The 818 Now

Pasadena City College hopes to identify former Japanese American students who were forced into internment camps during World War II so that they may be honored during the college’s commencement exercises next June.

The search is being done in coordination with the California Nisei College Diploma Project, which aims to bestow honorary degrees to those who are eligible to benefit from AB 37, a bill introduced by Assemblyman Warren Furutani (D-Long Beach) and signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

According to PCC officials, it is estimated that 123 of its former students (at the time the school was known as Pasadena Junior College) are eligible to benefit from AB 37.

The California Community College, California State University and University of California systems are all involved in the project.

For more information, go online to www.pasadena.edu/pccnisei or call (626) 585-7315.

A plea went out Friday afternoon from Union Station Homeless Services in Pasadena  for donations of new, unwrapped toys for the annual Christmas Day Dinner-in-the-Park.

Approximately 1,200 children whose families are either homeless or very low-income attend the event each year, according to Lauren Arant, assistant director of development for Union Station, and each child looks forward to receiving at least one toy from Santa.

She said Santa “and his brother” hand out gifts that have been sorted by volunteers for gender- and age-appropriateness.

Unless there is a last-minute flurry of donations, some of the children may go away empty-handed, Arant said, because the donor who has in the past provided 1,000 to 2,000 toys for the event had to scale back that donation this Christmas to 500 toys.

Arant said the precarious financial situation for many of the families who attend Dinner-in-the-Park means their children may receive just one gift at home, if that. The special event in the Pasadena’s Central Park gives the families a chance to brighten their holiday.

“They bring their kids out to our dinner, where it’s happy and festive,” Arant said. “Everybody’s there to have a great time.”

To make a donation, take a new, unwrapped toy to the Union Station Adult Center, 412 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Office hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday next week, and Arant asks that toy donations arrive by Wednesday, Dec. 23, so volunteers will have time to sort them before Christmas Day.

Arant said the agency is grateful for the generosity of its supporters. “We’re just asking for a little extra help this year.”

To learn more, call Arant at (626) 240-4559.

Although volunteers are still about three weeks away from finishing “Scissored Wizard,” the La Cañada Flintridge float entry in the 2010 Rose Parade, the local float association has already announced its annual contest to design the 2011 float.

Whoever dreams up with the winning design concept will win two grandstand tickets to see the parade on Jan. 1, 2011.

The good news for people who have little artistic talent is that they only have to come up with a winning idea, according to the contest rules put forth by the La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Assn.: “Entries should be simple and easy to understand. Animated with an element of surprise and be whimsical and humorous. Entries must be submitted using a brief written description. Please do not submit drawings or color renderings.”

The concept also needs to be compatible with the parade’s overall theme, which in 2011 will be “Building Dreams, Friendships & Memories.”

Contestants would do well to remember that LCF floats are known for their animation. Cute animals have  always been popular with contest judges, and a human being is never, ever allowed to ride on the float. It’s in the by-laws.

All contest entries must be received by noon Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010 to be considered. Hopefuls can find the entry form online at www.lcftra.org. Or, they can hand-write their entries and mail them to: Design Concept 2011, P.O. Box 253, La Cañada, CA 91012.

For more information call Jim Geoghegan at (818) 519-1282 or e-mail geogheganjk@charter.net.

This artist's conception shows NASA's WISE spacecraft mapping the whole sky in infrared. (Ball/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge are atwitter this week over the pending launch of the new, $208 million Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), managed by JPL for NASA. 

The WISE spacecraft, which will circle the Earth one-and-a-half times over a nine-month period, is scheduled to be carried into orbit on a Delta II rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Friday. 

But the possible launch-day weather will interfere with plans, according to a NASA report: “The forecast calls for thick clouds, disturbed weather and precipitation, resulting in an 80 percent chance of conditions preventing a launch,” said a statement found on www.nasa.gov today. 

So, local scientists may have to wait until the spacecraft can begin its mission to map the entire sky, cataloging the multiple millions of objects it encounters.

Addressing the La Cañada Flintridge Republican Club during a recent meeting, the teen-age president of the five-year-old Young Republicans Club reported that membership in the youth group is growing and now exceeds 30 members.

 La Cañada High School sophomore Kevork Kurrdoghlian said future plans for the Young Republicans of LCF include looking into expanding the organization into other high schools in the city’s boundaries (the private St. Francis High School, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, Flintridge Preparatory School and Renaissance Academy are the other campuses in town, besides the public LCHS) and to hold a 9/11 remembrance event in La Cañada’s  Memorial Park in 2010.

