Tough Economy Doesn't Stop These Entrepreneurs (Altadena Patch article)

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Tough Economy Doesn't Stop These Entrepreneurs (Dispatches)

Three Altadena-based business representatives talked about their latest projects at the 10th anniversary of Tech Week at the Business Technology Center on Lincoln

By Justin Chapman, Altadena Patch, 10/21/2011

Altadena has not dodged the national economic slump and job stagnation that has affected the entire nation over the last few years. So it might be surprising to hear that in the last few years, Altadena-based entrepreneurs have been involved in starting high-tech businesses, and with the help of a county government program.
Representatives from three Altadena-based and affiliated small and start-up businesses spoke to Patch Thursday about their latest projects during the 10th Annual Technology Week, hosted at the Business Technology Center (BTC) on Lincoln Avenue. 
They had three interesting ideas:
  • One to serve as a Web consultant for high powered companies (Disney is one of his clients)
  • One to develop video games that could help rehabilitate patients with brain damage
  • One to build a new geo-location app that can help smart phone users navigate places like museums, conferences, and other places where people would want a tour
The Business Technology Center was founded in 1998 and is California's largest high-tech business incubator. The center provides below-market rent for new businesses in their first year, as well as a team of advisers and investors. The objective is to provide an environment that allows people to develop a marketable business idea and find a way to give it life.
Rehabilitative Video Games
Chris Ashford helped found Blue Marble Rehabilitation, Inc. in Altadena a year and a half ago along with three others. The company moved to L.A. a month ago because the staff grew to 15 employees, some of whom live on the Westside.
Blue Marble is a company that used a Small Business Innovative Research grant to develop video games that are used in rehabilitation for people who have experienced brain damage, illnesses and injuries.
"Working with a therapist is expensive, and the amount of people who need health care continues to grow faster than we can create doctors and clinicians," said Ashford. "So we're looking for a way to provide more tools for doctors and clinicians."
Their innovation? "Video games work really well because unlike a person they don't get tired, they're fun to play, and they're relatively inexpensive compared to a person," Ashford said. "In addition to seeing a rehabilitation therapist once or twice a week, you can now take this device that we are developing and testing home with you and use it as much as you want."
The company, which is looking to get their games on Xbox Live to reach an international audience, has a team of developers, designers, programmers, and four clinicians who have Ph.D.'s in physical and occupational therapy. The clinicians come up with "cognitive domains," or areas that they want to address in the game.
They talk with the designers and go back and forth to deal with the question, "How do we design a game to hit these specific cognitive areas?" After the designers are done, a programmer finishes the role-playing or puzzle video game, which has tests built in that track an individual's cognitive status and progress.
"We make sure it's fun, it meets those cognitive domains, and that it has scientific merit to it," he said. "We also work with the U.S. Department of Defense to treat service members who are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan who have had brain injuries. What we've found is that 75 percent of those who have been exposed to an explosion have some sort of cognitive deficit. When that happens, you start to forget things. So these games are designed to help them organize their lives and go back to work."
Blue Marble's video games, which are all still being developed and tested, are tools with wide ranging uses that help other organizations, doctors, and clinicians who have older patients or others who are experiencing some kind of cognitive deficiency including brain illnesses and injuries and are undergoing rehabilitation.
Demonstrating Geo-Location
In the Demonstration Tent at Thursday's event, Joaquin Brown and Jeff Turner of iViu Technologies talked about their new location-based smart phone application, which communicates with Wi-Fi proprietary ID tags that were setup around the BTC.
"We use those tags to communicate with iPhone and Android smart phones, to let the users know what they're near," said Brown. "It gives us a more accurate location than GPS. We've installed an ID tag in each tent and conference room, so that the visitors and attendees can use their app to get information about where they are," such as a map of the Business Technology Center and which panels, speakers, and meetings are going on throughout the day-long event.
For example, if you walked into the Demo Tent, where iViu's booth was located, you could use the app on your smart phone to look up details about not only the Tech Week event, but also iViu's website and other information.
If you went into the main tent, the app would show you information about the different speakers. In the lunch area you'd be able to look up the business that is serving lunch as well as the menu. In case you're in a meeting in a separate part of the event, the app sends you alerts or notifications when, say, the keynote speaker is about to begin or when lunch is being served.
The chief scientist on the iViu app, David Brown, has an office at the BTC. His company is called Intelligent Applications Hatchery. iViu Technologies recently opened their new office in Anaheim.
"We're trying to get the app into malls and other public locations," said Turner. "We had it in the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and we tagged each painting so you could get information about each painting and artist on your phone. We want to be a universal app."
"Ideally," Brown added, "this would be the same app you would use for concert information, for Disneyland, for supermarkets, for malls. It'd be a way for advertisers and manufacturers to communicate with the user at the point of sale."
Consulting for Disney
Jo Lilore, an Altadena-based Web Business Consultant who has been a tenant at the BTC since March, deals with web marketing and strategies for both start-ups as well as established companies.
"I'm actually a partner with the Business Technology Center," said Lilore. "Most of their companies here are technology development companies. I'm a consultant that partners with them, so I have a space here. My business is basically helping nonprofits and for-profit companies with their web presence. Historically I've worked with larger companies, either through ad agencies doing marketing work or through companies themselves."
For example, Lilore said he recently worked as a web consultant with Disney for a year.
"There are nuances to a newer business versus a larger corporation, but a lot of the same principles apply," he continued. "I work with both start-ups, including ones here in Altadena, as well as established companies."
This is one of a continuing series chronicling how we are dealing with the economic crisis. Tell us what issues and what stories in Altadena Patch go to the heart of your American Dream. Please contact editor Dan Abendschein at dan.abendschein@patch.com.







