Stonehill News

Gino Sund's Treatise on Trash

2008-12-02T17:27:00.000-08:00

From: Gino Sund
To: Stonehill News <neighbors@stonehillnews.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 3:58 PM
Subject: [neighbors] Treatise on Trash

Treatise on Trash

Sorry, I have not been able to comment on the trash hauling thread but I have been out of town for the past week. So, please let me offer my perspective on the issue and perhaps clear up some questions that have been raised.

The current situation in Altadena

Currently, Altadena operates under an open market system. That means there is no County control or oversight over who offers hauling services, what those services are, how they operate or how they are priced. Thus anyone who wants to be in the business can collect your trash. This can range from the major haulers like Allied and Athens to some guy with a pickup truck. Currently there are around seven haulers in Altadena, including a guy with a pickup truck. These haulers offer a variety of services and charge what the market will bear. There is not adequate control of such things as collection days, services offered, billing practices or recycling performance.

How things have changed

In September of 2004, the County Board of Supervisors passed a law changing the unincorporated portion of the County to a franchise trash hauling system. With this new law, in order to collect residential trash, a hauler must now be franchised by the County and all non franchise haulers will be barred from this business. To date, the County has franchised haulers in thirteen different communities in LA County and is about to do so in Altadena. When a franchise is established, a detailed contract is awarded, a hauler is selected by the County through a bidding process and the County oversees the performance of that hauler. Typically the contract period is seven years.

Why Town Council is involved

About two years ago, the County sent out a questionnaire to residents of Altadena asking such things as how many trash cans they used, what kind of trash is offered for collection, and how many haulers the residents wanted. This questionnaire was a small yellow post card. Do you remember getting it? Most people don’t. It could easily have been mistaken for junk mail and it gave little explanation of what the issues really were. Then, about two months ago, the County was about to request bids on the contract for Altadena that would define our trash hauling for the next seven years. Several of us on Council were concerned that the community input on this was inadequate, so we stopped the process to allow us to review the contract and to gather more input from the residents. Thus, we are now asking for your input on the two important issues that we can affect at this point; what should be in the service provisions of the contract and should we have a single hauler or two haulers.

The conditions of the contract

Whoever is the franchise hauler or haulers will operate under a single contract that is offered by the County. That contract will spell out such things as the scope of services i.e. the number, type and amount of pick ups, the type of containers, the provisions for price increases, the recycling requirements, and the conditions under which the contract can be terminated.

While many of the contract provisions are fairly standard for all communities, it is important that the scope of services of our contract meet the needs of Altadena. This is the area of the contract that will most influence our weekly interface with the hauler.

[Below] is a schedule of the service provisions of the contract. Council has worked with the Department of Public Works to beef up several areas, especially the collection of green waste since we have large, leafy lots in Altadena. However, we are still looking for input from you to help us decide on what is best for most residents.

A single hauler or two haulers

This may be the most controversial and confusing issue. When the County sent out its post card survey, it asked if residents wanted an exclusive, semi exclusive or multi hauler program. The majority or respondents requested semi exclusive or two haulers. However, there was no explanation of what this really meant. Most of us thought that having two haulers would, through the mechanism of competition, give us more options, better service and lower prices. However, this may not be the case. The contract will be the same for a single hauler or two haulers so there will be no differences in the services provided. And as for price, the competition will come at the front end of the process when the haulers bid for the contract. In fact, experience has indicated that a lower price is attained when the provider has a larger customer guarantee, since among other factors, there is a capital outlay required to service the area. As for the weekly performance by the providers, the County will oversee the compliance with the contract for one or two haulers.

Of the thirteen contracts already awarded by the County, all have been exclusive contracts. The average price for service has been around 10% less that the previous price of the open market, with generally more services provided. The County reports that the customer satisfaction has been high with few resident complaints to date.

Arguments for the single hauler are:

More bidders for the contract thus lower prices.
Fewer trucks on the streets,
Fewer pickup dates. (this is big issue in many neighborhoods especially those who border Pasadena who collects trash on shared streets adding yet another day)
Reduced pollution and road wear.
More community involvement by the provider. (in other communities the provider is a regular at the Town Council meetings to hear from the residents)

Arguments for two haulers are:

Two haulers may compete by being more helpful to the residents
Two haulers may compete by adding services not covered by the contract. (however, this has happened in the bidding process by providers who wish to enhance their chance of getting the contract, again the competition up front)

What happens now

We need your input on the scope of services provided in the contract, in particular green waste pick up. We would also like your thoughts on the single provider approach.

