Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Parolee Arrested Following Brief Pursuit in Altadena

BY BRIAN DAY

Pasadena police arrested a parolee who fled from officers following a brief car chase in Altadena early Wednesday, officials said.

Tristan Jon Taylor, 31, of Glendora, was expected to face charges including violating parole and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, according to Pasadena police officials and Los Angeles County booking records.

He had prior convictions in 2008 for attempted murder and assault with a semiautomtic firearm, L.A. County Superior Court records show. He received a 13-year prison sentence in the case. It was not clear Wednesday when he was released.

He was one of five occupants inside a car that Pasadena police tried to pull over for a traffic violation about 12:30 a.m. in the area of Santa Anita Avenue and El Monte Street, just across the city border in Altadena, according to Pasadena police Lt. Sean Dawkins.

The driver fled, initiating a short pursuit that ended less than a minutes later when the fleeing car struck a curb at Santa Rosa Avenue and Colman Street,

Monday, January 25, 2021

Guest Opinion | Steven Gibson: The California Democratic Party is Electing a New Chair and it’s Important to all Californians

The California Democratic Party will elect a new State Party Chair this coming April and the outcome of this previously obscure party election affects all Californians.  The CDP State Party Chair is both a powerful and influential position in a political party that holds veto-proof super-majorities in both houses of the State Legislature. To a large extent, the Chair determines what kind of candidates, policies, and initiatives the CDP supports.

The Democratic State Central Committee will cast the deciding vote in this important election and currently approximately 1/3 of that delegation is running in the so-called Assembly District Election Meetings.  The ADEMs were created to allow elected citizen activists the opportunity to shape party politics, endorse candidates, and elect State Party officers including the powerful Chair.  They have become increasingly popular with democratic voters over the past four years and there has been a surge of interest that has party officials scrambling to accommodate the thousands of new voters interested to participate in what was once seen as a quiet ceremony only attended by party loyalists.

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Guest Opinion | Jennifer Hall Lee: The Four Walls of Learning

COVID-19 has radically altered how we are living and it’s been ten months since PUSD schools were closed because of the pandemic. It’s certainly exasperating.

Recently, Pasadena Unified School District staff compared student data from the first semester of 2019 to the first semester of 2020. There has been an approximate 10% increase in D’s and F’s and the bulk of them are in grades 6-12. What lies in between those months? Remote learning.

Last week, the PUSD Governing Board held a special meeting to hear a presentation from Assistant Superintendent Dr. Julianne Reynoso entitled, “Opportunities for Improving Student Grades.” Principals from both middle and high schools were also in the meeting.

This proposal, if voted on by the Board on January 28, will do two things: incentivize students to make better grades and mitigate the low grades.

This is the plan: Students who made D’s or F’s in Fall of 2020 will have the opportunity to work with their teachers to raise those grades to a C if the student makes a high grade in this current semester (Spring 2021).

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Guest Opinion | Una Lee Jost: Should the California Democratic Party Be Governed by Politicians or the Grassroots?

In 2017, everyday people across the state helped California progressives make huge gains in our fight to transform the Democratic Party by winning the overwhelming majority of state delegate seats. This victory led the State Democratic Party to divest from oil, endorse important measures like Medicare for All and rent control, and they helped ensure corporate candidates like Dianne Feinstein who oppose Party values don’t receive party support during their re-election campaigns.

An important election for these state delegate seats is happening again now in our 41st Assembly District that will help determine whether the Party will be governed by politicians or the grassroots.

Every two years, the Party holds ADEM elections in January to elect 14 state party delegates from each of the 80 Assembly Districts in California to represent interests of voters in the district in voting on Party endorsements of candidates, ballot initiatives, platform, etc.

The ADEM election outcomes will help determine whether the Party is a party committed to action on issues such as Medicare For All,

Saturday, January 16, 2021

Altadena Library Board Seeks Applicants for New Community Facilities District Committee

STAFF REPORT

The Altadena Library District Board of Trustees said Friday it is now accepting applications for the newly created seat(s) on the Community Facilities District Committee, which was formed to oversee the assessment and funding of future capital improvement projects.

In August 2020, the Board of Trustees adopted resolutions establishing the Altadena Library District  Community Facilities District (CFD) and deeming it necessary for the CFD to incur a bonded indebtedness to finance capital improvements of certain public facilities if approved by the community in a special election. Measure Z was approved by the community in the November 2020  election by over a 2/3 majority vote, which authorizes the CFD “to levy $0.10/square foot for single-family residences annually, with different rates for other property types, raising approximately  $2,600,000 annually until ended by voters; bond issuance/appropriation limit of $24,000,000;  requiring oversight/audits, low-income exemptions, and all funds staying local,”  (www.altadenalibrary.org/MeasureZ).

