When the Sheraton Los Angeles San Gabriel Hotel opens its doors in January, you probably won’t have to tip an employee to take your luggage up to your room.
That’s because the “employee” will likely be a robot.
The San Gabriel Sheraton will be the first U.S. hotel chain to tout eight TUG robots developed by Aethon, the leading provider of autonomous mobile robots. But before you conjure up images of a human-like contraption with arms and legs, it should be noted that these mechanical devices look more like a portable kiosk, or maybe a trash container.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t be helpful.
Here’s what they’ll do
One of the units will serve as a “wayfinding” robot that will take guests to destinations on the first floor, while the other seven will be multi-use helpers that will use the hotel’s service elevators to deliver in-room meals, luggage, fresh linens … maybe even a cocktail or two. The TUG is capable of hauling up to 1,400 lbs.
“The robots will work alongside employees but won’t replace them,” Wanda Chan, the hotel’s general manager, said in a statement. “Rather, their purpose is to make certain tasks more efficient, allowing staff to focus on the needs of guests and offering more personal touches.”
A track record of success
Pittsburgh-based Aethon’s TUG robots have a proven track record of success in hospitals throughout the world, making more than 50,000 deliveries each week. They will make their way through the Sheraton using an internal built-in map. The units have sensors that allow them to safely move around people and obstacles, and they will use the hotel’s WiFi system to communicate with elevators and automatic doors.
“Robots are the next wave of hospitality technology and we believe our overnight guests and those in the local San Gabriel community will find the robots to be intriguing and fun,” Chan said.
The tip of the iceberg
Behrokh Khoshnevis, a USC expert in robotic-building technologies, said what’s happening at the Sheration is the just tip of the iceberg.
“We’re going to see much more of this, and it’s going to increase at an exponential rate,” he said. “Manufacturing is greatly automated, and there are lots of consumer products that are almost 100 percent made with automation. I’m pushing to get automation into the construction industry, which is largely manual now.”
Khoshnevis said people in sectors such as the service industry should not be doing things that robots and do — and probably do better.
“Many people tend to look at the negative side of technology, but all you have to do is go back to the way life was without it,” he said. “It’s led to a more advanced form of society. You wouldn’t want to go back to the way it was before.”
“Robotics and automation in manufacturing has been a contentious topic in the last 12 months — but the research shows that the sector is one of the best places to invest today, and the returns are likely to improve as time goes on, Neil Kinson, Redwood’s chief of staff, said in the report.
Investment in robotics reached an 18-year peak in 2015, the study showed, accounting for as much as 10 percent of worldwide GDP growth over the previous 22 years.
Congress is debating whether to eliminate the ability of taxpayers to deduct state and local taxes on their federal returns. If these deductions are repealed, almost 30 percent of taxpayers would be affected. Here’s a look at the deduction that 34 percent of Californians claim.
Distribution of deductions
According to the Tax Foundation, the state and local tax deductions, known as SALT, are the most popular itemized deductions. In 2013, approximately 43 million households deducted what they paid in state and local tax.
Difference by income
People who itemize tend to be on the higher end of the income scale — about 10 percent of filers who make under $50,000 claimed the deductions, while 42 percent of households with annual incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 itemized deductions in 2013, and 93.5 percent of households that made over $200,000 did.
Tax and the number of states that collect
Income tax: 41
Local income tax: 12
State sales tax: 45
Local sales tax: 38
Property tax: 50
Average deductions
Average amount for state and local tax deductions per return
California has the fifth highest average behind:
Connecticut: $7,774
New York: $7,182
New Jersey: $7,045
Washington, D.C.: $6,056
Percentage of filers using state and local tax deductions
California has the 11th highest percentage of people using the deductions. Maryland has the highest with 45 percent.
Deductions by congressional district
The darker the color on the map, the higher the average amount of deductions claimed per congressional district.
California has 53 congressional districts.
District 18 had the highest average amount, $18,239. The district covers areas of Palo Alto and Santa Clara.
California congressional district, party of representative, percentage using the deductions and average amount
Sources: Government Finance Officers Association, Tax Foundation, Tax Policy Center, IRS, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
In the past week, riders of Foothill Transit buses have experienced the most fare changes and route re-alignments in the history of the agency.
And riders can expect another round of fare hikes in September 2019.
Adults, seniors, disabled and students are now paying 25 cents more for a one-way local ride. A single bus ride jumped from $1.25 to $1.50. Riders swiping their pre-loaded TAP cards get a discount. In some cases, the fares remained the same, while in others the fare increases were less than those paying with cash.
Fares have either risen or stayed the same in every category, with one exception: An adult monthly pass has dropped to $50, from $70 — a 28.5 percent decrease.
Students seemed to shoulder the brunt of the fare increases. A student 31-day pass on the popular Silver Streak line has gone up a whopping 44 percent, from $52 to $75.
Fare increases are predicted to bump up revenues by 7 percent in the first phase, an additional 10 percent by the second phase starting in 2019, she said.
The small, independent bus agency serving 48,000 riders per week in the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys has also eliminated some routes, split others lines and increased coverage along the Pasadena-to-Azusa Metro Gold Line stations to move riders to and from the light-rail train instead of to their ultimate destination, said Friesema.
“Changes of this magnitude are always going to have their challenges. But so far things have gone smoothly,” Friesema said Thursday afternoon.
Foothill Transit needs to stop the drop in revenues, mostly due to declining ridership, rising expenses and competition with new train lines, the agency said.
