Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, August 19, 2023

6

ALTADENA - SOUTH PASADENA - SAN MARINO

Mountain View News Saturday, August 19, 2023 

San Marino Upcoming 
Events & Programming

Pasadena to Hold Colorado 
Street Bridge Virtual Meeting

Pasadena Library Free 
Resources to Aid Students 

 

 Six years after the installation 
of 10-foot high fencing along 
the Colorado Street Bridge 
as a temporary measure 
of dissuasion for suicide 
attempts off the structure, 
the Pasadena Public Works 
Department is set to hold 
another virtual presentation of 
new vertical barrier concepts 
in development. Little other 
information was given, the 
meeting is set for Tuesday, Aug. 
29 from 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m.

 In June 2017, the City of 
Pasadena began installation 
of 10-foot high fencing along 
the Colorado Street Bridge, 
which remains in place today 
as a temporary measure of 
dissuasion for suicide attempts 
off the bridge. 

 According to staff, “the 
city is seeking a permanent 
and responsibly-designed 
enhancement to the bridge 
railing to serve as an effective 
deterrent while preserving the 
national historic character and 
significance of the bridge. The 
vision of the city is to allow 
the community to experience 
and enjoy the Colorado Street 
Bridge and the Arroyo as a safe 
and beautiful environment now 
and in the future.”

 Over the past years, the city’s 
Public Works Department, 
along with architect, Donald 
MacDonald Architects have 
engaged the public in developing 
barrier design options, 
taking into consideration the 
feedback and advisement of 
the city’s Historic Preservation 
Commission, the Design 
Commission and the Public 
Safety Committee.

 Last year, at the directive of the 
Public Safety Committee, the 
Public Works Department hired 
a contractor and installed full-
scale mock-up panels of the top 
three preferred vertical barrier 
design concepts with two mesh 
options. Although the mock-
up panels were removed in 
February, the public can review 
the full-scale barrier mock-
ups and mesh options online 
at: cityofpasadena.net/public-
works.

 According to staff, all 
recommendations will be taken 
to the City Council for their 
approval of a single design as the 
preferred barrier enhancement 
for the Colorado Street Bridge. 
For additional information on 
upcoming meeting dates and 
times, visit:cityofpasadena.net 
(search Colorado Street Bridge). 


Joyful Living Happy Life

Sunday, August 20 at 2 PM, Barth Community Room

 This workshop will discuss seven habits of self-care! Self-
care is a necessary priority as individuals work to balance 
various responsibilities and develop healthy boundaries. 
Join the Unified Charity Foundation for this informational 
talk presented in Mandarin. Registration is not required.

Family Storytime

Tuesday, August 22 at 10:30 AM, Children’s Area

 Storytime features activities for children ages 5 and under 
that will promote early literacy and lifelong learning through 
songs, movement, fingerplays, and books. Storytime is 
also an opportunity for caregivers to learn ways they can 
incorporate learning activities into everyday routines. 
Storytime occurs weekly on Tuesday through October 3. 
Registration is not required. Please watch our social media 
for cancellations.

Coffee, Tea, & Chat

Friday, August 25 at 9:30 AM, Thornton Conference Room

 Connect with your neighbors to learn more about the 
community and its traditions. This month's session focuses 
on the birth order theory! The program is presented in 
Mandarin by the United Charity Foundation for ages 18+. 
Registration is not required.

Coffee with the City Manager

 Join us for a cup of coffee with City Manager, Philippe 
Eskandar, at Apsara Coffee! Come support local business, 
bring your questions, meet other members of the community, 
and chat! This event will take place on Thursday, August 31, 
from 9 AM - 11 AM.

Parks & Public Works

Citywide Palm Tree Trimming

 Earlier this week, Mariposa Landscaping, the City’s 
contract tree maintenance firm, began trimming of palm 
trees citywide. Routine trimming of palm trees helps reduce 
hazards such as falling palm fronds, improves appearances, 
and helps ensure that the City’s urban forest remains viable.

