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IN THIS ISSUE:
Saving the Earth, One Soda Bottle at a Time
Answers to Frequently Asked Recycling Questions
Planning a Future of Arts and Culture
Celebrate Health at the Cherry Blossom Festival
Protect Yourself and Your Family
Cool Trees Shade a Hilltop Home
Water-saving Garden Blossoms on a Vacant Lot
Saving the Earth, One Soda Bottle at a Time
With weekly pickups by city trucks, Pasadenans recycle more than 9,000 tons of paper, plastics, jars, cans and bottles every year, saving dwindling space in local landfills and turning recyclables into new products. Ready to get on board? You and your family can get a new outlook on recycling and lots of new ideas at the Greening the Earth Day event Saturday, April 17, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Memorial Park. Sponsored by the city’s Public Works Department and Pasadena Water and Power, the fun event will include activities, entertainment, food and information galore. Browse through booths from city departments, Armory Center for the Arts, Whole Foods Market, Patagonia Pasadena and more, then stay for performances by RePercussion, a drum squad that uses recycled objects as instruments, the Washington Middle School Glee Club, a Mexican folklorico dance group and the Little Safety Officers Kidz Club. Bring beverage containers marked with California Refund Value (CRV) for exciting raffle prizes. PWP electric customers can bring in up to two incandescent light bulbs and receive energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs in return. (Bring your City of Pasadena utility bill to show eligibility.) And, of course, you can talk one-on-one with city staff about water and energy conservation, or ask questions about your trash or recycling service. Greening the Earth Day is funded in part by the California Department of Conservation. For more information call 744-4721. Answers to Frequently Asked Recycling Questions Q. What happens to recycling after it’s picked up? A. Materials are taken to the Allan Company in Baldwin Park, where they’re sorted and sold to brokers who sell them to companies that manufacture new products. Q. What can I do about scavengers? A. Put your recycling out on the morning of our pickup rather than the night before and bury beverage containers with CRV value under a pile of junk mail, newspapers and cardboard. Q. If the holiday schedule is “one day late,” is that for the whole week? A. Yes. If a pickup is one day late, then all days following in that week will be one day late. Friday pickups are done on Saturday. For information on the city’s recycling program, visit www.cityofpasadena.net/publicworks or call 744-4087. MEET ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST PROLIFIC POETS Thursday, March 11, at 7 p.m. Lyn Lifshin’s works have appeared in nearly every literary and poetry magazine in the country. Delve into Giuseppe Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” Wednesday, April 7, at 7 p.m. during L.A. Opera’s “Opera Talks!” program. Attend the “How to Get Published in Magazines” workshop Tuesday, April 20, at 10 a.m. Co-sponsored by the American Library Association and Woman’s Day magazine, the session will be led by Kathy Sena, an award-winning writer. Reservations are suggested for this event. All events are free in Central Library’s Donald R. Wright Auditorium, 285 E. Walnut St. For more information call 744-4067. THROUGH THE HISTORIC PROPERTY CONTRACT PROGRAM, the city is offering up to 75% off tax bills to anyone who qualifies. If you own a historic home or commercial/industrial building designated as a landmark, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, in a city landmark district or National Register district, or designed by famed architects Greene and Greene, you may be eligible. In return for the tax break, you must agree to rehabilitate and maintain your property’s historic features. Once you have signed a city contract, the property will be reassessed by the L.A. County tax assessor at a lower rate. Applications for this year’s program are available at the Permit Center, 175 N. Garfield Ave., and are due on or before May 1, 2004. For complete details, visit www.cityofpasadena.net/planning and click on Design and Historic Preservation, then on Mills Act, or call 744-6754. EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD IN PASADENA should have a roof overhead and a bed to sleep in. But we all know homelessness is a tough problem that needs a citywide, organized solution. Here’s where you come in: The city is launching its biggest and broadest effort yet to stamp out homelessness in Pasadena. Over the next year, we’ll be holding community meetings on the first Thursday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Center, 1020 N. Fair Oaks Ave. By next spring, we hope to have a 10-year strategy. Join the effort! Come to a meeting or call 744-6701. IT’S EASIER THAN EVER BEFORE to get around Pasadena without ever touching a steering wheel. A Great Ride The regular one-way fare is just 50¢ and the fare for seniors, riders with disabilities and students is 25¢. Transfers between ARTS routes are free and you can buy a transfer to other local bus systems or the Metro Gold Line for just 25¢ when you first board the ARTS Bus (compare this to the regular Gold Line fare of $1.25!). The ARTS system is part of the Regional L.A. County EZ Pass Program. With just a flash of your monthly EZ Pass you can board ARTS, MTA, Foothill Transit buses and the Gold Line, plus most other transit systems in L.A. County. For more information, go to www.mta.net or call (800) COMMUTE. For ARTS bus routes, schedules and a system map, go to www.cityofpasadena.net/trans and click on Transit Operations or call 398-8973. You can also pick up a schedule at City Hall, community centers, libraries, the city’s Department of Transportation offices at 221 E. Walnut and on ARTS buses. Attention Cyclists! Printed as part of the effort to make Pasadena more bicycle-friendly, the maps also show bike lockers and Metro Gold Line stations, offer bicycle safety rules and tips and point out recreation sites, civic attractions and other great destinations. View the map now online at www.cityofpasadena.net/trans. Watch for printed copies in April at city libraries, major bike shops and other cycling spots. Call 744-6470 for more information.
Have you seen me? Three of my fellow historic, cast stone urns and I vanished several years ago. When City Hall was built in 1927, we surrounded the courtyard fountain. All four of us were about four feet high and sat on concrete pedestals about a foot high and two feet square – a little wider at the top. Here’s where the story gets intriguing: Sometime around the ‘50s or ’60s (no one’s quite sure when), we went missing. Historians doubt we were trashed; we may have been “borrowed” by an urn devotee or donated to an organization. We would love to be returned to our original home by the fountain – especially as the city gears up for the retrofit and top-to-bottom restoration of City Hall. Email aerdman@cityofpasadena.net if you know our whereabouts or call 744-7073 or 744-4000. You’ll urn our undying gratitude. Information about City Hall tours will be in the May/June issue of Pasadena In Focus. |
HEN IT COMES TO TRASH, Pasadenans are a happy bunch. More than
2,000 residents responded to a recent recycling survey and an overwhelming
majority are satisfied with the city’s refuse and recycling service. Many
wrote enthusiastic comments such as “good job,” “thank you very much” and
“keep up the good work!”
