PASADENA EDITION


SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2017

VOLUME 11 NO. 5


Latino Coalition to Hold 
City Candidate Forum

Man Tosses 
Explosive 
into Local 
Eatery

 Candidates vying for seats on 
the Pasadena Unified School 
District Board and the Pasadena 
City Council will participate 
at a Candidate Forum at the 
Pasadena Senior Center on 
Sunday. The Pasadena Latino 
Coalition will present the 
forum and encourage all in the 
community to attend.

The moderated forum will 
present questions to the 
candidates, who will be given 
equal time to respond. Because 
of the many candidates, the 
forum will be presented in two 
parts. Questions for candidates 
for Pasadena Unified School 
District will begin at 1 p.m. 
Questions for candidates for 
Pasadena City Council will 
begin at 2:30 p.m.

The Pasadena Latino Coalition 
is a coalition of non-profit 
organizations serving the 
Latino community. It goals are 
to inform constituents about 
resources available to them; 
encourage them to use their 
voice in public policy debate; 
and advocate for more positive 
portrayals of Latinos and their 
stories in the local media.

The non-partisan Candidates 
Forum will be held at Pasadena 
Senior Center 85 East Holly 
Street, Pasadena. A Spanish 
translation will be available.

The event will be moderated by 
reporter John Cádiz Klemack 
of NBC4 Southern California.

For more information, or 
if you would like to submit 
questions or concerns prior to 
the forum, contact us at info@
pasadenalatinocoaltion.org.


By Dean Lee

 Police on Friday were still 
looking for a man who threw a 
small explosive into a crowded 
Old Pasadena restaurant 
Thursday night causing 
customers to panic as they 
evacuated, leaving personal 
belongings and half eaten 
meals behind.

 According to Police Lt. Art 
Chute, officers responded 
shortly after 6 p.m. to the 
Cheesecake Factory located at 2 
West Colorado Blvd. Witnesses 
said a man opened the front 
doors, lit and threw a round 
object inside landing near the 
bar area. Some witness said the 
object landed under a table, 
exploded, and then poured 
heavy smoke. 

 Police Lt. Vasken Gourdikian, 
Friday called the object a 
“glorified firecracker” saying 
the situation was most likely a 
prank. Pasadena Mayor Terry 
Tornek also told reporters 
the object was more like a 
firecracker than a bomb. 

 Still, out of caution, the 
Federal authorities were 
notified officers said. Officials 
from the FBI said the incident 
was being handled by local 
Pasadena Police Detectives.

 The Los Angeles County 
Sheriff’s Department Bomb 
squad responded first to 
the scene and rendered the 
device safe. No customers or 
employees were injured. 

 Witnesses described the 
suspect as a Male of Hispanic or 
Middle Eastern descent, 6 foot, 
thin build, with a heavy beard 
and wearing all black clothing 
and a black beanie. The 
suspect ran from the scene. 
No getaway car was spotted.

 Anyone with information 
about this case is encouraged 
to call Pasadena Police at 626- 
744-4241 or you may report 
information anonymously at 
lacrimestoppers.com (insert 
key word Pasadena).

Council to Discuss Bill on Homelessness

 The Pasadena city council 
is set Monday night to adopt 
a resolution in support of 
Measure H, the Los Angeles 
County Plan to Prevent 
and Combat Homelessness, 
through a fourth of a cent 
special sales tax to fund 
homeless services placed on 
the March 7 ballot —first 
approved by the Los Angeles 
County Board of Supervisors 
in December.

 According to the city 
staff report “Passage of 
Measure H has the potential 
to provide funding for 
supportive services for 
homeless individuals/
families in Los Angeles 
County, including the City 
of Pasadena, and supports 
and promotes the quality of 
life and the local economy-- 
a goal of the City Council’s 
Strategic Objectives. Support 
for this ballot measure is 
in accordance with the 
Pasadena Continuum of 
Care system, General Plan 
Housing Element, Five-
Year Consolidated Plan, and 
Five-Year Public Housing 
Authority Plan.”

