Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, August 1, 2020

5


Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 1, 2020 

City Services 
Protection 
Measure to

Go to a Vote 

Child Dies in Pasadena Apartment Fire

Mars 2020 Rover Lifts Off 
from Cape Canaveral

 
The Pasadena City Council 
unanimously voted Monday 
to place the Pasadena City 
Services Protection Measure 
on the November 3, 2020 
ballot. The measure, calling 
for a Charter amendment, 
must be approved by a 
majority of Pasadena voters 
to maintain the longstanding 
Light & Power Fund transfer 
to the General Fund that 
pays for services including 
911 emergency response, fire, 
paramedics, and programs 
for the public health of our 
community.

 Currently, the Pasadena 
Light & Power Fund 
transfer provisions of the 
Pasadena City Charter are 
being challenged in court 
on whether the portion 
of the electric rates used 
is considered a tax and 
has met the requirements 
of voter approval that are 
called for in Proposition 218 
and Proposition 26, despite 
having previously gone to 
and been passed by voters a 
combined total of seven times 
since the 1930’s.

 As a full-service city, Pasadena 
relies on dependable locally 
generated funds to effectively 
deliver quality city services 
to its residents despite 
unforeseen emergencies 
and natural disasters. 
The City of Pasadena has 
experienced a $30 million 
loss due to the COVID-19 
pandemic. Despite those 
losses in revenue, the city 
used reserve funds, deferred 
infrastructure projects, and 
implemented other cost 
saving measures to maintain 
its current emergency 
response to the pandemic, 
public health programs, and 
critical services benefitting 
Pasadena residents and 
businesses during this 
unprecedented crisis. 

 If the Pasadena City Services 
Protection Measure does not 
pass, the loss of approximately 
$18 million annually from the 
Light & Power Fund transfer 
will result in significant 
reductions. The reductions 
would impact emergency 911 
response, fire, paramedic, 
public health, and senior 
services; homeless programs, 
street repairs, and ability to 
maintain clean, healthy, and 
safe neighborhoods. 

 The Pasadena City Services 
Protection Measure is not 
a new tax, it does not raise 
taxes, and it does not raise 
utility rates – the Charter 
amendment is meant to 
simply protect current 
funding levels that provide 
the services residents receive 
today.

 If approved by a majority of 
Pasadena voters, the measure 
will also require annual 
independent audits with 
public disclosure, reduce and 
limit the Light & Power Fund 
transfer to not more than 12 
percent, previously as much as 
16 percent; and will be under 
local control with monies 
spent benefitting Pasadena 
residents and businesses.

 For more information on 
the Pasadena City Services 
Protection Measure, please 
visit: CityofPasadena.net

 NASA’s Mars 2020 
Perseverance rover mission is 
on its way to the Red Planet, 
after a successful launch 
Thursday, to search for signs of 
ancient life and collect samples 
to send back to Earth.

 “There is still a lot of road 
between us and Mars,” said 
John McNamee, Mars 2020 
project manager at JPL. “About 
290 million miles of them. But 
if there was ever a team that 
could make it happen, it is this 
one. We are going to Jezero 
Crater. We will see you there 
Feb. 18, 2021.”

 Humanity’s most sophisticated 
rover launched with the 
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at 
4:50 a.m. on a United Launch 
Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket 
from Space Launch Complex 
41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force 
Station in Florida.

 “Perseverance is the most 
capable rover in history 
because it is standing on the 
shoulders of our pioneers 
Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, 
and Curiosity,” said Michael 
Watkins, director of NASA’s 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 
Southern California. “In the 
same way, the descendants of 
Ingenuity and MOXIE will 
become valuable tools for 
future explorers to the Red 
Planet and beyond.”

 The ULA Atlas V’s Centaur 
upper stage initially placed the 
Mars 2020 spacecraft into a 
parking orbit around Earth. The 
engine fired for a second time 
and the spacecraft separated 
from the Centaur as expected. 
Navigation data indicate the 
spacecraft is perfectly on course 
to Mars.

