Mountain Views News Saturday, March 28, 2026 

Weather Wise 

6-Day Forecast Sierra Madre, Ca. 



Sun Sunny Hi 90s Lows 60s 
Mon: Sunny Hi 90s Lows 60s 
Tues: Sunny Hi 90s Lows 60s 
Wed: Sunny Hi 90s Lows 60s 
Thur: Sunny Hi 90s Lows 60s 
Fri: Sunny Hi 90s Lows 60s

 Forecasts courtesy of the National Weather Service 


SIERRA 
MADRE CITY 
COUNCIL 
MEETING 

APRIL 11, 2026 5:30 pm 

THIS MEETING WILL BE HELD 
IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS! 

As part of the City of Sierra Madre’s 
COVID-19 transparency efforts and The Brown 
Act provides the public with an opportunity to 
make public comments at any public meeting. 
Public comment may also be made by e-mail to 
PublicComment@CityofSierraMadre.com by

3:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting. 
Emails will be acknowledged at the Council 
meeting and filed into public record. The public 
may also comment in person at the meeting. 

The meetings will be streamed live on Foothills 
Media website at foothillsmedia.org/sierramadre 
and broadcast on Government Access 
Channel 3 (Spectrum).. 

“Of Wistaria blooms, I caught sight, today,

And ever since as violet of the deepest hue,

My passion, grows ever more profound!” Ise 

“In memory of the spring now passing, I drew the long clustersof wistaria that move like waves.” Masaoka Shiki 

The Wistaria Festival is today and I’ve been hanging onto themost wonderful article on wisteria, (The rest of the world spellsit wisteria…Sierra Madre, being unique, spells it wistaria.) whichran in the Star News in 2015. Joshua Siskin, who writes The 
Smarter Gardener for several papers gave me permission to use 
his work and I quote: 

“It has been several weeks since wisteria stopped blooming, but 

still I think of it. Its curtains of opulent lavender-violet flower 

clusters are hard to forget. All year long, except for a single brief 
moment in late winter and early spring, wisteria is a vine that 
shows nothing of ornamental interest. It does serve a utilitarian 
purpose in covering an arbor and thus provides shade for those

strolling or dining al fresco. But without its flowers, wisteria 

would probably not be planted much, if at all. I think that people,
too, have this wisteria-like quality. 

We might go for months living a drab, humdrum sort of existence

until we suddenly flower brilliantly for a brief, yet memorable 

moment. Indeed, most of the time we do our jobs well andprovide assistance and sustenance for others. Yet, how often 
do we bloom, giving something that, coming from our best andtruest self, delights and inspires the world around us? Long agoin Lithuania, there was a rabbi named Yisrael Salanter who said 
that “the greatest distance in the universe is the distance between 
your head and your heart.” When our noblest and most idealistic 
aspirations, those that we carry around in our minds, somehowreach our hearts, that is when we truly blossom.” Nice! No wonderI keep it in my calendar for March! 

If you happen to be outside next Wednesday, April 1st, look for 
April’s full moon. This is no joke, friends and neighbors. April’s 
full moon, the Pink Moon will appear to be enormous and of agolden hue. The name comes from the early spring bloom of a

wildflower native to eastern North America: Phlox subulate, 
commonly known as creeping phlox or moss phlox. This flower, 

often called “moss pink,” was in full bloom around April’s full 
moon. Take a look! 

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, which 
ends with Easter Sunday, April 5th, which happens to be the dayafter my birthday this year. I shall be 29. Again. Palm Sunday isthe beginning of the end of Jesus’ ministry here on earth. As youwill recall, he was heading into Jerusalem and as he approachedthe Mount of Olives, he sent two of his friends/disciples ahead 
saying, “Go to the village ahead of you and as you enter it, you’ll

find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and 

bring it back here. If anyone asks you why you’re untying it, just 

say, “The Lord needs it.” So off they wentand,sure enough, there 


was the colt and, just as Jesus had said, the owner said, “Hey!
Why are you untying that colt?” 

