An Altadena firefighter was slightly injured after falling off a roof fighting a fire this morning, but he's back on duty.

Spokesman Don Kunitomi from the Los Angeles County Fire Dept. said that dispatcher received a call at 6:17 this morning for a fire on the roof of a two-storey house on the 200 block of West Ventura St.

by Timothy Rutt

A plastics manufacturer has filed a lawsuit challenging the county's plastic bag ban, claiming that it's a hidden tax.

The county ordinance bans plastic carryout bags in unincorporated areas, which includes Altadena. Instead, customers can bring their own bags or purchase paper bags from the store at ten cents each.

by Jason Wells
Pasadena Sun 

A series of storms moving through the area this week could bring periods of steady, heavy rain and chilly temperatures, weather forecasters say.

Showers today will build into a more powerful weather system on Wednesday,

by Abby Sewell
Pasadena Sun

Officials are cautioning residents to be alert after two mountain lions were found early Tuesday morning sitting on the front lawn of a home in Sierra Madre.

Celebrate Teen Read Week (TRW) at the Altadena Library. This year’s theme.  “Picture It! @ Your Library,” will give teens the opportunity to express themselves as we highlight visual media and books with a visual media theme. Teen Read Week at the Altadena Library is October 16-22, 2011.

Re-Picture It! 

by Joe Piasecki
Pasadena Sun 

Staffers for Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) gained some job security Tuesday, as the battle between their boss and Assembly Speaker John Pérez (D-Los Angeles) took a new turn.

Pérez on Tuesday recalled orders requiring Portantino staffers to take furloughs later this month. All 11 people working in Portantino’s Sacramento and Pasadena offices had been told to take furloughs between Oct.

For those of you unfamiliar with CERT, it is a Community Emergency Response Team training that is 21 hours as is mandated by FEMA.  

A new CERT training class is being hosted by the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station and presented by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

You must pre-register and can do that emailing your Name, Address, Phone Number and Email; address to:  CERT@lasd.org.

1. Trash in Altadena

The first half of the ACONA meeting will feature speakers from Athens Trash Service,and the LA County Department of Public Works. Athens will address questions and concerns about how they’re doing after six weeks,

• Howard’s end: Janette Williams at PSN has an article on Ron Howard, who produced a short film directed by his daughter, actress Bryce Dallas Howard.  The Howards are wrapping up the film, shot at the atmospheric Mountain View Cemetery, part of Canon’s “Imagin8ion” competition.   (And watch this space:  we have an article coming up on the WIcked Lit shows at the cemetery and mausoleum).
• Trivia: which Ron Howard film had a song about a librarian?: Our recent Pasadena Sun column on the Altadena Library has made it into the California Library’s E-Clips website: https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#starred/132d07de58091977

 The meeting is to help engage parents, students, educators, and community leaders throughout the Los Angeles region in meeting President Obama’s challenge to lead the world in college completion by 2020.  All are invited, and the event is free.

The Pasadena Unified School District has been awarded a three year, $1 million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Education to fund a program that connects arts educaton with math.

PUSD Superintendent Jon R. Gundry announced the award Wednesday. The grant was awarded to the district  in partnership with Pasadena’s Armory Center for the Arts, the Pasadena Educational Foundation (PEF),

Joe Clay, aka "Rambro'," the suspected poacher who haunts the hills near residential areas, has been spotted again.  Forest advocate Lori Paul passes along the following information:

Rambro's vehicle is usually an older, maroon color Dodge van, CA license #4AGU605. He sometimes keeps a small motorized trail bike in the van for reconnaissance up fire roads and larger trails.

Two men were arrested following an attempted robbery at the intersection of Lake Avenue and Altadena Drive last night.

Altadena Sheriff Lt. Roosevelt Johnson said that four men attempted to rob a man on a bench at the intersection at about 8:45 PM.  The victim ran off toward the Rite Aid parking lot, where the men began to beat him with hands,

This local concert is part of a global Daniel Pearl World Music Days event (www.danielpearlmusicdays.org) honoring journalist Daniel Pearl,

The two-and-a-half day camp will be Nov. 11-13, 2011, at Stephen S. Wise Temple, Los Angeles.  For for more information, go here.

• We’re Number One: LA Times reports that Caltech was named the best research university in the world, according to the (London) Times Higher Education magazine.  Harvard and Stanford are #2 and #3, respectively.
• Bag End: Adolfo Flores at our media partner Pasadena Sun reports that the city of Pasadena is also working to institute a plastic bag ban — even tho’ the bag ban in unincorporated county areas (such as Altadena) is being challenged in court.

