Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 19, 2012

4


Mountain Views-News Saturday, May 19, 2012 


McDade 
Shooting 
Autopsy 
Released

Public Invited To Civic 
Center Ribbon Cutting

The City 
Looks To 
New Fees

 The public is invited to 
join Pasadena’s Mayor, City 
Council members and other 
City officials to celebrate the 
completion of the Civic Center 
Design Project. A special 
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony will 
be held at 3 p.m., Tuesday, May 
22, in the Centennial Square 
in front of City Hall, 100 N. 
Garfield Avenue. 

 The Civic Center Mid-Town 
Design Project began in July 
1997 with the formation of a 
Task Force to identify much-
needed improvements to the 
streetscape, walkways, parking, 
signage and lighting along 
Garfield Avenue and Holly 
Street adjacent to City Hall. 

 “The civic improvement 
project now provides the public 
with easier access when visiting 
our historic City Hall and other 
nearby City buildings,” Public 
Works Department Director 
Siobhan Foster said. 

 After a thorough design 
process, construction for 
the $4.1 million multi-phase 
project began in February 
2011 and was completed in 
December 2011. Foster said 
project improvement highlights 
include: 

 -New brick sidewalks on Holly 
Street and repaired historic 
brick sidewalks on Garfield 
Avenue 

 -Parking redesign on Garfield 
Avenue 

 -New parking islands, 
ADA-compliant curb ramps, 
crosswalks, bump-outs for 
narrowed crosswalks and new 
storm drain systems 

 -New pedestrian light poles 
and luminaries on Colorado 
Boulevard and upgrades to the 
historic street lights in the Civic 
Center area 

 -Replaced Carrot Wood trees 
on Colorado Boulevard and 
new landscaping between 
sidewalks and building facades 
on Holly Street. 

 The original Task Force 
included representatives from 
the City Council, the Pasadena 
Chamber of Commerce, local 
property owners and the 
Pasadena Heritage organization, 
according to Foster. 

 The May 22 ceremony 
highlighting the project’s 
completion is being held in 
conjunction with National 
Public Works Week, May 21-
25, which celebrates the hard 
work of the men and women 
throughout the United States 
who do the engineering, 
infrastructure construction, 
roadway maintenance and 
other behind-the-scenes work 
that helps cities function. 

 For more information go 
online to www.cityofpasadena.
net.

By Dean Lee

 The city council is set Monday 
night to review and update the 
city’s General Fee Schedule 
which includes 23 brand new 
fees including an application 
change for overnight parking 
permits, impound fees for 
illegally parked vehicles and 
charges for graffiti removal 
among others.

 Monday night’s upcoming 
public hearing was set by the 
council last week during their 
regular meeting.

Michelle Logan the City’s 
Management Analyst said 
graffiti removal of areas up to 
100 square feet would now cost 
$152.92 something the city did 
not charge for in the past. Areas 
over 100 square feet, property 
owners would be charged the 
total cost of cleanup including 
labor and supplies. 

 She there will be a new $42 
annual overnight parking 
application fee which, if 
approved, would be credited 
towards the annual parking 
permit. A new $6 residential 
daytime parking exemption 
would allow vehicles to park in 
time restricted areas, excluding 
metered areas. 

 Residents will now also have 
to pay for guests that park on 
streets overnight. A new $10 
fee will include three residential 
parking permits and three guest 
permits plus 10 one day hang 
tags. Each additional 10 pack of 
hang tags would be $5 she said. 

 There would also be a new $100 
fee to allow residents to park 
beyond the 72 hours limit on 
public streets. 

 The city would also add 
new parking restriction fees 
associated to tow away. 

 “An impound fee related to 
parking signs posted in public 
right a ways, $50” she said. “And 
an automobile boot fee of $150.”

 Other fees are related to 
construction vehicles, valet 
parking during special events, 
Tuberculosis testing and day 
camp registration fees. 

 Logan noted that, in the staff 
report, a fee for Public Records 
Requests provided on CD was 
wrong, “the fee should be $1 not 
$20 she said. 

