Gun Sales on the Rise and Entertainment Centers Are Through the Pandemic
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All athletic activities BTAC fundraiser suspended in wake of canceled, but service coronavirus concerns to the public goes on Sports, A4 On the Town, A3 Burbank Leader WEDNESDAY,MARCH 18,2020 /// Serving the Burbank community since 1901 /// burbankleader.com City shuts down public facilities, orders closures Officials say steps are tal, with two more cases con- firmed Tuesday by the county. necessary to slow the The public can still attend the spread of the novel March 17 council meeting in per- coronavirus spreading son, however space will be lim- across the state. ited to 50 people. The meeting will be livestreamed on Burbank’s BY ANTHONY CLARK CARPIO website or on the city’s YouTube channel. Burbank officials announced The council meeting scheduled Monday the city will be closing all for March 31 has been canceled. city buildings, libraries and recre- The closures come after the de- ational facilities to the public un- cision made by Burbank officials til April 6 in an effort to slow the on Thursday to cancel or re- spread of the novel coronavirus. schedule several of its events. In addition, meetings of Bur- Members of the public can call bank boards and commissions (818) 238-5564 for a prerecorded have been canceled until April 6. message with an update on the On Tuesday, officials stated the latest information regarding the Raul Roa|Burbank Leader city will be concurring with addi- issue. CUSTOMERS LINE UP outside Guns Direct, a firearms retailer, on Magnolia Avenue on Tuesday. tional precautions mandated by Mayor Sharon Springer said on the Los Angeles County Board of Monday the top priority of the Supervisors in which all bars, city is to keep its residents and clubs, theaters, fitness centers the public safe and to make it Gun sales on the rise and entertainment centers are through the pandemic. closed until further notice. “There’s no reason to panic. We City spokeswoman Simone need to stay home and stay safe BY ANTHONY CLARK CARPIO Firearms and ammunition retailers in Burbank McFarland said in a statement and only go out when we abso- the council’s agenda for March 17 lutely have to,” she said. Just as the novel coronavirus say customers are following a nationwide trend. has been stripped down to in- Springer added that Burbank pandemic has sent people to Ammo & Guns and Gun World would reopen on Tuesday with clude just the consent calendar residents need to “act like the grocery outlets to stockpile —had at least a dozen or so restocked items. and an update to the public on community that it is” — to help household supplies, there has people waiting outside either When news cameras ap- the coronavirus. one another, especially the also been a spike of people wanting to purchase a weapon proached Burbank Ammo & There have been no reported elderly, during times of need. across the country purchasing and ammunition or to pick up a Guns, a store employee told the cases of the novel coronavirus “We need to help each other firearms and ammunition, recent acquisition. people waiting in line to speak that causes COVID-19 in the city. and help our neighbors,” the some of them for the first time. Athird store along Magnolia, to those members of the media The first case of the virus in mayor said. On Monday afternoon, two Guns Direct, had a sign posted they wanted to talk to. After that neighboring Glendale was con- gun retailers on Burbank’s Mag- on its door telling customers it firmed Monday morning by offi- [email protected] nolia Boulevard — Burbank was closed for the day and See Sales, page A2 cials at USC Verdugo Hills Hospi- Twitter: @acocarpio Providence High moves Burbank Police restricts lobby access its classes to an online Department also closes THE BURBANK the Burbank Animal POLICE learning platform Shelter in efforts to Department slow spread of the Headquarters BY VERA CASTANEDA On Tuesday, students began novel coronavirus. has limited using the online learning model lobby access As schools close to slow the scheduled for most of the school BY ANDY NGUYEN due to spread of the coronavirus, Bur- closure — Block Online Learning concerns bank’s Providence High School Days. Students are required to In an effort to stem the spread about the followed suit and switched to an log onto Schoology to complete of the coronavirus, the Burbank novel online learning platform school online classwork with a dead- Police Department said it will coronavirus. officials set into motion years line, and teachers run live class limit who can access its front beforehand. sessions using Microsoft Teams lobby and is closing the animal Raul Roa Providence High closed its for video conferencing. From shelter, which it oversees for