The Brief

On Saturday, Burbank is officially launching a new hiking trail accessibility program for people with disabilities. Two new all-terrain wheelchairs will be available to rent at Stough Canyon Nature Center for use on the fire trail.

The program is the first of its kind in Southern California. Several jurisdictions in the region have beach accessibility programs, but this is the first for mountain trails.

The background

In recent years, Burbank has become a leader in the movement to make sports and the outdoors more accessible to people with disabilities.

Since 2021, the city has launched several adaptive sports programs, including offering wheelchair rugby and fencing, Piper’s Pals youth baseball and basketball, powerchair soccer, boccia and the Burbank Adaptive Sports Expo, which is coming up for its third year running on Feb. 21.

The new equipment

The new all-terrain wheelchairs are the latest in that effort, said Diego Cevallos,  assistant director of the city’s parks and recreation department.

“We are building an ecosystem here in Burbank of robust programming and activities that cater to folks with disabilities,” he said. “Really what we want to do is inspire the community and also our other civic leaders to engage in this movement of making outdoor equity more accessible through programs just like this.”

Burbank is launching its accessibility program with two new all-terrain wheelchairs.

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Courtesy Burbank Parks and Recreation

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The city purchased the all-terrain Action Trackchair AXIS 40 wheelchairs — each about $20,000 — exclusively with funds raised by Leadership Burbank. The community-based organization raised about $90,000 for the trail accessibility program. The remaining funds went to the city’s parafencing program and all staff time associated with maintaining these programs comes out of the city’s general fund, Cevallos said.

How the program works

The program is open to anyone with mobility issues in the region, not only Burbank residents.

You can reserve one of the two wheelchairs by going to BurbankParks.com. The process is a bit clunky, but city staff are working to simplify it.

Once reserved, the user will have to bring a non-disabled companion to assist them and a staff member or volunteer with the Nature Center will accompany them on the trail. That docent will provide nature education during the hike and make sure everything is going smoothly and safely.

Right now, the chairs can only be reserved for up to two hours, said recreation services manager Noah Altman, but he said staff welcomes feedback from the public and will consider updating the requirements for the program as needed.

And an important note: Residents with all types of disabilities can use the chairs — it’s not necessary to have mobility in one’s hands. The family member or friend accompanying the user can remotely control the wheelchairs if needed.

Why all-terrain wheelchairs matter

Mobility challenges are the most common type of disability in L.A. County — around half a million Angelenos have some type of ambulatory disability, according to the county’s Aging and Disabilities Department.

But all-terrain wheelchairs cost around $20,000 and weigh around 400 pounds, making them out of reach and impractical for most individuals to own themselves, said Austin Nicassio, a San Dimas resident and founder of Accessible Off-Road, a nonprofit that advocates and is raising funds for more off-road mobility devices.

Nicassio provided consultation early on in the Burbank accessible trail project effort, and is currently working with L.A. County and California State Parks to bring all-terrain wheelchairs to more areas. The nonprofit is raising money to purchase all-terrain wheelchairs for use in those jurisdictions.

“ It's a huge milestone,” Nicassio said of the Burbank program. “It's going to be absolutely life changing for everyone in Southern California.”

For Nicassio, these efforts are deeply personal. Growing up in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, he used to be an avid hiker and mountain biker.

“Five years ago I was completely able-bodied working as an aerospace engineer, mountain biking, hiking, surfing,” Nicassio said. “My body did whatever I wanted it to do, and I always took it for granted.”

Austin Nicassio uses his all-terrain wheelchair at Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park near his home in San Dimas.

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Courtesy Austin Nicassio

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But in 2022, after a mild case of COVID-19, he started experiencing strange symptoms — muscle weakness, severe brain fog. He was later diagnosed with a condition that affects his blood flow and makes it difficult to stand for long periods of time and impossible to do anything too strenuous. He was also diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.

“I went from being very active to being a wheelchair user,” Nicassio said.

His mental health plummeted — he realized he used to cope with strong emotions by getting out on the trails or in the ocean. When he finally saved up enough to purchase his own off-road wheelchair, it was “life changing.”

“And not just for me, but for my father, for my wife, for my friends, my whole community,” Nicassio said.

He says he wants to see a world where access to such offroad wheelchairs is the norm.

“ No one has told me that their favorite hike or trail's been paved unless you're disabled, and it has to be,” said Nicassio. “Being out on these trails, a couple miles from the noise, from the trash, from the people, it's life changing.”

Catherine O’Hara, best known for her roles in Schitt’s Creek, Beetlejuice and Home Alone, died Friday after a brief illness.

While O’Hara was a cast member on Saturday Night Live for just one week, she got her big break as an original cast member of the Canadian sketch comedy show Second City Television (or SCTV), alongside Eugene Levy, who’d become a frequent co-star.

Her comedic genius, musical prowess and complete dedication to the characters she portrayed appeared in dozens of films and television shows over her over 50-year acting career, from voicing the speaking and singing roles of Sally and Shock in The Nightmare Before Christmas, to the inexplicable dialect created for Moira Rose on Schitt’s Creek, to the sobering performance of a therapist practicing in a post apocalyptic world in The Last of Us.

Here are some of those essential O’Hara performances that highlighted her comedic genius and made her so iconic.

‘Perma-Lacque’ commercial (SCTV)

O’Hara had her hand in many roles across her eight-year long tenure in SCTV. One that still makes the rounds on social media is “the woman with indestructible hair.” Note the utter seriousness in her performance that sells the joke!

Herb Ertlinger’s fruit wine commercial (Schitt’s Creek)

A favorite O’Hara moment as her beloved Schitt’s Creek character Moira Rose is when she delivers a performance of "craftsmanship" and “quality” for a TV commercial on fruit wine. Has anyone ever mispronounced words so perfectly?

“Day-O” scene (Beetlejuice)

If you want a master class in lip syncing, look no further than O’Hara as Delia Deetz singing “Day-O,” while possessed at the dinner table in 1988’s Beetlejuice. Her body and lips are in sync, while her eyes give a whole other performance of panic!

O’Hara’s ‘Kevin!’ screams (Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York)

It wouldn’t be a complete list without including O’Hara playing one of our favorite 90’s on-screen moms screaming “Kevin!” to the camera. The original is iconic, but we might prefer her delivery in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Who else could play a mom who forgets her kid twice and we still love her?!

A mighty kiss (A Mighty Wind)

In the 2003 Christopher Guest mockumentary A Mighty Wind, O’Hara plays Mickey Crabbe, one half of a now broken-up married folk duo. A climax of the film is when Crabbe and Mitch Cohen (played by Eugene Levy) reunite onstage, performing their song “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow.” As the audience waits with baited breath, they share a poignant kiss. It’s a feel-good moment and a Julia Paskin favorite!