Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, April 23, 2022

Mountain View News Saturday, April 23, 2022 

A FATHER’S MISSION: CHOOSE TO LIVE 

By Joan Schmidt 

Michelle Wright suffered a tragedy no parent should endure. His 
first born son, Michelle Jr., his pride and joy, died by suicide at 
age 30. 

Michelle Jr. was raised in a loving, Christian family, not a gang 
member, but shot five times in the back in 2001. His recovery 
was long and painful. The horrific experience, and medications 
prescribed over the years affected his mind: depression and 
hearing voices telling him to do evil things. Michelle Sr. tried to 
get help for his son: called various “hot lines” only to be put on 
hold, or transferred to a different number, and again put on hold. 

When Michelle Sr. was in Hawaii, he first received the devastating 
news that his son was shot and not expected to live. He was 
heartbroken and angry. For six years, Michelle did everything to 
help his son heal physically and mentally. 

After his son’s untimely death, Michelle began the challenge to 
do something. No other parent should suffer the pain he and his 
family endured. 

Ten years ago, Ulisses Gutierrez began helping others with “Healing 
Connections”, a nonprofit began after a five year increase in 
teen suicide. Wright reached out to Healing Connections. Back 
then there were issues of the counselors’ availability. (Their ser


vices have expanded! Visit Facebook ) 

Wright rejoined the Monrovia Arcadia Duarte Town Council two years ago. His pastor advised him that Suicide Prevention 
should be his goal while on the Council. He would be a conduit to spread the word of the various resources. 
Wright held a “Choose to Live Event” and also submitted the Suicide Prevention Resource phone numbers to the County 

for publication in the County Handbook. Twice he was promised the info would go in, but it didn’t. 

After the Town Council met with Supervisor Barger, she assured Michelle the Suicide Prevention info would be in the 
handbook. 
To get this information to the public, Barger suggested contacting various Church Ministries; who would share it with their 

Congregations. Wright’s first task was to speak at the Monrovia Ministerial Association’s monthly meeting. (They formed 
to seek the welfare of Monrovia, actively pray on its behalf, and seek unity and peace in the community.) Pastor Father Neil 
Tadken, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, hosted. Attendees included Pastor Chris Bourne, Second Baptist Church; Dave Hall, 
All Nations Seventh Day Adventist Church; Roy Tucker; Wendy Stephens; Sheree Johnson; Karen Mastrogiovanni, Oasis 
of the Valley; Ernest Torres, BKF; First Evangelical Church and a few others 

Wright told of his tragedy and has shared these helpful resources: 

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: (Didi Hirsch 24/7) 800-273-8255 

Crisis Text Line: (24/7) Text LA to 741741 

Teen Line: 310-855-4673 (6pm-10pm daily) or Text TEEN to 839863 (6pm-9pm) 

The Trevor Project for LGBTQ Youth: (24/7) 1-866-7386 or Text 678678. 

Didi Hirsch Survivors of Suicide Attempts Groups (SOSA): 424-362-2901 

Didi Hirsch Survivors After Suicide Groups (SAS) 424-2912 for adults and 424-362-2911 for teens. 

LA County Dept. of Mental Health Help Line: 1-800-854-7771 

LACounty Community Resource Info Line: 2-1-1 

We are in this together. Everyone plays a role in suicide prevention. 

Rose Bowl 5K Run and Walk 
Renamed after Retiring CEO 

 Rose Bowl 
officials have 
announced 
that the 
Cinco de 
Mayo 5K Runand Walk will 
be named 
after retiringCEO/
General 
Manager, 
Darryl Dunn(pictured). 

The DarrylDunn Cinco 
de Mayo5K Run and 
Walk is set 
to take placeon, May 1stat 9:00 a.m. 
prior to theCinco de 


Mayo at theRose Bowl family festival on the field. The 5K, with a 1Koption for those who want to participate in a shorter distance,
will be the healthy start of what promises to be a fun-filledday with access to resources, information and reconnectingon the field.

 “We are proud to be a community partner and join theDarryl Dunn Cinco de Mayo 5K Run & Walk. We areexcited to participate and celebrate the Rose Bowl Stadium’sCentennial,” said David Eads, Executive Director/CEO of thePasadena Tournament of Roses.

 Dunn is retiring June 30, after 27 years with the Stadium.
Darryl is an avid walker who is often seen around therecreational loop just outside the gates of America’s Stadium.
We invite you to join us for a fun run, brisk or leisure walk.

 “During one of these walks around the stadium, wediscussed the topic of bringing back Pasadena’s Cinco deMayo celebration, after more than a decade of its absence,” 
said, Ramon Miramontes, the co-executive producer of the 
event with Dunn. “The idea got in Darryl’s head of makingthis return a reality and hosting the event inside on the iconicfield of the world-famous Rose Bowl.”

 The free Cinco de Mayo at the Rose Bowl event begins at

10:00 a.m. Families will be able to enjoy traditional musicfeaturing live performances from mariachi to La SonoraDinamita, Folklorico dancers, watch a soccer tournament 
and enjoy an active children’s play area, stroll an art andculture area featuring local artists and learn about local arearesources and services from a health and wellness area. 
Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo and Alice Mijares Recendezwhose mother, Jesucita Mijares founded Mijares MexicanRestaurant in Pasadena in 1920, will be honored as the 
inaugural Cinco de Mayo Co-Grand Marshals. Both have along heritage and history in Pasadena which makes them theperfect fit. For more information and/or to register for theevent visit: rosebowlstadium.com.

