…. and the tale of the gnome continues, with carolers!  The Gnomehaus this morning.

We spent Christmas Eve night looking at Christmas lights with our oldest daughter (there's a house on Roosevelt and Berendo that must be seen to be believed!).  Christmas morning, we got up early, made mulled cider and coffee, and wrote for an hour until the children started appearing.  Great haul for everybody, standing roast for dinner,

by Alene Tchekmedyian
Pasadena Sun

Authorities on Wednesday continued to try and ascertain the identity of a hiker who was found dead Saturday morning in the Angeles National Forest. 

Another hiker found the man’s body around 7:47 a.m. near the Gould Mesa Debris Basin Dam on the east trail near La Cañada Flintridge,

• Grand Central Market revamp:  Altadena Farmer’s Market Manager  and Institute of Domestic Technology founder Joseph Shuldiner has been hired as a consultant to remake LA’s Grand Central Market.  The LA Times’ Betty Hallock writes of the almost-100-year-old market’s revisioning, which will include a lobby with tables and wi-fi, a “foodcrafting space” in the basement for small food entrepreneurs, and the addition of the kind of handcrafted,

• Robert F. Ott obit:  Pasadena Star-News has an obituary for Robert F. Ott, former CEO of Claim Jumper Restaurants, who was killed while jogging next to the Altadena Golf Course on Mendocino last week.  Ott was also a restaurant consultant, and philantropist and community volunteer. Obit here.
• SaveAltadena will have a holiday potluck on Sat., Dec. 29 at 4 PM at the Altadena Ale &

The Altadena Sheriff Station says that shooting off your guns to celebrate the New Year is not a good idea:  it’s a dangerous a felony, and “will not be tolerated.”

A press release from the station says that celebratory gunfire “is an extremely dangerous practice. As a reminder, deputies from Altadena Sheriff’s Station, in an effort to stop and reduce these types of incidents will be enforcing Penal Code section 246.3.”  

by Timothy Rutt

There will be a " community call-to-action in response to gun violence in our streets" and press conference at 3 PM today at All Saints Church, 132 N. Euclid Avenue in Pasadena.

Participants will include The Rev. Ed Bacon, Rector of All Saints Church;  Pastor Jean Burch,

by Timothy Rutt

A new year is about to begin, and we're putting a new comment policy in place.

One of the requirements of our comment policy (which you can read here) is that we need to have a working email address from all commenters.  The email address is only visible to us,

There will also be afternoon potluck, so bring a dish to share if you’re so inclined.

Monday, December 24

Between 4:00 PM and 8:30 PM – A petty theft of a package occurred in the 500 block of Punahou Street. Loss: black Diesel purse, Old & New Testament bible. 

Between 7:00 PM and 1:00 AM (Tuesday) – A residential burglary occurred in the 1500 block of N. Allen Avenue. Suspect(s) entered the residence by prying the rear door.

All that helicopter activity was the Los Angeles County Fire Department rescuing another errant hiker.  Still looking for official details, but an uninjured male was observed leaving the LAFD Copter 14 (which landed at Farnsworth Park) and entering a sheriff’s vehicle.

from gloriana casey

JANUARY of twenty -twelve,
Quadrantid—in  the air!
 Meteor shower gifted us!
Space life shows off its flair.

Republicans, they start campaign;
numbers reach a gaggle.
Though many drop from race,you see;
onward goes the battle!

The ocean’s on the front page news,
a tragedy at sea.
Costa Concordia, the ship
it sinks so horribly.

The community is invited to drop in anytime during those two hours where there will be people to simply sit or pray with.  There will be time to talk or share with others,

Here’s wishing you a good New Year — ours had a great start.  We along with other members of Down Syndrome in Arts and Media got some great seats at the Rose Parade as guests of Best Buddies and th ATT Pioneer Council (thanks to DSiAM’s Gail Ford Williamson for inviting us).  Here, the DSiAM crew poses for a picture after the parade.

by Timothy Rutt

The Gnome Maker strikes again, for the gnew year (those are glasses and noisemakers, by the way).

