Noise

State Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) introduced a resolution last week urging the U.S. Congress to pass legislation that would reduce helicopter noise over L.A. County neighborhoods. The Los Angeles Residential Helicopter Noise Relief Act, introduced in the U.S. House by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Valley Village), would require the Federal Aviation Administration to issue regulations relating to helicopter flight paths and altitudes. Sen. Dianne Feinstein sponsored similar legislation regarding helicopter noise, which is now tied to the noise relief act. “For far too long, residential neighborhoods have had to deal with increasing noise and other burdens from helicopters,” Feuer said in a statement.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) joined California Sens. Dianne Feinstein  and Barbara Boxer in introducing legislation on Monday to try and provide Los Angeles County residents a respite from helicopter noise. The Los Angeles Residential Helicopter Noise Relief Act would require the Federal Aviation Administration to establish regulations on flight paths and minimum altitudes for helicopter flights in the county, Schiff said. “Residents living in Glendale, Pasadena, the Valley, the Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood and other areas are especially affected by intrusive, disruptive and often non-emergency related helicopter traffic above their neighborhoods,” Schiff said in a statement.

Buck Wargo GLENDALE -- No one can say a lawsuit by a Glendale theater company is much ado about nothing. The lawyers for A Noise Within are seeking $80,000 to $100,000 in damages from Cal State L.A. and unspecified punitive damages over a disagreement that led to the theater group leaving the Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex and return to Glendale. The lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court said the company's experiences with the college and Clifford Harper, the theater's executive director, have given it a more "profound understanding of the theater of the absurd."

The deafening roar of airplanes taking off from the Bob Hope Airport will no longer interrupt students and teachers during class in Luther Burbank Middle School. The school board on Thursday approved the final payment of $5,000 to Ove Arup & Partners California LTD for its acoustic services at Luther Burbank Middle School, which is located just over a mile away from the airport. Noise abatement modifications to the building were completed in August as part of Burbank Unified School District's modernization of the school.

Gary Moskowitz The noise can't be contained much longer at the historic Masonic Temple on Brand Boulevard. Repertory theater company A Noise Within is looking to expand and move out of its Brand Boulevard location, and members would like to work with the city to find a bigger space downtown, said Managing Director Todd Dellinger. Dellinger will make a presentation regarding a new, downtown theater space to the Redevelopment Agency of Glendale at a 2:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday at City Hall, 613 E. Broadway.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- A Noise Within has come full circle in 16 months. The award-winning theater group has dropped plans to erect a temporary steel-framed canvas building in downtown Glendale and will return to the 1920s-era Masonic Temple building at 234 S. Brand Blvd. Theater officials will meet with the Glendale Redevelopment Agency at 3:30 p.m. today in the council chambers of City Hall to discuss their plans and to ask that the city renew its pledge to give the group $50,000 for building improvements.

Joyce Rudolph DOWNTOWN -- It's the transformation of the lead character that makes A Noise Within's "A Christmas Carol" especially charming. Actor William Dennis Hunt plays Ebenezer Scrooge in this Charles Dickens' classic that co-director Julia Rodriguez Elliott said is very true to the text. "What's wonderful about William's portrayal is you get a real sense of the tranformation, from this man who has lived a life of denying himself and everyone else pleasure and joy to the rebirth of him when he discovers his own generosity of spirit," she said.

Danielle Cohen The legend of the curse of "Macbeth" won't stop A Noise Within from kicking off its 12th season with a performance of the Shakespearean classic. The company has never performed "Macbeth," which previews on Sept. 20, partly because it's been difficult in the past to find actors who will perform the play. "There's the old curse thing with 'Macbeth' and it scares people away ... actor-wise," group co-founder Geoff Elliott said. "Actors often take it very seriously."

