PASADENA EDITION

 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2017 

VOLUME 11 NO. 35

Public Art 
Grant Winners 
Announced


Celebration for ‘Early 
Learning City’ Initiative

 
The City’s Arts and 
Culture Commission this 
week approved $186,188 
in funding for 30 public 
art projects and cultural 
programs under the 2017-
2018 Annual Grants 
Program administered 
by the Planning and 
Community Development 
Department’s Cultural 
Affairs Division.

 The Annual Grants 
Program supports the 
creative, artistic life of 
Pasadena and expands 
public access to the arts 
in a variety of forms 
and mediums. Funded 
projects take place within 
the City now through June 
30, 2018. Grant recipients 
range from individual 
artists and arts education 
partnerships to festivals, 
parades and arts and 
culture organizations.

 The Pasadena Arts and 
Culture Commission 
works with the Cultural 
Affairs Division to make 
recommendations to 
the City Council on the 
needs, opportunities and 
strategies to support art 
and culture in Pasadena. 
The Commission approves 
the annual distribution 
of City General Fund 
and Cultural Trust Fund 
monies through the 
Annual Grants Program. 
Winners were approved at 
the Commission’s July 12, 
2017 meeting.

 The next grant application 
cycle begins in February. 

 The Cultural Affairs 
Division provides free 
technical assistance 
workshops each Spring 
to enhance grant writing 
skills for organizations and 
individuals. For more visit 
cityofpasadena.net/arts.

Full list cont. page 4.

 A new, groundbreaking 
initiative–Pasadena as an Early 
Learning City by 2025–will be 
celebrated during a free, family-
friendly event 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 
Saturday, Sept. 23 at Brookside 
Park, 360 N. Arroyo Blvd., 
near the Rose Bowl Stadium’s 
Parking Lot I and the Kidspace 
Museum.

 Information about the 
initiative will be available 
at the event along with fun 
and educational activities for 
children, parents, prospective 
parents, grandparents, teachers 
and anyone interested in 
the healthy development of 
young children. Activities 
include storytelling, face 
painting, bubble play, arts 
and crafts, healthy food & 
cooking demos, parenting 
workshops, developmental 
screenings, foster care info, 
a listening wall, video booth, 
music from Pasadena Unified 
School District students, dance 
performances, community info 
tables and much more.

 Research has shown that 
from birth to age 5 is a 
critical time for the overall 
social, emotional, physical 
and learning development of 
children. Parents and other 
caregivers who successfully 
provide children with a 
successful foundation during 
this time means there is a much 
higher chance that children 
will enter kindergarten ready 
to learn and be creative; have 
success throughout their school 
years; graduate from high 
school; pursue higher learning 
opportunities and earn higher 
wages.

 “For many Pasadena families, 
life’s stresses and strains have 
an impact on their ability to 
continuously nurture their 
child’s development,” said 
early childhood development 
coordinator, for Pasadena’s 
Office of the Young Child, Lila 
Guirguis. 

 Pasadena has an abundance 
of community resources that 
serve our young children and 
their parents. The Sept. 23 
launch celebration will feature 
many of these resources, so 
mark your calendars now 
for this important event; be 
prepared to have a ton of fun 
with your children and to share 
your vision of what Pasadena as 
an Early Learning City by 2025 
can be.

For more information about 
the event, contact Guirguis at 
(626) 744-4297, lguirguis@
cityofpasadena.net. The 
Office of the Young Child 
was established as part of 
the Pasadena Public Library 
Department by the City 
Council in 2015 to help 
provide a positive, nurturing 
environment in the City where 
young children can thrive, be 
healthy and safe and find early 
success in school and life.

State Names Freeway in Honor of Obama

 A portion of the 134 freeway 
near Pasadena will soon be 
named the President Barack 
H. Obama Freeway, after 
a Senate Joint Resolution, 
by State Senator Anthony 
Portantino, passed both 
the State Senate and the 
State Assembly this week. A 
portion of the 134 freeway 
from the 2 freeway to the 210 
Freeway interchange will be 
named in honor of our 44th 
President.

