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Challenge for Dylan Southern Californian firefighters are putting up their dukes in a test of speed, endurance and boxing skills to find Southern California’s toughest, strongest firefighter – and it’s all for a 2-year-old boy fighting cancer. The Challenge for Dylan takes place noon on Saturday, March 14 at Title Boxing Club in Pasadena (87 Frasier Alley across from DeLacey parking structure). All funds raised from the afternoon event support Dylan Wolfe’s alternative medication; he has been battling cancer for most of his young life. (Click here to read Dylan’s story: www.firefamilyfoundation.org/tributes/detail/ articletype/articleview/articleid/316/dylan-wolfe ). The event is sponsored by Fire Family Foundation, the charitable hand of Firefighter’s First Credit Union which has established a fund for Dylan. Firefighters from around the Los Angeles area will go head-to-head in various competitions at Please see page 5
THURSDAY, march 12 - march 18, 2015
No Matter How You Spell It Sierra Madre’s Wistaria Festival Is This Sunday
This Sunday, the city of Sierra Madre holds its annual Wistaria Festival, during which the public is invited view the massive Wistaria vine that’s grown so big it’s in the Guinness Book of World Records.
parent’s previous marriage. Current law provides no mechanism for children or relatives to petition a court for visitation when they are denied access to the elder in question by a current spouse. Nor is there an obligation for such caretakers to inform family members when an elder dies or enters acutemedical care. Gatto’s legislation would help resolve these situations by requiring children and siblings to be informed when a loved one enters into acute-medical care for more than three days, or passes away. It would also provide judges Please see page 4
Additionally there will be music and vendors downtown along Sierra Madre Blvd and Baldwin Ave. on Sunday. But the real. star of the show is the vine, which attracts thousands form all over California
each spring. The vine started in 1894 and now covers an acre of land in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Wisteria is a famously hardy plant. It originally
came from Asia where it's prized for its beautiful hanging mauve or purple flowers and ability to live for decades. This particular beauty Please see page 3
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Today’s Pilots Depend Too Much On Technology Aviation Expert Says It Adds to Human Error The conditions for landing the Boeing 777 safely should have been perfect, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The sky over San Francisco was clear, the wind negligible and the pilot of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 had 11,000 feet of runway in front of him. But there was a problem. The runway’s automatic landing aids were out of service because of construction on that July 2013 day, which meant pilots had to land using old-fashioned visual and manual skills. They had been doing it all day, but the Asiana Airlines pilot later told NTSB investigators he had been
nervous about attempting to land using “stick-andrudder” flying skills, and the ensuing crash killed three people and injured nearly 200, the Associated Press reported at the time. The pilot’s hesitancy and apparent inability to fly without automated assistance didn’t surprise Rick Eriksen, an experienced aviator and one of the founders of Aviation Consulting 360 (www.AskAC360.com), a firm that specializes in assisting businesses with their aviation needs. Eriksen says he believes advances in airplane automation may have reached a point where they are starting to hinder rather than help safety, with pilots so depen-
Holden Honors Woman of the Year At State Capitol Pasadena community activist Stella Murga was honored today by Assemblymember Chris Holden as “Woman of the Year” for the 41st Assembly District. Ms. Murga was recognized on the floor of the Assembly during ceremonies at the State Capitol. Each year the Assembly honors women of distinction who enhance the quality of life for others in their Assembly districts. A first-generation Mexican-American, Stella Murga has spent more than 20 years working with young people with a focus on student achievement. She established the Adelante Youth Alliance, a non-profit organization focused on guiding youth to develop their full personal, academic and career potential. Under Stella’s direc-
The local media was invited to a sneak preview Monday of the Wistaria Vine which is in full bloom just in time for the Festival Sunday -Photo by Terry Miller
Gatto Continues Quest to Give Rights to Kids Denied Access to Ailing Parents Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale) introduced new legislation that would provide reasonable accommodations for adult children who want to visit their parents, and provide children the right to know when an ailing parent’s health becomes worse or if the parent dies. The proposed legislation, AB 1085, will provide legal recourse when children from previous marriages are being denied access to a parent by their parent’s current spouse or by another family member. With divorce and remarriage common, there is a possibility of conflict between a subsequent spouse and a child from an ailing
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Volume 3, No. 11
Elderly Woman, Son Die in Altadena Fire Saturday
dent on the technology that they fail to develop real flying skills. Pilots also become so fixated on high-tech computer equipment that they can fail to notice hazards in clear view right outside the window, he says. “In my opinion, most technology is no longer adding anything new in the way of meaningful advancements,” Eriksen says. “Planes fly the same way they flew back when I was flying in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. And we made it work with much more reliability than they do with today’s over-the-top automation.” Eriksen says he loves
An elderly woman and her son lost their lives and two other people were hurt in a fire at their home late Saturday, authorities said. The home in the 2400 block of Holliston Avenue in Altadena saw explosions believed to have been caused by burning oxygen tanks. The fire gutted the single-story home at about 10:30 Saturday night. Sheriff’s officials described the
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