Electric Riding Mowers

 At its July 28 meeting, the City Council approved the 
purchase of two electric riding mowers for Parks and 
Public Works staff. These mowers were purchased with 
funds from the Air Quality Management District, and will 
assist the City in phasing in electric-powered equipment 
to ensure compliance with State regulations. The mowers 
were delivered earlier this week, and will be put to use by 
staff to help mow the 35 acres of Lacy Park as well as the 
25 acres of landscaped medians on Sierra Madre Boulevard, 
Huntington Drive, and Old Mill Road. Ultimately, these 
new mowers will help the efficiency of the Department’s 
equipment fleet while being more environmentally-friendly 
to meet State requirements.

Recent Happenings

 Over the past week, Parks and Public Works maintenance 
staff worked on the following tasks: removing fallen tree 
branches, palm fronds, and other debris from the public 
right-of-way; replacing streetlight bulbs and street signs; 
performing minor trimming of tree limbs and vegetation; 
repairing pavement and concrete; and performing various 
repairs at City facilities. Residents who wish to report non-
emergency issues in the public right-of-way or City streets 
may do so via the San Marino Service Request Center: www.
cityofsanmarino.org/report. 

Fire Department

 The San Marino Fire Department continues to partner 
with our neighboring agencies for multi-company training 
opportunities. During the week of August 14, Engine 
91 joined the Sierra Madre Fire Department to conduct 
progressive hose lay training in the City of Sierra Madre’s 
wildland-urban interface. By participating in multi-
company drills, firefighters are able to hone their skills and 
better prepare for emergency response.

 On Wednesday, August 16 the San Marino Fire 
Department bid farewell to Captain Dominic Petta, who 
accepted a position as Battalion Chief with the Alhambra 
Fire Department. Captain Petta is a 17-year employee of the 
City of San Marino, beginning his career as a Firefighter/
Paramedic in June 2006. He was promoted to Fire Captain in 
June 2014 and has become well-known and respected within 
our San Marino community and beyond. The Alhambra Fire 
Department is gaining an outstanding firefighter, Battalion 
Chief, and friend. Thank you Dom for your years of service! 

Public Safety Commission - CANCELED

Monday, August 21 at 6:00 PM

Planning Commission Meeting

Wednesday, August 23 at 6:00 PM; City Hall Council 
Chambers and Zoom (Public Access)

City Council Meeting - CANCELED

Friday, August 25

 The Pasadena Public Library 
has a vast collection of free 
resources to aid students 
throughout the school year, 
ensuring each student has the 
tools they need to succeed. Visit 
any of our 10 library branches to 
browse our special collections, 
access computers and Wi-Fi, 
enjoy educational programs, 
receive one-on-one assistance 
from librarians, and more. Some 
of our library offerings include:

Special Collections

 Among the variety of special 
collections offered by the library 
is our Homeschool collection. 
Located at La Pintoresca Branch 
Library, the collection includes 
learning equipment that 
supports homeschool education 
and curricula, offering 
microscope slides, models, 
maps, and more for check-out.

Computers, Wi-Fi, 
Chromebooks, and Hotspots

 Whether using a computer at 
the library or home, internet 
access is only a library card 
away. All branch locations offer 
access to computers and free 
Wi-Fi during business hours. 
Chromebooks and hotspots are 
available for checkout, allowing 
students to access the internet 
anywhere.

Educational Programs

 Along with our regular weekly 
storytimes - which foster 
language acquisition, gross and 
fine motor skills and encourage 
socialization - the library offers 
tutoring assistance programs. 
Our in-person Homework Help 
program, pairs students with 
tutors to help support their 
education. Homework Help 
begins in September, every 
Monday to Thursday, except 
September 4 and October 26, 
from 4 to 6 p.m., at Hastings 
Branch, 3325 E. Orange Grove 
Blvd., serving students in 
kindergarten through fifth 
grade, and from 3:30 to 5:30 
p.m. at La Pintoresca Branch, 
1355 N. Raymond Ave., serving 
students in kindergarten 
through middle school. Live 
tutors are also available online 
at any hour of the day. With 
Brainfuse HelpNow, you are just 
moments away from connecting 
with a live tutor. Simply select 
your grade and subject from a 
drop-down menu, and you will 
be paired with an expert tutor 
for live help.

Online Resources

 Additional online resources 
are available 24/7 through our 
website. The library offers access 
to several databases on diverse 
subject matter to aid in school 
projects, research, tutoring, and 
more. To learn more browse 
through the extensive collection 
at https://CityOfPasadena.
Libguides.Com/Databases/
BySubject. Or search a more 
refined list under the Student 
Resources (K–12) tab. Some 
noteworthy educational online 
resources available include:

ABC Mouse – An online 
curriculum boasting over 5,000 
interactive books, educational 
games, puzzles, and activities, 
for learners ages two to seven.

