Mountain Views News          Saturday, April 14, 2012

4


Mountain Views-News Saturday, April 14, 2012 


Woman 
Sentenced 
in Altadena 
Murder

Officials Urge Patients 
over McDade Shooting

 Councilmember Chris 
Holden and Mayor Bill 
Bogaard released an open 
letter to the community 
Wednesday urging the public 
and media to be patient 
in the investigation of the 
officer-involved shooting 
death of Kendrec McDade 
on March 24.

 The letter reads, “As 
elected representatives of 
our community, we urge all 
Pasadenans to be patient and 
to allow the investigations 
to run their respective 
courses and return their 
findings. Following the 
investigations, there will be 
ample opportunity for the 
community and the news 
media to thoroughly review 
and discuss the results. “

 It also states, “Currently, 
four investigations are in 
motion: by the Los Angeles 
County District Attorney, 
the Office of Independent 
Review Group, the United 
States Department of Justice 
Civil Rights Program 
and the Pasadena Police 
Department. We believe the 
four separate investigations 
will ensure thoroughness, 
impartiality and fairness. “

 “Our entire community 
needs to know the truth 
as part of the healing 
process as we move forward 
together. And, of course, 
the McDade family deserves 
the information necessary to 
help them understand how 
and why they lost their son.”

 On Tuesday, Caree 
Harper, an attorney for 
the McDade family called 
for an independent civil 
rights investigation by the 
Department of Justice. 
Harper made the comment 
at a rally, attended by 
hundreds including McDade 
family members, on the steps 
of city hall.

 Last week, Harper filed a 
wrongful death and civil 
rights lawsuit against the 
Pasadena Police.

 A 27-year-old woman 
convicted of kidnapping 
her lover’s child from 
an Altadena home and 
killing the child’s uncle 
was sentenced Wednesday 
to up to life in prison, the 
District Attorney’s Office 
announced. 

 Los Angeles Superior Court 
Judge Lance Ito sentenced 
Mesha Arshaz Dean to 49 
years, four months to life in 
state prison. 

 Dean was convicted by 
a jury on March 26 of one 
count each of second-
degree murder, child abuse 
and kidnapping with a 
special allegation that the 
child victim was under 14. 

 Deputy District Attorney 
Tamu Usher of the 
Family Violence Division 
prosecuted the case. 

Co-defendant Vanessa 
Ochoa, 27, the child’s 
biological mother, was 
sentenced to 15 years 
in state prison on April 
9. Under the terms of a 
negotiated plea agreement, 
Ochoa pleaded guilty to 
one count each of voluntary 
manslaughter, child abuse 
and kidnapping on Aug. 25, 
2010. 

 The couple drove from Las 
Vegas to Altadena where 
the then-four-year-old 
child lived with his father 
and grandparents. On the 
afternoon of March 16, 
2007, the boy was under the 
care of his uncle, identified 
as Monroe Miles Jr., when 
the pair arrived to carry out 
the abduction. 

 The 33-year-old victim 
was fatally shot by Dean 
who, thereafter, fled to Las 
Vegas with Ochoa and the 
child. Dean and Ochoa 
were arrested with the boy 
in Las Vegas two days later 
by Las Vegas Metro police. 
The child was unharmed. 

Street Pianos Hit the Right Key

By Dean Lee

 Free to play pianos started 
showing up Thursday around 
Pasadena in various places such 
as Veroman’s books patio and 
One Colorado courtyard. The 
brightly painted instruments 
are part of the “Play Me, I’m 
Yours” project.

 Orchestra Director Jeffrey 
Kahane told CBS news the 
pianos were not just about 
getting people to listen to music, 
but to actually get involved in 
playing. Kahane said the project 
launched at noon with 30 
performers each playing “The 
Well-Tempered Clavier,” by J. 
S. Bach, on one of the public 
pianos simultaneously.

 Touring internationally since 
2008, Play Me, I’m Yours is an 
artwork installation by British 
artist Luke Jerram. All the pianos 
are designed and decorated by 
local artists and community 
organizations. Jerram’s website, 
streetpianos.com, lists all the 
piano locations, including 
the Pasadena Conservancy of 
Music, Glendale Community 
College and Rhino Records in 
Claremont.

 Play Me, I’m Yours celebrates 
acclaimed conductor and 
pianist Jeffrey Kahane’s 15th 
anniversary as Los Angeles 
Chamber Orchestra music 
director. 

 Kahane made his conducting 
debut at the Oregon Bach 
Festival in 1988. Since then, he 
has guest conducted orchestras 
such as the New York and Los 
Angeles philharmonics; the 
Philadelphia Orchestra; the 
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; 
the Academy of St. Martin in 
the Fields; and the Chicago, 
Detroit, St. Louis, Baltimore, 
Indianapolis, Dallas and New 
World symphonies; among 
others.

