Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, February 13, 2021

5


Mountain Views-News Saturday, February 13, 2021 

Presidents 
Day Closures, 
Reminders


LEARN Act to Increase 
Standards for Law 
Enforcement Recruitment

 
State Senator Anthony 
Portantino introduced SB 387, 
last week, a measure aimed 
at improving community 
policing, diversity within rank 
and file departments, and 
public safety outcomes.

 “Community policing today 
is more complex than ever, and 
we need officers that reflect 
our diverse communities and 
adapt to their values. The 
basic functions and duties 
of an officer have changed 
immensely over the years, but 
the recruitment strategies, 
pre-requisite training, and 
types of education we expect 
our officers to have needs 
updating,” Portantino said. 
“The LEARN Act will allow us 
to recruit, educate, and train 
California’s next generation 
of peace officers and better 
prepare them to carry out their 
duties in a way that is consistent 
with the expectations we place 
on officers today.”

 California must take the lead 
and ensure that we have the 
best and most highly trained 
officers. Today’s peace officers 
face many challenges, including 
evolving technologies, changing 
laws, homelessness, drug and 
alcohol abuse, and the growing 
mental health crisis. Studies 
and research from public 
safety experts throughout the 
country consistently show 
that increased education and 
training can help officers 
approach each interaction in a 
way that is proven to increase 
positive public safety outcomes. 

 SB 387 will set California’s next 
generation of peace officers 
up for success while helping 
to repair the trust between 
officers and the communities 
they serve. First, it would 
establish a statewide taskforce, 
comprised of community 
members, educators, and law 
enforcement, that will focus 
on identifying best practices 
for recruitment. The LEARN 
Act would also direct the 
Commission on Peace Officers 
Standards and Training 
to develop an expanded 
curriculum specifically 
designed to prepare officers 
to meet the expectations of a 
modern police force, including 
classes on mental health, 
social services, psychology, 
communication, and other 
related fields. The third 
component of the bill would 
provide financial grants to 
individuals who are in need 
and are committed to pursuing 
a career in law enforcement.

 “We must do more to show 
the value of a career in law 
enforcement as an honorable 
profession worthy of pursuing 
for all of California’s youth, 
regardless of their background, 
race, gender or financial status,” 
said Brian Marvel, President 
of the Peace Officers Research 
Association of California 
(PORAC). “If we are to 
truly improve public safety 
outcomes, we must seek to 
facilitate a cultural shift, both 
within the law enforcement 
profession but also externally 
in the way officers are viewed 
by members of the public. The 
LEARN Act will help us begin 
to facilitate a cultural shift by 
preparing and empowering 
our officers to approach each 
interaction with the necessary 
tools and skills, especially when 
confronting resistance.”

 SB 387 will create increased 
opportunities to recruit 
from a more diverse pool of 
prospective officers, require 
specific academic coursework 
as part of the training each 
officer must complete, and 
provide financial resources for 
both prospective and current 
officers to pursue a college 
education.

 The LEARN Act is sponsored 
by the Peace Officers Research 
Association of California 
(PORAC) and the California 
Police Chiefs Association 
(CPCA).

 
In observance of Presidents’ 
Day, Pasadena City Hall and 
many city services will be 
closed Monday. A list of 
closures and reminders is 
provided below.

 The city’s Citizen Service 
Center, (626) 744-7311, 
will close and will reopen 
Tuesday, Feb. 16.

 Trash, recycling and yard 
waste collection will occur 
on Monday. There will be no 
delay in pickup for residents.

 Pasadena residents and 
businesses experiencing any 
power emergencies should 
call Pasadena’s Water and 
Power (PWP) Department 
at (626) 744-4673. For water-
related emergencies, call (626) 
744-4138. PWP’s Customer
Service Call Center will be
closed Monday; however,
customers can access their
accounts and make payments
through the automated phone 
system at (626) 744-4005 or
online at: PWPweb.com. The
City’s Municipal Services
Payment Center at City Hall
remains closed to the public
until further notice.

 The Permit Center will be 
closed on Monday and will 
reopen on Tuesday.

 The Parking Office will 
be closed on Monday. All 
parking meters will be free 
and parking time limits will 
not be enforced on Monday. 
Violations for overnight 
parking restrictions, red 
curb parking and blocking 
fire hydrants will be issued. 
Parking meter enforcement 
resumes Tuesday. Pasadena 
Transit and Dial-A-Ride 
buses will operate on their 
regular schedules.

 Live Chat and curbside 
pickup services will be 
unavailable on Monday, Feb 
and will resume on Tuesday.