BritannicaSchool and 
BritannicaEscolar – An 
English and Spanish digital 
encyclopedia offering articles, 
images, videos, audio clips, 
primary sources, maps, and 
research tools for elementary, 
middle, or high school students.

Brainfuse HelpNow – An online 
educational aid offering free 
tutoring, standardized test prep, 
study tools, and more.

Learning Express Library – An 
online collection of practice 
tests, study aides, and support 
for job seeking students.

Teaching Books – A collection 
of resources that aid readers 
in connecting with books 
enabling deeper insight and 
understanding of the content.

 Pasadena Public Library has 
a wealth of resources available 
to ease the transition back to 
school. To learn more about the 
library, visit: CityOfPasadena.
Net/Library.

Lunar Trailblazer Gets Pay-
load for Moon Water Hunt

 

 NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer is 
nearing completion now that its 
second and final cutting-edge 
science instrument has been 
added to the small spacecraft. 
Built by the University of Oxford 
in England and contributed by 
the UK Space Agency, the Lunar 
Thermal Mapper (LTM) joins 
the High-resolution Volatiles 
and Minerals Moon Mapper 
(HVM3), which was integrated 
with the spacecraft late last year. 
Together, the instruments will 
enable scientists to determine 
the abundance, location, and 
form of the Moon’s water.

 Led by Caltech in Pasadena, 
California, Lunar Trailblazer 
has a mass of about 440 pounds 
(200 kilograms) and measures 
only 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) 
wide with its solar panels fully 
deployed. The small satellite will 
rely on the LTM instrument to 
gather temperature data that will 
reveal the thermal properties 
of the lunar surface and the 
composition of silicate rocks 
and soils. The HVM3 imaging 
spectrometer, which was built 
by NASA’s Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory in Southern 
California, will detect and 
map the form, abundance, and 
locations of water in the same 
regions as the LTM instrument.

 “Lunar exploration is an 
international endeavor, and 
Lunar Trailblazer embodies 
that spirit with the University of 
Oxford’s and UK Space Agency’s 
contribution to the mission,” 
said Bethany Ehlmann, the 
mission’s principal investigator 
at Caltech. “With the combined 
power of both of these 
sophisticated instruments, we 
can better understand where 
and why water is on the Moon 
and support the next era of 
Moon exploration.”

 Launching before the Artemis 
program’s human landings, 
Lunar Trailblazer will return 
information about the Moon’s 
water, providing maps to guide 
future robotic and human 
explorers. Lunar water could be 
used in a variety of ways, from 
purifying it as drinking water 
to processing it for fuel and 
breathable oxygen.

 “The Lunar Trailblazer mission 
will improve our understanding 
of our natural satellite and how 
we could harness its resources 
to support exploration in the 
future,” said Libby Jackson, 
Head of Space Exploration at 
the UK Space Agency. “Backing 
missions and capabilities that 
will drive opportunities for 
humanity to venture deeper into 
space is one of our priorities, 
so it’s exciting to see the LTM 
instrument ready for launch.”

 Lunar Trailblazer was selected 
by NASA’s SIMPLEx (Small 
Innovative Missions for 
Planetary Exploration) program 
in 2019, and the spacecraft 
will launch as a secondary 
payload on the second Intuitive 
Machines robotic lunar 
lander mission, called IM-2. 
That launch, which will also 
carry NASA’s Polar Resources 
Ice Mining Experiment-1 
subsurface ice drill, is expected 
no earlier than early 2024.

Lunar Water Cycle

 When Lunar Trailblazer arrives 
in orbit around the Moon, it will 
use HVM3 to map the spectral 
fingerprints – or wavelengths 
of reflected sunlight – of the 
different forms of water over the 
lunar landscape. LTM will scan 
those mapped regions at the 
same time to form an image that 
can be used to characterize the 
temperature of the surface. By 
measuring the same locations 
at different times of day, Lunar 
Trailblazer will determine if the 
amount of water changes on this 
airless body.

