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Mountain View News Saturday, February 10, 2024 

Closures & 
Reminders 
for Lincoln’s, 
Washington’s 
Birthdays


One City, One Story Event 
Author Marianne Wiggins

 
In observance of Lincoln’s 
and Washington’s Birthdays, 
City Hall and many City 
services will be closed Monday 
and Monday, Feb. 19. Specific 
closures, exceptions and 
reminders are noted below. 
The City Service Center (CSC) 
will be open between the 
hours of 8 a.m. and noon on 
Monday, Feb. 12. The CSC will 
be closed Monday, Feb. 19, 
and will reopen Tuesday, Feb. 
20, at 8 a.m. Trash, recycling 
and yard waste collection will 
occur as scheduled on both 
holidays. There will be no 
delay in pickup for residents.

 Pasadena residents and 
businesses experiencing any 
power emergencies should call 
Pasadena Water and Power 
(PWP) at (626) 744-4673. For 
water-related emergencies, 
call (626) 744-4138. PWP’s 
Customer Service Call Center 
will be closed Monday, Feb. 12, 
and Monday, Feb. 19; however, 
customers can access their 
accounts and make payments 
through the automated phone 
system at (626) 744-4005 or 
online at PWPWeb.com.

 The City’s Municipal Services 
Payment Center and Parking 
Office will also be closed on 
Lincoln’s and Washington’s 
Birthdays. All parking meters 
will be free and parking time 
limits will not be enforced. 
Violations for overnight 
parking restrictions, red 
curb parking and blocking 
fire hydrants will be issued. 
Parking meter enforcement 
resumes after each holiday on 
Tuesday, Feb. 13, and Tuesday, 
Feb. 20. Pasadena Transit and 
Dial-A-Ride buses will operate 
on their regular schedules.

 The Permit Center will 
be closed on Lincoln’s and 
Washington’s Birthdays; 
however, many services will 
be available via Permit Center 
Online, where you can obtain 
subtrade permits and submit 
plans for new construction, 
tenant improvements, 
accessory dwelling units 
and additions. In-person 
operations will resume after 
each holiday on Tuesday, Feb. 
13, and Tuesday, Feb. 20.

 All Pasadena Public Library 
branch sites will be closed 
Sunday and Monday, Feb. 
11 and 12, and will reopen 
Tuesday, Feb. 13. Library 
branches will also be closed 
Sunday and Monday, Feb. 
18 and 19, and will reopen 
Tuesday, Feb. 20.

 All parks will be open for 
picnics, fun and play; however, 
no site reservations are being 
accepted for the holidays. 
Community and recreation 
centers will also be closed to 
the public on Monday, Feb.12, 
and Monday, Feb. 19.

 The Pasadena Public Health 
Department (PPHD) will also 
be closed Monday, Feb. 12 and 
Monday, Feb. 19. Upcoming 
vaccine clinics are scheduled 
for Wednesday, Feb. 14; 
Wednesday, Feb. 21; and 
Monday, Feb. 26. 

 City Council will not meet 
on Monday, Feb. 12, and 
Monday, Feb. 19. The next 
council meeting is scheduled 
to take place Monday, Feb. 26.

 Pasadena Fire and Police 
Departments will continue 
to provide patrol, jail, 
fire, paramedic and other 
emergency services during the 
holidays. For life-threatening 
emergencies, call 9-1-1. 
For non-emergencies, call 
Pasadena Police Department 
at (626) 744-4241.

JPL Lays Off More than 530 Employees 

 Pasadena One City, One Story 
community programs centered 
around Properties of Thirst by 
author Marianne Wiggins, will 
be held throughout the month 
of March, culminating in a 
conversation with Wiggins on 
Saturday, March 23 at 2 p.m., at 
Pasadena Presbyterian Church, 
585 E. Colorado Blvd.

 Now in its 22nd year, One 
City, One Story is designed 
to broaden and deepen an 
appreciation of reading and 
literature and to promote 
tolerance and understanding 
of differing points of view by 
recommending a compelling 
book that engages the 
community in conversation.

 Properties of Thirst is a novel 
that is both universal and 
intimate. It is the story of a 
changing American landscape 
and an examination of one 
of the darkest periods in this 
country’s past, told through 
the stories of the individual 
loves and losses that weave 
together to form the fabric of 
our shared history. Ultimately, 
it is an unflinching distillation 
of our nation’s essence—and a 
celebration of the bonds of love 
and family that persist against 
all odds.

