Recipients of the Women’s Opportunity Awards, many of whom have overcome enormous obstacles including poverty, domestic violence, and drug and alcohol abuse, may use the awards to offset any costs associated with their efforts to attain higher education,

Mon., Jan. 10 

Between  9:00  AM  &  9:00  PM  ‐  a  residential  burglary  occurred  in  the  400  block  of  E.  Mariposa  Street. Suspect(s) entered the residence by shattering the rear window.  Loss: white/silver Apple MacBook Pro 15.4” laptop and misc. US currency.
Wed., Jan. 12

9:55 PM – a petty theft occurred at 7‐11, 1319 N Altadena Dr.

Jeff Black (pictured) will host and headline, with featured acts Joel Ward, Kyle Eschen and Farrell Dillon.  Also performing is the Crown City Combo, with Ryan Luevano on trumpet and Evan Vine on bass.  

Producer John Heinsen tellls us: “These magical folks are also quite funny,

Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation had partnered with Air Machine Farmer’s Markets to start a market in Farnsworth Park, but that met with objections from residents of the area before that market got off the ground. 

Information for prospective parents of children in grades K-7 will be presented at noon on Sunday and 9 AM Tuesday.

The open houses feature school tours conducted by students, and a chance to meet current parents and students.  Those who attend the Sunday open house can purchase breakfast of pancakes and pozole.

Celebrate Lincoln’s birthday with stories of inspiration and courage that foster understanding of the history of folklore and African Americans as told by Altadena’s master storyteller Leslie Perry.  This special program will take place on Sat., Feb. 12, Lincoln’s Birthday, at Altadena Library at 2 PM.

Leslie Perry, master storyteller, theater artist, and Altadena resident for almost fifty years has contributed much to the community.  He is now winding down his career,

Thurs., Jan. 20

• Toddler story time at the Altadena Main Library, 600 E. Mariposa, 11 AM-noon.
• Coffee Gallery, 2029 N. Lake: Front stage, long form storytelling open mic, free;: backstage, a family friendly magic show featuring young magicians from the Magic Castle, $18, both events starting at 8 PM.

Fri., Jan. 21

• Fun Flick Friday at the Altadena Main Library,

Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an article by Yale law professor Amy Chua, "Why Chinese mothers are superior," trumpeting the parenting style of Asian mothers in creating high achieving children.  Her secrets included not allowing her daughters to attend sleepovers, nor have a playdate, nor appear in a school play, and "not not"

Please come and join your neighbors and friends beginning Feb. 12th from 9 AM- 12 PM for “Take Down”. As long as the weather permits, we will be taking the lights off the trees every Saturday and Sunday thereafter from 9 to 12 until all the trees are finished. In the morning you will be greeted with donuts, coffee and hot chocolate and after 12:00 lunch will be provided.

• Have you taken CERT training, but feel it’s time for a refresher course?  LA Fire Station 88 at 5101 N. Sepulveda Boulevard in Sherman Oaks will hold a CERT refresher on March 5, 2011, from 8 AM to 3 PM (registrations starts at 7 AM).  Register online at http://www.cert-la.com/refresher.htm
• The court ruled that the man accused of shooting an Altadena man at a party last year must stand trial for murder.  Steven Ronald Honma,

10 PM: lots of scanner traffic in the past hour, and our westside correspondants tell us sheriffs are out in force.  Crescenta Valley station tells us that there were reports of gunfire, and deputies are investigating, but nothing substantial yet.

1. Right now (5:30 PM) Altadena Mountain Rescue is taking out two stranded male hikers from Eaton Canyon by the first waterfall, sheriff’s office tell us.

2. Earlier this afternoon, a woman in a motorized wheelchair was hit at the corner of Altadea Drive and Lake Ave.  Still rounding up information on this one. 

Pictured: the electric wheelchair smashed in this afternoon’s collision.  

We've changed the previous headline to reflect the latest information.

UPDATE: Nixle reports to us:

At 6:30PM Friday, hikers reported to Altadena Sheriff’s Station that they believe they heard shouting coming from at least two stranded hikers. Altadena Sheriff’s Station deputies, Altadena Search and Rescue team, and sheriff’s Air-5 rescue helicopter are en route to the area near the water tanks in Las Flores Canyon,

Certainly of interest to residents of west Altadena, the city of Pasadena has put out a release touting a "creative concept for marketing Northwest Pasadena’s strengths and resources will be unveiled to the public Saturday, Jan. 29, at 9 a.m. in the visitors locker room at the Rose Bowl Stadium, 1001 Rose Bowl Dr.

One recent December, at age 53, John Kralik found his life at a terrible, frightening low. Then, on New Year’s Day, he was struck by the idea that his life might become at least tolerable if he could find some way to be grateful for what he had.

Went by Sacred Heart Catholic Church this morning, and the parking lot is .. well, a parking lot, with no sign of the farmer's market that's occupied the space for the last two Saturdays.  We have a few leads we're following up on …

Pressure from Los Angeles County forced the closure of the Altadena Community Farmer’s Market at Sacred Heart Catholic Church today says one of the organizers, days after the Altadena Town Council told the county to look into setting up a market at Loma Alta Park.

