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ALTADENA - SOUTH PASADENA - SAN MARINO

Mountain Views News Saturday, May 25, 2024

NASA’s Europa Clipper 
Makes Flight to Florida

San Marino Upcoming 
Events & Programming

Landmark Legislative Bills 
Pass the Assembly Floor

 Assemblymember Chris 
Holden’s bills passed the 
Assembly Floor last week 
and are heading to the 
Senate. The legislative 
package includes: AB 1826 – 
The Digital Equity in Video 
Franchising Act of 2024, AB 
2330 – Endangered species: 
incidental intake: wildlife 
preparedness activities, AB 
2193 – Hazing: educational 
institutions: prohibition and 
civil liability: reports and 
resources, and AB 1851 – 
Drinking water: school sites: 
lead testing pilot program. 

 “My focus is on enhancing 
the lives of Californians 
through stronger practices 
of equity, environmental 
preservation and digital 
innovation,” Holden said. 
“My colleagues and I have 
worked with advocates, 
community groups and 
coalitions to form a legislative 
package that truly serve the 
people of this state.”

 AB 1826 would make 
comprehensive changes 
to state law pertaining to 
cable operators and state 
video franchising. The 
changes imposed by this 
bill would create a public 
process at the Public Utilities 
Commission to change 
the once streamlined state 
video franchising renewal 
process to one that will 
focus on transparency and 
accountability. This bill will 
ensure Californians are 
included in reviewing the 
service by cable providers.

 AB 2330 would allow local 
agencies to submit a wildfire 
preparedness plan to the 
Department of Fish and 
Wildlife for an initial review 
and to check if an incidental 
take permit is necessary. This 
bill would help local agencies 
have greater certainty to 
move wildfire preparedness 
projects, while mitigating 
the take of endangered, 
threatened and candidate 
species incidental to activities 
conducted by within fire 
hazard severity zones 
adjacent to urban areas.

 AB 2193 would allow for 
civil action to be brought 
against an educational 
institution for an instance 
of hazing in which an 
educational institution failed 
to take reasonable steps to 
stop the hazing practice of 
the organization. The goal 
of this bill is to increase 
responsibility and incentivize 
institutions to bolster their 
oversight and preventative 
measures as it relates to 
hazing in an effort to save 
students’ lives.

 AB 1851 would require the 
Superintendent of Public 
Instruction to contract 
with a nonprofit technical 
assistance organization to 
sample all potable water 
system outlets. Although the 
federal government and state 
of California have enhanced 
lead testing standards and 
processes, the misalignment 
of lead testing standards 
for childcare center and 
K-12 schools leave room for 
important improvements. 
This bill would also align 
lead-in-water removal goals 
and action levels for childcare 
centers and select TK-12 
school building plumbing 
installed before 2010.


Honoring Our Heroes: Memorial Day Service at Lacy Park

 A Memorial Day Service will be held on Monday, May 27 
at 9 AM in Lacy Park by the War Memorial. Please join us 
as we pay tribute to the dedication and sacrifices the men 
and women of our Nation’s Armed Forces have made. The 
ceremony will include recognition of Veterans, special guest 
speakers, and patriotic music. This event is open to the 
public.

Memorial Day Closures

 In observance of Memorial Day, all City facilities, excluding 
emergency services, will be closed on Monday, May 27. 
Regular hours will resume on Tuesday, May 28.

Draft Housing Element Available for Public Review

 The seven (7) day public review period of the City’s updated 
6th cycle of the Housing Element (2021-2029) started on 
Monday, May 20th and concludes on Monday, May 27th 
at 8:00 AM. The draft can be found by visiting: www.
SanMarinoCA.gov/HousingElement

Important Update to Library Hours: Starting Monday 
June 3, the Library will close at 8 PM Monday through 
Thursday.

 But don’t forget! The Library has resources available online 
for you 24/7!

 Search the full catalog of materials and place holds on items

Access e-books and e-audiobooks in English, Chinese, and 
Spanish

Access databases and newspapers

Coffee & Crammin’

Tuesday-Wednesday, May 28-29 from 3:30 – 8:30 PM, Barth 
Community Room

 Back by popular demand, the Crowell Public Library will 
be providing a study space exclusively for high school teens 
preparing for finals. We can’t forget brain food, so drinks 
and study snacks will be offered to attendees. Registration is 
not required.

Summer Reading Club Kick-Off

Saturday, June 1 from 12 – 3 PM, Crowell Public Library

 Celebrate summer at the Library! Register for Summer 
Reading Club, enjoy special performances, and participate in 
activities for the whole family! Activities include Fun in the 
Sun Die Cut Cards, Pipe Cleaner Crowns, String Spinners, 
Family Summer Vision Boards, and more! Registration is 
not required.

Feel the Splash of Summer!

