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Pasadena News: Week of Nov. 12

Pasadena Police Officer Praised for Not Shooting Armed Man

A Pasadena Police officer was praised for not shooting a man who had a gun pointed at him on Tuesday evening, according to pasadenastarnews.com.

Officer Louis Luevano did not reach for his weapon when the incident occurred, but instead took cover and called for backup, Pasadena Police Lt. Mark Goodman said.

Luevano was responding to a possible domestic violence call in the 700 block of Santa Barbara Street around 7 p.m. 

A man with a shotgun confronted Luevano at the door.

“He put a round in the chamber and pointed [the shotgun] in the direction of the officer,” Goodman said.

Goodman said the officer went to one side of the duplex, found cover and called for emergency assistance.

The suspect later surrendered and was arrested.

  Pasadena City College Gets New Public Relations Director After Years of Scandal

Pasadena City College recently hired a new director of public relations following more than five years of a hostile campus climate and multiple administrative scandals, pcccourier.com reports.

Alex Boekelheide, the new director of the recently rebranded Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing, is setting the stage to cast the school in a more positive light.

He comes to PCC after heading communications at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Journalism and running UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs communications department. 

“There’s so much good going on here,” Boekelheide said, “but we can’t have it all just land in the crowded media environment of Pasadena.”

PCC’s previous public relations head, Valerie Wardlaw, left the college in September 2014, months after presiding over the school’s response to the commencement speaker controversy involving alumnus and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black.

“It’s been a rough couple years and the campus is ready to turn a page,” Boekelheide said. “The quality of the instruction and the enthusiasm the community has for PCC is top notch. Seeing that and being able to build on it is really exciting.”

 Man Stabbed While Walking in Pasadena

A man stabbed a passing man in an unprovoked attack on Wednesday, pasadenastarnews.com reports.

A 41-year-old Pasadena man was walking down Los Robles Avenue, just south of Woodbury Road, at about 5 a.m. and felt a sharp pain in his back, Pasadena police Lt. John Luna said.

He was treated for a minor wound in the hospital. Police are still looking for the assailant.

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Pasadena News Week Nov. 5

Body of Missing Pasadena Woman Found

A Pasadena woman that went missing last week was found dead in her car on Monday, according to pasadenastarnews.com.

22-year-old Katherine Rose Wing was found with a note and a barbecue in her car, which indicates possible suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. 

The Los Angeles County Department of the Medical Examiner has not yet officially determined the cause of death. 

Pasadena City College Board of Trustees Elects Two New Members

The Pasadena City College Board of Trustees elected two new members to its table, according to pcccourier.com. 

Hoyt Hilsman, the new area 4 representative, outvoted the two-term incumbent Bill Thomson by twice as many tallies. Hilsman’s win is the first time in 32 years that an incumbent has lost to a newcomer. 

In the district two race to replace the retiring trustee of 32 years, Jeanette Mann, PCCFA choice Tom Selinske holds a slight edge over educator James Osterling of just three votes, 1,721 to 1,718, the Courier reports. Online votes are still being counted. 

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Pasadena News Week Oct. 15

Pasadena Teacher Named in Molestation Case Under District Investigation

A Pasadena Unified School District elementary teacher, named in a new civil lawsuit for allegedly sexually abusing seven students, is being investigated by the district despite no formal charges by prosecutors, Pasadenastarnews.com reports.

The lawsuit reports that the Cleveland Elementary School teacher had students “hug him goodbye” and rubbed their backs. But the Los Angeles County court documents do not constitute his actions as a crime because of a lack of charges by the District Attorney’s office or disciplinary action from the school district.

The lawsuit, filed on Oct. 2, seeks damages from the school district for negligence on not responding to multiple “red flags” that alerted students and parents that the teacher was allegedly abusing children at the school.

“There is no evidence whatsoever of sexually related dialogue, or of touching other body areas,…” the document reads.

 High Speed Chase Ends with Officer Beating up Man After Pursuit

Footage of a police officer repeatedly punching a man lying on the ground after a high-speed chase pursuit through the San Gabriel Valley and ending in Pasadena, according to television footage from KTLA and CCBS earlier today.