Some bus riders have switched over to the Metro Gold Line in the foothills region. The elimination of routes and merging of others will save $588,000, the agency reported. Foothill Transit’s operating budget is nearly $100 million.
For example, Line 481 from El Monte to downtown L.A. was cancelled; riders are being redirected to Silver Streak from the El Monte Bus Station to Union Station and to the Metro Purple and Red lines.
Line 187, an east-west route from Pasadena to Montclair has been split into two routes: 187 and 188, with a de-emphasis on the connections between Azusa and Pasadena, served by the Gold Line.
Other changes include:
• Monthly passes for seniors and disabled riders have increased from $22 to $25
• Monthly passes for student riders increased from $33 to $36.
• A Day Pass is available for the first time ever. The cost is $5 and $2.50 for seniors.
• A new electric bus made by Proterra will be running along Azusa Avenue from the Downtown Azusa Gold Line Station to the Puente Hills Mall. The electrification of Line 280 may begin on Friday, Friesema said.
“The whole point was to create some efficiency where there wasn’t much ridership and to add places where they needed more service,” Friesema said.
Lines with schedule and/or route changes include:185, 187, 194, 270, 284, 291, 292, 480, 482, 488, 493, 495, 498, 690, and 851, according to Foothill Transit. Lines removed are: 481, 494 and 855. For a full list of service and fare changes, go to www.foothilltransit.org/changes.
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the fatal stabbing of a man in unincorporated North San Gabriel Tuesday night.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies from the department’s Temple station arrived at the location at about 6:48 p.m., responding to a call reporting a “stabbing victim,” according to a statement issued by the department.
The victim suffered from at least one stab wound and was pronounced dead at the scene, the statement said.
The murder weapon was not recovered, and the department has no suspect description, according to the statement.
Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau are continuing to investigate.
Anyone with information about this incident can contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. To provide information anonymously, those with information can call “Crime Stoppers” at 800-222-8477.
The death of a senior citizen found fatally stabbed at a home in North San Gabriel on Tuesday evening is now being investigated as an apparent suicide, coroner’s officials said Wednesday.
Although investigators initially responded to the death as a possible homicide, “under further investigation, it appears to be a suicide,” coroner’s Chief of Operations Brian Elias said.
No weapon was initially found at the scene, adding to suspicions of foul play, sheriff’s officials said. But investigators ultimately did discover a knife believed to have been involved in the death, according to Elias.
A metal statue of St. Junipero Serra was vandalized early Friday morning at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, mimicking a similar incident at another mission less than two months ago.
Pastor Manuel “Tony” Diaz said at 1:15 a.m., a man jumped on the pedestal of the statue and tried to decapitate it with an electric saw. Surveillance video at the mission caught the man on tape.
“The right side of the (statute’s) neck has a 2-inch gash in it,” Diaz said.
The man stopped before he could completely saw through the neck. He then threw red paint on it, said Diaz, adding the incident doesn’t surprise him.
A man tried to decapitate St. Junipero Serra statue at Mission San Gabriel at 1:15 a.m. Friday morning. A surveillance video showed that the man stopped before he could completely saw through the neck, and then he threw red paint on it. Vandalism of Junipero Serra’s statues at missions began in the northern part of the state ever since Pope Francis canonized him. (Photo by Walt Mancini/Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
“The vandalism of Junipero Serra’s statues at our missions began in the northern part of the state ever since Pope Francis (beatified) him,” Diaz said.
Some people, he said, have protested the decision because of his treatment of native populations in the 18th century. American Indians and others have accused the church of honoring a man they associate with the deaths of thousands of Native Americans, the enslavement of converts to Christianity and the devastation of native culture. Some say he set in motion the genocide of California Indians.
The statue is 15 years old and stands in front of the mission. It sustained damages of about $2,000 as a result of the vandal, San Gabriel police Lt. Riki Nakamura said.
“Surveillance revealed an unknown suspect, possibly a male, approximately 5 feet 7 inches, 130 to 140 pounds, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants (and) dark colored gloves climbed on the statue and began to saw the neck area using what appeared to be an electric reciprocating saw,” San Gabriel police Detective Steve Gaona said in a written statement. “With no success, the suspect then poured red colored paint on the chest area of the statue.”
A similar crime was reported in September, when an vandal or vandals reportedly decapitated a statue of Serra and doused it with red paint at the Old Miossion Santa Barbara, according to the L.A. Times.
No vandalism has been reported at Mission San Juan Capistrano in Orange County, where a statue of St. Junipero Serra with a native boy stands in a garden area, said executive director Mechelle Lawrence-Adams. The mission grounds are enclosed by a wall around its property.
Friday morning’s incident was the second significant incident of vandalism reported at the San Gabriel Mission since January of 2015, when Pope Francis first announced intentions to promote Serra’s sainthood, officials said. Serra was canonized Sept. 23, 2015.
The canonization was met by protests at the San Gabriel Mission, but no incidents of vandalism were reported during demonstrations, police said.
An unidentified man climbed a fence into the San Gabriel Mission Cemetery and smashed two stone statues of Jesus Christ to pieces with rocks on Jan. 21, 2015, one week after Serra’s potential sainthood was announced. The vandalism caused about $50,000 in damage, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the culprit.
Anyone with information on the vandalism at the San Gabriel Mission is urged to contact San Gabriel police at 626-308-2828. Tips may also be submitted anonymously online to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
Staff writer Alma Fausto contributed to this report.
