Pictured: the Art on Palm art show
held at Wild Wood Park in fall,

Eagle is the only rank a scout can carry into adulthood. Of all the boys who have gone through scouting, It has been achieved by only two million scouts in the past hundred years or so.

We have lots of personal stuff going on this weekend, so updates will be few and brief — really, after we get these taxes done, we'll feel better!

Fri., April 1

• Coffee Gallery Backstage: THE SCARLET FURIES…..”The rootsy romance of American southern gothic angels and demons, wrapped in a veil of rich harmonies and anything with strings.”  8 PM, $15.

Sat. April 2

• “The Gift of Jazz” is a new concert series from Moonglow Productions, to be held at the Altadena Community Church,  

Enjoy fellowship among the weeds this Sunday from 10 AM until noon or so at Old Marengo Park, southwest corner of Woodbury and Marengo. Those interested please bring your own gloves, and other equipment is also very helpful: shovels to deliver mulch, narrow shovels or trowels to remove pesky thistles, wheelbarrows, plastic bags to fill with green debris,

Details are few at the moment, but John Muir High School is on lockdown following reports of a “brawl,” according to the police scanner.

Ambulances took away two men — one from inside the school, and one near the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Idaho St. which may or may not be related to the lockdown.

And new toyon leaves shooting up on a spring morning.

Get out and take a walk!

We've spent about 36 hours internet-free to go on our church's first men's retreat (rules: no hugging, no sharing, no making a collage detailing our spiritual journey, no labyrinth).  It was a good thing to do this Lent (and sharing happened anyway, along with some hugging that slipped by).

Several years ago, Shahe Mankerian,

The American Cancer Society’s Altadena Relay for Life is already gearing up teams for this year’s walk on Sat., June 11, starting 9 AM at Farnsworth Park.

The next team captain meeting will be Wed., April 13, at Rose West’s house, 1025 E. Woodbury Rd., at 6 PM.

Teams registered so far are:

Hope Ryders with Team Captain Jonetta Tatum-Green
Team Prana with Team Captain Jamilyn Hunter
Little Street of Spain with Team Captain Elaine Cutri
Curves Altadena with Team Captain Rose West
Altadena Community Church with Team Captain Sharon Archibald
Altadena Ale House with Team Captain Gail Casburn
Team Trojan with Team Captain John Pings
The Coffee Gallery Javawalkers with Team Captain Julie Sandoval
Rollin For A Cure with Team Captain Alan Kunihiro
Soroptimist Strutters with Team Captain Marilyn Commodore
McMammary Clan with Team Captain Julie Manning
Webster’s Fine Stationers with Team Captain Lori Webster 
Enriching Lives Forever with Team Captain Doryce Bohana 
Two Dragons Martial Arts with Team Captain Philandria Brown 
Isotonix Walkers with Team Captain Wendy Schonhardt 
St.

One of our readers writes:

Three lost dogs showed up on our street this morning.  They appear to be from the same household.  They have choke collars, but no tags.

Since they won’t stay in our fence area, we’ve called animal control.  I believe they will be picking them up.  If they do, we will obtain the contact info in case the owner’s sees this note.

• Kevin Lyman of Altadena was named to the Los Angeles County Fair Association last week.  The Association helps direct he Fairplex, which runs the LA County Fair as well as many other activities year-round.  Lyman is the creator/producer of the Vans Warped Tour, and co-produces tours for Rockstar Energy Drink and Willie Nelson’s Country Throwdown, and founded Unite the United Foundation.
• Altadenablog sponsor scissors paper rock salon,

Chairman Gino Sund writes:

This meeting will give Altadena residents an opportunity to voice opinions, raise concerns or ask questions of the District.  Of particular interest is the proposal to change the way School Board members are elected. 

About a dozen people turned up Sunday to tidy Old Marengo Park, mainly Altadena Heritage board members, neighbors of the park, plus other friends such native plant gardener Laura Bauer who arranged for a free load of mulch.

They are getting the park ready for its dedication May 1 as an Altadena Heritage Area, or AHA! This 8,000 square foot park at the southwest corner of Woodbury Road and Marengo was developed by Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy,

Altadena writer/performer/activist Ellen Snortland wants to send her one-woman show, “Now That She’s Gone,” to the Fringe Festival in Ediburgh, Scotland, but needs to bankroll it somehow.  She’s opted to fund it through Kickstarter, an internet platform for funding creative projects.  The idea is that you pledge something to help fund the show, and only pay up if she reaches her goal of $25,000 by April 26.  

While we're traveling in space today, we thought we'd share this piece we found:  Astronaut Cady Coleman playing a blues on flute aboard the ISS (using a flute provided by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, no less!).

Found this fun thing:  they're doing live streaming broadcast of the JPL clean room as they construct the next generation Mars Rover.  Get your geek on!

_______

Free TV Show from Ustream

“Hands on Hands” will be a line of people holding hands on the sidewalk in front of Muir in a silent gesture to honor Martin Luther King (who was killed this month) and “standing in silent peace” for students Brandon Jackson, who was murdered in Februrary,  

Food Truck Fridays runs from 5-9 PM this Fri., April 8, in the parking lot at the Webster’s stores, Lake and Marcheta.  Some parking in the lot, but mostly parking in the street.  Featured gourmet food trucks this month are the Hungry Nomad,

More pictures after the jump.

