This is a little far afield for us, but we feel it's worth mentioning: The Sierra Madre police are investigating cases of fraud involving debit and credit card transactions at EVR Gas, 50 S. Baldwin Ave. in Sierra Madre. People who have used their cards to make a purchase at the station are finding that their cards are racking up multiple fraudulent charges,

We received this message from the Los Angeles County Fire Dept.:

Over the New Year’s weekend, two women in Willowbrook were fatally poisoned by carbon monoxide after deciding to use their gas home oven to keep warm, and three others in the City of Inglewood nearly lost their lives using a faulty gas wall heater.

Born Sept. 9, 1918, in Little Rock, Ark. to Nathaniel Edmond Moreland, Sr., and Elizabeth Francis Braddock Moreland,

“The Life of Mozart” looks at the man through his works: Overture from La Clemenza di Tito, K.

Local trailwalker Stanley Zucker pitched us on the idea that we should have a rundown of local trail conditions.  "Cool!" we said.

So with Zucker doing the hard work, we've put together a beta test page for Altadena Trails.  It's at a separate address we own: for technical reasons,

Happy Thursday … and we are counting the days until school starts again, which means we are prisoners of our spawn today, so updates will be running a bit late.  Stick around, tho' — we have 2010 crime stats coming up, weekend activities, good things all.

AND: please check out our Altadena Trails page, and leave your suggestions in the comments. 

One of the best things we found out covering the Station Fire is that the collective wisdom of the people of Altadena is a mighty force, and we become a better website and serve you better when we listen to it.  It was invaluable in covering the Station Fire, in identifying everything from strange aircraft in our skies to strange creatures on the ground —

The Altadena Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual award and installation dinner on Fri., Jan. 28, at the Altadena Town & Country Club.

The Chamber will install its new officers for the year and honor the Outstanding Citizen of the Year, Carolyn Ingram Seitz.

Cocktails and silent auction start at 5 PM,

There must be something in the air: while Los Angeles County is planning to remove sediment from Hahamongna Watershed on our side of the San Gabriel Valley, it's also planning to dump sediment from the Santa Anita Dam into a woodland on the OTHER side of the valley, near Arcadia.

While the Arcadia Woodland debate is out of our range of coverage,

Getting off to a slow start, but it's the beginning of the year.  Keep checking back, as we keep adding new stuff.

Sat., Jan. 8

• The MOMS clubs of Pasadena and Pasadena North are hosting their second annual Preschool Fair and Fundraiser at Pasadena City College Room W0102,

The program will include vocal and instrumental masterpieces by these two renowned composers. There is no charge for admission, but a free will offering will be accepted,

This is a free concert for the entire family.   There will be two great Latin jazz bands, a mariachi band, salsa dances, and a fabulous vocalist, Candi Sosa.   Last year, we had over 800 people in the audience for this special event.

Pictured: produce from today’s farmer’s market.

The organizers, Rick Hernandez and his partner Manny Hernandez of Air Machine Farmer’s Market, had earlier tried to put together a farmer’s market under county auspices in Farnsworth Park last year,

• PSN’s Kevin Smith profiles Alta-business Waste Less Living and founder/CEO Christine Lenches-Hinke, who have launched waste management programs at Flintridge Center and High Point Academy.
• Issue watch: PSN also reports that the Pasadena City Council is calling for a plan to switch Pasadena Unified School District from at-large to district-based, where each member of the school board represents a particular geographic region.  Which means more Pasadena-based members vote to close Altadena schools,

The larger animals — the goats, the horse, the pig, the miniature donkeys — are already gone.  The bunnies are moving, and next week, the roosters will be gone, too.  And that will be the end of Danny’s Farm.

And in that spirit, the activities involving the Arcadia Woodlands (now due to be bulldozed Wednesday) have been fast,

Altadena Crest Trail Restoration Working Group (ACTRWG) 7 PM at the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Dr.

(If all goes well, we hope to be there to discuss the Altadena Trails informational website we're developing.)

All are welcome to attend! Bring concerns regarding trail issues for discussion.

Altadena Crest Trail Restoration Working Group (ACTRWG)
Tuesday,

The Pasadena Police Department is actively seeking Michael P. Loretta, who was last seen by a family member at his apartment on in the 500 block of E. Villa St. in Pasadena on Wed. Jan. 5 at about 1:30 pm.  Mr. Loretta is  78 years old and described as a White male, 5’-6” tall, 140 pounds, white hair, blue eyes, light complexion.

