SEE PAGE 2 for annual parking permits expire on jan 1
Pasadena Press pasadenapress.com
MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2014 - JANUARY 4, 2015
Leondra Kruger Becomes Youngest Supreme Court Judge in 100 Years By JENNIFER SCHLUETER Last Monday, Leondra Kruger was unanimously approved as the youngest justice of the California Supreme Court in almost a century. The 38-year old had been nominated by Governor Jerry Brown in November, and will be sworn into office by him on January 5, along with MarianoFlorentino Cuellar, who was confirmed as justice in August. Cuellar will replace retiring Justice Marvin Baxtor and Kruger will fill Justice Joyce Kennard’s seat, who had retired in April. Kruger was appointed by California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye; Attorney General Kamala Harris; and Joan Dempsey Klein, “presiding justice of the second appellate district division three,” who rated her “‘exceptionally well-qualified,’ [which is] the highest ranking a judicial candidate can receive,” according to Courthouse News. Patch.com quoted former Assistant U.S. Solicitor General Benjamin Horwich, who had worked with Kruger: “She listens, she thinks, she listens,
she thinks and then she listens some more.” Cantil-Sakauye, chair of the San Francisco-based court, “called Kruger’s credentials ‘truly stellar,’” according the website. Following an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a law degree from Yale University, Kruger worked as an assistant law professor at the University of Chicago, and practiced privately. The website also reported that she then went to Washington, D.C., where she became “assistant to the U.S. solicitor general and acting principal deputy solicitor general,” and later deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Kruger was born and raised in Glendale; however, has never practiced law in California nor been a judge. Thus, Cantil-Sakauye questioned Kruger about these two lacking fields to which Kruger answered that her work with the Justice Department has exposed her to a variety of legal principles and that she hopes to continue learning and “draw
Leondra Kruger
-Courtesy Photo
on the expertise of her colleagues on the court,” as Patch notes. According to the LA Times, Kruger told California Attorney General Kamala Harris that she was excited “to have the opportunity to come back home” to California. “It is where I was born and raised and where my family still lives,” she added. On the seven member court, Kruger will be one of three Democrats. Additionally, she will be the only African American member. Her colPlease see page 2
Courts Drop Charges against SeaWorld Float Protester On Thursday a Pasadena court dropped all charges against PETA supporter Amanda Slyter, who was arrested in January and charged with “interfering with a special event” for using her body to block the SeaWorld float at the Rose Parade. As you may recall, Slyter was prepared to use the rarely seen “necessity” (or “lesser of two evils” or “greater good”)
defense. Her counsel argued that the cruel capture and lifetime confinement of orcas to SeaWorld’s tiny concrete tanks constitute an emergency that necessitated action—in Slyter’s case, her disruption of SeaWorld’s propaganda plan. “This trial is just one step in the vigorous and growing movement to free the orcas who are cruelly confined at
SeaWorld and denied everything that is natural and important to them at SeaWorld,” says Slyter. “More and more people are demanding that SeaWorld move the orcas to a coastal sanctuary where they would enjoy some semblance of a natural life.” Since the release of the Please see page 2
see page 4 for children enjoy an early hillsides christmas VOLUME 1, NO. 35
Family Struck by Hit-and– Run Driver; Family Dog Dead South Pasadena Police Monday were seeking the public’s help in finding a hit-andrun suspect that injured a San Gabriel Valley family as they were out for an evening walk and killed the family’s dog. The hit and run occured around 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Orange Grove Avenue and Columbia Street in South Pasadena, according to police reports. The driver of a newer model, dark-colored SUV hit “the 40-year-old husband, the 30-year-old mother, their 4-month-old daughter, who was being held in her mother’s arms, and the family dog,” while they were in the crosswalk. The driver stopped momentarily, then fled the scene, police said. The woman suffered a broken nose and her daughter fractured her skull. They both were expected to be released from the hospital Monday and should recover from their injuries, according to officials. The father was treated at the scene for minor injuries. The family’s dog, a 7-yearold Boston terrier named “Babell”, was killed. The South Pasadena Police Department Association has offered to pay for the cremation of the family pet. Anyone with information that could help authorities identify the driver should call the South Pasadena Police Department Detective Bureau at (626) 403-7280.
2 | DECEMBER 29, 2014 - JANUARY 4, 2015
New Supreme Court Judges Continued from page 1
league Cuellar, a law Professor at Stanford University, who also went to Harvard and Yale, will be the only Latino justice. He grew up in a border town in Mexico and, according to several sources, legally walked across the border every day to attend school on a scholarship in Texas. After his father was granted green cards, Cuellar became a citizen in 1994.
Mariano-Florentino Cuellar at the First Annual ACS Student Conference - Photo by Brendan Cohen
SeaWorld Float Protester Continued from page 1
documentary Blackfish, SeaWorld’s stock has dropped 47 percent, and in just the last week, the company’s CEO resigned and more than 300 other employees were laid off.
As for this year’s Rose Parade? There will be no SeaWorld float in sight. More information about PETA’s campaign is available at SeaWorldOfHurt.com.
Change lives. Make wishes come true.
