Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Altadenans Tackle Homeless Count Tonight

Altadena residents and community leaders will deploy all over town after sunset Tuesday night to begin to document the homeless population that lives throughout Altadena, both in plain sight and hidden.

This effort is the time that hundreds of communities throughout L.A. County do the utmost possible to determine a realistic homeless count.

“It’s a massive count. We believe it’s the largest homeless count in the United States,” said Tom Waldman, Director of The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), of the overall county-wide effort.

A joint powers authority of the City and County of Los Angeles, LAHSA was created in 1993 to address the problems of homelessness in Los Angeles and has been spearheading the annual homeless count over the years — an issue that has plagued the county for decades.

Altadena’s participation in the 2017 count is a part of a larger effort that includes over 6,000 volunteers at 149 deployment sites and spans over 4,000 square miles of land.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Altadena Library District to Launch Renovation in Celebration of Main Building’s 50th Anniversary

One of Altadena’s longest standing institutions, Altadena Library District, is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of its main building, originally designed by architect Boyd Georgi in the early 1960s. To honor this historic anniversary, the Altadena Library District Board has approved plans for the Library’s Phase I Renovations using grant funding from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and a generous donation from the Altadena Library Foundation.

Board President Ira Bershatsky says of the plans, “This is a much needed sprucing up of the interior of the library and we are very grateful to both HUD and the Altadena Library Foundation for their financial support of this project. This will be the catalyst to future funding to address the many additional needs of this facility.”

The first segment of a multi-phase remodel, the Phase I Renovations will address needed updates to shelving, flooring and carpets, electrical capacity, the library’s Community Room, and interior signage. Installation of new shelving will begin to bring the library into compliance with seismic safety code and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.

Friday, January 20, 2017

The Altadena Library’s Second Saturday Concert Season Features Pierce Brochetti and the Splish Splash Band

The Altadena Library’s Second Saturday concert season features Pierce Brochetti and the Splish Splash Band on Saturday February 11th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

Our Second Saturday for February now features a NEW artist! Our original artist for February, Louis Van Taylor, has been rescheduled to April and we will now feature the Splish Splash band in February.

Originally formed by Pierce Brochetti and Dolores D’Angelo, joined later by the forces of Steve Kuhn and Leo Valenzuela on the rhythm section, the Splish Splash Band was created. Starting out as an acoustic, classic rock/folk cover band, they slowly evolved into a full on Rock n Roll band. Some of their playlist have been rearranged to fit Splash Splash’s mood and others have been left untouched. Regardless of the arrangements you will tap your feet and clap your hands, singing along as we take you back in time to some of the best Rock n Roll that was ever written: From Van Halen to Elvis to Mariah Carey to Poison,

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Altadena Library Teen Workshop Presents Making the Most of Your College Visits with Ashley Sim

Altadena Library presents Making the Most of Your College Visits with Ashley Sim on Saturday, March 4 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. offered by the Library as part of its teen programming.

Spring break is right around the corner, and that is a great time to visit colleges if you are a high school student. Please come join Ashley Sim, former admissions officer for Caltech, as she explains why visiting colleges is crucial before you start the application process and how to get the most out of your college visits. She will discuss the role college visits play in the admissions process, the types of visit opportunities offered by colleges, and how you should go about conducting them.

Ashley Sim is an educational consultant who provides individualized academic advising and college and law school admissions counseling to students and parents. A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, she has worked in college admissions for more than 15 years as an alumni admissions representative of Stanford and as the Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions at the California Institute of Technology.

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Altadena’s Crime Blotter for the Week of Saturday, January 14th

Sunday, January 8th

12:05 AM – Andre Dillingham, 45 years old of Altadena was arrested in the 2100 block of Fair Oaks Avenue for possession of a controlled substance.
12:40 AM – A grand theft from a residence occurred in the 900 block of E. Mendocino Street. Stolen: Winchester shotgun, brown wallet, cellphone, vehicle keys and Ford Contour vehicle. Suspect identified as the victim’s friend.
8:30 AM – A vehicle burglary occurred in the 2100 block of Lincoln Avenue. Suspect(s) entered the vehicle by shattering the window. Stolen: camo shoulder bag and toys.
6:00 PM – A shoplifting incident occurred in the 700 block of E. Altadena Drive. Suspect described as a male, 6 feet, between 180 – 200 pounds. Stolen: black camcorder.

Monday, January 9th

1:45 PM – A package theft occurred in the 2300 block of N. Maiden Lane. Suspects described as two males in a white truck. Stolen: package containing a black workout bicycle.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Reward Extended in Altadena Murder Case

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion by Supervisor Kathryn Barger reestablishing a $20,0000 reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of a suspect or suspects responsible for the murder of Marcus Nieto.

