San Gabriel Valley Bloggers Potluck 3/20
Posted on 24. Feb, 2010 by kchristieh in local news
All San Gabriel Valley* bloggers, families, fans and groupies are welcome to the 2nd Annual SGV Blogger’s Potluck at noon at Farnsworth Park in Altadena. We’ll meet rain or shine at the covered picnic area on the north end of the park. BBQ’s are available. To rsvp, call or email or . Hosted by Altadenablog, Altadenahiker, Altadena Above it All, Altadena Daily Photo and Open Mouth Insert Fork.
I love meeting great new people and catching up with the wonderful people I follow online in person, so I wouldn’t miss this! I hope to see you there!! Now to decide what yummy food to make…
* Hopefully we’ll see bloggers from Eagle Rock, La Canada, La Crescenta, Glendale, etc. there, too!
Let the merriment begin!
710 Freeway Tunnel meeting
Posted on 21. Jan, 2010 by kchristieh in local news
Join local community members and leaders this Saturday in learning more about the proposed 710 freeway tunnel extension.
Personally, I’m against it, and am amazed that given our current budget crisis this is even being considered. Click here to see my first post on this issue.
Best 2010 Rose Parade Moments
Posted on 01. Jan, 2010 by kchristieh in local news
Apart from the awesome hometown La Canada float, the best float in today’s Rose Parade included brave and talented bulldogs snowboarding down a long ramp. The crowd loved them, and we were incredibly jealous that when the parade stopped because another float broke, the bulldogs were two blocks away and not in front of us. It’s a travesty that this float didn’t win , but it won our hearts and that counts more.
Of course, we loved the La Canada Flintridge float, which featured an origami dragon. It perfectly fit the “Cut Above the Rest” theme, so it’s not surprising that it won the Fantasy Trophy.
The Jack in the Box float was very festive. Jack looked like he was hosting a big party, and we were all invited.
The Rose Court looked lovely, of course.
The Burbank Float stayed in front of our building for a long time while it appeared that experts were fixing another float that had broken down. At least the animated airplane was fun to see twist and turn.
The Honda Float was quite impressive.
I recognized the South Pasadena float from afar by the font they used for the word “Pharmacy.” It’s the same font used on the outside of the wonderful Fair Oaks Pharmacy. My kids love getting ice cream and other treats there.
The Los Angeles Unified School District Band enjoyed relaxing for awhile while another float was being repaired.
I bet that Kaiser Permanente carefully chose who would ride the carousel animals on this float.
Does anyone know why the American flag was upside down? You’d have to be on your back looking up at it for it to look correct.
The huge horse and tow trucks heralded the end of the parade…
But we all know the parade isn’t over until we see the John 3:16 guy.
Happy New Year!!
It’s official: South Pasadena passed its parcel tax
Posted on 20. Jun, 2009 by kchristieh in education
In the past month,
Clearly, the residents of both of these communities are willing to pay to help their public schools.
I hope La Canada’s willing to pass a parcel tax for $150.
If you want to vote for this, get your ballot in NOW. They must be received by June 30th. Postmarks don’t count.
Have questions? Visit www.measurelc.org.
Join the “No 710 Tunnel” Facebook group
Posted on 28. May, 2009 by kchristieh in local news, politics
I’ve created a “” Facebook group. Please join!
The 710 Freeway Tunnel: No need, no desire, and no money
Posted on 27. May, 2009 by kchristieh in local news
Last night, CalTrans held its first informational meeting in La Canada regarding potentially extending the 710 Freeway via a tunnel under South Pasadena to connect to the 210 Freeway.
- Did they ask if we want this? No.
- Do they know if they can even fund this? No.
- Did they show that they’ve re-examined whether the region’s transportation needs are the same as they were over 40 years ago when this was first proposed? No.
These would be good questions to ask first before spending any time and effort on the project. Instead, CalTrans has already spent millions on geological studies to determine if this project is feasible, and last night they sent the geologists out to show us rock core samples and pictures of amazing tunnels all over the world.