 According to a statement, 
President Obama used 
this portion of California’s 
freeway system, pictured 
above, to travel from his 
college home in Pasadena 
to Occidental College. 
President Obama attended 
Occidental his freshman and 
sophomore years and has 
attributed his time there as 
the beginning of his political 
activism. The college is the 
place where he gave his first 
political speech.

 “I am so proud to have 
authored this proposal 
to forever appreciate and 
commemorate President 
Obama’s tremendous legacy, 
statesmanship and direct 
connection to Southern 
California," Portantino 
said. "When my friend 
John Gallogly suggested 
the idea I was touched that 
he suggested it to me and 
extremely honored to be 
in a position to bring it to 
fruition. It is also quite 
appropriate and symbolic 
that the California legislature 
would pass this Resolution 
for a President filled with 
compassion on the same day 
we witness another President 
turn his back on 800,000 
children.”

 Portantino said that after 
the City of Pasadena placed 
a plaque, in December last 
year, in front of the home 
where President Obama lived 
when he was a student, local 
activist Gallogly approached 
him with the suggestion to 
name the 134 freeway after 
the President. 

 Portantino currently 
represents Pasadena and had 
represented the Los Angeles 
Eagle Rock neighborhood 
where Occidental is located 
while in the State Assembly.

September 
Pedestrian 
Safety Month

 The California Office 
of Traffic Safety is again 
announcing that September 
is “California Pedestrian 
Safety Month” which began 
last year in response to the 
rising number of pedestrians 
being killed and injured on 
California roadways.

Pasadena Police Department 
will be joining with other 
law enforcement agencies, 
city and state transportation 
agencies, pedestrian 
advocates and walking clubs 
to promote public awareness 
aimed at both drivers and 
pedestrians alike to always be 
aware of each other and share 
the road responsibly.

 This month draws attention 
to the 892 pedestrians who 
were killed on California 
roadways last year alone, 
accounting for over 24 percent 
of all roadways deaths in the 
state, up from 17 percent just 
a decade ago. Pasadena PD 
investigated one pedestrian 
fatal collisions and another 63 
major injury collisions. 

 Both drivers and walkers 
are cautioned to put down 
the cell phones, since 
electronic distractions are 
seen in increasing numbers 
of pedestrian crashes. Other 
factors for drivers include 
unsafe speed and failure to 
see and yield to pedestrians in 
crosswalks and intersections. 
For pedestrians, the major 
dangers are jaywalking and 
thinking that they can be 
seen at night, especially 
while wearing dark clothing. 
To learn about the dangers 
of being a pedestrian, who 
is at risk and safety tips visit 
Pedestrian Safety. 

 The California Office of 
Traffic Safety continues 
to remind motorist that 
“Pedestrians Don’t Have 
Armor.” This public service 
announcement highlights 
the importance of pedestrian 
safety awareness, regardless 
of whether one is on foot or 
behind the wheel. 

 Funding for this enforceme 
nt campaign is provided to 
Pasadena Police Department 
by a grant from the California 
Office of Traffic Safety, 
through the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration.



 The good news is that 
the political news is not 
dominating the headlines 
this week, at least not as of 
this writing. The very bad 
news is that natural disasters 
are happening all around us 
–devastating Hurricanes, 
floods, winds, fires 
and earthquakes. 
None were totally 
predictable and the 
cause of this barrage 
of natural disasters is 
not important. What is 
important is if you and 
your family can answer 
the question, “Are You 
Ready?”.

 A few weeks ago on 
Facebook I responded 
to someone’s criticism 
of a man who choose 
not to evacuate doing 
Hurricane Harvey. 
Last week, many of 
you saw the man who 
refused to leave with 
wild fires burning 
all around him. My 
comment admonished 
those to hold back the 
judgment as no one 
really knows how they 
will react when disaster 
strikes. The one thing 
we can do is try to be 
prepared.

