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Mountain Views-News Saturday, January 30, 2016
ANTONOVICH APPLAUDS LEGISLATION TO HALT
NATURAL GAS INJECTION AT ALISO CANYON
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January 31, 2016
11:00am - 1:00pm
Student Mass at 10am
Accepting Applications for 2016-2017•Championship Sports Programs
•Accelerated Math and Language Arts
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•State of the Art Technology322 N. Baldwin Ave, Sierra Madre (626)355-6114 www.st-ritaschool.org
LOS ANGELES COUNTY – Today, the California
State Senate voted unanimously to pass Senate Bill
380, authored by Sen. Fran Pavley, on to the State
Assembly.
SB 380 is urgency legislation that seeks a
moratorium on natural gas injection into the
Aliso Canyon reservoir until strict guidelines and
procedures are met. The legislation was introduced
in response to the gas leak at the Gas Company’s
Aliso Canyon storage facility, where a well has been
leaking since late October.
“Today’s vote was an important step forward in our
effort to ensure the long term safety of the residents of
the San Fernando Valley,” said Antonovich. “I applaud
Senator Pavley for initiating this bipartisan legislation
and urge the State Assembly to take immediate action
on it.”
The legislation restricts the use of 1950’s-era wells
at the Aliso Canyon facility until their integrity can
be verified by the state Division of Oil, Gas and
Geothermal Resources. It also calls on the state Public
Utilities Commission to evaluate whether the entire
storage facility can be shut down or severely minimized
without affecting gas supplies for the region.
ALTADENA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE NAMES
2015 CITIZEN AND BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
(ALTADENA, California) -- The Altadena Chamber of
Commerce and Civic Association (www.altadenachamber.
org) has named its 2015 Citizen and Business of the Year.
The Citizen of the Year is Dr. Jane Brackman, President
of the Altadena Historical Society and nationally-known
scholar on the interaction of dogs and culture.
The Business of the Year is Two Dragons Martial Arts,
Shelene Hearring, CEO.
The honorees will be recognized at the Chamber’s
annual installation event at the Altadena Town & Country
Club on Feb. 5, 2016.
Citizen of the Year: Jane Brackman, Ph.D, President,
Altadena Historical Society
As the one who guides the team that maintains
Altadena’s attic, Citizen of the Year Jane Brackman
came into preserving history in a roundabout way.
She’d always been interested in historic architecture. As
an art education teacher, she created a high school course
on the history of architecture. Later, she worked for the city
of Chicago issuing film shooting permits when she met
her husband, film and television director Rod Holcombe.
She says that Holcombe convinced her to move to Los
Angeles by driving her around the neighborhoods with
historic buildings. They purchased a vintage Craftsman
house in Altadena, and have been restoring it, one room
at a time, for 35 years.
Brackman has also pursued a lifelong interest in dogs.
She worked with guide dogs for the blind for over 20 years,
and was Executive Director of Guide Dogs of America
in Sylmar. She was also appointed by the governor to
manage the California State Board of Guide Dogs for the
Blind and serves on Caltech’s committee that oversees the
care of lab animals. She has also participated in several
research programs on wild carnivores, including wolves.
Professionally, Brackman is one of the top experts
in the nation on the nexus between dogs and culture.
At the Claremont Graduate School, she earned her
Ph.D. by studying dog breeds as a human cultural
phenomenon -- how the written descriptions of
ideal dog breeds influenced the appearance and
health of purebreds over the course of a century. Her
paper was published in a leading academic journal.
Shortly after moving to Altadena, she started
volunteering with the Altadena Historical Society. Because
of her experience running a nonprofit, in 2002 she was asked
to join the book committee. The charge of that committee
was to create what became Altadena: Between Wilderness
and City, the definitive history of the community,
written by 2012 Citizen of the Year Michele Zack.
“We had $830 in our bank account, and we needed
to raise $70,000,” Brackman said. “The committee
met every week for three years ... and because we
printed that book, it turned the organization around.”
Brackman became president of the Society in 2010.
Since then, the collection has continued to grow, and the
all-volunteer organization brings in $16,000-$20,000 a
year in memberships and donations, as well as receiving
50-100 items or collections into its archive annually.
In December 2015, the society also opened its first museum
exhibition at its home in the Altadena Community Center
-- a look back at Altadena’s contributions to the Rose Parade.
Currently, Brackman says, AHS is working to
digitize its collection and make it available online.
A professional writer on canine genetics, health, and
domestication for popular publications, Brackman
also writes a blog, “Doctor Barkman Speaks,” (http://
doctorbarkman.blogspot.com/) on dog-related topics.
As for being Citizen of the Year, Brackman says she’s
just part of the AHS team. “I’m not a person who likes to
be the center of attention. I’m one of those people who likes
to manage as a team,” she says. “But one of the advantages
[of being Citizen of the Year] is the opportunity to tout the
progress we’ve made at the Altadena Historical Society.”
Link: http://altadenahistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/
Business of the Year: Two Dragons Martial Arts, Shelene
Hearring, CEO and head instructor
Two Dragons Martial Arts has been a fixture in the
community for over two decades. Started in 1995 in
Pasadena, the studio moved to Altadena in 2010.
Along with teaching Chinese-style martial arts to
students of all ages, the studio is committed to serving the
community, especially helping families raise up the next
generation.
“People think about martial arts as fighting,” says
Shelene Hearring, CEO and head instructor, “but it’s
really about character-building. It’s about leadership,
it’s about how to have that confidence, how to work as a
team or individuals, how to present themselves, how to
understand that respect and responsibility is the number
one thing they have to have to build themselves for the rest
of their life.”
A martial artist for over 40 years, Hearring started taking
classes in shodokan aikido during the summers while in
high school. Later, looking for training in self-defense,
she met Steve Hearring, who was the manager of a kenpo
karate studio in Pasadena, and invited her to attend.
Steve Hearring became her instructor, and later, her
husband. They opened their first studio in Seattle, but
as Los Angeles-area natives, they eventually moved
back home and opened the studio in Pasadena.
The Hearrings were married for 30 years. Steve Hearring
died of cancer in 2007. Three years later, Shelene moved
the studio to its Altadena location, 2490 N. Lake Avenue.
The move was a good one, Hearring says:
Altadena is “more community-oriented, the
people are more friendly, the environment is
people raising families and coming together.
“I think of my studio as part of the village -- I
am part of the village that helps you raise that
child. Those things that you want, I want, too.”
Many of her students are families -- frequently moms
and dads take classes, as well as the kids. She also started a
“Mommy and Me” class for children from age 18 months
to three years (working on balance and movement, rather
than self-defense). Two Dragons also has an after-school
program where children get a snack and do homework
before working out on the mat. Hearring said she
started it because because she couldn’t find a good after-
school program for her own two now-grown daughters.
Two Dragons students also organize performance
demonstrations at community events, especially for cancer
causes. “Because my husband died of cancer, I do the cancer
events regularly,” Hearring said. “We provide martial arts
performances for those kind of events and it helps our
kids learn that they are responsible to the community. It’s
a connection -- you get to find out what’s going on in a
community and you participate and become part of the
community. That for me is important for family life.”
Two Dragons also holds fundraisers throughout
the year for the Steve Hearring Legacy Foundation,
which provides scholarships to give economically
disadvantaged kids access to martial arts.
As Altadena’s Business of the Year, Hearring
says “I believe it’s an honor for me as a business
owner and a parent. It’s an honor for me to know
that people entrust me with their most precious
commodities -- their children. It’s an honor for me to
help and assist them and work together in that way.”
Link: http://www.twodragonsma.com/
Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com
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