Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, September 2, 2023

6

ALTADENA - SOUTH PASADENA - SAN MARINO

Mountain View News Saturday, September 2, 2023 

NASA/JPL Maps Key Heat 
Wave Differences in SoCal

San Marino Upcoming 
Events & Programming

Letter from The Coffee Gallery

 An open letter to the 
community from Bob Stane 
on the sudden closing of The 
Coffee Gallery Backstage in 
Altadena.


The Recreation Division is Moving!

 Beginning Tuesday at 7 AM, the Recreation Customer Service 
Office will open at the San Marino Community Center, 1800 
Huntington Drive. The Recreation Customer Service Office will 
continue to operate at the Stoneman Building through Friday, 
September 1 at 11 AM. Office hours at the Community Center 
will be Monday – Thursday from 7 AM – 5 PM and Friday from 
7 AM – 11 AM. For any questions, please contact the Recreation 
Division at (626) 403-2200 or Recreation@CityofSanMarino.org.

Family Storytime

Tuesday, September 5 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.

Huntington Nurses Health Screening

Wednesday, September 13 from 10:00 – 11:30 AM, Barth 
Community Room

 The Huntington Nurses offer free blood pressure and glucose 
screenings. Please plan to fast 2 hours prior to having glucose 
checked. These blood pressure and glucose evaluations can lead to 
prevention and early detection of the “silent killer” diseases such 
as hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes. Health screenings 
will be held every second Wednesday of the month. Registration 
is not required.

Fire Department Recent Happenings

 The San Marino Fire Department hosted a Back to School First 
Aid & Safety Preparedness Workshop on Thursday, August 24. 
Attendees were given hands-on instruction in first aid, CPR, 
utility shutoffs, and fire extinguishment. The event was very well 
attended, and was a huge success. Even our new City Manager was 
able to brush up on his first aid skills!

 The Fire Department has completed inspections in the City’s 
Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Inspections of the Very 
High Fire Hazard Severity Zone are conducted annually to ensure 
properties at high risk of wildfire have been cleared of brush, 
overgrown vegetation, and combustible materials. For more 
information on the City’s wildland fuel management program 
visit www.CityofSanMarino.org/BrushClearance.

 On August 29, 2023, Chiefs Rueda and Incontro participated with 
the Huntington Library Executive staff in a half day, Emergency 
Operations Center, Table Top Exercise. The scenario involved a 
disturbance on the grounds of the Library. The Chiefs were able to 
provide expert advice and guidance to the participants from the 
Huntington Library staff. 

Parks & Public Works

Annual Sidewalk Replacement Program

 The City’s Annual Sidewalk Replacement Program is currently 
ongoing in the northwest portion of the City. Each year, this 
program replaces approximately 1 mile of sidewalk at various 
locations citywide. The work includes replacement of sidewalk, 
driveway approaches, curb ramps, and curb and gutter. Residents 
on impacted streets will be receiving notices from the City’s 
hired contractor, CJ Concrete, with additional details about the 
project timeline, what residents can expect during the project, and 
what the project’s impact to the neighborhood will be. The City 
appreciates resident cooperation, as the sidewalk program helps 
improve the City’s infrastructure and resident safety.

Street Sweeping Services

 In keeping with the City Council’s priority of well-maintained 
infrastructure, the Parks and Public Works Department 
works with Athens Services to ensure that the City receives 
comprehensive street sweeping services. Frequent street sweeping 
not only improves the appearance of the streets, but also prevents 
unwanted materials from flowing into storm drains, keeps job 
sites clean, and helps minimize tire damage. Residents can visit the 
Street Sweeping page on the City’s website for more information 
on the street sweeping schedule for their neighborhood.

Meetings

Design Review Committee Meeting

Wednesday, September 6 at 6:00 PM; Barth Room and Zoom 
(Public Access)

Recreation Commission Meeting

Monday, September 11 at 6:00 PM; Barth Room and Zoom (Public 
Access)

City Council Meeting

Wednesday, September 13 at 6:00 PM; City Hall Council Chambers 
and Zoom (Public Access)

 Thank you very much to my 
patrons and entertainers of The 
Coffee Gallery Backstage.