Al Restivo, chairman of the adult LCF Republican Club and Kurrdoghlian’s mentor, said the youth group was organized “to provide for the development of future Republican leaders for the community. Our goal is to have these young people interface as much as possible with the senior members who are community leaders with extensive management and leadership  experience.”

The Friends of the Library suggest area residents check out the Holiday Book Sale at the L. A. County Library, La Cañada Flintridge Branch, Saturday, Dec. 5.

This sale is for one day only; doors will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The library is located at 4545 Oakwood Ave., La Cañada Flintridge. For more information call Rosemary Hook, president of Friends of the LCF Library, at (818) 249-4530.

The Cravens Estate, which serves as home to the San Gabriel Valley Pomona Valley chapter of The American Red Cross, will be featured as the 46th annual Pasadena Showcase House of Design next spring. The property is located at 430 Madeline Drive, in the South Orange Grove neighborhood of Pasadena.

Twenty-six interior designers and seven exterior designers will take part in the project. “Often we say PSHA ‘transforms’ a property, said Beverly Marksbury, benefit chairman.

“But that’s not quite the case with the Cravens Estate. We’re working with a team of experts in historical architecture and preservation to revitalize the property rather than renovate it. Yet, while we’re taking the greatest care to respect he estate’s past, our designers will also make use of cutting edge design technology, trends and creativity.”

The Red Cross will operate out of 1668 S. Garfield Ave., Alhambra, from Dec .14 until June 4. The office phone number will remain the same, (626) 799-0841. The Pasadena Showcase House of Design will take place from April 18-May 16.

Partnering with three area businesses, the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada recently raised funds to present enough cash to purchase 110 turkeys for the annual Midnight Mission Thanksgiving Dinner, the local civic group announced this week.

According to Wendy Alane Smith, who spearheaded the drive, the funds presented to Midnight Mission representatives was raised in $18 increments from club members coupled with donations from Allied Waste, CalNational Bank and Barbara Marshall State Farm Insurance to total a gift of $1,814.12.

“I brought this project to my Kiwanis group this year and they were very receptive,” Smith said. “I believe deeply in the work the Midnight Mission is doing and will always support them in any way I can.”

The annual Thanksgiving Day Celebration is set for Thursday, on 6th Street, between San Pedro and San Julian, in Los Angeles. Live entertainment will be provided by Dick Van Dyke’s harmony group, “The Vantastix.”

From the La Cañada Valley Sun

A fiery collision between two vehicles on the westbound 210 (Foothill) Freeway in La Cañada Flintridge Sunday afternoon shut down traffic in both directions for nearly an hour.

A sigalert.com report said the crash took place at about 2:51 p.m. and that a fatality was “possible” but there has been no official statement confirming that.

According to Sgt. Scott Gibson of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station, the crash took place in the tunnel near the transition from the 210 to the 2 (Glendale) Freeway South and the ensuing flames from both vehicles filled the tunnel with smoke.

For updates check here

Thanksgiving dinner at home is great, until it’s time to do the dishes.

Imagine the clean-up involved if you’re feeding more than 5,000 appreciative diners, as the volunteers at Union Station Homeless Services do every Thanksgiving Day in Pasadena’s Central Park. This year, Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, Nov. 26.

Union Station officials, while grateful for all the assistance they can get, note in their latest bulletin on “The Biggest Potluck in the Nation” that they are often short of volunteers for the last shift, from 1 to 4 p.m. Clean-up duties (breaking down tables and chairs, washing dishes, general pick-up) get underway as the diners finish their meals.

Additional volunteer opportunities:

Donate food. They’ll welcome fully cooked turkeys, hams, side dishes and desserts that have been safely prepared and are delivered in disposable aluminum containers.

Set up tables and chairs. This shift is from 9:30 to 11 a.m.

Serve food and beverages: Hours are 11:30 to 2 p.m.

Central Park is on Raymond Avenue, between Green Street and Del Mar Boulevard. To volunteer, contact (626) 240-4550, ext. 103, or e-mail volunteer@unionstationhs.org.

The two trash haulers that serve La Cañada Flintridge, Allied Waste and Athens Services, will collect bulky waste placed at the curb during Fall Clean Up Week, Nov. 16-20, according to a City Hall memo.

Waste items that will be accepted on customer’s regular pick-up day next week include chairs, sofas, mattresses, carpets and rugs (tied in rolls), appliances, electronic equipment, clothing and tires. The haulers ask that loose items or boxed, bundled or bagged for easy pick-up.