the Burbank campus to students, faculty and home, students follow a set city, to the public. Leader staff starting March 16 and run- schedule for the day. Schoology The police department’s lobby ning through April 17. Depend- also allows for online grading. will remain open for essential yers and bail bond agents. vandalism. An online report can ing on how the coronavirus un- “We did a trial last week that and emergency business until The restrictions follow Mon- only be submitted if the crime is folds over the upcoming weeks, really blew us away. We saw further notice, but the public is day’s announcement from Bur- not an emergency, happened the school plans to resume in- amazing things happening on- being asked to report most bank officials that all city build- within city limits, did not occur person classes on April 20. The line with our students and facul- crimes on the department’s web- ings, libraries and recreational on a freeway and if the suspects only exception to the school clo- ty collaborating in ways that I site, according to a statement facilities will be closed until April are unknown. sure is for the science depart- think will affect the way we do from Burbank Police Sgt. Derek 6. Situations that do not fall ment chair to feed the animals Green. In addition, the depart- Crimes that can be reported kept in a science classroom. See Classes, page A2 ment is limiting jail visits to law- online include theft, graffiti and See Access, page A2 Hollywood Burbank nearly empty in midst of coronavirus scare BY ANTHONY CLARK CARPIO After having a record-breaking number of passengers in 2019, airport sees few travelers this month. Hollywood Burbank Airport tion of the facility, which usually some wore masks and gloves. fornia since March 12 visiting his tions go down during the first had its best performing year with has at least 30 vehicles queued Concerns over the novel co- daughter, who lives in Carpin- week of March or will be cutting nearly 6 million passengers in and waiting, was completely ronavirus have many would-be teria. back on the number of flights by 2019, but the scene at the facility empty. travelers staying at home and Despite warnings from health April, it was reported. Tuesday morning suggests this The restaurants within Termi- practicing social distancing. officials to avoid traveling unless Although there has been a sig- year’s stats will look entirely dif- nal A were without customers, But some are still braving the necessary, Morse said he isn’t nificant dip in the number of pas- ferent. with only a handful of people get- airports and taking flights. Robert afraid of the coronavirus, al- sengers, airport staff said sales at Airline employees stood behind ting drinks at a bar. Most of the Morse of Tucson, Ariz., was at the though he noted his grandfather the airport’s news and gift stands their ticket counters, but there passengers who were there wait- Burbank airport Tuesday awaiting died in 1918 from the Spanish flu were up by 3% due to people pur- were few passengers waiting to ing for their flights kept their dis- his flight back home. pandemic. chasing health and sanitation check in. The valet parking sec- tance from one another, and He had been in Southern Cali- “I’ve lived through the swine products. flu, so I think I might make it Also during the first week of the through this one,” Morse said month, hand sanitizer dispensers with a chuckle. were installed in nearly every cor- On Monday, the Burbank-Glen- ner and walkway of the terminals. dale-Pasadena Airport Authority Additionally, the janitorial staff held a regularly scheduled meet- has been using a new cleaning ing at the Skyroom at the airport, product that is believed to be bet- but commissioners Don Brown, ter at sanitizing all surfaces. Vrej Agajanian and Ray Adams Travelers Mark Johnson, his were the only ones there in per- wife Angela and their three son — commissioners Steve Mad- daughters were some of the many ison, Bill Wiggins, Ross Selvidge passengers Tuesday morning and Paula Devine phoned in; Var- found utilizing the hand sanitizer tan Gharpetian was absent and dispensers as they waited for their Terry Tornek was in Africa on city flight back home to Minnesota. business for Pasadena. The Johnsons spent 10 days in Airport staff advised the com- Ventura County visiting family missioners that business at Holly- and said concerns about the co- wood Burbank is and will contin- ronavirus never really crossed ue to be taking a major hit due to their minds. the coronavirus pandemic. “I think a lot of this is Tim Berger | Burbank Leader Each of the seven airlines op- overblown by the media in gen- A FAMILY COMPLETES their self-check-in while nearly all lines are empty at the Hollywood Burbank Airport erating at the Burbank airport ei- on Tuesday.