Nieto was discovered on the Altadena Crest horse trail by two riders on horseback on February 16, 2013. Investigators have confirmed that Marcus Nieto left his residence to visit an acquaintance in Pomona but may have returned to the Covina/Azusa area at some point before he went missing. The Medical Examiner-Coroner has determined the mode of death to be a homicide. The $20,000 reward offer approved by the Board on April, 2014 has since expired.

Supervisor Barger encourages anyone with information about this heinous crime to contact L.A. County Sheriff Sergeant Robert J. Gray at (323) 890-5500.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Altadena Will Count Its Homeless on January 24

Altadena will be taking part in the annual homeless count that Los Angeles County conducts every January, and is calling on volunteers to help in the counting. This year’s Homeless Count is on Tuesday, January 24.

Judy Matthews, Altadena Town Council Member, said volunteers will be deployed from Loma Alta Park, located at 3330 Lincoln Avenue in Altadena. Volunteers are advised to sign up for the count at www.theycountwillyou.org.

Last year, Los Angeles County recorded the largest homeless census in the nation with over 7,500 volunteers, over 5,000 demographic surveys completed, and 100 percent coverage of the Los Angeles Continuum of Care census tracts.

The annual homeless count usually takes three days and aims to gather valuable data that would support programs and funding that will address – and hopefully bring an end to – the critical issue of homelessness in the region. With the data, the county hopes to bring leaders, residents and stakeholders together, and ensure the delivery of vital community resources for the solution of the problem.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Altadena Mountain Rescue Team Assists in Search of Missing Child, Hikers

Sunday was a busy evening for members of the Altadena Mountain Rescue Team (AMRT) as they helped in the search for a child who went missing out of an Altadena group home, and at least two hikers who were overdue while on a hike from Switzer Falls to Altadena.

The first call came at about 5:09 p.m. when the Altadena Sheriff’s Station said they were missing for a critical missing 11-year-old boy, AMRT said in a Facebook post. The child’s family said he could probably have headed towards the hiking trails near the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

As team members brought out two ATV’s and four-wheel-drive vehicles, a sharp JPL security officer called and said they have sighted the missing boy. It turned out a person on horseback had located the boy and flagged down staff from the group home who were also out looking for the child.

AMRT members and patrol deputies located the child at Ventura Street and Windsor Avenue in Altadena and took him home.

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Altadena Town Council Issues Agenda for January 17, 2017

Diane Marcussen, Chair, Altadena Town Council has issued the agenda for the Council’s January 17, 2017 meeting to be conducted at the Altadena Community Center, 730 East Altadena Drive, starting at 7:00 p.m.

A pdf version is available by clicking here.

1. CALL TO ORDER

1.1. Pledge of Allegiance ___________________________ Councilmember
1.2. Roll Call _____________________________________ Recording Secretary, Judy Matthews
1.3. Approve January 17, 2017 meeting Agenda

2. OFFICERS’ REPORTS

2.1. Chairman ____________________________________ Okorie Ezieme
2.2. Vice Chairman ________________________________ Damon Hobdy
2.3. Recording Secretary ___________________________ Judy Matthews
2.3.1. Approve December 20, 2016 Meeting Minutes
2.4. Treasurer ____________________________________ Patricia Sutherlen
2.5. Corresponding Secretary _______________________ Billy Malone

3. PUBLIC SAFETY REPORTS

3.1. California Highway Patrol _______________________ Officer Mike Ulloa
3.2. Altadena Sheriff’s Station ______________________ Captain Stuckey
3.3. Cert ________________________________________ TBD
3.4. County Fire __________________________________ TBD

4. SPECIAL PRESENTATION

None

5.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Celebrated Altadena Architects and the Homes They Designed for their Families

Building Biographer Tim Gregory presents free program Monday Jan. 23 on famed architects’ Altadena homes

Today, homes designed by Altadena architects Wallace Neff, Kenneth A. Gordon, Harold Bissner, and Theodore Pletsch are much sought after. But where did the architects themselves live?

Building Biographer Tim Gregory will present capsule biographies of these, and other, famous Altadena architects and of the Altadena homes they designed for their families in a free, public program presented by the Altadena Historical Society at 7:30 p.m. Monday Jan. 23.

The program will be in the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive, 91001–next to the Sheriff’s Station and across Altadena Drive from RiteAid.

Gregory’s firm, The Building Biographer, has done more than 2,600 property histories for homeowners and real estate firms. He has master’s degrees in library science and public history/preservation, and is a nationally certified archivist and a registered public historian.

He was the founding chairman of Altadena Heritage, for which he was named the 1991 Altadena Citizen of the Year by the Altadena Chamber of Commerce.