Sunday, July 12, 2015

Sunday, Come by and Taste a Bit of Altadena History at the MacKenzie Ranchito

After the end of World War II and with the selling off and sub-dividing of many old-time ranches, Altadena’s west side quickly became home to the ranchito, a residence sited on a parcel of land usually between 1/3 and 2 acres, which retained its residential/agricultural zoning.

Long before today’s urban farming trend, Altadenans were growing gardens and orchards and raising livestock, especially horses, on these ‘mini-ranches.’ California’s only indigenous architectural style, the ranch home, grew in popularity as the home of choice for these ranchitos.

Today, many ranchitos still exist in Altadena, where the permanent horse population hovers around 200 or so equines along with hundreds of chickens and several goats. Though once a common site, especially west of Lincoln Avenue from the mountains south to Woodbury, many ranchitos have been lost over the years to fire, neglect and the changing demographics of a population who seems to value large scale homes filling out much of the parcel’s footprint.

Despite this trend,

Friday, July 10, 2015

25 Pasadena Unified School District Trucks Broken Into

Police said 25 Pasadena Unified School District maintenance trucks were broken into and hand-held equipment and tools inside the vehicles were stolen Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

Lt. John Mercado said the breakins occurred sometime between 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 8 and 5 a.m. Thursday, July 9 at the District’s maintenance yard facility in the 700 block of West Woodbury Road.

Mercado said the initial estimate of the loss was put at $6,000.

There are no security video cameras at the facility and no description of the suspects is known.

Friday, July 10, 2015

Film Maker, Historian Will Discuss His Experiences in Event Leading Up to Film Showing at the Altadena Public Library

The Altadena Historical Society and Altadena Library District are partnering to present a July 27 talk by filmmaker and historian Walter Dominguez. His film, “Weaving the Past: Journey of Discovery,” will then be screened at the library the following week, August 4 at 6:30pm.

Dominguez will speak on the experiences of early 1900’s Mexican immigrants to the United States, with examples from his own family history, at the Monday July 27 summer quarterly meeting of the Historical Society. The 7:30 p.m. meeting, free and open to the public, will be at the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive.

With his talk as background–though not necessary to attend– Dominguez’s two-hour documentary-drama about discovering the surprising biography of his Mexican-born grandfather will be shown 6:30-9 p.m. August 4 at the Main Library, 600 E. Mariposa St.

Dominguez will be at the screening to introduce the film, and to answer audience questions afterwards. Also present will be Shelley Morrison, Executive Producer of the film, 

Friday, July 10, 2015

Volunteers Sought by Altadena Historical Society

An informational meeting for persons interested in assisting the Altadena Historical Society will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 21, at Society archives in the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive.

“We have many exciting projects in progress and would welcome volunteer help in a variety of areas,” said Jean Phillips, AHS projects coordinator.

“Front-desk volunteer; scanning and cataloging photos, documents and artifacts into our Past Perfect database; interviewing longtime residents for oral histories; and researching requests we get for information about people, homes and Altadena history are just some of the areas that volunteers can assist us with,” Phillips said.

“We have had high school and college students volunteering as well as working adults and retirees,” Phillips said. “We are appreciative of any time and expertise that volunteers can give us.”

The meeting will include an overview of the Society and its extensive archives, and an explanation of the projects that volunteers can assist with.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Brutus! Chloe! Loomis! Jake! Meet Our Pets of the Week

This week, we introduce you to four pets up for adoption now at the Pasadena Humane Society. See a friendly face you want to bring home? Call (626) 792-7151 with the ID number.

Brutus (A376853) is a 2-year-old, neutered pit bull. This handsome guy walks well on leash and loves going to the park with volunteers. He also enjoys playing with toys. Brutus is learning some basic commands and would love to find a home where he can continue his training. His adoption fee is $125, including the neuter surgery, microchip and a set of vaccines.

