Lunch

State education officials this week announced that four sites in Burbank and one in Glendale will participate in government programs to feed lower-income schoolchildren through the summer. The two federally funded programs extend school lunch programs into summer, said Carol Mercado, a supervisor in the Burbank parks and recreation department, providing an important source of nutrition during the months-long school break. "It provides a meal for many kids who would not get a decent meal during the day," she said.

GLENDALE— Kathy Allen and Lupe Bourden picked up their pasta and salad and left in a flash. The Glendale police dispatchers had to return to the phones and were unable to linger around police and firefighters who were treated to a catered lunch by the Olive Garden in Glendale on Labor Day. “We’ve got to get back to dispatch,” Allen said. The Italian restaurant chain donated and catered lunches to local fire and police offices throughout the nation Monday. It’s one way the company can thank public servants, service assistant Deborah Sanford said.

Nearly one third of the 89 teens suspended so far this year at Crescenta Valley High School were caught breaking district rules, or worse, the law, during the lunch break, when the entire student body is allowed to leave campus for roughly one hour, officials reported Tuesday. Six of the students suspended this school year were caught smoking cigarettes and marijuana in a private backyard during the open lunch. The report comes as Glendale Unified officials mull ending Crescenta Valley High's open lunch policy after noticing a spike in absences and tardies during fifth period, which immediately follows the midday break.

Members of Dilbeck Realtors GMAC's prestigious President's Council gathered recently with the firm's president, Mark Dilbeck, and members of Dilbeck's management team for lunch at the Panzanella Ristorante in Sherman Oaks. Lynn Beckenhauer , senior executive V.P. and manager of Dilbeck's La Cañada office and Beverly Gingrich of the La Crescenta office who is a member of this year's prestigious President's Council. The President's Council is a group that is comprised of the top 2% of the company's sales associates, plus the Top Team.

Jackson Bell When David Francke walked into Milano's Italian Kitchen on Thursday for a business lunch, he was startled to see the place teeming with Glendale police officers. "I was wondering if I walked into a crime scene," said Francke, a Napa resident in town for business. But after looking around, he realized that the officers were there only to protect and serve lunch. The city's finest took orders, carried drinks and dishes, and mingled with patrons during the fourth annual Tip-A-Cop fundraiser benefiting the Special Olympics of the Southern California Tri-Valley area.

The excitement in the overcrowded room was palpable as Crescenta Valley High School students gathered together, munching on pizza and talking loudly during their lunch hour Tuesday afternoon. They weren't there to discuss after-school plans or upcoming events. They were there to debate politics. "Everyone should get involved with politics at a young age," said sophomore Heather Williams, vice president of the school's Republican Club, which formed last year and is hosting two bipartisan political debates before the Nov. 2 national election.

JEFF KEATING I'm a trained observer, supposedly, but I clearly wasn't in full journalism mode when I approached Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams early Friday afternoon, just before the News-Press Top 103 lunch was about to begin. "I hope I can impose upon you to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance today," I said as I shook the chief's hand. "My pleasure," he said, then quickly scanned the room. "It might help if you had a flag, though." That's why he makes the big money: No detail escapes his attention.

For most students, being allowed to leave campus during a snack or lunch period is the pinnacle of freedom. But at Hoover High School, no such open-campus lunch exists. So, with Principal Kevin Walsh in attendance, students in teacher Dan Kimber’s Debate Club gathered last week to plead their case for an open-campus lunch. The meeting mostly revolved around two points. First, student freedom. Most students felt they deserved and were mature enough to handle a half-hour of freedom off campus.

Glendale Police officers carried trays of food and poured drinks for a hungry lunch crowd at Damon’s Steakhouse on Wednesday, raising money for the Special Olympics Tri-Valley this summer. Attendees included local business owners, city officials, residents and others whom officers invited to their Tip-A-Cop event at the restaurant to have a meal and donate money to the sports organization, Officer Sue Shine said. Restaurant owner Patrick Campbell offered to donate 20% of the lunch hour earnings to the nonprofit organization, which offers sports to mentally-disabled athletes, she said.

Discussion about further curtailing the Crescenta Valley High School open lunch policy has been placed on hold while officials work to implement preliminary changes announced last month. Officials at the La Crescenta campus are still collecting and processing parental permission forms from students who wish to go off campus midday, Glendale Unified Deputy Supt. John Garcia said Tuesday. By early March, a sticker will be added to those students' identification cards, which they will have to show to school and law enforcement officials upon request.

