… says chair Brian League.  Next scheduled meeting is Tues., Feb. 1

“How Illness Helped to Spread the California Dream” is the subject: using Altadena, Sierra Madre, and Pasadena examples, Zack will show in an illustrated talk how important illness was in driving western immigration between the Civil War and the 1920s — and why this legacy has been underestimated by historians.

It seems to be gearing up for spring already:

East Altadena Little League Spring 2011 Season Assessment Dates

Hello East Altadena Little League Families,

Happy New Year!!

Just a reminder that all registered Farm, Minors AA, Minors AAA and Major Division players must attend ONE of the following assessment dates,

Tues., Dec. 28

Between 8:00 AM & 9:45 AM – a vehicle burglary occurred in the parking structure of the 24 Hour Fitness located at 2180 N. Lincoln Avenue. Suspect(s) entered a gray ’07 Mitsubishi Outlander by shattering the rear passenger window. Loss: black leather purse, black leather wallet,

Saturday is the when the Altadena Sheriff's Station's annual food and toy drive takes the goods to their new homes.

Uber-volunteer Carolyn Seitz tells us that there has been a time change: due to things moving ahead of schedule, volunteers who are planning to help with distribution should be at the Community Center,

Carolyn Seitz has helpfully complied the following comprehensive information about anticipated rainfall over the weekend, as well as mudflow and road closure warnings:

The County of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works has issued the following information, including estimates of rainfall, stormwater issues, mud and debris flows and road closures.

Now that we've conquered the slow load times, we're running another test: we really want current real-time weather on the front page, so now we are testing a direct link thru Weather Underground of Bill Westphal's weathercam.  Let us know what you think of it and if it adversely effects load times.

Offered by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), the REAACH (Recreation Employment and Achieving Career Happiness) Program is a five-month program designed to provide high school juniors through college sophomores the knowledge and on-the-job training necessary to pursue a successful career in a recreation field.

In addition to attending Saturday workshops which covered everything from resume writing and interview skills to dealing with peer pressure and conflicts in the workplace,

• Ellen Snortland writes about the Altadena Urban Farmer’s Market in the HuffPo — and hey, we’re linked!  Twice! (Thanks, Ellen!) Don’t forget that the market opens again tomorrow — and get there EARLY!
• The Los Angeles Police Dept. released more than 100 images recovered in the possession of the serial murder suspect Lonnie David Franklin, Jr., suspected as the “Grim Sleeper.”  LAPD investigators have assembled a group of images from photographs and videotapes in Franklin’s possession,

Tomorrow’s lineup is after the jump:

Carolyn Seitz has compiled this update, current as of 8 AM:

As of 4 AM this morning, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works has released the following information about the current storm event.

For the La Canada/Flintridge and Altadena burn areas:

RAINFALL: 

The “Here Comes Santa” Christmas party at Loma Alta Park today was full of young people and their parents, clapping, enjoying themselves, and of course, waiting for the toys.

Rappers One Call sang one of their numbers and a Christmas song, to boot.

There was also choir music, dancing, and other entertainment for the crowds.  Famous Shoes and Straps and KDAY were among the sponsors of the event today,

Telling the story, Farnsworth Park’s recreation supervisor Angie Calleros was in tears.

When she contacted Altadenablog on Tuesday, they hadn’t yet collected any donated toys from the community for the park’s annual holiday party and toy giveaway for deserving children.  Due to budget cuts, the event is run on a shoestring, and the park depends on community donations to make it happen.

National Weather Service tells us:

..FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOS ANGELES/OXNARD HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE RECENT BURN AREAS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY…INCLUDING THE STATION…MORRIS…BRIGGS AND CROWN BURN AREAS.

The Altadena Town Council meets at the Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Dr.

by Bill Westphal
for Altadenablog

The Altadena Sheriff’s Station held its annual Food and Toy Distribution Saturday at the Altadena Community Center from 8 AM-noon. Approximately 250 families received boxes of food and bags of toys that had been collected by the Sheriff’s Station.

While the rain dampened Altadena it did not dampen the spirits of all the volunteers who helped at the event.

Carolyn Seitz updates us with the latest county information:

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works has provided the following updated information regarding the current storm event.

This update covers the period from 8 am this morning to 6:00 am Monday, December 20th.

