Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 28, 2011

5

 Mountain Views News Saturday, May 28, 2011 


Anti-Piracy 
Caucus 
Unveils 
Watch List

Altadena Bakery Wins 
Fight to Save Art Mural

By Dean Lee

 Patticakes dessert company 
owner Mike McLellan 
confirmed Friday that a large 
colorful mural on the side of his 
business was given a stay by the 
county after Supervisor Michael 
Antonovich’s office was flooded 
with emails from supporters 
asking that the mural be saved. 

 “They [the county] said we 
could either get the complainant 
to rescind his complaint or 
please just make it go away and 
make the emails stop,” McLellan 
said. 

 At issue was a letter from 
county officials McLellan 
received in April ordering 
him to take down the brightly 
colored mural of muffins, cake 
and coffee. Inspectors argued 
the mural was advertising and 
did not meet county codes. 

McLellan said at first he took 
the fight to the Altadena Town 
Council where he said they 
refused to help even after he 
gathered hundreds of signatures 
in support of the mural.

 “None of them even looked at 
me when I spoke,” he said.

 McLellan said after he fully 
explained the situation and 
after a number of community 
members spoke defending the 
mural, the council apologized 
saying it was a county issue 
and quickly moved on to other 
business. 

 After that McLellan said he 
got the idea to put a cup on the 
counter with strips of paper 
giving Antonovich’s contact 
information. 

 “I put a cup on the table and 
put 150 slips of paper in there 
with Antonovich’s email on it 
and I put a sign on the window 
that said, if you’d like to keep 
our mural please email Mike 
Antonovich.”

 McLellan said the next day 
Antonovich’s planning deputy 
came in the store saying the 
mural could stay. 

 In the end, McLellan said the 
person who made the original 
complaint also supported 
keeping the mural up. 

 McLellan also said that the 
amount of local press coverage 
contributed to saving the mural.

 The Congressional 
International Anti-Piracy 
Caucus, which includes local 
Congressman Adam Schiff, 
unveiled Thursday countries 
on the 2011 watch list —
identifying Canada, China, 
Russia, Spain and Ukraine— 
where intellectual property 
theft they say is harming the 
US economy.

During a press event at the 
Capitol Visitor Center in 
Washington D.C, Members 
of the Anti-Piracy Caucus 
were joined by Mitch 
Bainwol, Chairman and CEO 
of the Recording Industry 
Association of America 
(RIAA), Michael Gallagher, 
President and CEO of the 
Entertainment Software 
Association (ESA), Robert 
Holleyman, President and 
CEO of the Business Software 
Alliance (BSA) and David 
Israelite, President and CEO of 
the National Music Publishers’ 
Association (NMPA). 

Holleyman, of the BSA, 
said that together these five 
countries account for $13.4 
billion worth of PC software 
piracy. 

In a statement the BSA also 
cited a recent report issued 
by the US International Trade 
Commission, saying theft of 
intellectual property in China 
alone cost the US economy as 
many as 2.1 million jobs and 
up to $100 billion in economic 
harm.

Holleyman added, 
“Governments must not only 
implement strong intellectual 
property laws; they also 
should ensure their citizens 
understand and abide by those 
laws. I commend the Anti-
Piracy Caucus for its leadership 
in protecting American 
intellectual property.”

Schiff said the good news is 
that legitimate content has 
gone up although the bad 
news, he added, was that 
pirated content had gone up 
even more. He called for the 
use of market forces to curb 
piracy.

 Schiff also took aim at ad 
agencies that allow ads to 
be placed on websites that 
are known to house pirated 
content. In a statement Schiff 
said, “We are calling on 
responsible advertisers, search 
engines, Internet service 
providers, and other parts of 
the internet ecosystem to work 
with us to protect the hard 
work of American creators 
from piracy,”

Puppy mill in rural US. Photo courtesy of PETA

Committee Discusses Puppy Mills

By Dean Lee

The city’s Legislative Policy 
Committee discussed briefly 
Wednesday the possible 
adoption of a Puppy Mill 
Ordinance that would set 
guidelines for those, in 
the city, who breed dogs. 
The issue was brought 
before the committee by 
Councilmember Jacque 
Robinson after a similar 
ordinance was passed in 
March by the County Board 
of Supervisors. 

Assistant City Manager Julie 
Gutierrez said they plan to get 
the opinion of the Pasadena 
Humane Society, local police 
and the city attorney. The 
issue is set to come back to 
the same committee in June. 
She said there were no direct 
instances in the city dealing 
with puppy mills.

Pasadena Humane Society 
Spokesperson Ricky 
Whitman said puppy mills 
are more of a problem in the 
Midwest. 

“Here in Southern California, 
we see backyard breeders 
and puppies coming up from 
Mexico,” she said explaining 
that the Humane Society has 
its own task force dealing 
with puppies brought in 
the county illegally. She 
said backyard breeders are 
minute compared to puppy 
mills although have similar 
issues such as inbreeding.

