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Mountain Views News Saturday, March 22, 2025

Altadena 
Library 
Celebration 
Featuring 
LeVar Burton 


City of Pasadena Launches 
Initiative to Attract Big Tech 

 
The Altadena Library District 
welcomes the community to a 
special reopening celebration 
this moring at 10 a.m. at the 
Altadena Main Library. This 
follows its temporary closure 
due to the Eaton Fire. The 
event will feature a reading 
by LeVar Burton, support for 
local businesses, music, and 
family-friendly activities. 

 LeVar Burton will read his 
children’s book, “The Rhino 
Who Swallowed a Storm,” 
which offers an important 
message for families to talk 
about trauma and healing, 
at 11 a.m. Burton has also 
donated copies of the book for 
an entire grade of Altadena 
students. 

 “I wrote Rhino in an effort 
to help children deal with 
life’s tragedies and attendant 
trauma in an age-appropriate 
manner,” said Burton. “I 
believe its message, that 
together we can weather 
any storm, is perfect for the 
Altadena community right 
now.” 

 The event also highlights the 
resilience of Altadena’s local 
businesses, featuring free food 
from vendors and restaurants 
impacted by the fire including 
Prime Pizza, El Patron, 
and Lark Cake Shop. Local 
musicians Jake Troth and 
White Denim’s James Petralli 
will provide entertainment, 
and activities such as arts & 
crafts and face painting will be 
available for families. Support 
+ Feed, a Los Angeles-based 
nonprofit working to combat 
food insecurity and the climate 
crisis by providing plant-
based meals and resources, 
will be providing meals to the 
event, continuing their work 
in the Altadena community 
following the Eaton Fire. 

 “We’ve been partnering 
with local agencies and 
organizations to support 
our community,” said Nikki 
Winslow, district director. 
“Now that we’ve reopened 
Main, we can provide much 
needed resources directly to 
Altadenans. Our libraries are 
gathering places for people 
to come back together and 
connect with friends and 
neighbors. We want to be a 
symbol of hope and recovery 
for our community as it 
rebuilds.” 

 This event was made possible 
by the generous funding from 
the WME Foundation. The 
Foundation also is supporting 
the Pasadena Educational 
Foundation (PEF) to benefit 
Altadena schools. Donations 
to the PEF Eaton Fire Response 
Fund are providing critical 
support for both immediate 
relief and long-term recovery 
efforts for Altadena students 
and their families. 

 “WME is proud to support 
the reopening of the Altadena 
Library, a vital public space, 
alongside our client LeVar 
Burton following the Eaton 
Fire, while providing financial 
support to Altadena schools 
through the Pasadena 
Educational Foundation,” said 
Dakota Ortiz, VP of Impact, 
Inclusion & Advocacy at 
WME. “This event is part of 
our broader commitment 
to the Altadena community, 
leveraging our resources and 
collaborating with clients to 
support residents during a 
difficult time.”

 Altadena Library is at 600 E. 
Mariposa St. 

 For more information visit: 
altadenalibrary.org.

 

 Pasadena’s Economic 
Development staff announced 
Tuesday a new marketing 
initiative “Build it in Pasadena” 
to ensure that more deep tech 
leaders see what Pasadena has 
to offer—driving over 1 million 
impressions and a 400 percent 
surge in engagement. The city 
has been home to some of 
the world’s most important 
scientific and technological 
breakthroughs—from space 
exploration at NASA’s Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to 
cutting-edge innovations from 
Caltech. 

 According to officials, since its 
launch in February, the City of 
Pasadena’s “Build it in Pasadena” 
campaign has already made 
over one million impressions 
through targeted digital and 
out-of-home advertising. 
The campaign is designed to 
spotlight Pasadena as the ideal 
place for companies tackling 
big technological and scientific 
challenges—rather than chasing 
fleeting tech trends.

 “Pasadena has been a deep 
tech hub for decades, and this 
campaign is about making 
sure that story gets told on 
a larger scale,” said Dave 
Klug, Pasadena’s Economic 
Development Director. 
“From bioscience to quantum 
computing, companies here 
aren’t chasing trends—they’re 
solving problems that shape the 
future.”

Pasadena offers deep tech 
companies more than just office 
space—it provides access to 
world-class research, top-tier 
talent, and a thriving innovation 
ecosystem. Companies here 
benefit from:

- Proximity to leading research 
institutions like Caltech and 
JPL, ensuring access to world-
class talent and partnerships.