 The Recreation Division is pleased to bring back the summer 
aquatics program at the San Marino High School pool! 
This year’s program begins on June 3 and includes Group 
and Private Swim Lessons, Open Swim, Adult Lap Swim & 
Water Walking, Water Warrior Aqua-cise, and Splash Ball. 
View details and the pool schedule here!

Did you know?

 The concept of a Grand Marshal for a parade originated in 
Pasadena in the late 19th century. To streamline coordination 
of the historic Rose Parade, Tournament of Roses organizers 
decided to appoint a Grand Marshal who would oversee all 
the marshals, ensuring orderliness during the parade. 

 Fast forward, now it’s your turn to nominate a Grand 
Marshal for San Marino’s annual 4th of July Parade-Palooza! 
If you know a community member that is deserving of this 
distinguished title, nominate them! The deadline to do so is 
May 31.

Street Sweeping Schedule

 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. 
Athens has resumed its bi-weekly street sweeping schedule, 
which will continue through October (November-April 
sweeping is weekly). Residents can visit the Street Sweeping 
page on the City’s website for more information on their 
neighborhood street sweeping schedule and the yearly street 
sweeping calendar.

Meetings

City Council Meeting

Friday, May 31 at 8:30 AM; City Hall Council Chambers and 
Zoom (Public Access)

Design Review Committee Meeting

Wednesday, June 5 at 6:00 PM; Barth Room and Zoom 
(Public Access)

 NASA’s Europa Clipper, 
a spacecraft designed to 
investigate Jupiter’s icy moon 
Europa and its potential to 
support life, arrived in Florida 
on Thursday. The spacecraft, 
assembled at NASA’s Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory in 
Southern California, landed 
aboard a United States Air Force 
C-17 Globemaster III aircraft at 
the Launch and Landing Facility 
at NASA’s Kennedy Space 
Center.

 The mission aims to gather 
detailed measurements of 
the moon’s surface, interior, 
and space environment by 
performing approximately 50 
close flybys, some as low as 16 
miles (25 kilometers) from the 
surface of Europa, which holds 
a global ocean underneath its 
ice shell.

 “My job for Europa Clipper 
is to ensure the team meets 
all the ground and flight 
requirements to place the 
spacecraft in the proper orbit 
to initiate the long journey 
to Jupiter,” said Armando 
Piloto, Europa Clipper mission 
manager for NASA’s Launch 
Services Program. “The team 
is excited that the spacecraft 
is in Florida for processing. 
We’re pairing Europa Clipper 
with a fully expendable SpaceX 
Falcon Heavy rocket to ensure 
it provides the required 
performance to explore a 
destination very far away from 
Earth.”

 Teams at Kennedy spent 
several hours offloading Europa 
Clipper before transferring 
it to the Payload Hazardous 
Servicing Facility, where they 
will process the spacecraft and 
perform final checkouts as part 
of prelaunch preparations.

 Europa Clipper joins the 
spacecraft’s two five-panel solar 
arrays that arrived at Kennedy 
in March. The arrays, each 
46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long, 
will collect enough sunlight to 
power the spacecraft on its way 
to Jupiter’s moon. Technicians 
will install the arrays on the 
spacecraft before launch.

 The spacecraft was designed 
to withstand the pummeling 
of radiation from Jupiter and 
gather the measurements 
needed to investigate Europa’s 
surface, interior, and space 
environment.

 Europa Clipper has nine 
dedicated science instruments, 
including cameras, 
spectrometers, a magnetometer, 
and an ice-penetrating radar. 
These instruments will study 
Europa’s icy shell, the ocean 
beneath, and the composition 
of the gases in the moon’s 
atmosphere and surface geology, 
and provide insights into the 
moon’s potential habitability. 
The spacecraft also will carry a 
thermal instrument to pinpoint 
locations of warmer ice and 
any possible eruptions of water 
vapor. Strong evidence shows 
the ocean beneath Europa’s 
crust is twice the volume of all 
the Earth’s oceans combined.

 The Europa Clipper mission 
demonstrates NASA’s 
commitment to exploring our 
solar system and searching 
for habitability beyond Earth. 
The data will contribute to our 
understanding of the Jovian 
system and will help pave 
the way for potential future 
missions to study Europa and 
other potentially habitable 
worlds.

 Europa Clipper is expected to 
reach the Jupiter system in April 
2030, and it will accomplish 
a few milestones along the 
way, including a Mars flyby in 
February 2025 that will help 
propel the spacecraft toward 
Jupiter’s moon through a Mars-
Earth gravity assist trajectory.

“After two years of painstaking 
work on the spacecraft here 
at JPL, with the help of our 
partners, it was bittersweet to 
see the spacecraft encased in 
its shipping container and on 
its way to Florida,” said Jordan 
Evans, Europa Clipper project 
manager at JPL. “But we already 
have Europa Clipper engineers 
and technicians at Kennedy who 
are welcoming this precious 
cargo and are set to accomplish 
the final assembly and testing so 
that we’re ready for launch.”