Town Council will debate and recommend contract conditions at the December 16th meeting. The County will then make a request for bids to the industry, select the winner based on a formula that includes price, financial capacity, past history etc. Depending on the winner, as determined by the County, implementation could be from 3 to 6 months.

Who will get the bid

Of course we don’t know. It is expected that both allied and Athens will bid for the Altadena franchise. However, I find it most interesting that of the thirteen franchises awarded so far, those two large haulers were only awarded three. Most of the franchises were awarded to medium sized haulers. The feedback from those managing the bidding process is that those medium sized haulers are more likely to bid on an exclusive franchise than if a semi exclusive franchise is offered.

What you need to do

If you have input to give Town Council please contact you Census Tract Representative. The contact information is on the Town Council web site. As an alternative you may want to come to our next meeting at the Community Center starting at 7:00 p.m. on December 16th.

Thank you for your time and interest.

Gino Sund

Altadena Town Council

PROPOSED TRASH COLLECTION SERVICE FEATURES

Regular pick up service	Weekly between 6:00a.m.and 6:00p.m.
Typesof Containers	One 96 gal Refuse cart
	Two 96 gal Green Waste carts
	Two 96 gal Recycling carts
Additional Trash carts	$5 /month surcharge
Additional Recycling and Green Waste carts	Additional carts $5/mo each
Different size cart	No charge
Bins and dumpsters	Permitted but not covered by the contract
Container replacement	No charge
BearProof containers	$143 for a 32 gal container
	$1329 for a 2 cubic yd container
	$1519 for a 3 cubic yd container
	$1736 for a 4 cubic yd container
Additional Refuse collection	Fourpickups per year
(curbside in bags)	Fourpickups per year
Additional Green Waste collection(curbside in bags)	Eight pickups per year
Holiday tree collection	No charge
Curb side bulky item collection(unlimited)	Two pick ups per year including e-waste
Additional bulky item collection	$25 per collection
Annual Cleanup	Once a year curb side collection of bulky itemsincluding e-waste and green waste
Special Clean up Events	Hauler will provide bins or containers for discardsof solid waste four times a year for community clean up projects or publicevents
Senior and Low Income Discounts	Seniors 62 or older who are head of the householdand qualify for a utility discount based on financial need receive a 25%discount
Reduced rate for seniors with smallercapacity carts	Seniors 62 or older who are head of the householdand choose three 32 gal containers receive a 25% discount
Rollout service	Basic service rate plus a 25% surcharge
Rollout service	No charge for Seniors or the disabled whoare the head of the household .
Scooter Service ( small vehicle)	Basic service rate plus a 50% surcharge

Lion Sighting in NW Altadena

2008-11-13T23:07:00.000-08:00

These pictures came in at about 9pm tonight via the ACT email loop. I put a Google Map below with a pin at the approximate location described in the email.

From: Richard W: "These pictures were taken from the end of our driveway, looking NE. The ridge where I spoted the lion is maybe 200' and just accross a small canyon from the end of our driveway. Whew!"

Bonnie R added in the thread that it is "an adult mountain lion hanging out on the ridge between the ends of Coate Court and Sunset Ridge Road today around 1:50. It appeared to wander down the hill toward the top of Sunset Ridge or in the canyon behind the houses."

View Larger Map

Rain season begins

2008-09-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last night around midnight, I noticed an unexpected spattering of rain drops. It was not enough to register as rain on the gauge, but it would certainly have made drivers switch on their wipers.

This morning, we were greeted with amazing rainbow weather. I took this photo (click to see full size) and video (below) before leaving to drop off the kids. I wish I had taken my camera along, because there were plenty more gorgeous rainbow vistas along the way. By 8:30 enough rain had fallen to moisten the sage, and there was that wonderful fresh desert rain smell in the air.

