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.

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.

Two men who are leading efforts to deal with freeway noise in the La Crescenta area are forming a citizens' group to continue the fight. Former Glendale commissioner Michael Dickerson announced the new group at a meeting last night at Sparr Heights Community Center. The meeting was called by the city to discuss results of a sound study conducted in January. Consultant Fred Greve told the crowd, which was overflowing out of the room, that the study did not find noise levels meeting state standards for construction of a sound wall.

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.

Tim Willert GLENDALE CITY HALL -- First they wanted some relief from the noise. Now, some residents living near the proposed San Fernando Interchange Project want the city to relax its financial eligibility requirements for soundproofing grants. The Housing Authority will take another look at the criteria at today's 2:30 p.m. meeting. Some residents have lodged complaints about the amount of financial information required to qualify for the grants.

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.

A local theater company used what surely was the city's most unorthodox garage sale to unload two decades worth of costumes and stage props this weekend in anticipation of its move to a new home in Pasadena. Founded in Glendale in 1992 by husband-and-wife team Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, A Noise Within will stage its debut production later this month in a new 33,000-square-foot playhouse in the center of East Pasadena's arts district at Foothill Boulevard and Sierra Madre Villa Avenue.

Rep. Howard Berman (D-Van Nuys) has introduced a bill that would force the Federal Aviation Administration to where and how low helicopters can fly, especially when over residential neighborhoods. Berman's office cited long-running complaints from residents who say the continual noise of helicopters buzzing overhead intrudes on their quality of life. The Los Angeles Residential Helicopter Noise Relief Act would require the FAA to limit flight paths and set minimum altitude standards, according Sherman's office.

A Noise Within has expanded its board of directors with the recent appointment of three new members, it was announced by Board President Terry Kay. They are Pasadena residents and community leaders Sheila Lamson, Lyn Spector and Sarah Mitchell. A former teacher, Lamson, a 17-year patron and supporter of A Noise Within, has worked with the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee and the American Assn. of University Women. Mitchell, Senior Vice President Human Resources, International and Corporate Groups at Warner Bros.

VALENCIA — When Crescenta Valley High, Glendale and St. Francis' respective seven-on-seven squads began Wednesday afternoon, the three local teams were scattered across the Santa Clarita Valley. But as the afternoon's proceedings were coming to a close, it was the surprising Nitros who were the last local standing at the College of the Canyons Passing Tournament. With a little good fortune and some high drama, the Michael Davis-led Nitros climbed to the semifinal round of the tournament before falling to Moorpark, 24-12.

After 19 years and 135 productions, the curtain is going down on A Noise Within classical theater company in Glendale. Ready to move to its new home in Pasadena, the company staged a final production over the last weekend at its current home, the Masonic temple building on Brand Boulevard. Following the Saturday night production, the Sunday matinee (June 5) began with founders and artistic directors Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott, greeting their audience of 110 fans and introducing a retrospective of vignettes featuring performances highlighting A Noise Within’s history.

A Noise Within produces its last performance today at the former Glendale Masonic Temple building on South Brand Boulevard. As its final act, the theater company will produce its Summer With Shakespeare program for youngsters from June 27 to July 26 before moving to the new state-of-the art theater complex in Pasadena in October. The husband and wife co-founders/co-artistic directors, Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, are proud that for 19 seasons, the company has remained the only year-round classical repertory company in Southern California, and one of only a handful in the entire country dedicated solely to producing classical dramatic literature in the repertory tradition of rotating productions with a resident company of professional artists.

GLENDALE — Prosecutors have charged a 60-year-old Glendale man with trying to shoot and kill a neighbor over a noise dispute, officials said. Douglas McCreery allegedly fired a couple of rounds during the confrontation. His 33-year-old neighbor, Jared Kurt, was not injured, according to Glendale police reports. Prosecutors charged McCreery with one felony count of attempted murder. He also faces an additional allegation of personally and intentionally discharging a firearm, according to a Los Angeles County Superior Court complaint.