 NASA and SpaceX are targeting 
launch aboard a Falcon Heavy 
rocket from Launch Complex 
39A at Kennedy later this year. 
The launch period opens on 
Oct. 10. After testing and final 
preparations are complete, the 
spacecraft will be encapsulated 
in a protective payload fairing 
and moved to the SpaceX 
hangar at the launch complex.

 Managed by Caltech in 
Pasadena, California, JPL leads 
the development of the Europa 
Clipper mission in partnership 
with the Johns Hopkins Applied 
Physics Laboratory (APL) in 
Laurel, Maryland, for NASA’s 
Science Mission Directorate in 
Washington. NASA’s Launch 
Services Program, based at 
Kennedy, manages the launch 
service for the Europa Clipper 
spacecraft.

City, Aquatics Center give 
Tips to Practice Water Safety

 
As families plan their visits 
to the beach and swimming 
pool this summer, the City 
of Pasadena and Rose Bowl 
Aquatics Center (RBAC) 
remind residents of the 
importance of practicing 
water safety.

Drowning impacts people 
of all ages. According to 
the Pasadena Public Health 
Department, there were 31 
drowning-caused deaths 
between 2007-2022 among 
people living in Pasadena. 
Among those, almost 26 
percent were children under 
18 years old and 39% were 
adults 65 years and older. 
Thus, supervision and 
awareness are crucial for any 
person in the water. 

Practicing water safety is key 
to anticipating and avoiding 
drowning and water-related 
injuries. Keep the following 
tips in mind the next time 
you visit a pool or open body 
of water:

· Enroll in swim lessons to 
learn basic swimming skills

· Follow all rules posted at the 
pool, beach, or recreational 
swimming location

· Never swim alone; keep 
a swim buddy or guardian 
close by

· Never dive head-first into 
water less than nine feet deep

· Choose a U.S. Coast Guard 
approved floatation device 
instead of water wings or 
inflatables

· Avoid swimming after 
consuming alcohol or 
medications that cause 
disorientation

· To prevent the spread of 
waterborne illnesses, avoid 
swimming if you feel sick or 
are experiencing diarrhea 

· Parents must always 
supervise their children, even 
if there are lifeguards on duty 

· If a child is missing, always 
check the water first

If you have a pool at home, 
install barriers and ensure 
that gates and ladders are 
self-closing. Even personal 
swimming pools can carry 
waterborne illnesses and 
require proper maintenance. 
Disinfection with chlorine 
or bromine and maintaining 
pH levels are the first defense 
against germs that cause 
swimming-related illnesses 
like swimmer’s ear and skin 
rashes. 

“The goal is to have everyone 
be prepared, aware, and 
comfortable in the water so 
they can continue to enjoy all 
the benefits that swimming 
offers,” said Koko Panossian, 
Director of the Parks, 
Recreation and Community 
Services Department for the 
City of Pasadena.

“Protection comes in layers,” 
said Cristina Alvarado, the 
Director of Programming 
at RBAC. “Assign a water 
watcher, be aware water 
safety policies at camps, and 
make sure your child learns 
to swim.” She advocates 
continuous swim lessons 
throughout the year for 
building and maintaining 
safe swimming skills. 

Year-round swim lessons are 
available for all ages through 
the City of Pasadena and the 
Rose Bowl Aquatics Center. 
Financial assistance is 
available to those who qualify. 
For more information, visit 
CityOfPasadena.net and 
RoseBowlAquatics.org. 

Stay connected to the City 
of Pasadena! Visit us online 
at www.CityOfPasadena.
net; follow us on Twitter 
at @PasadenaGov, and 
Instagram and Facebook at 
@CityOfPasadena; or call the 
City Service Center Monday 
through Friday during 
business hours at (626) 744-
7311.

Pasadena 
Boys & Girls 
Club Trivia 
Night May 31

 
Join the Boys & Girls Club 
for Pasadena Loves Trivia 
Night Friday, May 31, at 
the Whimsy event space, 
40 Edwin mills place, in 
Old Town Pasadena at 6:00 
p.m. Put your knowledge to 
the test! While competing, 
enjoy taco meals from 
Chronic Tacos, a selection 
of beers from Mt. Lowe 
Brewing Company, and 
wine and soft drinks 
throughout the evening. 

 Trivia team entries and 
sponsorships are selling 
fast, so don’t miss out! Prizes 
will be awarded to the top 
teams, and all trivia team 
players and sponsors will 
receive a commemorative 
T-shirt. And you’ll have 
opportunities to win raffle 
prizes.

 This event marks our 
first-ever CommUnity 
Night, to bring together 
local professionals and 
community members 
to connect, network, 
and most of all - have 
fun! Every sponsorship 
and ticket purchased for 
Pasadena Loves Trivia 
Night supports Boys & 
Girls Club of Pasadena and 
our unwavering mission 
to empower local youth 
through life-changing 
programming.

 For more information or 
to RSVP visit: bgcpasadena.
org. 

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