Mountain Views News          Saturday, June 16, 2012

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Mountain Views-News Saturday June 16, 2012 


Public Safety Committee 
Cancellations Questioned

Police Partly 
Open Radio 
Frequencies

By Dean Lee 

 Well known community leader 
Martin Gordon questioned 
the city council Monday night 
over why the Public Safety 
Committee, an advisory body 
made up of councilmembers 
that includes police oversight, 
has not met in months. Gordon 
said, at least, the committee 
should be looking into the 
Mcdade police shooting 
incident.

 “While we are in the midst of 
a police department scandal 
involving allegations of fraud, 
misconduct and abuse, an 
ongoing investigation of the 
Kendrec McDade case, where 
the officers involved have 
been returned to work but 
the full investigation of their 
conduct has not been resolved,” 
Gordon said. “This brings up 
the ongoing issue of the police, 
policing themselves.”

 City Manager Michael 
Beck said the Public Safety 
Committee would meet 
Monday at 4:15 p.m. An agenda 
has been posted which includes 
a discussion on Critical Incident 
Briefing Protocol to be given by 
Police Chief Phillip Sanchez. It 
is unclear if Gordon’s comments 
lead to the agenda item.

 Also according to the 
agenda, the committee did 
hold a special May 7, meeting 
where Commander Chris 
Russ provided a PowerPoint 
presentation summarizing 
the Parks After Dark youth 
program. 

 Gordon also said another body 
setup for community oversight 
of the police had also been 
shut down by Sanchez, who 
stated, that the meeting could 
not comply with the Ralph M. 
Brown Act which guarantees 
the public’s right to attend and 
participate in public meetings. 
He suggested this also be looked 
at.

 Gordon also suggested they 
investigate the use of $2.5 
million to police the city’s 
schools. 

 “Let’s have some accountability 
to the community about 
what is going on in our police 
department,” he said. “Where 
our priority spending should 
be, from the city, to help our 
youth succeed.”

 In a turn of events that 
started in January with the 
police department saying 
they had begun encrypting 
their emergency radio 
frequency as part of a 
system upgrade now has the 
department recanting by 
announcing Thursday the 
digital scanner codes for the 
public to listen to radio calls 
for service. 

 According to a public 
statement by the department, 
“The technical information 
for the Pasadena Police 
Department’s talk group is 
39760 or 2485, depending 
on the make and model 
of the digital scanner. 
The public will now hear 
the initial call for service 
broadcast; however, follow 
up transmissions will be 
encrypted.”

 Pasadena Chief of Police 
Phillip Sanchez also stated, 
“I am pleased to provide 
access to the department’s 
information sharing 
networks, which includes 
the police radio talk group 
code. Listeners will hear 
the initial broadcast to 
include call type, location 
and time of occurrence. The 
technology solution strikes 
a balance between open 
communication, victims’ 
rights and enhancing 
emergency response.”

The rest of the statement 
reads as follows, “The 
Pasadena Police Department 
is also reminding citizens 
that crime data is available 
on the department’s website. 
The community can check 
for specific crimes within a 
day of the reported incident 
on www.CrimeMapping.
com. Information can also be 
obtained by viewing posted 
crime statistics on line at 
www.cityofpasadena.net/ 
Police/ Crime_Statistics/ or 
by subscribing to NIXLE. 
Closed calls will be updated 
twice daily and will contain 
information from the most 
recent five-day period. For 
safety and privacy reasons, 
incidents involving minors, 
sexual assaults and other 
sensitive call types will be 
excluded from the daily 
postings. “

Postal Workers Rally Against Closing 

 

 Almost 100 Pasadena postal 
employees and residents rallied 
Wednesday morning, including 
97 year old Joanna Foster who 
said she was personal friends 
with Mack Robinson, the very 
person The U.S. Post Office’s 
processing plant in Pasadena, 
scheduled to close, as early as 
July 7, was named. 