We got a decent shower, in and out, over the course of the morning. So far we have accumulated the first 1mm (.o4") of the season. Listen carefully for the first inklings of distant thunder in the beginning of the video below (taken around 7:15am). At a bit past noon, we had a great peal of thunder, rolling along the hills from west to east, and lasting for much longer than normal; perhaps 10 seconds or longer.

By now the sun has come back out, and it feels like LA summer again.

5.8 Earthquake in Diamond Bar

2008-07-29T11:58:00.001-07:00

Believe it or not, this is the first time an earthquake has occurred since I've lived in CA (since 1998) where the building I was in noticeably shook. It was nothing major, but definitely rocked the office here on Stonehill Drive, and the open door kind of waved gently. Nothing fell off the shelves, and my sleeping dog only lifted her head groggily to see what was waking her up. She only stood up after the shaking stopped to follow me outside. It's hard to judge time after the fact, but I think it only shook for 5 seconds or so.

Here's the Caltech preliminary (automated) report:
"A moderate earthquake occurred at 11:42:15 AM (PDT) on Tuesday, July 29, 2008. The magnitude 5.8 event occurred 7 km (4 miles) SE of Diamond Bar, CA."

Here's the USGS info on the event

More bear sightings

2008-07-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

Sameer E photographed this bear on 6/28/2008 at around noon time. He recently posted the picture in response to Brian L's sighting reported on the ACT email list.

Here's what Brian reported yesterday: "I was driving home tonight (Saturday 7/26/2008) at about 8:30 PM and was entertained by a bear roaming around on the road by the bridge over the wash at Rubio Canyon for a good minute or so. This guy looked pretty good sized to me."

Upon seeing Brian's and Sameer's reports, neighbor Sidarth D posted this on the SHN email list: "Yesterday, we had a bear in our driveway for the first time. We had left our garbage can outside unfortunately by mistake, and it was rummaging through the garbage can. Our daughter took these shots. I don’t know if this is the same bear that was seen in the Rubio Canyon bridge, but it could be as we are quite close to that." (I think this sighting was on Zane Grey).

Marianne W also reported a sighting: "We had a sighting on Tanoble and Loma Alta on Friday night at about 9 or 9:30 p.m. It was going south on Tanoble, and then headed up the hill in between houses up to Skyview. A news truck was also driving around trying to get pictures. We notified the Sheriff station."

Friday night on Stonehill Drive we had a family of raccoons in the back yard (a mother and four juveniles), and Saturday morning we were a bit stumped at how they had managed to tip over the huge Allied Waste container. Perhaps the tipped can was actually the bear. Whatever tipped our can must have been unimpressed with what was in our can, because the kitchen bag was torn open, but it was left neatly on the lid of the can, and no trash was strewn around.

Below is Doris F's contribution to the bear sightings: "Well, actually it was the bear's contribution, and it was quite a while back. However, within the last week, a bear was seen where Loma Alta terminates at Pinecrest, so it is probably the same one. Also, within the last month or so, two mountain lions were seen in Eaton Canyon. They were spotted by at least one family who lives on the rim off Altadena Dr. by Crescent."

It's unclear if this is the one bear, but it's clear that there are one or more bears living in the neighborhood.

Keep the photos coming if you can get them safely. Most importantly, be safe. Don't approach wild animals, especially not just to try to get a photo.

----------
PS: Wow, I just googled "Altadena Bear" and found this video from February this year. There's not a whole lot of info beyond the date, February 19, 2008, the YouTube handle, "MaryToep", and the subject of the post, "Unplanned Altadena visit":

Rain wrap-up 2008

2008-07-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

The rain season of July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008 ended with 23.64 inches recorded on the Stonehill News weather station. This is the fourth complete year that I have been accurately logging precipitation. As mentioned last year, my neighbor at the top of Stonehill has been keeping records since 1999. I haven't compared notes with him yet this year; I'll update his column once we do. Here are the available seasonal totals from both stations:


Season    PacRad     SHN
1999-2000  19.76"    --
2000-2001  21.22"    --
2001-2002   8.27"    --
2002-2003  24.47"    --
2003-2004  15.47"    --
2004-2005  62.56"   61.61"
2005-2006  24.06"   23.35"
2006-2007   6.81"    6.15"
2007-2008  26.04"   23.64"

Here are the previous wrap-up posts:
Rain wrap-up 2007
Rain wrap-up 2006

Bear on Pinecrest

2008-07-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

Greg Garner forwarded me these awesome bear pics taken on Saturday 6/28/2007. Thanks Greg!