 Mars 2020 sent its first signal 
to ground controllers via 
NASA’s Deep Space Network at 
9:15 a.m. EDT (6:15 a.m. PDT). 
However, telemetry (more 
detailed spacecraft data) had 
not yet been acquired at that 
point. Around 11:30 a.m. EDT 
(8:30 a.m. PDT), a signal with 
telemetry was received from 
Mars 2020 by NASA ground 
stations. Data indicate the 
spacecraft had entered a state 
known as safe mode, likely 
because a part of the spacecraft 
was a little colder than expected 
while Mars 2020 was in Earth’s 
shadow. All temperatures are 
now nominal and the spacecraft 
is out of Earth’s shadow.

 When a spacecraft enters safe 
mode, all but essential systems 
are turned off until it receives 
new commands from mission 
control. An interplanetary 
launch is fast-paced and 
dynamic, so a spacecraft is 
designed to put itself in safe 
mode if its onboard computer 
perceives conditions are not 
within its preset parameters. 
Right now, the Mars 2020 
mission is completing a full 
health assessment on the 
spacecraft and is working 
to return the spacecraft to a 
nominal configuration for its 
journey to Mars.

 The Perseverance rover’s 
astrobiology mission is to seek 
out signs of past microscopic 
life on Mars, explore the diverse 
geology of its landing site, 
Jezero Crater, and demonstrate 
key technologies that will help 
us prepare for future robotic 
and human exploration.

 “Jezero Crater is the perfect 
place to search for signs of 
ancient life,” said Thomas 
Zurbuchen, associate
administrator for NASA’s 
Science Mission Directorate 
at the agency’s headquarters 
in Washington. “Perseverance 
is going to make discoveries 
that cause us to rethink our 
questions about what Mars was 
like and how we understand 
it today. As our instruments 
investigate rocks along an 
ancient lake bottom and select 
samples to return to Earth, we 
may very well be reaching back 
in time to get the information 
scientists need to say that life 
has existed elsewhere in the 
universe.”

 The Martian rock and dust 
Perseverance’s Sample Caching 
System collects could answer 
fundamental questions about 
the potential for life to exist 
beyond Earth. Two future 
missions currently under 
consideration by NASA, 
in collaboration with ESA 
(European Space Agency), 
will work together to get the 
samples to an orbiter for return 
to Earth. When they arrive on 
Earth, the Mars samples will 
undergo in-depth analysis by 
scientists around the world 
using equipment far too large 
to send to the Red Planet. 

 JPL, which is managed 
for NASA by Caltech in 
Pasadena, California, built 
and will manage operations 
of the Mars Perseverance 
rover. NASA’s Launch Services 
Program, based at the agency’s 
Kennedy Space Center in 
Florida, is responsible for 
launch management, and ULA 
provided the Atlas V rocket.


By Dean Lee

A 4-year-old boy died during 
an apartment fire Wednesday 
afternoon that also left his 
mother and 3-year-old bother 
critically injured. The fire was 
first reported around 2 p.m. in 
the 100 block of East Washington 
Blvd. and was contained to two 
units according to officials. 

Keven Arias was found 
unresponsive in the kitchen 
where a refrigerator may 
have sparked an electrical fire 
according to Pasadena Public 
Information Officer Lisa 
Derderian. A dog was also 
found dead in the apartment. 
The official cause of the fire is 
still under investigation.

The 29-year-old mother and 
3-year-old brother were airlifted 
to a burn center for treatment.

 The fire burned a second 
apartment directly above the 
initial first-floor unit. All the 
occupants were able to escape 
and no other injuries were 
reported. It took about 55 
firefighters to knock down 
the blaze in about 21 minutes 
Derderian said.

 When they arrived, firefighters 
noticed that there were no 
smoke alarm sounds although 
they found three of them in the 
apartment. Investigators were 
looking into whether any of 
them had batteries, Derderian 
said. 

Other residents were displaced 
after all the utilities were shut 
off. The American Red Cross 
helped about 10 residents find 
temporary shelter. 