 You made it possible for me 
to live my lifetime dream of 
looking forward to coming 
to work every day and night. 
Few people in this world 
can look upon their careers 
with pleasure and a feeling of 
accomplishment. I did what I 
wanted, when I wanted and had 
so many wonderful people to do 
it with.

 How lucky I have been to 
genuinely cherish the people 
who left their homes and shared 
our mutual love of quality 
entertainment. I made such 
wonderful friends and had 
many excellent conversations. 
What a bright group you are. 
You are the best.

 And how about all those 
pickers and singers who trod 
upon my dusty stage? All were 
skilled musicians with so much 
talent and way too good to come 
to a little town above Pasadena 
and play to a small room of 50 
people. They did it with world 
class execution. We, and I, owe 
them for their skill, talent and 
dedication. You are giants and 
fully appreciated.

 Thank you for all of you who 
came to The Coffee Gallery 
Backstage after closure and 
picked up a few souvenirs of our 
happy evenings together. Kudos 
to Michael Haynes for running 
the few shows I had left over 
when I was forced to start my 
hospital stay. Great job.

 Also, admiration for my grown 
children, Julie Beltran and 
Scott Stane, for organizing and 
executing the final Saturday 
afternoon sale of all of the 
equipment leaving just petrified 
dust bunnies and the ghosts of 
evenings of music and prose 
behind. 100% perfect.

 You may remember that I 
got an autoimmune malady 
that is extremely rare and 
survived through a series of 
timely discoveries. I spent 24 
days and nights, with excellent 
results, in Pasadena’s Hunting 
Hospital. What professionals. 
The disease, Dermatomyositis, 
can be fatal and requires 
a lot of care, expense and 
recouperation. I suspect I will 
be getting therapy and infusions 
through 2023. Fortunately, I 
can access Medicare and Blue 
Cross for most of the cost but 
not all. I am still out-of-pocket. 
I recommend you get the best 
health insurance you can afford. 
Things happen.

 Again, thank you, patrons and 
talent, for all you do and for 
all the years of happiness we 
shared.

 Wasn’t it wonderful? Now it 
is up to you to keep the music 
playing. I’ve done all I can.

 My blessings, appreciation, and 
gratitude to you all. Exit, stage 
left.

 Bob Stane…. (My history…The 
Upper Cellar in San Diego, The 
Ice House(s) in Pasadena and 
Glendale, The Playboy Clubs, 
International, in Chicago and 
The Coffee Gallery Backstage in 
glorious Altadena, California). 
Long may their memories last.

 Like much of the planet, 
Southern California is expected 
to experience more heat waves 
in the future due to Earth’s 
changing climate. And some 
of these will feel increasingly 
humid, as long-term forecasts 
call for muggy spells more 
typically associated with Florida 
or eastern Texas.

 To begin to understand what 
these changes could mean 
across the greater Los Angeles 
area, scientists at NASA’s 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory 
mapped how extreme heat and 
humidity patterns vary with 
regional geography. The results 
underscore how air temperature 
alone does not tell the full story 
of dangerous heat.

 “We can’t just look at air 
temperature when we talk about 
heat wave impacts,” said study 
author Anamika Shreevastava, 
a NASA postdoctoral program 
fellow at JPL. “People tend to 
get acclimatized to where they 
live. We have to understand 
how anomalous conditions are 
making a difference in what 
people are used to.”

 Climate change is fueling 
longer, hotter, and more 
frequent heat waves. In the 
U.S., extreme heat is the No. 1 
weather-related killer, causing 
more deaths than hurricanes 
and floods, according to the 
National Weather Service.

 Greater Los Angeles is a prime 
example of an urban heat island 
– cities and suburbs woven 
with heat-trapping concrete 
and asphalt that lead to warmer 
temperatures than nearby rural 
areas that have more vegetation. 
Bordered by mountains and 
the ocean, the Greater L.A. 
area encompasses suburbs 
and skyscrapers, with a dense 
population and disparities in 
green space. It includes several 
counties, tens of thousands of 
square miles, and more than 
18 million people, making it 
a compelling test bed for heat 
wave research.

 Climate change and urban heat 
are together fueling different 
heat waves now. In the 20th 
century, most heat waves in 
L.A. were dry. However, humid 
events have steadily increased 
in frequency and intensity since 
1950 due in part to swelling 
moisture from the warming sea 
surface.