 “My husband worked for the 
Post Office 32 years,” Foster said. 
“He was a World War I veteran.” 

 Although Foster said her 
husband Walter Carter did not 
know Robinson he was a good 
friend of hers, “I knew him well.” 

Foster said Robinson was 
known in the 1940s for getting 
all the young people together 
and provide jobs, “That was a 
blessing,” she said. 

 Foster’s comments echo 
sentiments of the 210 employees 
worried they will be reassigned 
outside of Pasadena as part 
of moving all Pasadena mail 
processing to the Los Angeles 
mail processing plant.

 Michael Evans, President of 
the American Postal Workers 
Union, said at issue was that 
mail service in the area would 
be delayed.

 “They have already taken out 
part of the mail service in 2006, 
it’s what’s called outgoing mail,” 
he said. “What they are doing 
now is what is call incoming 
processing, any mail that comes 
into the processing center is 
what they want to take out.”

 Evans said those affected 
include everything from people 
who get Netflix to the elderly 
such as Foster who might get 
medicine through the mail. 

 Although union organizers 
have threatened legal action, 
NAACP president Joe Brown 
said they needed to find another 
way saying a federal injunction 
could take years, “We have 
less than 30 days.” He said. 
Brown suggested everyone call 
their legislative leaders from 
Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard to 
President Barrack Obama. 

 Evans said the Mack Robinson 
Post Office on Lincoln Avenue 
would remain open for retail 
services and mail drop-offs. In 
1936, Robinson won a Silver 
Medal in the Olympics. He died 
in 2000 in Pasadena at the age 
of 85.

Former PCC Water Polo 
Coach Martin Makes News

 

 Nicholas Martin, who spent 
27 years as head coach of the 
Pasadena City College men’s 
water polo team, will be profiled 
in the June 18 issue of Sports 
Illustrated. Martin participated 
in a video interview held at 
PCC’s Aquatic Center as part 
of an in-depth feature by CNN/
SI on the 1956 Hungarian 
Olympic team. 

 Martin, who in his 45th year 
at PCC, continued to instruct 
French this semester as a part-
time associate professor in the 
college’s Languages Division. 
He was a full-time faculty 
member for 44 years. He turns 
81 later this month.

 Martin was a member of both 
the 1952 and 1956 Hungarian 
Olympic gold medal-winning 
water polo teams. In 1956, he 
was one of many members of 
the Hungary Olympic team 
that chose to defect because 
of political unrest in his home 
country. Martin defected to the 
United States and eventually 
received the first water polo 
scholarship offered by USC.

The CNN/SI story features 
members of that team and their 
plight during the ‘56 Melbourne 
Games.


Antonovich 
Criticizes 
Assistance 
Program

Community Coalition to 
Hold Identity Festival

 The 2012 Armenian Identity 
Festival will again be held in 
Pasadena next month making, 
the now five year old festival, 
a tradition to the San Gabriel 
Valley.

Organizers say last year’s 
Festival was a success, with an 
attendance of over 3,000 visitors 
in a matter of eight hours. The 
event includes lively Armenian 
folk dancing and musical 
performances, delicious 
food of the Armenian and 
Mediterranean cuisine, colorful 
arts-and-crafts vendors, and an 
exotic Car show. Visitors of all 
ages can enjoyed themselves 
they said. “To date, we have 
already received numerous 
requests from additional 
vendors, performance groups, 
and the community, wishing 
to join and to be a part of this 
year’s Festival.”

This year the Pasadena Fire 
Department will bring a Robo 
Fire Truck and the Pasadena 
Police Department will bring us 
the New Helicopter to entertain 
our kids. As in previous years, 
we will have a petting zoo and 
moon-jumpers in addition 
to the great many wonderful 
activities.

For more information on the 
festival please visit: www.acc-
us.org.

