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VOLUME 7 NO 6 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013 RIVERSIDE, CA—A 27 year old man who enticed juvenile females to engage in sexual acts was sentenced Tuesday to 240 months’ imprisonment by United States District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips, announced Andre. Birotte, Jr., the United States Attorney in Los Angeles, and Bill Lewis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. Jonathan Calvo, 27, of Sierra Madre, was convicted in September 2012. During Tuesday’s hearing, Calvo was also sentenced to lifetime supervision and fines. On May 14, 2011, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI’s Regional Inland Apprehension Team (IRAT) were contacted after a teenager was reported missing from Riverside County, California. From that date through May 26, 2011, investigators conducted a physical search for the missing teenager, as well as a search of the victim’s online communications. Based on the victim’s online activity, investigators determined the victim had been corresponding with an adult male who was successfully identified as Calvo. On the evening of May 26, 2011, agents and task force officers went to Calvo’s residence and rescued the endangered teenager. Subsequent interviews and evidence collected at the scene indicated that Calvo had engaged in unlawful sexual contact with the victim and that he had documented the sexual acts with a digital camera. The victim was found in the residence and returned to her parents on the evening of May 26, 2011, following a medical examination. Calvo was arrested a short time later. During the course of the continuing investigation, evidence revealed Calvo was in receipt of and that he possessed images and videos depicting child pornography, some of which he produced himself. The digital evidence revealed that Calvo had engaged in unlawful sexual conduct with additional minor victims since at least 2004 in multiple unrelated cases, including with females aged 13 and 14, both of whom were successfully identified and later interviewed. On August 3, 2011, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against the defendant, Jonathan Paul Calvo, charging him with sexual exploitation of a child and receipt and possession of child pornography. In March 2012, Calvo was charged in a first superseding indictment with additional violations stemming from new evidence. In September 2012, Calvo pleaded guilty to one count of enticing a minor to engage in sex. During the investigation, investigators found dozens of images and videos Calvo had taken depicting sexually explicit activity with the minor victims he enticed to his home, as well as many he received online depicting victims of sexual exploitation previously identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The successful conclusion of this case is the result of a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, and additional IRAT member agencies, including the Riverside Police Department and the San Bernardino Police Department. The defendant was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office, Riverside Branch, in the Central District of California. Released from FBI 2/5/13 HAS PUNXSUTAWNY PHIL LOST IT? SIERRA MADRE RESIDENT JONATHAN CALVO SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS FOR ENTICING MINORS Last week on February 2nd, aka Ground Hog Day, Americans eagerly awaited the weather verdict from its time honored expert weather predictor, Punxsutawny Phil. Annually, when our furry friend emerges from his hibernation and looks around, he ignores the crowds and the paparazzi, he looks to see one thing only, his shadow. That will determine for him, whether he should go back to bed (if his shadow isn’t visible), or whether he should tidy up his winter hideaway and get ready for spring in a few short weeks. (Six to be exact). Well, when he emerged this year, he did not see his shadow and predicted that Spring was a mere six weeks away. He even had a collaborator on his prediction, his cousin in New York, Staten Island Chuck. Chuck saw his shadow too and refrained from biting Mayor Bloomberg this year. Hmmm, given that just seven days later there is a blizzard in the East and almost snow in Sierra Madre, one has to wonder if these guys have lost their sight? Or perhaps they know something that we don’t, i.e., that this freezing weather will be immediately followed by record heat and they will be vindicated! Nevertheless, it appears that our heretofore reliable way of predicting the onset of warmer weather has lost its reliability. Perhaps the celebrity of it all got to him. After all, once you get a statue erected of you in the town square, it’s hard to stay focused. That’s what we get for listening to a rodent! (By the way, the picture above is a tribute to him in the town square of Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania, taken by Dave Felt on his way to the Pittsburgh airport last year.) SIERRA MADRE STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS On Tuesday, February 19, 2013 from 6:30 – 7:30 pm the City of Sierra Madre will host its 3rd Annual State of the City Address at the Community Recreation Center in the Sierra Madre Room at 611 East Sierra Madre Boulevard. This year’s theme is “Finding the Right Balance” and this event will highlight programs and services the City has provided over the past year and give residents insight to the City’s goals for the next fiscal year. SOCALGAS WARNS CUSTOMERS ABOUT UTILITY PAYMENT SCAM Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) is warning customers to be aware of a payment scam involving utility imposters demanding customers pay their energy bills with pre-paid cash cards or face immediate termination of utility service. The fraudulent activity has been reported in Los Angeles and at this time there are no indications that SoCalGas customers have been targeted. Customers of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) have reported that individuals misrepresenting themselves as utility employees are calling and threatening to turn off electric and water service if payment is not made to them that day. Utility customers have been told that the payment must be made by purchasing a pre-pay cash card, and are directed to another phone number where information is then obtained from the card and the cash value is removed from the card. “Although there are no reports