Santa Anita Fire

2008-04-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

After not having a record of the Santa Anita fire during the first day or so of the burn, InciWeb finally got it in their system. http://inciweb.org/incident/1233/

Here is their Fire Progression map

Here is a Google Map on which I marked the fire origin [Updated 4/28 8PM]:

View Larger Map

From the InciWeb about page:

InciWeb is an interagency wildland fire incident information management system. The system was developed with two primary missions: The first was to provide a standardized reporting tool for the Public Affairs community during the course of wildland fire incidents. The second was to provide the public a single source of information related to active wildland fire information.

A number of supporting systems automate the delivery of incident information to remote sources. This ensures that the information on active wildland fire is consistent, and the delivery is timely.

Also, take a look at the nice Flickr photo set from KiethJ

Cape of Good Hope to Echo Mountain

2008-04-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, I saw an invitation to join Brian Marcroft, a Forrest Ranger, on a "Railfan Picnic" hike. The flier read:

"Meet at the north end of Lake Ave. in Altadena at 7:30 AM.
Carpools will be organized and will depart at 8:00 AM
After arriving at the Cape of Good Hope there will be a one-mile hike down the railway grade to Echo Mountain.

Tour of the mountain complex will include:
Seeing remnants of the Echo Mountain House and Chalet Hotels, the power plants, tennis courts, observatory, Zoo, Section House, Cable House and Incline. See ongoing work performed by the volunteer groups.

[...]

There will be a limited number of visitors.
We will be behind a locked gate and those attending will be required to stay with the group from 8:00 AM to 1:00PM."

Not knowing exactly where the Cape of Good Hope was, the part that caught my eye was, "we will be behind a locked gate." So I packed a picnic of nuts and water along with my digital camera, and set my alarm for Saturday morning.

We congregated at the top of Lake, and at 8am, we set off with about 15 or 20 people in a caravan of 5 cars. We drove to the top of Chaney Trail and were given special access to drive passed the locked gate at the Mt. Lowe Road. We drove east up a slight grade for about two miles, and stopped at a small dirt parking lot located roughly along the historic rail bed at a point known as the Cape of Good hope.

From this point, there is a nice, well maintained trail, following the historic rail bed about 3/4 of a mile from Mt. Lowe Road, south on a shallow down grade to Echo Mountain. I uploaded my snapshots from the walk, and placed them roughly where they were taken on the map. Make sure you switch to Satellite view (upper right corner) so you can zoom in closer.

Photos on a map

I met lots of nice people, and I hope I meet them again soon. Before walking back to the cars, we sat and had a picnic in the shady area just west of the Echo Mountain House ruin, known as the tennis courts.

I got some nice hand-drawn maps from Brian Marcroft, and found out about his web site, mtlowe.net where I found a topo-map of Mt Lowe and the trails leading to it. I added those to my Altadena Crest Trail map project.

View Alatadena Crest Trails map

Re-greening of burn area at top of Lake

2008-03-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

Local photo blogger, Petrea Burchard captured a nice comparison of the burn area at the top of Lake, just after it burned and after a winter of rain:

http://pasadenadailyphoto.blogspot.com/2008/03/naked.html

What the hail?!

2008-03-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

A brief hail "storm" hit Altadena, CA on Saturday, March 15th, 2008.

This little March event was NOTHING compared to the October 17, 2005 hail storm we had. Here are the two posts with links to video of that one.

http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2005/10/hail-stones.htm

http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2005/10/hail-all-hail.htm

Old Wamu on Lake Burns: Time to Renovate Ralphs?

2008-02-28T11:15:00.000-08:00

Please click on the links under each question to cast your vote, then click View the results to see what others are saying.

Would you be in favor of Ralphs renovating their Altadena branch?

Yes
No
Not Sure

View the results

Would you support Ralphs if they wanted to expand onto the old Washington Mutual property which burned down on 2/28/2008?