The video shows a San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department officer punching a man who fell to the ground. Once the officer was on top of him, he threw numerous punches surrounding the man’s head, latimes.com reports. It is unclear if the man being punched was in fact driving the car that was in the high-speed chase, which began in Rancho Cucamonga.

The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department has had its fair share of police brutality cases this year, one which ended in three officers being terminated following an investigation of a man beaten by them in April 2015.

 Fire Without Known Cause Burns Garages

Nearly $30,000 worth of property went up in flames when a fire lit up detached garages on the 100 block of West Glenarm Street in Pasadena on Monday, according to pasadenanow.com.

The Pasadena Fire Department stopped the fire within 20 minutes of their arrival on Monday afternoon. Two garages were completely charred. No injuries were reported at the site.  Causes of the fire remain unknown as investigation pursues.

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Pasadena News Week of Oct. 1

Task Force Urges More Oversight after $6.4 Million Embezzlement in Pasadena

A newly formed task force in Pasadena urged the city’s Board of Trustees that more oversight was needed to avoid future scandals after a former employee siphoned $6.4 million from city funds on Wednesday, according to Pasadenastarnews.com.

The Task Force on Financial Administration and Internal Controls, which was formed in February, concluded that because of an environment of complacency and ignorance, former city employee Danny Wooten was able to create hundreds of fraudulent invoices in the last 11 years charging the city without anyone noticing.

The city is urged to hire an internal auditor to prevent more financial mishaps in the future, the task force said.

 Pasadena City College Football Players Arrested, Accused of Armed Robbery

Two Pasadena City College (PCC) football players were arrested with a Pasadena resident by city detectives on charges of robbing and assaulting a man two weeks ago, according to pasadenastarnews.com.

Nathaniel Degraffinreaidt, 20, Jett Even, 19, and Taije Glenn-Akles, 25, were booked with charges of beating a 20-year-old man and robbing him on Sept. 14 near the 300 block of South Sierra Madre Boulevard, the police report states.

PCC’s head football coach Thom Kaumeyer declined to comment on the arrest of the two football players.

The three are scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 29.

 Pasadena City College Ranked First in State for Awarding Associate Degrees  

Pasadena City College (PCC) was ranked first in California for awarding associate degrees, according to a report from the United States Department of Education released on Wednesday.

PCC is the top of 113 California community colleges and is 22nd in the nation for giving associate degrees to its students based on its 2013-2014 academic year.

The college awarded more than 2,500 degrees, which is a 57 percent increase from the 2012-2013 numbers, according to pcccourier.com.

PCC’s vice president of student services Cynthia Olivo credited the increase in degree awards to a bolstering of programs to keep students on track for graduation and transfers.

“I think because we are working in a really concerted effort to help students navigate course requirements and providing them support—that’s why our data is better than in the past,” Olivo told the Courier.

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Pasadena News: Week of Sept. 14, 2015

Pasadena City College Reinstates Winter Intersession 

Illustration by Keely Damara, pcccourier.com.

The Public Education Relations Board (PERB) ordered the Pasadena City College (PCC) District to reinstate a winter intercession to its calendar after nearly four years of grueling debate, protests and stalemated negotiations between the District and its Faculty Association (FA).

Winter intersession will be included in the 2016 – 2017 academic calendar, according to a statement made earlier this week by PCC’s vice president of academic affairs Robert Bell.  

According to its report published on July 30 this year, PERB declared the college had violated the rights of the FA by excluding them from negotiating the deletion of a winter intersession in 2011.

“The District failed to meet and negotiate in good faith over a trimester academic calendar [for the 202-2013 academic year], which it adopted while still meeting and negotiating thereon with PCCFA,” the report notes.

Infant Girl Hit By Crashing Drone: FAA Opens Investigation

The falling drone in Pasadena hit an 11-month-old infant girl on Saturday will be investigated by the Federal Aviation Association (FAA), according to reports from latimes.com.

Authorities explained the privately owned drone crashed down and hit the girl while being pushed by her mother in a stroller on Marengo Ave. The drone’s owner said he lost control of the craft while attending a Pasadena City Hall meeting. The FAA said it would look into the incident. If the owner — whose name is kept confidential pending the investigation — is found guilty of violating federal law, he faces charges up to $25,000.

