Mountain Views News          Saturday, July 30, 2011

4


Mountain Views News Saturday, July 30, 2011


Trucker Convicted of 
Vehicular Manslaughter

Armenian 
Identity 
Festival Set 
for Sunday

 A jury Friday convicted a 
commercial truck driver of 
involuntary manslaughter, 
vehicular manslaughter and 
reckless driving causing 
injury in the fatal 2009 crash 
in La Canada Flintridge that 
killed a 12-year-old girl and 
her father. 

 The jury of 10 men and 
two women found Marcos 
Barbosa Costa, 46, guilty of 
the crash that killed Angelina 
Posca and her 58-year-old 
father, Angel Posca, both 
of Palmdale. He was found 
guilty of two counts each of 
involuntary manslaughter 
and vehicular manslaughter.

 The jury also found the 
Massachusetts resident guilty 
of injuring three people in 
the April 1, 2009, crash at 
Angeles Crest Highway and 
Foothill Boulevard. 

The jury found him not 
guilty of two counts of 
murder. They hung on two 
allegations of causing great 
bodily injury to two victims 
and found that one allegation 
of causing GBI not true. 

 Deputy District Attorney 
Carolina Lugo prosecuted 
the case. 

The case was investigated 
by the Los Angeles County 
Sheriff’s Department. 

Costa returns to court on 
Sept. 8 for sentencing before 
Pasadena Superior Court 
Judge Darrell Mavis. Costa 
faces up to nine years in state 
prison. 

 Witnesses testified Costa 
ignored warnings from an 
off-duty firefighter who 
pulled him over and said 
smoke was billowing from 
his brakes and warned him 
the road was worse going 
down. 

 By the time the truck 
reached Foothill Boulevard, 
the brakes appeared to have 
failed as the truck ran a red 
light and slammed into the 
Poscas’ red Ford, dragging 
it 150 feet. The truck struck 
six more vehicles before 
slamming into a bookstore 
and nail salon.

 Pasadena Mayor Bill 
Bogaard will cut a cake at 
4 p.m. celebrating Pasadena’s 
125 birthday.

 This Sunday will mark the 
fourth annual Armenian 
Identity Festival as hundreds of 
Armenian American celebrate 
at Victory Park with Food, 
live music, booths, children’s 
activities, and a tribute to 
early Armenian settlers in 
Pasadena. The Armenian 
Community Coalition event 
is co-sponsored by the city of 
Pasadena

 Founder and President of 
Armenian Identity Harvest, 
Khatchik Chahinian said 
Thursday, “This is bringing 
the Armenian community 
together every year to 
celebrate our dual heritage 
as an Armenian American 
citizen and the positive impact 
in the community and family 
values.”

 Chahinian added that this 
year the festival would also take 
part in celebrating Pasadena’s 
125 birthday with a cake 
cutting by Mayor Bill Bogaard. 
He said even through the 
festival has been growing over 
the year’s this year they expect 
an even larger crowd that will 
include elected officials and 
other city employees. 

 “We expect a lot of people and 
have partnered with the police 
department, fire department,” 
he said. “We have outreached 
to the African American 
communities, the Latino 
communities. We would like 
this to be an event that we 
can all come together and 
celebrate.”

 He also said there would be 
a classic car show and catering 
by Robin’s Wood Fire BBQ and 
Grill. 

 As well as BBQ, Chahinian 
said there would be plenty 
of authentic Armenian food. 
When asked what was a must 
to try he said, “Easy, Kabob, 
Hummus [although not a 
traditional Armenian recipe] 
and all the beautiful pastries.”

 He said all the festivities start 
at noon and go until 8 p.m.

 “At 2 p.m. the U.S. Marines 
are going to do a flag ceremony 
and Color Guard,” he said. “We 
will also have kid’s activities, 
moon jumpers and a petting 
zoo.” 

 Chahinian said, last year, the 
police department landed one 
of the helicopters in the park 
an SWAT did a demonstration. 

 Victory Park is at 2575 Paloma 
Street. Free admission and free 
parking he said. For more 
information go to www.acc-us.
org or call 626-399-1799.

Opportunity Fair Focuses On Local Hires

 The city Finance Department’s 
Pasadena First Buy Local hosted 
an Opportunity Fair Thursday, 
in which, businesses and 
residents interested in working 
on the Rose Bowl Stadium 
Renovation project got the 
chance to meet first hand with 
those involved in the project. 

 “Contractors that are working 
at the Rose bowl, have been 
working at the Rose Bowl and 
additional contractors that 
think they might be working 
at the Rose Bowl are here,” 
said Larry Hammond the city’s 
Purchasing Administrator in 
charge of putting the event 
together. “What we want to do 
is provide an opportunity, not 
only for local businesses to talk 
to those contractors through 
this renovation process, but also 
for local hiring.”

 Hammond said the Rose Bowl 
renovation was just ending 
Phase I of the project.

