RULES OF THE ROAD: CROSSWALKS

PEDESTRIANS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY IN CALIFORNIA. Crosswalks are painted in roadways to make sure walkers can cross safely but they simply don't work unless people follow the rules. In fact, one in six traffic fatalities involves a pedestrian. But do you know there are also unmarked crosswalks?

PEDESTRIANS
If you're on foot or using a wheelchair, cross the street only at corners or inside marked crosswalks. Look around for any approaching vehicles and make eye contact with drivers to make sure they see you. If available, push the button and wait for a green signal; do not step off the curb if the signal is already flashing or solid red - you won't have time to make it.

Even though it is legal for pedestrians to cross at unmarked crosswalks - intersections where there are no painted crosswalks - it may be safer to walk a block or two to the nearest painted crosswalk, especially on streets with heavy traffic.

DRIVERS
If you're driving, always stop for pedestrians crossing at intersections, whether or not there is a painted crosswalk. Allow extra time for older pedestrians, people with disabilities and parents with strollers or young children. Always be especially careful when turning a corner at a red light: is someone preparing to cross in the other direction?

Never, ever pass another vehicle that has stopped at a crosswalk - a pedestrian you can't see may be crossing! - and never come to a stop in the middle of a crosswalk, forcing pedestrians to walk out into traffic to get around you.

If you drive an electric or hybrid car, remember that walkers may not hear you coming! Leave a safe distance and use extra caution.

For the California Vehicle Code Chapter related to pedestrian rights and duties, visit www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/vctoc.htm and go to Division 11, Chapter 5. For more information call the Pasadena Police Department at 744-4590.

This article was taken from the Pasadena In Focus March - April 2010 issue

Pasadena's neighborhood mural program tries again

By Janette Williams, Staff Writer Pasadena Star News

PASADENA - Technically, the mural by artist Luis Ituarte is the second commissioned in the city's grant-funded Neighborhood Enhancement Mural Program.

But since an ill-fated first mural in Northwest Pasadena was mistakenly painted over soon after its completion, "Cool Succulents" will become the program's first piece of public art.

This time the new 880-square-foot mural won't actually be painted on a wall.

It was created digitally by computer and transferred to specially treated weather-resistant material, Ituarte said.

But that doesn't mean the process was problem-free.

Plans were to install the mural on the side of the Pasadena Fish Market and Restaurant, 181 E. Orange Grove Blvd. last week, but some technical glitches in the process have put in on hold for perhaps a few weeks, according to the artist's wife, Gerda Govine-Itaurte.

Since the program's murals are designed to be in place only for five years, Ituarte said, having it on fabric makes more sense than painting it directly on a wall.

After that long, he said, any mural on an exterior wall will need some serious repair, which could cost more than the original.

"It's pretty unique," Ituarte said of the technique he used. "I think this way of doing a mural is going to take off... If an artist paints a mural on a wall and after five years you're going to cover it up, that's pretty sad."

Ituarte said he created five different designs for the mural, funded in part by a $2,500 city Arts Commission grant.

"We went to the place it was going to be, invited the community to the restaurant last year and they decided which one they wanted," he said. "They liked the succulents very much. I think people relate to them in our semi-desert climate - and some people think they look like green roses."

Ituarte, whose father was an architect, said he believes a mural should enhance a building's style.

"An architect has to comply with certain regulations, the way the building or house or whatever looks," he said. "Then these people come along and make a mural not respecting what was originally there."

When installed, the mural will cover an entire wall of the restaurant, which Ituarte describes as being in a "classically nondescript" 1960s building.

"It's very pleasant for this place," he said. "People who drive past can see it from the street. And the subject matter is pleasant, not political - sort of a flower combined with an abstract."

Ituarte is known locally for his "Poly-Paint" murals for the Pasadena Boys and Girls Club, the Scott McKenzie Child Care Center and the Art Center College of Design. He has exhibited work in the California, Washington, D.C., Canada, Italy and Mexico over the past 38 years.

Some of his mural work is included in the USC library, Los Angeles and California Mural Collection and the California Ethnic and Multicultural Collection, city officials said.

Rochelle Branch, the city's cultural affairs manager, said the mural is considered an artwork rather than a "super-graphic," and that it can simply be removed when the time comes.

"It allows the artist to easily take possession of the work, should the need arise," she said. "The other benefit is to the property owner, who may have a different use for this space in coming years."

Branch said the city is in the process of "finalizing" a new site and a new commission for artist Christian Alderete. His mural at a store on North Fair Oaks Avenue was painted over in November after a code-enforcement mix-up.

Ituarte is happy with the fabric mural.

"The technique wasn't something I invented, but in the circumstances it's turning out to be great," he said.


This article was from the Pasadena Star News Paper

Water Don't Waste It!

With all this rain we've had, we are still in a mandatory conservation actions. This is just a reminder to please adhere to the city's Level 1 Water Shortage Procedures(Enforced by Pasadena Municipal Code 13.10).

WATER SHORTAGE PROCEDURES ORDINANCE (PMC 13.10.040)
(Amended July 4, 2009)

The following is a summary of the key components in the Water Shortage Procedures Ordinance. Click here to read or print the unabridged ordinance.

1. Effective July 4, 2009, the following instances of water waste will be permanently prohibited:


No watering outdoors between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., except with a hand-held container or hose with a shut-off nozzle, or for very short periods when adjusting a sprinkler system;

No watering during periods of rain;

No excessive water flow or runoff onto pavement, gutters or ditches from watering or irrigating landscapes or vegetation of any kind;

No washing down paved surfaces unless for safety or sanitation, in which case a bucket, a hose with a shut-off nozzle, a cleaning machine that recycles water or a low-volume/high-pressure water broom must be used;

All property owners must fix leaks, breaks or malfunctions when they find them, or within seven days of receiving a notice from PWP;

Fountains and water features must have a re-circulating water system;

Vehicles must be washed with a hand-held bucket and/or hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle (does not apply to commercial car washes);

Restaurants may not serve drinking water unless by request and must use water-saving dish wash spray valves;

No installation of non-recirculating water systems at new commercial car washes and laundry systems. Effective July 1, 2010, all commercial car washes must have a re-circulating water system or secure a city waiver.

Hotels and motels must give guests the option to decline daily bed linen and towel changes.

No installation of “single pass cooling systems” in buildings requesting new water service.


If you have witnessed a possible instance of water waste and would like to report it to PWP, please complete the form below, or call the Pasadena Water Shortage Hotline at (626) 744-8888.

PWP will send a formal notice to the address where water waste is thought to have occurred. The goal of these notices is to give all persons and businesses the opportunity to correct the problem, become better informed about the importance of water conservation, deter future instances of waste and change water habits for the better.

http://ww2.cityofpasadena.net/waterandpower/watershortage/waterwastereport.htm

Thank you all for following this and if it's raining please turn off your sprinklers.