 All parks will be open; 
however, no site reservations 
are being accepted for the 
holiday. Because LA County 
remains in the most restrictive 
purple tier of California’s 
four-tier COVID-19 
reopening plan, only outdoor 
gatherings are allowed. 
Outdoor gatherings must 
be limited to three or fewer 
households, with everyone 
wearing a face covering and 
maintaining at least six feet 
of physical distance between 
those who do not live in the 
same household. To further 
reduce the risk of COVID-19 
transmission, the duration of 
outdoor gatherings should 
not exceed two hours. View 
the Health Officer Order for 
more information.

 Pasadena Fire and Police 
Departments will continue 
to provide patrol, jail, 
fire, paramedic and other 
emergency services during 
the holiday. For life-
threatening emergencies, 
remember to always call 9-1-
1.For non-emergencies, call
Pasadena Police Department
at (626) 744-4241. If you “See
Something, Say Something.”
Report suspicious activity
to the police department at
(626)744-4241.

Pasadena City Council
will not meet on Monday. 
The next council meeting is 
scheduled for Monday, Feb. 
22.

Bill Turns Caltrans Land into Low Cost Housing

 Assemblymember Chris 
Holden introduced Wednesday 
legislation, Assembly Bill 512, 
which would allow Housing 
Related Entities (HREs), like 
city housing departments and 
affordable housing developers, 
to purchase vacant land owned 
by Caltrans in the 710 North 
Corridor, at the original 
purchase price, for the purpose 
of building affordable housing.

 “The State of California is in 
a housing crises, yet the state 
owns vacant land in the 710 
Corridor that could be used 
to build affordable housing,” 
Holden said. “My bill would 
make it easier for the cities in 
the 710 corridor, or the HREs to 
purchase these lands and build 
urgently needed affordable 
housing.”

 Holden said, specifically, AB 
512, allows Caltrans to sell the 
vacant lands to HREs at the 
same price as it was originally 
acquired by Caltrans 70 years 
ago if the property will be used 
for low and moderate income 
rental level for at least 55 years.

 “With the freeway fight over, 
now is the time to move to 
transportation and housing 
solutions that benefit our 
communities and the region,” 
he said.

 In October 2019 Governor 
Gavin Newsom signed 
Assembly Bill 29, authored 
by Holden, that abolished the 
freeway tunnel concept. The 
legislation closed loopholes 
in both Caltrans’ Final 
Environmental Impact Report 
and the 2017 Los Angeles Metro 
motion that drops the tunnel 
concept for strictly financial 
reasons. This opened up the 
vacant land for sale Holden said.

 “This is a historic moment for 
the San Gabriel Valley and Los 
Angeles ending this 70-year-old 
battle,” Holden said at the time. 
“Now is the time for the region 
to lead the way in implementing 
transportation solutions that 
move us past a car-centric 
approach to reduce pollution 
and improve health and safety.”

 For more information visit: 
a41.asmdc.org.

Lunar New 
Year 2021

The event runs today from 
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

 Celebrate the Year of the Ox 
today with USC Pacific Asia 
Museum virtual Lunar New 
Year festival, which will include 
streamed video performances 
and demonstrations of Lunar 
New Year-inspired crafts.

 This program is presented in 
partnership with USC Visions 
and Voices and USC Roski 
School of Art and Design.

Long run of show performance:

 Have about an hour to sit back 
and enjoy the performances, 
crafts, storytimes and cooking? 
View the entire program all 
together in one long pre-
recorded stream.

Order of Performances

-Lion Dance 10 a.m. by
Northern Shaolin Kung Fu
Association

-Artmaking Activities 11:30
a.m: Dragon Puppet with
Quan Trang of Barnsdall Arts

-Storytime with Valentina
Quezada, noon “The Runaway
Wok”

-Art making Activity 1:30 p.m:
Year of the Ox Mask with Quan 
Trang of Barnsdall Arts

-Storytime with Valentina
Quezada, “New Year’s
Reunion”

-Cooking demonstration with
Chef Cecilia Leung 2:30 p.m.

Join L.A.-based chefs Cecilia
Leung as she teaches you how
to craft delicious Lo Bak Go
(turnip cake) Download recip
at: pacificasiamuseum.usc.edu.

-Music by USC Thornton
School of Music Student
Elizabeth Wei, 4 p.m.

Elizabeth is a rising junior
from Dallas, Texas, studying
Classical Violin Performance
at USC Thornton School of
Music. We hope you enjoy
Elizabeth’s rendition of the
Taiwanese Folk Song (Farming
Song).

