Sun Editorial: Providing an important safety net

A three-chair dental clinic was recently opened in the same North Fair Oaks Avenue building that houses the Pasadena Public Health Department. What makes this new office unique is that it is the only city-operated dental clinic in California dedicated to serving HIV-positive and low-income clients who do not have dental insurance.

Shirlee Smith

Common Sense: Ability to breathe is not promised

"Asthma kills," said the doctor with a slow, deliberate, steadfast and extremely serious gaze in his eyes that were staring directly into mine. He never blinked.

Boarding house crackdown in works

PASADENA — Spurred into action by a November fire that killed two occupants of a duplex that housed 20 men, Pasadena officials are cracking down on illegal boarding houses over concerns about unsafe living conditions.

Ron Kaye

Ron Kaye: It's time for divisions to cease

In the dismal Los Angeles election cycle that mercifully concluded on May 21, much was made about the lack of women in high places if Wendy Greuel didn't win the mayor's race.

FILE PHOTO: Fire crews respond to the gas explosion at the La Canada store on March 1.

Sport Chalet explosion victim files lawsuit

One of two employees injured in an explosion at the La Cañada Flintridge Sport Chalet on March 1 is suing the company.

Caltech students partake in a water balloon and gun fight on "Ditch Day."

Solving Caltech's Ditch Day puzzle

Courtney Chen rappelled down the side of a building on the Caltech campus Friday morning, trading her helmet for a black mask when she was safe on the ground.

Headache-inducing odor prompts evacuation at Pasadena fertility clinic

A mysterious, headache-inducing odor prompted the evacuation of a fertility clinic in Pasadena on Friday, Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.

Director of academics-focused nonprofit in Pasadena announces departure

The executive director of a nonprofit that operates a number of tutoring programs and a summer school in Pasadena is stepping down after eight years.

Dentist Melanie Washington talks with a patient at the Pasadena Public Health Department's Michael D. Antonovich Dental Clinic.

Dental clinic for HIV-positive, low income patients opens in Pasadena

Accessing much-needed dental care is no longer like pulling teeth for HIV-positive patients in San Gabriel Valley.

Surrounded by JPL officials, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, left, talks about the Asteroid Initiative during press conference at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena on Thursday, May 23, 2013. NASA plans to capture an asteroid as it comes close to earth and set it in moon orbit for future exploration. The ion thruster will power a spacecraft that will capture the asteroid.

NASA's JPL to 'lasso' an asteroid

A proposed mission to capture an asteroid and bring it into orbit in the Earth-moon system is a stepping stone to sending humans to Mars, NASA administrator Charles Bolden said Thursday at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Pasadena police to conduct DUI checkpoint overnight Friday

As Memorial Day weekend approaches, Pasadena police have plans to crackdown on early revelers who drink and drive.

Probe into actions of Pasadena police officers should be dropped, union says

The union representing two Pasadena police officers accused of failing to turn over evidence in a murder trial contends they should be cleared of wrongdoing because prosecutors have admitted to misplacing evidence in the case. 

Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists are currently testing a model of an instrument that will drill itself five meters into the Martian surface. The "mole" is one of the instruments that the Insight lander will carry, which is scheduled to launch in 2016.

JPL begins work on two new missions to Mars

Less than a year after the rover Curiosity's successful landing on Mars, scientists and engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are at work on two new missions to the Red Planet.

South Pasadena High's Nathan Lee, left, and Robert Adamson celebrate after defeating La Jolla in five games.

South Pasadena High boys' volleyball takes fifth versus La Jolla

SOUTH PASADENA — Exactly 68 possessions after the South Pasadena High boys’ volleyball team first reached match-point, the Tigers finally closed out.

A hand written note by members of the South Pasadena Woman's Club decorates the side of a box of cookies to be delivered to hospitalized veterans for Memorial Day.

As it has since World War II, "Operation Cookie" deploys in South Pasadena

Volunteers in South Pasadena collected more than 30,000 cookies on Wednesday for delivery to hospitalized and disabled military veterans in time for Memorial Day weekend.

