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Pasadena Press
MONDAY, JULY 7, 2014 - JULY 13, 2014
pasadenapress.com
Arcadia Firefighter died from fall, coroner says By Terry Miller Ventura County Sheriff’s Department announced last Friday that Arcadia Fire Department Firefighter/Paramedic Mike Herdman’s body was found and recovered last Friday morning in rugged terrain approximately 1200 feet above the Sespe River outside of Fillmore. Herdman died instantly after falling from a cliff in the Sespe Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest, the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office disclosed Tuesday morning. Hermman had been dead for at least a few days and his injuries were “consistent with a significant fall,” according to Chief Deputy Medical Examiner Armando Chavez. Herdman’s body was spotted by a helicopter search crew who noticed “something that didn’t belong” in the very rugged terrain near Sespe Creek, according to a Ventura County Sheriff‘s dept. spokesperson. The body was airlifted to Ventura County M.E.’s office, where the identity was confirmed with
VOLUME 1, NO. 10
Football clinic draws hundreds of area kids to Robinson Park By SHEL SEGAL
to a new inspection database on the City’s website. The database is online at http:// decadeonline.com/main. phtml?agency=PAS. Permanent food facilities that will receive the new placards include restaurants, markets, bakeries, bars, school cafeterias, commissaries and retail food processing facilities. The businesses are required to publicly display the placards.
More than 100 kids from Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley attended a free half-day football clinic last Saturday on Robinson Park that was sponsored by the Tournament of Roses and Northwestern Mutual. Led by college football coaches from several area universities–such as Pasadena City College–the kids, aged 5 to 14, took part in agility drills, offensive and defensive training, and character development. With around 150 kids at the clinic, Richard Chinen, president of the Tournament of Roses, said it was great his organization was able to help partner with others and put on this event. “It’s great to be able to have them engage with us,” said Chinen, who added this is the fifth year for the event. “We’re doing this for the community. We’re a community organization. We started with a parade, then we had chariot races. Now, we’ve got a football game and football’s huge. It’s great for the kids to be able to participate in something Pasadena is known for. What better way to give back to the community and these kids than to host something like this.” He added he thinks the kids will have a great time at the clinic. “I think they get a lot out of this,” he said. “You’ve got a lot of top-notch clinicians.
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Schoolchildren walk past Arcadia Fire Headquarters’ makeshift memorial for firefighter Mike Herdman. Herdman, who was found dead in the wilderness on Friday, was a 7 year veteran of the Arcadia fire dept. -Photo by Terry Miller
dental records. Herdman, 36, may have tried to climb the cliff in the dark and fell, according to the sheriff. The death was ruled accidental. The examiner’s office will release a full report in the next 30 days. Search and rescue teams found Herdman’s body June 27 a short distance from where he and fellow Arcadia firefighter Taylor Byars were camping on a four-day hiking trip. Herdman went missing after chasing after his dog, Duke, roughly two days into the four-
day trip. Byars hiked out of the wilderness two days later after spending the first day trying to find his friend, according to the sheriff’s department. Mr. Byars made his way out of the wilderness area and notified authorities on the evening of Sunday, June 15, 2014. Beginning on Monday June 16, 2014, the Ventura County Sheriff and Fire Department, along with hundreds of volunteer Search and Rescue personnel searched for Mike Herdman concluding with the recovery of Please see page 2
New health inspection pass / fail placards debut in Pasadena New inspection placards for public display in Pasadena’s restaurants and other permanent food facilities will be issued by the City’s Public Health Department beginning July 1, 2014. The placards will indicate a facility’s status of Pass, Conditional Pass or Closed at the time of the inspection. The new placards showing Pass or Conditional Pass will have numeric scores displayed that were received as part of
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the inspections. Placards showing a Closed status means an inspection revealed there was an imminent health hazard that required closure or that the permit was suspended due to non-compliance. Closed placards will indicate the reason for closure instead of a numerical score. All placards will include a special “QR” code that can be scanned with a smart phone app for additional information about the food facility linked