Burbank Community Library

As many of you are probably already aware, the Roadhouse Cafe closed its doors last Friday.

This is a real loss for Burbank. The Roadhouse was one of only a few spots in the community where people could get together. And, obviously, it was one of only a few spots where you could get a bite to eat.

We’d like to thank Tracey, the owner of the Roadhouse Cafe, for her support of the Burbank Library, and we wish her the best of luck in the future.

From the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin / July 28, 2009

SUIT SEEKS DAMAGES IN BROTHER’S DEATHS
By Terry McConn of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

WALLA WALLA — A civil lawsuit claims that two brothers who were passengers in a car that collided with a semi-truck near their home in Burbank last fall died as the result of negligence by both drivers.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in Walla Walla County Superior Court on behalf of the brothers’ mother, Lucia Mendez, and the brothers’ estates.

The suit lists the drivers as defendants, claiming their combined negligence caused the crash that killed Jesus Mendez, 19, and Jorge Mendez, 17, about 9 p.m. on Oct. 31. The suit asks for an unspecified amount of money from the defendants.

The Washington State Patrol reported after the crash that the brothers were passengers in a 2004 Suzuki sedan driven by Daniel Varela, 18, also of Burbank. The Suzuki apparently was heading west on U.S. Highway 12 and turning left onto the southbound lane of Humorist Road when it collided in the eastbound lane with a tractor-trailer rig driven by James Kooch, 61, of Hermiston.

The Mendezes died at the scene. Varela and Kooch were treated at a Kennewick hospital.

The suit, signed by two Kennewick attorneys, also lists the vehicles’ owners as defendants.

Jesus Mendez recently had graduated from Columbia High School in Burbank. Jorge suffered from leukemia and complications so couldn’t attend the school regularly. But he was expected to begin classroom instruction soon, Superintendent Lou Gates said after the boys were killed.

A related article from the Tri-City Herald is here.

The Burbank Library’s Summer Reading Program is in full swing! If you haven’t done so already, visit the Burbank Library to register for the program.

Here is the line-up of events for the Week of July 27:

• MOVIES — This one at 1pm and this one at 5pm. We’ll supply the popcorn. (Monday, July 27)
• For kids: Drop-in hunt — We’ve already searched for fish, toast, and falcons. Come see what’s next. (All day on Tuesday, July 28)
• For teens: DUCT TAPE WALLETS AND PURSES! Come by and make one. (Wednesday, July 29, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
• TIE DYE! Bring a white T-shirt or other article of clothing. (Thursday, July 30, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
• Drop-in craft: Shaving cream art! (Friday, July 31, from 12 noon to 4 p.m.) and Read to Shasta! at 3 p.m.

And watch for these events next week:

• Game day — Drop-in anytime to play our Nintendo Wii. All ages welcome. (Monday, August 3)
• Art with Meghan — Chalk art on black paper. (Tuesday, August 4, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.)
• A FALCON AT THE LIBRARY! Come meet our neighbor, Jim Lott, and one of his falcons. (Thursday, August 6, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
• Drop-in craft: Make a book! (Friday, August 7, from 12 noon to 4 p.m.)

Don’t forget to return your reading log to receive your prize. See you at the library!

From the Tri-City Herald / July 24, 2009

RECORD POT GROW BUSTED IN BURBANK
By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer

BURBANK — A massive marijuana grow operation said to be the largest ever found in Washington was discovered and dismantled in a commercial tree farm east of Burbank.

More than 40 officers from 15 agencies spent two days harvesting about 70,000 plants ranging in size from 6 inches to nearly 7 feet tall, Walla Walla County Sheriff Mike Humphreys said Thursday.

After adding the plants found this week to the nearly 40,000 plants found in the same tree farm last month, Humphreys said they harvested in all 110,264 pot plants. …

The estimated street value of the plants is more than $200 million, Humphreys said. That’s using a conservative estimate that each plant is worth about $2,000 each, he said, but it could actually be as high as $5,000 a plant.

See the full article here. See coverage from KNDU (including video) here.

See our previous post on this topic here.

