Adoption

When he was handed the reins of “Wednesday's Child,” a television news segment featuring foster care children in need of adoption, William Wong prepared himself for a difficult 12 months. One year was how long the social worker figured he would have to wait before requesting an assignment transfer from his employer, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. A decade later, Wong, 40, has helped produce 425 TV segments that have resulted in more than 400 adoptions.

Amber Willard BURBANK -- More than 100 wild horses and burros gathered from herds in several Western states will be up for adoption this weekend. The animals will be available for viewing from noon to 5 p.m. Friday and beginning at 7 a.m. Saturday at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, 480 Riverside Drive. Bids for the mustangs and burros will be taken from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, with registration at 8 a.m. Those animals not chosen in the morning will be available for adoption later in the day and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Karen S. Kim GLENDALE -- Parents waiting to adopt a child will face a speedier process now that a bill authored by State Sen. Jack Scott (D-Glendale) has been signed into law. SB 104 cuts the time period that a birth mother can reclaim a baby from its adoptive parents to 30 days. Under current law, a birth parent could revoke consent for adoption up to three months after the baby has been placed in another home. Scott, the grandfather of three adopted children, said that current laws protect the birth parents but cause undue hardship on the child's stable family environment.

Tim Willert CITY HALL -- Nearly three months after being pulled from the air waves, "The Dog House" is returning with a new pair of co-hosts. The Glendale Humane Society's popular pet adoption program will return to GTV6, the city's government access station, beginning Dec. 3, city spokesman Ritch Wells said Friday. "'The Dog House' is one of our most popular programs," Wells said. "Anybody who loves animals loves the program." Co-hosting the show will be former mayor Ginger Bremberg and former city treasurer Betty Evans.

Best Friends Animal Society is hosting California's largest pet adoption festival on Sun., June 4th, from 11a.m. to 4 p.m. at Manchester Park, W. 7000 Manchester Ave. at the intersection of Lincoln Blvd., in Westchester. More than 1,000 homeless dogs, cats, puppies, kittens, rabbits and parrots from over 60 rescue groups and Los Angeles shelters will be up for adoption. Animals up for adoption will represent a wide variety of breeds, sizes, and personalities. Each animal has its own unique story - some have been rescued from mistreatment or abandonment, some have never known a home other than a shelter or foster home, and all are in need of loving families to adopt them.

You should be ashamed of your unsigned Dec. 23 editorial, in which you urge everyone to place a toy in a charity box. You write that there are children this season who "might not get a toy or stuffed plaything on Christmas morning." This is true enough. However, you go on to claim, "That's more than unjust. It's downright criminal." And who do you view as the criminal in this case? Do you blame the parents of such children? Parents who did not care enough to finish their education?

Two of the three dogs abandoned at a foreclosed home in July were adopted this week by two families from Altadena and La Crescenta. Reese, a Chihuahua mix, was adopted Monday, and Kenny, a cavalier mix, went home Tuesday morning. Sophie, the terrier mix, is still available for adoption at the Glendale Humane Society, a no-kill shelter. "Sophie is a really sweet dog who loves her tennis ball," said Star Mangasaryan, the shelter's director of operations. "She wants to be loved and play with her ball.

MAGGIE Maggie is a 2-year-old miniature pinscher who is ready for adoption. She was found as a stray and needs a permanent loving home. This sweet girl has a wonderful personality and loves to cuddle. Maggie will be spayed before going to a new home. Her identification number is A217290. The regular dog adoption fee is $85, which includes medical care prior to adoption, spaying or neutering, vaccinations and a follow-up visit at participating vets. Adoption hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

It's not easy being a black cat, especially during the fall, when the black cat's dubious distinction of being a bad omen rises with the lore of Halloween. It's a myth that can be hard to overcome when trying to find a new home. In fact, said Katherine Juette, a volunteer with the Los Angeles-based Kitten Rescue, black cats are the most difficult ones to find adoptive families for. But that doesn't mean black cats are unloved. In fact, once a year, the nonprofit organization stages its “A Black Cat Affair” to connect loving families with the furry felines.

When he was handed the reins of “Wednesday's Child,” a television news segment featuring foster care children in need of adoption, William Wong prepared himself for a difficult 12 months. One year was how long the social worker figured he would have to wait before requesting an assignment transfer from his employer, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. A decade later, Wong, 40, has helped produce 425 TV segments that have resulted in more than 400 adoptions.

There are many claims that people do not clean up after their pets - just one of the many positive things about the new pet-waste stations that city officials are trying to get neighborhoods to “adopt” (“Pet stations will aid curbside pickup,” July 6). As more neighbors use them, it will also mean less waste entering the storm drains, keeping pollutants out of the storm drain system. If you have a pet and have been leaving your pet waste out, just walk a little more until you see the stations with baggies.

The City Council approved new campaign finance rules Tuesday night following concerns that contributions may influence decisions on awarding contracts or land-use entitlements. The concerns were ignited by a federal investigation into alleged fraud by Advanced Development & Investment Inc. - a low-income housing developer that allegedly had subcontractors give $100,000 to past City Council campaigns on its behalf. Council members said the new rules will make fundraising more difficult, but the change was the right thing to do in order to restore public trust.

A year ago, the Warner Bros. facilities department was looking for a pet project to give back to the community. The Burbank Animal Shelter fit the bill. “We went over with them all the things we needed, and they were able to do a lot,” said Denise Fleck, president of the Volunteers of the Burbank Animal Shelter. One of the major improvements the studio department made, Fleck said, was pouring a concrete slab in the dogs' play area and covering the area with a shade cloth.

Glendale Unified officials this week outlined plans to eventually require that incoming kindergarten students be at least 5 years old, eliminating from the classroom the younger set who experts say can sometimes be underprepared and need more help later on. The Kindergarten Readiness Act, signed into law in 2010 by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, dictates that starting in 2014, all students entering kindergarten must turn 5 years old by Sept. 1 - three months earlier than the current Dec. 2 cutoff.

CITY HALL — As part of the plan to fill a projected $18-million budget gap for this fiscal year, the public will come up against a range of increased and new fees for city services that went into effect this month. Officials project the fees — which run the gamut from pet licenses to building permits — will raise an additional $1.3 million in revenue this fiscal year. City officials recommended the fee increases to better recapture the cost of providing services based on the results of a study prepared by consulting firm Wildan Financial Services.

CITY HALL — The City Council has moved to make Glendale building codes greener than new state requirements call for. More than a year in the works, the new city rules approved last week will build on extensive statewide green building regulations that went into effect in January that require new developments to recycle construction waste, reduce polluting materials and increase energy and water efficiency. The state requirements would apply to residential and non-residential developments, including civic, commercial, retail, office and medical buildings.

Why buy the book when there is a perfectly good lending library in town? There is good reason. If you are not aware, the Burbank Central Library recently had a major water pipe break that destroyed many shelves of books in the nonfiction section of the library (“Burst water pipe closes library,” April 13). Biographies on Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and many other books on historical figures were ruined in the flood. Thousands of titles were lost. This is a perfect opportunity for you, or your community organization, to help the library restock the empty shelves created by the loss.

CITY HALL — Amid allegations that one of the city’s main affordable housing developers had bilked the city out of millions, the Housing Authority on Tuesday adopted a set of stringent oversight policies for future projects. The discussion came days after the city filed a lawsuit against the developer, Advanced Development & Investment Inc., which is under federal investigation for allegedly over-charging cities throughout the state and transferring millions to personal accounts.