 Vice Mayor Margaret McAustin 
said the fee schedule is under 
review for competitiveness and 
a follow-up report would come 
back to the council in July or 
August.

 “The competitiveness of the 
fees and how that actually 
compares to our surrounding 
cities,” Pasadena Finance 
Director Andy Green said. “That 
particular phase 2 process, we’re 
in the process of doing now, we 
will not complete that in time 
to have the action that’s needed 
by June 30 when the budget is 
adopted.” 

 McAustin also said that fee 
schedule could be amended 
throughout the year, if needed, 
something Green agreed with.

 If approved, the new fees will 
go into effect July 1. 

 The General Fee Schedule is 
reviewed each year as part of the 
city’s municipal code. 

 “The amount of any fee shall 
proceed the cost occurred by 
the city providing the service,” 
Logan said. “Most fees are 
increased by the CPI (Consumer 
Price Index)… For fiscal year 
2013 the CPI is 2.09 percent and 
in 2012 it is 2.03 percent.”

 She said there are 1,378 fees 
throughout the city, of which, 91 
percent will increase by the CPI.

 An autopsy report released 
last week showed that 19-year-
old Kendrec McDade was shot 
by police seven times March 
24, three of which were fatal. 
McDade also had marijuana 
and alcohol in his system at the 
time of death according to the 
18 page report.

 The cause of death was listed 
was multiple gunshot wounds. 
The medical examiner also 
listed the death as a homicide. 

Although Pasadena police were 
quick to issue a press statement 
prior to the autopsy report 
saying there were no gunshot 
wounds to the back, the autopsy 
report did say he was shot 
multiple times in the back of his 
arms.

 Police also said “In addition 
to the Coroner’s Report, 
the remaining on-going 
investigations include the 
U.S. Department of Justice’s 
Federal Bureau of Investigation 
(FBI); the Los Angeles District 
Attorney’s Office and the 
County’s Office of Independent 
Review Group. The Pasadena 
Police Department’s Internal 
Affairs and Criminal 
Divisions are also conducting 
investigations.”

 Reports said police officers 
Mathew Griffin and Jeffrey 
Newlen shot eight times at 
McDade, four times each, seven 
of which hit McDade. 

According to Pasadena 
Detective Van Hecke, Griffin 
shot McDade at close range 
fearing he had a weapon in his 
waistband. He fired through 
the driver side window of his 
patrol car at McDade as he ran 
towards the car. Griffin had 
“boxed in” McDade with his car 
in an effort to stop a foot chase 
Van Hecke said.

 As Newlen caught up to the 
situation he saw muzzle flashes 
and heard gunshot at the 
driver’s side of the car, fearing 
his partner’s life was danger he 
also shot at McDade Van Hecke 
said.

 The shooting was the result 
of a 9-1-1 call from Pasadena 
resident Oscar Carrillo, who at 
the time, claimed he was robbed 
at gunpoint by two men, one of 
which was McDade. Carrillo 
later admitted he lied about 
seeing a gun police said. 

 Attorney Caree Harper filed 
a civil rights lawsuit in March, 
just days after the shooting, 
against the police and city on 
behalf of the McDade family. 


SoCal Gas 
Warns 
Customers 
about Scam

 Imposters Claim 
President Obama is 
paying utility bills 

Workshops Help Achieve 
a Zero-Waste Future

 Southern California Gas Co. 
(SoCalGas) is alerting customers 
to be aware of a scam that has 
impacted other utility customers 
in several states across the 
country. 

 The scam claims that President 
Barack Obama is providing 
credits or applying payments 
to utility bills. In some cases, 
scammers have asked for social 
security numbers in order to 
allow for credits or to apply 
payments to customers’ utility 
bills, presenting an identity-
theft risk. According to reports, 
scammers have visited customers 
in person, posted fliers and used 
social media and texting to send 
messages claiming that President 
Obama will provide a credit or 
directly pay utility bills. 