In the photo below (from the Herald), Detective Sgt. Gary Bolster of the Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office pulls up marijuana plants yesterday (July 23) on a tree farm about three miles east of Burbank.

Attention artists! We’re having three art contests at the library this summer. And it’s not too late to enter. In fact, the deadline for entering all three contests has been extended to August 15.

The contests are:

• Bookmark contest! For school-age children (grades K to 12). Pick up an entry form at the library or print one out here (pdf). Winning bookmarks will be professionally printed and distributed at the library, and the winning artists will each receive a prize! (Sponsored by the Friends of the Burbank Community Library)
• Friends of the Library logo design contest! For all ages. The Friends logo needs updating. Help them come up with a new design. Contest details are available here (pdf). The winning designer will receive a prize! (Sponsored by the Friends of the Burbank Community Library)
• Poster design contest! For school-age children (grades K to 12). Design a promotional poster for your favorite person, place, thing, book, movie, band, food, animal, word, etc. (you get the idea — anything!). Pick up a poster-sized sheet of paper and contest instructions at the library. The artists who create the best posters will each receive a prize!

We are planning to have an artists’ reception for all the artists who enter our contests on Wednesday, August 19, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Grape juice and cheese & crackers will be served. So get to work, Burbank!

The Burbank Library’s Summer Reading Program is in full swing! If you haven’t done so already, visit the Burbank Library to register for the program.

Here is the line-up of events for the Week of July 20:

• This is our second “Wii Week”! Drop-in anytime to try out our new Nintendo Wii system! All ages welcome. (Monday, July 20, thru Saturday, July 25)
• SIDEWALK CHALK ART! Come by and beautify our sidewalks. (Wednesday, July 22, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.)
• Mario Kart Tournament (Thursday, July 23, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
• Drop-in craft: Make silly putty! (Friday, July 24, from 12 noon to 4 p.m.)
• BATTLE OF THE BANDS & TALENT SHOW — This event may be cancelled due to lack of interest. So if you’d like to participate, please call or stop by to register. All ages welcome! (TENTATIVELY: Saturday, July 25, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.)

And watch for these events next week:

• MOVIES — This one at 1pm and this one at 5pm. We’ll supply the popcorn. (Monday, July 27)
• For teens: DUCT TAPE WALLETS AND PURSES! (Wednesday, July 29, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
• TIE DYE! Bring a white T-shirt or other article of clothing. (Thursday, July 30, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.)

Don’t forget to return your reading log to receive your prize. See you at the library!

From the Tri-City Herald / July 16, 2009

CONTESTANTS TO COMPETE IN PAGEANTS JULY 18
By Dalina Castellanos, Herald staff writer

… This year’s Miss Tri-Cities Outstanding Teen contestants are Taylor Gordon, 13, of Pasco; Wynteria Lyons, 14, of Kennewick; Samantha Brown, 14, of Burbank; Ashley Davis, 16, of Pasco.; Amanda Olson, 13, of Kennewick; Paris Wilson, 15, of Richland.

The production, themed “We’ve Got the Music,” starts at 7 p.m. at the Art Fuller Auditorium at Kennewick High School, 500 S. Dayton St. Tickets are $20 and are available by phone at 547-0495, or at JD’s Time Center, 105 W. Kennewick Ave. in Kennewick.

See the full article here. See our previous post on the pageant here.

Good luck, Samantha!

Update: Well, she won! Congratulations, Samantha! The Tri-City Herald has this story in its Sunday (July 19) edition:

MISS TRI-CITIES 2009 CROWNED
By Michelle Dupler, Herald staff writer

… Also competing Saturday were six girls hoping to follow Cheyenne Van Tine as Miss Tri-Cities Outstanding Teen. …

That title and a $1,500 cash award went to 15-year-old Samantha Brown, who sang I Can’t Do It Alone from the Broadway musical Chicago during the talent portion. …

Each contestant also had a platform or cause she will promote during her year of service. … As Miss Tri-Cities Outstanding Teen, Brown will advocate for GEAR UP, a program that puts middle school students on the path to college. …

Fowler and Brown will compete in the state pageant in 2010.