This CFD Committee, formed by the Board of Trustees in December 2020,

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Stabbing Suspect Fatally Shot by Deputies in Altadena Identified as Pasadena Man

BY BRIAN DAY

[Updated]  Authorities on Tuesday released the identity of a Pasadena man who was shot and killed by deputies after he stabbed an elderly woman, then charged at the deputies with a knife over the weekend in Altadena, authorities said.

Allen Mirzayan, 48, died following the deputy-involved shooting, which took place shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday along Figueroa Drive, at Lincoln Avenue, according to Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner Coroner spokeswoman Sara Ardalani.

Just before the shooting, he had stabbed a 78-year-old woman using a walker in the lower back, Lt. Barry Hall of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau said. A motive for the attack was unclear. Mirzayan and the woman were not believed to have known one another.

Witnesses flagged down a passing deputy and informed him what had just happened, pointing out the suspect and the victim, he said.

Mirzayan turned his aggression toward the deputy and began stabbing at the deputy’s patrol car while he sat inside,

Monday, January 11, 2021

Man Fatally Shot After Stabbing Woman, Charging Deputies With Knife in Altadena: Officials

BY BRIAN DAY

Deputies shot and killed a man who investigators say stabbed and wounded a woman before charging the deputies with a knife in Altadena on Sunday afternoon.

The shooting took place just after 4 p.m. in the 2400 block of Figueroa Drive, near Lincoln Avenue, according to Deputy Tracy Koerner of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Information Bureau.

Witnesses flagged down a deputy and directed them to a woman who had just been stabbed by a man, Koerner said in a written statement. The woman was hospitalized with stab wounds to her upper back. An update on her condition was not available.

An additional unit responded and the deputies located the male suspect holding a knife nearby,” he said. “When the deputies attempted to detain the suspect at gunpoint, he raised the knife and charged at the deputies and a deputy-involved shooting occurred.”

Paramedics pronounced the suspect dead at the scene.

No further details were available.

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Man Killed in Altadena Deputy-Involved Shooting

STAFF REPORT | PHOTO BY RMG NEWS

A man reportedly was killed in Altadena during a deputy-involved shooting Sunday afternoon about 4:08 p.m.

A second person was transported to a hospital, Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said.

Social media reports indicate that person may have been stabbed.

It is unknown what led up to the shooting.

News reports showed a body in the street near the intersection of Lincoln Ave and Figueroa Dr. in Altadena.

More as available \ Sheriff’s Department has not issued a statement as of this time

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

L.A. County Development Authority Launches Webinar Program To Help Businesses

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The Los Angeles County Development Authority announced Wednesday it is launching a webinar program to help businesses navigate economic uncertainty amid COVID-19 and prepare for a post-pandemic economy.

The series of webinars offering support and resources will begin on Jan. 12, according to LACDA officials.

The BizHelp Program is in collaboration with three local technical assistance providers — Acelera Advisory Group, the Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment and the Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corporation.

The groups will host webinars on securing financial resources, operating post-pandemic, understanding basics in accounting and bookkeeping and improving business owners’ credit.

“Local small businesses in the County of Los Angeles continue to face obstacles when it comes to securing resources,” Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda L. Solis said. “By lifting up this sector, we can spur innovation, bring back jobs, preserve community character, encourage development and ensure generational prosperity.”

Business operators have to register to participate in the program.

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

L.A. County Supervisors Expand Rent Relief Program, Extend Eviction Moratorium

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Anticipating Los Angeles County’s fair share of $25 billion in federal rent relief, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously today to extend and expand both a local rent relief program and eviction moratorium.

Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn co-authored a motion calling for more flexibility in the rent relief program, which will now also be extended for another year — through Dec. 31.

“Hundreds of thousands are struggling to pay their rent on time or even to pay it at all,” Hahn said.

The relief program and moratorium will not impact Pasadena which has its own rent moratorium. However, it would place restrictions on landlords in Altadena and nearby unincorporated areas.

Solis said the changes would expand eligibility and align the county’s program with conditions that apply to new federal relief dollars.

“Since the program launched, many constituents have reached out to my office pleading for help as landlords refuse to receive direct payments from the Los Angeles County Development Authority,