Of the 200 or so people who attended, I only heard two that weren’t opposed to the project. Mayor Laura Olhasso very eloquently explained that La Canada already paid a heavy price when the 210 Freeway was built in the 1970’s. The city lost over 500 homes, and the freeway bisected the heart of the city. Not only that, but 12 local schools and preschools sit within a quarter mile of the freeway, thus exposing our children to excessive pollutants and irritants. This problem has been exacerbated since the 210 was extended out to San Bernardino. Mayor Olhasso stated the statistics I cite in my previous post, and said that we don’t want to pay an even higher price in health, traffic and safety than we already have. She also said that the price of the project would be in the billions of dollars.
I felt a little bad for the geologists and PR people, who looked like they were caught off-guard by an audience that was double the size of all their appearances combined to-date. On the other hand, a few were a bit condescending, so my sympathy only goes so far. Audience members were asking very direct, intelligent questions, and it was frustrating when CalTrans didn’t have the answers or didn’t think they needed to have them. It was also silly that they kept claiming that their mandate was merely to explore how to complete the 710 freeway, even if it meant building an 11-mile tunnel through a Superfund site east to the 605 Freeway. Puhleaze! We’re not stupid. Let’s be honest: this is about connecting to the 210 Freeway. Don’t waste our time or money exploring options that are never going to be considered.
It turns out that CalTrans is considering a private/public partnership for this project. That’s why we need to be concerned. They might actually find the money to fund it.
Hopefully CalTrans will hold more useful meetings in the near future, and will listen thoughtfully to what the public has to say. Hopefully even more elected officials will attend, and hopefully the public will galvanize in even greater force to stop this.
Stay tuned. Tomorrow I plan to start a Facebook group to act as a clearinghouse for information. In the meantime, here are some links to investigate:
- To join the Mayor’s distribution list, send a no-message email to
- South Pasadena’s Historic Opposition to a Surface Extension (City of South Pasadena website) Note: There are many more useful links at the bottom of this page.
Don’t let CalTrans put a tunnel under South Pasadena
Posted on 26. May, 2009 by kchristieh in local news
I was happy at first when the 210 Freeway was extended to San Bernardino a few years ago. It made it easier to visit my mother and stepfather, and to vacation in the desert. But elation quickly turned to dismay as the volume of truck and car traffic through La Canada increased nearly overnight, bringing with it more noise, accidents and pollution.
La Canada paid a steep price when the 210 Freeway was built right through the heart of the city, and each year it’s paid an increasingly high price as traffic on the freeway has increased.
We’ll pay an even higher price if CalTrans proceeds with its plan to extend the 710 Freeway by building a tunnel under South Pasadena. If that freeway is finally completed, it will provide an unbroken route through La Canada to and from the Port of Los Angeles, and traffic studies show that traffic through La Canada would likely increase by 25%.
There’s a big part of me that thinks this is so ridiculous it will never happen. After all, they’re talking about spending billions of dollars in the midst of one of the state’s and the nation’s worst economic crises. But this is the same agency that didn’t stop big rigs from traveling on Angeles Crest Highway through the mountains, so I wouldn’t put it past them.
Come to the CalTrans informational meeting tonight at Lanterman Auditorium at 6:30 pm to voice your concern.
After all, with the new math,
Resources:
Editorial by La Canada Valley Sun Editor Carol Cormaci
Memo – City Council 5-11-09 – 710 Tunnel Traffic Study.pdf
Letter from Mayor Laura Olhasso:
CalTrans will hold an informational meeting in LCF to update our residents about the 710 Tunnel Technical Study. As you know, the latest idea to link the 710 freeway with the 210 is to dig the widest tunnel ever built in the world so that all traffic, including trucks coming from the port, will be able to continue on the 710 to the 210 up to the 5 and points north. This meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 26 at 6:30 p.m. at Lanterman Auditorium (4491 Cornishon). The tunnel will hugely increase truck traffic through our town and have an accompanying devasting impact on noise and air pollution. It is imperative that our residents understand these impacts and voice their concerns. The attached memo gives further details about the projected traffic impacts. I hope many, many people will turn out on May 26 to show CalTrans just how important this issue is to us. Feel free to forward this email to anyone you think would be interested.