As with puppy mills, dogs 
illegally coming from Mexico 
end up in pet stores. In L.A. 
County all dog breeders must 
be licensed she said.

The County ordinance limits 
the number of adult dogs in 
commercial breeding to no 
more than 50 and includes 
requirements for, staffing, 
inspections, protection for 
pregnant nursing dogs and 
puppies among other things. 

Violators can be fined up to 
$250 for a first time offence. 
The county may also seek 
injunctive relief in civil court 
to enforce compliance.

Public Invited To Air 
Operations Open House

The Pasadena Police 
Department’s Air Operations 
Section will host an open 
house on Saturday, June 4, 
from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 
the Benedict Heliport, 2175 
Yucca Lane in Altadena. 
Food and beverages will be 
provided.

Displays and demonstrations 
will include police 
helicopters, an armored 
rescue vehicle, a mobile 
command post and police 
motorcycles. Fingerprinting 
will be provided for 
children. Personnel from 
the Employment Services, 
Forensics, Traffic and 
Community Services will be 
on hand to meet visitors and 
answer questions.

SWAT and K9 demonstrations 
will take place at 12:00 noon 
and 1:00 p.m.

“We are excited to open 
our doors and increase 
the public’s awareness and 
education about airborne 
law enforcement,” said Chief 
Phillip L. Sanchez. “The 
Air Operations Section has 
a proud history of crime 
fighting and providing public 
safety services. We want 
the public to know what 
we do and why air support 
and the special operations 
community is so critical to 
our mission in today’s world.”

Directions to the heliport: 
Take the Arroyo/Windsor 
exit off the 210 Freeway 
and go north on Arroyo 
Boulevard, then turn left on 
Weimar Avenue to Yucca 
Lane.

NASA Ends Contact Attempts with Spirit

 NASA ended attempts 
to regain contact with the 
long-lived Mars Exploration 
Rover Spirit, which last 
communicated in March of 
last year.

All transmission ended 
Wednesday and was the 
last in a series of attempts. 
Extensive communications 
activities during the past 10 
months also have explored the 
possibility that Spirit might 
reawaken as the solar energy 
available to it increased after 
a stressful Martian winter 
without much sunlight. With 
inadequate energy to run its 
survival heaters, the rover 
likely experienced colder 
internal temperatures last 
year than in any of its prior six 
years on Mars. Many critical 
components and connections 
would have been susceptible 
to damage from the cold.

Engineers’ assessments in 
recent months have shown 
a very low probability for 
recovering communications 
with Spirit. Communications 
assets that have been used 
by the Spirit mission in the 
past, including NASA’s Deep 
Space Network of antennas 
on Earth, plus two NASA 
Mars orbiters that can relay 
communications, now are 
needed to prepare for NASA’s 
Mars Science Laboratory 
mission. MSL is scheduled to 
launch later this year.

“We’re now transitioning 
assets to support the 
November launch of our 
next generation Mars rover, 
Curiosity,” said Dave Lavery, 
NASA’s program executive 
for solar system exploration. 
“However, while we no longer 
believe there is a realistic 
probability of hearing from 
Spirit, the Deep Space 
Network may occasionally 
listen for any faint signals 
when the schedule permits.”

Spirit landed on Mars on Jan. 
3, 2004, for a mission designed 
to last three months. Its twin, 
Opportunity, continues active 
exploration of Mars.

Citizen Journalism Meet-up

 

 

 

 

The Pasadena Community 
Network and this newspaper 
are holding a workshop on 
Citizen Journalism. 

 This group is the place where 
aspiring journalists can learn 
from trained professionals 
and support their local 
community by covering 
what’s really happening in 
their neighborhoods.

 We will put the news in your 
hands. Learn how to find 
the story, the tools needed 
to capture the story and the 
means to tell the story using 
the power of video, audio 
and print along with online 
social media The next 
meeting is April 26 from 
6 p.m. to 8p.m. This week 
at the Donald R. Wright 
Auditorium (see below). For 
more info call 626.794.8585 
or visit pasadenan.com.

 
Learn not just how 
to blog but how to 
report the news


PCC Teams 
Up With City 
to Fill Gap in 
Workforce 

Pet of the 
Week


Pasadena City College 
will be offering an 
electrical engineering 
course beginning June 
27 to expose students to 
career opportunities in 
utilities with the City of 
Pasadena. The City of 
Pasadena Department of 
Water and Power (PWP) 
is experiencing a severe 
shortage of highly trained 
utility workers to fill 
positions in the water and 
power utility industry. This 
course will create a career 
pathway that will train 
students for a utility field 
career.

Electricity 248A, which will 
run from June 27 through 
Aug. 4, will emphasize 
electrical fundamentals 
for electrical distribution, 
electrical repair, and pole 
climbing. The curriculum 
was designed by Joe Awad, 
assistant general manager 
of the Pasadena Power 
Delivery Division, and 
Douglas Haines, dean of 
the PCC Engineering and 
Technology Division.

