Burbank Leader

Class of 2003, here you are. And there you go. As you check out the pages of this special section, graduates -- and your parents, grandparents, friends and relatives -- you'll see a little bit of your life flashing before your eyes. But that's a good thing, because the greatest part of your life is yet to be lived. This Class of 2003 publication is meant to be one thing and one thing only: a keepsake for you. Your name's in it, and your friends' names, and perhaps a picture of you or one of them.

Good morning, readers. Today is Thursday, July 19, 2012. In the mood for some Shakespeare? What about a zombie parody of one of the Bard's plays? The Antaeus Company, which often puts on quality double-cast productions, is bringing "Macbeth" to North Hollywood . Down the street, Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre is competing with their own deranged version of the play. L.A. Weekly A few blocks over from the NoHo Arts District, a teenage boy was killed in an apparent gang-related incident.

GLENDALE ? The Glendale News-Press and the Leader walked away with a total of five awards from the 2005 California Newspaper Publishers Assn. Better Newspapers Contest. The News-Press earned a second place award in the Local Spot News category for a daily with a circulation between 10,001 and 25,000. The entry, "Train catastrophe," Jan. 27, covered the Jan. 26 Metrolink crash, which killed 11 people. "I think it's great that Glendale won their award," said Tom Johnson, general manager for Times Community News, which publishes the newspapers.

DOWNTOWN — A former editor for the Hollywood Reporter will take the helm at the Glendale News-Press and Burbank Leader in April, roughly two months after Danette Goulet announced her intent to step down. Dan Evans, who most recently served as online news editor for the Hollywood Reporter, was announced as Goulet’s replacement in a staff meeting Monday and will officially take over as director of editorial for four Times Community News titles, including the Crescenta Valley Sun and La Cañada Valley Sun, April 1. Goulet will remain in her position during the transition.

I came to the Glendale News-Press kicking and screaming in the late 1980s. I had been an editor at the Burbank Leader and was plucked from my job there and told I would be the city editor of the News-Press. I was terrified. I had never worked on a daily in my somewhat illustrious career. It seemed to me that the natural progression would have been to be a reporter on a daily and then eventually move up to editor. But that was not the case. But I was a lucky man. I had a great reporting team, good supporting editors and some fantastic mentors.

The decision by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on Friday to side with the Burbank Leader in its lawsuit to force Burbank officials to divulge per-employee bonus payouts should serve as notice to local governments: The public has a right to know exactly how their tax dollars are being spent. It’s not as if the decision was unexpected — at least not among people with a firm grasp of public records law. Court decisions in similar cases have repeatedly sided with the public’s right to know, which is why the decision by Burbank city officials to fight the Leader’s records request every step of the way begs a flurry of questions.

On Tuesday evening, I had the chance to speak to a class at Glendale Community College run by the school's police chief, Gary Montecuollo. I have spoken to this class before, which focuses on law enforcement's interactions with the larger community, and enjoyed it each time. Why? Partly because I get to talk about journalism at length to a captive audience. However, it's also a chance to seek what issues students are interested in and concerned about. Interestingly, much of the discussion revolved around online comments, both on the newspaper's websites and elsewhere.

GLENDALE ? Elaine Zinngrabe, general manager of three Times Community News papers in Orange County, will take the reins today as publisher of the Glendale News-Press, Burbank Leader and Foothill Leader. Zinngrabe will take over for Will Fleet, who left to become president and publisher of the Bradenton Herald on the gulf coast of Florida. Fleet's last day was Monday. "It couldn't be a better time to be starting here, and I feel privileged to become part of the team," said Zinngrabe, 32. Zinngrabe, who holds a bachelor's degree and an MBA from USC, started her career in the newspaper business in 1995 as a copy editor and reporter with the Seattle Times.

After seeing the list of Burbank city employees who received merit bonuses, I have a question about 10 employees in the city attorney's office who last year were awarded bonuses ranging from $3,500 to $6,500 for a total of $46,000. Members of this group include one chief assistant city attorney, seven senior assistant city attorneys, one assistant city attorney and one deputy city attorney. These 10 employees all have law degrees, and according to their job specifications, must have membership in the State Bar of California.