Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 30, 2010

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com


3

Mountain Views News Saturday, October 30, 2010

NOTED NATURALIST SPEAKS ON 
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

Sierra Madre UMC to 
Participate in CROP Walk

“Ending Hunger One Step at 
a Time”

 On Sunday, November 7, 1:00-3:00 p.m., the 35th annual 
Pasadena Area 5K CROP Hunger Walk will begin at St. Mark’s 
Episcopal Church, 1014 E. Altadena Drive, in Altadena. As 
one of numerous interfaith and nondenominational charitable 
organizations participating in this event, The Sierra Madre 
United Methodist Church is seeking those interested walking, 
sponsoring a walker, or donating funds or canned goods to this 
worthy cause. 

 The first Church World Service CROP Walk took place in 
1969, with more than 1,600 currently taking place each year in 
communities around the U.S. Funds raised through the CROP 
Walks provide food, water and other self-empowering resources 
to grassroots hunger-fighting programs throughout the world. 
Twenty-five percent of the monies raised by the Pasadena CROP 
Walk will be earmarked for local programs, including Foothill 
Unity Center, the Bad Weather Shelter and Friends in Deed. 
Canned goods collected will also be distributed locally.

 If you are interested in participating in the CROP Walk, or for 
more information, please call Brenda Walkiewicz at 626-355-
1716, or go to www.smumc.net, and click on the Crop Walk link.

CAL FIRE Offers Halloween 
Safety Tips for a Spooky and 
Safe Holiday

Ghosts, ghouls and monsters aren’t the only 
things to be look out for this Halloween. 
Accidents and mishaps increase 
dramatically when children trick-or-treat. 
CAL FIRE wants everyone to enjoy a fire-
safe Halloween by following these tips:

Costumes

• Purchase costumes made of flame resistant or 
retardant material. Fire resistant does not mean fireproof. 

• Apply reflective tape to Halloween costumes. 

• Masks can obstruct vision – consider using make-up 
instead. 

• Avoid loose, baggy sleeves or billowing skirts. 

• Keep hemlines short enough to prevent tripping. 

Decorations

• Light jack-o-lanterns with a battery powered light – 
NEVER use candles! 

• Instruct children to stay away from open flames. Be 
sure they know how to stop, drop and roll if their clothing 
catches fire. 

Trick-or-Treating

• An adult should accompany children when trick-or-
treating. Pick well-lit streets. If driving, be sure to watch for 
trick-or-treaters who are too busy to watch for you. 

• Do not allow children to carry sharp sticks or other 
objects that could cause injury to others. 

• Keep your yard free of tripping hazards, such as 
tools, hoses, etc. 

• Children should be instructed to eat their treats only 
after parents have inspected them. Discard any unwrapped 
treats. If in doubt, throw it out! 

CAL FIRE wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable Halloween! 
For more Halloween safety ideas or other fire safety tips, 
please visit our web site at www.fire.ca.gov.

 "Emergency preparedness is 
something everyone should do, 
and it doesn’t need to cost an 
arm and a leg," said Christopher 
Nyerges when he spoke at the 
Sierra Madre Women’s Club on 
Wednesday, October 13 at their 
noon meeting. 

 

Nyerges, who is a guest 
contributor for the Mountain 
Views, shared that water 
storage is the single most 
important way to prepare for 
an emergency. "This is the 
easiest, and cheapest, and most 
essential way to prepare for 
an earthquake," said Nyerges, 
who is also the author of "How 
to Survive Anywhere." "The 
easiest way to store water is to 
rinse out every water and soft 
drink plastic or glass bottle we 
use, fill it with tap water, and 
store them somewhere." 

Nyerges pointed out that no 
special pills are needed to 
store water, because ordinary 
tap water already contains 
chlorine, which only helps to 
retard the growth of algae in 
stored water.

 

Nyerges also suggests that 
people store a few hundred 
gallons of water per household 
in food-grade plastic barrels, 
some of which can be obtained 
inexpensively as discards from 
the food industry.

 

"Even if you didn’t take these 
precautions to store water," he 
added, "the average home has a 
lot of water that can be used in 
an emergency." He mentioned 
the water in the water heater, 
water in the toilet tank, water 
in the pipes in a house, and 
swimming pool water, which 
must be boiled before use. 

