Mountain Views News          Saturday, June 4, 2011

5

 Mountain Views News Saturday, June 4, 2011 

Woman 
Signs Over 
Custody of 
Rescued 
Cats

City Mourns Loss 
of Fire Engineer

 


 

 

 Fire Engineer Kevin Moore, 
a 32-year Pasadena Fire 
Department veteran, died 
of sudden cardiac arrest at a 
gym in Upland Tuesday just 
after finishing his 24-hour 
shift.

 Moore, 53 and a second 
generation member of 
the department, recently 
announced his intent to 
retire this coming July. His 
father, Tom Moore, served 
as assistant fire chief in 
Pasadena. Two of Kevin’s 
brothers currently work for 
the Vernon Fire Department.

 As a senior fire engineer, 
Moore was responsible for 
maintaining and driving fire 
apparatus, ensuring his crew 
arrived to incidents safely. 
His responsibilities also 
included operating the fire 
engine pump and fire truck 
aerial ladder during fire and 
rescue situations. 

 As a member of the Regional 
Task Force Urban Search & 
Rescue Team, Moore worked 
out of Station 32, 2424 E. 
Villa St., for more than 10 
years. 

 “Kevin was known as a 
gentle giant; he sported 
a large stature and had a 
sincere, gentle demeanor,” 
said Pasadena Fire Chief 
Dennis Downs. “We just 
returned from an annual 
motorcycle ride where Kevin 
shared that he was looking 
forward to retirement and 
spending time with his kids.” 

 Moore is survived by his 
father, his wife Connie, 
two teenage children, six 
brothers and one sister. He 
was a long-time resident of 
Upland. 

Pasadena Fire Station flags 
will fly at half-staff until 
Moore’s burial.


By Dean Lee

 As an ongoing police 
investigation continues 
into 253 cats rescued from 
a Pasadena location in 
December, officials from the 
Humane Society said over 
half of them had already been 
placed after the owner gave up 
custody last month.

 “Some of them have been 
adopted, “said Ricky Whitman 
Vice President of Community 
Resources. “If you could 
imagine that amount of cats in 
that kind of space, many were 
not handable, so we were able 
to place a number of them in 
situations such as ‘barn cats.’” 

 She said a number of agencies 
had stepped forward taking 
cats they felt strongly they 
could place. 

 “The cats were all in 
reasonably good health, they 
just are not social,” she said. 
“So they are not accustom to a 
lot of human contact, so they 
need a specific type of home.” 

 Whitman said the Pasadena 
Humane Society has less 
than 100 cats left adding that 
they expected the process to 
take a while. She also said no 
criminal charges had yet been 
filed. 

 “They’re [the district 
attorney’s office] still going 
over all the information,” she 
said. “It’s over 250 cats so each 
cat has its own record that has 
to be reviewed.”

 Whitman said when they 
first arrived at the back house 
on Altadena Drive December 
15 they found cats in both 
carrying cages and communal 
cages stacked up to six feet, 
“some were not contained 
and just running around,” she 
added. She also said this was 
the largest incident of this kind 
in the city’s history. 

 News reports at the time also 
said there were 34 dead cats 
found in a large freezer. 

 In Pasadena, Whitman said, 
residents are limited by law to 
owning four cats. 

 

 In Related News

 Whitman said In honor of 
Adopt a Shelter Cat Month, 
the Pasadena Humane 
Society has many “long-term” 
resident cats that are ready 
for adoption. These cats have 
been here for several months 
and are ready for a place to call 
home she said. 

Visit online at www.
pasadenahumane.org and 
come visit in person at 361 
South Raymond Avenue.

Playhouse Park Gets Final Design

By Dean Lee

 A new park proposed at 
the corner of Union Street 
and El Molino Avenue 
moved two steps closer to 
reality Thursday as residents 
both voted on a name and 
chose the final design to 
be submitted to the state 
as part of the official grant 
application.

 Now known as Playhouse 
Park, the .25 acre piece of 
land would also serve as a 
multi-level subterranean 
parking garage. 

 Deborah Murphy, the 
Principal and Urban 
Designer/Planner, of 
Deborah Murphy Urban 
Design and Planning said 
the park was contingent 
on receiving grant money 
through Proposition 84. She 
said the city could get up to 
$5 million to use for the park. 

 “If the park is more than 
that, which the parking 
makes it more than that, that 
money has to be provided by 
another source,” She said. “So 
the city is looking at whether 
that’s redevelopment money 
or parking funds.” 

