Mountain Views News          Saturday, September 3, 2011

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Mountain Views News Saturday, September 3, 2011


Police Arrest Father 
in Child’s Death

Portantino 
Calls for State 
Transparency

 

 Police announced last week 
the arrest of a local man in 
connection with the suspicious 
death of his one year old 
daughter earlier this year. 

 On May 20, shortly after 8:00 
p.m., Pasadena Police Officers 
and Fire Fighters responded to 
a call of a one year old female 
child not breathing in the 100 
block of west Del Mar Blvd. 
The Pasadena Fire Department 
attempted to resuscitate the 
child without success. Police 
Detectives and the Los Angeles 
County Coroner responded 
and classified the death as 
suspicious.

 Pasadena Police Detectives 
pursued leads and as a 
result identified the child’s 
father, Marquise Jackson, 21 
of Pasadena as the suspect 
responsible for the death of his 
one year old daughter.

 “Crimes involving innocent 
children are especially horrific. 
Police officers take these 
types of crimes to heart and 
it is satisfying knowing that 
the person responsible for 
murdering this little girl is in 
custody,” stated Chief of Police 
Phillip Sanchez.

 Jackson was booked on 
murder and remains in custody 
on $1,000.000 bail. Anyone 
who may have additional 
information regarding this 
crime is asked to call the 
Pasadena Police Department at 

 
In his continuing efforts 
to provide sunshine and 
accountability in state 
government, Assembly 
Member Anthony Portantino 
Last week introduced legislation 
to force the Legislature to 
comply with the California 
Public Records Act (CPRA). 
Currently, Portantino said in a 
statement, the State Legislature 
is the only government agency 
in California that exempts itself 
from compliance with this 
important “good government” 
standard. In 2004, voters passed 
Prop 59 to strengthen public 
access to information with 83% 
of the voters in support.

 Under AB 1129, Portantino 
calls for elimination of the 
self-serving exemptions 
to transparency that the 
legislature follows. In place 
of the same transparency 
the legislature expects local 
governments to operate in, 
the Legislature established its 
own watered down version of 
the CPRA called LORA - the 
Legislative Open Records Act. 
This action created loopholes 
and exemptions which have 
allowed Assembly leaders 
to hide budget records and 
expenditures from public 
review for years.

 “Assembly leaders have hidden 
documents and expenditures 
from the public long enough. 
No more gimmicks, no more 
tricks and no more incomplete 
and misleading financial 
documents can be circulated 
or tolerated,” commented 
Assembly Member Portantino.

 The Los Angeles Times 
and the Sacramento Bee, as 
a result, joined forces in a 
lawsuit to compel the release 
of accurate and comprehensive 
financial information from the 
Assembly.

 “A secret budget is by its 
very nature a corrupt budget, 
Portantino said. “I join with 
the Sacramento Bee which last 
week called for the Assembly to 
simply comply with CPRA.”

 AB 1129 repeals the LORA 
exemptions and brings the 
Legislature into complete 
compliance with the California 
Public Records Act. The 
Governor, other constitutional 
offices, and local governments 
all comply with CPRA.

 Under the current system, 
the State Assembly spends 
$146 million a year in tax 
money to operate its offices 
and committees with no 
accountability or sunshine.

RBOC Approves Tailgating Guidelines

By Dean Lee

 Football fans of the upcoming 
season will now have less time 
to hang out in the Rose Bowl 
parking lot prior to a game 
after the Rose Bowl Operating 
Company approved, last month, 
tailgating guidelines that include 
restricting alcohol consumption 
and limiting tailgating to six 
hours prior to a game. 

 UCLA is set to play San Jose 
State University Sept. 10, as the 
first game of the season.

The new rules come less than 
one year after a brawl in the 
parking lot left two men 
stabbed, one in the cheek and 
another in the back and another 
fan sentenced to 15 years in 
jail for attempted murder. Two 
other people were also charged 
in the Dec 4, 2010 fight before a 
USC-UCLA football game. The 
fight started when a football hit 
a parked Mercedes-Benz.