 Rockwell “Rocky” Rhodes has 
spent years fiercely protecting 
his California ranch from the 
LA Water Corporation. It is here 
where he and his beloved wife, 
Lou, raised their twins, and 
where Rocky has mourned Lou 
in the years since her death.

 As twins Sunny and Stryker 
reach adulthood, the country 
teeters on the brink of war. 
Stryker decides to join the fight, 
deploying to Pearl Harbor not 
long before the bombs strike. 
Soon, Rocky and his family find 
themselves facing yet another 
incomprehensible tragedy.

 And when the government 
decides to build a Japanese 
American internment camp 
next to the ranch, Rocky realizes 
that the land faces even bigger 
threats than the LA watermen 
he’s battled for years.

 Marianne Wiggins is the 
author of eight novels, including 
John Dollar and Evidence of 
Things Unseen, which was a 
finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for 
Fiction and the National Book 
Award. She has won a Whiting 
Award, a National Endowment 
for the Arts fellowship and the 
Heidinger Kafka Prize and was 
shortlisted for the Women’s 
Prize for Fiction. She lives in 
Venice, Calif.

 Following the presentation 
will be a conversation and Q&A 
with Library Director Tim 
McDonald. 

 Books will be sold by The 
Friends of the Pasadena Public 
Library and Marianne Wiggins 
will sign books following the 
event.

 For more information on 
One City, One Story, visit: 
cityofpasadena.libguides.com/
onecityonestory.

 Jet Propulsion Laboratory 
employees saw an estimated 
eight percent cut in jobs across 
the facility Wednesday after 
NASA cut the lab’s budget 
according to a memo sent to 
all employees Tuesday from 
Director Laurie Leshin

 The workforce reduction 
will affect approximately 530 
JPL workers and around 40 
additional members of the 
NASA contractor workforce she 
said.

 “The impacts will occur across 
both technical and support 
areas of the Lab,” Leshin said. 
“These are painful but necessary 
adjustments that will enable 
us to adhere to our budget 
allocation while continuing our 
important work for NASA and 
our nation.”

 At issue, as of Tuesday, was the 
laboratory not having a final 
word from U.S. Congress on 
the Mars Sample Return (MSR) 
budget. Leshin also said they 
had no word on an approved 
federal budget but NASA 
officials previously directed JPL 
to plan for an MSR budget of 
$300 million. 

 “This is consistent with the low 
end of congressional markups of 
NASA's budget and a 63 percent 
decrease over the FY23 level,” 
she outlined in the memo. “In 
response to this direction, 
and in an effort to protect our 
workforce, we implemented 
a hiring freeze, reduced MSR 
contracts, and implemented 
cuts to burden budgets across 
the Lab. Earlier this month, we 
further reduced spending by 
releasing some of our valued on-
site contractors.”

 On Wednesday employees were 
instructed to work form home, 
“so everyone can be in a safe, 
comfortable environment on a 
stressful day. Most individuals 
will not be able to enter the Lab 
during this mandatory remote 
work day,” she said.

 All employees impacted by the 
layoffs were notified by email. 

 “NASA requires that [employee] 
access to JPL systems be shut 
off very shortly following the 
notification” Leshin said.

 All impacted employees 
will continue to receive their 
base pay and benefits 60 days 
according to the memo.

 For more information and 
the full text of the memo 
visit: jpl.nasa.gov/news/
jpl-workforce-update. 

Symphony’s 
Ode to 
Romance

 The Pasadena Symphony 
presents Tchaikovsky Piano 
Concerto No. 1 on Saturday, 
February 17 with performances 
at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. at 
Ambassador Auditorium. The 
Pasadena Symphony’s ode to 
romance arrives just in time 
for Valentine’s weekend, with 
Tchaikovsky’s most popular 
piano concerto performed by 
award-winning Chinese pianist 
Wynona Wang, who continues 
to dazzles on the international 
stage since winning First Prize 
at the Concert Artists Guild 
International Competition.

 Accomplished conductor 
Kyle Dickson will take the 
podium to lead the orchestra 
for this romantic and 
revelatory program. Winner 
of the Concert Artists Guild’s 
Richard S. Weinert Award, 
Dickson was a recent Salonen 
Conducting Fellow with the 
San Francisco Symphony and 
is Assistant Conductor of both 
the Memphis Symphony and 
Chicago Sinfonietta. Dickson 
will open the program with 
Jessie Montgomery’s Strum, 
hot off her GRAMMY win for 
Best Contemporary Classical 
Composition, and will 
conclude the program with 
Sibelius’ sumptuous Second 
Symphony.

