SIERRA MADRE EDITION

 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2018 

VOLUME 12 NO. 43

Local Area 
News Briefs

Rose Queen Louise Siskel Crowned

Watch JPL Employee 
Pumpkin-Carving Contest


Police look for Luxury 
Wheel Thieves



 Once a year at Halloween, 
JPLers take a break from 
building robots that explore the 
solar system to craft dramatic 
creations that have as much in 
common with standard jack-o’-
lanterns as paper airplanes do 
with NASA spacecraft. Now in 
its seventh year, the unofficial 
pumpkin carving contest gives 
engineers a chance to flex their 
creative muscles and bond as a 
team, said NASA mechanical 
engineer Mike Meacham, who 
is co-running the one-hour 
competition this year.

 “I don’t think, even at the 
time, they appreciated just 
how seriously our engineers 
were going to take it,” he said 
of the first contest. In 2017, 
Meacham – who works on the 
entry, descent and landing of 
the Mars 2020 rover – and his 
team won third place with a 
green Frankenstein gourd that 
hovered in mid-air, suspended 
by a mini-parachute and an air 
blower.

 Other past standouts include 
a team that transformed a 
pumpkin into a twinkling UFO 
in the midst of beaming up a 
(miniature) cow. Another team 
turned their pumpkin into a 
spinning carnival-swing ride, 
while a third created a robotic 
arm that could flip a light 
switch on and off.

 Displayed together in a dark 
room, the creations flicker, 
lurch, glow and make noise in 
ways that defy the imagination. 
A panel of judges awards the 
first-place pumpkin the same 
day. The prize? Victory itself.

 The rules are simple: no 
planning, carving or competing 
during work hours.

 “They do it all in their own 
time,” said Meacham, who’s 
been brainstorming his ideas 
for six months. “They go home, 
use their own resources, plan 
it out, and all we give them is a 
pumpkin.”

 This year’s contest takes place 
on Monday, from 10 a.m. to 11 
a.m., during the engineering
section’s lunch break. The 
winners will be named in the 
afternoon.

 The event will be covered live 
on NASA JPL’s social media 
accounts. Photos and video will 
be posted on NASA JPL’s Flickr 
account the same day.

 
The event will stream 
live at nasa.gov/
socialmedia

 Pasadena Police on 
Thursday, released a series of 
photos, asking for the public’s 
help finding brazen car 
wheel thieves that targeted 
high end luxury vehicles 
across Southern California, 
including Pasadena.

 According to police, the 
suspects enter secured 
parking garages, remove the 
wheels leaving the cars on 
cinder blocks.

 The men where described 
as Hispanic or Middle 
Eastern, 25 to 30 years old. 
One of the suspects has a 
tattoo on his right arm. The 
suspects were confronted by 
a resident in September and 
photographed. Police also 
identified two vehicles used in 
the crimes, one a Ford F-150 
and a Jeep Grand Cherokee, 
both vehicles are gray with 
paper plates. The Ford has 
black fenders police said. 

 Anyone with information is 
urged to call Detective Philip 
Klotz at (626) 744-7108. 

 
Pasadena Tournament of 
Roses officials Tuesday named 
Louise Deser Siskel as the 101 
Rose Queen during their annual 
Announcement and Coronation 
ceremony that took place at the 
Pasadena Playhouse. 

 The announcement was made 
by 2019 Tournament of Roses 
President Gerald Freeny and 
follows a month-long selection 
process with 24 Pasadena 
area schools participating in 
interviews. The Rose Queen 
Siskel and Royal Court 
(pictured above) were selected 
based upon a combination 
of qualities, including public 
speaking ability, academic 
achievement, youth leadership, 
and community and school 
involvement.

 During the coronation 
ceremony, President Freeny 
presented Rose Queen Siskel 
with a Mikimoto crown 
featuring more than 600 
cultured pearls and six carats of 
diamonds (pictured right). The 
event was hosted by Chris 
Schauble, co-anchor of 
the KTLA 5 Morning 
News. 

 According to Tournament 
officials, Queen Siskel 
is a senior at Sequoyah 
High School and lives 
in San Marino. She is 
currently a member of the 
Debate Team, the Judicial 
Committee at Sequoyah 
High School, and YMCA Youth 
and Government. Her research 
in space biology has been 
funded by NASA Ames, and she 
is currently conducting breast 
cancer research at Charles 
Drew University. Siskel enjoys 
reading, playing board games 
with her family, traveling, and 
laughing with friends. She plans 
to study cellular and molecular 
biology and would like to attend 
Johns Hopkins University, 
The University of Chicago, 
or Tufts University. Louise is 
the daughter of Charlie Siskel 
and Abigail Deser; she has one 
brother, Simon.

