Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, May 30, 2020

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, May 30, 2020 

Pasadena to 
Declare Gun 
Violence 
Awareness


Pasadena Senior Center 
Partners with Local Eateries

 
Free restaurant meals to 
feed hungry older adults 
during covid-19 crisis

 Dozens of needy older 
adults in the Pasadena 
area are receiving free 
restaurant meals once a 
week thanks to a newly 
formed collaboration among 
the Pasadena Senior Center, 
ALTAeats Restaurant and 
Harvest Village Ministries, 
all of which were aware 
that many older adults 
are experiencing difficulty 
getting enough food since 
the coronavirus hit.

 “In some cases, during 
our regular wellness calls 
to older adults through our 
Telephone Reassurance 
Program, some people said 
they hadn’t eaten a full meal 
in up to four days,” said Akila 
Gibbs, executive director of 
the Pasadena Senior Center. 
“In other cases, loved ones of 
older adults called the center 
to let us know about these 
emergency situations.”

 When the COVID-19 crisis 
began, the city of Pasadena 
notified the center that it 
is an essential community 
service that needs to stay 
open. Since then its main 
focus has been providing 
vital social services to older 
adults in need, including the 
delivery of food and other 
necessities.

 Gibbs said many are 
housebound and their usual 
caregivers can’t shop for 
them anymore under the 
circumstances. Others have 
in the past depended on 
family members who are 
unemployed currently and 
lack the funds to spend on 
extra groceries.

 The Pasadena Senior Center 
now has a list of nearly 200 
local older adults who need 
emergency food deliveries. 
Boxes with a combination 
of free food and other 
necessities, such as toilet 
paper, are delivered to help 
those with emergency needs. 

 For more information 
about the programs, or 
to make a donation, visit: 
pasadenaseniorcenter.org or 
call 626-795-4331.

 The Pasadena City Council 
is set Monday to issue a 
proclamation declaring 
Friday, June 5 ‘National Gun 
Violence Awareness Day’ 
in Pasadena to honor and 
remember all of the victims 
and survivors of gun violence 
and support efforts to prevent 
gun violence.

 The proclamation will be 
received by San Gabriel 
Valley Moms Demand 
Action, a local grassroots 
organization working to 
reduce gun violence. The 
proclamation reads that 
gun violence “touches every 
segment of our society and 
impacts people of all ages; it 
increases the probability of 
death in incidents of domestic 
violence; raises the likelihood 
of fatalities by those who 
intend to injure others, and 
among those who attempt 
suicide; it places children and 
young people at increased risk 
of physical harm and injury; 
and disproportionately affects 
communities of color.” The 
proclamation concludes by 
urging all citizens, businesses, 
and organizations to work 
collaboratively to reduce gun 
violence in our community.

Wear Orange Weekend, June 
5-7

 National Gun Violence 
Awareness Day kicks off Wear 
Orange Weekend, an event 
held annually in honor of 
Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-
old who was shot and killed 
in Chicago in 2013, just 
one week after performing 
at President Obama’s 2nd 
inaugural parade. Orange is 
the color that Hadiya’s friends 
wore in her honor and is 
worn throughout the nation 
to raise awareness about gun 
violence.

 The City of Pasadena 
encourages community 
members to wear orange 
June 5-7 in support of the 
gun violence prevention 
movement and to share 
photos on social media using 
the hashtag #WearOrange. 
Pasadena police officers will 
be wearing orange ribbons on 
Friday, June 5.

 Many local groups are 
working together to 
encourage and support efforts 
to prevent gun violence 
and save lives, including 
San Gabriel Valley Moms 
Demand Action, Students 
Demand Action, Mothers 
of Murdered Children, and 
the All Saints Committee to 
End Gun Violence. Contact 
the organizations directly for 
information on how to get 
involved.

City Opens Largest EV Plaza in the Nation

 With a total of 44 chargers, 
24 Superchargers installed 
by Tesla and 20 fast 
chargers installed by the 
city of Pasadena, officials 
announced Wednesday the 
opening of the Marengo 
Charging Plaza on Green 
Street. Located on the top 
level of the parking garage 
at 155 E. Green Street the 
charging site is the largest 
public electric vehicle (EV) 
fast-charging plaza in the 
nation. 