Become a Make-A-Wish ®
VOLUNTEER
Annual Overnight and Daytime Parking Permits Expire Dec. 31, 2014 The public is reminded that annual overnight and daytime parking permits issued by the Pasadena Department of Transportation (DOT) expire Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. Residents are encouraged to renew permits and place new decals on their vehicles by Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015, to avoid being cited. The public can conveniently renew permits online at https:// pasadenaparking.t2hosted.com/ cmn/index.aspx or visit the Parking Office at 221 E. Walnut St., Suite 199. For faster service at the Parking Office, customers are advised to schedule an appointment online athttps://egov1.cityofpasadena.net/apps/DOTApptWeb/ DotAppointment.aspx. For information about annu-
al parking permit costs and qualifications, visit the DOT Parking Division web page at www. cityofpasadena.net/Transportation/Annual_Parking_FAQ. Residents and visitors who need to park on the street for a short period of time can purchase temporary parking permits at any of the City’s five Temporary Overnight/Daytime Parking Exemption Kiosks (TODPEK). The cost is $3 per night and $6 per day. To view TODPEK locations, visit www. cityofpasadena.net/Transportation/Parking_Permits. Visit the City of Pasadena online at www.cityofpasadena. net; follow us on Twitter @ PasadenaGov, and like us on Facebook at www.facebook. com/cityofpasadena.
Santa Brings Cheer to Huntington Hospital Pediatrics Santa brought holiday cheer to Huntington Memorial Hospital on Tuesday, December 16, arriving by armored vehicle. Santa and his helpers passed out presents and visited with children in the hospital’s pediatric unit. A special thank you to Foothill Air Support Team (FAST), Pasadena Police Department, Glendora Police Department,
Pomona Police Department, Covina Police Department, Monrovia Police Department, Arcadia Police Department, Sierra Madre Police Department, San Marino Police Department, Alhambra Police Department and South Pasadena Police Department – who all contributed to get Santa to Huntington Hospital from the North Pole.
Volunteers for Make-A-Wish give their time and talents to help bring hope, strength and joy to children who are battling life-threatening medical conditions. We have a special need for volunteers in the Inland Empire to help local children.
Get Involved Today ocie.wish.org | 714-573-9474 - Courtesy Photo
DECEMBER 22, 2014 - JANUARY 4, 2015 | 3
hlr media EDITORIAL jschlueter@hlrmedia.com Editor Jennifer Schlueter Publisher HLR Media Advertising advertising@hlrmedia.com Submissions:
Please send all press releases to: jschlueter@hlrmedia.com HLR Media, LLC .All contents herein are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any manner, either in whole or in part, without the express written consent of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed in this paper are not necessarily that of the management and staff at HLR Media, LLC 1000 E. Walnut St., Suite 227 Pasadena, CA 91106
Phone: (626) 386-3457 Fax: (626) 600-4452
Alhambra PRESS ANAHEIM PRESS
Baldwin Park
Belmont Beacon INDEPENDENT
INDEPENDENT
Pasadena Press
San Bernardino Press
“Wayke Up!” Call For Wildlife Waystation Animal Sanctuary with 60-Day Crowdfunding Campaign Los Angeles’ Wildlife WayStation is launching a 60-day “Wayke Up!” crowdfunding web campaign. The WayStation founder-director, Martine Colette, calls this ”the start of a new chapter” in the history of the nationally regarded, nonprofit sanctuary dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of wild and exotic wildlife situated in the Angeles National Forest. The WayStation is currently home to 450 animals, cared for by Colette, her staff, and her volunteers. The crowdfunding web campaign will be run via IndieGoGo, through February 10th, 2015. Missing these days at the WayStation are the visitors and groups of children visiting from the LA area School Districts as part of the WayStation’s educational programs. Getting them back is the purpose of the Wayke Up campaign. Says Wayke Up hostess, actress-singer Nikki Reed (“Twilight”): “The campaign’s purpose is to raise money to renew the WayStation’s Conditional Use Permit (CUP) which has expired. The Permit allows the WayStation to be open for visitors and continue the all-important educational outreach programs that can inspire the next generation of children to protect our wildlife and the environment.” Reed also volunteers at animal shelters and works with the ASPCA. “Acquiring a conditional use permit is vital to our mission to once again share our home and vision with the world outside of Little Tujunga Canyon,” notes Colette. She created the Wildlife WayStation—”because there were no existing facilities to take care of wild and exotic animals” in 1965, the first exotic sanctuary to be established in the U.S. The
WayStation was incorporated in 1976 and over the years has provided care and shelter to more than 76,000 animals, birds and reptiles. For many, it has been a lifelong home and many more have been returned, healthy, to a natural habitat, also part of the WayStation’s mission. “But this growing need results in a growing Waystation budget,” says Colette. “Fundraising becomes a necessity. We are supported solely through donations, bequests and sponsorship—nothing from either State or Government.” To contribute to this wor-
Martine Colette, founder of the Wildlife Waystation - Photo by Terry Miller
thy campaign, please visit https://www.indiegogo.com/ projects/wayke-up/ Supporters can even receive “paw-made” art from the Waystation animals!
