Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, July 1, 2017

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Mountain View News Saturday, July 1, 2017 


Walking Sierra Madre…The Social Side 

by Deanne Davis

“Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” Wizard of Oz

Well, not so much the lions and tigers, but we certainly 
had the bears, oh my! Last Thursday morning our street 
was a sort of bacchanalian hangover, with trash cans 
overturned, trash bags torn asunder exposing the remains 
of rib dinners, pizza, and half-consumed hamburgers. 
Our bears feasted! A dear friend of ours, Rick Bennett, 
who lives in So. Carolina, sent me this picture recently and 
provided a few details of a bear hunt in British Columbia 
he was part of. The bears he encountered don’t sound a 
thing like the avocado loving – swimming pool lounging 
guys we have here. The picture is Rick, his guide, and the 
black bear they shot. I’ll just quote Rick:

 “It was an exciting week in very high rugged country. 
Many hours in pick-up trucks up and down logging roads 
looking for bears coming out of hibernation, feeding on 
patches of grass and clover blooming as the snow line 
receded. Sweep with binoculars for bears, get out of the 
vehicle and stalk. Many minutes of anxiety looking 
down steep slopes 1000’ to a rushing river below. Ran 
into several grizzlies at fairly close range. (very dangerous 
if you wind up inside their “fight zone”), also Mountain 
Sheep, Mule Deer, Mountain Goats, Elk. Ran into this 
300 lb. black bear on the evening of day 5. An exciting 
stalk and finish. We had a survival expert in camp who 
was talking to some young intern guides. He said a grizzly 
has an exceptionally slow but strong heart. About 15 beats 
a minute. So you can blow his heart out and he can still 
race 40 yards in 3-4 seconds, kill you graveyard dead, 
and run a couple hundred more yards before collapsing. 
Unbelievably strong and fierce. On the first evening of my 
black bear hunt in BC, a grizzly about half that size and 
weight walked out of the brush and gave me and my two 
guide companions a good look. He was about 40 yards 
away. Their eyesight is poor (sense of smell excellent, but 
the wind was in our favor). Thankfully that bear decided 
we were not a threat, and melted back into the thickets. 
Good thing. I was frozen in anticipation of very bad juju.” 

 We are not hunters here in So. California, and the 
worst that happens to our bears is that they get a really 
nice truck ride back deep into the forest, which gives them 
an opportunity to get a little exercise walking right back to 
their favorite avocado groves, trash cans and swimming 
pools.

 Can you believe it? Tuesday is July 4th! Seems like we 
just finished putting away the Christmas lights. “The 
bad news is: Time Flies! The good news is: You’re the 
navigator!” Robert Orben. Speaking of July 4th, the 
parade will be fantastic this year, as always, featuring 
Grand Marshal, Derek Podrebarac. In case you didn’t 
know, Derek is a volunteer of the finest kind, frequently 
found at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, and regularly 
giving blood to save the lives of those who rely on his rare 
blood type. He volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, has 
rebuilt homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He 
donates time to homeless shelters in Pasadena and is active 
in our little league. Derek is one of those guys who serves 
quietly all over the place and is truly a shining example of 
the sort of person who makes Sierra Madre such a nifty 
place to live. 

 So many fun things to do: There’s the Firecracker Fun 
Run at 7 a.m. in Kersting Court before the parade, the 
Pre-Parade Picnic July 3rd in Memorial park from 5:30 to 
10:30, the picnic and games at Sierra Vista Park from 11 to 
2 after the parade. It’s going to be a spectacular day here in 
our town. Plan to have the best time ever!

The Flag Goes By – Henry Holcomb Bennett

Hats off! Along the street there comes a blare of bugles, a 
ruffle of drums, 

a dash of color beneath the sky:

Hats off! The flag is passing by!

Blue and crimson and white it shines, over the steel-
tipped, ordered lines.

Hats off! The colors before us fly;

But more than the flag is passing by.

Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great,

Fought to make and to save the State:

Weary marches and sinking ships; cheers of victory on 
dying lips.

Days of plenty and years of peace; march of a strong land’s 
swift increase;

Equal justice, right and law, stately honor and reverend 
awe.

Sign of a nation, great and strong, to ward her people from 
foreign wrong:

Pride and glory and honor – all, live in the colors to stand 
or fall.

Hats off! Along the street there comes a blare of bugles, a 
ruffle of drums;

And loyal hearts are beating high: 

Hats off! The flag is passing by!

Somewhere along the way, be sure to remember that 
freedom isn’t free. It has been bought and paid for at great 
cost by people who gave all. And let’s stand when our flag 
goes by.

 Happy 4th of July! God Bless America!

 My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis

 Blog: www.authordeanne.com

 “A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter” is 
now available at

Sunrise Books + Coffee at Pasadena First Church of the 
Nazarene –just down the road on Sierra Madre Blvd.

Kindle readers, give yourself the gift of: 

 A Treasure Map, A Drunken Owl, and 47 Rattler’s in a 
Bag

 It’s on Amazon.com on my book page!

 Follow me on Twitter, too! https://twitter.com/@
playwrightdd

SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER

June 19 , to June 25 , 201 7 During this time period, the Sierra Madre Police Department responded to 
approximately 4 1 6 day and night time calls for service.

Sunday, June 18 

 At approximately 1:53 p.m., Sierra Madre Police 
Officers were dispatched to the 500 block of Lotus 
Lane regarding a man brandishing a firearm. The 
victim reported that the suspect(s) were in his 
driveway removing items from his truck. As the 
victim came out onto his balcony, one of the suspects 
pointed a hand gun at him causing him to retreat 
back into his house. Responding officers observed a 
vehicle and its occupants, (matching the description 
given by the caller) leaving the area. Officers 
conducted a traffic stop in the area of Santa Anita 
south of Orange Grove Ave. and safely detained the 
occupants of the vehicle. During the interview of 
the occupants and search of the vehicle, the officers 
located a BB gun, (resembling a handgun,) under 
the front passenger seat. The suspect that pointed 
the gun was positively identified by the victim 
during a field show-up at that location and all three 
occupants were eventually arrested. Case referred 
to Pasadena DA’s office Monday, June 19 A report 
of a possible theft from a package was reported in 
the 100 block of E. Laurel Ave. At about 6:16 p.m. a 
SMPD officer spoke with a resident who stated she 
received an email notifying her that a package she 
was expecting earlier that day had been delivered. 
The resident discovered the package on the east 
side of her property, opened and empty. Contents 
of the package was estimated to be $ 50.00. Case 
to Detectives 7:57 p.m. A few items of personal 
property that was recently reported stolen from a 
vehicle parked in the 300 block of N. Sunnyside Ave., 
were recovered from a stolen vehicle located in the 
200 block of S. Baldwin Ave. The items the victim 
identified were returned to her. 

 Case to Detectives 

Friday, June 23 

 At about 12:13 p.m., a report that unknown 
person(s) used a Bethany Church ATM card without 
authorization. The transaction possibly occurred 
at the Bank of America in Rancho Cucamonga for 
total withdrawals of $ 735.00 Case to Detectives 
5:44 p.m. Officers made contact with a male subject 
who was standing in the center median of the 
roadway. During the contact it was revealed that 
the subject is on probation and in possession of drug 
paraphernalia. The subject was arrested and booked 
at the Pasadena Jail. Case referred to Pasadena DA’s 
office for filling. 

Sunday, June 25 

 At about 12:07 a.m., an officer responded to the 
station’s lobby for a report of a residential burglary. 
The victim stated that when he returned home in 
the 00 block of Auburn Ave. at about 11:00 p.m. he 
noticed his two dogs were missing. Nothing else in 
the home appeared to be missing. Case to Detectives.


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