Yes
No
Not Sure

View the results

Notice of Intent (to cancel Allied Waste Services)

2008-01-17T19:21:00.001-08:00

For shame!

A little background. As many in this area will recall, about two or three years ago, BFI was bought out by Allied Waste Services. When it was still BFI, Athens Services came to town , offering a cheaper alternative, but rather than switch, I called up BFI and told them I had a lower offer. BFI promptly matched Athens' rate without argument. Ever since Allied Waste took over, they have been trying to sneak up my rate, but each time I have called and told them that Athens is cheaper, and they have (now grudgingly) acquiesced and matched Athens rate.

Allied Waste bills quarterly, and I being the techno-dweeb that I am, have them on automatic bill-pay service. As it seems, last quarter (the bill due in October) they raised my rate by $5.06. Upon receiving payment for the normal amount, they decided to threaten me with a $25 penalty if I did not square up with them.

I received that notice in December, but being a busy month with work and being December holiday season, I didn't open it until last weekend. By then I already had a second notice along side the first one informing me that I was now delinquent and that I now owed them the penalty. I resolved to call them this week and take issue with the charges, but before I got around to calling, I received the above threatening letter in today's mail.

Not only is this an issue of a mere $5.06, it is also transpiring before they have even waited for a complete billing cycle to elapse. Most other companies I've dealt with simply put any balance due on the next bill, as long as you don't abuse the situation. In this case, I've paid like clockwork (almost literally, given that it is paid automatically by a service).

They inform me in the letter, "This is your final opportunity to settle this matter quickly and amicably. Be assured that should you fail to comply with this request, we will take whatever steps are necessary to protect our interests. Should it be necessary to file suit, we will request prejudgment and postjudgement interest, court costs, and all additional attorney's fees incurred in the prosecution of such an action, as allowable by law."

And then in a brilliantly ironic closing, "Respectfully, Collections Department"

I don't know whether to laugh or go ballistic. Maybe it's some kind of prank being played on me for Candid Camera.

Already I was on the fence because of their repeated attempt to raise the price. The primary thing that was holding me back from switching was an assumption that Allied must do a better job of separating waste because they start out with it separated by making us do it and sending three trucks up the street. Athens only sends one truck, making a total of four huge garbage trucks on Stonehill every week. Some of the neighbors have already been casually lobbying me to switch to Athens to limit the number of big trucks on Stonehill. After a quick Google search for an Athens website, I found out that my reservations about post collection sorting seem to be unfounded. http://www.athensservices.com/materialrecovery.htm

I am now bound and determined to lobby everyone on Stonehill (and anyone who will listen for that matter) to dump Allied Waste.

Let's see. More expensive, more trucks, more cans to bang around the yard, and terrible (non-existent) customer service for the same end result. Seems like a no-brainer to dump Allied Waste Services.

One reservation I have heard from some other Allied Waste customers on Stonehill was about price. I currently pay $62/quarter and they evidently are trying to raise me to $67/quarter, which is still about $20 less than what Athens quoted me when I called them for rate information. They don't have any promotions to offer, even when I suggested that we might bring a group of people to the table.

Here is what Athens told me on the phone:

$29.25/month (bills quarterly for $87.75/quarter)

With Athens you provide your own cans and they allow up to six 35 gal. barrels. They ask you to put your garbage in separate cans from green waste and recycling.

Anyone 55 years or more gets a senior discount of 10% or $78.49/quarter

Allied Waste quoted me the following:

10 containers for trash (you provide) except select routes which have the large cans (Allied provides)

Separate containers for recycle and yard waste (Allied provides)

Three separate trucks for each type of material.

Standard rate is $24.50/month + taxes & fees = "About $90-$100/quarter". The customer service rep could not tell me how that was calculated or give me a precise quarterly cost.

Senior rate is $19.12/month + taxes & fees. The customer service rep could not give me an estimate of what this would amount to on a quarterly basis.

