SanGabriel Sun A Beacon Media, Inc. Publication
Thursday, DECEMBER 13 - DECEMBER 19, 2012
Community News, Arts & Opinions Since 1996
sangabrielsun.com
Volume XVII, No. XXXXX
Celebrating the Season with Lights, Laughter and Love
This home on Las Lunas Street in Pasadena has garnered a lot of attention over the years for its elaborate holiday display. This year’s decorations are truly exceptional and offer something for all kids from one age one to ninty-nine The display including tributes to local friends and neighbors who have recently passed away. The owner of this property carefully and panstakingly places all the elements in the front yard of his home shortly after Thanksgiving and is usually completed by early December in time for children from all over Pasadena to witness one man’s very bright homage to the season. -Photo by Terry Miller
U.S. Pasadena Unified Facilities Supreme Chief Placed on Leave Court to Amid Billing Investigation By Jim E. Winburn Hear Prop Pasadena Unified cilities department until an 8 Challenge, SchoolTheDistrict has placed investigation is complete. Facilities Chief David AzcarIn the meantime, Papraga on administrative leave palardo will manage the ACLU pending an investigation $350-million Measure TT billing practices by con- program, which was apChallenge to into tractors for the Measure TT proved by voters in 2008. capital improvement proIn addition to AzcarDefense of gram. raga being placed on leave, According to PUSD the district has suspended spokesman Wolfson, Robin Brown’s contract, Marriage Act the district’sAdam chief of facilities a bond manager who was The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will grant review in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the challenge to California’s Proposition 8, and in Windsor v. United States, the ACLU’s challenge to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. The ACLU of California was co-counsel with Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights in In Re Marriage Cases, the case that legalized marriage for California same-sex couples in 2008. Windsor, an 83-year-old New York City resident, was forced to pay more than $363,000 in federal estate taxes after the death of her spouse, Thea Spyer, because their marriage was not recognized under federal law. If Spyer had married a man instead of a woman, no estate Please see page 9
was put on leave Wednesday over alleged improper billing practices and that Chief Finance Officer John Pappalardo will run the fa-
brought aboard to provide fiscal oversight to the capital improvement program. Please see page 15
Joe Brown Resigns Pasadena NAACP after Serving 12 Years Joe Brown, president of the Pasadena-branch NAACP has resigned, effective at year’s end. Brown sent Beacon Media a copy of a letter dated December 6 addressed to community supporters and friends. The move ends Brown’s 12-year tenure as head of the local civil rights organization which tried to heal wounds in an ethnically diverse city such as Pasadena. Adopting a quote about George W. Bush, Brown said “ Leaders seldom swim with the
By Terry Miller stream…the truly committed never waiver from the solemn oath they are entrusted with.” Not everyone saw things Brown’s way, according to his letter. His support for marriage equality and Dream Act are but two examples cited in his resignation letter. Brown went on to praise Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez for his “ undaunting and steadfast courage” during recent investigations and publicly Brown acknowledges that he was perhaps short sighted and rushed
Joe Brown at his office in Pasadena will be leaving effective at the end of the year. -Photo by Terry Miller
to make decisions about some cases that garnered a lot of media attention in Please see page 10
Completion of Arcadia Gold Line Bridge Celebrated By Jim E. Winburn For commuters of the San Gabriel Valley, this freeway project could very well be the bridge of progress that many have longed for. Spanning 584 feet over the Foothill (210) Freeway, the Arcadia Gold Line bridge is the most visible part of the 11.5-mile eastward extension project that leads through Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale and Azusa. Local media were treated to a tour and photo opportunity of this newly
finished Gold Line bridge Wednesday morning from Newcastle Park in Arcadia. The $18.6-million bridge, completed on time and on budget, is only one element of the $1.2 billion extension project through the valley, according to Habib Balian, CEO of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority. And with full funding by Los Angeles County Please see page 18
The Gold Line bridge, now complete, spans 584 feet across the 210 freeway. -Photo by Terry Miller