Recently approved legislation introduced by Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff calls on US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and the Federal Aviation Administration to come up with a plan to curb what Schiff calls “disruptive helicopter noise” throughout LA County. 

However, Schiff’s bill specifically exempts helicopter operations related to law enforcement, one of the biggest contributors to the types of noise that most residents complain about, as well as emergency and military operations, but not news media.

Members of Pasadena DMZ, a citizen’s group that advocates for regulation and public oversight of helicopters, were not entirely satisfied.

“We are definitely suffering from the lack of oversight of helicopters of all types,” said Pasadena DMZ member Jenny Durling. “Here in Pasadena, we are particularly disturbed by police helicopters as they are used as a first response to everything.”

Schiff’s Los Angeles Residential Helicopter Noise Relief Act was slightly amended before being approved by both houses of Congress last week as part of a yearlong $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill. The main difference is that the revised act would require the FAA to begin work on regulating helicopters to reduce noise impacts in LA County, where the funding bill allows the FAA a chance to complete its own recommendations and prove their effectiveness prior to imposing regulations. The FAA and the Secretary of Transportation have up to a year to set regulations relating to flight paths and altitudes for helicopter flights.

In May, Schiff hosted a roundtable with homeowners and representatives of public safety agencies to explore voluntary measures that law enforcement agencies could undertake to reduce noise in nonemergency situations.

“There is little doubt that police, first responders and other public safety helicopters comprise a portion of helicopter noise in residential communities across Los Angeles County, and while these agencies of necessity are excluded from the bill, we will be working with them to reduce their contribution to the noise when doing so would not compromise their vital operations,” Schiff wrote at the time. “These agencies can contribute to the solution as well, and it’s my hope that today’s roundtable will be the first of many steps to help homeowners across Los Angeles get a little peace and quiet from helicopter noise.”

A portion of Schiff’s bill states: “The Secretary shall (1) evaluate and adjust existing helicopter routes above Los Angeles, and make adjustments to such routes if the adjustments would lessen impacts on residential areas and noise-sensitive landmarks; (2) analyze whether helicopters could safely fly at higher altitudes in certain areas above Los Angeles County; (3) develop and promote best practices for helicopter hovering and electronic news gathering; (4) conduct outreach to helicopter pilots to inform them of voluntary policies and to increase awareness of noise sensitive areas and events; (5) work with local stakeholders to develop a more comprehensive noise complaint system; and (6) continue to participate in collaborative engagement between community representatives and helicopter operators: Provided, that not later than one year after enactment of this act, the secretary shall begin the development of regulations related to the impact of helicopter use on the quality of life and safety of the people of Los Angeles County unless the secretary can demonstrate the effectiveness of actions taken under the previous proviso to address helicopter noise.”

“After years of pushing,” Schiff said in a statement issued shortly after the House vote, “residents should finally begin to see some relief from unnecessary helicopter noise. This legislation will hold the FAA’s feet to the fire and ensure that they are making every effort to reduce helicopter noise. Now, the FAA will have one year to act on its pledge to reduce helicopter noise through voluntary measures, or be forced to put in place real rules to provide relief to homeowners.”

Durling said Schiff’s measure falls short of solving the problem.

“A number of citizens, myself included, have reached out to the Pasadena Police Department, the mayor and the safety committee, but our issues continue to fall on deaf ears. The noise pollution from these aircraft is horrific and someone needs to put limits on flight patterns, heights and time spent circling over residential areas,” Durling said.

“Without including the police,” said Pasadena DMZ member Daniel Molitor, “the discussion is pointless.”

If you’ve tried weight loss programs like Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers or the Atkins Diet, and you’re still looking for a diet that will give you results quickly, it’s time to start getting creative and thinking outside of the box. One very effective diet is actually a treatment program for a common but relatively unknown disease. Luckily, anyone can do it. 

You may have heard of candida, or candidiasis. It’s a controversial term for a fungal infection not acknowledged by all medical professionals. It is an overgrowth of yeast in the body caused by candida albicans, a diploid fungus. There is a long list of wide ranging symptoms, including jock itch, depression, anxiety, nail fungus, migraines, sugar cravings, chronic exhaustion, bad breath and weight gain, to name just a few. 

