Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, February 4, 2023

5


Mountain View News Saturday, February 4, 2023 

Local Area 
News Briefs


City Employee to be the 
2031 Tournament President

 CalTech Lab 
Catches Fire

 In a first, The Pasadena 
Tournament of Roses 
Association recently 
announced that City 
employee Ruth Martinez-
Baenen (pictured) will 
serve as the Association’s 
President in 2031. She will 
provide leadership for the 
142nd Rose Parade and 
117th Rose Bowl Game on 
January 1, 2031. 

 “This is the first time that 
a long-time City employee 
has been selected to serve as 
President of the Tournament 
of Roses Association,” 
Assistant City Manager, 
Nicholas Rodriguez said.

 Martinez-Baenen has 
volunteered as a “white 
suiter” for the Tournament 
of Roses for over 26 years. 
She has served as Chair for 
a number of Tournament 
committees including 
Decorating Places, Post 
Parade, Queen & Court, and 
University Entertainment, 
among others. Her selection 
as future Association 
President will afford her the 
opportunity to select the 
theme and Grand Marshal 
of the Rose Parade as well as 
visit each of the band entries 
from around the globe.

 Martinez-Baenen has 
worked for the City of 
Pasadena for over 23 years 
in the capacity of a Project 
Manager in the City’s 
Economic Development 
Division. As a Project 
Manager she serves as a 
business concierge to city 
businesses and helped to 
launch the City’s Business 
Legacy Program. In 2011, 
she was voted Best Public 
Employee in Pasadena 
Weekly’s Annual “Best of 
Pasadena” Poll. 

 
According to San Marino 
Fire they responded along 
with Pasadena units on 
a first alarm commercial 
structure fire last week at 
Cal Tech. Initial reports 
stated that, on January 27, 
a machine malfunctioned 
in the lab and was on fire 
with heavy smoke. When 
fire units first arrived they 
were escorted to the lab 
by security. They reported 
heavy white smoke and 
evacuation was in progress. 
When they made entry 
into the lab, the sprinkler 
system had contained 
the fire. The building was 
evacuated they said. 

 San Marino fire 
investigators examined the 
scene. It was determined 
that a motor froze and 
caused the fire over the 
hood system.

Pasadena Declares Climate Emergency

 

 

 The Pasadena city council 
voted Monday on two Global 
Warming issues that included 
adopting a resolution to 
declaring a climate emergency 
— to set greenhouse Gas 
reduction goals for Pasadena 
to achieve carbon neutrality 
by 2030. In a separate agenda 
item they approved a roadmap 
to transition the city’s public 
transit fleet to a zero emission 
bus fleet.

 The only vote against the 
public transit roadmap came 
from Councilmember Tyron 
Hampton who said he did 
not think the city should buy 
any more gas powered non 
renewable vehicles as planned. 

 “I think that we are talking 
about 100 percent renewable, 
we should be looking at that 
for all of our purchases… we 
have a plan of purchasing two 
[natural gas] busses this year 
and nine in 2024,” he said. “As a 
council asking our residents, to 
go carbon free, we should be the 
example of that… whether it be 
trash trucks, fire trucks, pickup 
trucks.”

 Pasadena Director of 
transportation Laura Cornejo 
said that next year’s replacement 
plan included nine renewable 
natural gas vehicles and one 
battery electric. She added that 
it will take two years to have 
the infrastructure in place to 
transition to a zero emission 
bus fleet. 

 Councilmember Felicia 
Williams said that two of the 
natural gas busses were being 
paid for with a grant. “If we 
don’t purchase those busses, 
we purchase electric; we would 
have to seek a different source of 
funding. 

 The estimated cost to build 
a city owned a zero emission 
transit operations and 
maintenance facility is near $65 
million. Cornejo said the one 
battery electric bus would be for 
training. 

 In a related second agenda item, 
Pasadena City Attorney Michele 
Bagneris, said the emergency 
climate resolution, before them, 
is a policy statement and does 
not give the city any further 
legal powers or obligations on 
how to address the carbon-free 
goal of 2030.