Crescenta Valley High School students who wish to leave campus during lunch will be required to submit written permission from a parent while also demonstrating appropriate conduct both on and off school grounds. The new terms, outlined during a Glendale Unified school board meeting Tuesday and effective starting Jan. 30, essentially flips the existing practice at the La Crescenta school. Previously, parents have signed a form if they did not want their child to go off campus during lunch.

Community members continued to weigh in on a possible change to the open lunch policy at Crescenta Valley High School during a forum Thursday - the latest in an ongoing dialogue about whether allowing students off campus during the school day fosters dangerous and illegal behavior. Glendale Unified Deputy Supt. John Garcia announced in September that district officials were reviewing the policy after an analysis indicated high rates of drug-related expulsions and other issues related to having the open campus during lunch.

Nearly one third of the 89 teens suspended so far this year at Crescenta Valley High School were caught breaking district rules, or worse, the law, during the lunch break, when the entire student body is allowed to leave campus for roughly one hour, officials reported Tuesday. Six of the students suspended this school year were caught smoking cigarettes and marijuana in a private backyard during the open lunch. The report comes as Glendale Unified officials mull ending Crescenta Valley High's open lunch policy after noticing a spike in absences and tardies during fifth period, which immediately follows the midday break.

Community members appear divided about the possible elimination of Crescenta Valley High School's open lunch, with some characterizing any change as an unnecessary punishment and others ripping district officials for not moving quickly enough to stem the student-related problems identified in a recent report. Glendale Unified officials announced last week that they were reviewing the open-lunch policy after drawing a connection between it and ongoing disciplinary problems, absences and student tardiness.

I taught at Hoover High School from 1988 until 2010. In 1988, students could still leave campus at snack time as well as lunch. Tardies to period 3 and 5 were high and the traffic around the campus awful. Neighbors complained of students having “picnics” on their lawns and porches (on rainy days) and leaving their food wrappers behind for the homeowners to pick up. Before the campus was closed for snack time and lunch, students were asked what they would prefer to eat. As a result of student suggestions, institutional cafeteria food was changed to include a fresh salad bar. Food carts around campus offer pizza slices from Pizza Hut and Chinese take-out food, among other foods.

High numbers of drug-related expulsions, traffic accidents and absences have prompted a review of Crescenta Valley High School's open lunch policy, officials said this week. The La Crescenta campus is the only Glendale Unified high school that allows students to leave during its 35-minute lunch break - Hoover and Glendale high schools closed their campuses in 1992 and 1994, respectively. Crescenta Valley High also has the distinction of having expelled the most students for drug-related offenses - 41 during the last five years, more than twice that of Glendale High and more than three times that of Hoover High.

Recently, there was an interesting confluence of stories in the paper. Though probably unintended, a story about the new future tenants at Burbank's the Pointe office building (“KCET, DC Comics move in to area, June 25) was followed the next day by a dining review of the Clean Street Food truck (“Simple, fresh food from a truck,” June 26). First of all, I'd like to express how refreshing it is to see a food truck reviewed, as they have become incredibly prevalent over the last couple of years, and many have excellent servings that deserve more attention.

For some cooks in Burbank, fast food has meant the kitchen moves at least 1,000 feet every 15 minutes. Burbank law requires food trucks to move to a new location at least 1,000 feet every quarter hour. After three hours, they can return to previous parking spots, but only after having made potential customers seek them out at 12 stops. Gourmet food trucks — which have gained prominence with their sushi burritos, Korean barbecue, french fries and burgers made with grilled cheese sandwiches as buns and stacked with bacon, cheddar, pickles and beer soaked onions — have inundated special events and the hearts and stomachs of Southlanders in recent years.

The recently opened Kyoto Seafood Buffet is without a doubt the best dining bargain in Glendale, especially at lunchtime Monday through Friday, when $8.99 brings you a fully stocked sushi bar, an ice table with fresh oysters, mussels and jumbo cocktail shrimps. Then there’s a hibachi grill with a chef standing by to cook ingredients that you choose, including extremely fresh boneless chicken breast, shrimp and sirloin steak. Kyoto also offers a wide variety of pre-cooked hot Japanese and Chinese dishes that include a very good hot and sour soup, orange chicken and other traditional offerings.