 The pianos will be available for 
the public to play through May 
3. Although some of the pianos 
are outside, Jerram said all of 
them will be protected from the 
elements such as rain. 

 A musician, pictured above, 
plays a piano at Veroman’s Books 
late Thursday night. People 
had been playing nonstop 
since the piano was installed at 
noon. Artists have also taken 
to YouTube posting videos 
showing themselves playing on 
the street instruments.

Bunkall 
exhibition 
on View 
through 
April 22

Pasadena Symphony 
to Host Musical Circus

 
This season’s fourth 
Musical Circus this Sunday, 
presented in partnership 
between the Pasadena 
Symphony Association 
and The Americana at 
Brand in Glendale, is an 
interactive event where 
children can learn about 
one of the most dynamic 
and versatile instruments, 
the saxophone. Saxophonist 
Steve Marsh, who toured 
with Lyle Lovett for 20 years, 
will lead the children in 
an exploration of the sax, 
which is used in rock, funk, 
and other popular music, as 
well as movie soundtracks, 
wind ensembles, and even 
occasionally with a full 
symphony.

 The Pasadena Symphony 
Association’s Musical Circus 
is for children 3-8 years of 
age and will begin with the 
instrument “petting zoo” 
where youngsters can toot 
flutes, blow trumpets, pluck 
violins and cellos and bang 
on percussion instruments. 
A performance with Steve 
Marsh will begin shortly 
after the petting zoo.

 
This event is free and open 
to the general public. The 
Americana at Brand in 
Glendale, 889 Americana 
Way. Petting zoo begins at 
1:00 p.m. Performance with 
Steve Marsh begins at 1:30 
p.m.

 
The Pasadena Museum of 
California Art exhibition 
Richard Bunkall: A Portrait 
is on view through April 
22. Curated by art critic 
Peter Frank, the exhibition 
surveys the paintings, 
drawings, and sculptures of 
the Pasadena-based artist 
and educator known for 
his distinct style, with its 
atmospheric evocation of 
urban space. The exhibition 
looks at several of the 
periods through which 
the artist passed in his 
twenty-five year career 
before dying at 45 of ALS 
(Lou Gehrig’s disease), 
highlighting particular 
themes and approaches 
as well as revealing more 
private aspects of the artist’s 
oeuvre.

Richard Bunkall: A Portrait 
includes more than twenty 
works in a various media 
and is accompanied by 
a comprehensive book 
surveying Bunkall’s art and 
life, featuring essays by 
Frank and others. 

 Described by Frank as “a 
modernist, not a classicist, 
[Bunkall was] a classicizing 
kind of modernist, wanting 
to give his modernism the 
weight of history rather than 
the lightness of a historic 
innovation.” Bunkall’s 
trained his rich but muted 
palette and painterly 
approach on a broad and 
fanciful consideration of 
the urban environment, 
one that imagines cities first 
as man-made landscapes, 
often seen from a bird’s-eye 
vantage, then as complex, 
mysterious interiors in 
which improbable things 
are seen in improbable 
situations.

 PMCA is located at 490 
East Union Street. For 
information, the please call 
626-568-3665 or visit the 
website: www.pmcaonline.
org.


Disaster Bill Passes 

Key Legislative Hurdle

Steve Marsh

 


 Assemblymember Anthony 
Portantino’s bill to improve 
emergency and disaster 
preparedness in California was 
unanimously approved today 
12 to 0 in the Assembly Utilities 
and Commerce Committee.

 AB 1650 requires public 
utilities to hold comprehensive 
disaster preparedness meetings 
every two years with the 
counties and cities they service 
in order to improve readiness 
and better prepare for natural 
disasters.

 “In the wake of the fierce winds 
and power outages that caused 
so much damage in Southern 
California late last year, we 
need to look at these events 
in a different way,” explained 
Portantino. “By requiring 
utilities to conduct public 
preparedness hearings every 
two years, we will be better able 
to coordinate response time, 
service and public safety.”

 A recent report commissioned 
by Southern California Edison 
said the utility could be 
better prepared for a major 
disaster and could have cut its 
response time if it had been. 
A preliminary report from 
the California Public Utilities 
Commission stated that in 
some cases Southern California 
Edison’s equipment did not 
meet safety standards and that 
the utility was slow to restore 
power. The PUC is in the process 
of an ongoing investigation.

 The San Gabriel Valley was hit 
hard in early December 2011 by 
devastating winds that knocked 
out power to nearly a quarter-
of-a-million customers; some 
of them for more than a week.

Pet of 
the Week


Citizen 
Journalism 
Meet-up

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

 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 17 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.