 It is thought that some water 
molecules might be locked 
inside lunar rock and regolith 
(broken rock and dust), 
particularly those containing 
silicates, which are the most 
abundant mineral on the 
Moon. Other water molecules 
may move and settle for short 
periods as frost in cold shadows. 
As the Sun changes position in 
the sky during the lunar day, the 
shadows move. This causes the 
ice to sublimate, transforming 
into vapor without passing 
through a liquid phase. As 
the water molecules move in 
the Moon’s extremely thin 
atmosphere to other cold places, 
they can settle once more as a 
frost. The most likely locations 
to hold water ice in significant 
quantities are the always-cold 
permanently shadowed craters 
at the lunar poles, which are 
key targets for science and 
exploration.

 “LTM precisely maps the surface 
temperature of the Moon while 
the HVM3 instrument looks for 
the spectral signature of water 
molecules,” said Neil Bowles, 
instrument scientist for LTM 
at the University of Oxford. 
“Combining the measurements 
from both instruments allows 
us to understand how surface 
temperature affects water, 
improving our knowledge of 
the presence and distribution of 
these molecules on the Moon.”

 LTM will provide maps of 
lunar surface temperature 
from about minus 265 degrees 
to 266 Fahrenheit (minus 
165 degrees to 130 Celsius) 
using four broadband infrared 
channels. The instrument will 
scan the lunar surface to form 
a multispectral image as the 
spacecraft orbits above. At the 
same time, 11 narrow infrared 
channels also map small 
variations in the composition 
of silicate minerals that make 
up the rocks and regolith of 
the Moon’s surface, providing 
more information about what 
the lunar surface is made of 
and how this may influence the 
amount of water present.

 Lunar Trailblazer is undergoing 
final assembly and testing at 
Lockheed Martin Space in 
Littleton, Colorado, and the 
spacecraft recently completed 
thermal vacuum chamber 
testing that simulates the 
harsh environment of space. 
Now, with both instruments 
integrated with the spacecraft 
and undergoing final system-
level testing, Lunar Trailblazer 
is approaching readiness to 
ship to Florida for final launch 
preparations.

 For more information about 
Lunar Trailblazer, visit:: jpl.nasa.
gov/missions/lunar-trailblazer.

Public Art Community 
Meeting at the Robinson 
Park Recreation Center

 The City of Pasadena Cultural 
Affairs Division invites the 
public to a Community Meeting 
on Thursday, August 31, 6-8 
p.m. at the Robinson Park 
Recreation Center, 1081 N Fair 
Oaks Ave, to learn more about 
the Robinson Park Recreation 
Center Capital Improvement 
Public Art Project. This event 
is a great opportunity for 
residents to meet the selected 
artists and find out how they 
can participate in the public art 
development process.

 Artists Deborah Aschheim and 
Carla Jay Harris will introduce 
themselves to the community 
and share their artistic 
background and approach to 
the project. Throughout the 
coming year, both artists will 
conduct extensive research 
and community engagement 
through collaboration with 
Northwest Pasadena residents 
and stakeholders to develop 
specific content and artistic 
themes which will serve as the 
basis for the public art concept 
at the Center. 

 The public art project for the 
Robinson Park Recreation 
Center was developed 
through guidance from the 
Robinson Park Stakeholder 
Group and community 
members and is intended to 
prioritize community input 
and collaboration during the 
first phase of the artwork 
development process. This 
project serves as an exciting 
opportunity for the Northwest 
community to contribute their 
unique stories and perspectives 
into the formation of a 
permanent public artwork at 
the Center.

 The renovation of the Robinson 
Park Recreation Center, located 
in Northwest Pasadena, was 
the second and final phase 
of the Robinson Park Master 
Plan adopted by City Council 
in 2002 and designated as an 
eligible Capital Improvement 
Public Art project in 2015. Per 
the unique requirements of this 
project, the artists selected to 
the project will be responsible 
for initiating numerous 
opportunities for engaging with 
the diverse Northwest Pasadena 
community, ranging from large 
public events to small intimate 
conversations. This community-
based research will then be 
incorporated into the artist’s 
Concept Art Plan, which will 
be presented to the City’s Arts & 
Culture Commission for review 
and approval. 

 For more information about 
the public art project and 
Community Meeting, contact 
Corey Dunlap at CDunlap@
CityOfPasadena.net or visit 
CityOfPasadena.net/Arts.


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