Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, October 29, 2022

8

Mountain View News Saturday, October 29, 2022 

Woman 
Attacks 
Home with 
a Pickaxe

Tournament Names 2023 
Rose Queen Bella Ballard


The attack happened 
with sleeping baby 
inside.


(From left to right: Salia Baligh, Sahanna Rajinkanthan, Bella 
Ballard, Zoë Denancourt, Michelle Cortez-Peralta, Uma 
Wittenberg and Adrian Crick)

 

 The Pasadena Tournament 
of Roses named Bella Ballard 
as the 104th Rose Queen 
at the Announcement and 
Coronation ceremony Tuesday 
night on the front steps of 
Tournament House. The event 
was hosted by Lu Parker, anchor 
at KTLA5. The announcement 
was made by Tournament 
President Amy Wainscott and 
follows a month-long selection 
process with students from 
30 Pasadena area schools 
participating in interviews. 

 The Royal Court was selected 
based upon a combination 
of qualities, including public 
speaking ability, academic 
achievement, youth leadership, 
and community and school 
involvement.

 Bella Ballard is a senior at 
The Ogburn School, a distance 
learning school, and lives in 
Altadena. She is currently 
a volunteer with Ronald 
McDonald House Charities, 
a volunteer soccer coach with 
Chelsea Football Club, a soccer 
player at Santa Clarita Blue Heat 
Football Club and West Coast 
Football Club, a street soccer 
player at Venice Beach Football 
Club and a tennis player at 
The Arroyo Seco and Flint 
Canyon Tennis Clubs. Bella 
enjoys reading, calligraphy, 
collecting vinyl records, playing 
chess and learning about 
astronomy and astrophysics. 
She will be attending Yale 
in the fall and is interested 
in studying economics, law 
and astrophysics. Bella is 
the daughter of Joseph and 
Angela Ballard and has a sister, 
Samantha.

 The history of the Rose Queen 
goes back to 1905 when Hallie 
Woods was selected to ride in 
a horse-drawn carriage down 
Colorado Blvd. Since then, 
Rose Queens have had a wide 
range of success. From May 
Sutton, queen in 1908, the first 
American player to win the 
singles title at Wimbledon, to 
the 2000 queen, Sophia Bush, 
an actor nominated for a 
People’s Choice award for her 
role on “Chicago P.D.”

 Today, the 1940 Rose Queen, 
Margaret Huntley Main, is 
the longest living queen at 
101 years old. From Northern 
California, she watched Bella 
Ballard be crowned live on the 
Tournament of Roses YouTube 
channel.

 During the coronation 
ceremony, President Wainscott 
presented Rose Queen Bella 
Ballard with a Mikimoto 
crown featuring more than 600 
cultured pearls and six carats of 
diamonds. 

 The 2023 Rose Queen 
Bella Ballard and the 2023 
Royal Court will attend 
numerous community and 
media functions, serving 
as ambassadors of the 
Tournament of Roses, the 
Pasadena community, and 
the greater Los Angeles area. 
Each Royal Court member will 
receive a $7,500 educational 
scholarship from the Pasadena 
Tournament of Roses.

 The Tournament will host the 
134th Rose Parade, themed 
“Turning the Corner,” on 
Monday, January 2, 2023,, 
followed by the 109th Rose Bowl 
Game. For more information, 
visit: tournamentofroses.com.

Paseo Colorado Sold on Defaulted Loan

 A Pasadena woman is now 
facing felony vandalism 
charges after smashing 
multiple windows out of a 
Pasadena home Monday, 
with a pickaxe, including 
a window just feet from 
where a baby had been 
sleeping. The whole 
incident was caught on the 
family’s home surveillance 
system.