)Father Manue Diaz of the San Gabriel Mission looking at two-inch gash on neck of St. Junipero statue. A man tried to decapitate St. Junipero Serra statue at Mission San Gabriel at 1:15 a.m. Friday morning. A surveillance video showed that the man stopped before he could completely saw through the neck, and then he threw red paint on it. Vandalism of Junipero Serra’s statues at missions began in the northern part of the state ever since Pope Francis deified him. (Photo by Walt Mancini/Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
Niconar Sanchez, 24, of San Gabriel. (Courtesy, San Gabriel Police Department)
Police in San Gabriel are asking the public’s help in finding a missing autistic 24-year-old man with the mental capacity of a 12-year-old child, officials said.
Niconar Sanchez was last contacted by family Oct. 27, and was last seen at Smith Park, 232 W. Broadway, Oct. 28, San Gabriel police said in a written statement.
Sanchez, who is known to walk around the city and frequents Smith Park, had not been seen or heard from since, authorities said.
“(Sanchez) has not contacted any family members since Oct. 27 and does not possess a cellphone,” according to the statement.
He’s described as Latino, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 200 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a shirt with tan stripes and blue jeans.
Anyone with information is asked to contact San Gabriel police at 626-308-2828.
More vets live in California than any other state, but that might not be for long. Here’s a look at how California ranks in several categories for veterans and what the future might hold.
Best places to live
This week the personal finance website WalletHub released its report on the best and worst places for veterans to live. The report compares the 100 largest U.S. cities, using 17 metrics. California has more than 1.73 million veterans and had 17 cities ranked. Here’s a look:
91. Cleveland
92. San Bernardino
93. Toledo, Ohio
94. North Las Vegas
95. Birmingham, Ala.
96. Memphis, Tenn.
97. Hialeah, Fla.
98. Baltimore
99. Newark, N.J.
100. Detroit
How the rankings are calculated:
Total scores are based on rankings for jobs, economy, quality of life and health. Rankings are based on some of the following criteria, with 25 points in each category:
Jobs: Share of military skill-related jobs and veteran unemployment rates.
Economy: Housing affordability, veteran income growth, education opportunity and share of veterans living below the poverty level.
Quality of life: Veteran population levels, family-friendliness and retiree-friendliness.
Health: VA benefits facilities and quality of the facilities.
Veteran population projections
The Department of Veterans Affairs predicts the total veteran population is predicted to decline from 20 million in 2017 to 13.6 million in 2037.
Veteran population in millions
Where the vets live
California has the most veterans of any state, with 1.73 million in FY 2016.
VA facilities, California, National
Number of inpatient care sites, 10, 155
Number of outpatient care sites, 60, 1,028
Number of vet centers, 30, 300
Number of VBA regional offices, 3, 55
Number of cemeteries, 13, 243
Annual percentage change of veteran population by congressional district: 2017-2027
About 25 percent of veterans reside in the California, Texas and Florida. Veterans are moving to the West and South. Texas is projected to have more veterans than California in 2027, and Florida is projected to have more in 2037.
Charities for vets
According to CharityWatch, donors who want to make contributions to programs that serve the military and veterans face an almost overwhelming volume of choices. By some accounts, there are more than 40,000 nonprofit organizations dedicated to serving the military and veterans.
The 2014 Directory of Veterans and Military Service Organizations published by the VA lists more than 140 national nonprofit organizations. CharityWatch rates 53 charities for veterans and the military, and unfortunately, 26 of them receive an “F” grade for being financially inefficient. There were 16 charities with a grade of “C” or higher.
Everybody gives
As taxpayers, we all pay for veterans benefits. The Veterans Affairs Department is the second largest federal agency in the U.S. government, behind only the Defense Department, with over 340,000 employees and a 2015 budget of almost $164 billion. Included in the budget is over $95 billion allocated for mandatory programs such as disability compensation and pensions and $56 billion for medical care.
Needs for vets
There are six areas for the needs of veterans and the military highlighted in the 2013 report by Serving Those Who Served: Education, employment, family and community, legal/financial/housing, mental health and physical health.
The same report also notes there are three services the government does not provide support for: Bereavement services, connections with other veterans, emergency funds
Sources: National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, Wallethub.com, The Associated Press, CharityWatch, Charity Navigator, “Serving Those Who Served: A Wise Giver’s Guide to Assisting Veterans and Military Families, ” by Thomas Meyer, PhilanthropyRoundtable
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
A Pasadena woman in her early 30s was northbound on San Gabriel Boulevard on a Yamaha motorcycle, and a white SUV was making a left turn from southbound San Gabriel Boulevard onto eastbound Mission Road just prior to the crash, he said.
The motorcycle ended up colliding broad-side with the SUV in the intersection, Hernandez said.
“Officers arrived on scene and discovered the motorcycle rider with critical injuries,” he said. Paramedics took her to a trauma center, where she was listed in stable condition in an ICU on Wednesday.
A Sunnyvale man at the wheel of the SUV was not hurt, Hernandez said. He remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, and there were no initial signs of intoxicated driving.
The cause of the crash remained under investigation. Anyone with information can reach San Gabriel police at 626-308-2828.
Seven restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley were temporarily closed last week due to major public health hazards.
Between Nov. 5 and Nov. 11, those facilities had their health permits suspended for cockroach and rodent infestations and sewage discharge, according to a report from the Los Angeles County Public Health Department.
Restaurants and markets whose permits are suspended must close until another inspection determines the problems have been fixed. Closures can occur during routine and owner-initiated inspections, complaint investigations and re-inspections.
The department did not provide details about the nature of the cockroach or rodent infestations — like the number of cockroaches or rodent droppings and where in the facility they were found.