In the article, the Tri-City Herald failed to note that Samantha is from Burbank. So we’ll note it here. Also, Samantha either turned 15 in the last three days or else the Herald printed her age incorrectly in one of these two articles. This photo of Samantha (at right) is from the Miss Tri-Cities website.

From the Tri-City Herald / July 15, 2009

BURBANK SCHOOLS LOSE $83K TO STATE CUTS
By Sara Schilling, Herald staff writer

Columbia School Board in Burbank has adopted a $9.46 million general fund budget, capping months of work to save money amid deep state funding cuts.

The budget for the coming school year is down about $83,000 over 2008-09 largely because of the state cuts to K-12 education, which total in the hundreds of millions for the 2009-11 biennium. State legislators slashed funding to K-12 and higher education and other programs to help balance a $9 billion deficit.

The biggest hit for Columbia-Burbank was to Initiative 728 money. Districts use that to shrink class sizes, typically by hiring teachers. Columbia-Burbank’s I-728 funding dropped from $410,000 to $114,000 because of the cuts, said Business Manager Debbie Williams. Still, the district worked hard to make the most of its money and “I feel that we still preserved most of the programs,” Williams said.

There are 2.2 teaching positions being eliminated, but because of attrition, only one teacher is being laid off, Williams said.

Two district classified workers also are retiring. Their positions have been factored into the budget but may or may not be filled depending on enrollment, Williams said. Classified workers include bus drivers and food service employees.

See the full article here.

From the Tri-City Herald / July 15, 2009

FREEZING FOODS CORRECTLY WILL HELP ENSURE FRESHNESS
By Loretto J. Hulse, Herald staff writer

… You already know the basics of preserving foods by freezing. But there are some techniques that will help ensure what you stash away now is something you’ll want to eat later.

“When you think of it, we are all food preservers because almost everyone owns a freezer, whether it’s a separate appliance or part of your refrigerator,” said Shannon Brier of Burbank.

She’s one of about a dozen Master Food Preserver volunteers in Benton and Franklin counties who are trained by and work out of the Washington State University Extension offices.

Throughout the summer, Brier and other master preservers will be teaching classes on food preservation, answering questions and helping ensure the public has the latest information on all aspects of food safety. …

A pamphlet — Freezing Fruits and Vegetables — is available at Extension offices (look in the phone book under county offices). Or go online to the Center for Home Food Preservation’s Web site www.homefoodpreservation.com.

See the full article here.

The Benton/Franklin County Extension offices are here and the Walla Walla County office is here.

Here’s a micro-example of how a seemingly straightforward event can be reported very differently by different news sources. Last Sunday (July 12), a fire started near Wallula Junction at around 7 p.m., probably due to lightning from that evening’s thunderstorm. At some point, Highway 12 was closed due to the fire. The earliest report I’ve found is this one from KNDO-KNDU which was reported on Sunday evening and updated Monday morning. Here it is in its entirety:

WILDFIRE BURNING NEAR WALLULA JUNCTION

WALLULA, Wash. — Firefighters are still on the scene of a wildfire near Wallula Junction. Crews say lighting may have sparked the blaze around 7:00 p.m. Sunday.

Heavy winds and steep terrain made the flames hard to control. Firefighters say up to 500 aces [sic] may have burned, and the fire was about 50-percent contained as of 10:30 p.m. Saturday night. One structured was threatened, but crews have been able to protect it so far.

The Department of Transportation closed down Highway 12 from Wallula Junction to Game Department Road for a period of time.

The KNDO-KNDU coverage seems hastily assembled, and it probably was (given that the fire had just started a couple of hours prior). Acres is mis-spelled as “aces” and Sunday night is referred to as Saturday night, but these errors are limited to the written report on KNDU’s website and were not made in the actual TV broadcast (the 30 seconds of video coverage is also available on the KNDU website). It’s not unreasonable, though, to expect that those errors would have been corrected in the Monday morning “update”. All in all, KNDU is probably also the least accurate of the three sources I’ve found, since it diverges significantly from the other two, but who knows?

To read more, click here