 As of press time, the home 
in the in the 1700 block 
of Asbury Drive had the 
front windows boarded up. 
Video shows a neighbor 
identified as 65-year-old 
Beverly Baker, returning 
several times with the 
pickaxe over her shoulder. 
At one point she states, “I’ll 
be back. Get out,” 

 Police arrested Baker, 
after a 30 minute standoff, 
at her home just two blocks 
away in the 1600 block of 
Casa Grande St. At the 
time police found her, 
Baker had the pickaxe in 
her hand. 

 The homeowners said they 
think they were targeted in 
the attack because they are 
Armenian.

 It was unclear if Baker 
knew there had been a 
baby next to the window 
during the attack.

 The homeowner Arman 
Tchoukadarian said his 
daughter had been taken 
out of a bassinet just 
seconds before the attack 
that left shards of glass in 
the carrier. He said his 
mother-in-law had been 
babysitting at the time. 

 Baker may have been 
suffering from a mental 
health crisis police 
said. Before the attack, 
neighbors said Baker had 
been acting odd, including 
screaming and what 
appeared to be fighting 
with someone in her front 
yard, although no one was 
there.

 Tchoukadarian said his 
home has an estimated 
$20,000 in damages. The 
family planned to stay with 
relatives. 

 He said Barker needed 
to bet help, but that it 
was no excuse to attack 
someone’s family and 
attack someone’s newborn 
baby, ruining their dream 
home, life and sanity.

 Baker’s ex-husband lives 
across the street from the 
home neighbors said.

 Baker failed to appear in 
court Wednesday but was 
expected to appear Friday 
now under warrant. 

 The iconic Paseo Colorado 
in Pasadena has new owners 
after being sold Monday to 
Vancouver-based developer 
Onni Group for $103 million 
after CAPREF Paseo LLC 
defaulted on a loan. 

 According to reports, the 
Terraces at Paseo Colorado 
apartments were not affected by 
the sale.

 CAPREF had owed $118 
million on the 457,000-square-
foot mixed use property as of 
late September. According to 
records filed with L.A. County, 
they defaulted on the load in 
June. 

 Records show that CAPREF 
had paid $135 million for 
the Paseo in 2016. After 
acquiring the open-air mall, 
they rebranded it The Paseo, 
dropping “Colorado.”

 CAPREF demolished Macy’s 
at East Colorado Blvd. and Los 
Robles Ave. to build the newly 
opened Hyatt Place hotel now 
facing Green Street. The project 
had been delayed for years.

 Clothing retailer H&M was 
brought in by CAPREF, along 
with a number of restaurants to 
boost patrons.

 The Paseo is still anchored 
by ArcLight Cinemas with its 
own set of problems, including 
being sold by Pacific Theatres 
to AMC. Pacific Theatres 
had permanently shut the 
theater down in 2021 before 
AMC reopened the 14-screen 
multiplex.

 Moving forward, Onni Group 
has not announced any plans 
for the Paseo, including the 
Paseo’s Annual Tree Lighting 
Celebration or the Annual 
Pasadena Chalk Festival 
Father’s Day weekend that bring 
thousands of people to the mall.

City Hosts 
Halloween 
Block Party

 The free event runs 
from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. 
today 

Pasadena's PEDAL Website 
Launches New Info Feature

 Join the City of Pasadena 
Parks, Recreation and 
Community Services 
Department (PRCS) for a 
howling good time during 
its newest event, Giggles 
& Screams, on Saturday, 
Oct. 29, from 3-8 p.m. at 
La Pintoresca Park, 45 E. 
Washington Blvd. This 
event is free and open to the 
public.

 Roam through the haunted 
house, ride the trackless 
train of fright, and prowl 
through the trunk-or-treat 
area! Enjoy carnival games 
and FANG-tastic song hits 
played by the DJ. Whether 
you’re looking for giggles or 
screams, there’s something 
for the whole family to enjoy.

 The “Giggles” hours, 3-5 
p.m., are designed for the 
little ones to enjoy and 
include a costume contest, 
trunk-or-treat goodies, 
trackless train rides, “little 
goblins” play zone, and 
lights-on tours through the 
haunted house from 4-5 
p.m.