Here are the food facilities that were temporarily closed. Unless otherwise noted, the grades listed for the facilities were received on the same day they were closed.
Embassy Kitchen
Location: 218 S. San Gabriel Blvd., San Gabriel
Closure reason: cockroaches
Closure date: Nov. 6
Reopen date: Nov. 8
Grade: B (83)
Location: 308 N. Sunset Ave., La Puente
Closure reason: cockroach, rodent infestations
Closure date: Nov. 8
Reopen date: facility is still closed
Grade: B (87)
Chuan’s
Location: 5807 Rosemead Blvd., Temple City
Closure reason: sewage discharge
Closure date: Nov. 8
Reopen date: Nov. 8
Grade: A (95) received during an owner-initiated inspection Nov. 16
QQ Kitchen
Location: 9441 1/2 Las Tunas Drive, Temple City
Closure reason: cockroaches
Closure date: Nov. 8
Reopen date: Nov. 10
Grade: B (82)
When Arcadia police officers encounter homeless people in the city, they reach out to organizations in Pasadena or other nearby cities to find help for them.
Councilwoman April Verlato hopes the city can find a better way to offer resources for the city’s homeless a little closer to home.
“There just aren’t enough resources available locally; we’re not properly equipped,” she said. “It’s something that we need to address as we see more people in the city that cannot afford housing.”
Arcadia will have a bigger war chest for the effort now that it and more than a dozen San Gabriel Valley cities and three greater Whittier-area cities were awarded grant money to address homeless issues.
A total of 47 cities in LA County were chosen to receive the grants by Los Angeles Cunty and the United Way Greater Los Angeles’ Home for Good Funder Collaborative, with the hopes to continue the county’s efforts to find regional solutions to the homeless crises.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors allocated more than $2 million in grant money in all. Cities submitted applications outlining how they would create a local plan of action, in collaboration with the county and its contractors, to effectively address the homeless issues in their cities and the region.
Each city will receive a planning grant ranging from $30,000 to $70,000, depending on the number of homeless families and individuals within its municipal boundaries.
“The county and its cities must work in partnership if we expect to succeed in our battle against homelessness,” supervisors Chairman Mark Ridley-Thomas said in a written statement. “These grants represent the kind of creative thinking that we need to tackle one of the most pressing humanitarian crises of our region and of our time.”
The recent Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count in January showed a 23 percent increase in homelessness countywide over the previous year, bringing the total number of people experiencing homelessness across the county to more than 57,000.
Martin Browne, community services manager for the city of Whittier, said his city is in the process of hiring a consultant to help with the planning process.
“The City Council is interested in seeing what the grant will mean for the city,” he said. “We’re hoping the plan will assist us in our collaborative effort.”
The city has been proactive in working to address homelessness in the city for some years now, and something seems to be working: The city’s number of homeless was down from the previous year to 214, when a count was done in January.
Browne looks forward to getting as many of the city’s more than 35 resource agencies addressing the homeless, involved in the planning, as well as other stakeholders.
“The county has thousands of strategies (on how to address homelessness), so we as a city need to link with the county on their plans,” Browne said. “We’re looking to create a wide-ranging plan that will focus on Whittier but also look at the countywide strategies.”
Measure H funds are also expected to help out the cities in executing those plans. The sales tax ballot measure, approved in March by voters, is expected to bring in about $355 million a year for 10 years with the explicit goal of preventing and addressing homelessness in L.A. County.
Measure H funds are already being routed to many cities, so it is up to each city to make the best use of those funds while they are still available, Emily Bradley, program officer for United Way’s Home For Good Initiative said in an email.
“The funds from the city planning grants offer cities the chance to coordinate with and complement those resources for the greatest impact in their community,” she said.
Each city will have until March 2018 to create an individual plan. The cities will kick off their strategic planning at a convening led by United Way’s Home For Good and the county on Nov. 29.
“The orientation will teach the cities more about the county’s own strategies, walk them through a plan template and guide that was created to support cities through the planning process, and provide space for cities at all stages of experience in the fight to end homelessness, with the chance to share more about their plans and goals,” Bradley said.
A group of current and former Asian-American officers of the San Gabriel Police Department claim they were routinely harassed and discriminated against — both by other officers using slurs and stereotypes and by the department’s leadership, who they say passed them up for promotion after complaining about the alleged abuses, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
The lawsuit claims San Gabriel police maintained a “racially hostile” work environment in which they were demeaned “on a nearly daily basis,” including other officers using “mock Asian accents” when speaking to them, as well as comments on their physical appearance and stereotypes about Asian culture.
Bernard Alexander III, a partner with Santa Monica-based Alexander Krakow & Glick, which is representing the officers, called the allegations in the lawsuit “ironic” given the police department serves a majority Asian-American community.
The most recent U.S. Census figures show more than 60 percent of San Gabriel residents are Asian-American.
Jonathan Fu, a spokesman for the city of San Gabriel, declined to comment, saying the city had not yet been notified about the lawsuit. Alexander said in a phone interview that the law firm contacted the city before noon Tuesday, after the lawsuit was filed.
The lawsuit alleges members of the department’s leadership, including the assistant police chief, participated in the abuse alongside 20 unnamed officers.
“Because SGPD management engages in this harassing and demeaning behavior, SGPD officers learn, from the time they start as new trainee officers, that degrading people of Asian descent, including plaintiffs and city residents, is a practice condoned, if not encouraged, by SGPD,” attorneys wrote in their complaint.
The five officers suing the department were named in the lawsuit. According to the complaint, no Asian-American employees have been hired by the department since 2007, and none has been promoted to sergeant since 2001.