 In their case study, JPL scientists 
compared two heat waves that 
affected the Greater Los Angeles 
area in the summer of 2020: 
a prolonged muggy stretch in 
August and an extremely dry 
three-day spike in September. 
During the latter event, record-
breaking temperatures soared 
over 120 degrees Fahrenheit 
(49 degrees Celsius) in the San 
Fernando Valley – a densely 
populated portion of the city of 
Los Angeles – while scorching 
winds fanned a destructive 
wildfire in the nearby San 
Gabriel Mountains.

 For their study, recently 
published in the Journal of 
Applied Meteorology and 
Climatology, the scientists 
used NASA’s Modern-Era 
Retrospective Analysis for 
Research and Applications, 
version 2 (MERRA-2) data 
set – a reanalysis of historical 
atmospheric observations. They 
found that both heat waves 
drove temperatures above the 
90th percentile for the August-
September climate record in 
L.A. Using advanced weather 
modeling, they simulated the 
heat waves and looked at their 
impacts across the region.

 The researchers found that, 
although air temperatures 
were as much as 18 degrees 
Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) 
cooler during the muggy August 
heat wave, the heat stress to 
human health was more intense 
than the September event. 
That’s because the wet-bulb 
temperature – which relates 
heat to how well our bodies cool 
down by sweating – surged due 
to the humidity.

 The results underscore the 
importance of including humid 
heat when issuing extreme heat 
warnings, the scientists said.

Local Impacts

 “The same heat wave can feel 
different because of local climate 
variabilities and disparities in 
vegetation, which has a shading 
and cooling effect. These 
small-scale variabilities make 
a big difference in impact,” 
Shreevastava said.

 Shreevastava and her team 
examined three regions that 
experienced the 2020 heat 
waves differently: Southern L.A. 
County and Orange County 
stayed cooler, given their 
proximity to the Pacific Ocean 
and coastal moisture. Valley 
regions, including San Fernando 
and Riverside, skewed drier and 
hotter. And central L.A. fell 
between the two extremes.

 Despite the microclimate 
variations, humidity had a 
leveling effect: Both the coastal 
and inland areas experienced 
increased nighttime heat stress 
during the muggy August heat 
wave. This was a notable change 
for the valley regions, which 
historically have countered 
scorching daytime temperatures 
with drier nights. Valley areas 
such as those in San Bernardino 
and Riverside counties 
experienced the greatest change 
over recent historical averages, 
with up to 10.8 degrees 
Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius) 
of added heat stress during 
humid heat wave nights.

 The researchers said that 
their findings highlight how 
disparities in small-scale heat 
wave patterns across urban 
neighborhoods are vitally 
important when designing 
emergency plans and policies 
for our shared, hotter future.

Chu Introduces Southeast 
Asian Deportation Relief Act

 Last Week Reps. Judy Chu 
(CA-28), Pramila Jayapal (WA-
07), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), 
and Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) 
introduced the Southeast Asian 
Deportation Relief Act of 2023 
(SEADRA), historic federal 
legislation that would end 
deportations of Southeast Asian 
American (SEAA) refugees, 
provide further protections 
for the more than 15,000 
community members with final 
orders of removal, and establish 
a pathway to return to the U.S. 
for the over 2,000 refugees who 
have already been deported to 
Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

Specifically, the bill would:

 Limit the Department of 
Homeland Security’s authority 
to detain or deport Southeast 
Asian refugees from Cambodia, 
Laos, and Vietnam who arrived 
in the United States by 2008;

Permanently authorize 
employment eligibility for 
Southeast Asians with a final 
order of removal with a five-
year renewal period; and

End in-person ICE check-
ins and establishes five-year 
intervals between virtual check-
ins for Southeast Asians on 
order of supervision.

 Additionally, the new version 
of the bill includes a provision 
to ensure that Southeast Asian 
refugees who have already been 
deported can return home to 
the U.S. and be reunited with 
their families. For Southeast 
Asian refugees who are still in 
the U.S. and face deportation, 
the changes allow them to 
fight their deportation order to 
remain in the country.

