by Bill Kisliuk
Pasadena Sun

County animal control officers are sweeping through parts of the San Gabriel Valley, checking to see that pets have been spayed or neutered and have current rabies vaccinations and licenses, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control.

by Daniel Siegal
Pasadena Sun 

Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies discovered the lifeless body of a man in the Switzer Falls campground area of the Angeles National Forest Monday afternoon.

Sheriff's Deputy Mark Pope could not confirm if the man was Richard Derusha, a Los Angeles man reported as missing earlier in the day.

by Timothy Rutt

We're not sure what horrible Ebola-like disease is making its way through right now — all we know is it's sweeping through our house like the hot scythe of the grim reaper.  Having just spent a week dealing with the children, the adults (i.e. Dr.

The Pasadena Unified School District Districting Task Force will hold one of its final public meetings tonight, March 5, at the Altadena Main Library, 600 E. Mariposa St., starting at 6 PM.

After months of meetings and community input, the Task Force has developed a consensus map based on input that was received from the various public forums. This map represents many interests from the entire PUSD community.

The free family day features music, bands, and dance groups performing at the Amphitheater from noon to 6 PM.  Bring a  picnic and your whole family — barbecue areas will be available.

The event is sponsored by the county Department of Parks and Recreation.

by TImothy Rutt

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors authorized between $800,000 and $1.2 million to pay for roadway improvements on Holliston Avenue, according to a release from Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

The project includes widening and reconstruction of roadway pavement and a storm water pollution prevention plan.  

According to the release,

Just received word that we have to travel out of town on an urgent family matter, so no updates today.  We will have wi-fi where we're going, and are forwarding the phone line, so we'll continue to do what we can when we can from our new location.  Should be back in Altadena Saturday.  (Our house will still be occupied,

by Timothy Rutt

The next meeting of ACONA (Altadena Coalition of Neighborhood Associations) will be Tues., March 27 at the Altadena Main Library, 600 E. Mariposa St., from 7-8:30 PM.

ACONA's Elliot Gold says the agenda is two-thirds done: Steve Reagan will talk about a proposed neighborhood association "shake out"

Shown below are two pages of crime stats provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The first page shows you how crime stats for Altadena measure against all of the other service areas for the Sheriff’s Department, and the second page shows you a breakdown of Part I crimes for Altadena.

As most of you know from having seen these statistics monthly for the last couple of years,

The Altadena Town Council  will consider Arroyo Pacific Academy’s second-go-round bid to open a high school campus at its February meeting.

The agenda itself has an unprecedented tight structure for the hearing: Arroyo Pacific will give and eight minute presentation, followed by ten minutes allowed to the opposition, and the school will have two minutes to rebut.

It will then be followed by Land Use Committee chair Mark Goldschmidt,

Tickets are $5, and proceeds will go to hep pay park expenses.  The opening day ceremonies start at 11:15 AM.

Miller is also the president of the Altadena Chamber of Commerce.

The YWCA Honors will be held on Wed., Feb. 29, at Neighborhood Church, 301 N. Orange Grove Ave., Pasadena, from 5:30-7:30 PM.  General admission tickeets are $45, $55 at the door.  More information is available at the graphic.  To purchase tickets online, go to www.ywca.org/IngerMiller.

• The Arroyo Seco Foundation led a group to clean up Millard Canyon on Sun., Feb. 19.  The group, consisting of Arroyo Seco activists, a Girl Scout troop, and Pasadena City College students, found an incredible amount of trash and metal debris in the canyon bottom (car parts and a metal bedframe, for starters!).  Pictures and the full story are at the Foundation website.
• A couple of recent Larry Wilson columns at PSN worth noting;

by Timothy Rutt

It's Shrove Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday and the season of repentence, so now's the time to do something you're going to regret for the next 40 days.  (Kidding!)

St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 1014 E. Altadena Dr., will have its annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. Come enjoy pancakes, sausage and applesauce, for the bargain price of $5 per person and 

Altadena Elementary School will be the scene on Friday night for a showcase of art, music, and poetry from Pasadena Unified School District students.

The Black History Poetry & Art Slam takes place from 5-8 PM at the school, 743 E. Calaveras St.  Host is Poetri, of the Def Poets.

P.J. Johnson, chair of the event committee of the district’s African American Parent Council,

If you heard the helicopter noise this morning, you’ve heard the story before:  a hiker, 25 year old male, trapped above the first waterfall at Eaton Canyon, according to the Altadena Sheriff’s Station.  He was rescued uninjured by sheriff’s Air 5, Altadena Station tells us, and neighborhood correspondents tell us he was dropped off at Aveson School. 

