Press Release –
BURLINGAME PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT TO PRESENT ROBIN HOOD THE MUSICAL WITH A CAST OF 50 BURLINGAME ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN.
The Burlingame Parks & Recreation Department will be presenting Robin Hood The Musical at Burlingame High School Theatre on April 11th, 2008, 7:00 PM and April 12th, 2008, 2:00 PM. The performances are free and open to the public.
Featuring 50 Burlingame elementary school thespians from kindergarten to 5th grade, you'll enjoy the heroics of "Robin Hood" (Adam Kohli), "Little John"(Ben Howley), "Friar Tuck" (Casey Donovan) "Maid Marion" (Sarah Lasman) and the "Merry Men" (Dean Scattini, Jennifer Weeks, Eileen Kohli, & Cameron Hendrickson). You'll boo and hiss along with the "Jester" (Jackie Kajisa) at "Prince John" (Malia Smith) and the "Sheriff of Nottingham" (Michael Hurwitz) and sing along with Mrs. Alan-a-Dale (Lilly Ferris) and her "Minstrals" (Olivia Klein, Katie Sonnenfeldt, Sabrina Fleming, Sonia Varah, Allison Kennedy, Clara Kennedy, Gracie Brand and McKenna Henrickson). This delightful musical even involves the audience in deciding the fate of "Robin Hood".
The production is directed by Cathy Foxhoven, the musical director is Peter Bassford and the choreographer is Diane Silven. For more information, please call 650-697-6936.

– Written by Fiona

EARTH HOUR (localGuy2008)
To bring awareness to the catastrophes of global warming, everyone is asked to turn off non-essential lights on Saturday, March 29, from 8 to 9 p.m. Think about what you can do for an hour with the lights off. Take a nap, go for a stroll, gaze at the stars! Whatever you decide, just know that by turning the lights off, you will be contributing to a rapidly growing global campaign.
Started last year by the World Wildlife Fund of Australia, the objective was for everyone in Sydney to turn off the lights for one hour. On March 31, 2007, an estimated 2.2 million people and more than 2,000 businesses in Sydney participated. Such prominent places the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge went dark. As a result, Sydney's energy usage dropped 10 percent. This year's campaign is worldwide! For more information, visit www.earthhour.org

– Written by Fiona

Neighborhoods lay down the law (by Mike Rosenberg, The Examiner)
BURLINGAME (Map, News) – When a wave of burglaries hit several residences in the southern part of the city late last year, the neighborhood unified and helped police catch a suspect. Now, the city is launching a new endeavor to prevent those neighborhood crimes.
After the break-ins, police visited south Burlingame neighborhoods, gave crime prevention tips and encouraged residents to report suspicious people, Burlingame police Sgt. Jim Ford said. Tips from residents led police to Shawn Curtis McKnight Jr., 20, and many of the stolen goods were reportedly found in his Rollins Road home. McKnight was arrested in connection with nine of the 12 home burglaries, Ford said.
On the opposite end of the city, a group of residents in the Poppy Drive neighborhood is way ahead of police. Led by Councilmember Terry Nagel, they have formed a neighborhood network that, among other actions, sends e-mail and other alerts when there have been crimes or suspicious activity. We've had some burglaries in the neighborhood, and, through our network, by the next day usually there's something online saying, Don't leave your doors unlocked; be careful,'? Poppy Drive resident Ray Marshall said.
City Hall, police and fire representatives are sponsoring a citywide neighborhood network program April 1 in hopes others will start their own groups.
As part of the program, police can visit neighborhoods with crime prevention tips, and firefighters can provide free Community Emergency Response Team and other disaster preparedness training. People can ask their neighbors to watch their homes while they're on vacation, too. The key is just knowing your neighbors,? Ford said.
Nagel said that last weekend someone shone a flashlight in her neighbor's window at 4:30 a.m., which scared the woman, who lives alone. Within a few hours, everyone in the neighborhood had received e-mails to beware of suspicious people, she said. That's what neighbors are for,? Nagel said.
The project should have staying power because residents will organize themselves, instead of police forming neighborhood watch programs, City Manager Jim Nantell said. When you organize neighborhood block captains, they start to get bored after a while,? Nantell said.
The network also is more holistic and incorporates a variety of tools in one program, Nantell said.
The April 1 course for residents interested in setting up their own networks will be held in the library's Lane Room at 7 p.m.
Community watch
Features of Burlingame's Neighborhood Network, starting April 1
Crime prevention
Disaster preparedness
Community Emergency Response Team training
Funnel comments to City Hall
Block parties
Neighborhood contact directory
House watching for vacationers

– Written by Fiona

A different kind of drama – Faced with cuts, school districts raise rents on performing arts spaces (by Mark Abramson / Daily News Staff Writer)

The play may no longer be the thing for some budding thespians due to the higher rates local school districts are charging to use their theaters.
Faced with state budget cuts and other financial troubles, districts are raising the rates in order to fully recoup the costs associated with renting facilities to organizations like Il Piccolo (Players), a performing arts group based in Burlingame.
Those hikes could force some to bow out of acting as program costs subsequently increase, said Cathy Foxhoven, Il Piccolo's art director and a contractor for Burlingame's after-school program. Her group is bracing for higher rates to use the auditorium and theater at Burlingame High School. Already, the cost of using the Burlingame Intermediate School auditorium has climbed from roughly $1,200 to $1,800 per production this year, Foxhoven said.
San Mateo Union High School District officials said rental rates will rise on July 1 to $181 for two hours and about $726 for eight hours. Presently, the rates are $200 for four hours and range from $400 to $600 for eight hours. Recent cutbacks and slashed school funding are fueling the decision to increase rents, school officials said. "A year and a half ago we cut $3 million out of our budget," said Liz McManus, the high school district's associate superintendent for business. "There is not any more room to cut."
Burlingame School District officials said they are in a similar situation. "Every school district is scrambling to search for revenue," said school board president Michael Barber. "Any space we have, we are always looking for ways to leverage so that we can get more revenue."
But the new rates could make it prohibitively expensive for some children to participate, for example, in the Burlingame Parks and Recreation Department after-school enrichment program's production of "Robin Hood," which will be performed at Burlingame High School, Foxhoven said. It costs each participant $181 to be in the production, but the new rates could boost that figure to $500.
The rental rates are not yet set in stone, said high school district Board Member Dave Pine. "It is clear that cities and individual groups are going to have to sit down with the high school district," he said. "The district is just doing what it has to do to recoup costs."
Burlingame officials plan to discuss the issue with the high school district, said Randy Schwartz, the city's director of parks and recreation. He pointed out that the city does not charge the district for its use of Burlingame facilities.
Meanwhile, Foxhoven has started to contact churches about using their facilities. "We are not going to quit what we are doing with our productions," she said. "Even if we have to do it on the street, we will make something work."
Burlingame parent Leslie Ragsdale said she will have to reduce the number of programs her children participate in if the costs go up. She wondered how other families would weather the increases. "I think a lot of families wouldn't be able to do the programs," Ragsdale said.

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The Il Piccolo Players has NEVER in the past used a school facility for their small productions which, even at the District's present rate, would be cost prohibitive for a group that does not charge an entrance fee to their productions. A generous business opens up their space for rehearsals and a generous caffe is their "theatre". Of course their productions are limited in size because of this.
There is a beautiful stage at the Burlingame Womans Club which is cost prohibitive for most groups and an unuseable half stage at the Recreation Center ($7,000+ would fix that one).
All the world's a stage … and perhaps street theatre is the way to go in Burlingame!

– Written by Fiona