by Timothy Rutt

We live in possibly the last house in Altadena to get any electricity (our whole neighborhood remains power-free as of 1:30 PM today, just the comforting chug of generators breaking the silence).  As an added joy, after our fourth night without power, three-fourths of the household has come down with stomach flu (we're right now driving Rosie, who hasn't spewed anything for several hours, and swiping somebody's wi-fi, so thank you , whoever you are!)

This remains sticky at the top for you to put in your neighborhood news in the comments section, and we'll go through the email pile to share what we know.

—-

Trees: still awaiting word about the tree debris situation.  Carolyn Seitz shares that "The County will clear all trees that were on public parkways and they will clear the trees that were on private property and fell onto the streets (or across public streets).  Unfortunately for the many who's trees on private property fell on private property, the property owner has the responsibility for the removal and cleanup."  And Athens has some rather stringent size-and-bundling requirements to remove the debris … and not everybody can haul a truckload of palm-frond-free debris to Farnsworth Park today.  So we think the final disposal of the debris that is slowly moving to the curbs is still an open issue, and we've got some inquiries in.

—–

Christmas Tree Lane: have received word that the folks in charge of the Lane will let us know by Tuesday if the celebration is still on for Saturday.

RIPE Altadena/Healing Herbs workshop:  is cancelled for today, but will be rescheduled after the New Year.

—–

Crime never sleeps:  Got reports from the President Streets listserv about a man in a beatup white pickup driving up and down the neighborhood.  One of the neighbors writes that they confronted him and he drove off, but returned several times in the next half hour.  The notice says that they found him on the 2100 block of Pepper walking into a backyard with a flashlight, sheriff was called.

—–

UPDATE 4:15 PM

Tree waste:  see full story below: Athen Waste will start collecting tree debris piled by the curb tomorrow (Monday) morning.  Branches should be only large enough for a crew member to load, and small debris (leaves and twigs) should be boxed or bagged.  

And Altadena World Headquarters is still in the dark — looks like another looooong night. 

——

UPDATE 7:00 PM

We've just said t'hell with it and went to a motel for the night.  Probably make a couple of visits tonight to check on the German shepherd, who remains in the house, so don't get ideas.  The people across the street and on either end of the block have lights, but our stretch is still as dark as our soul.  They burn Christmas lights to mock us.

Bulgarini Gelato is open until 9 tonight.

Shocking news: The city of Pasadena says: 

CAUTION STRONGLY URGED REGARDING HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRICITY 

There have been reports of some residents opening pole boxes at the base of street lights and stringing wire from the boxes to their homes. 

The voltage in most boxes is much too high for individual homes. 
This practice is illegal as well as extremely hazardous to people and structures.

Pasadena Water and Power officials have been contacting households without electricity with updates on restoration of services. Power was restored to several homes today and PWP crews will continue working throughout the night and for as long as it takes to ensure power to all homes is restored as quickly as possible. 

Robinson Park Center, 1081 N. Fair Oaks Ave., will open at 7 p.m. tonight to provide a warm place for residents without power.

SCE has sent a press release: they expect 95% power restoration tonight, and 99.9% restoration by 8 PM tomorrow (the exception being our house, probably).  As of 3 PM this afternoon, SCE had 42,131 customers without service.