PASADENA “Whats next, the metric system?”
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 6 - AUGUST 12, 2009 VOLUME 14, NO. 32
Pasadena Police Find Missing Three-Year-Old After Two-and-a-Half Hour Search
-Photo By Terry Miller
Record Crowd Packs Rose Bowl as Galaxy Face Euro Champs Full story on page 12
National Night Out Celebrated in Local Communities
- Photo by Terry Miller
The 26th Annual National Night Out (NNO), a unique crime/drug prevention event sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW), was held Tuesday, August 4, 2009 around the United States. Texas, however, will celebrate on October 6th, 2009. Each year the National Night Out campaign involves citizens, law enforcement agencies, civic groups, businesses, neighborhood organizations
TROUBLED TIMES FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS? Ha s t he econom ic downturn hit education, private education harder than anticipated? The parking lot is completely void of cars at the Montecito Fine Arts College on Huntington Drive in Monrovia. The reason is unclear and no one seems to be willing to talk about it. A typed sign on the door of the short-lived Montecito College of Fine Arts and Design in Monrovia reads: All Montecito Classes and Campuses are still closed until further notice. We will not reopen in Au-
gust as previously thought. Please stand-by until further notice.” The notice goes on to say (in hurried, handwritten magic marker) that anyone can call (626) 833-7437. The Monrovia Weekly’s numerous attempts to call this number went unreturned. The founder, Ed Kuckelkorn (as he likes to be called), was not available for comment at press time. Montecito Fine Arts C ol lege of Des ig n w a s founded in 1977 as an atelier, a studio providing fine
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and local officials from over 15,000 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases worldwide. In all, over 37 million people participated in National Night Out 2008. Statistics for this year have yet to be compiled, but they look to be of a similar vein. The community program is designed to: heighten crime and drug prevention aware-
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- Photo by Terry Miller
At approximately 11:10 on August 4, 2009, the Pasadena Police Department received a call reporting that a three-year-old girl was missing from an apartment in the 1100 block of Sunset Street. It was reported that the little girl went missing sometime between the hours of 9:30 and 11:00 that morning after a relative with whom she was staying fell asleep. Almost immediately, the Pasadena Police Department had dozens of personnel on the ground canvassing the area, knocking on doors and searching the surrounding parks. In addition, the helicopter was overhead pro-
viding air surveillance and a reverse 9-1-1 call was attempted to alert residents in the immediate and surrounding neighborhoods. Search dogs were called in from surrounding jurisdictions. Ultimately, the little girl was found safe at about 1:30 p.m. “The important lesson here is how important it is for all of us to be hyper-vigilant with our little ones,” says Chief Bernard Melekian. “They can get away from us so quickly. I am pleased with how this department responded and even more pleased that this little girl was safely reunited with her family.”
New State Budget Costs Local Cities BY MORGAN CARPENTER The state has finally come to an agreement and now has a balanced budget. But to what cost to the cities in San Gabriel Valley? California will be taking 2 billion from cities and counties through property tax revenues, plus $1.7 billion from local redevelopment agencies by suspending Prop 1A. Prop 1A was passed in 2004 to protect property tax
revenues of local governments. Under Prop 1A, the state is allowed to borrow local government property taxes on the condition that they be paid back within three years and with interest. Prop 1A cannot be suspended more than twice in ten years, and cannot be suspended the second time unless all previously borrowed funds are completely repaid. The following figures are the estimated amount that will
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Mini Madoff Trial Delayed Yet Again BY SUSAN MOTANDER The trial of Mark Colasuonno has been continued once again. Originally set for July 30 it was continued to August 5 and has now been continued to August 11. It is still set for trial in Department E in Pasadena of the Los Angeles Superior Court before Judge Teri Schwartz. Although the trial is set to begin at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, the court has ten days to actually begin the trial which may also be sent to another courtroom for adjudication. Mark Colasuonno known locally as the former Tax Doc-
tor has been charged with Grand Theft by embezzlement. This charge was enhanced with the allegation that more than $100,000 was stolen. Colasuonno is alleged to have embezzled money from clients of his tax preparation firm by illegally investing and losing money entrusted to him. Paige Lopez, Colasuanno’s alleged victim said that the Tax Doctor started preparing his tax returns in the late 1990s. After several years of working with Colasuonno, Lopez said that in approximately 2008 he realized that money he had en-
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