If you think you have some or all of these symptoms, you can be tested for candida. Personalabs, a privately funded medical testing coordinator, has two testing center locations in Pasadena: 221 E. Walnut St., Suite 248, and 960 E. Green St., Suite 290. Personalabs gives people the ability to order laboratory testing online, regardless of health care coverage, then have their specimens collected at one of 1,700 locations across the country. Qualitative tests for candida antibodies costs $272.

“A healthy immune system usually keeps its growth under control but in immunocompromised states chances of invasive candidiasis are quite high. A positive outcome of this test would mean that either the patient is currently suffering from the disease or has suffered in the past,” explains the Personalabs Web site.

The treatment for candida is diet based and results in quick and natural weight loss. The good news is that you don’t need to have candida to do the Candida Diet. However, it is a strict diet that is by no means easy to maintain. But, if you stick with it, you are guaranteed to lose weight. So why not give it a try?

The Candida Diet, created by author and candida expert Lisa Richards, comes in stages designed to stop feeding and ultimately eliminate the yeast in your body by taking cheese, chocolate, alcohol, bread and other food out of your diet. The length of each stage varies and depends on the severity of your candida overgrowth and how strictly you adhere to the diet.

In the first phase, which lasts for a few days, you cleanse. Some even fast before this step. Cleansing involves sticking to a restrictive diet of raw salads and mostly green, steamed vegetables, such as artichokes, avocado, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, celery, garlic, green beans, kale, onions and zucchini; some herbs and spices, such as basil, cayenne, black pepper, cilantro and sea salt; and virgin coconut oil and olive oil.  

The next phase, the Anti-Candida Diet, is the most important. It’s more balanced than the cleanse, but it still prohibits fruit, sugar and most starchy vegetables. The idea is to cut out as many carbohydrates as possible. Adding to the list above, you can now eat vegetables, such as tomatoes, asparagus, eggplant, olives and rutabaga; live yogurt cultures, such as probiotic yogurt and Kefir; meats, such as beef, chicken, lamb and turkey; fish, such as anchovies, herring, sardines and salmon; nuts and seeds, such as almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, walnuts and sunflower seeds; non-glutinous grains, such as buckwheat, millet, oat bran and quinoa; herbs and spices, such as dill and paprika; oils and seasoning, such as sesame oil, coconut oil, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar; and beverages, such as chicory root coffee and cinnamon, peppermint, ginger and licorice teas. Everything else is out. This phase lasts a few weeks to several months, depending.

Finally, you’ll want to start taking probiotics and gradually reintroduce foods to your diet, such as low sugar fruits and beans. Ideally, you won’t even want to fully return to your original, unhealthy diet.

“The healthy, energetic feeling that you get from a diet of nutritious whole foods is worth the cost of missing out on a few treats,” writes Richards on her Web site, thecandidadiet.com. In her book “The Ultimate Candida Diet Program,” she talks about the weight loss benefits of following this difficult diet. “Some people experience a dramatic weight loss when they switch to a Candida Diet. Often this is a good thing. The Candida Diet is full of healthy vegetables, non-glutinous grains and proteins. So when candida sufferers quit junk food and start a more balanced diet, the fat just naturally falls off.”  

After nearly a century, San Rafael Elementary campus is being closed and the school relocated. During a seismic study in 2011, it was determined that four earthquake faults run beneath the only public school campus in West Pasadena. The study was in preparation for modernization of school buildings by the Measure TT Bond Construction program. A state law puts a hold on any structural improvements within 50 feet of the fault lines. 

“The San Rafael campus is safe to inhabit,” said Adam Wolfson, communications director of the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD). “It’s a public school building, which are some of the safest buildings in the entire state. But one part of the law says we can’t do any substantial renovations to that campus, so that’s one of the main reasons we’re doing the move.”

