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THURSDAY, JULY 16 - JULY 22, 2009 VOLUME 14, NO. 29
Pasadena Arts Foundations Given Grants BY KYLE KHANDIKIAN Four Pasadena arts institutions have been given stimulus grants by the National Endowment for the Arts, an independent federal agency based in Washington, D.C., as a part of the agency’s 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. BY KYLE KHANDIKIAN The City of Pasadena Department of Transportation has convened this year to begin revisiting its existing Bicycle Master Plan, which describes Pasadena’s longrange planning for developing bicycle infrastructure. A new plan will look at the full range of actions Pasadena could take to improve biking conditions, and is expected to require more innovation as the city considers new bicycling treatments, amenities, and services. But the City also looks at being able to qualify for state and federal funds, particularly from Caltrans. This time around, however, organizers have announced that the City is looking to rewrite the plan altogether, and funding may be an issue. The current BMP, labeled “Century of Bikes,” which was adopted by City Council in November of 2000, aimed to provide a “safe and attractive environment” needed to promote bicycling as a means of transportation in Pasadena. Although 60lane miles were identified
NEA provides stimulus funds Recognizing that the nonprofit arts industry is a valuable part of the financial system, the NEA’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides funds on a national, regional, state, and
local level for projects that focus on the preservation of jobs in the arts. The Art Center College of Design, the Armory Center for the Arts, and the Pasadena Playhouse will all re-
Eastward Connections Still Absent from New Pasadena Bicycle Plan
-Photo By Terry Miller
with signage and stripes under the 2000 plan, residents, bicyclist and non-bicyclist, have complained that desig-
nated bike routes are located on busy, high-speed roads, are poorly maintained, not properly cleaned, and overall
Music Returns to Local Guitarist Thanks to the Kindness of Strangers and the Power of the Printed Word BY SUSAN MOTANDER &TERRY MILLER Last week Beacon Media News printed the story of musician and single dad Jake Lenaburg who was mugged on his way to an ATM to make a deposit. Not only was his money stolen, but the muggers also destroyed his guitar, an action that was particularly hurtful as he was supporting himself and his 5 year old daughter as a street musician while he worked his way through nursing school. Shortly after the story appeared, one of our readers
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ceive grants of $50,000, while the Pasadena Arts Council will receive a $25,000 grant. These grants are only a small portion of what the NEA has offered to nonprofit arts organizations
dangerous to bikes. Concerns have also been raised over the safety and security of Metro stations and the lack of ameni-
Arts on 13 ties at those facilities, as well as the lack of accessibility to surrounding neighborhoods. Two community meetings have already been held (one in February and another in May) by the Department of Transportation, along side the newly formed Bicycle Master Plan Advisory Committee, which is comprised of local cyclists, bicycle advocacy groups, bike shops and city staff, and Ryan Snyder Associates LLC (RSA), a new urbanist transportation planning consulting firm specializing in transit and paratransit planning. Open to the public, three more workshopmeetings were supposed to convene by the end of spring 2009, but have not done so. However, a complete draft of the new plan did meet its deadline of June 2009. The newest draft of the BMP seems to acknowledge many concerns regarding bicycling, proposing a network of bikeways so that every neighborhood is within 0.25 miles of an effective bicycling route in the north-south and east-west directions.
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Courts Furlough Employees, Continue Serving up Justice BY SUSAN MOTANDER
A delighted Jake Lenaburg plays a guitar that was donated to him after a story about him being mugged outside his ATM in Pasadena appeared in these newspapers last week. -Photo by Terry Miller
across the country which have been affected by tough economic times. This year, the NEA has given a total of 631 grants, amounting to $29,775,000 in funding. The arts organizations given these funds promote
Court employees had their first budget driven mandatory furlough day on Wednesday, July 15. Court reporters and clerks as well as the court security officers had an unpaid day off. The deputy sheriffs who act as bailiffs in some courtrooms were not forced to take the day off as they are not employees of the Superior Court. As elected officials, the judges, whose salaries are set by the legislature, were required to be at work. According to Candace
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Pasadena Robotics Company Wins Military Contract Evolution Robotics, Inc., to begin naval research BY KYLE KHANDIKIAN Pasadena-based Evolution Robotics, Inc., has won a federal contract from the Office of Naval Research worth approximately $1 million in order to develop new recognition technology, which is to be used by the U.S. Navy. Evolution Robotics, Inc., develops high-tech robotic machinery and is a leader in the fields of object recognition and vision technologies. The group has worked in the past with the military on various detection projects, and is now looking to develop new tools which will identify objects including boats and aircrafts immediately in the maritime environment, regardless of visibility conditions on the high seas. In a press release issued by the company, Evolution Robotics, Inc. CEO Dr. Paolo Pirjanian, winner of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Award, expressed his excitement to be working with the U.S. military once again.
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Hope lives on for two Mars rovers NASA conducts tests in Pasadena Lab BY KYLE KHANDIKIAN
Beason, the Supervising Judge at Pasadena Superior Court said that the court had been planning for the furlough day for weeks and that most cases were not continued to that day. She said, “One courtroom in each courthouse will be fully staffed and prepared to handle all those matters which legally have to be handled.” Beason explained that there will also be clerks available for necessary filings. She said those staff members who worked on Wednesday would have a
NASA officials have announced hope for two Mars rovers stuck on the red planet five years after their expected expiration dates, following tests conducted at NASA’s Pasadena Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity are still operational despite having outlived their 90 day lifespan by a staggering five years, and continue to send photographs back to official here on Earth. The two were launched in January 2004
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