Extra charges for bulky items (anything that doesn't fit in trash can):
$27 for first two items and $11 each additional

Wind-powered Blackout

2008-01-17T09:07:00.000-08:00

As far as I know, we still have no power this morning (I'm in a Starbucks). According to Steve Gerow, the Edison message from last night estimated power being restored by noon today. My rough estimate from a walk last night is that the blackout area was all of Loma Alta east of Sunny Oaks and all the side streets off Loma Alta along the same stretch. Zane Gray and Rubio Crest were lit up as if nothing happened. I didn't walk around the bend towards Noyes, so I don't know how far east it really stretched. A few of us saw a truck driving around last night with a spot light, presumably looking for downed lines. My weather station computer stayed on battery power until about midnight. The image above is the last one it uploaded before the network went down.

[10am Update: Got back to Stonehill and found power had come back at about 8am. Updated wind gust chart above shows additional weather station logging all the way through the windstorm, and then a gap until it came back to life when the power was restored this morning.]

Great Cougar Pic

2008-01-17T08:45:00.000-08:00

This amazing shot of a mountain lion was posted on the ACT mailing list this morning with a caption reading in part, "Photo taken by JPL employee Wednesday,1-16-08, looking down into the Arroyo Seco from the bridge from the JPL east parking lot to the JPL campus."

PSN focus on Education

2007-10-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

Pasadena Star News deserves credit (clicks and eyeballs) for giving us a dedicated Eduction section on their website to complement their new Tuesday section on the same subject.

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/education

This kind of substantial reporting about PUSD that goes beyond the scandal-du-jour is to be commended. Please vote with your clicks and visit it every week.

(One day maybe they'll even give us the Education article RSS feed I've been asking for)

Jack Scott at ATC meeting tonight

2007-09-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

from http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/search/ci_6921705

State of the State address in Altadena

ALTADENA - State Sen. Jack Scott, D-Pasadena, will give a State of the State address at tonight's Altadena Town Council meeting, which begins at 7 at the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive.

Scott will speak at 7:30 p.m.

For more information, call (626) 398-6174.

Pasadena Now: scooping the pulp press

2007-09-14T14:03:00.001-07:00

I just read a Dormitas post in which s/he makes this aside: "This from Pasadena Now (the most consistent coverage of Pasadena news we have):"

I couldn't agree with Dormitas more.

Pasadena Now, the news organization that recently made the headlines by outsourcing journalism to India, seems to be scooping the old guard Pasadena pulp press.

Pasadena Now shows some technical rough edges, probably hallmarks of being a small operation. For examples, the fact that their home page CSS doesn't render properly on all browsers, and their Flash content throws non-fatal errors (see screen image above). At first I was dismissive of PN based on their lack of technical polish, but then Jill Davis Doughtie pointed out their Headlines RSS feed:

http://www.pasadenalivingmagazine.com/_ArticleManager/publish/rss.xml

Of course I immediatly subscribed to the feed. I subscribe to the pulp version of Pasadena Star News (yes, I know; what other version is there?!) and have now grown accustomed I seeing an article in PSN, which I already read (often covered more thoroughly) the day before when it came across my PN feed. Not only is PN scooping PSN by a full day with great regularity, but PN has quality that strikes me as a generally more granular, relevant cross section of *dena issues than PSN.

Add to high quality, timely, Web-friendly reporting the fact that their links don't grow stale after a couple weeks like PSN's do, and you've got a friend in me.

You can find Pasadena Now at either http://pasadenanow.com/ or http://pasadenalivingmagazine.com/
(don't ask me why their name and their url are branded differently)

Yesterday's high over 109 °F

2007-09-03T10:21:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the Stonehill News weather station recorded a high of 108.1 °F but we lost power and Internet during the hottest part of the day. The mercury thermometer topped out between 109 °F and 110 °F (approximately 109.5 °F, but I don't want to state it too precisely as the mercury thermometer has lower resolution than the digital one).

ID	Location	High
KCAALTAD1	Top Of Lake Ave	108.3 °F
KCAALTAD2	Stonehill Dr	108.1 °F
KCAALTAD3	N. Mount Curve	104.1 °F
KCAALTAD7	Zane Grey	104.4 °F

The other three Altadena weather stations all seemed to have stayed online through the day yesterday. Above are yesterday's local highs as recorded on WUG.

Last year, July 22 is the day (not) to beat with a high of 112.5 °F recorded at Stonehill News.

