Restaurant Health Inspections are Online

ooking for a great place to eat in Pasadena? The Zagat Guide now has a little competition.

Thanks to Pasadena Public Health Department, you can look up restaurant health inspection reports online by visiting www.cityofpasadena.net and clicking on Restaurant Inspections.

To protect customers, the Public Health Department inspects more than 1,000 Pasadena eateries on a regular basis including restaurants, fast food outlets, food and espresso carts, bakeries, coffee bars, delis, grocery stores, bars, pubs and liquor stores. Inspectors use a checklist of more than 80 items, scrutinizing everything from the kitchen workers' food handling to food temperatures to the correct use of sanitizers. The eateries are then given a score (100 is the highest) and the manager is informed of the best way to address any issues that may have been identified.

When you go online, simply type in the name of your favorite restaurant to get the date and results of the most recent health inspection as far back as July 2004. To make the site even more useful, the Public Health Department will add food safety tips, news on restaurant openings and closures and a mapping feature over the next few months.

This handy new tool is the result of a year-long effort to digitize restaurant health inspections for the benefit of Pasadena restaurant owners and customers. Our inspectors are the first in the state to switch to laptop computers for inputting information and printing reports. Results are posted to the new web site on a
regular basis.

For more information call 744-6004.

Fight Off the Flu

Flu season is coming! Seniors ages 60 and older and other high-risk adults can get free and low-cost flu shots Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 2 and 3, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. and Monday, Nov. 7, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. at the Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD), 1845 N. Fair Oaks Ave.; Wednesday, Nov. 9, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Center; Wednesday, Nov. 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Pasadena Senior Center (call 795-4331for an appointment); and Monday, Nov. 21, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Pilgrim Tower North, 506 E. Villa St.

Meanwhile, $20 flu shots for anyone are available at PPHD's walk-in Travel and Adult Immunization Clinic every Wednesday and Thursday from 8:15 to 10:45 a.m. and every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 1:15 to 4:30 p.m.

Children ages 6 to 23 months and their household contacts up to age 18 can get free and low-cost flu shots at PPHD's Child Health Clinic every Monday from 1 to 4 p.m., every Wednesday from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. and every other Friday from 8 to 10 a.m. while supplies last.

For more information visit www.immunizepasadena.org or call 744-6005.

Safe Havens for Newborns

PASADENA'S EIGHT FIRE STATIONS have been officially designated by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors as "Safe Haven" sites for parents who need to give up newborn babies and don't know where else to turn.

Based on the California Safe Haven Law passed in 2001, parents or legal guardians
can now hand off a newborn, within 72 hours of birth, to a firefighter at a Pasadena fire station or to an employee at a hospital emergency room without being prosecuted for child abandonment. At fire stations, Pasadena firefighters assess infants for any immediate medical needs and then transport babies to a local hospital.

To help promote the program and ward off tragedies, all Pasadena fire stations are now displaying Safe Haven Surrender signs. They've also been equipped with county Safe Surrender Kits, which include ankle ID bracelets for newborns, family medical history questionnaires, fact sheets and copies of the new law.

For more information, call 744-4675.

New Strategic Plan is a Work of Art

IMAGINE A CITY WITH ART AND MUSIC IN EVERY CORNER, visitors of all ages
and persuasions packing museums and music halls, beautiful statues and colorful murals everywhere you look and communities of all backgrounds sharing their
cultural treasures.

Thanks to a plan unanimously approved by the City Council this summer, this
dream may very well come true. After 18 months of work by more than 500 community participants, the finishing touches have been put on "Cultural Nexus," Pasadena's very first strategic plan to advance arts and culture into the next decade.

The 50-page document lays out detailed plans for boosting participation at cultural events and venues, developing new programs and partnerships, attracting new artists and institutions and marking Pasadena as one of the finest cultural destinations in the world. The plan incorporates arts and culture into every facet of the community including tourism, education, business development, public space design, artists' services, access and equity. In short, the plan calls on Pasadena to organize and enhance its already remarkable array of museums, galleries, theaters and art institutions to bring even more vibrancy, diversity, revenue and jobs to our community.

To see the entire plan or for more information, call 744-7062 or visit www.cityofpasadena.net/planning/arts/nexus.asp.

Healthy Earth, Healthy People With Green Building

AN AQUAINTANCE TELLS YOU he lives in a green building. What does that mean?
"Green building" is a relatively new phrase that means a structure is designed, built and maintained in ways that are Earth-friendly and healthier for its occupants. Green buildings minimize waste of natural resources, use plenty of recycled materials, decrease pollution, reduce the amount of debris in local landfills, incorporate water
and energy conservation and feature healthier air and lighting for their occupants.
Green building practices can be used in major developments, home remodels and everything in between. As this new practice catches on nationwide, Pasadena is
thrilled to be at the forefront.

Pasadena's Green Ribbon Committee and city staff will unveil the city's proposed
Green Building Program at an open house on Thursday, Oct. 20, from 7 to 9 p.m.
at the Permit Center, 175 N. Garfield Ave. You'll learn all about green living and talk with dozens of vendors who will showcase their Earth-friendly products. City staff will explain Pasadena's proposed Green Building Program, which includes a collection of rules, programs, rebates and tree-protection efforts that promote environmental stewardship. The Green Working Team, representing most city departments, is coordinating the program and has hired Global Green USA, a non-profit group with expertise in green buildings, to analyze Pasadena's codes, regulations and programs and recommend ways to make Pasadena even "greener."

Why is this important? Buildings consume more than 70% of America's electricity and more than 12% of its drinking water. Meanwhile, construction creates 136 million tons of debris each year and eats up 40% of the world's raw materials. All this energy and material consumption contributes to global warming and other environmental hazards.

For more information on the open house or to learn more about Pasadena's green building efforts, call 744-3726.

Lookin’ Good Pasadena

PASADENA IS GETTING BACK ITS GLEAM thanks to the ongoing efforts of
thousands of residents, neighborhood associations, business owners, schools,
non-profit groups, City Council members and city staff. All of us are working together
to spruce up our hometown and show our community pride through the Lookin' Good Pasadena campaign.

All it takes is a little creativity, a little time and a little effort for big payoffs.

The Old Pasadena Management District, for example, recently installed "Doggie Walk Bag" dispensers at Memorial Park and Central Park to remind pet owners to pick up after their dogs and to keep the area looking (and smelling) great. The dispensers dole out free bags scented with baby powder that are fitted with easy-tie handles and made of an opaque bright blue to stylishly hide the bags' contents.

Picking up after Rover prevents messy missteps and helps keep waste from washing into storm drains and contaminating the ocean with bacteria, viruses and other nasty bugs. By showing good citizenship, you and your pet will be much more welcome at public spaces citywide. (Remember, the law requires your dog to be on a leash at all times in the public right of way.)

Residents citywide can beautify our streetscapes simply by following city rules for trash cans. The law requires that you keep your trash, yard waste and recycling receptacles hidden from public view. They can be placed at the curb no earlier than 7 a.m. the day before your scheduled trash day and must be taken out of public view no later than 7 a.m. the day after trash is picked up.

For more information visit www.cityofpasadena.net and click on Lookin' Good Pasadena or call 744-4633.

continue to next page


	Public Affairs