of SoCalGas customers being a victim of this fraudulent activity, we want to alert our customers in an effort to prevent them from becoming potential victims,” said Michael Schneider, vice president of customer operations at SoCalGas. “We advise customers to be alert and not to provide any type of financial information if they receive a call from a suspicious company.” SoCalGas customers have multiple payment options: online, pre-enrolled direct debit, by mail, or in person at an authorized payment location. For customers behind in their payment, the utility provides past due notification in writing before service is shut-off for non-payment. When customers call SoCalGas for billing inquiries, employees will always be able to provide account information and the exact past due balance. Additionally, all SoCalGas employees on company business are required to carry a photo ID badge. If customers receive a phone call that makes them feel uncomfortable, they should hang up and call SoCalGas at 1-800-427-2200 or 1-800-342-4545 in Spanish, or the local authorities to file a report. WISTARIA FESTIVAL SHUTTLE TICKETS TO GO ON SALE FEBRUARY 15TH Shuttle tickets to ride up to view the Wistaria Vine at the annual Wistaria Festival will be available for purchase on February 15th. . The 2013 Wistaria Festival will take place on March 17th, 2013. The Festival features tours of the world’s largest blossoming plant, certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. Each year, the property owners upon whose land the vine sits open their property to allow thousands to view the vine. Dozens of Sierra Madre residents volunteer to act as docents at the property, telling the story of the vine, which was originally planted from a 1-gallon pot that was purchased for $0.75 in 1894. In addition to the tours of the vine, the two main downtown streets of Sierra Madre are closed to traffic so that crafters and artists can set up booths to display and sell their arts/crafts. Downtown village shops are open, and musical acts perform at multiple outdoor venues. Memorial Park is transformed into a combination Kids/Food zone, as bouncy houses, slides, rock climbing and other kids attractions set up in the park alongside food vendors, both for profit and non- profit alike. The shuttle to the vine from downtown avoids a long uphill walk from downtown to the neighborhood in which the vine sits. “Day of” tickets for the shuttle are $15 this year, and pre-sale tickets are $12. Also this year seniors (over 65) and children (6 to 16) receive a discounted rate of $7. Children under five ride for free. For more information call 626-355-5111. FRIENDS OF THE SIERRA MADRE LIBRARY 43RD ANNUAL WINE TASTING IS FAST APPROACHING! Feeling a bit gift-challenged this Valentine’s Day? Why not treat your sweetheart to a lovely afternoon at the annual Friends of the Sierra Madre Library Wine Tasting. This year’s event will be held on Sunday, February 17, from 2:00-5:00PM at Alverno Villa, 200 N. Michillinda Ave., Sierra Madre. For your tasting pleasure, vintners will be bringing wines not just from California and Oregon, but from all over the world. Representatives from such wineries as Layer Cake, Beringer, Mondavi, Clos du Bois, and Wild Horse will be offering tastes of some of their finest wines. There will even be a British beer for you beer lovers to sample. This year we’ve invited more than a dozen restaurants to provide delectable hors d’oeuvres to be paired with the fine wines you’ll be sipping. Long-time Sierra Madre restaurants, The Only Place, Beantown, Lucky Baldwin’s, Corfu, and Village Pizzeria, will be offering samples of their specialties. Also joining us will be two of the newer Sierra Madre restaurants, T. Boyles and Sierra Brigante as well as Pasadena and Arcadia restaurants including Matt Denny’s and The Corner Bakery. Entertainment throughout the afternoon will be provided by three musical groups. Sudbury and Ramos will be on acoustic guitars, The Two Steves will be playing their own style of “bluesy” country rock, and guitarist Steve Bellikoff will be offering some jazz favorites. So as you stroll through the different rooms of the lovely Alverno Villa you’ll be treated to tastes of fine wines, bites of delectable appetizers all while being serenaded by some of our finest local musicians. Again this year we’ll be having a silent auction for some unique and exciting items. Featured are weekend getaways to La Quinta and Arrowhead, a private Rose Float Tour and two tickets to the 2014 parade, a Day at the Races (box seats and Turf Club), wine tastings, tickets to Disneyland, sporting events, and the theater, gourmet dinners, jewelry, portrait packages, and original art work. In addition, you will be able to purchase tickets for hourly opportunity drawings for some very special prizes. We have been told that Sherlock Holmes will be meeting three of his friends from Oz, Dorothy, Glinda, and the Tin Man, at this year’s wine tasting. So why not bring your Valentine and join them. It promises to be a very lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. If you wish to purchase tickets in advance, tickets to the Wine Tasting are $60 and can be purchased at the Sierra Madre Library, 440 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre (telephone 626 355-7186) or from these Sierra Madre businesses: The Bottle Shop, Savor the Flavor, and Arnold’s Frontier Hardware and Gifts . Proceeds from the Wine Tasting benefit the resources and programs of the Sierra Madre Library. For more information, visit our website at www.sierramadrelibraryfriends. org. SIERRA BRIGANTE - Sierra Madre’s Newest Restaurant......................Page 9 This Week’s Highlights: Calendar Page 2 Sierra Madre News Page 3 Pasadena/Altadena Page 4 Around San Gabriel Valley Page 5 Arcadia Page 6 Monrovia/Duarte Page 7 Education and Youth Page 8 Good Food & Drink Page 9 Best Friends Page 10 Arts/Health Page 11 The Good Life Page 12 Homes & Property Page 13 Legal Notices Page 14 Legal Notices Page 15 Legal Notices Page 16 Legal Notices Page 17 FYI Page 18 AROUND SG Valley SIERRA MADRE NEWS 5 3 Local Business Celebrates 25 Years ARCADIA NEWS 6 PASADENA/ALTADENA 4 MONROVIA/DUARTE 7 Pasadena PD Officer Placed on Leave Following Mistrial | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Mountain Views News 80 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. #327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.604.4548 www.mtnviewsnews.com |