Got the announcement this afternoon that Altadena’s head sheriff is blowin’ town.  Here’s his official email, complete with his signature statement:

The purpose of this email is to advise you that I will be retiring from
the Sheriff’s Department effective March 31, 2010.
 
You are a great group of folks and it has been an honor and privilege to
have served with you as part of the LASD family.
 
Thank you for allowing me to share this part of my life with you.
 
Sincerely,

CAPTAIN ROOSEVELT BLOW
ALTADENA SHERIFF’S STATION

In order to be a Great LEADER, one must first learn how to FOLLOW.

Adopt the VISION, press toward the MARK, and  your path of LEADERSHIP
shall be clear.

More details and I’m sure a helluva party to come.

Here is some useful info from our supervisor’s office.

DATE: December 10, 2009

RESIDENTS IN BURN AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE MORE ENCOUNTERS WITH WILDLIFE

ARCADIA, CA – County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich and County pest
management experts remind residents in the foothills and near the recent
wildfire burn areas to be cautious about wild animals that may have been
displaced by the Station Fire and subsequent debris flows.  Coyotes,
mountain lions, bobcats, bears, and other animals may find their way
into residential areas looking for food, water and shelter.

The best way residents can prevent wild animals from frequenting
residential property is not to leave any food outside. This includes pet
food, and pets themselves, which wild animals may consider food. Pick up
fallen fruit on your property and harvest your gardens regularly. It is
important to keep garbage containers tightly covered. Residents should
never intentionally feed wild animals, as doing so creates a danger for
residents and teaches the wild animal to depend on humans.

Additional Safety Tips:

● Do not approach wild animals, even small young ones, no matter how
“cute” the animal appears.
● Consider hiking, biking or jogging with a partner.
● Try to avoid jogging or hiking near wildlife areas when wildlife is
most active: dusk, nighttime, and
   dawn.
● Keep a close watch on small children.
● Clear brush and dense weeds on your property.
● If your property is infested with rodents, consider control
measures as rodents can attract hungry
   predators.

For immediate threats or serious injury, call 9-1-1. For concerns over
sightings or evidence of wild animals, contact one of the authorities
listed below.

County of Los Angeles Pest Management
Coyote Information: http://acwm.co.la.ca.us/scripts/coyo.htm
Or, for more information on coyotes, rodents, or similar pests, call
(626) 575-5462 (Monday through Thursday, business hours)

California Department of Fish and Game (Mountain Lions, Bears,
Bobcats.)
Keep Me Wild: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/keepmewild/
(916) 322-8911

County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care & Control
Wild Animal Information: http://animalcare.lacounty.gov/wildinfo.asp
Shelter Information: http://animalcare.lacounty.gov/locationbycity.asp
Pasadena Humane Society
www.phsspca.org
(626) 792-7151

Glendale Humane Society
www.glendalehumane.org
(818) 242-1128

San Gabriel Valley Humane Society
www.sgvhumane.org
(626) 286-1159

Established in 1881, ACWM protects consumers and the environment
through early detection and exclusion of dangerous, invasive insect and
plant pests; enforcement of laws and regulations regarding safe
pesticide use; operation of an environmental toxicology laboratory;
clearance of weeds, brush, and debris from vacant land to reduce fire
hazards; inspection and verification of accuracy of scales, meters,
price scanners, and quantity labeling on packaged goods.
# # # #

From Carolyn and the Sheriff station:

A variation on the behavior of some burglars has been reported.  I don’t know at this point in which part of Altadena the incident occurred, but at approximately 2:30 am on Wednesday morning, a resident was awakened by the sounds of a woman in distress at the front door.

The woman at the door said she and her baby needed help.

As the resident was talking to the woman through the door, a man was attempting entry at the rear of her home.

If you have a similar experience, call the sheriff’s station first and then holler through the door – “don’t worry, I’ve called the sheriff for you.”

That has been a deterrent in some areas.

Altadena Sheriff’s Station – 626 798 1131.  You can stop in at the Sheriff’s Station and ask for stickers with the Sheriff’s Station’s phone number that you can put on your phone, so when something happens, you don’t have to try to remember the number.  It’ll be on your phone.

Stay safe!

Sorry for late notice, but I’ve been out of town.

As if we haven’t had enough fires and other emergencies to wake us up, right? But I bet most of you don’t have your emergency plans in place still. Tonight at the Altadena Community Center, 7-9 p.m., learn how you can remedy that and prepare for the next emergency or disaster.

The Community Center is at 730 E. Altadena Dr., next door to the Sheriff station.