 City Manager Miguel Marquez 
stressed that the goal could 
have limitations such as cost, 
reliability and safety. He said 
they are committed to doing 
the best to achieve the goal 
but added that how power 
is obtained and sourced and 
distributed is complex, “I think 
our IRP [Integrated Resource 
Planning] process will help us 
really analyze what we can do.”

 According to city staff, 
“Pasadena Water and Power, in 
collaboration with community 
stakeholders, has started 
the planning process for the 
2023 Integrated Resources 
Plan, a comprehensive, 20-
year sourcing guide for 
generating resources. The IRP 
is updated every five years in 
consideration of new/changing 
laws, regulations, market 
conditions, and community 
preferences, and strives to 
balance electric reliability 
with fiscal responsibility and 
environmental stewardship.”

 The city will hold a Power 
Integrated Resource Plan 
community meeting 
Wednesday, February 22. The 
meeting will be held virtually on 
Zoom. For more information 
visit: cityofpasadena.net/water-
and-power or email WPD_
IRP@cityofpasadena.net, or call 
(626) 744-4005.

 Council votes to 
transition the city’s public 
transit to zero emission

 Arrests in 2022 
Gang Related 
Murder

It’s Official: Cheeseburger 
Challenge 2023 Results In

 Pasadena police 
announced that they 
made arrests last month 
related to a gang shooting 
in Northwest Pasadena 
that left a 22-year-old man 
dead. 

 According to police, 
on October 30, at about 
1:27 a.m, officers from 
the Pasadena Police 
Department responded to 
the 100 block of Painter 
Street regarding a “Person 
Down.” 

 Officers found a victim 
suffering from a gunshot 
wound, unresponsive and 
pronounced deceased at 
the scene. He was later 
identified as 22-year-old 
Martrell Eric Robinson; a 
Rialto resident.

 Detectives from the 
department’s Robbery 
/ Homicide Unit began 
immediate follow-up 
investigation into the 
homicide that led to the 
identification of multiple 
suspects connected to a 
local criminal street gang.

 Investigators executed a 
search warrant January 9 
in the City of Pomona with 
the assistance of the U.S. 
Marshal’s Pacific Southwest 
Fugitive Apprehension 
Taskforce.

 During the operation, 
28-year-old David Lamont 
Hunt-Cooks and 32-year-
old Brittney Chenise 
Ruth, both residents of 
Pomona, were arrested 
in connection to the 
shooting. The Los Angeles 
County District Attorney’s 
Office filed, January 11, 
one felony count of PC 
187 (Homicide) on each 
suspect with bail set at 
$3,000,000 for Hunt-
Cooks and $2,000,000 for 
Ruth.

 Anyone with information 
call the Pasadena Police at 
(626)- 744-4241 or report 
information anonymously 
by contacting “Crime 
Stoppers” at (800) 222- 
TIPS (8477) or by using the 
website: lacrimestoppers.
org.

 During Cheeseburger Week 
in Pasadena delicious burgers 
and very special selections 
were tasted by people 
from throughout Southern 
California. Some visited old 
favorites and some tried a new 
venue. And now the results are 
in for the best burger.

 “I enjoyed burgers from 
The Stand, El Portal, Lucky 
Baldwin’s Trappiste Pub, Pie 
‘n Burger and Dog Haus,” 
said Pasadena President and 
CEO Paul Little. “Each was 
spectacular in its own way 
and unique. Cheeseburger 
Week may be over for 2023, 
but you can still find delicious 
burgers throughout the greater 
Pasadena area.”

 A total of 1,464 voted for 
their favorites in the 2023 
Cheeseburger Challenge. Not 
everyone voted in each category 
and in some categories there 
were fewer entries.

 Favorite Cheeseburger:

Dog Haus/Dog Haus Biergarten 
23%

The Stand 17%

(Tie) Pie ‘n Burger/Twohey’s/In 
‘n Out: 11%

Favorite Lunch Counter 
Burger:

Pie ‘n Burger 32%

Twohey’s 21%

Jake’s Trustworthy Burgers and 
Beer 14%

 Favorite Traditional 
Cheeseburger:

In ‘n Out 30%

Twohey’s 29%

Pie ‘n Burger 15%

 Favorite Sliders:

Dog Haus: 34.5%

Twohey’s 23%

Slater’s 50/50 14%

Favorite Gourment Burger:

The Stand 29%

Dog Haus 24.5%

(Tie) Craft by Smoke and Fire/
Flemings Prime Steakhouse 
and Wine Bar 10.5%

 Favorite Alternative Burger:

Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich 
23.5%

Roscoes Chicken and Waffles 
Chicken Burger 20%

Pasadena Sandwich Company 
Big B 9.5%

 Pasadena celebrated all 
things cheeseburger during 
Cheeseburger Week January 
23rd to 28th. Visitors enjoyed 
food created especially for the 
event, took advantage of great 
deals and meals, followed 
cheeseburger crawls and voted 
in the 2022 Cheeseburger 
Challenge. In all, 2263 people 
voted online in the challenge 
to determine favorites in 
13 categories ranging from 
Favorite Burger to Favorite 
Dessert after a Burger.

 Every restaurant is entered 
in the Favorite Restaurant 
for a Burger category. Each 
restaurant that opened in the 
previous 12 months is entered 
in the Favorite New Restaurant 
for a Burger category. 
Restaurants can then enter in 
three other categories in the 
2022 Cheeseburger Challenge.

 For information visit: 
pasadenarestaurantweek.com.

Caltech to 
hold Lecture 
on Galactic 
Paleontology

 Galactic Paleontology 
with JWST: Finding 
Living Fossils in the 
Ancient Universe by 
Chuck Steidel (PhD 
’90), Lee A. DuBridge 
Professor of Astronomy, 
Division of Physics, 
Mathematics and 
Astronomy

Holden Provides Update

on the Gold Line Extension

 Assemblymember Chris 
Holden (pictured) responded 
Thursday to the California 
State Transportation Agency’s 
Cycle 6 Transit and Intercity 
Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) 
award announcement.

 “The news that the Metro 
Foothill Gold Line will not 
be considered for funding is 
disappointing but the advocacy 
for the completion of the 
Gold Line continues,” said 
Assemblymember Holden. 
“We have seen how the 
Gold Line has transformed 
the communities of the San 
Gabriel Valley and we hope 
those benefits will continue to 
be extended to more residents 
and visitors in our region as 
the Gold Line connects more 
communities from Azusa to 
San Bernardino County. I look 
forward to working with my 
colleagues in the Legislature, 
the Governor, CalSTA, Metro, 
the Gold Line Authority and 
other regional stakeholders 
to find a way to deliver on 
this promise of equitable 
transit throughout our foothill 
communities. Together, we will 
get this done.”

 For over 30 years, Holden 
has been a lead advocate 
for planning and funding 
the Gold Line and creating 
regional partnerships to 
support the extensions to 
more communities. In his 
career, Assemblymember 
Holden served on the Pasadena 
Light Rail Alignment Task 
Force established in 1985 to 
identify the light rail route 
alternatives in Pasadena. He is 
a former board president of the 
Burbank- Glendale- Pasadena 
Airport Authority, where he 
served as a commissioner for 
20 years.

 Holden is currently chair 
of the Select Committee on 
Regional Transportation 
Solutions. This committee 
explores solutions to improve 
multi-modal interconnectivity 
between communities, establish 
sustainable transportation 
infrastructure, and relieve 
traffic congestion.

 For more information visit: 
a41.asmdc.org.

 
The talk is set for Wednesday, 
at 7:30 p.m. PT and will be 
In-person at the Beckman 
Auditorium and streaming 
online at: caltech.edu/watson

 Since it began its scientific 
mission in July 2022, the 
James Webb Space Telescope 
(JWST) has provided the 
first detailed glimpses of the 
most distant reaches of the 
observable universe, when the 
first galaxies were emerging 
more than 13 billion years ago. 
History suggests that opening 
new observational windows 
leads to entirely unanticipated 
discoveries, and JWST has 
already begun to fulfill that 
promise. In this lecture, Steidel 
will explore what enables the 
unprecedented power of JWST 
for studying galaxy formation 
in its infancy and what we can 
expect to learn from JWST 
images and spectra over the 
next several years.

 This lecture will be presented 
in a hybrid format, allowing 
for both virtual viewers and in-
person attendees. No advance 
registration is required for 
either format. 

 For more information visit: 
caltech.edu/Watson.


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