 Frankie is a five-year-old 
black and tan Miniature 
Pinscher. He’s got tons of 
energy, but knows how to 
relax. He loves to sunbathe 
too! 

 Frankie’s adoption fee is 
$120, which includes his 
neuter surgery, a microchip, 
the first set of vaccinations, 
as well as a free follow-
up health check at a 
participating vet. He also 
qualifies for our Seniors 
for Seniors program in 
which adopters 60 years 
old or older pay the $20 
mandatory microchip fee. 
New adopters will receive 
complimentary health and 
wellness exam from VCA 
Animal Hospitals. Ask an 
adoptions counselor for 
more information during 
your visit.

 Call the Pasadena 
Humane Society & SPCA at 
626.792.7151 to ask about 
A303066, or visit at 361 S. 
Raymond Ave. in Pasadena. 
Adoption hours are 11-4 
Sunday, 9-5 Tuesday –
Friday, 9-4 Saturday. 
Directions and photos of all 
pets can be found at www.
pasadenahumane.org.

Vote To Help Rebuild 
City’s Urban Forest

Armenian Community, City 
to Commemorate Genocide

 On the 97th anniversary 
of the beginning of what 
became known as the 
Armenian Genocide, the 
local Armenian community 
will join with Pasadena 
officials to mark the occasion 
with ceremonies at city hall. 

 Tuesday, April 24, from 
10 to 11:30 a.m., residents 
from area Armenian 
organizations, churches 
and schools will gather to 
remember the systematic 
killing of as many as 1.5 
million Armenians from 
1915 through 1923 in what 
was then the Ottoman 
Empire. The United States 
Marine Corps will perform 
the official salute and about 
40 elected public leaders 
and representatives are 
expected to attend. The city 
hall commemoration is an 
annual event. 

 “It’s a time of remembrance 
of all the lives lost,” said 
Armenian Community 
Coalition Chairman 
Khatchik Chris Chahinian, 
“and it’s a call for the official 
recognition of this terrible 
suffering.” 

 While 43 American states, 
including California, and 
more than 20 countries 
officially recognize the 
deaths as an act of genocide, 
the United States has not 
officially done so. The 
Republic of Turkey, the 
successor government to the 
Ottoman Empire, does not 
accept the term “genocide” 
in reference to the Armenian 
deaths. 

 Pasadena City Hall is 
located at 100 N. Garfield. 
For more information about 
this year’s event call 626-399-
1799 or visit the Armenian 
Community Coalition of 
Pasadena at www.acc-us.org. 

 

 The devastating hurricane-
force windstorm that battered 
the San Gabriel Valley in 
December knocked down more 
than 1,500 Pasadena street 
trees. Now you can help rebuild 
our urban forest with just the 
simple click of a mouse or a tap 
of a screen. 

 Recently, two community 
organizations, the Pasadena 
Community Foundation and 
Pasadena Beautiful Foundation, 
partnered to create the 
Windstorm Tree Fund and 
together donated to the city an 
impressive $40,000 to pay for 
new trees. Now, just by going 
online, Pasadenans have a 
chance to add another $10,000 
to that amount. 

 The Odwalla juice company is 
awarding $10,000 tree-planting 
grants to 10 community 
projects across the country. 
The Windstorm Tree Fund for 
Pasadena is one of 20 nominated 
projects vying for the 10 grants. 
Winners will be determined 
simply by the number of online 
votes cast. 

 Please take a moment to visit 
www.odwalla.com/plantatree 
before May 30, click on VOTE 
and choose the “Pasadena 
Windstorm Replacement 
Project” video. You can only 
vote once, so please help spread 
the word with friends through 
e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, etc. 

 For more information about 
the city’s tree replacement 
efforts, contact Darya Barar, 
Pasadena Parks and Natural 
Resources, at 626-744-3846. 

 For information about how 
you can contribute directly 
to the Windstorm Tree Fund 
for Pasadena and to follow 
its progress, visit Pasadena 
Beautiful Foundation online 
at www.pasadenabeautiful.
org and Pasadena Community 
Foundation at www.pasadenacf.
org. Facebook users can “like” 
the Windstorm Tree Fund for 
Pasadena page. 

Antonovich 
Response to 
the Austin 
Report

 Los Angeles County Supervisor 
Michael Antonovich release 
the following statement today:

 Dr. Austin’s half-baked 
proposals miss the mark in 
protecting public safety and 
holding criminals accountable. 
The agenda of Dr. Austin and 
the ACLU are clear – shut 
down Mens Central Jail and 
release criminals into our 
communities.

 While Mens Central Jail is 
old, shutting it down without 
a comparable replacement 
threatens public safety and 
makes a mockery of our 
criminal justice system.