 

Besides water-storage, Nyerges 
told the group of women how 
to store foods for an emergency, 
emphasizing that one should 
simply make a list of the foods 
one eats, and then buy extra 
whenever shopping. "You 
should store what you eat, not 
what someone else says you 
should store, and you should 
always eat what you store so 
you are constantly rotating 
your supplies," he added. 
Emergency food storage should 
not be frozen foods, since 
the refrigerator will not work 
if the power goes out. Thus, 
emergency food storage should 
be canned, dried, pickled, and 
such things as grains and pasta, 
which last a long time without 
refrigeration. Additionally, 
Nyerges urged the group to 
make every tree and plant in 
their yards serve them. He 
suggested only planting flora 
that can be used for food 
or medicine, or some other 
practical use. "It is entirely 
possible to have an attractive 
landscape in your yard and 
still have every plant useful," he 
explained. 

 

Nyerges pointed out that he 
has never had a front lawn, but 
has always grown fruit trees, 
and edible ground covers in 
the space that is usually a front 
lawn.

 

Additionally, Nyerges urged 
the women to learn about the 
wild foods that are so common 
everywhere, and shared the 
details of his regular Wild Food 
Outings every weekend. 

 

During the short one hour 
presentation, Nyerges showed 
some of the many common 
hand-operated household 
items that are now becoming 
hard to find, such as hand-
crank can openers, manual 
juicers, meat grinders, coffee 
grinders, cheese graters, etc. 
He also showed an assortment 
of alternative lighting options 
that should be kept handy in 
the event of a power failure.

 

Nyerges is the author of "Self-
Sufficient Home," where most 
of the ideas from this talk 
can be found. He has written 
8 other books, and regularly 
gives lectures and field trips 
to instruct city dwellers about 
these important concepts. He 
can be reached at Box 41834, 
Eagle Rock, CA 90041, or at 
www.ChristopherNyerges.com


ELECTION POSTMORTEM

Free public forum

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Jessica Levinson, an adjunct professor at Loyola Law 
School and director of political reform at the Center for 
Governmental studies, will lead an election “postmortem” 
at a free public forum sponsored by the League 
of Women Voters Pasadena Area Thursday, Nov. 4, 11 
a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Women’s City Club, 160 N. Oakland 
Ave., Pasadena. 

“Lunch and talk” will be the format of the forum analyzing 
the outcome of the Nov. 2 election -- what it could 
mean to the state, country and person on the street. It 
also will address questions such as: “Does money buy 
elections? How much does party registration mean? 
What mattered most to voters?

Levinson’s experience is in election law and governance 
issues, including campaign finance, ethics, ballot 

initiatives, redistricting, term limits, and state budgets. 
She has appeared as an election-law authority on NBC, 
ABC and the Fox News Network as well as on NPR, 
KNX and KFPK.

Her publications include “Ballot Box Budgeting 
in California: The Bane of the Golden State or an 
Overstated Problem” (37 Hastings Constitutional Law 
Quarterly, spring 2010).”Timing is everything: A new 
Model for Countering Corruption without Silencing 
Speech in Elections” will appear in 55 St. Louis University 
Law Journal in 2011. 

Lunch is $20, including tax, tip and parking. The reservation 
deadline is Oct. 28. The number for information and 
reservations is 626-798-0965. Admission to the program 
only is free. 

CA Voters Polled On 
Importance Of Social Security 

by Lori Abbott

 No cuts, please -- Californians like, and depend, on their Social 
Security. That's the consensus of a new survey of more than 
400 registered voters aged 40 and above who put protecting the 
Social Security system among their top two issues of personal 
importance. Creating jobs was their number one concern. The 
survey, conducted by AARP, is being released as President 
Obama's deficit reduction commission is likely to propose 
changes to the system. 

 Lisa Davis with AARP says the survey shows there's a real 
fundamental disconnect between how policymakers and average 
Americans look at the issue.

 "People are very scared and insecure as they're thinking about 
retirement, and Social Security is that one foundation that they 
really can count on and need, as we've seen home values plummet, 
savings accounts really take a dive."

 The survey found women are even more worried about their 
retirement security. When asked if the average Social Security 
benefit of around 12-hundred dollars a month was too much, 
only three-percent agreed.