In addition to the alleged abuse, one of the former officers in the lawsuit, Sunny Kim, said he was retaliated against following a complaint to Chief Gene Harris after he witnessed another officer using a derogatory slur against African-Americans while on duty.
Kim said in the legal papers he was sent to Harris after he made the complaint, and the chief, who is black, said that while the officer’s slur would be addressed, he also threatened to fire Kim if he said anything about the incident to anyone else.
A few months later, Kim said he applied to be an officer handling police dogs. and Harris brought up the earlier complaint.
“Chief Harris challenged plaintiff Kim’s handling of the complaint, chastising plaintiff Kim for not personally confronting the officer in lieu of making a formal report, and asking to work a different shift than the officer reported for using the racial slur,” attorneys wrote in the lawsuit. “Later the same day, Chief Harris notified plaintiff Kim that another officer had been selected for the assignment.
Falling off a ladder while decorating the house is back in season. We offer some tips from safety agencies to help your hall decking go safely.
Lighting it up
1. Use lights approved for safe use by a nationally recognized testing laboratory. Never connect more than three strands of incandescent lights together. Consider purchasing LED lights, which use less energy and don’t get as hot as traditional incandescent lights.
2. Check each set of lights. Examine new and old lights for broken or cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires or loose connections. Throw out damaged sets. Do not use electric lights on a metallic tree.
3. Check each extension cord. Make sure each cord is rated for the intended use and is in good condition. Do not use cords with cuts or signs of fraying.
4. Check outdoor lights for labels. Look for labels indicating that the lights have been certified for outdoor use, and only plug them into a ground-fault circuit interrupter-protected receptacle or a portable GFCI.
Oh, christmas tree
1. Buying a live tree? Check for freshness. A fresh tree’s needles are hard to pull from branches, and the needles do not break when bent between your fingers.
2. Place the tree away from heat sources such as fireplaces, vents and radiators. Be sure to monitor water levels daily, and keep the tree stand filled with water.
3. Buying an artificial tree? Look for the label “fire resistant.” Although this label does not mean the tree will not catch fire, it does indicate that the tree is more resistant to burning.
Protecting pets
Store wrapping supplies away from pets. Pets who ingest ribbon or tinsel can develop a foreign body obstruction.
Careful with bones, especially poultry bones that are hollow. Ensure your garbage is covered.
Doctor’s orders
Surgeon Almaas Shaikh, trauma medical director at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, says each year before Halloween and continuing through December, her staff sees an increase in falls caused by holiday decorating.
“The holidays are a great opportunity to enjoy time with family and friends, celebrate life, to be grateful and reflect on what’s important,” Shaikh said. “They are also a time to appreciate the gift of health.”
Shaikh offers these tips for putting up and taking down holiday lights:
Use the buddy system. Holiday lights are a two-person job. One person should decorate, and the other should hold the ladder to make sure it’s secure. It’s also important to make sure the ladder is on steady ground.
Put on a helmet. It may seem silly, but it will save you from serious injury if you fall and hit your head.
Make sure you’re in good health. If you are uncomfortable or not used to climbing, consider calling a trained professional to help.
You’ll put your eye out
Don’t give the gift of a trip to an emergency room. In 2015, an estimated 254,200 toy-related injuries were treated in U.S. emergency rooms.
Charts may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Sources: National Safety Council, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mission Hospital, Petfinder.com
Those looking to make charitable donations for “Giving Tuesday” can help San Gabriel restore the iconic facade of the Mission Playhouse.
The facade was last repaired after the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake, but it is beginning to crack and crumble due to sun exposure and deferred maintenance, said Kelly Salloum, development and special projects manager for the Mission Playhouse, in a statement.
“The Playhouse is long overdue for a new coat of paint, and the repairs need to be addressed as soon as possible,” Salloum said in the statement.
The playhouse staff has raised more than $65,000 this year to pay for repairs, but they require an additional $15,000 to complete the repairs. Donations can be made online at the playhouse’s fundraising website or by mail or in person at the playhouse, 320 S. Mission Drive, San Gabriel, CA 91776.
A South El Monte attorney pleaded guilty Monday to federal fraud and money laundering charges stemming from a $50 million visa fraud scheme that gave green cards to Chinese nationals, including criminals on China’s most wanted list.
Victoria Chan pleaded guilty to exploiting the EB-5 visa program, which allows immigrants to the United States to receive green cards in exchange for investing at least $500,000 in an American business that creates jobs.
Chan ran the fraud scheme through a San Gabriel-based business called the California Investment Immigration Fund, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Investigators alleged that Chan’s father, Tat Chan, was also involved in running the scheme. Thom Mrozek, a spokesmen with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said an investigation into Tat Chan’s involvement in the scheme was ongoing, but that there was no pending court case against him.
FBI and federal immigration agents seized records in an April raid at CIIF’s office in the Hilton hotel at 225 West Valley Blvd. in San Gabriel and at homes in Arcadia and South El Monte where Chan family members lived.
Among the charges Victoria Chan pleaded guilty to Monday were conspiracy to commit visa fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and international money laundering. She is set to be sentenced July 9 and faces a maximum of 45 years in federal prison.
Chan, 35, admitted to submitting about 130 fraudulent EB-5 visa applications claiming funds would be invested into legitimate construction projects. Instead, Chan refunded most of that money back to the original investors, keeping hundreds of thousands of dollars for herself. Officials said in the statement that Chan used the funds to purchase homes in her name, including homes worth nearly $1 million each in Diamond Bar and Rancho Cucamonga.