Hazardous waste items will not be collected during this event. For information about hazardous waste disposal, call (888) 253-2652 or go online to www.888CleanLA.com.

Women who once wore the floral crown as Descanso Gardens’ Camellia Queen, or who served on the queen’s court as a princess, are being sought to participate in the Feb. 20-27 Golden Age of the Camellia celebration.

The gardens’ spokesperson, Brenda Rees, put out the call Nov. 4, and sent the photo at left of 1956 Camellia Queen Carol Paulowsky presenting the crown to the 1957 winner of the title, Sharon Bryant.

According to Rees, the success Descanso founder E. Manchester Boddy enjoyed with his commercial camellia plantation, first planted in 1937, ”helped make camellias the blossoms of choice for corsages worn by fashionable ladies of the era.”

Former camellia court members are asked to call Rees at (818) 949-7984 or e-mail her at pr@descansogardens.org.

What do Burbank, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica already have that  La Cañada is about to get? A franchised Jersey Mike’s sub shop.

Started as a single storefront Mike’s Subs on the Jersey Shore 53 years ago, it became a franchise operation in 1987.  Hot subs, cold subs, even a sub salad (has everything but the bread), according to its menu.

The city says the shop will be open at 707 Foothill, next to Penguin’s, before too long.  It remains to be seen if it will steal customers from the venerable Berge’s or the Subway franchise down the street.

The chief city planner also reports plans are in the works for the improvement of the La Canada Ralphs, the Panera Bread that’s planning to open in the Town Center (no firm date has been announced for that opening yet, much to the dismay of many Panera fans), and that a jewelry store will also be one of the occupants at the center.

A few months back we learned a Henry’s Market was coming to town and will occupy the old Sportland site operated by Sport Chalet on the south side of Foothill. That building was originally a Shopping Bag market, so it’s coming full circle.

Business is looking up in La Cañada: Robert Stanley, director of community development, says City Hall in September received its “highest monthly count of application submittals in the last two years.”

NASA and city of La Cañada Flintridge officials cut the ribbon on the new Space Flight Building on Oct. 26, 2009. (NASA/JPL)

Area lawmakers and Jet Propulsion Laboratory officials turned out Monday morning to cut the ribbon on the new Flight Projects Center at the La Cañada Flintridge facility.

NASA is touting it as its “greenest” building to date, having received the LEED Gold Certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. To qualify, buildings have to make “efficient use of water, energy and resources, and provide a healthy and comfortable indoor workspace,” according to a NASA/JPL  press statement.

Among the dignitaries seen at the ribbon cutting were La Cañada Flintridge Mayor Laura Olhasso, Councilman Dave Spence and La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Pat Anderson. Also attending the ceremony were U.S. Reps David Dreier and Adam Schiff.

A pumpkin (Carol Cormaci/Valley Sun)

It seems everything’s in high gear in the foothills for Halloween. There’s a new shop devoted to the holiday that opened on Verdugo Boulevard between Burger King and New Moon.

This weekend, Descanso Gardens is having a Pumpkin Festival. The La Cañada Elementary School PTA staged its annual Halloween Haunt today, no doubt bringing lots of fun to the little ones. The silent auction had tons of opportunities (seriously, I printed the list out and it filled 51 pages!) for parents’ consideration, not the least of which was a week in a Park City, Utah condo valued at $9,000.

Next Friday and Saturday night the Quirings at 4800 Grand Avenue will allow visitors into their Haunted Maze (we’ll have an article on that in the  Oct. 29 Valley Sun). Last year, according to Molly Quiring, some 500 people visited their backyard to tour their creation.

We haven’t yet heard from Dr. Sharon Rae Deacon, but she usually sets up a “Pumpkin Alley” in her front driveway on Earlmont Avenue on Halloween Night  that features 100 jack-o-lanterns carved by local teens.

But, I’ve got to tell you one of my favorite Halloween traditions is the FREE delivery of a pumpkin to my doorstep every year by local Anita Gray, an agent affiliated with Dickson Podley Realtors. Gray blankets the neighborhood with these small pumpkins, accompanied by a simple, photocopied note on a small piece of orange paper: “Happy Halloween.”

The gourds aren’t really big enough to carve unless you’re particularly adept at working with sharp knives in small places, but they are charming nonetheless. And it’s just plain fun to open our front door to find a the little surprise sitting there. Nothing is asked in return; it’s a true freebie, although I’m sure Gray wouldn’t mind it a bit if we remembered her name the next time we decided to get involved in a real estate transaction.

Good things come in small orange packages.

This trail in the Arroyo Seco now leads hikers and horseback riders into a new, post-Station fire world.