 "Women tend to have lower lifetime earnings, they're less 
likely to have a pension and savings and they live longer, so 
retirement is a very personal issue for them."

 Women were even more worried about the retirement security 
of future generations, with 77 percent having little confidence 
their children and grandchildren will have a secure retirement.

 Budget experts say with the baby boom generation entering 
retirement age, it would be difficult to significantly reduce future 
deficits without addressing the rising cost of Social Security.

 The national survey, along with oversampled data of Californians 
and an analysis of responses by women, is available at www.aarp.
org/SocialSecurityVoicesandValues.

2010 Art Festival Gala Opening

Creative Arts Group’s 50th Year Celebration continues as the 
nonprofit art center kicks off its 2010 Art Festival with a gala 
opening and reception Friday, November 5th from 7-9 p.m. The 
work of more than 80 artists will be on display and for sale in the 
Jameson Gallery and art center located at 108 N. Baldwin Ave. 
in Sierra Madre. Several new artists will be added to this year’s 
show which includes fiber arts, blown glass, ceramics, jewelry, 
metal arts, painting, photography, mosaics, silk painting, papier 
maché and more. Many artists will be on hand to demonstrate 
their work and Erika Oller will be autographing her “fragments,” 
- original small watercolor and monotype studies - on Saturday 
from 1-4 pm.

This is an excellent 
opportunity to 
acquire that special 
piece for yourself, or 
find one-of-a-kind 
gifts for the upcoming 
holiday season. Join 
us for refreshments 
and festivities and 
meet some of our 
most talented local 
artists. Even our 
students get into 
the festivities with 
a Student Art Sale 
Friday and Saturday. 

Festival hours on 
Saturday, November 
6th are from 10 am to 
5 pm, and Sunday, 
November 7, from 11 
am to 5 pm. For more 
information contact 
Creative Arts Group 
at (626) 355-8350 or visit our website at creativeartsgroup.org. 

Sierra Madre Police Blotter

During the week of Sunday, October 17th, to Saturday October 
23RD, the Sierra Madre Police Department responded to 
approximately 324 calls for service. See crimereports.com for 
updated information.

Sunday, October 17th: 

09:30 AM- Battery Against Current/Ex Spouse/Cohab. 
Non-Cohab. 1st 100 blk. W. Orange Grove Ave. The Police 
Department received a 911 call regarding an argument between a 
man and a woman. Officers determined that a domestic battery 
occurred between the man and woman. Officers arrested the 
man and transported him to Pasadena Police Department Jail for 
booking. 

Monday, October 18th:

09:49 AM- Petty Theft. 200 blk. E. Sierra Madre Blvd. 
Suspect(s) stole a woman’s purse and boots from her unlocked 
parked car.

Wednesday, October 20th:

12:51 AM- Petty Theft. 50 blk. Esperanza Ave. Suspect(s) stole 
a green Trek Mountain bike worth $300.00. The bike was left 
unattended and unlocked feet away from the residential door. 

08:12 AM- Use Another’s Personal Identification to Obtain 
Credit/ Etc. 100 Blk. E. Sierra Madre Bl. (No information) 

Thursday, October 21st: 

11:22 AM- Petty Theft. 30 blk. Esperanza Ave. Suspect(s) stole 
a unlocked children’s bicycle from a front patio. 

02:27PM- Residential Burglary. 400 blk. Grove St. Suspect(s) 
entered an unlocked rear door of a home. The loss included a 15” 
Apple Mac book Pro laptop, a 17” Apple desk top computer, a 
Wi-Fi system, a Bose stereo system, a 12” Apple laptop and a 15” 
flat screen TV. The estimated value was $2,300.00 

03:36 PM- Take Vehicle W/O Owner’s Consent. 60 blk. Suffolk 
Ave. This case involved the son of the victim’s wife taking his car 
without permission. The wife’s son was arrested and taken to 
Pasadena Jail for booking.

Friday, October 22nd:

12:32 AM- Warrant/Outside/Traffic. 400 blk. W. Highland 
Ave. An officer stopped a motorist for a Vehicle Code violation 
and learned that the driver had an outstanding traffic warrant. 
The man was arrested and transported to Pasadena Jail, where he 
was cited and released. 