In addition, for those who cannot attend, letters may be sent directly to CalTrans:
Will Kempton, Director
CalTrans
P.O. Box 942873
Sacramento, CA 94273-0001
AND
Doug Failing, District 7 Director
CalTrans
100 S. Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
If you write letters, please email the city a copy as well at so that we may have it for our records.
When the 210 Freeway was built through the very middle of our town, La Canada lost over 300 homes. We have done our part for transportation in the area. Please help us say NO to the tunnel.
Thank you for your help.
Laura Olhasso
Mayor
What would you perform here?
Posted on 02. Apr, 2009 by kchristieh in local news, my life, theater, tv
Just south of the pathetic Cesar Chavez Memorial Garden at Farnsworth Park, there’s an 800-seat amphitheater. It’s so well-hidden that I didn’t realize it was just 100′ away from me while I partied down at the blogger picnic on Saturday afternoon.
I wonder how often there are performances here? I can envision a summer Shakespeare or concert series. If I were a kid living near here, I’d put on my own show. Think of the possibilities!
I wish we had something like this in my town. I hope Altadena’s appreciating it!
When I lived in Pasadena, I served on the Recreation & Parks Commission. Farnsworth Park wasn’t under our jurisdiction, since it’s maintained by the County of Los Angeles. But Pasadena has many other fine parks, so we had lots to do.
I can’t wait until the new series “Parks and Recreation” debuts on April 9th. I love “The Office” and I think Amy Poehler is terrific, so my expectations are high.
A pathetic tribute to Cesar Chavez
Posted on 31. Mar, 2009 by kchristieh in environment, inspirational people
After the blogger picnic at Farnsworth Park in Altadena on Saturday, I took the long way back to the car. Behind the main park building, I found the Cesar Chavez Memorial Garden. Isn’t it pathetic?
People shouldn’t plant memorial gardens unless they plan to maintain them.
Is there anyone out there who would take this over and give it the love it deserves? I can’t, since I can’t keep a plant alive for more than a week, but hopefully this blog post will reach someone who cares.
Don’t plant a garden for me when I die someday. Just make sure this blog isn’t deleted.
Local Blogger Picnic in Altadena this Saturday
Posted on 24. Mar, 2009 by kchristieh in food, local news
Come one, come all, to the San Gabriel Valley Blogger’s Potluck in Altadena this Saturday.
Bloggers and their beloved families and groupies are welcome.
Many thanks to Altadenablog, Altadenahiker, Altadena Above It All and Open Mouth, Insert Fork for hosting this fabulous event!!
Pasadena-area blogger’s picnic tomorrow
Posted on 18. Apr, 2008 by kchristieh in local news, my life
Mwahaha!!! I had a great time at the picnic last summer, and can’t wait for the one tomorrow. I’ll probably arrive around lunch time. Cool people, great food, fun times. See you there?
Saturday, April 19, 2008
10am to 3pm
Sunnyslope Park
700 N Sunnyslope Ave (at Orange Grove)
Pasadena, CA 91107
Blogger’s Picnic & Softball Snark
Potluck, Tea Party, Anonny Convention
Bring chair/blanket & something to share.
Be square and be there.
Pasadena Bloggers Picnic: The Official Picture
Posted on 25. Aug, 2007 by kchristieh in my life
Many thanks to Debbi at Altadena Above It All for taking this fabuloso picture of the attendees at this afternoon’s Pasadena Blogger’s Picnic.
What’s with all those silly signs???
Pasadena Bloggers Picnic
Posted on 25. Aug, 2007 by kchristieh in my life
Just returned from the Pasadena Bloggers Picnic at Singer Park. I met some really neat people, and will include a list of their blogs when it’s emailed to me. Can’t wait for the next picnic!
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