It seems that we may have the dubious distinction of being the hottest place in Altadena =)

I considered the possibility that my temperature gauge was out of calibration, but it generally agrees with the mercury one. I guess it's possible they're both reading high, but not likely. They are both positioned in the shade on the north side of the garage, and never see direct sun. Assuming that the thermometers are reading correctly, I assume that there is some micro climate effect having to do with the orientation of the Gooseberry Canyon (watershed)

Altadena August 2007 Fire (Video and Links)

2007-08-26T23:07:00.000-07:00

Media Coverage: CBS News Report, ABC7 News Coverage, Story from KTLA, Pasadena Now
Pasadena Star News

Yes, they made it look easy today, but lest anyone doubt how serious things were before the fire was extinguished, take a look at this photo of about 20 fire fighters (lower left) on the ridge just south of the fire. Look how intense the flames are just beyond the ridge. According to the Pasadena Star News, the people in the photos are 20 specialized fire fighters known as the "The Bear Divide Hot Shot Crew."

After analyzing the photos, Isaac and Jeremiah's best estimate is that today's fire burned approximately in the area of this Google Map marked in red.

Here is a montage of the tankers reloading in the Rubio Catch Basin:

Gull Lake Postcard

2007-08-26T16:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, a Xacti E1, iMovie and an Internet cafe is all I need to stay fully geeked out on Summer vacation.

Wish you were here!

PS: Just heard about today's Altadena wild fire when I logged on to post this video. From all accounts, the weather is cooperating, and they're hitting it hard with air power from the start (unlike '94). Fingers crossed.

Proctor Coming Back

2007-07-24T22:36:00.000-07:00

My favorite politician, Aaron Proctor, has announced his return to Pasadena after two months in exile in St. Louis. Yeah!

http://www.proctorformayor.com/2007/07/24/major-announcement/

See you in August!

Summer Rain

2007-07-23T10:20:00.001-07:00

What month is this again?!

Altadena Crest Trail Google Map

2007-07-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

I have started a Google Maps version of the Altadena Crest Trail. I am transcribing it from the map published in a flier that was snail-mailed out by LA County several months ago (map is dated 2-1-05). So far my Google version only has the trail heads and the proposed Rubio Canyon Gap segments.

I'll work on the proposed Skylane Gap and LaVina sections next (the proposed sections are more time consuming because there is no existing trail to trace). After I get my best shot at those in, I'll trace the exiting trails and access paths as well.

This is really fun, because with the Google satellite and hybrid views, you can inspect the route in tons more detail than you can with the printed maps that I have seen.

On a related note (in case you hadn't noticed), the satellite images of our area have been recently updated (looks like maybe this past winter). While we already had hi-res imagery of the populated areas, it was a bit long in the tooth (recent construction changes were not reflected). More to the point, the new images include the mountains as well. Perfect for mapping the hiking trails!

Enjoy =)

Update:
posted by Jeremiah 7/11/2007 11:44:00 PM

I updated the map with the two of the three Skylane Gap options that were
published. I'll be adding the third as well as the La Vina ones over the
next few days, as I have some time on my hands (had hernia surgery this
morning, so on bed rest...thank god for laptops and wireless internet).

FYI I have marked the ones "proposed" based on the documents I could access.
By whom they are "proposed" is not indicated. I guess it implies that the
people who did the surveys are proposing them as their favorite ones?

I am copying off a glossy pamphlet I was mailed several months ago (also posted as a pdf), and pdfs I found here:

http://losangelescounty.externaldocuments.com/documents/

(the defualt apache index can be viewed too)
http://losangelescounty.externaldocuments.com/downloads/

These two are my main references:
ACT Trail Pamphlet.pdf

ACT Initial Study - Part 2.pdf

Note the pdf maps above were posted almost a year ago, but that's
all I have to go on, as I haven't attended any of the meetings. Any updates
appreciated.

Will Instant Runoffs Trickle Down to PUSD?

2007-07-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

This article caught my eye today:

Senate committee considers bill allowing instant-runoff voting

By STEVE LAWRENCE - Associated Press Writer

Published 12:10 pm PDT Sunday, July 8, 2007

Voters could express their first, second, third, fourth and maybe even more choices in local government elections under legislation scheduled to be considered this week by a state Senate committee.

Read the full story here:
http://www.mercurynews.com/article/ci_6328234?