New Outdoor Irrigation Restrictions See P. 4
INDEPENDENT
glendaleindependent.com
The PAWS Act: Protecting Women and the Pets They Love Introduced in March 2015 by Rep. Katherine M Clark of Massachusetts, The Pet and Women Safety Act (H.R. 1258) is just beginning its journey to becoming a law that could potentially save lives, and help countless victims of domestic violence, regardless of gender. It’s a little-known piece of legislation that is getting a big push from MiLLENNiAL Magazine. With animal rights advocate and editor-in-chief Britt Hysen at the helm, the magazine hopes to bring attention to an often-overlooked cause. New Jersey animal advocate Adriana Meucci took an in-depth look at the problem in the June 10th issue of MiLLENNiAL. What she found was a problem that was serious beyond expectation. She learned that nearly half (48%) of victims of domestic violence stay in abusive situations longer than they otherwise would have out of fear of leaving their pet. And it’s a justified fear: the numbers show that abusers often harm or kill a pet when Please see page 5
THURSDAY, july 9 - JULY 15, 2015
FREE
Volume 3, No. 28
Southern California Edison Adding Flat Rate for Low-Energy Users By Nick Kipley On their website, Southern California Edison gives a reason for the recent plan to restructure their rates over the next few years. SoCal Edison claims that they will restructure their rates so that those who don’t pay much on their energy bills now will have to pay a flat rate, because their customers who use quite a lot of energy actually offset those who do not use much energy at all. This, they claim, isn’t fair to those who use lots of energy. Their official reasoning is as follows: “For many years high-usage customers have subsidized low-usage customers. With these changes, costs will be more evenly spread among all customers.” Of course, one could argue that by forcing customers who use very little energy to pay a flat fee, they are essentially paying in part for the whole complicated infrastructure that delivers the electricity to their door in the first place—and one could argue the same about the taxes embedded in a gallon of gas. Unfortunately, rather than say this outright, SoCal Edison chooses to embed their reasoning in an
example that doesn’t make much sense at all, claiming that “this allows for a more equitable recovery of ‘fixed’ costs through fixed charges, and will include a reduction in the price charged per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity. That should help avoid some of the bill volatility some customers experience during hot weather.” This means that the future “minimum” electric bill will be $10 per month, and $5 for low-income households. In other words, if you can only stir the air in your small studio apartment during a heat wave by means of a weak oscillating fan, you might as well invest in a pawn-shop window A/C unit given the fact that the guy who has to cool down his 7,000 square-foot hillside villa no longer has to “pay” for your energy expenses. Which is fair, if you think about it: you now get to re-budget for ten bucks a month worth of cold air. In a vague conclusion, SoCal Edison states: “If our proposal is adopted, residential customers would see bill increases or decreases depending upon their monthly usage levels, their rate plan, and other
El Monte, county of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) to help reduce the impacts
East- and westbound I-10 lane closures between Peck Road and Valley Boulevard. -Eastbound I-10: North Peck Road/Valley Boulevard off-ramp. -Westbound I-10: South Peck Road off-ramp and North Valley Boulevard on-ramp. -Street Closures: Peck Road between Asher Street and Valley Boulevard and Valley Boulevard between Peck Road and I-10 Motorists using the Express Lanes may experience some delays due to this project and partial closure of the Express Lanes. Eastbound motorists will be merged into the mainline
Six Week Express Lanes Closures on San Bernardino Freeway (I-10) The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will close the Metro Express Lanes on the San Bernardino Freeway (I10) from Monday, July 6 to late August 2015 to perform maintenance and upgrade sections of the bridges on east- and westbound I-10 between Valley Boulevard and Peck Road. The pavement in the section above Peck Road and Valley Boulevard will be removed and replaced, and new bridge joints will be installed to replace ones that are failing. “To complete the work as fast and as safe as possible, the lanes must be closed,” said District 7 Director Carrie Bowen. “We are working with the city of
be sure to VISIT: PASADENAROSEPARADE.COM
to traffic on the freeway and local streets.” Additional closures will be in place as needed at the following locations: -Freeway Mainline:
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changes in our authorized cost recovery.” Which ultimately hardly makes a claim whatsoever given what they’re suggesting is that if you use less energy you get to pay less, until you are hardly using any energy whatsoever, and then you get to pay $10. The reasoning behind all of this comes apparently form how energy is “changing,” or, from the fact that SoCal Solar Power Stations produce their maximum output at around noon, whereas SoCal wind farms produce most of their energy at night. It may also come from the fact that if you’re one of the people who can’t afford air conditioning and are worried that an eventual $10 flat rate energy bill might throw off your carefully balanced budget, then you’re probably a person who is too exhausted or working possibly one too many jobs to stand on the shadeless July sidewalk and picket a downtown utilities company. Which sort of makes it the perfect amount of money for SoCal Edison to charge such a customer for trying to get away with conserving electricity to begin with.
Photo by Terry Miller
Old Pasadena Film Festival From July 9 – August 1 Showcases Classics, Vintage Horror, Cult Favorites, and More
The Old Pasadena Film Festival, a month-long, free movie series featuring screenings in predominantly outdoor locations, returns July 9 – August 1. This annual summer film program celebrates motion picture in all of its forms offering a variety of audience-pleasing movie titles and genres. With twenty-one screenings, the Old Pasadena Film Festival is the largest free open-air film festival in California and draws a broad local and regional audience. This year the festival continues to offer an eclectic mix of crowd-pleasing fare, as well as cult favorites, and
rarely screened films for the cinema enthusiast. Kicking off the screenings in historic Central Park each weekend is the charming father-daughter story Paper Moon, followed by creepy fun with The Witches. Enjoy vintage horror with The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and then take a quick lesson in ballroom dance from Dance Street Studio dancers, before viewing the exuberant dance feature Strictly Ballroom. Next up is the heart-warming baseball classic Field of Dreams. On the final night of the festival at Central Park, we screen the campy sci-fi romp
Barbarella. Come dressed for interplanetary travel and enter the costume contest for a chance to win $250 on Saturday, August 1. Mr. Pasadena, Michael Calderon, will be our special host that night. Arrive early for any of the six Central Park screenings, pick up picnic provisions from one of the many options in Old Pasadena, enjoy select food trucks, and ambient music from local DJs. Additional outdoor screenings are hosted by One Colorado in their open-air courtyard. Starting on FriPlease see page 3