Pasadena Announces Launch of “China Ready” Program

The Pasadena City Council announced its launch of a program aimed at attracting Chinese tourists during its Sept. 15 meeting, according to pasadenastarnews.com.

Mayor Terry Tornek explained that the “China Ready” initiative’s plan on attracting an Asian audience in Pasadena is a sign that the city is embracing its diversity.

“The fastest growing population in Pasadena is, in fact, Asian-Americans, and so we welcome them. We embrace them,” he said at the meeting.

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Pasadena News: Week of Sept. 7, 2015

Pasadena City College’s Paralegal Program Reapproved

The American Bar Association (ABA) reapproved Pasadena City College’s (PCC) paralegal program for the fifth consecutive time since its first accreditation by it in 1995, according to pcccourier.com. The program must meet rigorous standards in order for it to be accredited by the ABA. According to the article, there are less than 30 paralegal programs in the state, and less than 12 in the Los Angeles area, making PCC’s competitive edge more advantageous with the ABA’s approval.  

CalTech Beats USC, UCLA as Part of Top 10 in U.S. News World Report

California Institute of Technology tied for tenth place with the University of Pennsylvania as one of the best universities in the country, according to the U.S. News & World Report’s listing on Tuesday, Sept. 9. University of California, Los Angeles and University of Southern California both tied for 23rd best college in the country, according to the report. Rankings are based on general accreditation, university mission and accessibility. 

Tree Falling at KidSpace Museum Linked to Drought, Report Finds

The gargantuan 85-foot pine that crashed down at the KidSpace Museum and left two attending children critically injured in Pasadena late July fell because of   weak roots and a sudden downpour, a local arborist reported on Thursday, Sept. 10. 

“California is currently in its fourth year of drought, where it is receiving abnormally low rainfall amounts. This probably resulted in the Italian stone pine not receiving adequate amounts of water,”arborist Ted Lubeshkoff told the Los Angeles Times. 

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Pasadena and How I Plan to Cover it

I plan on covering the city of Pasadena. I was the Editor of the local community college —Pasadena City College — for a year, and have strong ties with the college and City Hall. Pasadena has more than 139,000 residents that live within its 22.5 square miles, according to its most recent data pool in 2013. About 55 percent of the population is white, 33 percent Latino/a, 13 percent African-American, 12 percent Asian and less than half are indigenous, according to the Pasadena City website.

I plan on using a variety of sources to gain thorough coverage of Pasadena.

The following are my intended news sources:

Pasadena City College Courier: The student-run news source is both online and in print. This paper gives insight to the educational politics of the college and oftentimes-surrounding news within the major city.

City of Pasadena Website: I plan on following the city Board of Trustees to track possible news and see upcoming events in the community.

Pasadena Police Department Website: I also plan on looking into the police records to catch stories that I may write on my own without heavily relying on other news outlets writing on the same story.

Pasadena Star News: This regional newspaper has been around for more than a century, and has a strong reach to communities including San Gabriel, Temple City, Arcadia and Pasadena. A more general audience may give a more general story of events, which will aid me in seeing the big picture of overarching stories from the Pasadena website.

Los Angeles Times: I plan on using this newspaper to get a more broad sense of a story and how it may affect other parts of the Greater Los Angeles community, and even the state. 

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A Little About Me

Ever since I was a kid, I loved written word. I would sit in the backseat of my dad’s car and read the signs of various shops, street names, license plates and billboards. I loved imagining what each word meant. And now, I love being able to put meaning behind the words I write. 

I am a senior Journalism student with a dream of telling stories that matter. I transferred from Pasadena City College with a head start in news coverage after leaving my post as the Editor of the Courier newspaper in 2013. 

I didn’t want to lose my writing rhythm from two years on the paper, so I hunted for a writing position here at CSUN. I was lucky to be picked as a news feature writer for CSUN Today, the university’s news source, run by Marketing and Communications. To this day, I love writing about the successes that come out of CSUN. 

As of May 2015, I have also been an intern for National Geographic Learning, where I help coordinate special events for NatGeo programs and nonprofits that get featured on the channel. 

With a year and a half left under my belt, I am ecstatic to get out into the workforce prepared to the hilt.