Morning Brief -- April 23, 2007
Granola goodness...
- Sentencing is scheduled this morning for Rafael Yepiz, lead defendant in the federal racketeering case against the Vineland Boys street gang, whose turf includes Burbank. Yepiz was convicted of racketeering, drugs and weapons charges last year, and he could face up to life in prison.
- The January 2005 Glendale Metrolink crash has made freight rail line owners around the nation leery of allowing commuter and light rail trains on their tracks. Rocky Mountain News (Denver)
- More Americana on Brand news -- books and media mega-mart Barnes & Noble has signed a lease to house a store at the Caruso "lifestyle center" slated to open next year. From today's release:
NEW YORK -- Barnes & Noble, Inc., the world’s largest bookseller, announced it has signed a lease agreement to open a new Barnes & Noble bookstore in Glendale, California, which is in the Los Angeles area. The bookstore, expected to open in April 2008, will be located in The Americana at Brand on Colorado Street between Central Avenue and Brand Boulevard. The day prior to the opening of the new store, the existing Barnes & Noble at 245 North Glendale Avenue in Glendale will close. The new store will stock close to 200,000 book, music, DVD and magazine titles and include a café serving Starbucks coffee.
Store features include a "giant" newsstand and pay as you go Wi-Fi. Wonder how rival Borders with react, with its two-story store just down the street in the Marketplace...
- On the right, more from local blogger Joe Fein; On the left, it's guns, Wolfowitz and the Superfriends from the Burbank Democratic Club.