 The Pasadena Symphony 
provides a vibrant experience 
specially designed for the 
music lover, the social butterfly 
or a date night out. Arrive 
early for the pre-concert 
discussion Insights, or enjoy a 
bite or a glass in the Symphony 
Lounge, a posh setting along 
Ambassador Auditorium’s 
beautiful outdoor plaza with 
a full service beverage center 
serving coffee, spirits, and 
fine wines from The Michero 
Family, plus sandwiches, 
soup, appetizers and dessert 
by Cynthia Brooks Catering 
before the concert and during 
intermission.

 All concerts are held at 
Ambassador Auditorium, 131 
South St. John Ave, Pasadena. 
Subscription packages start 
at as low as $99, with single 
tickets starting at $42. Both 
may be purchased online at 
pasadenasymphony-pops.org 
or by calling (626) 793-7172.

Black History Month Talk at 
The Pasadena Senior Center

 

 

 

 Nobody tells stories like 
Miss Etta Mae Mumphries, 
the alter ego of African 
American writer/actor/
comedian Karen Bankhead. 

 Miss Etta Mae will share 
some of her stories Thursday, 
Feb. 22, at 2 p.m. at the 
Pasadena Senior Center, 
85 E. Holly St., during a 
special Black History Month 
performance.

 A fount of wisdom, Miss 
Etta Mae has met and 
influenced exceptional 
people throughout her 
extraordinarily long life, 
including Josephine Baker, 
Billie Holiday, Dr. Martin 
Luther King Jr. and Sammy 
Davis Jr.

 Bankhead, a veteran actress 
and screenwriter, studied at 
Second City, was a member 
of The Groundlings Sunday 
Company and was cofounder, 
producer and performer with 
groundbreaking improv 
groups such as Hold the 
Cream and Foxy, Fine and 
Funny. She has been a 
cast member in plays from 
California to New York and 
received the NAACP Theatre 
Award for Best Supporting 
Actress in 2020 for her role as 
the flower child Wanda in the 
play “Three Times a Lady,” 
which made its national 
debut in Los Angeles. She 
has performed stand-up at 
such renowned clubs as The 
Comedy Store, The Ice House 
and The Improv. Bankhead 
has played a variety of 
roles on television shows, 
including “Will & Grace,” 
“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” 
“Gilmore Girls,” “Grey’s 
Anatomy” and many more. 

 The program is free for 
members of the Pasadena 
Senior Center and only $5 for 
nonmembers 50 and older. 
Residence in Pasadena is not 
required. To register or for 
more information, visit www.
pasadenaseniorcenter.org and 
click on Activities & Events, 
then Special Events or call 
626-795-4331. 

 The Pasadena Senior 
Center’s mission is to 
improve the lives of older 
adults through caring 
service with opportunities 
for social interaction, fitness 
programs, basic support and 
needs services, education, 
volunteerism and community 
activism. With 10,000 
Americans per day becoming 
older adults, the center is 
a leader in addressing the 
issues of aging and provides 
innovative, cutting-edge, 
nationally recognized 
programs for this population 
group. 

 
A visit with Miss Etta 
Mae Mumphries, Aka 
Actor Karen Bankhead 

Pasadena Recreational 
Trails Program Grant Award

 

 Director of Parks, Recreation, 
and Community Services, Koko 
Panossian, and the department 
announced Thursday a grant 
award in the amount of $500,000 
for the Arroyo Trails Critical 
Linkages Project through 
the state of California Parks 
and Recreation Department’s 
Recreational Trails Program 
(“RTP”). 

 Grant programs such as the 
RTP help advance outdoor 
access by providing funds 
to local, state, federal, and 
nonprofit organizations to 
develop non-motorized 
recreation trails (paved, non 
paved, and backcountry) and 
trail-related facilities projects as 
well as acquire trail corridors. 

 Parks, Recreation, and 
Community Services submitted 
the RTP grant application in 
June in partnership with the 
One Arroyo Foundation to 
construct two new multi use 
trails and restore approximately 
3.5 miles of multi use trails in 
the lower and central Arroyo. 

 A total of 56 applications were 
submitted and only nine were 
selected. The City of Pasadena 
was one of two grantees selected 
for the Los Angeles County area. 

 For more information visit: 
cityofpasadena.net.


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