 “We are going to ratchet down 
a little bit as we get ready to go 
into football season,” he said. 
“After the Rose Bowl game [in 
January] we’ll ratchet up again.” 

 He said most of the contractors 
were getting ready for phase II.

 “A big part of all this is to 
expand the press box as part of 
phase II,” he said adding that 
they just finished redoing the 
score boards and cleaning up 
the billboards around the rim of 
the stadium. He said they also 
widened two of the tunnels and 
removed some seating.

 “We do know what’s coming 
down the pike, there will be 
more tunnel widening and more 
of the perimeter work will be 
done, outside bathrooms, that 
kind of thing.” He said.

 Sergio Ramos, Field 
Representative for Laborers 
Local 300, said they were 
charged with bringing in the 
local hires. He said during Phase 
1 they had about 25 people 
employed from Pasadena.

 “That from our union,” he said. 
“Yah, it’s really hard to know 
how many we will have in the 
next phase.

 Ramos said the contractors all 
have their own crews but call 
them to fill in the local hires 
requirement by the city. He 
failed to say if there was a quota. 

 He said they were also 
responsible for the apprentice 
program in which laborers can 
get training while working.

 Currently Laborers Local 300 
has also put residents to work 
on other Pasadena projects 
including, on the 210 freeway, 
Caltech building upgrades, and 
street maintenance on Colorado 
Blvd. among others Ramos said.

 

 

 

 

Altadena Sheriff’s Station 
Installs Drug Drop Boxes 


PCC Receives 
Talent Grant 

Local Teens Make Web 

Series on Under-Age Drinking

 Pasadena City College has 
been selected by the U.S. 
Department of Education 
to receive funding under the 
Talent Search Program to 
serve 500 at-risk students. 
The grant awards $230,000 
per year over five years to 
provide students with a 
comprehensive program of 
support services, enabling 
them to complete high 
school and succeed in 
higher education.

 PCC’s Talent Search will 
begin with a thorough 
plan to identify and select 
students according to the 
eligibility guidelines. The 
program will target the 
needs of students through 
a structured schedule of 
assessment, monitoring, 
services, and activities 
designed to provide 
them with the skills and 
motivation to succeed. 
It will offer academic 
and cultural enrichment 
activities, workshops for 
social and interpersonal 
communication and 
collaborative learning skills, 
tutoring, and assistance in 
completing college financial 
aid forms and admissions 
applications.

 Talent Search will 
coordinate with PCC’s other 
TRIO programs – Classic 
Upward Bound, Math/
Science Upward Bound, and 
Student Support Services. 
With the addition of the 
Talent Search Program, the 
college’s combined TRIO 
programs will provide more 
than $1 million annually 
and in excess of $5.3 million 
over the five-year grant 
period.

 Talent Search is one of eight 
federal TRIO Programs 
whose purpose is to assist 
disadvantaged students 
starting in middle school 
and continuing through 
graduate school. It identifies 
and assists individuals from 
disadvantaged backgrounds 
who have the potential 
to succeed in higher 
education. The program 
provides academic, career, 
and financial counseling to 
students and encourages 
them to graduate from 
high school and continue 
on to and complete higher 
education. The program 
also encourages young 
people who left school to go 
back and finish. 

 For more information, 
please call (626) 585-7384.

 When most teens are 
spending their days 
relaxing at the beach or 
park, members of the CHP 
(Campus Health Promoters) 
have been in pre-production 
for “Pretty Little Drunk,” a 
web-series being produced 
by OnWeb Television in 
conjunction with NATHA 
(Neighbors Acting Together 
to Help All). The series 
follows NORA, a 15 year old 
high-school girl who begins 
to use alcohol to hide from 
her problems and the friend 
who gains the courage to 
finally confront her.

 The teens are from local high 
schools in the Pasadena area 
and have been involved in all 
aspects of the production, 
including deciding upon the 
web series title. “Pretty Little 
Drunk” starts production on 
August 3rd at the offices of 
NATHA in Pasadena and will 
shoot for three days around 
NATHA. The web-series 
uses a combination of local 
teens and professional actors 
cast in lead and supporting 
roles and is being produced 
to help teens realize the 
negative effects of under-age 
drinking.

 NATHA is a true grassroots 
non-profit organization 
serving low income families 
in the largely minority 
Lincoln Corrid

or of Northwest Pasadena. 
The organization was 
recently funded through 
the federal Drug Free 
Communities(DFC) 
Program, which provides 
grants of up to $125,000 to 
community coalitions that 
mobilize their community 
to prevent youth alcohol, 
tobacco, illicit drug and 
inhalant abuse. The Drug 
Free Communities Support 
Program will enable 
NATHA to strengthen 
their prevention efforts and 
encourage the community to 
join forces in their substance 
abuse reduction efforts.

