Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, July 15, 2023

5

Mountain View News Saturday, July 15, 2023 

City Council 
to Discus 
Human/
Coyote 
Encounters


City Recognizes E.R. Ruiz 
with Robert Gorski Award

 

 The City of Pasadena 
announced Monday the 
recognition of E.R. Ruiz as the 
2023 recipient of the Robert 
Gorski Access Award—an 
award established by the City 
of Pasadena Accessibility and 
Disability Commission. This 
award is presented annually 
to a Pasadena resident with 
a disability who has made 
a significant contribution 
toward improving accessibility 
and quality of life for people 
with disabilities and the 
City of Pasadena’s disability 
community. E.R. Ruiz will be 
honored at the Pasadena City 
Council meeting on Monday 
and will be presented an 
award by the City Council and 
Accessibility and Disability 
Commission.

 E.R. Ruiz, actor and burn 
survivor, is an unsung hero 
in that he advocates behind 
the scenes for improving 
accessibility and quality of life 
for people with disabilities. 
He was born in Los Angeles, 
California, and his acting career 
includes the role of Gillon in 
the F.X. original series Sons of 
Anarchy in which he played the 
role of a member of the One-
Niners. Most recent projects 
include BET+’s “The Family 
Business,” Stephen King’s 
“Lisey’s Story” on Apple+ and 
“Worth” with Michael Keaton, 
directed by Sara Colangelo.

 He is the son of Eddy Ruiz 
Sr. and Mary Mosley, nephew 
of Jack Mosley, and cousin 
to boxing champion “Sugar” 
Shane Mosley. As a child, Ruiz 
sustained severe burns to over 
40 percent of his body from 
smoke inhalation while he was 
asleep. However, E.R.’s uncle 
David Mosely (a well–known 
portrait artist) saved him from 
the fire. Besides saving his life, 
E.R. credits his uncle David for 
his love of the arts and music 
and his cousin Sugar Shane 
Mosely for being a fighter in 
spirit.

 E.R. is a hero and an advocate 
behind the scenes, on the big 
screen, and in his community 
for improving accessibility and 
the quality of life for disabled 
individuals. E.R. worked as 
an EMT in the past and has 
continuously led by example. He 
has worked with and volunteered 
for various organizations 
such as Firefighters Quest 
for Burn Survivors, World 
Boxing Council, and Pasadena 
based Alisa Ann Ruch Burn 
Foundation (AABRF). Ruiz 
supports the AABRF and 
participates in their annual 
programs and events such as the 
“Burn Firefighters Relay.” He 
also served as the Emcee to the 
organization’s 50th Anniversary 
Virtual Gala.

 Ruiz’s community work 
extends to local government 
as well and he participated in a 
meeting at the City of Pasadena’s 
Accessibility and Disability 
Commission to educate and 
speak about his experiences 
with services from the Alisa 
Ann Ruch Burn Foundation.

 His main goal was to help bridge 
the gap and spotlight other burn 
survivors, so they feel seen and 
heard since disabled individuals 
are not monolithic.

 For more information about 
the commission, please visit the 
City of Pasadena Accessibility 
and Disability Commission 
website.

 
Local residents are set to join 
PETA at the Pasadena City 
Council meeting Monday 
to urge the city to reject any 
proposal to trap and kill 
coyotes, a move that PETA 
supporters said is designed 
to appease a small group of 
wealthy homeowners in the 
Arroyo—the ancestral home 
and refuge of local wildlife. 
The group will call on the 
city council to take humane 
and fiscally responsible steps 
to discourage neighborhood 
coyote visits, including by 
cleaning up trash and brush 
in public spaces, removing 
food sources, and reminding 
residents to keep cats indoors, 
for their sake as well as that of 
the wildlife outdoor cats kill 
according to a statement. 

 “PETA and concerned 
residents will speak at the 
meeting, during which they 
will show photos of a dog who 
was injured in a snare trap set 
for coyotes as well as of trash 
spilling out of dumpsters and 
garbage cans around the city 
and feral cat–feeding stations, 
all of which attract coyotes and 
other wildlife,” they said. “A 
PETA representative will also 
show a short video of a frantic, 
struggling coyote caught in a 
snare trap.”