Saturday, October 23rd: 

10:56 AM- Possession of Replica Firearm. Santa Anita Ave. 
An officer stopped a motorist for a Vehicle Code violation. The 
driver was in possession of a replica AR-15 type toy rifle with the 
orange safety tip removed. The driver and the passenger were 
cited for possession of marijuana and the replica. Suspects were 
released and the items were seized. 

09:05PM- Battery. 400 block E. Grandview Ave. Two adults 
argued over an incident, and then hit each other. Officers 
responded, but neither wanted medical attention nor prosecution. 

 
••••••••••••••••••••
•••••••••••••••••••
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
••••••••••••••••
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
••••••••••••••••••••
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
••••••••••••••••••••••
ST. RITA’S SEMI-ANNUAL 
WELCOME EVENT

Sunday, November 7 at 3 p.m.

New to St. Rita’s church or school and don’t feel you know 
many members? Moved to Sierra Madre recently, and looking 
for a new Catholic church home? Belonged to St. Rita’s for a 
long time, but don’t feel you’ve connected yet? Let us welcome 
you to St. Rita’s!

 Join us Sunday afternoon, November 7, at 3 p.m. for a casual wine 
and cheese gathering at the home of Dick and Chris Bertrand. 
Please bring a bottle of wine or your favorite beverage, a cheese 
and crackers plate, or an appetizer to share.

 Representatives of various St. Rita organizations will join our 
pastor, Monsignor Krekelberg, to welcome you to our wonderful 
parish community! At 5 p.m., following the gathering, we will tour 
the St. Rita’s campus and facilities, with those who are interested. 
Children are always welcome! RSVP to Chris Bertrand at 626-
355-1621 or to PR@St-Rita.org .

Pasadena Community 
Orchestra (PCO), under 
the baton of Alan Reinecke, 
presents their next concert on 
Friday, November 5, at 8 pm 
in the Sanctuary at Pasadena 
Church of the Nazarene. They 
will perform an overture by 
Lalo, and selections from 
Tschaikovsky’s Sleeping 
Beauty. Violinist Mischa 
Lefkowitz, of the LA 
Philharmonic, will perform 
both Haydn’s Concerto No. 2 
in G for violin and orchestra 
and Schubert’s Rondo in A 
for violin and strings.

Born in Riga, Latvia, Mischa 
Lefkowitz began his early 
rigorous musical training 
at age 7, culminating with 
the opportunity to study 
at the prestigious Moscow 
Conservatory and then at 
the Mozarteum in Salzburg, 
Austria. After completing 
his studies, he and his 
family immigrated to the 
United States in search of 
artistic freedom. Shortly 
thereafter, he was awarded 
a coveted position in the 
first violin section of the 
Los Angeles Philharmonic 
Orchestra. Lefkowitz’s 
career there has immersed 
him in a wonderful musical 
milieu, with opportunities 
to perform vast symphonic 
repertoire, to appear with 
world-famous guest artists 
and conductors, and to travel 
and record both individually 
and with the Philharmonic.

Both the pieces Mr. 
Lefkowitz has chosen for 
this concert --Haydn’s 
Violin Concerto No. 2 in G 
Major (1769) and Schubert’s 
Rondo in A (1812) -- are 
excellent representations 
of the Viennese Classical 
style of music, with elegant 
and graceful passages of a 
challenging nature. Vienna 
at this time was the capital 
of the Hapsburg Monarchy 
and later of the Austrian 
Empire, and the rich musical 
opportunities there were 
a magnet to the musicians 
of that time from around 
Europe. Haydn spent much 
of his life in Vienna, as did 
Mozart, Beethoven, and 
Schubert.

This concert takes place at 
Pasadena Nazarene Church, 
3700 E. Sierra Madre 
Blvd., Pasadena, on Friday, 
November 5, at 8 pm. It is a 
rare honor indeed to have a 
guest artist of Mr. Lefkowitz’s 
caliber performing locally. 
The concert is free, with 
donations taken at the door. 
There will be a reception 
after the concert, and Mr. 
Lefkowitz will be available to 
autograph CDs and talk with 
the public.

Pasadena Community Orchestra 
Presents Alan Renecke