That’s the story from Gene Stevenson, a Sacred Heart parishioner who was one of the organizers of the market which has been in the church parking lot for the past two weeks.  

February

Tues,

Volunteer Marc Striegel will walk through several of the photographic collections that are now digitally preserved and explain methods AHS uses to scan, name, label, describe, and caption photos, and demonstrate how researchers use the software. Find out more about Zane Grey, socialite Barbara Curtis Horton, the Brown brothers,

The Altadena Library District is offering an opportunity to be a volunteer adult literacy tutor.  No experience is required, but you need to pre-register for a workshop.

Workshop dates are Feb. 19, April 30, Aug. 27, and Oct. 22, from 9 AM-3 PM at the Altadena Main Library, 600 E. Mariposa St. 

The Altadena Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (ACONA) will hold its bi-monthly meeting at the Altadena Library Conference Room, 600 E. Mariposa St., on Tues., Jan. 25,  from 7-8:30 PM

The meeting will focus on issues raised by neighborhood associations at the last ACONA meeting, in particular speed limits in Altadena (they seem to change every block or so in some areas) and how to prepare your teenagers to act when stopped by law enforcement.

It’s not too late to start planning for summer, and Sheriff’s Support Group president Robert Klomburg give us the latest on the summer concert series at Farnsworth Park:

Our dates are locked in, and they are: 7/9, 7/16, 7/23, 7/30, 8/6, 8/13, 8/20, 8/27 and the Grand Finale will be on  9/10.

Mon., Jan. 17

Between 5:30 PM and 8:30 AM, Tuesday – a vehicle burglary occurred in the 2300 block of Garfias Drive. Suspect(s) entered the vehicle by shattering the driver’s side window with a brick. Loss: black Garmin Nuvi GPS & RX Ray Ban glasses.
Between 10:00 PM and 6:15 AM,

• 
  Pasadena Star-News finally has a look at Danny’s Farm’s move to South Pasadena.  The Gotts are very positive about rebuilding in their new place, but we sure wish they could’ve stayed.
• KPCC and the Society of Professional Journalists will have a conference on “The Changing Face of Community Journalism” at the Crawford Family Forum, 474 S. Raymond in Pasadena, at 2 PM on Sat., Feb. 5.  We’ll be one of the speakers (why does Jesus Sanchez get to be a “publisher and editor”

Seating is limited.  RSVP to JHVinfo@gmail.com

Why:
California Voters Passed the Crime Victims Bill of Rights Act (Prop. 9 Marsy’s Law) in November 2008 giving victims of crime 17 Constitutional Rights.

“I was at a low point in my life.  Things weren’t going well in my personal and professional life.”

Or, as it says in the synopsis of his book:

One recent December, at age 53, John Kralik found his life at a terrible, frightening low: his small law firm was failing; he was struggling through a painful second divorce;

Earlier this month, the Time Bank, RIPE Altadena, and Altadena Heritage held a meeting to look for ways to help decrease food waste in our area and keep in compliance with the Oriental Fruit Fly quarantine.

Kristin Petherbridge at the Time Bank says that “we are working with the USDA to ensure we are in compliance with the regulations of the quarantine.  

UPDATE 1 PM: Twelve arrests so far,

The Altadena Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (ACONA) held its third bimonthly meeting Tuesday night, Jan. 25, once again bringing out neighbors to discuss issues affecting them in Altadena.  The meeting’s focus was on speed limits in Altadena, and on how to train teens to talk to Sheriff’s deputies when stopped.

The meeting began with an introduction to ACONA’s new Website,

Joyous news in the Pasadena Star News today: the Fork in the Road will return — the original fork, in its original place at the junction of St. John’s and Pasadena Avenues in Pasadena.

PSN’s Janette Williams says that it will be set back a bit,

Pictured: the Mueller Tunnel, courtesy U.S. Dept of Transportation

The road has been damaged by rock falls since the 2009 Station Fire and has been closed. 

Welcome to the Critter Map, 2011!  Our first sighting is a bear spotted by Pamela on Saturday, who was hitting the garbage at 4:30 in the morning. (The bear, not Pamela!)

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View Critter map 2011 in a larger map

Report your large creature sightings (bear, deer, cougar, chupacabra, etc.) to altadenablog @ gmail.com

Fri., Jan. 28

• Seniors and their families will learn and get help on how to protect themselves against elder financial fraud at a free “Smarter Seniors Forum.” Seniors, family members and caregivers should attend this informative forum at the Altadena Senior Center, 560 E. Mariposa, 9:30-11:30 AM.
• Fun & games at the Altadena Main Library, 600 E. Mariposa St. It’s the end of the week,

The kick-off will be this coming Wed., Feb. 2, from 6-8 PM at the upper room of the Davies Building in Farnsworth Park, says online chair Heather Morrow.   It’s good place to learn more about Relay For Life, register your team,

According to Elizabeth Morris, the supervisor for the franchise project at the LA County Dept. of Public Works, if the supervisors approve the contract with Athens, as seems likely, the county will push for a July 1 start for the new trash service to start in Altadena.  The contract will be for seven years,