From Carolyn,

There is some good news to report about the Station Fire – good for Altadena, not so good for some of our neighboring communities.

For Altadena, there are no more Mandatory Evacuation orders in place, and no Altadena areas are on the list of locations open to residents only. The entire Eastern Boundary of the Angeles National Forest will be closed effective 12:00 pm on September 3, 2009 until full containment of the Station Fire.

The only road closure left for Altadena is Chaney Trail, at the Angeles National Forest gate.

So, I hope we can all recoup and rest today and prepare to have some fun this weekend with the all the arts events going on.

FUN FUN FUN

Altadena Junction has artist Alex Schaefer painting 20 minute portraits Friday night. Here are details:

Event:  Alex Schaefer will be painting 20 minute oil portraits from life!
      “Sit and get painted.”
Where: Altadena Junction
Start Time: Friday, September 4 at 7:00pm
End Time: Friday, September 4 at 11:00pm
To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=127153009820&mid=107c5f4G3bec90a3Gd8e501G7

Project Altadena will be up for viewing! Sponsored by the Altadena Arts Coalition, the prints from Altadenans who scoured the town with disposable cameras to capture their personal views (one of whom would be me), will be available for viewing beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday in the alley behind Altadena Hardware.

The Gallery at the End of the World has a show opening tonight! And nobody does an art opening better than Ben! http://www.galleryattheendoftheworld.com/

And Sunday, the fabulous Carol Channing plays at the Altadena Community Church to help them raise funds for a new roof. I was going to go, but another commitment will prevent that. But I’ll be out Friday and Saturday enjoying the fun!

And stop by the great businesses on Lake near the Gallery, like Websters Fine Stationers. Lori has brought it beautiful, locally made cards, custom decorative signage companies, and more. Won’t find what she has anywhere else nearby.

See you in Altadena!

KPCC is staying on top of things. Fire Dept. briefing at 10am and Gov. Schwarzenegger is being briefed by CalFire at the same time. Effort underway to protect the transmitters at Mt. Wilson and the Acton area.

No point in calling this the La Canada fire when it’s over Altadena. Here are some more pix from today. I’ve got still more to post, but tomorrow. I’m beat. Fun, crazy, scary day.

Cruised around again, from Lake to the east to Glenrose to the west. Scary out there!

Pal Bob is in an evacuation area but hasn’t left yet. Access to northwest Altadena is blocked at many streets to allow the firefighters to work. Here are some more pix. The WhiteOut billboard is getting some unexpected attention. Where the hell is the TV coverage? Local news? On the weekend? Not when you need it! Stay tuned to our blogs!

Watch via the Mt. Wilson Web Cam here http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~obs/towercam.htm

I’ve taken some pix from the 9th floor library at Caltech. Will post later.

Here’s an update that’s now about two hours old

Here’s an update from Alice Wessen on the fire.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Per J Lopez of LA County Fire, 30 minutes ago the fire jumped to the east side of the Arroyo and is slooowly creeping towards the northwest part of Altadena ie Meadows, Florecita etc.

Per emergency notice at JPL, JPL is not in immediate danger.

I just talked with Greg Stanton of Meadows Fire Safe Council. They have notified their neighbors to prepare for evacuation just in case. The fire is one mile away from the Meadows area

Alice

It’s nice to be back in the Altadena community loop after taking a brief time out to tend to my husband’s health.

First, hubby’s doing well. Cancer’s a crazy journey but so far all is going as well as possible at City of Hope.

Got some good info from the Sheriff the other night. We’re all aware of the recent shootings and increased gang activity.  The sheriffs have been all over it, as have other units like COPS.  Please be sure to report any suspicious activity to the station, 798-1131.

Here are a few random things I learned the other night. Did you know…

You can’t park a car in the same place on a public street for more than 72 hours?

No parking of commercial vehicles is allowed on public streets anywhere in Altadena? Apparently a lot of them are being parked on Fair Oaks near Woodbury. The badged men in khaki will be out with citation pads.

Check out www.crimereports.com for the latest crime info in Altadena, and anywhere else.

This Sunday at 2:30p.m. the Sheriffs Memorial Torch Relay Run for fallen officers concludes at the Altadena station. A barbeque and fun is on the celebration docket.  

Also, you can check out http://www.lasd.org/sheriffnews/sheriff-news.html to see the latest news bulletins from the Sheriff’s office for the Altadena area.

