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Methodist Hospital Celebrates National Hospital Week

Temple City Tribune — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:49:45 +0000

Nurse Wendy checks BMI (Body Mass Index) during Community Day at Metnodist Hospital on Monday. -Photos by Terry Miller

Spotlights Nurses and Other Healthcare Professionals

National Hospital Week dates back to 1921. Launched to promote trust and goodwill among community members, it began as a celebration of Florence Nightingale’s birthday, May 12. Known as the founder of modern nursing, Miss Nightingale also revolutionized the way hospitals were run.
Methodist Hospital is more than just a place where people go to heal; it is a central part of the community, fostering good health and representing hope. On Monday Hospital officials and staff held a Community Day at the newly remodeled hospital offering all kinds of screenings.
The 2012 National Hospital Week theme, “Making Miracles Happen,” is just part of what Methodist does on a daily basis.
“Our employees are champions at caring for our patients, and we are extremely proud of each member of our staff,” Dan Ausman, President and CEO, said. “National Hospital Week is a celebration of our people, and we recognize the important role they play in creating a sense of trust in our patients and our community.”
National Nurses Week, celebrated every year May 6-12, this year runs concurrently with Hospital Week.
Founded in 1903, Methodist Hospital is a 596-bed, not-for-profit hospital serving Arcadia and surrounding communities. Services include comprehensive acute care such as medical, surgical, perinatal, pediatrics, oncology, intensive care and complete cardiovascular services, including open-heart surgery. Methodist Hospital is an approved STEMI cardiac center, a certified stroke center and a center of excellence in bariatric services. The hospital’s cancer center is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. Methodist Hospital is accredited by The Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies more than 19,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States.

Voter Registration Deadline is May 21 for June 5 Primary

Temple City Tribune — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:40:50 +0000

Whether your voting interest in the upcoming June 5 California Primary is the Pasadena Unified School District charter amendment creating sub-districts, races for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the California Legislature, or the U.S. Senate and presidential contests, you first have to be registered to cast your ballot.

With the June 5 primary election just a few weeks away, Pasadena City Clerk Mark Jomsky reminds the public that the registration deadline to vote next month is May 21.

Registrants must fill out a hard-copy form and return it to the County Elections Office, Jomsky said. Registration forms are available at most government buildings in Los Angeles County, including all Pasadena city offices, public libraries and community centers. Forms also can be downloaded from the California Secretary of State’s website at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/register-to-vote/.

In addition to federal and state elective-office races and the Pasadena Unified School District sub-district proposal, Measure A, this year’s primary ballot includes state measures dealing with legislator term limits and the cigarette tax as well as county tax measures related to hotel occupancy and landfills.

For more information about this year’s elections, including finding your polling place and options for casting your ballot, visit the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder online at www.lavote.net

Structure Fire on Live Oak Causes $150, 000 in Damages

Temple City Tribune — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:37:34 +0000

On Friday, May 4, 2012, at 10:01 p.m. Arcadia Fire Department responded to a structure fire in the 500 block of West Live Oak Avenue in the City of Arcadia. Engine 105, Engine 106, Truck 105, Rescue Ambulance 106, and Battalion 105, along with fire apparatus from Monrovia and Los Angeles County Fire Departments responded to the scene.
Upon arrival, firefighters witnessed smoke and flames showing from a single-story single-family structure. Fire crews immediately began search and rescue and suppression operations, and extinguished the blaze within 15 minutes of arrival. No other structures were damaged during this incident.
The cause of the fire was electrical in nature, originating in a bedroom ceiling fan and spreading to the attic and adjacent rooms.
During search and rescue efforts, firefighters found one family pet, a dog, had perished due to smoke inhalation. The occupants were not at home at the time of the incident, nor were any persons found inside the structure.
The fire appears to be accidental in nature. The total dollar loss of the structure and contents is estimated to be $150,000.