At its Nov. 7 meeting, the Pasadena Board of Education decided to relocate San Rafael to the site that used to be Allendale Elementary, next to the Blair middle and high schools campus. Since Blair International Baccalaureate School is using that space during its own renovations, and additional improvements will need to be made after that, the soonest a relocation could happen is the 2017-18 school year. San Rafael Elementary will continue to 

operate at its current campus until then.

“Right now we’re doing construction at Blair, so that Allendale campus will be used to temporarily house students from Blair High,” said Wolfson. “That’s the first use. Once that happens, then that campus needs to be rehabbed and properly prepared for an elementary school, which is how we get to 2017.”

This decision was made after the San Rafael community requested that the district look into rebuilding on an area of the campus outside of the fault zone, according to an article by West Pasadena Residents’ Association (WPRA) Vice President Catherine Stringer in that organization’s newsletter. Another option was relocating to a renovated Linda Vista Elementary campus, which was closed in 2006.

“Allendale was certainly not our first choice,” said Wolfson. “Sometimes Mother Nature has the final say.”

The board also recently formed a 7-11 Committee to determine whether San Rafael should be designated surplus, the first step the district must take before closing, selling or leasing the site. 

Iconic Pasadena City Hall has been featured in numerous television shows and movies over the years, and this week it will be the site of three popular programs on ESPN Radio.    

“The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” “SVP & Russillo,” and “ESPN Radio College GameDay: BCS Special” will all broadcast live in front of City Hall Monday.

“The public is invited to come down and watch the shows live for free,” said William Boyer, public information officer for the city of Pasadena.

The live tapings will take place from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday. Each show will be broadcast back to back prior to the Bowl Championship Series Game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Auburn Tigers at the Rose Bowl. The shows will feature nine consecutive hours of live talk, interviews and analysis leading up to the game. 

“The Herd with Colin Cowherd” will begin at 7 a.m. on ESPN Radio with a simulcast on ESPNU. 

“SVP & Russillo,” featuring Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo, will start at 10 a.m. also on ESPN Radio with a simulcast on ESPNEWS. 

A special three hour “ESPN Radio College GameDay: BCS Special” begins at 1 p.m., hosted by Russillo, Trevor Matich and Brad Edwards. 

Following the live tapings there will be a pre-game show at 4 p.m. and the VIZIO BCS National Championship starts at 8:30 p.m., all on ESPN Radio.

Mike Tirico, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe and Joe Schad will provide commentary during the BCS game, wrapping up ESPN Radio’s 26-game bowl broadcast schedule.

“The Herd with Colin Cowherd” and “SVP & Russillo” are sports talk radio programs which feature commentary on sports news and interviews with sports analysts and athletes. 

“College GameDay,” hosted by Chris Fowler, previews college football games and frequently broadcasts live around the country. The shows will return to their studios the following day. 

There is certainly no shortage of recovery programs and rehab centers in Pasadena and the rest of the San Gabriel Valley. 

Las Encinas Hospital is one. Impact House and the Pasadena Recovery Center are two other popular facilities. When demand is heavy, apparently the supply is there. With so many to choose from, one can be selective and pick the right philosophy that fits their needs.

The most prevalent recovery philosophy is the 12-step program. Nearly any time of the day or night a drunk or an addict can find an Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meeting somewhere nearby. Most in-house outpatient programs follow the 12-step model. But not everyone agrees with the programs’ most basic philosophy: Admitting powerlessness and turning one’s self over to a higher power.

The 12-step method works very well for a lot of people, but not everyone. For those who want to take their recovery into their own hands, there are local secular alternatives to AA and other 12 step-based programs here in Pasadena.

Eric Harlacher is a survivor of both alcohol dependence and cancer. He’s a certified substance abuse counselor with an office in Pasadena. He utilizes a non-12-step treatment modality and leads SMART Recovery (Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, or REBT) classes. SMART is a self-empowering addiction recovery group. It is evidence-based and upholds the idea that addiction can be overcome by disputing irrational thinking.