 A U.S. Department of Justice 
(DOJ) announcement to 
modify its funding formula 
for the State Criminal Alien 
Assistance Program (SCAAP) 
to stop reimbursing the costs 
of those jail inmates that fall 
into the “unknown” category 
drew strong criticism from 
Supervisor Michael D. 
Antonovich.

 “This decision will have a 
tremendous negative impact 
on the county,” Antonovich 
said. “The federal government 
has failed to secure the borders 
yet forces counties to pay for 
the high cost of housing, food 
and medical care for illegals in 
the jails.”

 Prior to this announcement, 
SCAAP funds provided 
some reimbursement credit 
to states and counties for 
“unknown” inmates who 
were not in the Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement 
(ICE) database but were 
believed to be illegal. Eighty 
percent of the “unknown” 
inmates are estimated to be 
undocumented. 

 The county’s cost for 
SCAAP eligible inmates is 
approximately $70 million; 
however, the federal 
government reimburses 
pennies to the dollar which 
has been on a downward 
trend for the last three years. 
In 2009, the county received 
approximately $15 million, 
$14 million was received in 
2010 and $9.9 million in 2011.

 The DOJ’s announcement is 
a significant change in policy 
and will likely result in further 
funding reduction to Los 
Angeles County 


Citizen 
Journalism 
Meet-up

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

Public Invited To Forums 
on General Plan Update

Pet of 
the Week

 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 19 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.

 

 Pasadena residents, business 
owners and all other 
stakeholders are invited to 
attend the community forums 
planned June 23 and June 26 
to learn about the City’s draft 
General Plan update. 

 Two sessions are planned 
for each day, June 23 and 26, 
where the same information 
and outreach materials will be 
available at all four meetings. 
Attendees will be able to learn 
about proposed, future growth 
areas and they can share their 
thoughts on the key elements 
of the General Plan update 
process, including the Draft 
Concept Map and the Land-Use 
and Mobility chapters. 

 On Saturday, June 23, two 
meetings will be held at 
Pasadena City College, 1570 E. 
Colorado Blvd., at the Creveling 
Lounge, Building CC. The first 
session will be from 9:00 a.m. 
to 10:30 a.m., followed by the 
second session from 11:00 
a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Parking is 
available at $2 per vehicle in the 
College’s Lot 3, off Hill Avenue. 

 On Tuesday, June 26, two 
meetings will be held at the 
Pasadena Senior Center, 85 E. 
Holly St. Parking is available 
at Arroyo Parkway and Holly 
Street. The meetings will be 
held from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. 
and from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. 

 “Community outreach 
continues to be the foundation 
for updating the General Plan, a 
process we began in early 2009,” 
said Vince Bertoni, Director of 
Planning. “We’ve hosted more 
than 150 community meetings, 
workshops and other activities 
for more than 4,000 people. 
The draft map being presented 
now is a culmination of the 
community’s vision developed 
at those meetings.” 

 For more information on 
the community forums and 
General Plan update, go to www.
cityofpasadena.net/ generalplan 
or call (626) 744-6807. 


NASA’S Nustar Black 
Holes Mission Lifts Off

 

 NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic 
Telescope Array (NuSTAR) 
launched into the morning skies 
Wednesday over the central 
Pacific Ocean at exactly 9:00:35 
a.m., beginning its mission to 
unveil secrets of buried black 
holes and other exotic objects.

 “We all eagerly await the launch 
of this novel X-ray observatory,” 
said Paul Hertz, NASA’s 
Astrophysics Division Director. 
“With its unprecedented spatial 
and spectral resolution to the 
previously poorly explored 
hard X-ray region of the 
electromagnetic spectrum, 
NuSTAR will open a new 
window on the universe and 
will provide complementary 
data to NASA’s larger missions, 
including Fermi, Chandra, 
Hubble and Spitzer.”

 NuSTAR will use a unique set 
of eyes to see the highest energy 
X-ray light from the cosmos. 
The observatory can see 
through gas and dust to reveal 
black holes lurking in our Milky 
Way galaxy, as well as those 
hidden in the hearts of faraway 
galaxies.