Sheriff's Lieutenant Sings at Altadena Station Dedication (La Cañada-Flintridge Patch and Altadena Patch articles)

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Crescenta Valley Lieutenant Sings at Station's Dedication (Video)

Lt. Angela Shepherd performs the National Anthem a capella at this weekend's re-opening of the Altadena Sheriff's Station

By Justin Chapman, La Cañada-Flintridge Patch, 9/27/2011

With Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca saluting behind her, Lt. Angela Shepherd sang the National Anthem during the grand re-opening ceremony of the . The station, which opened in 1927, underwent renovation starting in May 2010 and finished this month. You may read about  
When she's not on duty at Crescenta Valley Sheriff Station, Shepherd's often singing with her classic rock band, The Mixx, a five-member group who entertained heaps of folks gathered at June 12 for one of La Cañada's Music in the Park festivals. Here's the La Cañada Valley Sun story on her summer performance. 




Lt. Angela Shepherd performs the National Anthem a capella at this weekend's re-opening of the Altadena Sheriff's Station.

By Justin Chapman, Altadena Patch, 9/28/2011

With Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca saluting behind her, Lt. Angela Shepherd sang the National Anthem during the of the . The station, which opened in 1927, underwent renovation starting in May 2010 and finished this month.
When she's not on duty at Crescenta Valley Sheriff Station, Shepherd's often singing with her classic rock band, The Mixx, a five-member group, which .

Community Celebrates Grand Reopening of Sheriff's Station (Altadena Patch)

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Community Celebrates Grand Reopening of Sheriff's Station (Photo Gallery)

More than 100 Altadena residents as well as several dignitaries gathered for the reopening of the "newest oldest" Sheriff's station in the county