I’ve personally been 
through a devastating 
flood (1974), wild fire 
(1991) and the last two 
severe earthquakes that 
happened in California. 
And, let’s not forget the 
2011 Windstorm when 
in addition to the wind 
damage, power was out 
in some areas of the 
San Gabriel Valley for 
almost a week. So I ask 
again, Are You Ready?

Think about it:

 Do you have a 
sufficient supply of bottled 
water to sustain your family 
for a week (remember that 
may be all they have to 
drink)?

 Do you have your 
valuables in a safe place 
that you can pick up in a 
moment’s notice? (Sort of 
like that ‘delivery’ bag that 
was by the front door for 
when you went into labor? 
That should have copies of 
all your important docs, 
birth certificates, insurance 
info, list of medicines, etc. In 
a real emergency you won’t 
have time to run around 
collecting them.

 Do you have enough 
canned goods to sustain 
your family for a week? 
Maybe its time to run to REI 
and get some MRE’s. Keep 
them in an easily accessible 
place (like your garage, along 
with utensils and for heaven’s 
sake, a can opener.)

 Is your car’s gas tank 
full? I know many of you 
have a habit of waiting to the 
last minute to get gas but in 
an emergency if you have to 
evacuate by road, you may 
not have any place to go to 
get gas.

 Do you own a 
generator? Portable A/C 
unit? Fans? Across the 
nation for the last 10 days 
one of the nation’s top 
retailers was out of A/C units 
in Southern CA; Generators 
in Texas and Louisiana and 
in some places even water.

 How about those 
flashlights? Do you have 
them everywhere? Do 
you check the batteries 
occaisionally?

 What about your 
pet’s? Do you have 
emergency supplies for 
them? They’ll be absolutely 

Editorial

ARE YOU READY?

Taste of Pasadena 
returns to the Rose Bowl

 The Pasadena Chamber of 
Commerce is hosting a Taste 
of Pasadena event at the Rose 
Bowl on Thursday, September 
28th from 6pm to 9pm.

 No more than 500 tickets will 
be sold to the Taste of Pasadena 
in the Court of Champions in 
front of the Rose Bowl. No long 
lines. No waiting for food and 
drink.

 Entertainment will be 
provided by Dance Syndicate.

 Past participants in the Taste 
of Pasadena have included 
local favorites El Cholo Cafe, 
California Pizza Kitchen, 
Chick-fil-A, Copenhagen 
Pastry, Du-Par’s, Clearman’s 
Galley, Hilton Pasadena, 
Lucky Baldwins Pub, Madeline 
Garden Bistro, Nekter Juice 
Bar, Nothing Bundt Cakes, 
Pasadena Sandwich Company, 
POP Champagne and Dessert 
Bar, Simply Cupcakes of 
Pasadena, Stark Spirits 
Distillery, Stonefire Grill, 
White Horse Lounge and 
Whole Foods Market.

 We are hosting this in 
conjunction with our SIP-
tember Finale and cocktail 
tasting. At the end of the event, 
we will tally votes of the live 
cocktail tasting and announce 
Pasadena’s Favorite Cocktail for 
2017.

 The City of Pasadena, The 
Rose Bowl, and the Pasadena 
Star-News sponsor the event.

 The Pasadena Chamber of 
Commerce is a business service 
member organization that 
works to ensure the prosperity 
of its members through a variety 
of offerings including referrals, 
networking, workshops and 
seminars, events and much 
more. The Chamber serves 
1450 member companies.

 Advanced tickets are $30 
per person and available at 
pasadena-chamber.org/forms/
taste-of-pasadena. Tickets are 
$50 at the door.

CALENDAR Pg. 

MORE PASADENA NEWS

 Pg. 3

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

Cont. page 3.