And good news from C. Jake  at the Altadena Chamber of Commerce:

On Wednesday, May 27, the Chamber will hold a reception to present scholarships to two Blair IB Magnet High School seniors, Kyoko Harris and Jordan Mitchell. Congratulations! Education is the answer. I’m a member of the Elks which awards more scholarships than any other organization except the U.S. Government.  To attend the reception or get more info, contact the Chamber at 626-794-3988.

Over and out for now…

Gypsies sound exotic, but when they’re in Altadena, watch out for the scams. This item in from Carolyn Seitz:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is the beginning of summer and true to their history, the gypsies appear to be back in our area. 

I watched them in the Ralph’s parking lot at Hastings Ranch as they blocked a woman’s car in a parking space and were trying to persuade her that they could fix the big dent in her rear bumper and the dent in her front bumper as well as some minor scratches – for only $200.

She said not today.  No money.  They said, no problem, we’ll follow you to your ATM, but we’re only here today and the price is only good today.

I got her attention as I headed in her direction (I was headed in that direction anyway) and she told them no again.  They continued to try to work her.  By the time I walked up, the guy out of the car headed back to the car he arrived in and they left.

They’d followed her around the parking lot until they finally cornered her.

Watch out.

———-

I had my own experience a few years ago with a car repair scam over in La Canada. Same kind of deal, but not as aggressive. Here is some background on gypsies that Carolyn found. Also, Google Gypsies in America and you’ll learn a lot about their specialties and origin.

Carolyn says:

They’ve historically run a few different scams when they get here and this is about the time of the year they show up – sometimes to fix your dents and scratches.  That “fix” will last until the first rain.

They prey on the elderly – offering to fix roof leaks, repave driveways, do home improvements, or fix your car.

They always convey urgency – you have to take their offer right then or the price won’t be the same.

————

I remembered a story a while back involving a group that started with a T who did a housepainting scam. Carolyn dug it up:

I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone talk about where the gypsies that show up here every summer come from.  I wish I knew.  

I just googled gypsy scams southern California and got a mixed bag of “stuff”.   Judd MacIlvain did a story on them in 2002, announcing their arrival in town.

Not all gypsies are crooks or scam artists.  He described a group from the midwest – The Irish Travelers, from Oklahoma and Arkansas.

In 2006, they hit Palos Verdes pretty hard with scams about retaining walls, and then gangs of tree trimmers who would surprise people in their backyards, distract them and then lock them out of their back doors, leaving their front doors unlocked, having stolen personal property.

I think I found your T___ in an article from September 2002 – here it is . . .
DALLAS (AP) _ The tearful testimonial Madelyne Gorman Toogood gave in front of glaring TV cameras after she was videotaped beating her daughter was starkly uncharacteristic of the reclusive, media-shy Irish Travelers culture to which she belongs, experts say. Toogood, who was caught beating her 4-year-old daughter, Martha, in a department store parking lot, said she is a member of the clannish, nomadic culture of Irish descendants, most of whom came to the United States as refugees during the potato famine in the 1840s. “By nature, they’re very reclusive people,” said Joe Livingston, a South Carolina state investigator who has been tracking Travelers for nearly two decades. “They tend to shy away from publicity.”

Some law enforcement experts who have studied the culture paint it as a secret society, fond of material wealth evidenced by gaudy jewelry and new vehicles. Police often associate Travelers with scams involving fraudulent home repair that target the elderly. They tend to use aliases, carry bogus identification cards, and avoid contact with non-Travelers, whom they call “country folk,” authorities said.

But professors and academics said the reclusiveness is a defense mechanism against stereotypes and the ancient persecution that has haunted nomadic peoples throughout history. Travelers, who may be Irish, English, or Scottish, have no more criminals among them than any other ethnic culture, experts said. “If there were, they could not sustain their living,” said Larry Otway, who began studying Irish Travelers in 1977 and has worked as a paralegal and adviser on court cases involving Scottish travelers. What the clans in the culture do share, Otway said, is a nomadic lifestyle, a language called “Scelta” with roots in Gaelic and Romani, an almost “pathologic” devotion to Catholicism, and an anti-bureaucratic form of self government that he describes as a “consensus democracy.”
The largest Traveler settlement is a group of 3,000 in Murphy Village, S.C., experts said. Toogood is believed to belong to the Greenhorn Carrolls, a Traveler group in the Fort Worth area. Estimates of the U.S. Traveler population vary from 20,000 to 100,000. Ian F. Hancock, a professor at the University of Texas who wrote the Irish Travelers entry for the Encyclopedia of the South, said a distraught Toogood called him Thursday seeking advice. “She was scared to turn herself in because she knows very well how the police feel about the Irish Travelers,” said Hancock, who has a reputation as a sympathizer of the group. “She didn’t think she’d get a fair shake and she knew she’d been rough with the child.”