By Justin Chapman, Altadena Patch, 9/25/2011

Fontanet Way was closed off Saturday afternoon as several dignitaries, dozens of Altadena residents and community leaders gathered for the ribbon cutting and grand reopening ceremony of the , which opened in 1927, underwent renovation starting in May 2010 and finished this month.
With Capt. Steve McLean leading the proceedings, law enforcement officials and residents alike celebrated the oldest patrol station in the LA County Sheriff's Department. Members of the Altadena Town Council and both the Pasadena and Altadena NAACP, Sheriff Lee Baca, Supervisor Michael Antonovich, Assemblymember Anthony Portantino, Pasadena Unified Superintendent Jon Gundry, as well as officials from the California Highway Patrol, Pasadena Police Department and many others were in attendance for the historic event.
McLean told Patch that the renovation is good not only for the deputies who work there but also the community as well. He cited the expanded lobby, which includes public bathrooms and an information desk, as one example of a more patron-friendly station.
He also said that besides having an expanded dispatch and more dispatchers, they've been funded and are waiting for the updated technology for their 911 system. Once they have that in place they will be able to dispatch calls from the station itself instead of from the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station.

A Good Day
"It's good for the community, it's good for the deputies, and today's a good day," said McLean. "It's a culmination and an example of teamwork from dedicated community leaders and elected officials who wanted this station remodeled."
Both Sheriff Baca and Supervisor Antonovich credited former state Senator and Pasadena City College President Jack Scott, an Altadenan himself, for really getting the ball rolling on this $1.4 million renovation project.
During his remarks, Baca said he worked at the Altadena station from 1971-73, adding, "It goes to show that if you go through Altadena, good things will happen. This station needed a lot of tender love and care, and it got it."

Search and Rescue
Antonovich gave a proclamation to McLean and the Altadena Mountain Rescue Team on their 60th anniversary, and described some of the changes made to the station.
"This renovated station will better serve the community and improve the morale of the men and women who serve this department," said Antonovich.
Some of those changes include the fence around the parking lot which will protect the employees and vehicles, an upgraded electronic security monitoring system, a new female locker room, a new computer station, new wiring for the rescue radio system, new paint, flooring, windows, and outside landscaping, and updated modifications to the rescue trailer. The lobby and restrooms have been updated to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the dispatch center has been modified to expand the fully adjustable work stations, and the design of the lobby floor includes a depiction of the Sheriff's badge number 510 which belonged to fallen Altadena Deputy David Stout Larimer who was killed in December 1941.
Following the opening ceremony, the present dignitaries joined Baca and McLean as Antonovich cut the ribbon. Deputies who work out of the station gave public tours through the evening as actual inmates were being held in the cells, which are probably the only rooms not remodeled during the renovation project.






















Once-in-a-Century Celebration Underway (La Canada-Flintridge Patch article)

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Once-in-a-Century Celebration Underway

The weekend-long event celebrating the once-in-a-century matchup of La Cañada Flintridge's zip code 91011 and the corresponding date of Sept. 10, 2011, kicked off Friday evening

By Justin Chapman, La Cañada-Flintridge Patch, 9/10/2011

About 400 people gathered at Friday evening after months of preparation by an ad-hoc committee for the first event in a weekend-long celebration of the date 9-10-11.
Those numbers also happen to be the city's zip code and an occurrance that only happens once every 100 years. Local residents and community leaders came together for an evening of live music, gourmet food trucks, and a chance to get to know their neighbors even better.
The festivities continue today when several of the city's art and cultural institutions from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to Descanso Gardens will open their doors for free to showcase all that La Cañada has to offer. Sunday will wrap up the community-wide event with a non-denominational, non-political 9/11 memorial service at the  to commemorate the tenth anniversary of that unforgettable day.