Long Beach Office 3780 Kilroy Airport Way Suite 360 Long Beach, CA 90806 Ph. (562) 472-0071 Fx. (562) 689-0071 Los Angeles Office 5701 South Eastern Avenue Suite 100 Los Angeles, CA 90040 Ph. (323) 727-1144 Fx. (323) 727-9198 www.heger-industrial.com Lic. #00814086
4 | DECEMBER 29, 2014 - JANUARY 4, 2015
Children Enjoy an Early Hillsides Christmas at Charity Christmas came early to Hillsides this year for the children who live in the Residential Treatment Services program as they celebrated the annual Hillsides Christmas celebration the morning of December 22. The 62 children who live on the Hillsides Pasadena campus were dressed in their holiday best, the boys in buttoneddown shirts and Christmas sweaters and the girls in festive dresses. They first enjoyed a special breakfast of their choosing -- French toast, eggs and bacon, and cereal prepared by Hillsides Food Service Director Reggie Williams and his staff. They then sang Christmas carols, led by Stacey Roth, Hillsides chief program officer. As the children were finishing breakfast, Hillsides elves, a.k.a. Hillsides group rehab specialists, were busy delivering gifts to the cottages where the children live. The children then went back to their cottages, where they each opened a stocking and gifts personally selected for them. “Are these all for me?” one little girl asked as she dove into a pile of presents. Another boy yelled in delight as he opened a sports beanie he’d asked for.
Another little girl was so overwhelmed with her gifts of a Barbie princess set and a dance leotard that she jumped up and down with excitement. “Many of the children at Hillsides have missed out on these holiday traditions. Receiving gifts have an incredible amount of meaning for the children,” said Joseph M. Costa, Hillsides chief executive officer. “They are more than gifts, they demonstrate to the children that people care for them and are taking the time to do something special for them. Hillsides Christmas celebration is a cherished tradition and we are so thankful for all the donors who fulfilled the holiday wishes of the children. With their support, the children are able to have a happy Christmas.” The Hillsides Christmas continues throughout the day. After opening gifts, children received a visit from Santa and his elves (Hillsides volunteers, including students from local Pasadena schools Mayfield Senior School and Westridge School), and had their photos taken with Santa. The children next enjoy an early holiday dinner, and in the
A boy at Hillsides opening presents he received during Hillsides Christmas held on December 22. Children enjoyed breakfast, Christmas caroling, a visit from Santa, and opening presents –Courtesy photo
evening perform in a special holiday show at the Church of Angels, which is next door to Hillsides. Family and friends are invited to the performance, and Hillsides recognizes Christmas, Hanukah, and Kwanza. A second holiday show is planned for December 23. On Christmas Eve, December 24, children will attend a party at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena, sponsored by a volunteer group at Hillsides, the Hillsides Volunteer Network. The children will also dress up for that event, and re-
ceive stockings from Santa. The Christmas Eve party wraps up a holiday season where numerous organizations and companies provided holiday cheer for many of the 8,950 children and families Hillsides serves, including the children who live in the residential treatment program. Hillsides is a premier provider dedicated to improving the overall functioning and well-being of vulnerable children, youth, and their families. For more information on Hillsides, please visit www. hillsides.org.
Pet-A-Palooza Coming to Santa Monica Jan. 10 Free Pet-Friendly Expo Features Entertainment, Education and Dog Adoptions as Part of Inaugural Event to Honor Man's Best Friend A blessing of the pets, dog training, adoptions and unique animal entertainment will highlight Pet-A-Palooza on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015. The pet-friendly expo will be held from 10:00AM3:00PM next to the Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport and is presented by CBS RADIO Los Angeles in partnership with The CW’s World Dog Awards. Pet-A-Palooza is a free, interactive event created to bring animal lovers together to learn and grow with their pets. It will feature “Ask the Trainer” with dog spe-
cialists from SPCA Los Angeles, Weiner Dog races, K9 units, agility demonstrations, an expo of products and services, education aids and other paw-some activities. Dogs will be available for adoption from Best Friends Animal Society. Attendees are invited to bring their well-behaved pets to Pet-APalooza. The event will be hosted by popular 97.1 AMP Radio personality McCabe who will be giving away $1,000 every hour in a random drawing. The day will commence with a blessing of the
animals by an ordained minister. Pet-A-Palooza will serve as a backdrop for The CW Network’s celebration of man’s best friend in a two-hour television event, The World Dog Awards, which will combine the glitz of the Hollywood award season with America’s affection for our lovable canine companions. Dogs of every size and breed will gather beginning at 3:30PM at the aptly named Barker Hangar to be recognized for their achievements in film, television, commercials and animation. The program will
be broadcast on The CW Network on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015 (8:00-10:00PM, ET). CBS RADIO is the exclusive creator and presenter of PetA-Palooza events in cities throughout the United States, including Atlanta, Cleveland, Houston, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Orlando, Sacramento, Seattle, and St. Louis. Additional information is available atwww.cbsLA.com/ pets. The Santa Monica event will be held rain or shine and is sponsored in part by Subaru and Pedigree.