altadenablog

Altadenan Kousser wins Caltech's Feynman Prize

from Caltech Media Relations:

Altadena resident J. Morgan Kousser, professor of history and social science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), has been awarded the Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching—Caltech's most prestigious teaching honor.


Kousser was selected for his "exceptional ability to draw science and engineering students to appreciate the intellectual rigors of legal thought."

The Feynman Prize was established in 1993 "to honor annually a professor who demonstrates, in the broadest sense, unusual ability, creativity, and innovation in undergraduate and graduate classroom or laboratory teaching." Any member of the Caltech community, including faculty, students, postdoctoral scholars, alumni, and staff, may nominate a faculty member for the award, and the winner is selected by a committee appointed by the provost.

"Although people outside Caltech are sometimes shocked to find that we teach history and political science, English, economics, and philosophy, undergraduates here can get close attention from internationally known professors much more easily than at almost any other college in the U.S.," says Kousser. "Winning the Feynman Prize is a recognition of how much great teaching goes on in the humanities and social sciences division at Caltech and how central our division is to the undergraduate experience at Caltech."

Morning jolt

• ACONA dates: Elliot Gold at the Altadena Coalition of Neighborhood Associations reminds us that they've yet to pick a date for the next meeting.  Potentials are; Tues., Aug. 9, Tues., Aug. 23, and Mon., Sept. 19.  He's also looking for meeting topics.  If you're involved in your neighborhood association, send him an email at elliot@telespan.com
• Summer camp: Two Dragons Martial Arts, 2490 N. Lake Ave., will hold a martial arts summer camp, Mon-Fri from June 20 to Aug. 27, 8 AM-6 PM.  For more information, call 398-8853.
• Eliot fundraiser: There will be a fundraiser for Eliot Middle School next Wed.,June 8, at El Patron restaurant: 15% of your lunch or dinner bill that day will go towards the school.  Come on out and support Eliot (and El Patron).
• Open Road: LA Times says that the Angeles Crest Highway out of  La Canada could open as early as Friday.
• Young Poet: Maya Young Wong of Altadena is the national winner of the  14th Annual “Celebrate America” Creative Writing Contest of The American Immigration Council for her poem "My Grandfather Ben.”  The full story and a link to the complete poem are available here.
• CHP officer recovering: PSN reports that Altadena-area CHP Officer J.D. Fields is recovering after being struck by a vehicle and thrown from his motorcycle.

Altadena Ale & WIne House bunco tourney to support Relay for Life

Join the Altadena Ale & Wine House this Saturday from 3-5:50 PM (yes, you read that right) in a fundraiser bunco tournament to raise money for its American Cancer Society Relay for Life team.

Tickets are $20 -- your donation includes a drink (draught beer, house wine, or soda), food, and a chance to win prizes, but you must  RSVP to Julie: sdsujulie@hotmail.com or call (626) 794-4577

The Altadena Ale & Wine House is at 2329 Fair Oaks Ave, Altadena.

Pasadena PD holds heliport open house in Altadena Sat.

The Pasadena Police Department is holding its annual Operations Section Open House at the Benedict Heliport (located at 2175 Yucca Lane, Altadena, just off the 210 Freeway at the Arroyo /Windsor offramp)  on Sat., June 4, 11 AM-2 PM.

Displays will include police helicopters, motorcycles, mobile command vehicle, armored rescue vehicle, K9's, SWAT equipment, and crime scene investigations. Also get a chance to meet the flight crews and learn about the Air Operations Section and the benefits they provide through airborne law enforcement

There will be SWAT and K9 demonstrations at 12 and 1 PM,  employment services will be on hand to discuss career opportunities, food and beverages will be provided, and there will be fingerprinting services provided for children. 

Help St. Mark's Girl Scouts as they help out the Humane Society's dogs

St. Mark's Girl Scout Troop 643 is working toward their Bronze Award by joining with the Pasadena Humane Society for "Pet Adoption Day" at the appropriately-named Three Dog Bakery at 36 W. Colorado Blvd. in Old Town Pasadena.

The event will be Sat., June 4, 10 AM-2 PM.

The troop is looking for donations of old towels and blankets, food, toys and treats for the dogs.  All donations will go to the Pasadena Humane Society.  If people want to donate but can't come the day of the event, email meyer2140@sbcglobal.net to arrange for a pickup.  And yes, there will be dogs available for adoption (we've adopted two dogs from the Humane Society, and it could be the best thing you do all year!).

Neighbor captures spectacular power outage photos

Community correspondent Ken J Johnson took these pictures of the spectacular explosion and fire in his neighborhood Friday that knocked out the power and sent the fire department scrambling in.

Johnson tell us:

You will see how the connection overloaded and as it failed put more pressure on other connections, the wire breaks and lands in the oak tree causing the whole pole with crossbeam to rotate when the tension is released. The fireman finally can attack the fire with water / foam after the power is turned off - the voltage could follow the stream of water thru the fireman to ground.  The Edison people came around midnight and worked thru the next morning to reattach the wire.  Finally they connected us back to the gird at about 2 PM Saturday afternoon.

The culprit: A weak connector.  These lines have been here since 1959.  This could happen again on any block.  We need to write congress to have them pressure Edison to update these wires so this doesn't happen during Santa Ana conditions.

We know that Edison has been upgrading the power lines around Altadena for the past couple of years, but obviously their work isn't done.  With the Santa Ana winds -- and the increased draw on power for air conditioning during hot summer days -- there's always the possibility of more of these. More pictures after the jump.

St. Mark's Parish celebrates school's 50th anniversary Sun.

from St. Mark's Parish Altadena:

On Sun., June 5, St. Mark’s Parish will give thanks for 50 years of ministry at Saint Mark’s School. The Rev. Betsy Hooper-Rosebrook, the School Chaplain, will preach, and Dr. Doreen Oleson, Head of School, will participate in recognizing this milestone.

School families present and past are invited to join us for the celebration at any of the morning’s services: 7:45, 9:00, and 10:30 AM. If you have preschoolers, you might find the 9:00 a.m. service most appropriate, as it is particularly designed with young children in mind. Have a 50th anniversary t-shirt?...show your Saint Mark’s colors and wear it, or a fall fair t-shirt from years gone by. See you there!

St. Mark's Parish is at 1014 E. Altadena Dr.

Critterdena: Out, foxing

Community correspondent Steve Gerow saw this rare visitor yesterday morning on the Sam Merill Trail: a gray fox, about 200 yards from Lake Ave.

Town council elections June 11

Time to start thinking about the town council elections coming up: pre-voting is June 7 (for those who can't vote on Saturday) and the election itself is June 11. 

Candidates Greg Middleton and Rebecca Haussling, who are both running for the seat in CT 4602, are both telling why you should vote for them on our town council election page, which also has polling location information and candidate statements for all who are running.

We encourage any other candidates who wish to make their campaign pitch to voters to email us (pictures are welcome, too) and we will put them up on the election page. 

 

Bowling for dolllars

The Altadena Sheriffs and the combined Altadena little leagues faced off in a fundraiser at 300 Bowl in Pasadena for the second year in a row.  Besides earning money for the little league programs, it was an excuse to have some fun on a late spring day.

 
Little leaguers line up to get their bowling balls and play.  More pictures after the jump.

Catchup time!

Got caught in multiple projects yesterday, so we have a lot of catching up to do today!