 The city has until July 1 to 
submit an application for a 
grant she said adding that 
the city council also has 
to approve the application 
process. Erlinda Romo, 
Executive Director of 
the Playhouse District 
Association said the issue 
would be heard at the 
council’s June 20 meeting.

Murphy said there has not 
been any estimate to the total 
cost of both the park and 
underground garage.

 “We wanted to finalize 
the design and then in the 
next couple of weeks will be 
cranking out the numbers on 
the final cost.”

 The final design, done by 
community input, has a 
large “community green” 
with planted Buffalo Grass 
surrounded by an oval 
pathway of decomposed 
granite explained Amy 
Korn Design Principal of 
kornrandolph, inc. The path 
would be edged by concrete 
curbs and lit with low power 
LED lights. She said artful 
sandblasted text about the 
park and Playhouse District 
would also line the path as 
well as semi-circular benches. 

 There would also be a plaza, 
flexible for performances, on 
the west made of an open 
steel and wire arbor for 
vines. The east ends of the 
oval paths would meet with 
a tiered stone water feature. 
Kron also said there would be 
an ADA compliant discovery 
path steeped from the North 
to South saying there would 
be an eight foot rise in the 
park for cars to enter and exit 
the underground parking. 
There would also be a kid’s 
playground along El Molino 
she said.

 Romo said a parking study 
in 2005 showed, at the time, 
a shortage of 300 parking 
spaces in the area. She said 
the structure could have two 
possibly three floors with 
500 to 600 hundred parking 
spaces.

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 June 7th 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


House Approves 
Schiff’s Measure on 
Military Use of Burn Pits

 Erlinda Romo, Executive 
Director of the Playhouse District 
Association cuts a cake 
celebrating the final design of 
Playhouse Park. 

Motor 
Classic 
Benefits 
Humane 
Society

 As the House considered the 
National Defense Authorization 
bill for FY 2012, the chamber, 
last week, approved a measure 
offered by local Congressman 
Adam Schiff requiring the 
Secretary of Defense to submit 
reports to Congress on the 
health impacts on our troops 
when waste is disposed of in 
open-air burn pits. While burn 
pits have been an expedient 
method of disposing waste 
at operating bases in Iraq 
and Afghanistan, the types 
of materials that have been 
burned produce hazardous 
toxins, such as carcinogens that 
are produced when plastics are 
burned.

“The short and long term affects 
of exposure to toxins released 
from open-air burn pits have 
yet to be determined, but could 
be injuring the respiratory 
systems of our troops,” Rep. 
Schiff said. “This amendment 
will help to ensure the safety 
and health of our brave men 
and women in uniform who 
risk their lives each day as they 
serve and protect the nation.”

A Government Accountability 
Office (GAO) report, published 
in October 2010, concluded that 
the military relied heavily on 
open air burn pits in both Iraq 
and Afghanistan. There are still 
78 open air burn pits operating 
at bases in close proximity 
to U.S. Military personnel. 
Furthermore, the operators of 
the burn pits have not always 
followed relevant guidance to 
protect service members from 
exposure to harmful emissions, 
according to GAO.

GAO also concluded that U.S. 
troops in Afghanistan and Iraq 
did not sample or monitor burn 
pit emissions as required by U.S. 
Central Command, stating that 
“the health impacts of burn pit 
exposure on individuals are not 
well understood, partly because 
the military does not collect 
required data on emissions or 
exposures from burn pits.”

Under Rep. Schiff’s amendment, 
each health assessment report 
submitted to the Senate and 
House Committees on Armed 
Services will be required to 
include a description of short 
and long term health risks; 
methodology used to determine 
the health risks; and the 
assessment of the operational 
and health risks when making 
the determination to continue 
the use of open-air burn pits for 
waste disposal.

Community Invited 
To Give Input on Next 
Director of Public Works

 Pasadena residents and 
other stakeholders are 
invited to provide input on 
the search for the city’s next 
director of public works 
Thursday, June 7, at La Casita 
del Arroyo, 177 S. Arroyo 
Blvd. The meeting goes from 
6:30 to 8 p.m. 

 City Manager Michael J. 
Beck, who will make the 
final selection, encourages 
Pasadenans to participate 
by voicing their opinions on 
the ideal qualities the next 
director of public works 
should possess and the 
issues the director should be 
prepared to undertake. 

 “I value the opinions of 
everyone in the community 
and look forward to their 
input,” said Beck.

 There is also an opportunity 
to provide input online at 
www.cityofpasadena.net/
citymanager. 

