Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, August 24, 2019

3


Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 24, 2019 

Local Area 
News Briefs


Stones Get Martian Honor 
with Rock Named after Them

 
Fire Damages Two 
Homes in South 
Pasadena

 Heavy smoke and flames 
shot out of a home in South 
Pasadena Wednesday after 
a fire broke out causing part 
of the house to collapse 
and partly damaging a 
neighboring home.

 According to reports 
and fire officials, six local 
fire departments, with 45 
firefighters, responded to a 
two-alarm house fire in the 
700 block of Charter Oak 
Street shortly after 3 p.m. 
South Pasadena Fire Chief 
Paul Riddle said two adults 
and a number of children, 
possibly five, where in the 
house at the time. The 
home may have been used 
as a daycare. No one was 
hurt he said.

 There were also five cats 
at the home, two of them 
were located outside by 
firefighters. It was unclear if 
the other three were inside 
at the time of the blaze, 
they were unaccounted for 
at the time. 

 One of the children 
called 911 after she heard 
something pop in the 
bathroom and then saw 
flames. Riddle commended 
the 9-year-old girl for 
doing the right thing.


Mick Jagger thanks NASA, JPL

 

 During the sold-out Rolling 
Stones show Thursday night, 
the NASA’s Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory made a surprised 
announcement that a rock 
on Mars had been named for 
the band.

 Actor Robert Downey Jr. 
(pictured above) made the 
announcement before the 
iconic band took the stage. 
Backstage before making 
the announcement, Downey 
said, “Cross-pollinating 
science and a legendary 
rock band is always a good 
thing...”

 Downey Jr. ask the crowd 
of 60,000 fans to make it 
official, “those in favor 
say “I” he said to a roar. “I 
second that motion.” 

 “What a wonderful way 
to celebrate the ‘Stones 
No Filter’ tour arriving 
in Pasadena,” said band 
members, Mick Jagger, Keith 
Richards, Charlie Watts and 
Ronnie Wood. 

 “NASA has given us 
something we have always 
dreamed of, a rock on Mars, 
I want to bring it back and 
put it on our mantelpiece,” 
Jagger said. “This is 
definitely a milestone in our 
long and eventful history. A 
huge thank you to everyone 
at NASA for making it 
happen.”

 A little larger than a golf 
ball, the rock appeared to 
have rolled about 3 feet (1 
meter) on Nov. 26, 2018, 
propelled by InSight’s 
thrusters as the spacecraft 
touched down on Mars to 
study the Red Planet’s deep 
interior. In images taken by 
InSight the next day, several 
divots in the orange-red soil 
can be seen trailing Rolling 
Stones Rock. It’s the farthest 
NASA has seen a rock roll 
while landing a spacecraft 
on another planet.

 The InSight mission is led 
by NASA’s Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory, just up the 
road from the Rose Bowl 
in Pasadena. Having helped 
NASA land all of its Mars 
missions since 1997, JPL 
geologist Matt Golombek is 
a rock star in his own right. 
He and fellow scientists 
count rocks and assess the 
safety of potential landing 
sites.

 “I’ve seen a lot of Mars rocks 
over my career,” Golombek 
said. “This one probably 
won’t be in a lot of scientific 
papers, but it’s definitely one 
of the coolest.”

 Official scientific names 
for places and objects 
throughout the solar system 
— including asteroids, 
comets and locations on 
planets — can be designated 
only by the International 
Astronomical Union. But 
scientists working with 
NASA’s Mars rovers have 
given lots of unofficial 
nicknames to rocks and 
other geological features. 
Doing so makes it easier for 
them to discuss different 
objects and refer to them in 
science papers. So while the 
name Rolling Stones Rock is 
informal, it will appear on 
working maps of the Red 
Planet.

 NASA will use its robotic 
missions to Mars to help 
prepare for eventual 
human exploration of the 
Red Planet. Charged with 
returning astronauts to the 
Moon, NASA’s Artemis 
program is the next step 
in human exploration. It 
is a part of NASA’s broader 
Moon to Mars exploration 
approach, which will quickly 
and sustainably explore the 
Moon and enable humanity’s 
next giant leap to Mars. 

 Thursday was the first time 
The Rolling Stones played 
the Rose Bowl in 25 years. 
The last time they played the 
venue was 1994 for their The 
Voodoo Lounge Tour. 

Groups File Appeal Over Housing 

 Pasadena Heritage announced 
Thursday that they filed an 
appeal with the city council 
on a large new housing project 
at 127-141 N. Madison Ave. 
Along with the filing they said 
both The Pasadena Women’s 
City Club and the Blinn House 
Foundation joined them as 
appellants due to the project 
being close to the historic Blinn 
House. The appeal hearing was 
rescheduled for the Monday, 
Sept. 9 council meeting at 7:00 
p.m.

