Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, October 14, 2023

(continued from Page 1)

Residents can report problem wildlife activity 
to the CDFW by visiting their website at wildlife.
ca.gov/wir. According to Rich, many reports 
have already been sent in and have been 
very helpful.

Police Role 

Police Chief Gustavo Barrientos presented the 
police role in human-wildlife conflicts. The 
police will respond to calls about bears in the 
following situations.

• Bear(s) displays aggressive behavior toward 
humans or domestic animals.

• Bear(s) attempts to enter the residence 
or structure.

• Bear(s) is/are in the residence's backyard 
and possess a public safety threat.

• Bear(s) is/are walking toward a school 
or heavily populated area.

• Bear(s) is/are a continuous nuisance 
(rummaging through trash bins, returning to 
the same area, or damaging property. 

The Sierra Madre Police Department's Policy 
is to deal with wild animals safely, placing human 
safety as its highest priority. As officers 
are authorized to use lethal force to stop an 
animal that is an imminent threat, there are 
alternative non-lethal options, such as fire extinguishers, 
TASER, or pepper spray balls, to 
stop a threatening bear. 

In May 2023, Sierra Madre PD started a campaign 
to educate the public on avoiding attracting 
bears to their properties and deter 
them safely after receiving 27 calls regarding 
bears. By June 2023, those calls spiked to 79 
calls, compared to only 12 in June 2022, and 
jumped to 85 in July 2023, compared to 15 in 
July 2022. Chief Barrientos cites more public 
reporting due to their campaign as the reason 
for the spike in calls. Most calls concerned the 
“No-harm, No-foul” type of conflict. There 
was one incident in 2023 where a bear harmed 
an individual, but that incident was not reported, 
according to Chief Barrientos.

3


Mountain View News Saturday, October 14, 2023 

WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side

by Deanne Davis


October is loaded with absolutely 
wonderful things to celebrate every 
single day. I would be remiss in my 
duty as a Mountain Views News 
contributor if I didn’t share some 
of these with you, dear friends and 
neighbors. Some of them are already 
past, but you can remember 
them for next year:

• 10/3 – Hummingbird and 
Butterfly Day, “Mean Girls” Day, 
National Boyfriend Day

• 10/4 – National Taco Day, 
National Vodka Day, National 
Cinnamon Roll Day, Yom Kippur

• 10/5 – National Be Nice Day, 
World Teachers Day, Random 
Acts of Poetry Day

And to catch us up to today…

• 10/14 – National Dessert 
Day, National Fossil Day

• 10/15 – Global Handwashing Day, National Mushroom Day, National 
Grouch Day

• 10/16 – National Cat Day, Home Movie Day, World Singing Day

That’s probably enough for now, but in case you needed a reason to go down to the 
Cheesecake Factory and have a slice of Pumpkin Cheesecake, now you have one! 
Bon Appetit!

Daughter, Leah, and her friend, Marty, took themselves to our delightful Sierra 
Madre Playhouse to see the closing night of “The Right Is Ours,” a new musical 
about the friendship between women’s rights pioneers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and 
Susan B. Anthony. Leah reported that the five women who filled the roles had excellent 
voices and the story is one we need to remember.

Coming up at the Playhouse is “A USO Christmas Show” November 24 – December 
23.

Not seeing nearly enough scarecrows around town, folks, but these ladies, gathered 
‘round their caldron, caught my eye as I was walking late one night. They were intent 
on what they were doing and dismissed my presence as ‘harmless.’ 

I took their picture somewhat unobserved and, recorded what they were saying…

“Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the caldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt and toe of frog,

Wool of bat and tongue of dog,

Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,

Lizard’s leg and howlet’s wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble, 

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Cool it with a baboon’s blood,

Then the charm is firm and good.”

I’m sure all of you recognized this delightful curse from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” 
and if you hurry today, you might be able to check out his complete works before our 
wonderful library packs up and moves down the street to the new temporary (for the 
next couple of years) residence at the old Bank of America building.

“When the witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and

Whispers…’tis near Halloween.”

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis

There are treasures there! Trust me! 

Including “Just Desserts” A Fall Fantasy of Pumpkins Gone Wrong! 

REMINDER:

The Library Meaningful Improvement 
Renovation Project is starting 
soon!

What does this mean for the library? It means we’ll 
be moving to a temporary space located at 350 W Sierra 
Madre Blvd. While the Library is relocating to 
our temporary space, we will be closed to the public 
for all programming and services. We will also not 
be taking any item returns until we reopen.

The last day to check out items from the library is 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14. Check out as many 
items as you can handle! All due dates will be extended 
until we re-open in Decem-ber 2023 at our 
temporary location – 350 W Sierra Madre Blvd.

The library may be in its temporary location for up 
to two years.

For more information on why the library is renovating, 
click here: https://www.cityofsierramadre.
com/cityhall/city_manager_s_office/transparency/
library_survey This project is supported in whole or 
in part by funding provided by the State of Cali-fornia, 
administered by the California State Library.

Call the Library at (626) 355-7186 for more 
information.


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