Harlacher said that his cancer and his alcohol dependence were “two very similar disease models that are seen so differently in contemporary society: the first deserving of compassion, the latter a moral failing that can only be driven out by systematic public shaming in a 12-step meeting. When I was a survivor, I was applauded for taking individual action. I was not told I was powerless, I was not told to sit down and make a list of my character defects.”

All of the qualities that served him so well as a cancer survivor — self-advocacy, seeking alternative medicine, researching the latest medical data — were undesirable and unwelcome in AA meetings, he said. That’s when he started looking for a different way to approach overcoming his addiction.

Another thing that bothered him about AA was the requirement to give oneself up to a higher power. He didn’t like being told that he couldn’t conquer his addiction on his own. As a counselor now, he personally witnesses people who do just that.

“We don’t hear about those people because if you look at substance abuse as this pyramid, say 10 or 20 percent of people at the bottom have no problem,” said Harlacher. “Whether for environmental or religious reasons they’ve never even tried alcohol. You have a big section in the middle that kind of use something or stopped or cut back. And if you work in the recovery community you see the very top of the pyramid, you see the people who seek out treatment and frequently you’re seeing the most difficult of the most difficult.”

Harlacher tailors his substance abuse counseling to each individual. Everyone is at a different stage of their recovery; therefore a one-size-fits-all model doesn’t always work.

“I don’t work harder than anyone sitting in front of me,” he said. “When you’re ready you’re ready. You meet somebody where they’re at. If someone is still holding on to alcohol as a substance, for a while at least you meet them there. Is this working out for you? You’re drinking for pleasure and you say you don’t have a DUI and yet you don’t see your kids, you’re filled with shame, your business partner doesn’t want to work with you. Is it possible any of these symptoms could be alleviated if you stop taking this magical liquid you say you’re so attached to? Then you get people who are very, very ready. They want to know the factual, ‘How do I do this?’” As far as a philosophy goes, he tries to keep that open, somewhere between a medical and academic model. 

“When I treat people, I try to leave it open because the word ‘disease’ has been tainted by a lot of people in AA. Whatever addiction is, everyone seems to agree that it’s progressive. Once you cross a certain line, it is incurable, but it can be treatable.”

And for him it starts with empowering and motivating people to overcome their addiction, not telling them they’re powerless. 

Last year was many things: A whirlwind of joys, frustrations, achievements and shortcomings. But 2013 remains one thing for everybody: over. It’s now time to take stock, cut your losses and move forward powerfully. 

The past is the past, and you possess the ability to live in the moment and chart out your future. Your life is yours to create. No more putting off what you really want. All you have is right here and right now.

The beginning of each year is a justifiably easy time to wipe the slate clean and begin anew, because it’s more difficult for most people to follow through on new commitments throughout the year. Popular New Year’s resolutions include getting a new job, managing stress, eating healthier, quitting smoking, saving money and, of course, losing weight and getting in shape. 

So, how do you get — and keep — the ball rolling?

The key is to take an intervening action. A jolt is needed to shake things up. As humans, our default is to slide into what’s comfortable and familiar. If you want results, you have to interrupt the status quo. It won’t happen on its own.

If you’ve resolved to get in shape, it would behoove you to check out Pure Barre, a ballet barre-focused exercise gym with a workout that will seriously kick your ass and give you the jolt you need. A popular franchise, there are about 130 outlets throughout the country. Alexis Hovden, who owns the 76th franchise gym on Fair Oaks Avenue in Old Pasadena, said their barre method tackles the areas of the body that most women struggle with: hips, butt, thighs and triceps. However, it’s not just for women.

“Our main draw is women but anyone can do it,” said Hovden. “Girls like to bring their boyfriends.”

What really keeps people coming back, she said, and therefore supporting people fulfill on their fitness resolutions, is how quickly they see results on their body. 

“You can see results in as quickly as five classes,” said Hovden. “It works all major and small muscle groups of the human body and it has a heightened level of fat burn. People get addicted to it. They keep on coming back because they keep getting results so quickly.”

In the beginning of the New Year, Pure Barre has a new client special, featuring an unlimited month of classes for $99. If you mention Pasadena Weekly, your first class is free.