 Photo credit: Ann Erdman 

Mt Lowe Chamber PlayersConcert: Woodwind Quintets 

 
Join the Altadena Library as the MT LOWE CHAMBER 
PLAYERS perform from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Main 
Library on Sunday, May 1.

 They will present a program that includes “Wind Quintet” 
by Carl Nielson, “Sea Shanties” by Malcolm Arnold, “3 
Pièces brèves” by Jacques Ibert, “Piccola offerta musicale” 
by Nino Rota, and “Three Brazilian Choros (arr by Frank 
Morelli).

 Musicians include Larry Kaplan (flute), Michele Forrest 
(oboe), Jim Foschia (clarinet), Phoebe Ray (bassoon) and 
John Mason (horn). 
Sponsored by the Friends of the Altadena LibraryFor More information visit: altadenalibrary.org. 


A WORD FROM LOS ANGELES 
COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH 

Public Health Continues to 
Require Masks in All PublicTransit and Indoor 
Transportation Hubs WithinLA County 

Public Health is issuing Health Officer Order to note that 
masking in all public transit within LA County and in 
LA County indoor transportation hubs continues to be 
required. 

Per the revised Order, masking continues to be required 
to be worn by everyone, 2 years of age and older, regardless 
of their COVID-19 vaccination status, on public transit 
within the County. This in-cludes wearing masks on 
commuter trains, subways, buses, taxis, and ride-shares. 
Masking continues to be also required in indoor transportation 
hubs including airport and bus terminals, train and 
sub-way stations, seaport or other indoor port terminals, 
or any other indoor area that serves as a trans-portation 
hub. 

Public Health will reassess the indoor masking requirement 
when COVID-19 community transmission in Los 
Angeles County drops to the Moderate level, OR the 
CDC’s assessment is that an order requir-ing masking in 
the transportation corridor is no longer necessary for protection 
of the public’s health, OR within 30 days of this 
Order, whichever occurs first. 

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health 
(Public Health) on Friday released the latest data on 
COVID-19. 

• 2,123 New COVID-19 cases (2,857,772 cases 

to date) 

• 13 New deaths due to COVID-19 (31,913 deaths 
to date) 
• 224 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 
• More than 11,804,000 individuals tested; 22% of 
people tested positive to date 
A wide range of data and dashboards on COVID-19 from 
the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health are 
available on the Public Health website at http://www.publichealth.
lacounty.gov 

Fire Station 31 to Get $2.5 

Million Seismic Retrofit 


 The Pasadena city council 
unanimously approved 
Monday allocating over 
$2.5 million to bring Fire 
Station 31, on South Fair 
Oaks Avenue, up to the 
current building codes for 
seismic structural safety. 
The council also approved 
interior renovation of the 
station –to maintain basic 
operational standards for 
fire department staff. 

 According to city staff, the 
two-story, approximately 
8,563 square-foot building 
located at 135 South Fair 
Oaks Ave includes the 
adjacent WickerCraft 
building. Seismic retrofit 
of the two structures will 
include upgrading the 
existing lateral force resisting 
systems and connections to 
the roof and floor structures, 
as well as retrofitting 
foundation elements to 
support the installation of 
new steel moment frames. 
Finishes will need to be 
removed from floors and 
ceilings to provide access to 
anchorage points according 
to the council’s staff report. 

Renovation would include 
redoing the kitchen, living 
room, restrooms, offices, 
and dorms. 

 “Scope of work includes 
but is not limited to, 

Pasadena Unified Armenian 

Genocide Remembrance

 The PUSD Board of Education recently passed Resolution 
2653 in remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 19151923. 


The Board also designated the month of April as PUSD’s 
month of commemoration to recognize one of the most 
atrocious violations of human rights in history. PUSD 
leaders and educators agree that every student and person, 
regardless of ethnicity or national origin, should be made 
aware of and educated about the Armenian Genocide so 
that it and other state-sanctioned forms of ethnic cleansing 
may never happen again.

 Creative Arts Media and Design (CAMAD) sophomores at 
Pasadena High School have been working on an exhibition 
honoring the people who were terrorized, ravaged, and 
displaced and those who survived genocide through 
portraits and Haikus. 

Their work highlights Armenia, Cambodia, Darfur, Herero, 
Holodomor, the Holocaust, Native American, and Rwanda. 
They used chalk for the work as it is a non-permanent 
material, much like our memories of these events if we 
allow it. 

replacement of flooring, 
ceiling tiles, lighting, 
furniture, appliances and 
cabinetry; removal of office 
partition walls; new paint; 
re-roofing; new HVAC 
equipment; and some 
electrical improvements.”

 The council voted to 
accept a bid from Monet 
Construction, Inc, not-toexceed 
$2,018,456 for the 
work.

 Fire department staff, at the 
station, will be temporarily 
relocated off-site for around 
ten months at a cost of 
$382,547. The Department 
of Public Works has 
leased a vacant lot, near 
Huntington Hospital, and 
will put temporary trailers 
for continued operations of 
the station. Corner Keystone 
Construction is expected to 
do minor grading, asphalt 
paving, install temporary 
utilities, widening the 
existing concrete driveway, 
and installation of an 
automatic chain link sliding 
gate at 95 Alessandro Place. 

 Station 31 is also home to a 
number of the departments 
historical artifacts. Pasadena 
Fire Deputy Chief Anthony 
James said all the items will 
go into storage. He also said 
they expect construction 
to begin in summer, most 
likely July. 

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