 According to city officials 
Pasadena Water and Power 
(PWP) has, with the new 
plaza, more than doubled 
the installation of public 
EV charging infrastructure 
within the city in the past 
year and half and received 
the distinction of having the 
highest percentage of EV 
drivers among all southern 
California electric utilities. 
The fast-chargers make it 
possible for EV drivers to 
charge up and add up to 100 
miles in less than 30 minutes. 
Within its first months of 
operation the Plaza captured 
more than 7,000 charging 
sessions per month. 

 “Making chargers publicly 
available is exactly what 
EV drivers need, and will 
ultimately help advance 
EV adoption,” said Jason 
Fudenberg, President of the 
Tesla Owner’s Club of Los 
Angeles. “Being able to stop 
for a quick charge and grab a 
bite nearby makes road trips 
simple, and the cost to charge 
is a fraction of what I used to 
pay for gasoline.”

 On Thursday, (pictured 
above), a Tesla owner said 
it takes about one hour to 
charge his car 80 percent. 

 Steve Mermell, Pasadena 
City Manager, said the city 
is focused on placing EV 
chargers at central locations 
throughout the city’s 23 
square mile boundaries that 
will help drivers support 
their daily commute and 
extend their electric range to 
reach further destinations. 

 “The installation of these 
44 fast chargers was key 
to giving EV drivers the 
confidence they needed to 
see that regardless of the 
make and model of their 
EV, they now have a location 
they could easily access and 
receive a fast charge-up in 
minutes,” he said.

 The support of public-
private partnerships was an 
effective way to advance EV 
infrastructure and provide 
the technology needed to 
benefit the community. 
With the help of grants 
from the California Energy 
Commission (CEC) and 
Southern California Air 
Quality Management District 
(SCAQMD), and revenues 
from the Low Carbon Fuel 
Standard program, the City 
was able to construct the 
entire project without the use 
of rate payer dollars. 

 Mermell also said to support 
the grand opening of the 
plaza, there is currently no 
fee to charge on the city’s 
20 fast chargers and to 
support the take-out service 
of restaurants during the 
challenges surrounding 
COVID-19, the plaza is 
also temporarily offering a 
20-minute grace period.

 Pasadena Water and Power 
offers rebates, incentives 
and resources for residents 
and businesses interested 
in electric vehicles, to learn 
more visit PWPweb.com/EV.

Photo by D. Lee/MVNews

City Provides COVID-19 
Chronology of Actions to 
Skilled Nursing Homes

Rose Bowl 
COVID-19 
Testing Site 
Concludes

 At the request of the Pasadena 
city council, an outside 
consultant has provided 
a report with a high-level 
snapshot of the unfolding of 
key events surrounding the 
onset of COVID-19 infection 
in the city and a chronology 
of the Pasadena Public Health 
Department’s actions to prepare 
for, respond and mitigate 
the threat of COVID-19 in 
Pasadena’s long-term care 
facilities. 

 Concurrently, the office of the 
City Attorney has released a 
related memorandum entitled 
“Summary of the Health 
Officer’s Authority Relating to 
Skilled Nursing Facilities” to 
help clarify roles and authority. 

 Nationwide, as in Pasadena, 
COVID-19 has had tragic 
effects on the vulnerable 
populations of long-term care 
facilities. According to a New 
York Times database, at least 
28,000 residents and workers 
have died from COVID-19 at 
nursing homes and other long-
term facilities for older adults 
in the United States. So far, the 
virus has infected more than 
153,000 at some 7,700 facilities. 
Pasadena is particularly hard 
hit among our elderly residents 
because of its numbers. There 
are 16 skilled nursing facilities 
in Pasadena, with 886 beds per 
100,000 residents, as compared 
to 383 facilities in Los Angeles 
County with 382 beds per 
100,000 residents. This means 
there are 2.3 times more 
beds per 100,000 residents in 
Pasadena than LA County.

 “Our heartfelt sympathy goes 
out to those who have lost 
family members due to this 
tragic pandemic,” said Pasadena 
Public Health Director Dr. 
Ying-Ying Goh. “COVID-19 
infection and death rates in 
these facilities is a national 
tragedy. Mitigating risks of 
COVID-19 and other infectious 
diseases in these facilities will 
require a national strategy and 
investment in infectious disease 
infrastructure and personnel. 
There needs to be discussions 
at a national level on how these 
facilities are funded, staffed and 
regulated. This is not simply 
a Pasadena problem; it is a 
significant nationwide issue.”