- A thriving network of deep 
tech companies, supported by 
an ecosystem of VC firms who 
understand the unique needs of 
deep tech. 

- A city government that wants 
to help deep tech companies, 
with supportive policies, 
incentives and more. 

- A high quality of life and 
competitive commercial real 
estate options, making Pasadena 
an attractive place for both 
companies and employees.

- Innovators like the Doheny 
Eye Institute, (the inspiration 
between the campaign’s “Let’s 
cure blindness” headline have 
already seen firsthand how 
Pasadena’s ecosystem can help 
fuel scientific innovation.

 Pasadena’s deep tech 
marketing push aligns with 
the city’s broader Economic 
Development Strategic Plan, 
which prioritizes strong 
marketing and communication 
efforts focused on life sciences 
and deep tech as key growth 
areas.

 To ensure Pasadena remains 
top-of-mind for investors and 
industry leaders, the next phase 
of the campaign will focus on:

 Increased industry-specific 
media outreach, targeting 
national and trade publications 
in biotech, aerospace, and 
advanced manufacturing.

 Additional advertising in 
strategic business districts, 
including key locations outside 
of Southern California.

Ongoing engagement with 
companies looking to expand in 
Pasadena, leveraging the city’s 
extensive innovation ecosystem.

For more information about 
Pasadena’s deep tech ecosystem 
and business opportunities, 
visit CityOfPasadena.net/
EconomicDevelopment/ . 

Eaton Fire Collaborative States Mission

By Dean Lee

 Altadena and Pasadena 
community groups, nonprofits, 
and city, county, and state officials 
joined forces at the Rose Bowl 
Stadium, Court of Champions, 
Wednesday as part of the Eaton 
Fire Collaborative to support 
fire recovery and rebuilding 
efforts. The mission, and key 
partnerships, is to be a long-
term recovery group to ensure a 
coordinated, community-driven 
response.

 “Although we have strength 
and a lot of assets here, it’s going 
to take this community, the 
cities, the county, the region, 
the country, to get behind us so 
that we can see the Altadena and 
Pasadena that we know and love, 
even better than before,” said 
Clergy Community Coalition 
Pastor Mayra Macedo-Nolan. 
“We are going to show the world 
what recovery looks like, the 
most holistic, loving beautiful 
way, so we just invite you all to 
be a part of that with us.” 

Organizers said there are five key 
points to their efforts:

- A newly launched collaborative 
website serving as a vetted, 
go-to source for vital recovery 
information. For more visit: 
altagether.org.

- A centralized system to 
streamline events, donation 
efforts, and essential forms

- A platform where organizations 
can organize volunteer support, 
and individuals can sign up 
for opportunities to make a 
meaningful impact.

- Working to prevent duplication 
of efforts, reduce strain on 
government resources, and 
address logistical concerns such 
as traffic and waste management.

- Establishing Long Term 
Recovery Strategy that includes 
a unified plan that gathers 
the knowledge and resources 
to comprehensively support 
residents and businesses 
throughout the recovery process 
and makes rebuilding a greater 
possibility for all. 

The Eaton Fire Collaborative 
was, in part, founded by DENA 
Relief Drive, co-led by Brandon 
Lamar and Michelle White. 

 “Within our group, our outreach 
has become more methodical, 
more structured we are now 
working more with families 
so we can know exactly what 
their need is and we’re not just 
throwing toilet paper at them... 
when they don’t even have a 
place to live.” White said. “So 
we trying to make sure we are 
meeting the needs individually. 
We are working closely with the 
Clergy Community Coalition 
and most of all the local churches 
because most of all every Pastor 
know who their people are.” 

Lamar Is currently president 
of the Pasadena Branch of the 
NAACP.

 In a press statement 
spokesperson Jill Hawkins said 
the Eaton Fire Collaborative 
is dedicated to honoring the 
beauty, resilience and integrity of 
Altadena, Pasadena, and Sierra 
Madre.

 For more information visit: 
eatonfirecollaborative.org ; or 
email: eatonfirecollaborative@
gmail.com.