Committee Rejects Palm Street High School (Altadena Patch article)

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Committee Rejects Palm Street High School

At a heated and raucous meeting Tuesday night, in which an enraged man was ejected by a Sheriff's deputy, opponents of any day school operating at 185-205 Palm Street won the first battle of many to come

By Justin Chapman, Altadena Patch, 9/7/2011

A town committee recommended against the county granting a permit to an Arcadia-based high school to open a new school on Palm Street in a contentious hearing Tuesday in which a school opponent had to be removed from the meeting by the
Knowing that the history of schools on Palm Street was a tense issue, newly appointed Land Use Committee chair Mark Goldschmidt had asked for a civil and respectful hearing at Tuesday night's meeting.
The committee and the audience--which numbered nearly 200 people and packed the community center's main room and barely left any standing room--heard a presentation from Arroyo Pacific Academy school director Philip Clarke, , as well as several comments from both supporters and opponents of locating the school at that site.
One man had to be ejected from the meeting by Lt. Roosevelt Johnson of the Altadena Sheriff's Station after he stood up, aggressively stormed up to the committee and started yelling expletives and calling the school's supporters "fascists" and "creeps."
When asked by Goldschmidt and other committee members to sit back down so the meeting could continue, the man told them to "shut up." Johnson said the man waited outside for his wife without incident.

Ruling
After a nearly two and a half hour meeting, committee member and town councilman Okorie Ezieme made a motion to recommend the town council tell the county to deny permits to Philip Clarke's proposed extension of his private high school. The motion was passed unanimously by the 14 present committee members.
The recommendation will be presented at the next Town Council meeting on Sept. 20, at which the Council will either accept or deny Land Use's decision and move it to the county level, where the binding decision on the permit will ultimately be made.

Opposition
When Clarke purchased the site his plan was to use it as an extension of his existing private high school, which is located in Arcadia. He is well aware, however, that the local neighborhood has been against any kind of day school being utilized at the Palm Street site after the Sahag-Mesrob Armenian Christian School operated at the site during the 2008-09 school year without telling the community or acquiring all the necessary permits from L.A. County.
The lack of public outreach prompted the formation of the Palm Street Area Resident's Association (PSARA), which is opposed to any day school at the site because of concerns about traffic, noise, pollution and property value impacts in the midst of the quiet residential neighborhood, according to a statement on their website.
Clarke is aware of the group's strong opposition to any day school, which is why he wanted to present his plans at the Land Use Committee, the town council, and then the county after going through several analysis studies to address the neighborhood's concerns, instead of excluding the neighbors from the conversation.

Neighborhood Impact
During his presentation on Tuesday, Clarke explained that there would be minimal traffic and noise impacts from the extension of his school, which would focus mainly on special activities and learning, such as the arts, humanities, environmental and physical sciences, technology and design, but not outdoor activities such as sports.
"Out of the eight existing buildings on the site, we plan on using only seven," said Clarke, adding that the 22 classrooms would be adequate to house the initial 12 teachers, three staff members, and about 85 students, with the goal of reaching a maximum of 250 students in a few years. "We do not plan to add or renovate any buildings or engage in new construction activities whatsoever."
Hours of operation would be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with classes starting at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 2:30 p.m. As for traffic, Clarke emphasized that they plan on staggering the commute schedule and encouraging the use of carpooling so there is no bogging up of traffic.
"We're not strangers," said Clarke. "Many students would come from Altadena. Altadena deserves a quality high school. I don't want to go through with this without community input, which is why we're here and why we're going to the Altadena Town Council and not just the county."
He asked the community to not hold him and his school responsible for the mistakes of previous occupants of that site and that they have no interest whatsoever in their property or the neighbors' properties to decrease in value.
"In fact we want to increase the values by beautification of our campus, planting trees and shrubs and plants," said Clarke. "We believe in a clean, safe and attractive environment. It would encourage people to buy homes in the area, not detract from that."

Packed With Supporters
While the majority of the audience members in attendance at Tuesday's meeting were in favor of the school, most of them were parents or teachers who praised Clarke's professionalism and the exceptional quality of education that Arroyo Pacific Academy provides, which many described as unlike any other high school.
There were also a good number of nearby residents, some who even live on Palm Street and spoke in favor of the school moving in.
However, opponents of the idea pointed out that no matter how amazing Arroyo Pacific Academy may be and how professional and genuine Philip Clarke may be, their issue was not being addressed: that a high school or day school of any kind does not belong in that quiet residential neighborhood. And every single present committee member ultimately agreed.
Colleen Sterritt, one of PSARA's head organizers, said during public comment that those who live in the area and will be affected the most are the ones who need to be taken into consideration, regardless of how great Clarke's school seems to be.
"A distinction needs to be made between those who do support Arroyo Pacific and don't live here and those who do live here," Sterritt said.

