Edward Barrera

Rose Bowl secret report ‘unforced’ error

efjbarrera — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 03:54:25 +0000

It’s never the crime, always the “secret report.”

While the only crime here could be to taxpayers, despite Pasadena officials promises to the contrary, the city seems to be ignoring the usual rule of public relations: When bad news comes, get it out, regardless of what the lawyers say. Politicians will pay the political price while attorneys continue to collect their billable hours anyway if they hide it.

Gun ownership transparency shocks gun owners

efjbarrera — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:19:24 +0000

When I was a reporter, I answered the phone one day, and a man threatened to shoot me. The coward did it anonymously, of course, and quickly hung up.

He was upset because I wrote some articles about how the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department refused to allow me to review concealed weapon permits, despite the fact that they were and still are public records.

I was reminded of this after a New York newspaper posted the names and addresses of registered gun owners in its coverage area. The information is considered public record in New York.

The outcry after the interactive database went live was predictable. Gun owners were livid, condemned the newspaper and posted names and addresses of the publisher, editors and reporters. The newspaper hired armed guards to protect its workers.

The newspaper said in the aftermath of the Newton, Connecticut mass shooting, where 20 children and six adults were murdered by an armed man who later killed himself, people had the right to know if their neighbor owned a gun. A nearby New York county has now refused to release the names and addresses of its gun owners, clearly ignoring state law.

Now while I understand the newspaper’s reasoning, I don’t agree with it. People could easily find out who owned a gun by asking for records themselves. Just because a newspaper can print or post something doesn’t mean it should. Context is important.

Let’s not forget the mentally ill

efjbarrera — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:15:48 +0000

A “crazy” aunt who everyone jokes about at family gatherings. A cousin who believes the government is stalking her or a teenage friend, whose world is so dark that he kills himself in his parent’s garage.

Mental illness, no matter the severity, has touched most of us in one way or another. In my family, it wasn’t talked about when I was a kid. My aunt’s behavior – the highs and lows were just assumed to be normal – was talked about in a round about way, as in, “Do you know what your crazy aunt did this time?”

Little did I know that she had been taking, or not taking, medication for years.

The embarrassment or shame of talking about mental illness would be somewhat understandable if it was rare. But according to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than a quarter of Americans ages 18 and older suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year, translating to more than 60 million people.

It’s the little things that make old age fun: like MRIs

efjbarrera — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:28:33 +0000

I felt like a turkey sliding into an oven.

Unfortunately for me, there were no candied yams, cranberries, stuffing or gravy being slathered over me. Instead, I was stuffed into a $3 million machine that took a picture of my brain.

I keep having a number of health firsts lately. Maladies such as colon cancer, prostate cancer, brain tumors, diabetes, hypertension and Alzheimer’s hang from my family’s medical history tree: Gifts that keep giving. I’ve often said that I’ve taken better care of my still-perfectly-running Hyundai Elantra than I have of myself.

It’s probably still true, but the gap is closing.

Pasadena firefighters and superheroes

efjbarrera — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 18:07:59 +0000

Taking my cue from the public information office of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, I’m announcing in a press release that I saved ten hikers, two lost puppies and a cute cat in Eaton Canyon Saturday – all before I had breakfast.

Before those sleepy Pasadena firefighters started flipping their morning pancakes, I had helicoptered solo, rappelled tall mountains, composed a concerto, and scooped up those (almost) lost souls to save another day. Being a press release hero is tough business, I tell you.

I began this hero stuff after learning from the county that I don’t have to actually do it to get credit for it.

I met a terrorist at a Brooklyn park bench 11 years ago

efjbarrera — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 06:38:44 +0000

Of course, I didn’t know Syed Fahad Hashmi would later be dubbed a terrorist. I interviewed him for a story about his connection to a radical Islamic group, Al-Muhajiroun, which was accused of recruiting disaffected and disenfranchised students from Britain to go fight in Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. The group was meeting with students at local campuses in New York.

Pakistani-born and later a U.S. naturalized citizen, Hashmi, a student at Brooklyn College in New York at the time I spoke to him, was perceptive, articulate and passionate about Islam.

Most of us try and seek ways to find order in a chaotic world. Some religious fanatics want strict rules and goals to find that order but also demand that others follow that same path – or else.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_22059719/edward-barrera-one-mans-peaceful-faith-is-another#ixzz2DDJuZTDu

Citrus College and a costly proposition

efjbarrera — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 18:42:02 +0000

A few months ago, after allegations that the board skirted the Ralph M. Brown Act, which governs how public entities conduct their business, before voting on a raise for the school’s president, Aguirre demanded that the board repeal the raise and start following state open meeting laws.

I called Aviles, a Citrus College graduate, this week to get an update. She chuckled and then sighed, saying the board has decided to not only ignore open meeting laws but make it as difficult as possible to obtain what are clearly public records.

Unprepared for disasters the American Way

efjbarrera — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 21:45:25 +0000

My brother peered out of his New York City apartment last week and gazed upon the East River 15 feet away from his doorstep. Unfortunately, the East River is usually more than a half mile away.

He and his family live on the first floor and at one point, were preparing to relocate to neighbors on the second floor as Hurricane Sandy slammed into New York. The water never came closer and eventually receded, but not before leaving devastation in its wake. People are still without power, the cost of repairing the damage could reach more than $50 billion and more than a 100 people are confirmed dead.

Despite an early warning of the impending storm, my brother was unprepared. He shrugged off the city’s warnings, saying that New Yorkers were becoming wimps, derided forecasters’ weather models and sounded blasé about the fact that there was a mandatory evacuation for property a block away from where he lived.

Lucky for him, the lack of preparedness didn’t cost him. Next time he might not be so lucky.

To read more….

Let San Gabriel Valley voters decide

efjbarrera — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 15:56:48 +0000

Whether it is Matthew Lin, Ed Chau, Ed Chavez or Roger Hernandez, the voters have an opportunity to decide what kind of person they want representing them.

West Covina and the art of ignoring the obvious

efjbarrera — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 17:08:41 +0000

As Groucho Marx once said, “Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?”

I was reminded of the line after reading that West Covina approved a rolling, 25-year deal with Athens Services for trash collection. Despite better deals and unexplored options, West Covina decided to move forward. Careful stewards of taxpayer deals, ain’t they?