 The report also states that 
passage of the measure 
is estimated to raise 
approximately $355 million/
year County-wide for each 
of the 10 years the tax will be 
levied. The City will benefit 
from the regional impact, 
and may be eligible to receive 
a portion of the funds for 
local services through a 
competitive process.

 According to the proposed 
resolution homelessness has 
decreased in Pasadena by 16 
percent since 2015, although 
increased in Los Angeles 
County by 5.7 percent.

 Strategies advanced through 
the Homeless Initiative 
include homeless prevention, 
street outreach, permanent 
and affordable housing, and 
support to increase income, 
“and these strategies are vital 
in the regional and local fight 
against homelessness” the 
resolution reads. 

Pasadena Based Abelton 
Makes Their Mark at NAMM


By Dean Lee

 Although Ableton, a digital 
audio music business with its 
U.S. headquarters in Pasadena, 
had no official booth at last 
month’s National Association 
of Music Merchants (NAMM) 
show, their influence on the 
music industry could be seen 
all over the convention floor. 

 David Reid, Marketing 
Manager for Ableton took 
an opportunity at the show 
to talk about the company’s 
pilot program “Push Trade-in 
Initiative.” The program helps 
schools throughout the world 
with digital music education. 

 Reid said they worked 
closely, over the last year, with 
Lawrence Grey the founder of 
Young Producers Group, an 
organization that works with 
Los Angeles area schools. “He 
[Grey] does lots of after school 
programs, we basically piloted 
the program with him before 
we rolled it out nationally, so 
L.A. was the first city,” Reid 
said.

 The company’s Initiative 
allows buyers to trade an older 
Ableton Push Midi Surface 
Controller for a discount on the 
next generation Push 2 Surface 
Controller (pictured upper 
right). The older controllers 
are then donated to school 
music programs. He said they 
have donated thousands of the 
older controllers through the 
program. 

 “It’s not a keyboard,” Reid 
said. “The best way to describe 
it would to think of collapsing 
down the whole keyboard into 
an 8 by 8 grid [of tiles]. So you 
are able to access the same note 
range in a smaller space.”

 “I think for the young people 
that are taking their first steps 
into music theory, it sort of 
simplifies, scales and music 
theory for them.” He said 
Ableton is about teaching how 
to learn to make music not just 
learning to use software. 

 The main point of the Push 
controller is to trigger, similar to 
a drum machine, prearranged 
pieces of music. The company’s 
signature software Ableton 
Live, a digital audio workstation 
for composing, recording, 
arranging and mixing music, 
does just that. Reid said schools 
in the program are given the 
latest version of the software.

 A number of exhibitors at 
NAMM were using Ableton 
Live including Sensel to show 
the company’s Sensel Morph.

 “It’s an all in one input device 
with a pressure technology, 
Sensel Product Marketing Lead 
Stephanie Chedid said.”That 
allows it to be used as a musical 
instrument, depending on the 
overlay.

 The device uses a pressure 
sensitive base and then gel 
overlays that can be changed, 
such as a keyboard or drum 
pad. Chedid said schools buy 
them, “its cost saving because 
you can use it for multiple 
things.

 Santa Monica based Apogee 
Electronics also had the 
Ableton Push 2 Surface 
Controller on display using 
their Apogee Groove a portable 
USB DAC and headphone amp 
for improving audio on a Mac 
or PC. 

 This year NAMM was held 
Anaheim Convention Center 
Jan. 19 through Jan. 22.

Pasadena 
DUI/ License 
Checkpoint 
Held Friday


Pasadena Police Department 
Traffic Section will be 
conducting a DUI & Driver 
License Checkpoint on Friday, 
at an undisclosed location 
within the city limits between 
the hours of 7:00 p.m. to 3:00 
a.m. 