Committee's Thoughts
Despite the best efforts of Clarke's supporters to try to convince the Palm Street residents to give his school a chance, the committee decided that the site is simply not appropriate for a CUP zone change like the one that would be required.
"Most of the pros were all over the place," said LUC member Ken Roberts. "It's not the issue of the quality of the education of the school, but the location. The majority of those in favor of it don't really live in that neighborhood."
Long-time committee member Steve Haussler talked about the institutionalization of the site and said he hadn't heard or seen anything that shows that this is an appropriate site for a school like this.
"If the entire neighborhood was on board, it'd be a no-brainer," said committee member and town councilman Brent Musson. "It's not a school, it's a residential property. We don't have overwhelming support from the community in order to make such a drastic change like this."
Former LUC chair and current member Brian League pointed out the long term use ramifications.
"This is a residential community," he said. "If this CUP establishes the site as an institutional use, someone else can come in years down the line who might not be such a great occupant or neighbor to the local residents, and they'd be stuck with that."
The Land Use Committee's recommendation will be presented and discussed at the . Whether they agree with the recommendation or not, whatever action they take will bring it to the county level, which ultimately has the last say on the matter.
Both supporters and opponents of creating a branch of Arroyo Pacific Academy at the Palm Street site have said they will continue to actively participate in the entire process.










No Altadena Library Board Election This Year (Altadena Patch article)

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No Altadena Library Board Election This Year

The three incumbents up for reelection will be reappointed by the LA County Board of Supervisors, saving the Altadena Library District at least $135,000

By Justin Chapman, Altadena Patch, 8/25/2011

Although three members' terms of the Board of Trustees expire in December, there will be no election held on November 8 because only the three incumbents filed to run.
Board President David Datz and Board members Thomas Hubbard and Gwendolyn McMullins have all filed to run for office, and in lieu of any challengers, will be reappointed to the positions, according to Eileen Shea of the Los Angeles County Registrar. That will save the district the $135,000 that an election would cost.
Though only the three incumbents finished final papers to run for the office, two challengers went through the initial steps and filed their names with the Registrar, though ultimately did not complete the process, according to county records.
Armen Sarkissian, one of those would-be challengers, said he decided not to go forward with the campaign after a conversation with Datz, who would have been one of his opponents in the race. 
Datz told Patch that he contacted both potential candidates and explained what would be required of them, how much of a time commitment it is, and the fact that an election would cost the library district $135,000 or more.
That would be about 5 percent of the district's operating budget of roughly $2.3 million, though according to Datz the board continues to save money in their budget for elections.
"I just wanted (Alene Terzian and Sarkissian) to know all the facts," Datz said. "I didn't try to influence their decision. I wanted to explain to them the commitment involved, what they'd be expected to do, and that they should be aware that it's a substantial amount of money to run this election. People have the right to run if they want to, I just gave them information."
Datz added that he approached Terzian and Sarkissian with the intention of letting them know what they were getting themselves into. Although he did not speak to Terzian on the phone or in person, he did send her an email laying out all the facts and received a response indicating that she would not be running due to time commitments.

Not Directly Asked Not to Run
Terzian could not be reached for comment, but Sarkissian told Patch that he spoke with Datz on the phone and met with him in person. He said Datz never specifically tried to discourage him from running, but he did explain the complications involved if he did run.
"I was never directly asked not to run," said Sarkissian. "I was given information about the background of the board, how time consuming being on the board is, and how much an election would cost the library district. He did specifically tell me, 'I'm not trying to tell you not to run for election, but x, y, and z.'"
The high cost of holding an election was not the only reason Sarkissian decided not to run. He said he felt it would be an uphill challenge if he did find something that wasn't being handled efficiently because the other four members who have been entrenched on the board for years might not have the same perspective as him.
"If I'm the new person I think it would be an uphill battle to try to get something accomplished," he said. "I didn't want to run if I didn't feel I would be effective."