 “NuSTAR will help us find 
the most elusive and most 
energetic black holes, to help us 
understand the structure of the 
universe,” said Fiona Harrison, 
the mission’s principal 
investigator at the California 
Institute of Technology in 
Pasadena.

 The observatory began its 
journey aboard an L-1011 
“Stargazer” aircraft, operated by 
Orbital Sciences Corporation; 
Dulles, Va. NuSTAR was 
perched atop Orbital’s Pegasus 
XL rocket, both of which were 
strapped to the belly of the 
Stargazer plane. The plane left 
Kwajalein Atoll in the central 
Pacific Ocean one hour before 
launch. At 9:00:35 a.m. PDT 
(12:00:35 p.m. EDT), the rocket 
dropped, free-falling for five 
seconds before firing its first-
stage motor.

 In addition to black holes and 
their powerful jets, NuSTAR 
will study a host of high-
energy objects in our universe, 
including the remains of 
exploded stars; compact, dead 
stars; and clusters of galaxies. 
The mission’s observations, 
in coordination with other 
telescopes such as NASA’s 
Chandra X-ray Observatory, 
which detects lower-energy 
X-rays, will help solve 
fundamental cosmic mysteries. 
NuSTAR also will study our 
sun’s fiery atmosphere, looking 
for clues as to how it is heated.

 For more information about 
NuSTAR, visit: http://www.
nasa.gov/nustar .

 Alice is a one-year- old 
white Dalmatian/pit bull 
mix. She’s gone out on 
our Mobile Outreach Unit 
and did very well with 
other people and dogs. She 
loves lying in the grass and 
playing with her tennis ball 
too.

 Alice’s adoption fee is $70, 
which includes her spay 
surgery, a microchip, the first 
set of vaccinations, as well 
as a free follow-up health 
check at a participating vet. 
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 
A305402 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.

Portantino Honored For Health Legislation

Assemblymember Portantino 
was honored Thursday by 
Fertile Action in Los Angeles for 
his work in Sacramento dealing 
with cancer and fertility. 

 “We are thrilled to honor 
Assemblymember Anthony 
Portantino with our first-ever 
Advocacy Award,” said Alice 
Crispi, founder of Fertile Action 
which honored Portantino. 
“He is the first legislator to 
author a bill that would provide 
insurance coverage for young 
adults with cancer to preserve 
their fertility. It takes courage 
to be the first to take a stand on 
anything and we are so inspired 
by his tenacity and support on 
this issue.”

 Last year, Assemblymember 
Portantino authored AB 428 
which called on insurers to 
provide fertility options for 
patients of childbearing age 
who face chemotherapy. 
Chemo often leads to infertility. 
Under Portantino’s proposal, 
patients maintain the ability to 
have children after treatment. 
Although the bill was held in the 
Assembly, it brought nationwide 
attention to the issue.

 “I am deeply honored to 
receive this award. As a father of 
two cherished daughters, I was 
concerned but not surprised 
to learn that some patients will 
forego or postpone a cancer 
treatment that might hinder 
future reproduction,” Portantino 
said. “I wrote this legislation so 
these patients can choose the 
treatment option that is best for 
their own health while helping 
them safeguard reproductive 
ability. 

 Each year, 140,000 men and 
women of reproductive age 
are diagnosed with cancer 
or other diseases that have 
treatments which affect fertility. 
Although most insurance 
covers the consequences of 
cancer treatments, such as 
reconstructive surgery, losing 
reproductive ability as a result 
of chemotherapy and other 
treatments is currently not 
covered. 

 “While I am disappointed that 
we couldn’t get the Legislature 
to approve this bill, I am 
pleased that the fight for fertility 
preservation will continue in 
both the state and national level,” 
concluded Portantino. “While 
out of office, I will continue to 
be an advocate for this issue.”

 Father of two daughters 
works for fertility 
preservation