 SoCalGas wants to assure 
customers that SoCalGas 
employees carry proper 
identification when called out 
to any job. The company also 
does not randomly call or text 
customers asking for social 
security or other information. 
Customers should verify the 
employee’s proper uniform and 
identification before letting 
anyone in the home or on their 
property. Customer safety is a 
top priority for SoCalGas and 
employees will always be happy 
to wait while the customer 
confirms their identity. 

Visit socalgas.com/safety for 
more information on staying 
safe. 

 Imagine a Pasadena that less 
than 30 years from now produces 
no garbage and recycles or 
reuses everything that today is 
thrown away. The Public Works 
Department invites Pasadena 
business owners and residents 
to do more than just imagine 
it by helping develop the Zero-
Waste Strategic Plan. The City’s 
ambitious goal is to achieve 
zero waste by 2040. 

Business owners and residents 
are encouraged to attend the 
next Zero-Waste community 
workshops on Thursday, May 
24, 2012. The workshops will 
be held in the Donald R. Wright 
Auditorium at the Pasadena 
Central Library, 285 E. Walnut 
Street. The morning event, 
9:30 to 11:30 a.m., will focus 
on the business-community 
perspective. The evening 
meeting, 6 to 8 p.m., will 
consider residents’ perspectives. 

For more information, contact 
Gabriel Silva, Environmental 
the Public Works Department 
at (626) 744-4721. 

Researchers Gain Greater 
Insight into Earthquakes

 For those who study 
earthquakes, one major 
challenge has been trying to 
understand all the physics 
of a fault—both during an 
earthquake and at times of 
“rest”—in order to know 
more about how a particular 
region may behave in the 
future. Now, researchers at 
the California Institute of 
Technology (Caltech) have 
developed the first computer 
model of an earthquake-
producing fault segment 
that reproduces, in a single 
physical framework, the 
available observations of 
both the fault’s seismic (fast) 
and aseismic (slow) behavior. 

 “Our study describes a 
methodology to assimilate 
geologic, seismologic, and 
geodetic data surrounding 
a seismic fault to form 
a physical model of the 
cycle of earthquakes that 
has predictive power,” says 
Sylvain Barbot, a postdoctoral 
scholar in geology at Caltech 
and lead author of the study.

 A paper describing their 
model—the result of a Caltech 
Tectonics Observatory 
(TO) collaborative study by 
geologists and geophysicists 
from the Institute’s Division 
of Geological and Planetary 
Sciences and engineers from 
the Division of Engineering 
and Applied Science—
appears in the May 11 edition 
of the journal Science.

 “Previous research has 
mostly either concentrated 
on the dynamic rupture that 
produces ground shaking or 
on the long periods between 
earthquakes, which are 
characterized by slow tectonic 
loading and associated slow 
motions—but not on both at 
the same time,” explains study 
coauthor Nadia Lapusta, 
professor of mechanical 
engineering and geophysics at 
Caltech. Her research group 
developed the numerical 
methods used in making the 
new model. “In our study, we 
model the entire history of an 
earthquake-producing fault 
and the interaction between 
the fast and slow deformation 
phases.”

 New dynamic computer 
model first to show full 
history of a fault segment


Citizen 
Journalism 
Meet-up

Pet of 
the Week

 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 May 21 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.


PCC Presidents Latino Advisory 
Committee Invites Community 
to Scholarship Breakfast

JPL Invites 
All Earthlings 
To Annual 
Open House

NASA Survey Counts 
Hazardous Asteroids

 Harper is an 10-year-old buff 
and white Cocker Spaniel. He’s 
a very gentle and calm older 
dog. He has some health issues 
so a health waiver would be 
required upon adopting him. 
He loves tennis balls too! 

 Harper’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 the Seniors for 
Seniors program in which 
adopters 60 years old ,or older 
only 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 
A305133 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.

 

 The Pasadena City College 
President’s Latino Advisory 
Committee will recognize 
the Achievements of 12 
PCC students at its annual 
Scholarship Awards Breakfast 
on Tuesday, June 5.