“It’s fun, it works, it keeps you coming back, the music is fun, it’s a great environment,” said Hovden. “Instructors make it fun while being really motivational and help you take your body to its limits.”

Of course, New Year’s resolutions don’t just have to be about self-improvement. As Jonathan Edewards pointed out on the Downtown Pasadena Neighborhood Association’s blog, improving the health and well-being of your community can be just as rewarding.

“For many of us, a fresh start in the New Year means a renewed determination to live healthier lives,” he wrote. “Improve fitness and health by walking or biking or other exercise. Others desire the satisfaction and clean conscience that comes from making lifestyle choices that are better for our planet’s health, or that improve the well-being of the entire community. Both of those goals — personal health and community well-being — are met in the context of our walkable neighborhood, as folks resolve to drive less and to instead walk or bike more often for their daily needs. The DPNA aims to improve our community’s well-being by making those options safer and easier.”

Mental health is often misunderstood, but it’s something we all deal with. Life is full of difficult experiences, grief to overcome and strife to cope with. It all adds up to a lot of stress on our minds. Luckily for Pasadenans, the Pasadena Mental Health Center (PMHC) has been providing vital services since 1965. 

But what is mental health exactly, and why is it so important that we pay attention to it? Chanel Boutakidis, former executive director of PMHC, said it’s essential to maintaining a healthy and happy life.

“Mental health is a state of well-being,” said Boutakidis. “We all need to have a healthy state of mental health. It is what we use to cope with the normal stresses of life so that we can be productive, happy, and so that we are able to contribute to our community. It is what helps us to create life balance.”

Boutakidis currently serves as the CEO of Five Acres, otherwise known as the Boys’ and Girls’ Aid Society of Los Angeles County, a youth advocacy organization in Altadena which started out as an orphanage in 1888. In 2007, PMHC officially joined forces with Five Acres. The two organizations had worked collaboratively together for many years before that. Five Acres serves children and PMHC began serving their parents. Around the time the Great Recession hit in 2008, PMHC reached out to Five Acres for help in order to continue providing valuable mental health services to the community.

Today, Five Acres is involved in the overall governance of PMHC. For the past three years, PMHC has partnered with Five Acres’ school-based program in the Pasadena Unified School District to provide counseling to students who otherwise would not have been eligible for services. PMHC has become the go-to provider for individuals and families living below the poverty line.

“PMHC is the only provider of affordable, non-acute mental health services in the Pasadena area for low-income individuals and families who are uninsured and do not qualify for Medi-Cal,” said Boutakidis. “Seventy percent of the families and individuals we service have an average annual income below $19,000 and are uninsured or under-insured with limited resources for health care. All consultations and services are provided on a sliding scale fee basis, depending on ability to pay. PMHC provides counseling to more than 1,000 clients a year.”

Those services cover individual, couple, family and group counseling, with sessions available in both English and Spanish. They also provide counseling and therapeutic services to clients who may be dealing with mild mental illness. When someone needs a service that is not provided by PMHC, the center also helps them find resources throughout the community, such as low-cost housing, food banks, vocational services, low-cost child care and more. It is an organization that collaborates with many important institutions throughout Greater Pasadena.

“Our Youth Accountability Program, in partnership with the Pasadena Police Department, works with juveniles who have committed a minor first criminal offense,” said Boutakidis. “The program provides individual, family and group therapy to youth and their families, as well as parenting classes. Overall, it has been very successful in keeping youth out of the criminal justice system.”

Ultimately, PMHC is there to help people deal with the challenges in their lives. Its stated mission is to “provide affordable, accessible and appropriate mental health services for individuals, families and children in the diverse Pasadena area and surrounding communities who have no other resources for such care.” Affordable mental health services remain difficult to find; meanwhile mental health remains essential to a happy life. That’s why the Pasadena Mental Health Center has become such a valuable organization in the Pasadena community.

The Pasadena Mental Health Center is located at 1495 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena. Visit pmhcenter.org for more information.