 Rose Queen Siskel and 
the Royal Court will attend 
numerous community and 
media functions, serving as 
ambassadors of the Tournament 
of Roses, the Pasadena 
community, and the greater Los 
Angeles area. The grand finale 
will be their appearance on the 
Royal Court float in the 130th 
Rose Parade and attending the 

Suspect Arrested in Fatal 
Hit and Run

 Police announced 
Wednesday the arrest of 
Francisco Javier Soto Cedillo 
in connection to a fatal hit 
and run that killed Jessica 
Torres, 27, of Pasadena 
Sunday night. Cedillo was 
arrested in the 800 block of N. 
Oakland Avenue. Police also 
found a Nissan Pathfinder 
with front end damage. Police 
had responded to the 1100 
block of North Fair Oaks 
Ave. at around 7:20 p.m. of a 
pedestrian struck by a vehicle. 
Torres was pronounced dead 
at the scene. Cedillo bail was 
set at $85,000. 

Museum Tackles Cultural 
Appropriation Versus 
Cultural Appreciation


Howlin’ 
Halloween 
for Entire 

the Family



 All art including fashion has 
a long history of acquiring 
influences from various 
cultures but where is the line 
between cultural appreciation 
and cultural misappropriation? 
At what point does respect 
for other cultures lead to or 
become an exploitation of 
cultural imagery? The USC 
Pacific Asia Museum is proud 
to announce a very special 
Conversation@PAM inspired 
by current special exhibition, 
Ceremonies & Celebrations: 
Textile Treasures of the 
USC Pacific Asia Museum 
Permanent Collection, 
bringing academia and social 
media influencers together to 
discuss the very timely topic of 
cultural appropriation versus 
appreciation. The free event 
will take place Nov. 1 at 7:00 
p.m. at the USC Pacific Asia 
Museum 46 North Los Robles 
Avenue 

 Panelists (pictured above) 
include MacArthur Genius 
Awardees and bestselling 
authors, Dr. Viet Than Nguyen 
and Dr. Josh Kun, East Asian 
studies scholar Melissa Chan, 
and social media influencer 
Aditi Mayer.

 “Not only is this issue of 
cultural appropriation timely, 
but as an Asian art museum, 
this is something we need 
to deal with every day, from 
the way we display art, to our 
representation of ourselves as 
an institution to our patrons. 
We wanted to do something 
specific to how academia and 
public culture function,” said 
USC PAM Interim Director, 
Selma Holo. “This is not going 
to be a generic conversation 
at all, but about what really 
is going on in society today 
to help us think critically as 
museum visitors, art historians 
and the public.”’

 More information can be 
found at: pacificasiamuseum.
usc.edu.

CALENDAR Pg. 2


MORE PASADENA NEWS

 Pg. 3

SAN MARINO/SO. PAS

Pg. 4

SIERRA MADRE Pg. 5

ARCADIA Pg. 6

MONROVIA 

Blair Named Grammy 
Museum Signature School

 Join Pasadena Humane 
Society for a special spook-
tacular Halloween event this 
Sunday for kids at the Pasadena 
Humane Society.

 The event is set from 1:00 p.m. 
- 4:00 p.m., bring the entire 
family and come trick-or-treat 
with Pasadena Humane Society 
shelter dogs, create Halloween 
animal crafts, play games, and 
more! Drop in anytime between 
1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Kids of 
all ages are welcome and must 
be accompanied by an adult. 
Registration is recommended 
but walk-ins are welcome. 
Please leave your pets at home.

 The Pasadena Humane Society 
& SPCA is a donor-supported, 
nonprofit organization that 
provides animal care and 
services for homeless and 
owned animals in the Greater 
Los Angeles Area. The 
organization is dedicated to 
promoting humane treatment 
and compassion and care for 
all animals. The animals in 
its care come from 11 animal 
control contract cities, as well as 
partner shelters across the Los 
Angeles area and beyond. 

 For more information visit: 
pasadenahumane.org.

 Blair High School is one of four high school music 
programs in L.A. County selected as 2018 GRAMMY 
Museum Signature Schools grant recipients. Created in 
1998, the GRAMMY Museum Signature Schools program 
is a GRAMMY In The Schools initiative that recognizes 
U.S. public schools that make an outstanding commitment 
to music education during an academic school year.

 The Grammy grant provides Blair with up to $7,500 each 
year for three years. This year Blair has used these grant 
funds to purchase MIDI keyboards and two MacBooks, 
as well as licenses for Soundtrap music composition 
software. Music class students have used their accounts 
to create original music, record themselves playing their 
instruments, collaborate on projects and create “remixes.”

 On Oct. 16 the GRAMMY Museum announced that 
four Los Angeles County public high schools have been 
selected to receive cash grants totaling $90,000 thanks to 
the GRAMMY Museum Signature Schools program, a 
GRAMMY In The Schools initiative, and the philanthropy 
of The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation.

The recipients are:

Blair High School-Pasadena

Glendale High School-Glendale

John Marshall High School-Los Angeles

Norwalk High School-Norwalk

 The cash awards will be distributed over a three-year 
period.

 In addition to the grants, each of the recipients will be 
recognized at the Museum and will receive a custom award. 
GRAMMY Museum Signature Schools grants in Los 
Angeles are made possible through the generous support 
of The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation.

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


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