 “Dr. Goh and her team have 
been working day and night 
to take measures to protect 
lives in these facilities,” said 
City Manager Steve Mermell. 
“Despite major obstacles, the 
health department has and will 
continue to take the necessary 
actions to mitigate the spread 
of the virus, knowing this will 
be a sustained response. The 
City will continue to evaluate 
our progress and build upon 
lessons learned at a local level 
and from our county, state and 
federal partners.”

 Pasadena city officials 
announced Thursday that 
drive-thru testing currently 
located at the Rose Bowl 
Stadium is transitioning to 
local clinics.

 The city and Huntington 
Hospital have provided 
resources since April 
8th to allow the testing 
site to function. Since 
opening in early April, the 
site has performed over 
9,000 COVID-19 tests 
for local residents and 
essential workers. Pasadena 
residents, who tested 
positive for COVID-19 were 
subsequently contacted by 
members of the Pasadena 
Public Health Department 
to advise on self-isolation 
protocol and perform 
contact tracing to help 
identify additional positive 
cases.

 COVID-19 testing will 
continue at ChapCare’s 
Kathryn Barger Health 
Center in Pasadena, 1595 N. 
Lake Ave., by appointment 
only, Monday through 
Friday, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. 
Testing is available to anyone 
who wants to be tested for 
COVID-19. To schedule a 
test, visit cityofpasadena.net.

 For additional testing 
opportunities, please call 
your primary care provider. 
If you do not have a primary 
care provider, please call 
Los Angeles County’s 211 
service. There are also urgent 
care clinics in Pasadena that 
do COVID-19 testing. For a 
list of additional COVID-19 
testing sites in LA County, 
along with answers to 
frequently asked questions 
about COVID-19 testing, 
visit: lacovidprod.service-
now.com/rrs.

Symphony and Pops 
Annual Gala Goes Virtual

 Join the Pasadena 
Symphony Association for 
an unforgettable evening of 
music and entertainment 
on Saturday, September 12 
at 6pm as they transform 
the annual Moonlight 
Sonata Gala to a unique 
online experience. The 
party will come to you via 
a live-streamed special 
event featuring exclusive 
performances from 
Pasadena Symphony and 
POPS artists, an exciting live 
auction, Fund-the-Future 
paddle raise, and a digital 
dance floor with music 
from the Great America 
Songbook. Festivities for the 
Moonlight Sonata Virtual 
Gala will open at noon on 
Thursday, September 10, 
2020 with a dedicated gala 
website offering one-of-a-
kind, interactive content to 
get you ready to join in on 
the fun, plus messages from 
musicians, staff and surprise 
guests.

 Saturday evening’s virtual 
event will be co-hosted 
by Music Director David 
Lockington and Resident 
Pops Conductor Larry 
Blank, with special guest 
appearances including 
Principal Pops Conductor 
Michael Feinstein. True to 
the organization’s mission, 
performances by guest 
artists and students from the 
Pasadena Youth Symphony 
Orchestra will be highlighted 
throughout the evening.

 All proceeds will support 
the recovery and relaunch 
of the Pasadena Symphony 
and POPS’ live performances 
when it is safe to resume 
operations. Participation 
in this year’s Moonlight 
Sonata Virtual Gala is 
at no cost, but attendees 
will be asked to register 
through a secure website 
prior to the event. For more 
information, please visit 
PasadenaSymphony-Pops.
org/MoonlightSonata2020.

Altadena Library 
Curbside Pickup

 Just in time for Summer 
Reading, the Altadena 
Libraries announce the 
launch of curbside pickup 
services at the Main Library. 
The services started last week, 
library cardholders may start 
calling in to place orders of 
up to 10 items for curbside 
pickup. Call (626) 798-0833 
and press 4 when prompted 
to place an order with library 
staff. Orders are accepted 
Monday - Saturday from 
10:00am - 4:00pm.

 Curbside pickup takes place 
in the Main Library parking 
lot at 600 E. Mariposa Street 
(entrance on Santa Rosa 
Avenue) Monday - Saturday 
at 11:00am - 1:00pm and 3:30 
- 5:30pm. Once staff verifies 
your identity, your order will 
be placed on a table adjacent 
to your car so that you can 
retrieve your items while 
socially distanced.


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