Chan and other family members agreed to forfeit eight properties linked to the scheme worth a total of nearly $25 million. A ninth property in Rancho Cucamonga is expected to be forfeited in the coming weeks, according to the statement.
“Defendant Chan got rich by operating a long-term fraudulent scheme during which she manipulated a government program intended to encourage investors and stimulate the U.S. economy,” said Danny Kennedy, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, in a statement.
Prior to the searches, CIIF received commendations from several local politicians, with most posted in the office’s front window.
FBI agents bringing out boxes of evidence from California Investment Immigration Fund office in San Gabriel. Feds raid San Gabriel Valley locations Wednesday, April 5, 2017 over alleged scheme giving green cards to criminals on Chinese most-wanted list. FBI Special Agent Cathy Kramer said one employee was on site as agents arrived at the California Investment Immigration Fund office in San Gabriel. The employee is not a subject of the investigation. By noon, agents were still searching for evidence, packing evidence in 30-40 boxes. California Investment Immigration Fund office is located in the first floor of the San Gabriel Hilton.(Photo by Walt Mancini/Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
FBI agents searching for evidence in a closet at California Investment Immigration Fund office in San Gabriel. Feds raid San Gabriel Valley locations Wednesday, April 5, 2017 over alleged scheme giving green cards to criminals on Chinese most-wanted list. FBI Special Agent Cathy Kramer said one employee was on site as agents arrived at the California Investment Immigration Fund office in San Gabriel. The employee is not a subject of the investigation. By noon, agents were still searching for evidence, packing evidence in 30-40 boxes. California Investment Immigration Fund office is located in the first floor of the San Gabriel Hilton.(Photo by Walt Mancini/Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
Certificate of Recognition and letters to California Investment Immigration Fund LLC hanging inside office during FBI and Homeland Security raid Wednesday, April 5, 2017. (Photo by Walt Mancini/Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
A driver was arrested after he allegedly hit a garage, a car then threatened three people with a gun Monday night, police said.
San Gabriel police Sgt. Rebecca Gomez said the three victims weren’t injured. She said officers found the suspect with a 45-caliber gun, cocaine and methamphetamine.
It happened in the 1500 block of South Del Mar Avenue in San Gabriel around 11 p.m. Monday.
The suspect allegedly used a car to hit a garage door and the car inside, according to Gomez. She said he pointed a gun at the driver in the parked car, went into the apartment and threatened people at the home.
She said 58-year-old Zhi Wu of Alhambra was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery, vandalism and bringing a controlled substance in jail.
Booking records show Wu was arrested early Tuesday morning. He is being held at Alhambra jail on $100,000 bail. He is expected to be arraigned Thursday at Alhambra Superior Court.
There were two environmental crimes reported last week.
You may have heard about Oliver Schmidt, a senior manager for Volkswagen sentenced to seven years in prison Wednesday for concealing the software used to jimmy the pollution control systems on 600,000 diesel cars to secretly bypass EPA emission standards.
The one you may not have heard about? The cat burglar who stole $6,000 worth of binoculars, computers and other equipment from the Audubon Center at Debs Park. The center, located off Avenue 52 on the east side of the Arroyo Seco Parkway (110 Freeway) in Montecito Heights, holds Saturday bird walks and propagates seeds for native plantings and habitat restoration.
Hardly the best target for a burglar. I mean, a bird sanctuary? Why would someone steal from a nonprofit bird sanctuary?
Marcos A. Trinidad, the center’s director, is not sure. The man was wearing a mask. It was dark. The security camera footage is blurry. And he is still at large.
Whatever the motive, he wishes he would have just asked for help. “I am thinking of putting up a sign that says: ‘Before you break the window, give me a call. I’ll send you a payment or a gift card.’ ”
at 4 a.m Saturday, Dec. 2, there was little discussion.
The robber smashed the glass door with a screwdriver, knocked over the security camera and destroyed the alarm box. He ended up stealing a backpack filled with 12 binoculars that were used by the public for bird watching, as well as a birding scope, two computers, two $1,500 binoculars and several birding guides.
“He didn’t just steal from us, he stole from the community,” said Lauren Hill, volunteer coordinator, who pointed to the spot on her desk where her laptop once was and to the frayed cable where the desktop computer had sat, the one that provided her with bird information from the National Park Service database.
Trinidad has heard of thefts at other nonprofits within the chaparral-sloped hillsides along the Arroyo Seco in Northeast Los Angeles. One nonprofit was missing soap and paper towels after someone broke into their supply closet. At Audubon Center last year, someone broke into the kitchen and ate some ice cream and walked away with several granola bars.
“People are desperate,”Trinidad said. “What are some of the issues that put people in a position where they feel desperate enough to come to a nonprofit center and steal what we have?”
He’s working with other nonprofits in L.A. to address the needs of a transient population that set up camps in the woods or under the freeway bridges. Yes, I was impressed with his compassionate attitude. But he’s no fool. This guy didn’t just steal granola bars. His take amounted to $6,000 worth of equipment.
“I don’t think he will go out and go look at birds. Chances are he is looking to make a quick buck,” he said.
Birders are good for seeing luminescent colors on a bird’s plumage. Trinidad looks at the broken glass and sees more than the crime.
While I was there talking to him, he received an email from someone who will donate a computer. Already, several supporters have dropped off binoculars. So yeah, the bird watching will go on.
“It is a bummer that something like this would happen. The silver lining is the response of the community. They really came together and supported us,” he said. Some also dropped off bird guides and one person bought them a new table tripod.
