10.11.18

PW OPINION PW NEWS PW LIFE PW ARTS
BRIEFS
HOT BITE
HEALTH DEPARTMENT SAYS TYPHUS
FEVER ON THE RISE
BY ANDRÉ COLEMAN
Pasadena Health Department officials are sounding the
alarm over 20 confirmed cases of typhus fever so far this
year. .
Dr. Ying-Ying Goh
“Typhus fever is a disease that can cause serious
complications requiring lengthy hospitalization, and death,” said Dr. Ying-Ying Goh,
Pasadena health officer. “All residents should take steps to prevent fleas in and around
the home.”
Typhus fever is a disease spread to humans by infected fleas. Typically it is expected
that between one and five people will contact it each year in Pasadena. Goh said.
The disease, which is usually contracted in the summer and fall and can be treated
with antibiotics, causes fever, chills, headaches and rashes.
City Public Health Director Michael Johnson told the Pasadena Weekly this year’s
increase in cases cannot be explained.
“We are seeing increases across Southern California, including Los Angeles,
Orange County and Long Beach,” Johnson said.
Locally, feral cats and opossums are known to be carriers of the infected fleas.
Pet dogs and cats that are allowed outside are more likely to come in contact with
infected fleas and could spread the disease to humans. Pets and other animals do not
get sick from typhus.
Flea-borne typhus, also known as murine or endemic typhus, is a disease carried
by fleas infected with the bacteria Rickettsia typhi or Rickettsia felis. There is currently
no commercially available vaccine. The disease is not communicable. Treatment is with
the antibiotic doxycycline.
According to Goh, the spread of the disease can be curbed locally by not providing
food or water for wild animals, keeping garbage containers tightly covered, sealing all
openings and crawl spaces under the home, routinely treating pet dogs and cats with
flea control and maintaining a yard free of debris by trimming overgrown vegetation
that could attract feral cats and opossums.
For more information on preventing typhus, visit the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito
and Vector Control District at sgvmosquito.org/flea-borne-typhus. n
BREAKING BARRIERS
FRANCES ARNOLD BECOMES FIRST
WOMAN AT CALTECH TO WIN NOBEL
PRIZE
BY ANDRÉ COLEMAN
Frances Arnold, 62, the Caltech scientist who won a Nobel
Prize in chemistry earlier this month, is the first woman Frances Arnold
from Caltech to win the prestigious award among 38
recipients from the school.
Only five women have won the Nobel Prize in the field of chemistry since 1911,
with Marie Curie winning the prize that year “in recognition of her services to the
advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by
the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable
element,” accoprding to nobelprize.org.
Arnold, who won for the directed evolution of enzymes, said she was in a “deep,
deep sleep” when awakened by the call in her hotel room in Dallas hours before she
was scheduled to give a lecture, according to the Caltech website.
“I am absolutely floored. I have to wrap my head around this. It’s not something I
was expecting,” she said in a prepared statement.
Arnold was awarded the prize after being recognized for performing the first-ever
directed evolution of enzymes, which are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions.
Enzymes produced through directed evolution are used to manufacture everything
from sustainable biofuels to pharmaceuticals.
The enzymes that resulted from Arnold’s research have made it possible to develop
new ways to make medicine and more environmentally friendly processes for making
industrial chemicals, according to Science Magazine.
Arnold will receive $1 million.
“Frances’s work on directed evolution is a beautiful example of an enterprise
that has both deep scientific significance and enormous practical consequences,”
said Caltech Provost David A. Tirrell in a prepared statement. “Through decades of
commitment to exploring a powerful idea, Frances has transformed the fields of protein
chemistry, catalysis, and biotechnology. She has changed the way we think about
things and the way we do things.”
Arnold arrived at Caltech as a visiting associate in 1986 and was named assistant
professor in 1987. She was named a professor in 1996.
In 2000, she was named the Dick and Barbara Dickinson Professor of Chemical
Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry; she became the Linus Pauling
Professor in 2017. She became the director of the Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen
Bioengineering Center at Caltech in 2013.
A native of Pittsburgh, Arnold received her undergraduate degree in mechanical
and aerospace engineering from Princeton University in 1979
In 1985, she received a graduate degree in chemical engineering from UC
Berkeley. n
THE SHUNNING OF MINDY KITTAY
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
20, Kahn expressed concern that her appointment to
the board may not have been legitimate because she
believed the process violated the Brown Act.