 The groups said their concerns 
about the project included 
its proximity to, and lack of 
consideration for adjacent 
historic buildings and districts, 
its height, size and bulk; its 
incompatible architectural 
design; its lack of conformity 
with policies in Pasadena’s 
General Plan, and problems 
with its parking, set-backs, and 
landscaping plans. “Since the 
initial hearing date, Pasadena 
Heritage representatives have 
met with city planning staff 
and the developer to clarify 
our major concerns, and the 
developer expressed willingness 
to modify the project to address 
the critical issues we identified,” 
they said.

 “We are waiting to see the 
revised project and hoping to 
see a much improved and more 
compatible proposal. Once we 
have seen the new plans, we 
will develop our response to 
the project to present to City 
Council. We will reach out for 
your support as soon as we have 
determined what our position 
should be. Many thanks to all of 
you who wrote on our behalf for 
the first hearing! The more than 
70 letters received made a real 
impression,” they added. 

 According to the city staff 
report, the applicant, Mike 
Balian, submitted an Affordable 
Housing Concession Permit 
application to facilitate the 
construction of a mixed-use 
project. An existing four-story 
building (Madison Professional 
Building) and surface parking 
lot would be demolished and 
replaced by the project. The 
mixed-use project would 
include: ·

• 49 dwelling units (45 market 
rate units for sale, 4 “very low-
income” units for rent)

• 5-stories (62 feet tall)

• 72,000 square feet

• 4,210 commercial square feet 
(office)

• 101 parking spaces (at grade 
and one level of subterranean 
parking)

 Balian also filed applications to 
remove four protected trees on 
private property:

• A 13” diameter-at-breast 
height (DBH) Brush Cherry 
tree (Syzigium

paniculatum);

• A 21 “ DBH Silver Dollar Gum 
tree (Eucalyptus polyanthemos);

• A 27” DBH Ribbon Gum tree 
(Eucalyptus viminalis); and

• A 23” DBH Silver Dollar Gum 
tree (Eucalyptus polyanthemos). 

 The city council meets in the 
Council Chamber, Pasadena 
City Hall 100 North Garfield 
Avenue, Room S249. 

In related news

 Support Needed Now for 
Historic Preservation Tax Credits 
in California

 Senate Bill 451, which 
would establish a California 
State Historic Tax Credit, 
passed unanimously through 
the Senate in May. The Bill 
would establish a 20 percent 
tax credit for qualified 
rehabilitation expenditures of 
historic structures, or up to 25 
percent for affordable housing, 
properties on designated 
census tracts or federal surplus 
property, or TOD projects. 
The bill will be discussed and 
voted upon by the Assembly 
Appropriations Committee. 
If it passes, a major incentive 
for historic preservation and 
rehabilitation projects would 
be closer to reality. Pasadena 
Heritage is asking for help in 
writing to the Appropriations 
Committee to support the 
bill. Please direct letters to the 
Committee Chair Assembly 
Member Lorena Gonzalez, or 
to our local Assembly Members 
Ed Chau and Wendy Carrillo.

 More information on the 
legislation and a sample letter 
can be found at: 

 californiapreservation.org/
advocacy/2019-tax-credits-bill/

 Burglary Suspect 
Wanted by Police

 
Pasadena Police are asking 
for the public’s help identify 
a female burglary suspect 
wanted in connection with 
sealing electronics and credit 
cards.

 According to police, on July 
18 the above pictured suspect 
burglarized a storage locker 
and removed approximately 
$1,350.00 worth of electronics 
and four credit/debit cards 
belonging to the victim.

 She is described as Caucasian 
in her 30s with long brown 
hair, possibly driving a dark 
colored mid 2000s Toyota 
Corolla Matrix or similar 
vehicle. 

 The suspect later used 
the credit cards at several 
businesses. 

 Anyone with information 
is asked to call police (626) 
744-4501or you may report 
information anonymously 
by calling “Crime Stoppers” 
by dialing (800) 222-TIPS 
(8477).


BEAR PROOF TRASH BINS

City Adds 
More WiFi

to Parks

 Get your own 
bear-proof 
trash bin! Bins 
are available 
to #Pasadena 
residents for 
an additional 
monthly charge of 
$4.84 (64-gallon 
bin) or $5.26 
(96-gallon bin). 
The change-out 
fee is $35.81. Call 
(626) 744-7311 to 
request a bin.

 
Free public WiFi now 
available at Central, 
Memorial, Viña Vieja 
and Washington Parks. 
Pasadena Public WiFi is 
also available at 11 other 
parks and rec centers, and 
all 10 library locations, 
for a list of locations go 
to: cityofpasadena.net/
human-services/parks.

 Walter Cailleteau, DVM Free Exam!
927 N. Michillinda Ave. For New Clients 
Pasadena, CA 91107 Bring this coupon to save! 
(626) 351-8863
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