 Recommendations were put 
together by a working group 
consisting of Rose Bowl staff, 
UCLA staff, Tournament of 
Roses staff, and representatives 
from Police, Fire and Parking, 
as well as a consultant, Jim 
Steeg. He was the former Vice 
President of Special Events of 
the National Football League, 
and was the lead person for 
putting on Super Bowls for 26 
years.

 “The stated purposes of these 
guidelines are to provide a 
safe, family friendly and clean 
environment for fans to enjoy 
pre-game tailgating.”

Along with new guidelines that 
prohibited alcohol consumption 
entirely after kick off, and that 
require excessively boisterous 
fans be reported to security. 
The RBOC said the Rose Bowl is 
also working on ways to better 
utilize technology in order to 
promote public safety and will 
set up additional customer 
service locations throughout the 
parking lots.

 The tailgating guidelines will 
be set for all events held at the 
Rose Bowl.

Anthony Richard Cisneros 
pleaded no contest to the 
stabbings. He was sentenced 
Monday to 15 years in jail. 
Earlier this year his brother 
Arthur Cisneros also pleaded 
no contest to assault. He was 
sentenced to one year in county 
Jail. The sister, Akira Cisneros 
was also charged with battery 
and placed on probation.

Police Investigate 
Suspicious Package

 

 On Monday Pasadena police 
officers responded to the 300 
block of North Lake Avenue 
around 5:00 p.m. regarding a 
report of a suspicious black case 
left in the subterranean parking 
structure. According to police, 
officers were unable to identify 
the owner of the case and as a 
precaution the building was 
evacuated and Los Angeles 
County Sheriff’s Department 
Bomb Squad responded. 
Officers assisted building 
management with evacuating 
60-100 persons from the 14 
story office building.

 The Sheriff’s Bomb Squad 
determined the case contained 
beakers and testing equipment. 
Pasadena Fire Department 
summoned a Hazardous 
Materials Team to examine 
the contents, which were 
determined not to pose a public 
hazard.

 The incident was well 
managed and a good example 
of cooperation between the 
involved public safety agencies 
and property management.

 Anyone who has information 
about the incident is asked 
to call the Pasadena Police 
Department at (626)744-4241. 

 An informational Nixle 
advisory was disseminated. 
If you are not a subscriber 
and would like to receive 
information from the Pasadena 
Police register at www.nixle.

PCC Child 
Center Plays 
Roll in Food 
for Needy

 The Pasadena City College 
Child Development Center 
(1324 Green Street, Pasadena, 
CA, 91106) has received a grant 
to administer the United States 
Department of Agriculture’s 
(USDA) Child and Adult Care 
Food Program (CACFP).

 CACFP plays a vital role 
in improving the quality of 
day care and making it more 
affordable for many low-income 
families. Additionally, 2.9 
million children nationwide 
receive nutritious meals and 
snacks through the program 
each day.

 The PCC Child Development 
Center does not discriminate 
against any person because 
of race, color, national origin, 
gender, age, or disability.

For more information, contact 
the PCC Child Development 
Center at (626) 585-3180.

Tournament House 
Closes For the Season

Free Lecture, Getting 
Curiosity to the Launch Pad

 


 JPL will host a free lecture 
on robotic exploration of Mars 
Sept. 16, at The Vosloh Forum at 
Pasadena City College. Richard 
Cook, Deputy Project Manager, 
Mars Science Laboratory, JPL 
will explain the newest rover, 
Curiosity’s, and its roll in 
studying the red planet. 