 Snare traps are wire loops 
that wrap around an animal’s 
neck and slowly strangle 
them as they struggle. If 
their victim doesn’t die, they 
endure pain and panic until 
a trapper arrives to put them 
in a box and gas them in the 
back of a truck. PETA points 
out that nearly 70 percent 
of snare traps don’t work as 
intended, as these vile traps 
are capable of catching any 
animal, including dogs, whose 
guardians often let them run 
off leash in the Arroyo.

 PETA Senior Vice President 
Lisa Lange, a Pasadena 
resident, said “Every study 
shows that killing coyotes 
doesn’t work, and PETA is 
calling on city leaders to 
pursue proven, humane 
resolutions and reject this 
senseless and barbaric 
extermination request.”

 In addition to being cruel, 
snare traps and other lethal 
methods are ineffective, 
as the city of Torrance has 
discovered, since coyotes may 
move in from outlying areas 
as long as food sources remain 
available. To encourage 
coyotes to leave residential 
neighborhoods, PETA offers 
the following tips:

 Keep all garbage in tightly 
sealed, wildlife-proof 
containers—currently, trash 
receptacles around the 
Arroyo are rusting, with food 
scraps and trash spilling out, 
attracting wildlife to the area.

Keep companion cats indoors 
(for the good of the cats and 
other wildlife as well).

Prohibit free-feeding stations 
for feral cats, like those at 
the California Institute of 
Technology, and only feed 
companion animals indoors. 
Pick up fallen fruit and 
remove plantings, such as ivy, 
that attract rats and, therefore, 
coyotes.

Install taller fencing and/or 
Coyote Rollers (aluminum 
tubes that spin when animals 
attempt to enter or exit a 
fenced area).

Increase outdoor lighting.

 The City Council meets 
at 5:30 p.m. in the Council 
Chamber, Pasadena City Hall

100 North Garfield Avenue, 
Room S249.

Fire Destroys Part of the University Club

 Fire officials on Friday 
were still looking into the 
cause of a large fire at the 
University Club of Pasadena 
that broke out just after 1 
a.m. last Saturday morning 
causing significant damage 
to the building’s kitchen and 
ballroom. 

 The University Club is closed 
indefinitely and all upcoming 
events canceled according to 
their website. 

 “While we are still evaluating 
the situation, we fully expect 
to repair the damage done and 
return to “business as usual,” 
University Club officials said. 
“To expedite this process, and 
to protect the safety of guests, 
we will be closed while we 
clean, repair, and determine 
how to operate as best we 
can during that process. 
Currently we are working 
with experts to determine 
what level of service we’ll be 
able to offer when, and how to 
do so safely.”

 According to reports the 2nd 
alarm fire at the Club at Ford 
Place/Los Robles Ave. started 
in the kitchen and quickly 
spread causing extensive 
damage. 

 Pasadena Fire Chief Chad 
Augustine said the crews 
keep the fire from spreading 
throughout the building and 
the building right behind 
the Club, “our crews did an 
amazing job.”

 The Club, established in 
1922, located next to Fuller 
Theological Seminary, is 
iconic to Pasadena hosting 
weddings, special events, 
city events, holiday parties 
and corporate events. It is 
also home to the Pasadena 
Rotary Club. In April of 2022 
the Club commemorated 100 
years with a red carpet event.

 Fire officials said there were 
no injuries, the fire was put 
out in about 30 minutes. 

 For more information 
and updates about the 
club visit: facebook.com/
UniversityClubofPasadena.

Pasadena 
Expands 
Renewable 
Electricity 
Portfolio

 As part of Pasadena’s 
commitment to the adoption of 
clean energy, Pasadena Water 
and Power (PWP) announced 
Monday the expanding of 
their energy portfolio with 
25 megawatts (MW) of 
geothermal energy as part of 
Pasadena’s commitment to 
growing clean energy and goal 
of sourcing 100 percent of its 
electricity from carbon-free 
sources.

 “Pasadena continues to invest 
in our renewable future,” said 
PWP General Manager Sidney 
Jackson. “The addition of this 
new geothermal energy brings 
us closer to meeting goals 
adopted by the City Council.”