 The “Screams” hours begin 
at sunset. Test your fright 
factor between 5-8 p.m. at 
the haunted house (ages 12 
and older) and creepy clown 
train ride (all ages).

 Attendees will also enjoy 
family-friendly game 
booths, face painting, a 
photo area, and more! 
Food will be available for 
purchase.

 Pasadena Public Health 
Department staff will 
be on site from 3-6 p.m. 
offering COVID-19 vaccine 
boosters and flu vaccine to 
everyone age 6 months and 
older. Minors attending 
the vaccine clinic must be 
accompanied by a parent or 
legal guardian.

 For more information 
visit:cityofpasadena.net.


The site will increase 
transparency 
regarding skilled 
nursing and long-
term care facilities.

 In an ongoing effort 
to provide information 
and transparency to the 
community, the Pasadena 
Elderly and Dependent Adult 
Liaisons (PEDAL) website 
now includes a Facility 
Information and Complaint 
Resources portal. This portal 
provides direct access to 
California Department of 
Social Services (CDSS) and 
California Department 
of Public Health (CDPH) 
information for each 
Pasadena skilled nursing and 
long-term care facility, along 
with complaint resources.

 The PEDAL website 
also includes several 
new critical information 
bulletins intended to provide 
operational guidance to staff at 
skilled nursing facilities. The 
critical information bulletins 
are produced from time to 
time on an ad hoc basis, and 
are intended to comprise 
an expanding collection of 
resource information for 
industry professionals and 
other interested persons.

 Established in August 2021, 
the PEDAL team reaches 
across the breadth of City 
departments and integrates 
representation from a variety 
of nonprofit social service, 
educational and healthcare 
organizations to improve 
the quality of life for the 
more than 3,000 residents in 
over 100 skilled nursing and 
long-term care facilities in 
Pasadena.

 The team includes strategic 
alliances with USC’s Keck 
School of Medicine (KSOM), 
Huntington Health and 
WISE & Healthy Aging to 
leverage the knowledge, 
skills and abilities necessary 
to raise awareness of focused 
healthcare matters; resolve 
issues important to facility 
residents, their families and 
their healthcare professionals; 
and conduct community 
outreach, code enforcement 
and, if necessary, prosecution.

 KSOM’s participation 
equips the PEDAL team with 
the knowledge and expertise 
of medical doctors and 
clinical researchers so the 
team can better understand 
the complexities of elder 
mistreatment and care for 
the elderly and underserved. 
KSOM also brings grant 
funding to PEDAL for 
consultancy services of a 
certified public accountant/
fraud examiner who will help 
expand the team’s investigative 
capacity related to cases of 
elderly financial exploitation 
and educate community 
members and facility staff 
to recognize risk factors for 
victims and perpetrators.

 Visit the PEDAL website 
for additional information. 
Questions should be 
directed to Neighborhood 
and Business Services 
Administrator Israel Del Toro 
at (626) 744-7138.

South Pasadena Brace & 
Bolt Program Now Open

 

 Earthquake Brace + Bolt 
(EBB) helps South Pasadena 
homeowners lessen the 
potential for damage during an 
earthquake by offering qualified 
homeowners a grant for up 
to $3,000 toward a building 
code-compliant earthquake 
retrofit. EBB is also offering 
a Supplemental Grant to 
homeowners with a household 
annual income of $72,080 or 
less as funding permits. An EBB 
retrofit is specifically for homes 
with a crawl space beneath the 
first floor.

 You may be eligible to apply if:

You own and live in the house 
you would like to retrofit.

You live in one of the EBB 
program areas, which are 
designated by ZIP Code.

Your house was built before 
1980.

Your house has a raised 
foundation, or crawl space 
under the house. 

Your house is built on level 
ground or a slight slope.

You have not already completed 
a “brace and bolt” earthquake 
retrofit.

 For more information visit: 
earthquakebracebolt.com or: 
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