 The Mars Science Laboratory, 
“Curiosity”, is the latest project 
in NASA’s Mars Exploration 
Program, a long-term program 
of robotic exploration of the 
Red Planet. Scheduled to launch 
from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in 
late 2011, and arrive at Mars 
in August 2012, this rolling 
laboratory will assess whether 
Mars ever had an environment 
capable of supporting microbial 
life and conditions favorable 
for preserving clues about life, 
if it existed. The sky-crane 
landing system is remarkable, 
and the massive science suite 
is the most advanced ever 
used on a planetary surface. 
Tonight’s talk will cover some 
of the trials and tribulations the 
project members encountered 
while creating one of the most 
ambitious missions in history.

 Free lectures on September 
15 at JPL; September 16 at 
Pasadena City College; both at 
7 p.m.

 For more info contact: Guy 
Webster 818-354-6278.

 

 

 
The Tournament House, 
operating headquarters of the 
annual Rose Parade and Rose 
Bowl Game, closed to the 
public starting Monday for the 
commencement of the 2011-
2012 season. The final public 
house tours took place on 
Thursday, August 25.

 Beginning in February, 2012, 
the general public will once 
again be invited to tour the one-
time home of famous chewing 
gum manufacturer William 
Wrigley Jr., as well as the 
Wrigley Gardens. Free public 
tours of Tournament House, 
located at 391 S. Orange Grove 
Boulevard, will be offered every 
Thursday, 2 - 4 p.m. between 
the months of February and 
August.

 Tournament House serves as 
the permanent headquarters 
of the Pasadena Tournament 
of Roses Association, a non-
profit, 935-member volunteer 
organization that is dedicated 
to bringing America’s New Year 
Celebration® -- the Rose Parade 
and Rose Bowl Game -- to the 
world. 

 House to re-open 
to the public in 
February 2012

Schiff Selects 
Angels in 
Adoption

 Adam Schiff announced 
earlier this month he has 
selected Sandra Carrasco 
and Tamara Brown to be 
this year’s recipients of the 
29th Congressional District 
“Angels in Adoption” award, 
an annual award sponsored 
by the Congressional 
Coalition on Adoption 
Institute (CCAI).

 “Sandra and Tamara have 
demonstrated such great 
compassion throughout the 
foster care and adoption 
process, and their dedication 
to, and love for Isaiah and 
Ciara make them an ideal 
choice for recognition as 
Angels in Adoption,” Rep. 
Schiff said.

 Sandra, a pre-school teacher, 
and Tamara, a field analyst 
at a charter school who 
conducts developmental 
observations, were certified 
as foster/adoptive parents 
by the Southern California 
Foster Family and 
Adoption Agency in August 
2009, with the intention 
of providing a loving and 
stable home for children 
in foster care, eventually 
adopting children if they 
did not return to their birth 
families.

 Schiff also commended 
Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-
CA) for nominating 29th 
Congressional District 
resident, unsung hero, and 
social worker William Wong 
for the prestigious “Angels 
in Adoption” award. Wong 
has been coordinator of Los 
Angeles County’s successful 
Wednesday’s Child program 
for 10 years. Under his 
leadership, the program 
became a household name 
and has resulted in more 
than 400 adoptions.

NASA Invites 150 Twitter 
Followers to Lunar Launch

Citizen Journalism Meet-up

 

The Pasadena Community 
Network and this newspaper 
are holding a workshop on 
Citizen Journalism. 

 This group is the place where 
aspiring journalists can learn 
from trained professionals 
and support their local 
community by covering 
what’s really happening in 
their neighborhoods.

 We will put the news in your 
hands. Learn how to find 
the story, the tools needed 
to capture the story and the 
means to tell the story using 
the power of video, audio and 
print along with online social 
media The next meeting is 
Sept 6. from 6 p.m. to 8p.m. 
at the Pasadena Community 
Network - Studio G, 2057 N. 
Los Robles Ave.

 For more info call 
626.794.8585 or visit 
pasadenan.com.