 “We must restore humanity 
to our broken immigration 
system. Deporting over 15,000 
Southeast Asian American 
refugees who fled violence 
and genocide decades ago 
is a betrayal to our duty to 
refugees and needlessly rips 
apart families,” said Rep. Chu. 
“We cannot risk letting future 
Administrations create policies 
based on bigotry and hate, so I 
am joining my colleagues today 
to reintroduce the Southeast 
Asian Deportation Relief Act. 
This landmark legislation 
would limit the Department of 
Homeland Security’s ability to 
remove members from these 
communities and send them to 
countries where they have often 
never even lived, and we’ve 
added a provision this Congress 
to strengthen the process of 
reopening deportation cases—
ensuring that Southeast Asian 
refugees who have already been 
deported can return home to 
the U.S.”

For more infomation visit: chu.
house.gov.

 
This year is the 15th anniversary 
of ShakeOut, which began in 
Southern California in 2008. 
Millions of people worldwide 
will practice how to Drop, Cover 
and Hold On during the Great 
ShakeOut Earthquake Drill.

 Each year the City of Pasadena 
participates in the drill so that 
we know what to do when an 
earthquake hits. We will be 
doing so again on October 
19. This is an opportunity 
to practice your earthquake 
survival skills. These kinds of 
drills train us to act quickly – to 
DROP, COVER and HOLD ON 
immediately to minimize injury 
so that we will be prepared 
when the next earthquake 
happens. You never know where 
you will be when an earthquake 
hits and it’s important to know 
what to do instinctively when 
the ground begins to shake. 

 For more information visit: 
shakeout.org/california. 

2023 Great 
California 
ShakeOut Drill

Thursday, Oct. 19 at 
exactly 10:19 a.m.

Pops Close 
Season with 
Movie Music

 Principal POPS Conductor 
Michael Feinstein and the 
Pasadena POPS close the 
summer season with Hollywood 
Blockbusters on Saturday, 
September 9 at the Los Angeles 
County Arboretum. Feinstein 
has curated a celebration of 
songs that made Hollywood 
a hit parade with music by 
beloved film composers 
from Henry Mancini to John 
Williams. Highlights include 
music from 42nd Street, To Kill 
a Mockingbird, Breakfast at 
Tiffany’s, Pink Panther, E.T. and 
so much more.

 Feinstein will welcome a star-
studded lineup to sing the hits of 
Hollywood, with two-time Tony 
Award® winner, Broadway and 
TV legend Christine Ebersole 
returning to the POPS stage. 
Best known for her acclaimed 
roles in Grey Gardens and 
42nd Street, Ebersole brings 
her formidable talent to sing 
Hollywood’s biggest hits. The 
multi-talented, 

 Grammy-nominated Cheyenne 
Jackson also returns to the 
POPS to show off his staggering 
vocal range. Most recently seen 
on The Masked Singer, Fox’s 
Call Me Kat, and as Hades in 
Disney’s Descendants 3.

 The Arboretum is located at 301 
North Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. 
Single tickets starting at $30 and 
are available by calling the box 
office at (626) 793-7172, online 
at PasadenaSymphony-Pops.org 
or at the Arboretum on concert 
days. 


PWP Furthers Clean Energy 
Goals with More Solar Power

 As part of Pasadena’s 
commitment to clean 
energy, Pasadena Water and 
Power (PWP) is expanding 
its energy portfolio with 
more solar power. PWP is 
one of three community-
owned utilities participating 
in a 20-year contract with 
the Southern California 
Public Power Authority 
(SCPPA) for the purchase 
of solar energy from EDF 
Renewable North America 
(EDF). The agreement is 
for 117 megawatts (MW) of 
solar energy generated by 
the Sapphire Solar project, 
which will be located in 
Riverside County. One third 
of the capacity generated by 
the project will be received 
by Pasadena beginning 
December 31, 2026. In 
addition to the solar 
production, SCPPA reserves 
the option to procure a 59 
MW battery energy storage 
system on the project site.

 “PWP takes pride in 
providing safe, reliable, 
environmentally responsible 
water and power service 
at competitive rates. This 
solar agreement is another 
important step in continuing 
to expand PWP’s clean 
power portfolio and is 
one of many long-term 
arrangements currently in 
development to help achieve 
our sustainability goals,” said 
Sidney Jackson, General 
Manager of PWP.

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