Altadena Sheriff Capt. Steven McLean is expected to announce his retirement tonight at the Altadena Town Council meeting.

Lt. Roosevelt Johnson of the Altadena Sheriff’s Station confirmed that McLean was expected to make a formal announcement at the meeting.

The Altadena sheriff captain’s chair for the past several years has gone to a 30 year plus veteran of the Sheriff’s Department as a final stop before retirement. 

Coffee Gallery owner Julie Sandoval in the foreground has big plans for the coffee house’s entertainment offerings.

by Timothy Rutt

 It’s a whole new era for the Coffee Gallery.

With its entertainment license from the county now firmly in place, the coffee house at 2029 N. Lake is ramping up its offerings with entertainment five nights a week.

First Lady Michelle Obama greets surprised members of the Sedlik family in the White House: from left, Sophia, Mason, and their mother Sandra.  Photo from White House video.

by Timothy Rutt

An Altadena family, visiting Washington to attend their father’s Arlington burial, were surprised last week to find themselves the guests of FIrst Lady Michelle Obama.

Jeff Sedlik said that his family was in Washington to attend the burial of his father in Arlington National Cemetery. 

by Bill Kisliuk
Pasadena Sun

Faced with looming layoffs, Jet Propulsion Laboratoryworkers met with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) Thursday on the JPL campus to discuss President Obama’s proposed $300 million cut in the planetary science program. Roughly $226 million of the cuts would come to the Mars program,

Altadena Sheriff Capt. Steven McLean isn’t slowing down pre-retirement.

“My Blackberry has not stopped since that night,” McLean said.

“That night” was his formal announcement at Tuesday’s Altadena Town Council meeting that he would retire after almost two years as the commander of Altadena’s sheriff station.  The unexpected news  turned into an outpouring of affection and respect for McLean, a 32-year veteran of the sheriff’s department who agreed that the prospect of retirement came quickly.

Our two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, will be converging in the evening sky, to the west, through the end of February and the beginning of March. Don’t miss Saturday Feb. 25 and Sunday Feb. 26 when the thin crescent moon forms a heavenly triangle with the two planets in the west at sunset. On Saturday, the moon will be closest to Venus and on Sunday it will be next to Jupiter.

PIctured: St. James United Methodist Church, the new home of the Peace & Justice Academy.

The Peace & Justice Academy is celebrating two major events in the life of the school.  First, they have been granted full accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.  Second, they have moved to a new location in Altadena. Classes are underway in the beautiful St.

The Coffee Gallery, 2029 N. Lake, will be the location for an ongoing series of presentations from "Truth in the Public Interest." This Monday, Feb. 27, David Barker and Suzanne Peters will present "Deconstructing Modern Myths about Health, Food and Nutrition" from 7-9:30 PM. 

Marvin Neumann, Conductor, and internationally acclaimed violinist Lindsay Deutsch will present Beethoven’s “Overture to Prometheus,” the  Khachaturian Violin Concerto , and Bizet’s “L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2”

The concerts will be held at 2 PM Sat., March 17 at the Altadena Senior Center, 560 E. Mariposa St;

Our column in the Sunday Valley Sun is up, a review of the important stories of the week.

Actor John C. Reilly performs country tunes at the 2011 Waldorf School Elves’ Faire in Altadena.

by Timothy Rutt

We’re asking you to prime the pump by reading this Janette Allen story in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune about filming in the area (with a nod to Altadena’s John C. Reilly).   Altadena has been the site of lots of filming over the years, playing the role of somewhere else: “Beverly HIlls 90210,”

Dealing with illness today, so entries will be light.

Michele Zack points out to us that Altadena Heritage has a spiffy new website, which includes a membership form and soon PayPal to join or renew.  Check it out!

We’ve gotten several emails regarding a show of force (choppers and squad cars) at Altadena Drive and New York Drive this afternoon.  Lt. Angela Shepherd at the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station says that they were trying to catch some burglars, and did place two suspects under arrest.  More as we get it.

UPDATE I:  Lt. Shepherd sent out an announcement that gave more details:  deputies responded about 2:38 PM to a call from the 1900 block of Minoru Drive.  

All of the moisture in the atmosphere Monday evening made for a great show — Steve Gerow captured tonight’s vivid sunset colors.