Read the February 2023 issue of Justin Chapman's Newsletter, featuring Justin's new Pasadena Media TV talk show "Pasadena Monthly with Justin Chapman," more episodes of the LAist Studios podcast "LA Made: Blood, Sweat, & Rockets" featuring interviews with Justin, some recommendations for good reads, news to keep an eye on, and more!
Watch the full episode below:
Pasadena Media’s local TV talk show, “Pasadena Monthly with Justin Chapman,” formerly known as the award-winning “NewsRap Local with Justin Chapman,” continues this Friday at 5 p.m. PT on Pasadena Media’s cable TV channels and streaming apps, featuring a discussion on the USS Pasadena with Bill Paparian and Bill Creedon.
“The City of Pasadena has been the namesake city for three ships going back to World War I, but the current ship, a nuclear attack submarine commissioned in 1991, will be deactivated sometime before 2024,” Chapman said. “We’ll talk to the USS Pasadena Foundation team that’s working to ensure a fourth ship is named after Pasadena.”
Paparian, a former mayor of Pasadena, is a Vietnam-era Marine Corps veteran and currently serves as a captain in the California Military Department, State Guard Legal Support Command. Creedon is an investment advisor representative at Raymond James & Associates, Inc., a former U.S. Navy captain and submariner and president of the USS Pasadena Foundation.
According to a memo by Creedon and Paparian, the first USS Pasadena was “a cargo ship that moved material and fuel across the Atlantic during the First World War. The second USS Pasadena was a light cruiser (CL-65) that saw serious combat in the last years of the Second World War and was present in Tokyo Bay when surrender documents were signed aboard the USS Missouri. The third USS Pasadena is our present ship (SSN-752). The ship has served with distinction, earning numerous awards for combat efficiency, engineering proficiency and high crew morale. We stand ready to present to the Navy the opportunity to continue our unique namesake city support and success as we ask that [the Secretary of the Navy] designate a new construction SSN to be named USS Pasadena, the fourth ship to be named after the city.”
Chapman recently won several LA Press Club journalism awards, including 1st place in the Travel Reporting category and 3rd place in the TV/Public Affairs category for hosting “NewsRap Local,” which launched in April 2021. In March 2022, “NewsRap Local” won a 2nd place award in News Programming at the Alliance for Community Media West’s WAVE video awards.
“Pasadena Monthly” airs at 5 p.m. PT on the fourth Friday of every month on Pasadena Media’s Arroyo Channel and streaming apps, available on channel 99 on AT&T U-verse, channel 32 on Charter Spectrum, YouTube, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Roku. The show is written, hosted and produced by Chapman, directed and edited by Jeffrey Stanfill and executive produced by George Falardeau, CEO and executive director of Pasadena Media.
“This is must-watch television each month for everyone who cares about this city,” Falardeau said.
Guests on “NewsRap Local” included Congress member Judy Chu (D-27); Congress member Adam Schiff (D-28); interim Pasadena city manager Cynthia Kurtz; Assembly member Chris Holden (D-41); Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo; Pasadena city manager Miguel Márquez; LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger; and many others.
Chapman was the youngest elected official in LA County when he served on the Altadena Town Council at age 19. He has served on a number of local boards and wrote hundreds of articles for two dozen print and digital publications, including KPCC/LAist, Alta Journal, Huffington Post, LA Weekly, Berkeley Political Review, Pasadena Weekly, Pasadena Star-News, Pasadena Now and many others.
Learn more at justindouglaschapman.com and pasadenamedia.org.