has a release date of July 26, 2013, even though it has yet to land a director.  However, the project does have a screenwriter. More on  Deadline.com

Justin Timberlake and MySpace

Specific Media snatched up MySpace at a bargain basement price of $35 million, earlier this week.  The Orange County company is hoping  singer/actor, Justin Timberlake, will help revive the struggling social network.  Details on The Wrap.

It’s going to be a hot, sizzling July 4th holiday weekend — and I’m not talking about just the weather.  The box office is fired up. The sci-fi action sequel, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” opened yesterday with  around $37 million –  which means it’s on track to make some serious bucks over the next few days.

The other major  movies opening this weekend are romantic comedies: “Larry Crowne” starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and  “Monte Carlo”  featuring Selena Gomez.

Embattled Dodger owner, Frank McCourt, is still fighting to keep control of the team. Yesterday, the Dodgers filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Today McCourt is trying to wrangle enough money to pay the team’s bills. More on McCourt’s  dilemma and an upcoming hearing in U.S. bankruptcy court on the Los Angeles Times website.

The final box office numbers for the weekend are out today. The animated sequel, “Cars 2″ leads the pack with a debut of $66 million winning bragging rights as the number one film in the country. In second place, the Cameron Diaz-Justin Timberlake new R-rated comedy, “Bad Teacher,” with $31.6 million, followed by the superhero actioner “Green Lantern” $18 million,  the sci-fi flick “Super 8 ” $12 million, and rounding out the top five, the family comedy ”Mr. Popper’s Penguins” with $10 million.

“Jackass” star killed in car accident

"Jackass 3D" movie poster

 Actor Ryan Dunn was reportedly killed in a horrible car accident early this morning. The 34-year-old star of the  R-rated “Jackass”  movie comedy series apparently died when his Porsche crashed and exploded into flames in Pennsylvania. The Wrap has more on the  tragedy.

“Dilbert” creator in hot water over blog post

The  Internet is buzzing over the recent blunder by Scott Adams, the creator of the “Dilbert” comic strip.  In an attempt to explain the rash of  sex scandals by some prominent men, Adams recently published a  post on his Dilbert website  called, “Society Has Evolved To Keep Males in a State of continuous Unfulfilled Urgers.” 

Galleycat reports the post has generated hundreds of negative comments. Also,  a thousand readers have signed an online petition calling for Adams to apologize for the controversial post.  More here

“Green Lantern” shines bright at the box office

The actual box office numbers are out today and  “Green Lantern”  is in the number one spot.  “Green Lantern” beat the competition with a $53 million debut over the weekend.  There  are complaints the picture should have made millions more . Maybe so, but you gotta take into account that the “Green Lantern” isn’t the best known superhero and that could be a factor in its modest opening.  More on Box Office Mojo about the “Green Lantern” numbers and the other top movies.

McCourts’ divorce settlement and TV deal

The battling McCourts announced a divorce settlement today –  but it depends on a TV contract  between the Dodges and the Fox network .So it’s not quite a done deal for Frank and Jamie. Details here on the Los Angeles Times website.

“Green Lantern” burns red hot in theaters

The “Green Lantern”  made a ton of green at theaters today. Nikki Finke over on Deadline.com says the superhero flick’s opening day haul is around  $24 million — with an estimated weekend take of  $60 million.  More about the weekend movies here.

Photo: www.oprah.com -- Oprah says good-bye to her millions of fans on the finale of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," which aired May 25, 2011

 ”The Oprah Winfrey Show”  finale was huge — in true Oprah style. On Wednesday, Oprah’s talk show wrapped up 25 years with a tribute to her fans, who stuck with her year after year. That show scored its biggest overnight rating for Oprah’s talker in 17 years,  according to the website TV by the Numbers.

If you missed the big episode, click over to the Oprah.com website and share some of the finale highlights. Here is some of what the queen of talk shows had to say to her fans.

Oprah:

“After deliberating for some time, we decided to do what we do best, and that is a show about and with everyday people. This show always allows people, hopefully, to understand the power they have to change their own lives. If there’s one thread running through each show we do, it is the message that you are not alone. Twenty-five years and I’m still saying thank you, America. Thank you so much. There are no words to match this moment. Every word I’ve ever spoken from this stage of The Oprah Show for 4,561 days of my life is what this moment is all about.”

More of Oprah’s love letter to the fans here. Also, check out Oprah’s farewell season in videos, photos, and articles on the Oprah website.