 Officers will be looking for 
signs of alcohol and/or drug 
impairment, with officers 
checking drivers for proper 
licensing, delaying motorists 
only momentarily. When 
possible, specially trained 
officers will be available to 
evaluate those suspected of 
drug-impaired driving, which 
now accounts for a growing 
number of impaired driving 
crashes. 

 DUI Checkpoints are placed 
in locations based on collision 
statistics and frequency of 
DUI arrests, affording the 
greatest opportunity for 
achieving drunk and drugged 
driving deterrence. Locations 
are chosen with safety 
considerations for the officers 
and the public. 

Research shows that crashes 
involving an impaired driver 
can be reduced by up to 20 
percent when well-publicized 
proactive DUI operations are 
conducted routinely. 

 Drivers are encouraged to 
download the Designated 
Driver VIP, or “DDVIP,” 
free mobile app for Android 
or iPhone. The DDVIP app 
helps find nearby bars and 
restaurants that feature free 
incentives for the designated 
sober driver, from free non-
alcoholic drinks to free 
appetizers and more. The 
feature-packed app even has 
social media tie-ins and even 
a tab for the non-DD to call 
Uber, Lyft or Curb.

 Drivers caught driving 
impaired can expect the impact 
of a DUI arrest to include jail 
time, fines, fees, DUI classes, 
license suspensions and other 
expenses that can exceed 
$10,000 not to mention the 
embarrassment when friends 
and family find out.

 The National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, 
reminding everyone to ‘Report 
Drunk Driver – Call 9-1-1’.

Tournament House to 
Again Give Free Tours

CALENDAR Pg. 2

MORE PASADENA NEWS

 Pg. 3

 Guided tours inside Tournament House, the iconic 
Southern California landmark, open to the public. 
Tours will be offered, at no cost, every Thursday at 2 
p.m. and 3 p.m. beginning this week. Last year, over 
5000 guests toured the house and gardens. 

 Visitors enjoy the rich history of the 21-room, Italian-
Renaissance-style mansion designed and built in 
1906 by architect G. Lawrence Stimson and his father 
George W. Stimson, a local builder. The interior of the 
house features richly paneled rooms, inlaid marble 
floor and an ornate molded plaster ceiling – a design 
element that made Stimson famous. Upstairs, areas 
originally used as bedrooms, have been transformed 
into historical displays of the Rose Bowl Game, 
Rose Queen and Royal Court, Grand Marshals and 
Tournament Presidents throughout the years.

 Tournament of Roses volunteers from the Heritage 
Committee, knowledgeable of the organization’s 
history and details of the house, conduct the tours. 

Wrigley Mansion, the Orange Grove Boulevard estate, 
serves as the official headquarters of the Pasadena 
Tournament of Roses, its staff and the 935 volunteer 
members who work year-round to organize the 
annual Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game. Located in 
Pasadena, the mansion was once the home of chewing 
gum mogul William Wrigley Jr. and his wife, Ada. After 
Ada’s death in 1958, the Wrigley family presented the 
property to the city of Pasadena, with the request that 
it become the base of operations for the Tournament of 
Roses. The Wrigley family enjoyed the Rose Parade as 
it unfolded just beyond their front yard.

 Surrounding Tournament House are the Wrigley 
Gardens, which feature a floral display of roses, 
camellias and annuals. The gardens feature the All-
America Rose Selections (AARS) award-winning 
Tournament of Roses rose developed especially for the 
Tournament of Roses Centennial in 1989.

 Groups of 15 or more may call (626) 449-4100 for 
tour reservations.

SAN MARINO/SO. PAS

Pg. 4

SIERRA MADRE Pg. 5

ARCADIA Pg. 6

MONROVIA 

EDUCATION/YOUTH

Pg. 7

FOOD & DRINK Pg. 8

THE GOOD LIFE Pg. 9

WORLD AROUND US 

 Pg. 10

 BEST FRIENDS Pg. 11


SECTION B: 

AROUND SAN GABRIEL 
VALLEYB1

THE ARTS B2

BUSINESS NEWS

B3

OPINIONB4

LEGAL NOTICES B5


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