 The PLAC is comprised of PCC 
educators, staff members, and 
community leaders. The group 
was formed eight years ago for 
the purpose of providing input 
directly to PCC’s president on 
the needs of the large Latino 
community served by PCC.

 One of the major duties of 
the PLAC is also to provide 
scholarships to students. To be 
eligible for the scholarship, one 
must be a full-time student, 
demonstrate financial need, 
show an understanding of 
Latino culture, and be involved 
in extracurricular activities.

 “The PLAC Breakfast is a great 
event that provides everyone an 
opportunity to support hard-
working students,” said Dr. 
Cynthia Olivo, PCC associate 
dean of Counseling and 
Student Success Services and 
PLAC member. “We will award 
them the funding they need to 
continue their studies and give 
them energy to complete their 
educational goals. I encourage 
everyone to purchase a ticket 
to come and meet the students 
and hear their inspiring stories.”

 Noted author and professor 
Dr. Otto Santa Ana will serve as 
keynote speaker for the event. 
Santa Ana is a professor of 
Chicana and Chicano Studies at 
UCLA, and Author of “Brown 
Tide Rising: Metaphoric 
Representations of Latinos 
in Contemporary American 
Public Discourse.” The 2012 
book focuses on ethnic and 
racial politics. His upcoming 
book, “Juan in a100: the Faces 
and Stories of Latinos on the 
Evening News” focuses on 
immigration as a national 
policy issue.

Sponsorship opportunities are 
also available and donors at the 
Gold level ($250) and above 
will receive two free tickets and 
recognition at the event.

 Tickets are $35. For more 
information, order tickets, or 
become a sponsor for the event, 
please call (626) 585-7074.

 

 Observations from NASA’s 
Wide-field Infrared Survey 
Explorer (WISE) have led 
to the best assessment yet of 
our solar system’s population 
of potentially hazardous 
asteroids. The results reveal 
new information about their 
total numbers, origins and the 
possible dangers they may pose.

 Potentially hazardous 
asteroids, or PHAs, are a subset 
of the larger group of near-Earth 
asteroids. The PHAs have the 
closest orbits to Earth’s, coming 
within five million miles (about 
eight million kilometers), 
and they are big enough to 
survive passing through Earth’s 
atmosphere and cause damage 
on a regional, or greater, scale.

 The new results come from 
the asteroid-hunting portion 
of the WISE mission, called 
NEOWISE. The project sampled 
107 PHAs to make predictions 
about the entire population as a 
whole. Findings indicate there 
are roughly 4,700 PHAs, plus 
or minus 1,500, with diameters 
larger than 330 feet (about 100 
meters). So far, an estimated 20 
to 30 percent of these objects 
have been found.

 While previous estimates 
of PHAs predicted similar 
numbers, they were rough 
approximations. NEOWISE 
has generated a more credible 
estimate of the objects’ total 
numbers and sizes.

 “The NEOWISE analysis 
shows us we’ve made a good 
start at finding those objects 
that truly represent an impact 
hazard to Earth,” said Lindley 
Johnson, program executive 
for the Near-Earth Object 
Observation Program at NASA 
Headquarters in Washington. 
“But we’ve many more to find, 
and it will take a concerted 
effort during the next couple 
of decades to find all of them 
that could do serious damage or 
be a mission destination in the 
future.”

 NASA’s Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., 
invites the public to its annual 
Open House on Saturday, June 
9, and Sunday, June 10, from 
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event, 
themed “Great Journeys,” 
will take visitors on a “ride” 
through the wonders of space. 
Highlights include a life-
size model of Mars Science 
Laboratory, the NASA/JPL 
spacecraft currently bound for 
Mars; demonstrations from 
numerous space missions; 
JPL’s machine shop, where 
robotic spacecraft parts are 
built; and the Microdevices 
Lab, where engineers and 
scientists use tiny technology 
to revolutionize space 
exploration.

 JPL is located at 4800 Oak 
Grove Drive, Pasadena, Calif., 
91109. Admission to Open 
House is free. Parking is also 
free, but is limited.