 Learn not just how 
to blog but how to 
report the news

 
NASA has invited 150 
followers of the agency’s 
Twitter accounts to a two-
day launch Tweetup Sept. 
7-8. The Tweetup is expected 
to culminate in the launch 
of the twin moon-bound 
GRAIL spacecraft aboard a 
Delta II rocket from Cape 
Canaveral Air Force Station 
in Florida.

 The launch is targeted for 
5:37 a.m. PDT (8:37 a.m. 
EDT) on Sept. 8. The two 
GRAIL spacecraft will fly in 
tandem orbits around the 
moon for several months to 
measure its gravity field in 
unprecedented detail from 
crust to core. The mission 
also will answer longstanding 
questions about the moon 
and provide scientists with 
a better understanding of 
how Earth and other rocky 
planets in the solar system 
formed.

 Tweetup participants were 
selected from more than 
800 people who registered 
online. They will share their 
Tweetup experiences with 
their followers through 
the social networking site 
Twitter.

 Participants represent the 
United States, Australia, 
Brazil, Canada, India, 
Indonesia, Spain and the 
United Kingdom. Attendees 
from the U.S. come from 32 
states: Alabama, Arizona, 
California, Colorado, 
Connecticut, Delaware, 
Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, 
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, 
Louisiana, Maryland, 
Massachusetts, Michigan, 
Minnesota, Mississippi, 
Missouri, New Hampshire, 
New York, North Carolina, 
Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, 
South Carolina, Tennessee, 
Texas, Utah, Virginia, 
Washington and Wisconsin.

 Participants also will tour 
NASA’s Kennedy Space 
Center and Cape Canaveral, 
including a close-up visit to 
the launch pad.

 To follow participants on 
Twitter as they experience 
the prelaunch events and 
GRAIL’s liftoff, follow the 
#NASATweetup hashtag and 
the list of attendees at: http://
twitter.com/nasatweetup/
grail-launch

 NASA’s Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory in Pasadena, 
Calif., a division of the 
California Institute of 
Technology in Pasadena, 
manages the GRAIL mission. 
For more information about 
GRAIL, visit: http://www.
nasa.gov/grail or http://grail.
nasa.gov.

Pet of the 
Week


Zelda, a seven month old 
kitten, has the prettiest “black 
smoke” coat. She is very 
outgoing, talkative, and would 
make a great addition to any 
home. Come visit her today!

 The regular cat adoption fee 
is $70 which includes the spay 
or neuter surgery, microchip, 
vaccinations, and a free 
follow-up health check at a 
participating vet.

 Please call 626-792-7151 and 
ask about A293816 or come 
to the Pasadena Humane 
Society & SPCA, 361 S. 
Raymond Ave , Pasadena 
CA , 91105 . Our adoption 
hours are 11-4 Sunday, 
9-5 Tuesday, Wednesday, 
Thursday, and Friday, and 
9-4 Saturday. Directions and 
photos of all pets updated 
hourly may be found at www.
pasadenahumane.org

PCC Extension Now Open

 This year’s fall lineup of classes 
is bigger than ever. Within 
the pages of the Pasadena City 
College Extension catalog, 
which is now available to peruse 
or download at www.pcclearn.
org, are classes to meet the 
needs of members of our greater 
community who turn to PCC 
Extension for traditional and 
online classes. New offerings 
include working with waxed 
Irish linen, tie-dyeing (the 60’s 
meet the 21st century), hand 
drumming, fitness for self and 
babies, and English grammar 
review – a must for resume 
building and professional 
correspondence. 

 Several opportunities exist 
to take courses leading to 
certificates of completion. 
Examples include: Medical 
Insurance Billing Program, 
Pharmacy Technician, and 
Veterinary Assistant. The 
ARRT course series designed 
for working professionals in 
the field of radiology carries 
continuing education credits, 
and various CPR courses 
conclude with American Red 
Cross certification. 

 PCC Extension website at 
www.pcclearn.org, or call (626) 
585-7608 for information.