 A fundraising page was set up 
to help the family at gofundme.
com/f/arias-boys-and-family.

Keven Arias

Pasadena Senior Center 
Art Exhibition Is Virtual

Free Summer 
Concert Series


Virtual on Zoom

 The Pasadena Senior 
Center’s popular free 
summer concert series for 
all ages will be presented 
online via Zoom Mondays, 
Aug. 3 to 24 from 6 to 7:30 
p.m. 

 Showcasing the talents 
of a variety of renowned 
professional groups, each 
concert will combine 
prerecorded performances 
with live music, interviews 
and interaction. 

Aug. 3 – The Michael 
Haggins Band will perform 
a blend of smooth jazz, R&B 
and funk. 

Aug. 10 – Sligo Rags will 
present Celtic folk music 
with a decidedly bluegrass 
attitude. 

Aug. 17 – Grammy-winning 
Lisa Haley and the Zydekats 
will play lively Cajun 
Zydeco music with plenty of 
Louisiana spice. 

Aug. 24 – The Susie Hansen 
Latin Band will perform 
fiery Latin jazz and salsa. 

 Register at 

 pasadenaseniorcenter.
org and click on Virtual 
Summer Concert Series to 
receive the Zoom link for 
the entire series. 

 The concerts are hosted 
by the Pasadena Senior 
Center and sponsored by 
the Cynthia P. Rosedale 
Fund for Seniors and the 
Pasadena Tournament of 
Roses Foundation. 

 For more information 
about other Pasadena 
Senior Center programs and 
services, including online 
options for classes, events 
and activities during the 
COVID-19 pandemic, visit: 
pasadenaseniorcenter.org or 
call 626-795-4331.

 The popular annual Pasadena 
Senior Center exhibition 
of watercolor and digital 
artworks by students ages 55 
to 95 with skill levels ranging 
from beginning to advanced is 
presented online this year due 
to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 During the pandemic, art 
classes have been conducted 
online via Zoom. The online 
exhibition of nearly 70 
artworks can be seen at www.
pasadenaseniorcenter.org (click 
on the first painting to start 
the slideshow). Some of the 
paintings may be purchased, 
and a portion of the proceeds 
will benefit programs and 
services of the Pasadena Senior 
Center. 

 “I have noticed the courage 
it has taken for many of the 
students to stay motivated 
and keep painting during 
the pandemic,” said Barbara 
Medford, the instructor. “These 
are very special and talented 
artists. Some students chose 
pandemic-inspired themes.” 

 Although it has been 
impossible for the students to 
meet regularly at the center in 
an art studio setting to create 
their works, Medford added it 
has been important for them 
to continue the classes through 
Zoom technology to maintain 
communication with each 
other. 

 The center, is located 85 
E. Holly St., doors are open 
during the pandemic for social 
services and other assistance. 

 Hours during this period are 
Mondays through Fridays from 
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

 For more information about 
the artworks or to ask about 
purchasing an item, email 
Medford at artbar333@aol.com 
for more about the center visit: 
pasadenaseniorcenter.org or 
call 626-795-4331. 


New Online Exhibit: ‘South 
Pasadena Public Library’

 The South Pasadena Public 
Library has been a community 
staple for over a century. In 
fact, a public library system was 
established in South Pasadena 
just one year after the City’s 
incorporation in 1888. In a 
new digital exhibit, curated 
and published by the South 
Pasadena Public Library, site 
visitors will learn about the 
history of our local public 
library system.

 The Library is working 
extensively to maintain a 
virtual presence in the lives of 
our patrons and residents as the 
Library building remains closed 
to the public. One element of 
our effort to maintain a virtual 
presence has been to create a 
series of online exhibits based 
around local history. The third 
of this online exhibit series, 
titled “South Pasadena Public 
Library: Twelve Decades 
and Counting”, is available 
to anyone with an internet 
connection. Questions may 
be directed to Olivia Shea, at 
localhistory@southpasadenaca.
gov.


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