Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, July 28, 2018

4

SOUTH PASADENA - SAN MARINO

Mountain Views-News Saturday, July 28, 2018 

Rotary Club Continues 
Support for Library 
'Golden State Collection'

Democratic Letter: IRS Must Give 
Small Businesses and Individuals 
the Same Leniency Given to 
Multinational Corporations

Busch Gardens: Adolphus 
Busch’s Amusement Park

 

 Local historian Ann Scheid 
will give a lecture at The 
Huntington Library, July 29 at 
2:30 p.m. about Busch Gardens 
the once-famous theme park, 
which no longer exists except 
in period photographs.

 When German brewing 
magnate Adolphus Busch 
purchased a mansion on 
Pasadena’s “Millionaires’ 
Row” in 1904, the property 
did not include enough land 
for a proper garden. But Busch 
quickly bought up some 60 
additional acres stretching from 
Orange Grove Blvd. down 
to the bottom of the Arroyo 
Seco and developed it into a 
lushly landscaped park. Busch 
Gardens, which opened to the 
public in 1906, featured exotic 
plants, terraced hillsides, a rock 
grotto, waterfalls and ponds, 
and “fairy scenes” drawn from 
the tales of the Brothers Grimm. 
Local historian Ann Scheid will 
give a fascinating lecture about 
this once-famous theme park, 
which no longer exists except 
in period photographs and in 
a few intriguing remnants that 
can still be glimpsed around 
the neighborhood where it once 
stood. 

 The event is free; no 
reservations required, and will 
take place in Rothenberg Hall. 
The Huntington Library is 
located 1151 Oxford Road, San 
Marino. 

 
Rep. Judy Chu and 12 
Democratic members of the 
Ways and Means Committee 
sent a letter Thursday to 
Acting Internal Revenue 
Service (IRS) Commissioner 
David Kautter urging the 
IRS to give individuals and 
small businesses the same 
leniency, grace periods, and 
penalty waivers given to 
multinational corporations 
as the recently passed tax law 
is implemented. According 
to a June 4 press release, 
the IRS will waive certain 
late-payment penalties for 
multinational corporations 
arising from uncertainty 
and changes around the 
tax law. However, no such 
offer has been extended 
to small businesses or 
individual taxpayers who 
may be surprised to find 
themselves under withheld 
due to tax law changes. Rep. 
Chu released the following 
statement:

 “Because Republicans 
rushed their tax bill through 
the legislative process, the 
new law is riddled with 
complications. This has 
resulted in many companies 
struggling with compliance, 
forcing the IRS to clarify 
the complexities that 
should have been worked 
out before the law was 
passed. Instead of creating 
growth in the middle class, 
the tax law has created 
confusion and uncertainty. 
But individual taxpayers 
and small businesses are 
also struggling to calculate 
their estimated tax payments 
due to this confusion. 
For example, the hasty 
elimination of personal 
exemptions and capping 
of the state and local tax 
deduction as well as the 
uncertainty surrounding the 
Section 199A deduction 
mean that individuals and 
small businesses could also 
be underpaying their taxes 
and subject to a penalty. 
We believe that individuals 
and small businesses are no 
less deserving of reasonable 
leniency than a multinational 
corporation, and call on the 
IRS to treat them as such.”

 The letter is signed by 
Ways and Means Ranking 
Member Richard Neal (MA-
01) and Representatives 
Sander M. Levin (MI-09), 
John Lewis (GA-05), Lloyd 
Doggett (TX-35), Mike 
Thompson (CA-05), John 
B. Larson (CT-01), Earl 
Blumenauer (OR-03), Bill 
Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09), Danny 
K. Davis (IL-07), Linda T. 
Sanchez (CA-38), Brian 
Higgins (NY-26), and Terri 
A. Sewell (AL-07). More 
information can be found at: 
chu.house.gov.

 Laurie Wheeler, President of the South Pasadena Chamber 
of Commerce is handed a copy of "Early Los Angeles County 
Attractions" by new Rotary President, Charles Wiggington so she 
can sign the bookplate. The book, authored by Cory and Sarah 
Stargel, contains a chapter on Cawston Awston Farm that once 
drew so many visitors to South Pasadena. The book also contains 
fascinating sections on Mount Lowe, Elysian Park, Exposition 
Park, Griffith Park, and many other popular destinations of the past 
and present.

 
For the 12th consecutive 
year, the Rotary Club 
of South Pasadena has 
approved a $700 grant in its 
just-approved annual budget 
to purchase Library books 
on a variety of important 
California topics, including 
the arts, history, politics, 
ethnic groups, food, fashion, 
legends, geography, travel, 
and nature. The project 
partnership between the 
Library and Rotary has 
resulted in more than 500 
new titles for the “Golden 
State Collection.”