 The Public Works 
Department maintains city 
parks and street trees, streets 
and roadways, buildings 
and vehicles, sewers and 
storm drains, street lights 
and traffic signals, and trails, 
streams and habitats. 

 The new director will 
have an opportunity to 
present a fresh assessment 
of the department’s business 
practices, systems and 
customer orientation.

 After semi-finalist 
candidates have been 
identified, Beck will appoint 
a community committee 
to assist him in selecting 
three to four finalists. He 
anticipates appointing a 
new department director by 
October or November.

 For more information 
call the Pasadena Human 
Resources Department at 
(626) 744-4366.

Pet of the 
Week

The San Marino Motor 
Classic, Design in Motion 
& CCCA Grand Classic 
will showcase American 
and European classic cars 
from 1925-1947 and a 
contemporary collection 
including ground 
breaking hybrids and 
Super Cars. David Kuntz, 
KABC’s Eyewitness News 
Automotive Specialist and 
member of the Society of 
Automotive Historians, 
will serve as Master of 
Ceremonies.

A continuation of the highly 
successful Los Angeles 
Concours d’Elegance, 
hosted annually from 2005-
2009 by the Assistance 
League of Los Angeles, the 
San Marino Motor Classic 
will feature vehicles from 
the Classic Car Club of 
America, Brass Era Classics, 
Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, 
Porsche, Corvette, Ferrari 
and Cobra. Other classes 
will include hot rods, race 
cars and woodies.

The San Marino Motor 
Classic will be June 12, 2011 
at Lacy Park in San Marino. 
Proceeds from the event will 
go to the Pasadena Humane 
Society & SPCA and San 
Marino Rotary Charities. 
The show is open to the 
public from 9:00am-4:00pm. 
Tickets may be purchased 
online for $25 before 
the event and donations 
made on line at www.
sanmarinomotorclassic.
com. Tickets are $30 at the 
event.


Pappas, a three-year-old 
Chihuahua mix is too cute 
for words! He has a happy 
personality, is very active, 
and loves people. He also 
gets along with the other 
little dogs in his kennel. 
Pappas loves to cuddle 
andplay. He needs a home 
where he will receive plenty 
of attention. Come visit 
with him today! 

The regular dog adoption 
fee is $120, which includes 
medical care prior to 
adoption, spaying or 
neutering, vaccinations, 
and a follow-up visit with a 
participating vet. 

Please call 626-792-7151 
and ask for A285836 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

‘City Beat’ Topics Include 
Redistricting, First Source 
Hiring Ordinance

 

 

 

 Due to a high level of 
community interest about 
Pasadena ’s Redistricting 
Task Force, the deadline for 
applications has been extended 
to Tuesday, June 14.

 City of Pasadena voting 
districts are reviewed every 
10 years based on new U.S. 
Census data. The seven 
district boundaries define the 
geographic representation of 
the Pasadena City Council.

 California state law provides 
that after each federal census, 
and using that data as a basis, 
the Pasadena City Council must 
determine whether adjustments 
to the boundaries of any or all 
districts are needed.

 After a review of all 
applications, nine residents 
will be appointed to the task 
force during the June 20 council 
meeting based on nominations. 
The mayor and each council 
member will nominate one 
representative and the mayor 
will nominate one additional 
at-large representative. The task 
force will review the Census 
2010 data for Pasadena. 

 Applications are available 
at www.cityofpasadena.net/
commissions, in room S228 at 
Pasadena City Hall or by calling 
(626) 744-4311. 

Deadline 
Extended For 
Redistricting 
Task Force

 Topics on the latest edition 
of “City Beat” on KPAS and 
the Internet include the 
Redistricting Task Force, 
which will be appointed next 
month, incoming Human 
Services and Recreation 
Director Mercy Santoro and 
proposed review of the First 
Source Hiring Ordinance.

Moderator Ann Erdman is 
joined by Pasadena Mayor 
Bill Bogaard and Mountain 
Views News city editor Dean 
Lee.

“City Beat” replays Mondays 
at 2 and 6 p.m., Tuesdays at 
7:30 p.m., Wednesdays at 
8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 7 
p.m., Fridays at 8:30 p.m., 
Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. and 
Sundays at 8:30 a.m.

KPAS is on channel 3 on the 
Charter Communications 
cable system in Pasadena 
and channel 99 on AT&T 
U-Verse. Streaming video 
of all KPAS programming 
can be accessed in real time 
at www.cityofpasadena.net/
publicaffairs and clicking on 
the KPAS icon.

For more information about 
the program call (626) 744-
4755.

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