Locally, readings will be at the Altadena Main Library, 600 E. Mariposa St., at 11 AM and 4:30 PM at the Community Room.  There will also be readings at Perry’s Joint,

Thurs., Oct. 6

• Read for the Record today, 11 AM and 4:30 PM at the Altadena Main Library, 600 E. Mariposa St.
• Coffee Gallery, 2029 N. Lake;  backstage: The Surfin’ Safaris, 8 PM, $18. Reservations:  (626) 798-6236.

Fri., Oct. 7

• Coffee Gallery, 

Fri., Sept. 23

Between 4:00 PM and 9:30 AM, Saturday – A grand theft from an unlocked vehicle occurred in the 1700 block of Harding Avenue.  Loss:  black/silver Apple PowerBook laptop, black Swiss Army laptop bag.

Mon., Sept. 26

Between 8:00 PM and 6:50 AM,

This is the weekend for garage sales — Phil Coombs tells us that the President Streets neighborhood will have its semi-annual neighborhood yard sale tomorrow (Saturday).  We’ve included the flyer he circulated to the neighborhood.   Over 30 households will be participating, joining the Meadows and the St. Elizabeth School parents in clearing out the house before the holidays. 

by Timothy Rutt

Children’s librarian Cassandra Stearns reads to a small but enthusiastic group at the Altadena Main Library Thursday afternoon as part of “Read for the Record Day.”  This year’s book, “Lama Lama Red Pajama” by Anna Dewdney, was read to groups all around the country in an attempt to break the record for the number of readers of the same book on the same day.  The listeners also received their own copy of the book for their participation.

• Pizza-Dena: On this week’s Altadena edition of “Our Town” on the Arroyo Channel, Stephen Rudicel revealed that he has purchased a property in Altadena for the purpose of building a wood-fired-pizza oven restaurant — and he’s planning a matching food truck as well (yep, mobile wood-fired oven).  Rudicel (the owner of the Press Restaurant in Claremont) and fiancee Gloria Putnam are Altadena sustainable farmers, preservers, cheesemakers, and foodies par excellence on the Zane Grey Estate and we can hardly wait to see what they do with pizza (goat cheese,

Pictured: with MaryEllen Shoeman, cheetahs always prosper.

It’s easy to get your cat or dog boarded or house-sat when you’re going away, but what about your pet skunk, raccoon, hedgehog, or other exotic creature?

Altadena wildlife rehabilitator MaryEllen Schoeman has just started up a new business aimed exactly at those kinds of pets:  Wild Things Pet Sitting.  “A regular dog walking or pet sitting service is often inexperienced with pets such as birds,

For children ages 3-5, the preschool program offers crafts, sports, activities, field trips, circle time and more.

Hours are 8 AM-6 PM Monday through Friday, and cost is $100 per week per child.  Free snacks are provided, but the child must bring lunch.

For more information and park locations,

Sun., Oct. 23: Home Coffee Roasting: learn to roast, brew, and taste coffee using simple inexpensive stovetop equipment.  This unique DIY coffee lovers class will be taught by master roaster Ian Riley of LAMILL Coffee.  You’ll go home with your freshly roasted beans and a stash of green ones to practice with at home.

The Altadena Ale & Wine House, 2329 N. Fair Oaks Ave., will hold its first "pub quiz" on Tuesday starting at 7:30 PM.  Teams of up to five people compete against each other in rounds of trivia questions for big prizes. (These things can be really fun,

Michael (my husband) has been a Master teacher for over 22 years and a teacher at USC and I have been teaching for over 15 years.

Wherein our daughter has the shortest professional acting career ever.

by Timothy Rutt

About a month ago, our friend Gail called.  She said that there was a cattle call audition that afternoon in Van Nuys for Disney and they were looking for particular types of kids — and our seven-year-old, Rosie,

Below are three pages of the preliminary crime statistics released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for all areas of the County serviced by the Sheriff for the 2011 through September 30, 2011.   These statistics show you the same period of time for calendar years 2006, 2010 and 2011 for purposes of comparison.

The first page shows you how the Altadena Station compares to all of the other Sheriff’s service areas for Part I crimes. 

• High scores:Brian Charles at PSN  looks at the Rosebud Academy charter school, now operating at the Loma Alta School site.    Rosebud, a K-4th grade school that is almost entirely black and Latino, , scored 890 in the academic performance index, making it one of the highest-achieving schools in the area.
• Movie and gelato: Bulgarini Gelato, 749 E. Altadena Dr., continues “Summer Movie Night” tonight with “My House in Umbria”

The new column is up at the Pasadena Sun.