 Each Tuesday for its noon 
meeting in the Oneonta 
Church Tower Room, the 
Rotary Club honors its 
guest speaker by donating a 
Golden State title selected by 
the Library for the collection. 
Each book is affixed with 
a custom “Golden State 
Collection” bookplate that 
the particular guest speaker 
signs. After the meeting 
the already-cataloged book 
goes straight into the library 
collection.

 The Rotary Club’s lunch 
meetings are usually held in 
the South Pasadena Oneonta 
Church Tower Room on 
Tuesdays at noon. After each 
week’s meeting the guest 
speaker selects a Golden 
State Collection title and 
signs its custom bookplate 
featuring the Rotary logo 
and motto, “Service above 
self.” Each book is then 
donated to the Library in his 
or her honor.

 Many of the entertaining 
and informative Golden 
State Collection selections 
are on display in the Library 
in the middle of the first 
floor. Each title can be 
checked out for 3 weeks.

 With the new grant check, 
the Library has placed an 
order with the Gamble 
House Bookstore in 
Pasadena and is purchasing 
a new assortment of titles on 
local hiking, historical sites, 
restaurants, architecture, 
missions, bungalows, and 
many other popular subjects. 
The following is a sampling 
of the titles to be added to 
the collection in the coming 
year:

Counter Intelligence: Where 
to Eat in the Real Los 
Angeles

Day Hiking in Los Angeles

Downtown in Detail: Close 
Up on the Historic Buildings 
of Los Angeles

Early Hollywood

Gamble House

Gamble House: Building 
Paradise in California

Greetings from Los Angeles

Griffith Park

Los Angeles Residential 
Architecture

Memoirs of Henry and Ruth 
Greene Vol. 1

Memoirs of Henry and Ruth 
Greene Vol. 2

Mid-Century Modern 
Architecture Travel Guide

Missions of Los Angeles

Most Beautiful Villages and 
Towns of California

New and Native Beauty

Pasadena in Vintage 
Postcards

Pasadena’s Bungalow 
Heaven

Piecing Together Los 
Angeles: An Esther McCoy 
Reader

The Rose Bowl

Southern California: a Guide 
for the Eyes

Southern California Eats

Southern California: Out 
and About

Victorian Los Angeles

For more information visit: 
ci.south-pasadena.ca.us

South Pas 
Utility Users 
Tax Financial 
Analysis 
Report

 
According to South 
Pasadena officials, If the 
Measure challenging the 
City’s UUT is approved 
by voters in November, 
the City may be forced to 
cut $3.4 million from the 
municipal budget, resulting 
in significant service 
impacts. The potential cuts 
include layoffs in the police, 
fire, library and community 
service departments, along 
with substantial reductions 
in planned street repairs 
and maintenance, under a 
financial plan approved by 
the City Council. 

 The UUT is a local tax, 
passed by local residents, 
used for local services. In 
2011, a ballot measure was 
approved by a majority 
of voters, reducing utility 
user’s taxes from 8% to 7.5%, 
beginning July 1, 2012, and 
extending the tax for 10 
years.

 Losing UUT funds would 
immediately place many of 
South Pasadena’s services 
at risk. The Library, parks 
and city facilities, all 
recreation and community 
services programming will 
be in jepordy. There will be 
reductions in service and 
elimination of positions in 
all departments including 
in the Police and Fire 
departments. Also, street 
improvement program will 
be significantly impacted by 
the loss of revenue.

 For more information about 
UUT’s and what it means to 
South Pasadena residents 
and businesses, please 
contact the City Manager’s 
Office at (626) 403-7210.

 More information about the 
UUT visit: southpasadenaca.
gov search “UUT Factsheet.”

Conversational English Class

 

 Join fellow English language 
learners for an hour of 
conversation and instruction. 
South Pasadena Library’s 
Conversational English Class 
meets Wednesdays from 
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in 
the Ray Bradbury Conference 
Room on the Library’s second 
floor. There is no charge for 
English As a Second Language 
(E.S.L.) adult learners to attend 
this class and no advance 
registration is required. Drop-
ins are welcome.

Sunday Matinee at the 
Walt Disney Concert Hall

 

 Spend Sunday August 19 
afternoon with friends and 
John Williams, and the Cal 
Phil! Relive some of your most 
cinematic experiences through 
the music of John Williams, 
composer of the most popular 
and recognizable soundtracks, 
who has been nominated for 
over 51 Academy

 Before the concert we will 
have lunch at San Antonio 
winery (see menu below).

Menu (Includes salad, bread, 
dessert, andnon-alcoholic 
beverage):

1) Spaghetti with meat balls or 
sausage 2) Fish of the day 3) 
Ravioli of the day 4) Chicken 
of the day 5) Chef’s special of 
the day Cost: $90 per person

Leave: 10:30 am (Spot Time: 
10:15 am)

Return: 5:30 pm (approx)

Meet at the Recreation 
Department (1560 Pasqualito 
Drive)

Seats may be available beyond 
the reservation deadline July 5, 
if the minimum participation is 
met. Please call the Recreation 
Department at (626) 403-2200 
for more information.


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