Pasadena firefighters work to free a man whose arm got stuck in a conveyor belt on Wednesday.

Man's arm badly damaged in Pasadena after getting stuck in conveyor belt

Pasadena firefighters rescued a man whose arm became stuck in a conveyor belt Wednesday morning at the Salvation Army warehouse on Waverly Drive.

Hoover's Oleg Simonyan with a forehand shot in a Pacific League boys singles tennis prelims match at Pasadena High School on Monday, April 29, 2013.

Hoover tennis' Oleg Simonyan ready for next big test

While not patrolling the tennis court, Oleg Simonyan has been busy elsewhere around Glendale seeking ways to improve his game.

The Regional Intermodal Transportation Center construction continues at the Bob Hope Airport on Tuesday, May 21, 2013.

Inspection costs increase for transportation center

Bob Hope Airport officials say they are grappling with higher than expected inspection costs tied to the construction of a new $112.6 million transportation center.

In keeping with all things tony in San Marino, city hall to get upgrade

San Marino officials approved an extensive interior remodel of City Hall on Tuesday that will require city departments to relocate for six months. 

Newton R. Russell, veteran state legislator, dies at 85

Newton R. Russell, a veteran state senator known as an expert on California's complex public pension system and a stickler for upholding legislative rules, died Saturday of lung cancer at his La Cañada Flintridge home, his family said. He was 85.

All lanes reopened on 210 Freeway after big-rig crash

All lanes of the 210 Freeway were reopened about 3:25 p.m. Monday, more than 10 hours after a big rig carrying grapes crashed, the California Highway Patrol said.

Some 210 Freeway lanes closed until 3 p.m. after massive grape spill

All eastbound lanes of the 210 Freeway are open but two westbound lanes will remain closed in Monrovia through at least 3 p.m Monday after a big rig carrying grapes crashed, the California Highway Patrol said.

Big rig carrying fruit crashes on 210 Freeway, creates jam

Monday’s morning commute started off horribly for drivers in the San Gabriel Valley when a big rig carrying fruit overturned on the 210, blocking lanes in both directions in Monrovia for most of the morning.

Columnist Ron Kaye

Ron Kaye: Brains, talent, too much ambition

In the costliest and most vicious City Council race of the Los Angeles election season, the battle for Hollywood has shattered beliefs about Armenian solidarity, with Paul Krekorian's role seen as causing deep rifts in the community.

Cleanin' up the Los Angeles river

Cleanin' up the Los Angeles river

Alex Hausman and his four-year-old son, Theo, were walking across a shallow area of the Los Angeles River on Saturday morning when they spotted a child-sized mattress floating near the edge.

Pedestrian struck and killed in Pasadena

A Los Angeles man was killed Friday night in Pasadena when a car struck him on Colorado Boulevard, authorities said.

Sun Editorial: OK, now it's time to tackle the hard stuff

We have used this space on multiple occasions to pound on what we've felt were the boneheaded or shortsighted decisions of the Pasadena Unified's school board. Just last week, in fact, we protested the board's inability to choose its leader, a largely ceremonial position.

Columnist June Casagrande

A Word, Please: Of adjectives and noun phrases

It's a billboard custom-tailored to grammar buffs. "Every day we help people get back to their everyday," proclaims the ad for Keck Medical Center of USC. In that single sentence, the copy writer does more to help people with grammar than I probably will in this whole column. But I'll give it a long-winded shot anyway.

Columnist Timothy Rutt

Altadena Junction: Civil War memorial, a summer market and rally

It's a little-known fact that Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena may have one of the largest collections of remains of Civil War veterans outside of the areas where the battles were fought.

San Marino High School's tennis player James Wade, center, holds the 2013 CIF Div. II, Boys Tennis Championship trophy along with the rest of the team after defeating Palm Desert High School at the Claremont Club in Claremont, Ca., on Friday, May 17, 2013. The team won 13-5.

San Marino boys' tennis earns another crown

CLAREMONT — Only one team all season long appeared to stand in the way of perfection for the San Marino High boys' tennis program.