Wed., March 23

Between 8:30 AM & 9:15 PM – A residential burglary occurred in the 400 block of Wapello Street.   Suspect(s) entered the residence by cutting the rear window screen and removing the window.  Loss:   gold wedding band & diamond ring.

Between 8:15 AM &

Outgoing PUSD superintendent Edwin Diaz told the council that there was little hope for good news in the district, budget-wise.  Class sizes would remain the same, but across-the-board personnel cuts — everyone from administrators to custodians, about 150 positions in all — will likely be eliminated during the next school year.

• We love good deeds: PSN’s Janette Williams looks at the Arroyo Time Bank’s program to harvest excess backyard fruit, which is then delivered to Union Station to be processed into juice and fruit salad (thus keeping with Oriental fruit fly quarantine regulations).  Union Station Homeless Services gets about 500 pounds of fruit at a time thanks to time bank members.
• We love discounts: Local favorites The Pasadena Master Chorale will be performing Brahms’

From our friend Ann Erdman, Pasadena's public information officer:

The Pasadena Earth & Arts Festival returns to Old Pasadena on Saturday, April 16, from 10 AM- 4 PM, celebrating all things green and artistic through hands-on activities, product demonstrations, resource sharing, live entertainment and eco-Jeopardy.

This free, ninth annual event will take place in and around Memorial Park and the Armory Center for the Arts,

Dempsey said that one of the arrests was at the Altadena home of Brandon Jackson, a 17-year-old Muir High School student who was shot to death earlier this year.  Dempsey said that the arrest sweep was related to the wave of shootings in Altadena and Pasadena before and after Jackson’s muder.

According to Deputy Lamark Williams, who is one o fthe organizers of the blood drive, “It’s something we want to do as a community project to help those who are needy.  It’s a humanitarian event, it promotes goodwill,

“Waiting for Superman,” directed by Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth”), looks at the problems of public education by following a handful of students through the system as they try to win a lottery to attend a charter school.

According to Yuritzy Anaya,

Fri., April 8

• Fancy Food Truck Friday at the Webster’s complex Lake and Marcheta, 5-9 PM (unless it rains, then it’s off).  Featured gourmet food trucks this month are the Hungry Nomad, No Reservations, Shrimp Pimp, Greenz on Wheelz, the South Philly Experience, and King Cone.

Sat., April 9

• The Central Altadena Little League is holding a “Baseball Mania”

While we fully support the Americans with Disabilities Act, we've also heard that some attorneys have been using it to shake down small businesses by setting up a professional plaintiff to sue them for minor infractions, and then making an offer to settle.

We received an email and phone call from an Altadena business owner (who wishes to withhold his name) on Lake Ave.,

Hmm … Carolyn Seitz shot out this note on a fun event today:

Central Altadena Little League vs. Deputies from the Altadena Sheriff's Station

Date        Saturday, April 9, 2011

Time        Central Altadena Little League says the game will begin at 12:30 pm
   

• Sheriff’s town hall:  Altadena Sheriff Capt. Steven McLean told the Altadena town council that there would be another town hall meeting at Jackson Elementary School, 593 W. Woodbury Rd. next Thurs.,  March 24,  starting at 6 PM, a follow-up to the contentious meeting in November.

The Coffee Gallery, 2029 N. Lake, is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with lively song and traditional Irish food, in the front stage area, starting at 6:30 PM

For $5, they’re offering a “green plate special” or corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes.  Music will start by 7:30 or sooner,

UPDATE 3/17:  We found out today that we did not receive this story from the water company, but from a man who subsequently identified himself to us as the husband of a former water company employee who had various grievances with the water company.

County inspectors told the Coffee Gallery this week that the coffeehouse had to shut down all open mic performances and entertainment, or lose its conditional use permit, according to coffeehouse owner Julie Sandoval.

The CUP that covers the building at 2029 N.

The story has all the elements of Los Angeles at its darkest: a vicious murder, a beautiful and mysterious young victim, an elusive killer, sensational press with each paper trying to outdo the others, an unforgettable moniker, countless confessions and more than a score of suspects (several of them prominent physicians), and in the end — officially unsolvable.

It was the Black Dahlia murder,

Thurs., March 17

• Toddler story time at the Altadena Main Library, 600 E. Mariposa St., 11 AM.
•  The Altadena Ale &

 Ann Erdman, Pasadena's public information officer, has released the final tallies of March 8 Pasadena Unified School District election, including absentee ballots;

Board of Education Seat 2

Renatta Cooper – 12,713 votes (94.3%)

Cushon Bell – 771 votes (5.7%)

Board of Education Seat 4

Kimberly Kenne – 8,458 votes (55.1%)

Gene Stevenson – 6,886 votes (44.8%)

We're reading that there's a 70 percent chance of rain tomorrow, but the Primavera in Altadena: Third Annual San Gabriel Valley Blogger's Picnic is going on, rain or shine (why do you think we reserved the covered tables?).  Hope to see you there, starting at 11 and lasting until the last dog,