An Unpublicized Election
Although Sarkissian said he did not feel Datz's call was inappropriate, he does take issue with the fact that this election was not posted in the Altadena libraries or publicized in an adequate way (Altadena Patch ran an on the election, but just shortly before the filing deadline)
"The public has no idea about any of this, and that I have a problem with," he said. "I don't know if there are regulations to make sure if this election is being run properly, but how are people supposed to know how to run or vote if it's not publicized?"
The district, which is independent from the county's library system, holds staggered elections every two years as long as there is a challenger. In 2009 there was also not an election because there were no challengers, though there was an election in 2007.  The board members do not receive any pay for their service. 
Datz said the lack of public information about the election was "absolutely not" based on the intention to discourage Altadenans from running for the board. He cited examples of people who ran in the past not knowing how much time it takes to be on the board who later dropped out because it was not what they expected.
"Mr. Sarkissian is right, though," Datz said. "I think the board could post things better and we could put more things out about the election we'll have two years from now."
Still, Datz added, the public should also be able to "find these things out for themselves."
"It's not hard; they can go to the website to get information," Datz said.
He added that the board doesn't do anything in secret. It's a public agency and anyone is invited and encouraged to attend board meetings, which are held on the fourth Monday of every month at 5 p.m. in the Altadena Library Community Room.



JPL to land Mars Curiosity Rover

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JPL to land Mars Curiosity Rover

By Justin Chapman, Pasadena Sun, 8/2011

America’s space shuttle era came to an end last month, but roughly 400 workers at Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are in high gear preparing for the launch of the latest Mars rover, Curiosity.

“We’re trying to see if there was ever life on Mars and would Mars be capable of sustaining life,” Ashwian Vasavada, deputy project scientist on Curiosity, said.

Curiosity is scheduled to launch this fall and reach the red planet in August 2012, where it will collect data for two years. Late last month scientists announced Curiosity will land on the Gale Crater, where rock and sediment deposited down through the millennia are exposed. This landscape will help reveal if the planet ever had the key ingredient of life: water.

 “We targeted a landing site that looks to have the necessary environment and ingredients for life, and we’re going to try to confirm that with this rover,” Vasavada said.

Unlike previous rovers, Curiosity will have the ability to drill into rocks. It has a laser that reduces rocks to powder, and equipment to perform detailed analysis of samples.

“That’ll help us in two ways,” said Vasavada. “We’re looking for specific minerals in the rocks that would tell us about the availability of water in the past, which we think is necessary for life. We’ll also look for organic material, such as carbon-containing molecules that are the building blocks of life.”

The Mars Science Laboratory, NASA’s official name for Curiosity, is being run out of JPL’s Pasadena campus. Pete Theisinger, who has worked at JPL for more than 40 years, is the project manager. John Grotzinger, also a geology professor at Caltech, is the lead scientist.

When the Mars exploration rovers Spirit and Opportunity first arrived on Mars in 2004, about 1,000  people at JPL were involved, according to Vasavada. With Spirit already retired and work nearing a close on Curiosity, that figure has tapered off to about 400.

The Mars Science Laboratory is the largest current JPL project, Vasavada said, with an overall price tag of $2.4 billion.

Curiosity is slated to launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., between Nov. 25 and Dec. 18, weather permitting. Unlike the space shuttle Atlantis, which came back to Cape Canaveral July 21, Curiosity will never return.

“All data analysis will be done on the rover on Mars,” Vasavada said. “In 2014 it will have been on Mars for two years and that’ll be the end of our mission. If the rover is still working fine, NASA might decide to keep using it.”