Chloe (A365275) is a 3-year-old, spayed shorthair cat. She is incredibly affectionate with people and enjoys the company of other cats. Chloe lives in one of our communal cat rooms, where you can often find her sitting on the perch people watching. This sweet girl is already spayed, microchipped and vaccinated.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Altadena Chamber Awards Wullschlager Scholarships to Madeleine Lepesant and Bryson Moore

Article and Photography by LAURA MONTEROS

Pasadena Unified School District graduates Bryson Moore and Madeleine Lepesant received $1,000 scholarships from the Marion Lee Wullschlager scholarship fund on Tuesday morning. The awards were presented by Altadena Chamber of Commerce president Meredith Miller and board member Billy Malone.

The Wullschlager scholarship is given to two graduating senior students who attended PUSD schools and live in Altadena. For the past two years, the Chamber has worked with Dr. Sandra E. Thomas, CEO of Quality of Life Center to choose students from the Bright Future Scholars program.

Wullschlager’s daughter, Kathryn Wullschlager, spoke about her mother’s involvement in the public schools and the community. She said her mother would be “honored and proud” that after a hiatus, the scholarship program was restarted last year.

“I know it was meaningful to Mom,” she said. “She was always involved in the schools, since I was in kindergarten.” Marion, a real estate broker, had intended to start a music foundation to help keep music in PUSD schools,

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Urgent Missing: Guinness the Cat, Have You Seen Him?

Guinness has gone missing on El Molino near Mariposa and the neighbors are àll sad. He is all black, was wearing an ID collar and very friendly.

Please call 213-923-0829 with any information.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Demand for MWD Turf Rebate Program Exhausts Supplies, Program Closes

Facing unprecedented public demand for incentives to transform the region’s landscapes, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California announced today it will be closing its turf rebate program to new applications later this week because available funding has been fully allocated.

Metropolitan’s $450 million conservation program, the largest of its kind in the nation, will focus remaining available funds on rebates for water-saving devices and a multi-media outreach campaign to promote greater water conservation in homes, gardens and communities throughout the Southland. The district will also maintain a waiting list of interested turf rebate applicants in the event that some of the approved projects do not move forward with their planned landscape changes.

“We knew that the popularity of the turf program would exhaust the available funds at some point, but even we didn’t predict just how popular turf rebates would become,” said Metropolitan General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger. “Metropolitan is proud to have accelerated the movement by hundreds of thousands of Southern Californians to embrace a new outdoor aesthetic and lock in water savings permanently.”

Last December,

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Altadena Public Library Receives “Latino Americans: 500 Years of History” Grant

The Altadena Public Library has been selected to receive a competitive Latino Americans: 500 Years of History grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA).

As one of 203 grant recipients selected from across the country, Altadena Public Library will receive a cash grant of $3,000 to hold public programming — such as public film screenings, discussion groups, oral history initiatives, local history exhibitions, multi-media projects or performances — about Latino history and culture.

The library will also receive the six-part, NEH-supported documentary film “Latino Americans,” created for PBS in 2013 by the WETA public television station. The award-winning series chronicles the history of Latinos in the United States from the 16th century to present day. (Learn more about the series at www.pbs.org/latino-americans/en/.)

The Latino Americans funding will enable the Altadena Library to present a film and lecture series with scholars including Roberta Martinez and Dr. Francisco Balderrama, special presentations in partnership with Altadena Heritage and Altadena Historical Society and a Latino Festival in April highlighting local Latino culture.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

California Highway Patrol Says 2 Were Killed, 229 Arrested for DUI in Los Angeles County Over Fourth of July

Twenty-six people were killed in vehicle collisions throughout the state of California within the 78-hour Maximum Enforcement Period over the Independence Day weekend, when the California Highway Patrol deployed the maximum number of personnel to assure safe travel for those going to and coming from Fourth of July events.

CHP reported the sad statistic in a press release summarizing the number of traffic incidents and violations last weekend throughout the state.

The report said CHP made 930 driving-under-the-influence arrests statewide during the Maximum Enforcement Period. Within Los Angeles county, two people were killed in collisions and 229 arrests were made.

All available CHP officers were deployed during the period to focus enforcement on occupant restraints, speed violations, and those driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The maximum deployment also assured prompt response to any incident that may have caused a hazard or traffic delay.

“Our mission is to reduce roadway deaths to zero,” the CHP said in a press release.