Trinidad left this comment on the organization’s Facebook page: “Don’t worry, we will work together as a community to do what we do best, connect each other to our magnificent outdoors!”
Steve Scauzillo covers transportation and the environment for the Southern California News Group. He’s a recipient of the Aldo Leopold Award for Distinguished Editorial Writing from The Wilderness Society. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @stevscaz or email him at sscauzillo@scng.com.
Entrance to the Audubon Center at Debs Park, on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017. (Photo by Steve Scauzillo)
Six restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley were temporarily closed last week due to major public health hazards.
Between Nov. 26 and Dec. 2, those facilities had their health permits suspended for cockroach, rodent and fly infestations and a lack of hot water, according to a report from the Los Angeles County Public Health Department and the Pasadena Department of Public Health.
Restaurants and markets whose permits are suspended must close until another inspection determines the problems have been fixed. Closures can occur during routine and owner-initiated inspections, complaint investigations and re-inspections.
The county health department did not provide details about the nature of the cockroach, rodent and fly infestations — like the number of cockroaches, rodent droppings or flies and where in the facility they were found.
The Pasadena health agency does things differently. Instead of issuing grades to restaurants, the city gives restaurants placards with the words “Pass,” “Conditional Pass” or “Closed.” The city deducts points the same way the county does, but if a health inspector determines a closure is warranted the restaurant automatically loses 26 points.
Here are the food facilities that were temporarily closed. Unless otherwise noted, the grades listed for the facilities were received on the same day they were closed.
Central Park Restaurant
Location: 219 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena
Closure reason: cockroaches
Inspector comments: Observed “heavy” cockroach infestation throughout facility, including two dead cockroaches inside utensil drawers, two live cockroaches under food prep table next to hand-washing sink and six to 10 dead cockroaches inside of containers of sugar and flour, according to the Pasadena city website.
Closure date: Nov. 27
Reopen date: Dec. 1
Score: 50/100
Pho 87 Bamboo Garden
Location: 405 N. Vincent Ave., Covina
Closure reason: cockroaches
Closure date: Nov. 28
Reopen date: facility is still closed
Grade: B (85)
Snowopolis
Location: 1467 N. Montebello Blvd., Montebello
Closure reason: no hot water
Closure date: Nov. 28
Reopen date: Nov. 29
Grade: B (82)
Cathy’s Bakery
Location: 123 S. San Gabriel Blvd., San Gabriel
Closure reason: rodent infestation
Closure date: Nov. 29
Reopen date: Dec. 1
Grade: B (80)
Wing Stop
Location: 2369 Foothill Blvd., Suite B, La Verne
Closure reason: cockroaches
Closure date: Nov. 30
Reopen date: Dec. 4
Grade: B (80)
Police are cracking down on sloshed sleigh drivers this holiday season, with extra patrols and checkpoint planned throughout the San Gabriel Valley and beyond, officials said.
Numerous law enforcement agencies are joining in the California Office of Traffic Safety and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s year-end “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign Dec. 15 through Jan. 1.
“As part of the holiday enforcement campaign period, law enforcement agencies will be hosting DUI checkpoints and deploying DUI saturation patrols during the upcoming 18-day DUI crackdown throughout the region,” Glendora police Sgt. Michael Henderson said in a written statement.
In addition to “saturation patrols” throughout the holiday season, enforcement operations planned in the coming weeks include:
• A Friday night checkpoint at an undisclosed location in Arcadia
• A Friday night checkpoint at an undisclosed location in Glendora
• A Sunday night checkpoint at an undisclosed location in Montebello
• A Dec. 22 checkpoint at an undisclosed location in West Covina
• A Dec. 29 checkpoint at an undisclosed location in San Gabriel
““This holiday season, drivers will notice increased enforcement while watching closely for anyone who is driving impaired,” Glendora Police Chief Lisa Rosales said in a written statement. “Our top priority is keeping our roads and our traveler’s safe, not just during the holidays, but every day.”
While making strides in employing residents of disadvantaged communities, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority finds itself way behind other large cities when it comes to hiring women for construction jobs.
Metro’s rate is 3.35 percent, not half the U.S. Labor Department standard of 6.9 percent for transit projects receiving federal dollars. Seattle, Portland and Boston all exceed the federal female construction job goal, according to a Metro report.
Jacquie Anzaldo, lower right, directs trucks into the Metro Purple Line project in Mid-Wilshire. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News-SCNG)
Cynthia Pina, left, and Melinda Thomas, Laborers at the Metro Purple Line project in Mid-Wilshire. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News-SCNG)
Tammy Cameron is a truck driver for DTC Trucking. She is currently hauling materials for the Metro Purple Line project in Mid-Wilshire. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News-SCNG)
Cynthia Pina, Laborer at the Metro Purple Line project in Mid-Wilshire. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News-SCNG)
Engineer Erica Frederickson talks with Labor Foreman Reyes Cervantes at the Metro Purple Line project in Mid-Wilshire. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News-SCNG)
Chiedza Garcia works at the Metro Purple Line project in Mid-Wilshire. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News-SCNG)
Jacqueline Ruiz, Traffic Control worker at the Metro Purple Line project in Mid-Wilshire. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News-SCNG)
Jacquie Anzaldo works as a Spotter at the Metro Purple Line project in Mid-Wilshire. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News-SCNG)
The low numbers prompted the six women on the 13-member Metro board to introduce tougher standards for construction contractors to employ more women and hire sub-contractors who employ a higher percentage of women workers. Led by Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, the women were appalled that Metro — which bills itself as a progressive agency — falls well under a low-bar set in 1980 in Washington.