In one year, Kirsten Vose went from a contender to a favorite. The Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy swimmer didn't take to the role in the beginning of the CIF Southern Section Division I finals at Riverside City College Saturday, but she redeemed herself in her meet finale. PHOTOS: CIF Southern Section Division I swimming finals Behind Vose capturing her first CIF title in the 100-yard breaststroke and three inspired performances from Kate Herrill - one of which won the Tologs a 200-medley relay crown - the Tologs secured a seventh-place finish with 152 points.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) joined California Sens. Dianne Feinstein  and Barbara Boxer in introducing legislation on Monday to try and provide Los Angeles County residents a respite from helicopter noise. The Los Angeles Residential Helicopter Noise Relief Act would require the Federal Aviation Administration to establish regulations on flight paths and minimum altitudes for helicopter flights in the county, Schiff said. “Residents living in Glendale, Pasadena, the Valley, the Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood and other areas are especially affected by intrusive, disruptive and often non-emergency related helicopter traffic above their neighborhoods,” Schiff said in a statement.

One of the three local high school girls' basketball team in the Pacific League qualified for the playoffs last season. Crescenta Valley reached the postseason, while Glendale and Hoover didn't make the cut. While they share the common goal of trying to reach the playoffs this season, their body of work in league will likely be the deciding factor in determining their fate. With Glendale featuring eight seniors, the Nitros (7-4) figure to be in contention for the league championship, which Muir won last season.

Some readers may recall that in my July column, I spoke about our move from just south of the Bob Hope Airport to the Glendale Rancho. My search for an affordable horse property (an oxymoron akin to jumbo shrimp), took five years. On the day I first saw our future home, I was instantly transported to a state of rapture. The house was pink, or peach, or some such lovely color, and featured a white picket fence covered with flowering morning glory. The house where I grew up in Wisconsin had a fence covered with flowering morning glory in the exact same color.

My neighbors and I just went through a three-week ordeal of our absentee “neighbor from hell” using her empty house for out-of-town guests, and a day care center with a pool, three barking dogs, and three rowdy children that belonged to another out-of-town guest. The noise began at about 8 a.m. and continued until 9:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., almost every day. There were parties, scream-fests, crying - all outdoors for all of us to endure. The icing on our cake was when we found about seven four-inch round rocks that had been thrown into our yard.

I live near the intersection of Royal Boulevard and Mountain Street. Several times a week at 4:30 a.m., somewhere nearby a truck backs up repeatedly, with the corresponding beeping back-up warning. The acoustics of the canyon make it seem extremely loud and also make it very difficult to figure out where the beeping is coming from - my best guesses are the Civic Auditorium or Glendale Community College. Does anyone have any idea where this could be coming from? I'm sick of being awakened at 4:30 and don't want to wear earplugs to bed every night, so even knowing the trucks' schedule would be helpful.

Good morning readers. As you recover from the rare mid-week holiday, feast your tired eyes on these news bits from around the San Fernando Valley:  Officals are saying a man attempted to kill himself in the Horse Flats Campground area Wednesday. The campground is in the Angeles National Forest, about 30 miles from La Cañada. La Cañada Patch  Burbank police nabbed a man they say was driving a purloined Bentley. The suspect, oddly adorned in a motorcycle helmet and American-flag themed pants, was taken into custody after a brief chase.

State Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) introduced a resolution last week urging the U.S. Congress to pass legislation that would reduce helicopter noise over L.A. County neighborhoods. The Los Angeles Residential Helicopter Noise Relief Act, introduced in the U.S. House by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Valley Village), would require the Federal Aviation Administration to issue regulations relating to helicopter flight paths and altitudes. Sen. Dianne Feinstein sponsored similar legislation regarding helicopter noise, which is now tied to the noise relief act. “For far too long, residential neighborhoods have had to deal with increasing noise and other burdens from helicopters,” Feuer said in a statement.

Rep. Howard Berman (D-Valley Village) is calling on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee to convene a panel on low-flying helicopters above residential areas in Los Angeles County. In his letter to the committee's leadership, Berman said lax federal regulations have allowed helicopters "to operate with impunity over residential areas of Los Angeles, with no regard to their impact over my constituents' safety or quality of life. " Berman introduced legislation in July that would require the Federal Aviation Administration to more strictly regulate flight paths and minimum altitudes for helicopters in certain areas in response to complaints from residents, especially in the San Fernando Valley, who say the noise from the choppers has gotten worse.