Toogood, who also has two young sons, remains free on a $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 7. If convicted, she faces up to three years in prison. She was scheduled to have a 90-minute supervised meeting with her daughter on Tuesday but the child, who is in foster care, was sick. An attorney for the state said Toogood would be allowed to see Martha on Wednesday if the girl has recovered from the flu.

 
Hancock and other academics said they believe Toogood’s case has been sensationalized by the media because of her ethnicity. “As bad as what she did, and it’s inexcusable, I still think there’s an awful lot of profiling going on,” Hancock said. “Very much is being made of her ethnic background. If she were German American or Italian American, would that even be an issue?”

———–

So there you have it. The gypsies do move around Europe and in France. Friends there say they drive around in Mercedes Benz cars and hunt the local wildlife on anyone’s land without permission among other transgressions.  I’m not bringing this up to spread fear and hatred, just awareness like I would if there were any scam going on. In fact, it’s odd to hear about gypsies here, we just don’t think about them. I’m sure this will bring up a lot of discussion. What do you think?

From Carolyn Seitz and the Sheriff’s Office: “I just heard from Captain Blow that State Parole has begun relocating the 6 paroled child molesters from Risinghill Road.
They should all be relocated by March 3rd.”

Who says a community uprising doesn’t get action?

I was so otherwise occupied I couldn’t cover the parade down Fair Oaks yesterday (Saturday), except to say it was a magnet for some trouble. Around 9am, some ’60s classic cars waited at Fair Oaks and Ventura for the start of the parade and balloons festooned the street around the park. By the afternoon, the story was traffic, arrests, and police everywhere. Robinson Park was filled with people for the food and other booths, but one young guy was arrested in the middle of Fair Oaks at Washington, stopping traffic. And I witnessed other police stops and those who looked like gang members working the streets while families strolled from park to home. Driving on Fair Oaks was not pleasant.

A local group proudly marched in the parade, however. Here’s the story of the Diamondettes: 

http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_8274986

Yes the Giants won…but here’s word of another bomb.

This in from Monica Hubbard…

This morning I had an e-mail inquiry from a friend on Maiden Lane
regarding discovery of a pipe bomb on Saturday afternoon near the
intersection of Dolores and Mt. Curve streets.

Sheriff Blow responded to my e-mail and said that an Altadena resident
out walking found the explosive device in the street and called it
in.  The L.A. County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad responded to the scene and
neutralized the device.

The Sheriff deputies do not know where the device came from or how it got
there.

I called the Sheriff’s Station this afternoon to try to get a little bit
more information.  I was told that Sheriff Station personnel very rarely
find these kinds of devices in our area, but when they do, the devices
are usually close to the mountains, perhaps taken there by individuals
intending to set them off in more remote areas just to see what the
device will do.

Yesterday’s discovery is under investigation.

Sincere thanks to Sheriff Blow and his deputies for their swift response
to the community inquiries.

Monica Hubbard
Member, Altadena Sheriff’s Community Advisory Committee

IF YOU DISCOVER ANY SUSPICIOUS PACKAGES, DO WHAT THE SHERIFFS SAID TO DO AT THE COMMUNITY MEETING — CALL THEM! 798-1131.

That Captain Blow. What a character. Can’t say Blowhard, cuz he talks from enthusiasm and the desire to tell you as much as he can get out — and that’s a lot. The State of Altadena meeting tonight was a true service to the community. All aspects and responsibilities of the station staff were explained with time for lots of questions. Here’s a brief recap.

CALL. That’s it. got a question? complaint? request? observation of suspicious activity? Call, that’s right, CALL the station! Let them know. That was the answer to nearly every question the other night — You’ve got a friend — call! What’s the number? 626-798- 1131.

Did you know?

All calls to the Sheriff’s station are taped? (but you can stay anonymous — just tell them)

The Altadena Sheriff’s station has 68 staff members, 7 of which are civilian? That doesn’t include gang, drug and COPS officers.

COPS stands for Community Police Services? These officers take care of parking and other community issues that drive you crazy.

The Altadena Mountain rescue Team is the oldest and most active in the area? They performed 52 rescues in 2007, logging more than 800 team hours. This year they were at Mountain High for the avalanche rescues and they went to New Orleans for Katrina.

In addition to the Explorer program for high achieving youth, there is a cadet program at Eliot Middle School  for those needing extra tutoring?

You can call and request vacation patrols while you’re away?

Altadena sheriffs have a 60% solve rate for crime? The average is 36%.

More later….