The Metro 485 bus, which leaves from the triangle park at Altadena Drive and Lake Ave., is under consideration to be shut down in June.  Reader Janet Nippell reminds us that "this is a particularly good bus for L.A. County High School for the Arts and Cal State students, who don't need any more burdens at the moment."

• One of our blog-girlfriends Karin Bugge the Altadenahiker, has a nice piece on the demise of Danny’s Farm in the Patch.  (And we have lots of pictures of Danny’s Farm, but we’re NOT sharing them!)
• Altadena Mountain Rescue had a call about stranded hikers last night about 6 PM (two adults and a child in the dark, no flashlights). PSN had a preliminary report, and the sheriff’s station tells us this morning that they were safely escorted back out.

Today was the proposed day for the county to start bulldozing the Arcadia Oak Woodland, and reports we're getting from the field and media say the 'dozers are at work, but so are the tree-sitters, and security.

LA Times is keeping up here.  Matt Burch at the Arcadia Patch is also on the scene. 

The Arroyo Time Bank, Altadena Heritage, and RIPE Altadena are hosting a conversation with state and federal agriculture officials about the Oriental Fruit Fly quarantine affecting Altadena and surrounding areas on Sat., Jan. 15, 10-11 AM. 

Arroyo Time Bank is working to create a neighborhood fruit-picking and processing project that can help utilize the excess fruit in our area in compliance with the quarantine regulations.

It’s also available as a pdf file for download here.

NOTE: That link on the county website only links to the 2010 Connection —

Sat., Jan. 15

• Deadline today for submitting your poems for the Altadena Library’s April 8 Poetry and Cookies program and anthology. Submit your G-rated poems, an almost Twitter-size bio (up to 200 spaces) and contact information to pdutton@altadenalibrary.org to be in the anthology. (Poetry should be up to 78 single-spaced lines, not more than 50 spaces in length,

Pictured, l-r: Charles Thomas, OBA Youth Advisory Council (YAC)

Altadena resident Charles Thomas has been chosen by the National Parks Service to be the Pacific West Regional (PWR) Ranger of Youth and Volunteer programs.

Soccer has been called “the greatest exercise.” Yet, many adults give up the game as soon as high school ends. The Pasadena Adult Soccer League asks “Why?” and encourages people of all ages, sizes, skills and abilities to come out and join the fun. Beginning February 6th, the league will be starting up again with leagues specifically for beginners and those who have been out of the game for years.

Just got this last-minute missive from the Pasadena Master Chorale:  the chorale will present in concert the renowned Cornell University Glee Club Sunday afternoon (tomorrow), 4 PM at the La Crescenta Presbyterian Church, 2902 Montrose Ave., La Crescenta.  Suggested donation is $20, but mention "PMCTRIBE" and get $5 off.

The conference runs from 7:30 AM to noon at Maranatha High School Student Hall, 169 S. St. John Ave., Pasadena.  Click on graphic for more details.

• Danny’s Farm closing makes the LA Times. You’re welcome, Times!  This is the first Altadena news story they’ve had in months (altho’ the home and garden reporters usually do us well).
• Speaking of which, LA Times’ Saturday real estate section gushes over Jamie and Matthew Brown’s Georgia Colonial on Midlothian.
• A celebration of the Rev.

Looking for a fun (and free) family event nearby?  The Pacific Asia Museum, 46 N. Los Robles in Pasadena, is having a Lunar New Year celebration on Jan. 29 to celebrate its 40th anniversary year. Held throughout the Museum including a fully tented parking lot,

[Headline revised with updated information]

Received notice about 2 PM that Altadena sheriffs and Altadena Mountain Rescue Team are in Eaton Canyon to rescue a 26-year-old male hiker who fell 200 feet.  Sheriff’s alert says he is located north of the second waterfall, 1/2 way to the third waterfall.  He has sustained several injuries, unknown severity, but is alert and speaking with rescuers by cell phone. 

Owner Rose West said that Curves has added Zumba Fitness sessions to its hydraulic machine-based circuit workout, which will work well at the larger location.

The new location of the local Curves was most recently Kat-Scrap Studio, and before that the location of Photography by Walt (which moved to a location two doors west).