 The City Council recently 
approved a 15-year, 25-MW 
contract with the Southern 
California Public Power 
Authority for the purchase 
of geothermal energy from 
Geysers Power Company, 
LLC, an indirect subsidiary 
of Calpine Corporation, 
beginning on January 1, 2027. 
Located in Lake County, 
California, The Geysers 
Geothermal Project (Geysers) 
is North America’s largest 
producer of clean, reliable 
renewable geothermal power.

 PWP is currently in the 
process of updating its Power 
Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), 
Pasadena’s long-range blueprint 
for supplying reliable and 
environmentally responsible 
electricity at competitive 
rates. The acquisition of this 
geothermal energy advances 
the greenhouse gas reduction 
goals identified in the 2021 
Power IRP Update. Along with 
the Coso Geothermal Project 
contract, which was acquired in 
2020 and is also anticipated to 
start delivering energy in 2027, 
geothermal power is expected 
to make up approximately 25 
percent of PWP’s retail energy 
sales by the end of 2027.

 PWP provides electricity to 
more than 65,000 customers 
within Pasadena. PWP 
delivers water to almost 38,000 
households and businesses 
in Pasadena and adjacent 
communities in the San Gabriel 
Valley. 

 For more information, visit 
PWPweb.com.

Pasadena Heritage Brings 
Back Popular Bridge Party

Free Summer Concerts at 
the Pasadena Senior Center

 
The Pasadena Senior Center, 85 E. Holly St., will host live summer 
entertainment for members and nonmembers of all ages Mondays, 
Aug. 14 to Sept. 4, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

 Three of the four free concerts will be performed on the center’s 
spacious, tree-shaded patio; the fourth, a Labor Day event, will 
be in the Scott Pavilion. Each concert date will feature two sets by 
the same musical group: one at 5 p.m. and the second at 6 p.m. 
The concert series will showcase a variety of professional musical 
groups with styles that range from Jazz to Big Band to R&B and 
more. Bring your own snacks, beverages and/or a picnic dinner for 
the perfect summer experience with family and friends of all ages. 
Neither residency in Pasadena nor membership in the Pasadena 
Senior Center are required. 

Monday, Aug. 14: Dad’s Band Plus One will play festive and 
traditional Dixieland Jazz. 

Monday, Aug. 21: JazzZone will put on a show of classic Jazz, Funk 
and R&B. 

Monday, Aug. 28: The Susie Hansen Latin Band will perform fiery 
Salsa. 

Monday, Sept. 4: The Great American Swing Band will deliver a 
Labor Day concert that will feature music from the Big Band era 
and beyond. 

 Reservations are not required for the concerts. 

 For more information visit: pasadenaseniorcenter.org or call 626-
795-4331. 

 After a five-year hiatus 
Pasadena Heritage is set to 
bring back a beloved and 
uniquely Pasadena tradition, 
dating back to 1978, the 
Colorado Street Bridge 
Party will be held tonight in 
celebration of this historic 
Pasadena icon and the efforts 
to preserve it.

 Join Pasadena Heritage for 
a one-of-a-kind opportunity 
to stroll along the Historic 
Colorado Street Bridge 
in celebration of one of 
Pasadena’s most magnificent 
monuments with a fun-filled 
night over the Arroyo Seco 
from 6:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

 With live music from the 
Jimbonaires, Upstream, 
Mercy and the Merkettes, 
and Art Deco Entertainment; 
dancing; vintage and rare 
cars; children’s activities; 
festive foods from local 
eateries like Mijares Mexican 
Restaurant, Robin’s Wood 
Fire BBQ, Pam’s Sweet Shack 
and Funnel Cakes; craft beers 
from Craftsman Brewing and 
Eagle Rock Brewery; specialty 
cocktails; hand-picked wine 
varietals and so much more – 
it’s a party of the ages for all 
ages!

 All proceeds support 
the mission of Pasadena 
Heritage to identify, preserve 
and protect the historic, 
architectural and cultural 
resources of the City of 
Pasadena.

 Children under 12 are free.

 Notice: activity tickets will be 
needed to make purchases at 
all vendors at the Bridge Party, 
including food and beverage 
and select children’s activities. 
Consider purchasing your 
activity tickets in advance to 
save time. They are for sale on 
the Eventbrite page. Activity 
Tickets can be exchanged for 
purchases at a value of 1 ticket 
= $1.

 For more information 
visit: pasadenaheritage.org.
bridgeparty.


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