One local group, apparently not dispirited by the state of the Angeles National Forest trails charred by the Station fire, is gearing up to offer horseback rides (guided and unguided)  in the Arroyo Seco and into the San Gabriel Mountains a week from Sunday.

No doubt  riders will find a vastly different scene on Nov. 1 when they participate in the 13th annual MACH 1 (Move a Child Higher) Happy Trails Ride-A-Thon than they encountered prior to the historic blaze. (MACH 1 is a nonprofit equestrian program that helps youngsters with disabilities gain skills and confidence. It takes a lot of money to keep an operation like this going, and most of it comes from private contributions.)

One old trestle bridge in Gould Canyon, familiar to anyone who has ever hiked or ridden the local trails, was photographed a couple of weeks after the fire swept through  by Valley Sun contributer Reg Green to accompany an essay he wrote for the paper. It was a haunting portrait of a previously scenic pathway.

This change of scenery may actually turn out to be a draw for participants in the MACH 1 fundraiser, some of whom may not have had a chance yet to saddle up since the fire to check things out for themselves.

Reservations are not required; riders are asked to check in at the Rose Bowl Riders facility at 8 a.m. on Nov. 1, with rides beginning at 9 a.m. A barbecue lunch is offered at $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12. If riders rasied $60 or more in sponsorships to participate they’ll get a free lunch. To learn more about the event, and about MACH 1 go here.

CNN has an article today on scammers using Facebook and Twitter to steal people’s identity.  The story is just one more reminder that bottom feeders are lurking everywhere and those of us who are just trying to keep our heads above the water these days can be yanked downward by them.

My husband and I own (well, do our best to keep up with the payments on) a vacation house in Sedona, Ariz.  The only way we can afford to hang onto it right now is to rent it out pretty much non-stop to tourists. So we have listings on the HomeAway & VRBO websites, which are devoted to property owners who want to connect with potential renters.

We’ve been on edge in recent weeks because, while November is completely booked, reservations for December and January (except for the holiday period) are lacking.  So we were excited when we got an inquiry from someone who said he lived in the U.K. and was interested in possibly renting our place for two weeks in early December. I wrote a response touting the house, said it was available, hit the send button and then realized it was probably a scam. The tip-off, which finally registered with my brain: he wanted to know whether it was available from Dec. 1th to the 15^th. The 1th?

Read the rest of this entry »

From the La Canada Valley Sun:

A $40 million project that would bring low-pressure sewer systems to 680 households in three sections of the city south of Foothill Boulevard was turned down by voters who refused to form the necessary assessment district.

The unofficial results released by City Hall Thursday afternoon showed 313 ballots totaling more than $18.5 million in assessments were cast against the proposed project, while 142 property owners, representing $8.1 million in assessments, were in favor of going forward.

“The voters have spoken and made their choice,” said Mayor Pro Tem Don Voss, who added that the city’s goal all along has been to present the option and give property owners the opportunity to decide whether or not they wanted to form the assessment district and abandon on-site septic systems.

For more, read here:

From the La Cañada Valley Sun

Two first-grade children who attend La Cañada Elementary School have been stricken by the H1N1 flu virus, it was confirmed Monday by a school district official.

Department of Health officials visited the class last week, tested children and notified the school late Friday that two children had contracted the H1N1 virus.

On Sept. 9, La Cañada Elementary school officials were concerned when 13 of the 20 students in a first-grade class were absent due to illness. The U.S. Department of Health Services visited the campus that day.

“We reported it immediately and the Department of Health was out there that afternoon,” Wendy Sinnette, assistant superintendent of human resources with La Cañada Unified School District, said Monday afternoon.

For more of this story, read here

By Seth Amitin

From the La Cañada Valley Sun:

About 200 La Cañadans turned out Thursday evening to participate in a community photo shoot at Memorial Park. The photo will be printed and sent to firefighters across the country who aided in the fight against the Station fire.

The fire, which began on Aug. 26 near a United States Forest Service ranger station on Angeles Crest Highway just north of La Cañada, is the 10th largest fire in California since 1933. It has claimed two lives, destroyed homes in other communities and burned more than 250 square miles of land within the Angeles National Forest.

According to La Cañada High School PTA President Kathy Hernandez, the idea for a community thank-you photograph was the result of a Sept. 4 meeting of community leaders, during which La Cañada Flintridge Mayor Laura Olhasso and school officials, PTA members, business owners and residents brainstormed about ways to express the town’s gratitude for having been kept safe from harm.

For more of this story read here.

By Anita Susan Brenner