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California Public Utilities Commission blasts SCEdison for poor handling of windstorm in 42-page-report Report cites serious safety violations; ‘restoration time was inadequate' BY TERRY MILLER
Beacon Remembers the Dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Volume 18, No. 3
Edison reviews PUC report Utility admits “Performance fell short of our own expectations”
The California Public Utilities Commission released a 42 page document detailing their final findings which indicate serious violations on behalf of SCE in the handling of the days and weeks that followed the windstorm. The report goes on to say: “On November 30, 2011 and December 1, 2011, powerful winds swept through Southern California Edison Company’s (SCE) territory knocking down utility facilities, uprooting trees, and causing prolonged power outages. Two-hundred forty-eight wood poles and 1,064 overhead conductors were affected. The highest number of simultaneous customer outages was 226,053. Full restoration was completed at 6:21 AM on December 8, 2011. There were no reported injuries or deaths due to this incident. The Consumer Protection and Safety Division (CPSD) of the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) investigated the cause of the failed poles, SCE’s restoration effort, and SCE’s communication with the general public and governmental agencies dur-
ing the incident. CPSD determined that SCE and Communication Infrastructure Providers (CIP), who jointly own poles in SCE’s service territory, violated General Order (GO) 95 safety factor requirements. The CIPs involved are AT&T, Champion Broadband, Charter
Azusa gang leader sentenced to 20 years for violation of civil rights
Body discovered inside burned trailer in Duarte
The leader of a gang that committed serious hate crimes against African Americans in Azusa was sentenced Monday to 20 years behind bars. The Feds say 48-yearold Santiago Rios, who is known as “Chico,” was the leader of the Azusa 13
Los Angeles County firefighters discovered a body inside a trailer that was engulfed in flames in a neighborhood in unincorporated Duarte early Monday morning. Firefighters and officials from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s bomb
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Southern California Edison (SCE) has received and is currently reviewing the California Public UtilitiesCommission, Safety and Enforcement Division’s final report on its investigation Please see page 15
Man shot in Pasadena Temple City was one of the hardest hit areas in the huge windstorm December 2011. The Public Utilities Commission has published a scathing report on Edison’s response to that disaster but Edison also has fired back saying SCE deployed more than 1,500 field resources to remove vegetation and safely restore power. Within 24 hours of the peak outage total (4 a.m. on Dec. 1, 2011), SCE had restored nearly 50 percent of its customers’ power. -Photo by Terry Miller
Communications, Sunesys, Time Warner Cable, TW Telecom, and Verizon. At least 211 poles and 17 guy wires did not meet the safety factor requirements codified in GO 95, Rule 44.1. CPSD also found that SCE violated GO 95, Rules 17 and 19, for failing to adequately investigate the outages and
pole failures and for failing to preserve the evidence. CPSD found that SCE’s restoration time was inadequate. In addition, information in SCE’s emergency procedures was not updated and SCE personnel did noty follow traing schedule nor did they ask for mutual assistance.”
Sierra Madre to protest county’s Clean Water, Clean Beaches fee
Police looking for 2 hispanic males in tan car
The massive windstorm on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 2011 affected 440,000 Edison customers, including about 205,000 customers in the San Gabriel Valley. It caused more than $34 million in damages in the Los Angeles County area.
On January 15, 2013, at approximately 2:12 p.m., the Pasadena Police Department received a telephone call from a male caller stating his brother had been shot. Officers responded to the intersection of Chester St. and Villa St. where they found
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San Gabriel council approves community development funds at year’s first meeting
BY JIM E. WINBURN The Sierra Madre City Because the proposed BY JIM E. WINBURN Council voted 5-0 to approve Clean Water fee is a “Propa city protest over the “Clean osition 218” fee, a protest Water, Clean Beaches Mea- process must be conducted sure,” being proposed as a before it can be put to a new parcel tax by the County vote in a general election. of Los Angeles. Protest forms were included At the Jan. 8 meeting, in the “Official Notice” sent City Manager Elaine Aguilar out to property owners, and said Sierra Madre, just like the deadline to submit these all property owners within forms is before the end of the city, received a county the public hearing, which is Members of the Gabrielino Eagle Marching Regiment perform at San Ganotice proposing an annual Tuesday, Jan. 15. briel’s first City Council meeting for 2013. -Photo by Jim E. Winburn fee to pay for clean water proAs part of its protest to The San Gabriel City fiscal year 2013-14 at its first grams. The fee would be im- the Measure, the City Counposed on all property owners cil designated Mayor Josh Council approved the spend- meeting of the new year on ing of Community Developwithin the Los Angeles Counment Block Grant funds for ty Flood Control District. Please see page 14 Please see page 18