The Altadena Land Use Committee turned down Arroyo Pacific Academy’s second bid to put a school on Palm Street, but there was less division than last time.

The committee voted 8-5 Tuesday night to deny Arroyo Pacific’s petition to put a high school on the property at 183 E. Palm St.  It now goes to the Altadena Town Council, which will make a recommendation to the county for a final decision.

Bo the Rottweiler will have a benefit yard sale Saturday. Photo: Trained Dogs for Adoption.

New rescue organization holds fundraiser for dog’s chemotherapy

by Timothy Rutt

Bo’s had it pretty rough already.

A five year old Rottweiler who has lived in a kennel ever since he was a year old, Bo can be a handful.

But he attracted the attention of Catherine and Tom Peters,

by Jason Wells
Pasadena Sun

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) today announced his opposition to any budget cuts at NASA that would threaten the agency's planetary science programs, including missions to Jupiter's icy moon and Mars.

In a statement, Schiff said he met with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden today to express his concerns over reports of massive funding cuts in the space agency's 2013 budget proposal,

by Timothy Rutt

Afraid of having UPS or FedEx leave your packages on your stoop to be picked up by the random thief? If you're an Altadena post office box holder, you have another option.

The Altadena Post Office has started a new service where they will accept packages from any carrier for post office box holders and keep them for your pickup.

[Video Removed by Request]

by Timothy Rutt

The tangerine bandits have struck again.

Apparently unaware or not caring that their previous exploits have put on the internet for all to see, the fruitnappers have struck Bruce Wasson's tangerine trees again.

By Daniel Siegal
Pasadena Sun

Regional law enforcement agencies performed a sweep of several cities Thursday in response to a recent spike in property crimes, arresting eight people and seizing three weapons. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department joined forces with Glendale police as well as state parole and probation authorities.

Two Altadena residents were arrested in a multi-agency sweep of probationers and parolees Thursday.

According to Sgt. Debra Herman of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station, those arrested in Altadena were Ronnie Joseph, 34, on a probation violation; and Tezitzala Saavedra, 32, for child endangerment.

Herman said that Saavedra was arrested after finding evidence that narcotics were being used in her location and for having an unsupervised child.

On Tues., Feb. 14, there will be a four course meal and wine pairing for $65 per person for the holiday, starting at 7 PM.

The next evening, Wed., Feb. 15, the Altadena Jazz Quartet will play, starting at 8 PM

On Saturday,

by Timothy Rutt

Contractors working for Southern California Edison are trimming trees in the Altadena area, say an Edison spokeperson, who gives some tips for identifying if they are legit or not.

Vanessa McGrady of Edison says that several subcontractors are currently working in the area trimming trees as part of the post-windstorm cleanup. 

Robert Staehle, meetings chair at the Altadena Crest Trail Restoration Working Group, says they will meet on Monday this month, Feb. 13, at the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Dr.:

The meeting is one day early this month so that the romantics among us can enjoy Valentine's Day on Tues. 14 Feb.

Crescenta Valley High Students wait to be picked up from school on Friday after a student reportedly fell off of a campus building to her death. (Raul Roa/Pasadena Sun)

by Jason Wells, Megan O’Neil and Veronica Rocha
Pasadena Sun

Grievance counselors reportedly converged on Crescenta Valley High after a student fell to his death near the administration building, according to school sources and witness reports.

The fall was reportedly witnessed by dozens of students,

by Timothy Rutt

Catherine and Tom Peters and Bo the Rottweiler are all smiles at today’s yard sale on 1836 North Roosevelt Ave. The Peters held the yard sale at the home of friends to raise money for Bo’s lymphoma chemotherapy.  The Peters run Trained Dogs for Adoption, a rescue organization that rehabs dogs with behavior problems.  The yard sale was busy (it goes on until noon today) and Bo happily greeted his new friends and admirers. 

The LA County Sheriff’s Department says there were five rescues in a 28-hour Saturday-Sunday period Jan. 21-22, rescuing 15 people and recovering one body.

Capt. Mike Parker of the Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau said in a release that there were also helmet cam videos for three incidents.

We’ve discussed the rescue of a 19-year-old South Pasadena woman from Millard Canyon,

The storm had passed on Monday evening when the Altadena Historical Society rounded up the usual suspects—president Jane Brackman, who goes by the alias “Dr. Barkman,” Capt. Steven McLean of Altadena Sheriff’s Station, woman-about-town Carolyn Seitz, Altadena historian Michele Zack, concertmeister Bob Klomburg, and various types from the historical society and sheriff’s department.