Little Known Benefit Available for Older Veterans

Temple City Tribune — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:32:06 +0000

Veterans of any age can get assistance from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (USDVA) but a little known benefit is available for older Veteran’s. This benefit is called Improved Pension with aid and attendance. This benefit helps pay for assisted living, nursing home care and home care for veterans 65 years old or older or their surviving spouse. For older veterans or their surviving spouse receiving this benefit could mean the ability to stay in their home longer with the aid of a home care provider or the ability to move to an assisted living facility sooner when this type of care is needed.
This aid and attendance benefit is a reimbursement: claimant must spend the money on care in order to receive the benefit thus the veterans and his/her surviving spouse can have some financial means and still apply for this benefit. Another unique feature of this benefit is that, while the veterans must have served at least one day during war and 90 days after he/she is NOT required to have a combat related injury or disability.
Many older veterans are not aware that the United States Congress in 1979 passed an improved pension program that made this benefit available to veterans or their surviving spouse. For the veterans who are already in assisted living, receiving care at home or who are in a nursing home these benefits can be a tremendous help to the family. Many World War II veterans are in their 80′s or 90′s thus their sons and daughters could well be in their 60′s and facing retirement issues of their own. What tremendous help this benefit could be to these families.
The above “snap-shot” of this benefit may make applying for this benefit sound easy, it is not. There is a good deal of application paperwork and the veterans or their surviving spouse must qualify in 3 areas, they must be medically qualified, income qualified, asset qualified and they must also have an Honorable or regular discharge from the service.
For answers to questions related to the aid and attendance benefit please contact War Era Veterans at www.WarEraVet.com or call 1(800) 901-0940 (War Era Veterans is not part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs but a separate Veterans Advocacy Company.)

Little Musicians in Little Tokyo Draw Big Crowd for Big Apple

Temple City Tribune — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:26:34 +0000

Temple City resident Ashley Mok (far right), along with three other members of the ‘Four Strings Quartet’, are raising money for their orchestra’s 2013 trip to New York City’s Carnegie Hall. Next to Ashley, the other students are (right to left): Jenna Pascale, Reo Snyder and Emma Phillips, all three from South Pasadena. -Courtesy Photo

Temple City fourth grader Ashley Mok, 10, is very busy this spring. Not just because she’s a student at Cloverly Elementary School; but also because she is playing violin in a quartet that is helping her orchestra, the renowned Los Angeles Children’s Orchestra (LACO), raise money to travel to New York City next year.
LACO will perform at New York’s Carnegie Hall in spring of 2013, and fundraising efforts have begun in earnest. On Saturday, May 5, four of the orchestra’s members, including Ashley, played for the public at the Japanese Village Plaza, in downtown Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo district.
In an hour of playing, the children raised $225. “It’s expensive to get to Carnegie Hall, and every little bit helps,” says Susan Pascale, who conducts the orchestra and directs the South Pasadena Strings Program. The program’s orchestras performed at Carnegie Hall in 2009 and 2005, and Ashley and her sister, Kristen Mok, performed with them during the 2009 trip.
The other three quartet members are from South Pasadena. The four good friends are coached by South Pasadena Strings Program teacher Zach Dellinger. The children have named themselves ‘The Four Strings Quartet.’
Along with ‘Sakura,’ the ensemble performed other pieces from its large repertoire, including works by Hayden, Bach, and modern composers. In April, the four performed for U.S. Representative Adam Schiff’s Art Competition at the Huntington Gardens. On Mother’s Day, they will play at South Pasadena’s Oneonta Congregational Church on Garfield Avenue, at 9:30 a.m.
For more information, go to http://www.stringsprogram.com, or contact the South Pasadena Strings Program at 626-403-4611.

Temple City Tribune 3/12/12

Temple City Tribune — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 23:46:31 +0000

Open publication – Free publishing – More arts

Temple City Felon Gets $20,000 Wedding Paid by Wish Upon a Wedding

Temple City Tribune — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:00:08 +0000

Florida Mug Shot of Sosa - Courtesy Photo

Temple City Felon Gets $20,000 Wedding Paid by Wish Upon a Wedding

It might just be his biggest and best swindle to date, but convicted felon Manuel Sosa somehow pulled it off.
Records show that Manny Sosa has been arrested numerous times in Florida and is apparently on probation for several years. At one time Sosa had $570,000 bond in liu of his release. On Monday, Sosa got married to Adriana Tafoya at someone elses’ expense to the tune of over $20,000.
A local daily newspaper made a big splash over a couple getting married due to Soss’s alleged failing liver condition due to Hepatitis C and was granted the wedding by Orange County/Los Angeles area chapter of Wish Upon a Wedding .
Sosa who said he has end-stage liver disease, wanted to marry fiance, Adriana Tafoya. The wedding, held at The Maxwell House in Pasadena on Monday night, was estimated to have cost in excess of $20,000. Local vendors apparently footed the bill for time and materials.
A simple check by Beacon Media revealed 18 charges against the felon Sosa who was listed as living in Pomona but now makes Temple City his home. Here are some of the charges we discovered:

STATUTE: 810.02.3b
CHARGE: BURGLOF UNOCCUPIED DWELLING; UNARMED; NO
BOND: 150000
Charge 2
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Charge 3
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Charge 4
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Charge 5
STATUTE: 655.0322.2
CHARGE: BRIBE
BOND: 100000
Charge 6
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000

Charge 7
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Charge 8
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Charge 9
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Charge 10
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Charge 11
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Charge 12
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Charge 13
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Charge 14
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Charge 15
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Charge 16
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Charge 17
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Charge 18
STATUTE: 817.034.4b1
CHARGE: FRAUD-SWINDLE
BOND: 20000
Efforts via email and telephone to Wish Upon a Wedding’s Board of Directors and Media PR people went unanswered Tuesday evening.

When All is Said and Dunn

Temple City Tribune — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:43:58 +0000

When All Is Said And Dunn
by Bill Dunn
NOT JUST ANOTHER DAY
I have been addicted to Halloween ever since I was a little goblin. The idea and the vibe of the holiday have always been a perfect fit with my personality. I don’t know what it is about the day. Possibly being scared, or is it the dressing up and pretending to be someone else for a brief period, or maybe it’s the free candy? Maybe it’s a combination of them all. At this point in my life it is hard to say.
As a kid I had an anticipation of its arrival that was only matched by Christmas. The visions that danced in my head were certainly not that of sugarplums, whatever the hell they are. They were more along the lines of dancing skeletons.
When I had kids of my own I loved taking them trick or treating. Though I know where their love of the holiday was based, the candy was their sole motivation for donning that costume and treading through the neighborhood. They didn’t embrace the potential of being scared like I did.
When they had outgrown their time behind the mask, I missed it and was sad that that brief period of time was over. While I mourned its passing, I consoled myself with my Halloween decorations going up earlier every year in my attempt to stretch out the holiday as long as I could.
One of the things that I began thinking about was another Halloween loss that happened in between my being a kid and having kids. The loss of one of my favorite bands, Oingo Boingo. If ever there was a musical group that was, or should I say became, synonymous with a particular holiday, it was Oingo Boingo. The dark themes of their music were a perfect fit with the darkest of days. What Bing Crosby was to Christmas, Oingo Boingo was to Halloween.
I watched them in concert many times, but over the years their Halloween concerts became an event. One that I looked forward to every time it happened here in Los Angeles or Orange County.
So it was with great sadness when in 1995 they called it quits. Their leader, Danny Elfman, had been seduced by the dark side of the cinematic force. He was going to dedicate his time to making soundtracks for the movies. Damn you Tim Burton.
Even if they had never played another Halloween show here locally again but had stayed together I would have had that feeling of comfort knowing that they were out there whipping an audience into a dancing frenzy on All Hallows Eve.
Then by the grace of Facebook came a sign from the ghost of Halloween’s past. The drummer of Oingo Boingo, and SGV native, Johnny “Vatos” Hernandez has put together a band, with other original members, to play many of Boingo’s best songs. Some of the architects of the original band are up and partying once again. The phoenix that has risen from Oingo Boingo’s ashes is “Johnny Vatos Boingo Dance Party.”

They are playing a couple of times over the upcoming Halloween weekend, including a show, appropriately, on Halloween Night. Check the internet or Facebook under the band’s name for information on show times and venues.

http://www.johnnyvatos.com/shows.asp

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Johnny-Vatos-Boingo-Dance-Party-BAND/175058705851642

Johnny has taken a couple of stabs at tribute shows in the past, in 2005 and 2006, but hopefully he will keep this going for years to come. That way I can rest in peace knowing that the true soundtrack for Halloween is secure.
Maybe then I will have visions of skeletons dancing in my head every Halloween season. That is how I like it this time of year.

Bill Dunn has been a published opinion columnist for 14 years. Any comments can be sent to either our exalted editor at tmiller@beaconmedianews.com or to Bill directly at dunnsinferno@casegod.com You can also find Bill on Facebook at : www.facebook.com/WhenAllisSaidandDunn

Temple City Tribune 10/24/2011

Temple City Tribune — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:13:51 +0000

Open publication – Free publishing – More news

Temple City Tribune August 8, 2011

Temple City Tribune — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 19:00:34 +0000