“We still go by a standard set by Jimmy Carter 40 years ago of 6.9 percent and we’ve never even achieved it?” asked board member and Supervisor Janice Hahn, who pushed for the newer policies adopted by the full board Nov. 30, along with Supervisor Hilda Solis, Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Caltrans board representative Carrie Bowen and Jackie Dupont-Walker, community member appointed by Los Angeles Mayor and Metro board chairman Eric Garcetti.
“We need more success stories for women in construction,” Hahn added.
Metro to create 450,000 jobs
The stakes are high for the Los Angeles County transportation agency, which takes billions in federal dollars. Although not a mandate, meeting the goals could help the agency attract more federal dollars. With Measure M, a half-cent sales tax approved by voters last year, Metro will create 450,000 construction jobs in the next four decades on 40 different projects. Even a rise of few percentage points would give thousands of women — many of them single mothers — well-paying jobs with benefits for several years.
“The fact women represent half the population yet such a small percentage in this industry is astonishing,” said Erika Thi Patterson, national policy director for Jobs To Move America, a nonprofit advocating for transit jobs to go to Americans, including minorities, women and re-entering workers.
For a few of the women at the Purple Line subway extension construction site at Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles, it was clear that construction jobs as well as those in supporting fields such as architecture, planning and engineering are overwhelmingly dominated by men.
“This is 2017. Women can do everything — just about — what a man can do these days. I would like to see more women get into it,” said Tammy Cameron, 40, of Sun Valley, who was getting ready to haul dirt loaded into her tractor-trailer truck to the Chiquita Canyon Landfill.
Tammy Cameron is a truck driver for DTC Trucking. She is currently hauling materials for the Metro Purple Line project in Mid-Wilshire. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News-SCNG)
A few women, including those who directed trucks onto busy La Brea Avenue, work at the future subway station site being built by contractors Skanksa Traylor Shea, or STS. The $6.3 billion project will extend the underground subway nine miles from Wilshire/Western to Westwood VA Hospital in West Los Angeles, serving the mid-Wilshire area, Beverly Hills, Century City and Westwood. So far the project has received $2.85 billion in federal grants.
Female engineer directs tunneling
One of those was Erica Frederickson, 28, of Echo Park, a civil engineer who is working as field engineer for the mega project. Standing adjacent to a giant crane and a hole 75-feet deep, she bent her tall, slight frame toward a male supervisor while giving him instructions on how to do the next crane lift and other engineering specifications he must pass along to the crew.
Frederickson, who earned her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, is an expert on tunneling, a process that will begin under Wilshire Boulevard sometime next year.
She’s working on developing exact engineering logistics for transporting the massive tunnel boring machine coming from Germany, first to the Port of Los Angeles and then to the dig site in the Miracle Mile area. The vehicles used, the roadways chosen, literally every turn must be carefully planned, she said. Also, communicating the on-site engineering specifics to mostly men who carry out the job makes her a key player in a long-awaited subway extension fraught with potential pitfalls.
“I was fearful coming into it, thinking I would not be accepted,” she said. “I worried they would say ‘What does this girl know? She came in here with her engineering degree.’ But once I got here, everybody I work with was really accepting.”
Four-point plan
What stops women from getting construction jobs?
For one, women do not know about the job opportunities or don’t apply because they see it as a male-dominated industry, according to Metro. The industry also lacks supportive programs such as apprenticeships.
Child care programs and sexual harassment training are also often missing.
A study by the National Women’s Law Center in 2014 found more than 97 percent of construction workers in the country are men.
In an effort to get Metro contractors to employ more women, the board ordered CEO Phil Washington to do the following:
• Create a report card for each contractor working on Metro projects scoring female worker goals and numbers.
• Publish the report card four times a year on the Metro website and report quarterly to the board to consider in upcoming contracts.
• Develop an informal incentive program that includes photo opportunities with board members for companies boosting women hiring.
• Include in the agency’s employment hiring plans how contractors can create a diverse and inclusive work environment, such as providing sexual harassment training and access to child care.
“We hope the scorecard being made public sends a clear message: The board wants to invest in women in the construction trade,” Kuehl said at the board meeting.
Rejecting stereotypes
Because state law prohibits making racial or gender hiring goals enforceable, Metro has had to find creative work arounds, said Patterson. For example, Metro directed contractors to hire qualified people from low-incomes areas, such as South Los Angeles, to help build the Crenshaw light-rail line, the board reported. But females remain significantly underrepresented on construction projects, the report concluded.
Patterson’s group has called the new directive “a great first step toward opening up access to women (for construction jobs).” Also, in construction, women earn 93 percent of what men earn, much higher than the average of 80 percent in other jobs, Metro reported.
Solis argued that unless the message reaches schools and colleges, there won’t be enough women trained in engineering and construction jobs. “We have to have a plan and a system in place where they feel wanted,” she said.
Many girls skip the higher paying career paths dominated by men and end up in lower-paying service jobs, Patterson said. Any single mother who enters the construction field may get a salary boost and better benefits, she said.
“A lot of the time, women are told this is a man’s world and the work is too hard for them. So they think about going into something else,” she said.
Cameron, the truck driver, went from banking into construction five years ago. She had support from her husband, also in trucking, to move into this field that offers better pay and benefits.
She bristled at the suggestion that women are not strong enough to do this kind of work.
“It is a male-dominated career. But women can do it just as well,” she said.
Difference by income
Tax and the number of states that collect
Protecting pets