They’d come to get the skinny on the Altadena Sheriff’s station.  

by Bill Kisliuk
Pasadena Sun

Prosecutors are considering new charges against juvenile boot camp operator Kelvin McFarland, who is already facing extortion and false imprisonment charges for a 2011 incident.

On Wednesday Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Caroline Lugo told L.A. County Superior Court Judge Teri Schwartz she needs more time with McFarland’s case.

from Altadena Relay for Life

Volunteer organizers in Altadena for the annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life have planning in full swing for the Fourth Annual Altadena Relay for Life June 9-10 to take place at Farnsworth Park.  Additional volunteers and participants to walk on teams are invited.

Don’t forget that  the Eat Well Market opens up at Camp Mariposa, 615 E. Mariposa St., on Sun. Jan. 29 from noon to 3 PM. Organizer Aimee Silver says that there’s a slight change of plans — they will not be able to take memberships on-site — you must sign up for a membership online no later than Saturday morning. 

Entries may be light today, as we've got lots of activities lined up (not the least of which is the Chamber of Commerce gathering this evening).  We recommend checking with the events calendar when making your plans for the weekend in the event we don't get the weekend activities up!

The fourth-annual Pasadena PinotFestwill culminate on Feb. 11 with a Grand Tasting at the Altadena Town & Country Club.

Guests will have the opportunity to taste 200 pinot noirs from 100 leading wineries in California and Oregon, including: Alma Rosa;  Arcadian; Ampelos; Brewer-Clifton; Carr; Clos Pepe; D'Alfonso-Curran; Dutton-Goldfield; Flying Goat; Hitching Post; Marimar Torres; Melville; Sojourn; Stephen Ross; Vergari; Williams-Selyem; and many more.

• Seeing “Red”: The Women’s City Club of Pasadena is pleased to announce “RED” – a unique exhibition celebrating the color red. The exhibition, which runs from Feb. 1 through March 30, features sixty works by twenty-seven California-based artists and photographers. It will be the fourth art exhibition produced by Margaret Danielak, the Women’s City Club of Pasadena’s Curator of Exhibitions. A reception is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 9,  from 6 – 9 PM. 

Mountain View Mausoleum, 2300 N. Marengo Ave., will be the scene for a fundraiser for LItFest Pasadena this Sunday, Jan. 29, from 3 – 6 PM.

LitFest Pasadena is Pasadena's first complete annual literary festival: an all day event with readings and signings by famous authors, and panels on more than a dozen subjects,

by Timothy Rutt

The latest: the National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning in effect until 3 PM Saturday for the mountains in Los Angeles County.

NWS predicts winds from the north to northeast at 25-40 MPH wil gusts to 65 MPH expected,

Sat., Feb. 4, Lance Anderson debuts his “Verge of the Beat” curated storytelling series starting at 8:30 PM with “Love Gone Wrong,” episodes of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” and “The Subterraneans.”  Special guests include Win Goulden (journalist, jazz man, WWII paratrooper), actress/writer/storyteller Lisa K. Wyatt, and musician/singer/storyteller David Kaufman.  

Privatization is on a roll. And either way, no one wants to be rolled over. Privatization is a controversial topic any way you look at it. You  won’t want to miss the lively free community forum – “Yours? Mine? Ours? Exploring Privatization” – sponsored by the League of Women Voters Pasadena Area on Sat., Feb. 11,  8:30 AM-noon, at Neighborhood Church, 301 N.

Please join your neighbors and friends beginning Feb. 11 from 9 AM-noon  for “Take Down”. As long as the weather permits, we will be taking down lights from 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 PM lunch will be served.

We will be starting at the top of Christmas Tree Lane (Santa Rosa and Altadena Drive) and working our way down every weekend until finished.

by Bill Kisliuk
Pasadena Sun

A legal challenge to newly redrawn state Senate maps has failed, as the California Supreme Court unanimously rejected a Republican effort to declare the maps improper. As a result, the senate map drawn last year by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission will go into effect for the 2012 election,

• Enterprise: we see a subtle pattern emerging: PSN — or at least reporter James Figueroa — is picking up more Altadena news.  Figueroa has two stories in Saturday’s paper that we broke first: one on the sheriff dropping out of ACONA (which we first had Jan. 25) and one on the Coffee Gallery’s need to get $20,000 to keep the code people happy (which we first had Jan.19).  

A fundraiser for the Pasadena LitFest was held at the community room of the Mountain View Mausoleum Sunday.

Pasadena LitFest will be held March 17 at Central Park in Pasadena, with panels and events for all ages to meet authors and encourage a love for literature.

Pictured: Altadena author/historian Michele Zack hobnobs with Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard at the Pasadena LitFest fundraiser at Mountain View Cemetery Jan.29,