Cultural 
Thursday at 
The Senior 
Center

 Bonnie R. Armstrong, author 
of the acclaimed memoir “An 
Apparently Normal Person,” 
will share her fascinating 
journey with Dissociative 
Identity Disorder with her 
presentation “From Medical 
Mystery to Dissociative 
Superpower” at the Cultural 
Thursday event on Thursday, 
April 3 at 2 p.m. onsite at the 
Pasadena Senior Center.

The event is free for Pasadena 
Senior Center members 
and only cost $5 for non-
members and reservations are 
suggested. 

 For Bonnie, what seemed like 
an ordinary life concealed a 
hidden journey of survival, 
trauma and profound 
healing, ultimately being 
diagnosed with Dissociative 
Identity Disorder, a condition 
previously known as Multiple 
Personality Disorder. Her 
story highlights the deep 
connection between mind 
and body, revealing how 
her deteriorating health was 
rooted in childhood trauma. 
Her inspiring healing journey 
was shaped by the internal 
community of dissociative 
identities that helped her 
survive.

 Bonnie Armstrong grew 
up in Pasadena, and as an 
adult enjoyed her life as wife, 
mother, community activist 
and a 40-year career that 
included high-level positions 
in two Governors’ offices. 
During a major health crisis 
in her 50s, Bonnie discovered 
her dissociative disorder, her 
strong internal community of 
alters, and the secrets of her 
childhood. She left her career 
in 2012 to focus on healing, 
learning about childhood 
trauma, post-trauma growth, 
and writing and speaking 
about her healing. Bonnie and 
about a dozen alters now live 
together peacefully, focused 
on their joint life’s purpose: 
to break generational cycles 
of abuse and create a more 
loving, harmonious world. 
Bonnie holds a master’s degree 
in human development from 
Pacific Oaks College and is a 
certified Life Coach. 

 To register or for more 
information, visit: 
pasadenaseniorcenter.org and 
click on Special Events, or call 
626-795-4331.

Art on the Fence Contest 

 
Pasadena Public Library 
announced they are inviting the 
Pasadena community to help the 
library decorate the construction 
fence that will surround Central 
Library during our upcoming 
earthquake retrofit and repairs 
project. The contest is open to all 
who live, work, or attend school 
in Pasadena and/or Pasadena 
Unified School District.

 Artwork submittals can feature 
your favorite library, book or 
book character. Artwork will 
be displayed on the fence and 
later in the exhibit space when 
the library reopens. Designs can 
be about anything related to 
the library, Pasadena, literature, 
or the Pasadena community. 
Themes can include reading your 
favorite book, learning together 
at the library, favorite Pasadena 
library memories, the library of 
the future, or another library-
related theme.

 All artistic mediums of 
illustration are accepted; 
however, the design must be a 
flat image. We encourage the 
use of bright pens, markers or 
paint and recommend the use of 
saturated and opaque colors for 
ease of production and to make 
your picture as crisp as possible 
to be bright and visible.

 Submitted images must use only 
one side of the paper not both 
sides. Paper size can range from 
8 1/2” x 11“ to 11” x 17.” Images 
should be portrait orientation 
(short side of paper at top and 
bottom).

 The entry deadline is 
Wednesday, April 30. You may 
submit your illustration by either 
dropping it off at any Pasadena 
Public Library branch during 
open hours with the submission 
form attached or submitting 
your digital illustration using 
the online entry form at bit.ly/
CentralLibrary-ArtOnTheFence.

 A selection panel will review the 
submitted entries and select the 
finalists to feature. For questions 
regarding the Art on the Fence 
project, contact Catherine Hany, 
Chany@CityofPasadena.net.

 A Pasadena 
Library Community 
Celebration

Meeting on Energy Topics

 Pasadena Water and Power (“PWP”) invites the public to attend 
an online webinar entitled “Shaping PWP’s Energy Future: How 
Safe, Reliable and Affordable Power Services Are Provided to You,” 
on Wednesday, March 26, at 6 p.m. The community meeting is 
an introduction of a wide range of energy topics, including how 
PWP was formed, where the City’s power comes from, how power 
is delivered to customers, and how PWP programs can help save 
on energy bills. It is the first of a series of power-related meetings 
planned for the year.

 The meeting will also include a discussion of Pasadena’s goal to 
source 100 percent of the City’s electricity from carbon-free sources 
by the end of 2030, while optimizing affordability, rate equity, 
stability and reliability.

 For details on the virtual community meeting, including access to 
the zoom link to join, visit: PWPweb.com/Power2025.


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