 The Altadena Sheriff’s 
Station announced Thursday 
the installation of one 
Prescription and one Illicit 
Drug drop box in the front 
of their station. The boxes 
are located on the northwest 
side of the Altadena Sheriff’s 
Station at 780 E. Altadena 
Boulevard, Altadena. 
Residents are now able 
to drop off any unwanted 
prescription drugs and any 
illegal drugs at the Sheriff’s 
Station with no questions 
asked. We anticipate 
installing a hypodermic 
needle drop box in the near 
future. Please feel free to use 
these boxes as an alternative 
to flushing unwanted drugs 
into the sewer system or 
placing them in the trash. 

 For further questions 
contact Lieutenant Joseph 
Dempsey at 626-798-1131

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 
Aug. 2 from 6 p.m. to 8p.m. 
at the Pasadena Community 
Network - Studio G, 2057 N. 
Los Robles Ave.

 For more info call 
626.794.8585 or visit 
pasadenan.com.

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

Pet of the 
Week


Schiff Applauds Deal with 
China Search Engine

 

 One Stop China, a joint 
venture between Sony Music, 
Warner Music, and Universal 
Music, announced Tuesday a 
licensing deal with Chinese 
search and social networking 
giant Baidu. One of the 10 
most trafficked websites in the 
world and the most popular 
website in China, Baidu has 
long been a major concern 
for U.S. copyright holders, as 
their services connected users 
to infringing music and video 
content and facilitated piracy. 
Baidu has been highlighted by 
the International Anti Piracy 
Caucus in its annual watch list 
every year since 2008, and in 
2010, it was included among 
a list of six “Rogue Sites” that 
facilitate digital piracy on a 
massive scale.

 “With this deal, American 
creators will be fairly 
compensated for their talents,” 
,” said International Anti 
Piracy Caucus Co-Chair Rep. 
Adam Schiff. ” I applaud the 
deal and hope it is the first of 
many more steps by Baidu and 
other Chinese companies to 
respect international copyright 
norms. I also hope it sends 
a powerful message to other 
foreign websites identified in 
the 2011 Anti Piracy Caucus 
Watchlist, such as the Russian 
website vKontakte, that it’s 
time to become good corporate 
citizens.”

The International Anti Piracy 
Caucus’s 2011 Watchlist report 
highlighted China as one of five 
nations of particular concern 
with regards to intellectual 
property protections. The 
report addressed Baidu at 
length, saying, “Websites 
offering pirated music remain 
an enormous problem. Baidu, 
the leader among China’s ‘deep-
linking’ sites that connect users 
to infringing content, facilitates 
Internet piracy through its 
dedicated music service. We 
highlighted Baidu among our 
2010 Rogue Sites List, and 
we continue to believe that 
Baidu’s facilitation of digital 
piracy drastically lessens the 
market for legitimate content 
in China. Approximately 
half of unauthorized music 
downloads in China take 
place through Baidu links. 
Indeed, as the United States 
Trade Representative reported 
in its Special 301 Review of 
Notorious Markets in February 
of this year; Baidu is the most 
visited site in China, and 
ranks among the top ten most 
visited sites in the world. In 
addition, numerous popular 
Internet forums point users to 
Chinese cyberlockers, where 
unauthorized files are available 
for download or streaming. 
Peer-to-peer file-sharing and 
streaming of infringing music 
content also remain pervasive.”

PCC Local Vendor Information 
Meetings Set for August 

 Freddy, a two year old, chow 
chow mix is so adorable! He 
can be a bit shy when you 
first meet him but he will 
surely blossom in a loving 
home. He is calm, knows 
the sit command, takes 
gently from your hand, 
and enjoys gentle scratches 
under his neck. And just 
look at that smile!

 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 A290955 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

 

 Pasadena City College 
wishes to invite local 
vendors, contractors, and 
suppliers who are interested 
in working with the District 
and PCC to information 
meetings on August 5 and 
6. The event begins at 9 a.m. 
both days, with a program 
and presentation beginning 
at 10 a.m. The event will 
be held in PCC’s Creveling 
Lounge in the Campus 
Center.

 The sessions are designed 
to introduce prospective 
suppliers to PCC purchasing 
procedures, bidding, 
invoicing, and general 
needs of the college. Session 
highlights include a brief 
introduction to the District’s 
current and upcoming 
projects, a question-and-
answer session, and group 
interaction.

 PCC contracts with vendors 
for items such as building 
materials, painting services, 
plumbing services, network 
cabling, instructional 
materials, computers, 
laboratory equipment, 
and consulting services. 
Contracts also range in scope 
from individual purchases to 
large construction elements 
associated with the District’s 
$150 million Measure P 
projects.

 The District strongly 
encourages local businesses 
and suppliers whose main 
office is located within the 
limits of the District to take 
part in the information 
sessions. A District map 
is available online at the 
PCC website at www.
pasadena.edu or by typing 
www.pasadena.edu/board/
districtmap2.cfm into your 
web browser.

 Parking will be free in Lots 
1 and 4. 

 For more information, 
contact Purchasing Services 
at (626) 585-7367.