MONEY LAUNDERING (from pg. 1) 
of contracts primarily related to the district's 
My Integrated Student Information 
System -- known as MiSiS -- to Innive, a 
company owned by Sampath. The contracts 
totaled more than $22 million.

 Sampath is further accused of routing 
and laundering over $3 million back to 
Peng through various intermediaries, 
Hochman said. 

Peng resigned from LAUSD after a 
search warrant related to the investigation 
was served at her home and her 
workplace in late 2022. Sampath and his 
company Innive currently have government 
contracts throughout California 
and across the country, prosecutors said.

 If convicted as charged, each defendant 
would face up to seven years in countyjail.

 The case first come to light in April 
2022. Since then, LAUSD's Office of Inspector 
General and the DA's Bureau of 
Investigation have been (cont. page 
actively working on it, the DA said.

Prosecutors ask that if any member of 
the public has information of anorganization that has entered into any 
contracts with Innive, please contact the 
DA's Public Integrity Division at 213257-
2475 or submit information through 
the online form at: https://da.lacounty.
gov/contact/email.

 Copyright 2026, City News Service, Inc. 

WALKING SIERRA MADRE: 

The Social Side by Deanne Davis 

They said, “The Lord needs it,” and the owner let them have it.
They brought this donkey colt back to Jesus, threw their cloaks 
across it and Jesus sat down on it. As Jesus and his friends went 
down the road from the Mount of Olives, joy overtook them andthey began to praise God in loud voices as they remembered all 
the miracles they had seen;
the blind given sight, thedead raised, the lame walkingagain, demons banished, 
multitudes fed with a few 
loaves of bread and some 

little fishes. Their excitement 

was contagious. They spreadtheir cloaks before him and a 
great crowd gathered and laidpalm branches in the road and 
shouted and sang, “Hosanna 
to the son of David! Blessed 
is he who comes in the name 
of the Lord! Hosanna in the 
highest heaven.” 

Can you imagine what a sightthat must have been! Crowds 
of people dancing in the 
street, putting their coats in 
front of this donkey colt carrying Jesus into Jerusalem. They wereshoutingand singing and rejoicing to be there, close to this miracle worker. 
Hence, Palm Sunday. 


We’ve all been to Palm Sunday church services where the littleSunday School kids are given a piece of a palm branch and led 
down the aisle to place them at the foot of the altar. They have asort of sketchy idea of what they’re doing and it’s a joy to see them 
waving these branches. 

I expect there were a lot of little kids running around in the crowd 

that first Palm Sunday, too,

waving branches and having an excellent time being outside on a 
beautiful day where everyonewas happy. 

Wherever you are tomorrow, online, outside, inside, in yourpajamas or wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, rejoice in the day. Yes, 

the coming week is filled with sadness but, oh my friends,

Easter is coming! 

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne DavisEaster is a week away and “The Crown,”
My story about what happened to that crown of thornsIs now a real book in addition to a Kindle! 
Also available on Amazon.com


1630 AM EMERGENCY RADIO & 
Free on-air publicity for local events 
Sierra Madre’s EMERGENCY radio station is now accepting scripts for 
Public Service Announcements (PSAs) about community events. PSAs 
will be broadcast on the air at no charge. The station operates 24/7 and can 
be heard at 1630 on the AM dial. 
Any local non-profit or non-commercial organization can have their 
event information broadcast to the public on Sierra Madre CommunityInformation Radio. The station covers the city of Sierra Madre, plus 
surrounding areas of Pasadena, Arcadia, and Monrovia. 
Your event must: 
• Benefit a non-commercial or non-profit entity• Be open to the public 
• Be of general interest to local citizens 
Just write a Public Service Announcement that describes your event and 
e-mail it to radio@cityofsierramadre.com. 
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