If you haven’t had a chance to catch her before, Alta-historian and Altadenablog columnist Michele Zack will be talking about and signing her latest book,

The latest compiled update from Carolyn Seitz, as of about 12:45 PM today:

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works has released information shown below.  Additional information is being provided by the Warning Coordinator Meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

For the Altadena burn areas:

RAINFALL  

The alert issued distributed by Public Works was late today and doesn’t provide information as far into the future as some of us would like to see.

The question for us this week is: why would anyone park their car in the 24 Hour Fitness lot, since something gets stolen there frequently?

Wed., Dec. 8
Between 6:00 AM and 3:00 PM Fri., Dec. 15th – A grand theft occurred in the 500 block of E. Calaveras Street. The victim placed a delivery order on 12/2 and expected the package to arrive within a few days.

Pictured: a dazzling display of Winnetka Greens at Sunday’s Urban Farmer’s Market. Photo by David Kiang.

In a heroic demonstration of Altadena’s can-do spirit, over 200 shoppers and 25 vendors braved the worst rainstorm in decades to come out and shop at the Altadena Urban Farmers Market on Sunday.

• The Michele Zack presentation and booksigning at Sierra Madre Books, scheduled for tonight, has been cancelled.
• PSN’s Janette Williams toots the horn of Robert Hilton, who makes unusual musical instruments of found objects and scrap (he usually shows up at the summer Altadena Community Garden picnic with his creations).
•  Caltech’s Lucy Jones (via NBC 4) says we’re getting dumped on by an “atmospheric river,” 

The latest compilation from Carolyn Seitz:

For the Altadena burn areas:

RAINFALL

Between 4:00 am Tuesday and 4:00 am Wednesday, rainfall is predicted to be 2.6 inches.

FLOODING, MUD & DEBRIS FLOWS   

Because of the possibility that the burn areas may already have reached saturation,

.. at about 10 PM tonight, the next wave of rain is coming in.  Media reports say that it'll peak before dawn tomorrow, and that over 200 homes have been evacuated in La Crescenta and La Canada Flintridge.

Meanwhile, National Weather Service says:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OXNARD HAS ISSUED AN * URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR…

• Councilmember Guarav Malhotra (CT 4611) resigned from the council, as he is moving to a home in CT 4601. He told the council he still planned to remain very active in community affairs, particularly in his former district, He is also working on a establishing a nonprofit organization to get kids at risk interested in competitive cycling.

As the rain continues to fall and the streams continue to fill, officials of the Rubio Canyon Land & Water Association are looking nervously at the illegal wall in Rubio Creek.

The wall spans halfway across Rubio Creek, a blue line waterway (which means no construction on it is permitted). 

National Weather Service says:

…FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING…

Pictured: Luigi Navarro skimboarding, from his Facebook page

by Brenda Rees
for Altadenablog

It may be a dog eat dog world, but when it comes to personality, determination and a happy-go-lucky attitude, Luigi Navarro, an almost 4-year-old French bulldog, had all the other canines beat.

Owner Robyn Navarro was watching the television news on Nov. 8 when word came out that Pacoima-based pet food company Natural Balance was holding auditions for dogs to be on their 2011 Tournament of Roses Parade float.

Carolyn Seitz updates:

The National Weather Service is showing some updated info.  Unfortunately, the County of Los Angeles hasn't published any updates for today.

In summary, the probability for hail and thunderstorms is high. 

There may be periodic episodes of gusty winds and in the areas where ground saturation is high,

We just returned from Sierra Madre, where we encountered heavy rain, hail, thunder, and overflowing streets.  National Weather Service sent this out about 2 PM:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OXNARD HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR… SOUTH CENTRAL LOS ANGELES COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA… THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF…SIERRA MADRE…MONTEREY PARK…

The LA County Sheriff has lifted the evacuations of neighborhoods in the La-C cities, and sent out this release:

Effective at 6:30 p.m. today based upon continued evaluation of the weather, the flood control system, and roadway access, Unified Command has lifted all mandatory evacuations for La Canada Flintridge and La Crescenta.

The top of the power pole, snapped off by the fallen tree, rests on the school’s fence.  The still-upright portion of the pole is to the right.

• As we look at this Wednesday night, the LA TImes seems to have a placeholder for the food section’s annual Christmas essay, this time written by Alta-novelist Michelle Huneven.  They’ve got a big buildup, but no essay — maybe it’ll be plugged in by Thursday morning! UPDATE: Jim Potter (Michelle’s husband)  gives us the full post here.
• Reader Tom Owens says he lost a brass bracelet somewhere around town: about 1/4 inch thick,