Altadena Sheriff Capt. John S. Benedict will hold another “Coffee with the Captain” event on Tues., Jan. 22, at Perry’s Joint, 2051 Lincoln Ave.  The event will be from 6-8 PM.

According to a press release from the station, “Perry’s Joint is located just south of Woodbury Road on Lincoln Avenue and was selected again as a location following the great turnout at the prior event in July of this year”

by Timothy Rutt

Before we say anything else, remember that any talk of opening a second Walmart Neighborhood Market at the Calavaras Crater (Lake Avenue & Calavaras Street) are entirely speculative right now.

But knowing that, it doesn't stop the rumor mill, nor the other possibilities for the site.  Altadena Town Councilman Ed Meyers,

We're on the road to Sacramento and back today, some minor tests at UC-Davis Medical Center for Jacob, and we're participating in an interview and video for a PR effort of theirs.  Be back this evening, but we have another trip later in the weekend, so keep it under control over there!

• In for a Penny: Penny University, who describe themselves as “a unique trivia story telling Instrumental group spanning jazz/ fusion / latin /rock /global” is appearing tonight at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N. Lake Avenue   They’ve just released their first CD, and Altadena is the first stop on their Southern California tour.  We were asked to plug them.  Check them out.
• Emotional Freedom can be yours: Revvell Revati’s Bodacious Living Center is holding the first of a series of Sunday evening events this weekend.

The two candidates vying for the new Pasadena Unified School District representative seat will meet each other in a candidate’s forum at the Altadena Senior Center on Jan. 30.

The Altadena Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (ACONA) and the League of Women Voters Pasadena Area (LWV-PA)  will jointly present the forum for candidates Hermond Dean Cooper and incumbent Kim Kenne from 7-8:30 PM.

Marge Nichols of the League will moderate the forum and present questions to the candidates,

Some correspondants from the area of Charles White Park told us that they found the mauled body of their cat in the front yard Saturday morning.  Suspect: coyotes.  Our Dr. Barkman tells us hat the coyotes are denning this time of year, so feeding Mama is a priority — watch out for your pets.

I had an attempted break in at my house on Santa Anita, just above Athens on Wednesday (1-2-13) in the morning. They tried to break the glass in my side door but couldn’t (safety glass installed) so left. Two other members of our Neighborhood Watch saw two young men in a white car driving around,

Teens/tweens (ages 11-17) can play a number of board games (or you can bring your own cards and board games) and hang out.  There’ll also be Wii Rockband to play.

It starts at 4 PM at the Altadena Main Library, 600 E. Mariposa St. 

Jake is having minor surgery at UC Davis Medical Center today, so we’re out of the office. Have a wonderful Altadena day!

“California’s Gold” host Huell Howser died Jan. 6. Photo from Wikipedia Commons.

by Timothy Rutt

We say goodbye with sincere sadness to KCET stalwart Huell Howser, whose “California’s Gold” series was a mainstay with us for many years. It encouraged our own journey into looking at the little-known corners of wherever we happened to live at the time, in our own Southern California sojourn before (and after) settling in Altadena almost twelve years ago.  

Neighbors & Trail Folk —

A big rainstorm is predicted to head our way, and Supv. Michael D. Antonovich's office just sent out a press release that the county Department of Public Works will close the following roadways Wednesday, December 12, starting at 10 PM:

• ·   Angeles Forest Highway from Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road to Aliso Canyon Road

• ·   Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road from Angeles Forest Highway to SR-2 (Angeles Crest Highway)

 Access will be maintained for emergency vehicles,

by Timothy Rutt

The Mark Twain middle school bell ringers of west Los Angeles, who performed in London in this summer's Olympics revelry, took to the road to bring some holiday cheer to the Altadena Library. (It's also a good test of the video function of our new iPhone!).