In the future, the City of 
Pasadena will join PCC 
faculty in the design and 
delivery of other courses 
to improve skill and 
knowledge of our current 
and future employees.

For more information, 
please contact Haines at 
(626) 585-7114.

Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, photo courtesy of NASA

Photojournalist to Speak 
as Part of Speakers Series

The Pasadena Area 
Community College 
District Board of Trustees 
announced the appointment 
of Michael T. Davitt to 
serve on the Pasadena City 
College Measure P Citizen’s 
Oversight Committee, 
which will report on the 
progress of PCC renovations 
and construction funded 
by voter-approved Measure 
P Bond funds. The passage 
of Measure P in 2002 
authorized PCC to issue up 
to $150 million in bonds to 
finance the construction. 
Bonds will be repaid through 
local property taxes.

The 12-member committee 
meets quarterly to ensure 
that campus projects are 
developed and funded as 
specified in Measure P. The 
committee also publishes 
each year a progress report 
to the community in the fall 
PCC President’s Report to 
the Community.

Davitt was recommended 
by Area 1 (La Cañada 
Flintridge, West Pasadena) 
Trustee Geoffrey Baum and is 
serving his first appointment 
on the committee. He 
currently serves as 
councilmember for the city 
of La Cañada Flintridge. 
Davitt is also director of 
real estate for the Roman 
Catholic Archdiocese of Los 
Angeles. The Archdiocese 
is the second largest private 
landholder in California. 
Davitt has served as housing 
development manager for the 
Community Development 
and Housing Director for the 
City of Glendale from 1994 
to 1998.

Committee members serve 
for two years. Members may 
be reappointed for a second 
term. They also may return 
to the committee after an 
absence of two years.

Measure P campus projects 
have included a new parking 
structure, a new Industrial 
Technologies Building, 
the renovation of the 
Campus Center building, 
and technology and safety 
upgrades to most of PCC’s 
existing buildings.

For more information about 
Measure P, call (626) 585-
7258 or visit the Measure P 
website at www.pasadena.
edu/bond.

Measure P 
Oversight 
Committee 
Member 
Appointed

 
Photojournalist and editor 
of the Pasadena Independent 
newspaper, Terry Miller, will 
speak at the 2011 Citizen 
Journalism Speakers Series, a 
free community lecture event. 
The event features local and 
national journalists, telling their 
personal stories and adventures 
in the life of journalism and 
media. The event will be held 
on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at 
6:00pm.

Terry Miller likes to focus in on 
his news stories to get close and 
personal, framing his subjects 
in a sensitive and thought 
provoking manner, developing 
an intimacy for the reader. While 
media competition is fierce 
and challenging in this digital 
world, being fair, objective and 
accurate in local news coverage 
remains his number one goal. It 
is said in journalism, “Tell the 
story, don’t become the story.” 
The proverbial “cardinal rule” 
of journalism changed in 1991. 
When a train derailment shut 
down California’s highway US 
101 for five days that is when 
Terry became the story. 

Terry known for having “Ink in 
the Blood” was born in England. 
In 1965, at the age of eleven, due 
to his father’s work as a Foreign 
News Correspondent for the 
London Daily Telegraph, he 
immigrated to the United States 
on the famous Queen Mary.

As a professional photographer 
he has had the opportunity 
to photograph some of 
Hollywood’s finest actors, 
musicians and comedians 
in their homes and at public 
engagements. Whether 
photographing a riot or a ribbon 
cutting, train derailment or just 
a simple mug shot, he puts his 
heart and soul into the story.

The event will be held at the 
Donald R. Wright Auditorium 
285 E. Walnut St., Pasadena, CA 
91101 (located in the Pasadena 
Central Library) All Events 
Door Open at 6:00pm

Each program includes a 
presentation by the speakers 
and an engaging 15-minute 
question and answer session 
with citizen journalists and 
community members in the 
audience.


Doubles, a lovely, year old, 
tortoise shell cat is in need 
of a loving home. She is very 
outgoing and loves people 
but may prefer to be the only 
cat in the home. She would 
be a great companion for 
someone looking to add a 
little fun to their household. 
Come visit with her today!

The regular cat adoption 
fee is $70 which includes 
the spay or neuter surgery, 
microchip, vaccinations, 
and a free follow-up health 
check at a participating vet.

Please call 626-792-7151 
and ask about A286674 
or come to the Pasadena 
Humane Society & SPCA, 
361 S. Raymond Ave , 
Pasadena CA , 91105 . 
Our adoption hours are 
11-4 Sunday, 9-5 Tuesday, 
Wednesday, Thursday, and 
Friday, and 9-4 Saturday. 
Directions and photos of 
all pets updated hourly 
may be found at www.
pasadenahumane.org

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