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 says 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.

Ferrari show in Old Town Pasadena will close overpass on Sunday

Ferraris will rule Old Town Pasadena on Sunday, and they will require a bridge closure.

Construction workers install fence posts on a new horse and walkers trail that begins at the Glendale Narrows Riverwalk in Glendale and goes along Bette Davis Park in L.A. in March.

Unemployment rate drops across tri-city region

Unemployment rates continued to drop in the tri-city area last month, boosted by job gains in trade, transportation and utilities, as well as leisure/hospitality and residential construction.

Attorney for father of Kendrec McDade says she fears for his safety

The attorney for the father of Kendrec McDade -- the unarmed teen robbery suspect fatally shot by Pasadena police during a pursuit last year -- is now alleging a wider pattern of police harassment after filing a complaint that police roughed up her client during a recent search of his home.

Pasadena City College Trustee Geoffrey Baum speaks at a capacity filled auditorium at the Community Education Center where his colleagues met to discuss proposed changes in the academic calendar and class reductions last August.

Pasadena City College trustee Geoffrey Baum will not seek re-election

Longtime Pasadena City College Board of Trustees member Geoffrey Baum will not seek re-election in November, he announced Thursday night in a letter to colleagues and supporters.

ARCHIVE PHOTO: Pasadena Poly's pitcher Deidra Logan pitches against Westridge School in a Prep League softball game at Pasadena Polytechnic School on Thursday, April 4, 2013. Logan scored a six-run fifth inning grand slam that put Poly ahead for good and propelled it to a 10-6 victory on Thursday, May 16, at home during first-round playoff game against Twentynine Palms.

Pasadena Poly softball crushes way into second round

PASADENA — Having stormed into the CIF Southern Section Division VI playoffs on the strength of a six-game winning streak, the Pasadena Poly softball team seemed to carry that momentum into the start of its first-round playoff game against visiting Twentynine Palms.

Michael Feinstein and Cheyenne Jackson will perform as part of the Pasadena POPS' June 1 season opener "Michael Feinstein's Songbook," and will include a tribute to the late Marvin Hamlisch.

Feinstein revs up Pasadena Pops summer season

The Pasadena Pops' star-studded "Sierra Acura Summer Concert Series" opens June 1 at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia. At the podium: singer, pianist and renowned interpreter of the American Songbook, Michael Feinstein, appointed successor to the late Marvin Hamlisch, in his inaugural season as the Pops principal conductor.

San Marino High tennis off to CIF final after another lopsided win

SAN MARINO — Just like San Marino High's first three playoff opponents, the Santa Monica boys' tennis team didn't stand much of a chance against the Titans in the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs.

South Pasadena High's Alex Nakagawa, from left, Thomas Kutzer and Greg Luck rejoice after a point during the Tigers' semifinal road match against Crossroads, which took place on Wednesday. (Cheryl A. Guerrero/Staff photographer)

South Pasadena High volleyball off to CIF championship

SANTA MONICA — From the head coach, team captain to the athletic director, no one with the South Pasadena High boys’ volleyball team was sure the last time the program played in a championship match.

A technician reassembles a parking meter in Los Angeles that had been jammed with a wire and a gum wrapper by someone trying to beat payment in 2010. A state bill would prevent cities from ticketing drivers who park at broken meters.

Gatto's broken meter bill advances to state Senate

Legislation introduced by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Silver Lake) that would prevent cities from ticketing motorists who park at broken meters sailed through the state Assembly on Thursday. and his colleagues have agreed with him, passing his legislation in a 71-0 vote.