-Special greetings from the
PAMily throughout the day.

There will also be a special live
performance at 1 p.m.

Performance @ PAM: Melody
of China with The Music
Center LA

Join PAM in exploring
the music and unique,
traditional instruments of
China. Instruments such as
the ruan (moon guitar) are
featured as the ensemble plays
spirited music like “Oceans of
Happiness,” “Purple Bamboo
Melody,” and “Joyful Xin Jiang
People.”

 Join the zoom webinar 
at: us02web.zoom.
us/j/89600869717

 For more information visit: 
pacificasiamuseum.usc.edu/

NASA Invites the Public to 
Share Mars Rover Landing

 Mark your calendars for live 
landing commentary, news 
briefings, livestreamed Q&As, 
virtual watch parties, student 
activities, and more.

 NASA is inviting the public 
to take part in virtual activities 
and events as the agency’s Mars 
2020 Perseverance rover nears 
entry, descent, and landing on 
the Red Planet, with touchdown 
scheduled for approximately 
3:55 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 18.

 Live coverage and landing 
commentary from NASA’s 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 
Southern California will begin 
at 2:15 p.m. EST on the NASA 
TV Public Channel and the 
agency’s website, as well as the 
NASA App, YouTube, Twitter, 
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitch, 
Daily Motion, and THETA.TV.

 Among the many firsts with this 
mission is the agency’s first-ever 
Spanish-language show for a 
planetary landing. On Thursday, 
Feb. 18, at 2:30 p.m., NASA will 
air “Juntos perseveramos,” a 
show that will give viewers an 
overview of the mission to Mars 
and highlight the role Hispanic 
NASA professionals have had in 
its success.

 During landing, the rover 
will plunge through the thin 
Martian atmosphere at more 
than 12,000 mph (about 20,000 
kph). A parachute and powered 
descent will slow the rover down 
to about 2 mph (3 kph). During 
what is known as the sky crane 
maneuver, the descent stage will 
lower the rover on three cables 
to land softly on six wheels at 
Jezero Crater.

 Perseverance also is carrying 
a technology experiment – the 
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter 
–that will attempt the first
powered, controlled flight on
another planet.

 “If there’s one thing we know, 
it’s that landing on Mars 
is never easy,” said NASA 
Associate Administrator 
for Communications Marc 
Etkind. “But as NASA’s fifth 
Mars rover, Perseverance has 
an extraordinary engineering 
pedigree and mission team. We 
are excited to invite the entire 
world to share this exciting 
event with us!”

 NASA is offering many ways 
for the public to participate 
and stay up to date on landing 
information, mission highlights, 
and interaction opportunities.

Watch and Participate Virtually

Connect with like-minded space 
enthusiasts, receive a NASA 
Social badge, ask questions, 
and take part in other virtual 
activities by signing up for the 
Perseverance Rover Virtual 
NASA Social event.

 NASA also will provide a 
virtual guest experience for 
members of the public during 
landing, with notifications 
about mission updates, curated 
mission resources, and a virtual 
passport stamp available after 
landing.

 Stay connected and let people 
know you’re following the 
mission on Twitter, Facebook, 
and Instagram. Join the 
conversation, ask questions, 
and get answers online by using 
#CountdownToMars.

 At 7 p.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 
16, a NASA Social live show 
previewing landing day will 
stream live via the JPL YouTube, 
Facebook, and Twitter accounts.

Twitter: @NASA, @
NASAPersevere, @NASAMars

Facebook:NASA, 
NASAPersevere

 For more visit: nasa.gov.


New Pasadena Senior 
Center Art Exhibition

 The winter Pasadena Senior Center art exhibition of original 
watercolor artworks by students ages 55 to 95 is presented online 
due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 Students’ skill levels range from beginner to advanced. During 
the pandemic, art classes have been conducted online via Zoom. 

 The exhibition can be seen at: pasadenaseniorcenter.org. Click 
on any painting to start the slide show. 

 Some of the paintings may be purchased, and a portion of the 
proceeds will benefit programs and services at the center. Anyone 
interested in purchasing a painting can email the instructor, 
Barbara Medford, at artbar333@aol.com and she will notify the 
artist. 

 “Since we cannot hold an in-house reception for this exhibition, 
we would love to get comments from the public about the 
artworks,” said Akila Gibbs, executive director of the Pasadena 
Senior Center. “Feedback boosts the spirits and confidence of the 
students. Comments can be emailed to Barbara Medford.” 

 For more information about online activities and other programs 
and services of the center, visit the website or call 626-795-4331. 


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