Kahn was appointed to the board after four rounds
of votes at the board’s March 7 meeting. All votes
during the meeting were anonymous. The Brown Act
requires certain votes by government boards to be
conducted in public.
The library district’s lawyers later assured her the
vote was legal.
Kahn and five others will square off in elections on
Nov. 6.
Former Board member John McDonald resigned
soon after the Brown Act violations were alleged, and
Board member Armando Zambrano has opted not to
run for another four-year term.
Gronemeier has already informed the candidates of
the board’s settlement offer and its demand that Kittay
never again apply for a job with the district.
“The current board’s demand that the dead hand of
the past control the next board is an unconscionable
affront to the right of the Altadena community to
choose the library’s elected representatives and to have
the board chosen in November determine the next
director,” wrote Gronemeier.
Board candidate Jason Capell said he was only
aware of the situation because of Gronemeier’s emails.
He said he did not support an action that would
interfere with future trustees.
“Since this is not a case of termination for cause,
I would be opposed to a requirement that she not
be allowed to apply for any future openings,” Capell
said. “The new board, and all future boards for that
matter, should be allowed to consider all qualified
candidates.”
When Kittay came to Altadena she was described
by the board as “a strong financial and operations
manager.”
She had already helped turn around the poorly
performing Anythink Libraries in the Rangeview
Library District of Colorado in five years. Her
leadership helped the library district win the 2010
National Medal for Museum and Library Services. This
achievement brought Anythink Libraries cover story
recognition in Library Journal and a story in the Los
Angeles Times.
Kittay has also held leadership positions within the
Garfield County Public Library District in Colorado.
Shortly before coming to Altadena, Kittay served as
Librarian/Director for Mendocino County, where she
oversaw five libraries and a bookmobile.
But when she arrived in Altadena, Kittay
immediately began shaking things up, something that
did not immediately have a positive impact.
According to an April 19 story by Patricia Cunliffe
appearing in PW, staff members labeled Kittay as
“dismissive and demeaning.” They claimed she refused
to take their views into consideration, and from the
first week on the job made rapid-fire changes without
getting to know the district culture and fully informing
the staff.
But Kittay carried on. In March 2017, the library
THE COUNT
As of Monday, 2,087 days after the war in Afghanistan ended …
2,224
American military
service members
(0 more
than last week)
were reported
killed in Afghanistan
since
the war began in
2001, according to
The Associated Press.
1
ISIS leader and 10
other fighters
from the terrorist
group were killed
in an airstrike.
According to
CNN, Afghan and
coalition forces
carried out the strike.
closed for six weeks in order to do renovations, paid
for with $320,000 in federal grant funds and a $75,000
donation from the Altadena Library Foundation. Kittay
and library Facilities Manager Johnathan Arevalo did
the majority of oversight, bringing the project in on
time and under budget, while keeping the staff working
on other items that needed attention.
In addition to the Second Saturday Concerts, which
bring artists, vendors and the community together,
the library also acquired laptop computers. Kittay
also replaced the projection and sound systems in the
community room, which had been broken for years,
with state-of-the art equipment.
Kittay also implemented Community
Conversations, a program aimed at engaging patrons in
their neighborhoods. She also started a Seed Library,
a county program that allows members to “borrow”
seeds and then return those from food produced from
the original seeds.
The board stood by her during her crisis with staff,
but things took a turn for the worse after Kittay started
reminding board members to obey state law.
“I suggest that you remember that you work for
us. We do not work for you” wrote Board member Ira
Bershatsky after Kittay urged trustees to operate in
accordance with the Brown Act.
Barshatsky is running for re-election to his fouryear
seat.
Kittay went on medical leave in January. In April,
Kittay filed a claim with the Library District, alleging
that the stress she suffered from was caused by
harassment in retaliation for her blowing the whistle
on the board’s Brown Act violations.
After Kittay’s doctor authorized her to return to
work in May, Board President Kahn ordered that she
be placed on paid administrative leave pending an
investigation.
Her contract expired on Sept. 28. According to
Gronemeier, on Sept. 26 Kahn instructed Kittay to
submit to an interview on five charges. All of the
five charges allege that Kittay improperly disclosed
confidential attorney-client communications in
her April claim alleging Brown Act violations and
retaliation because she blew the whistle on those
violations.
Along with facing civil legal action, board members
could find themselves under investigation by the Los
Angeles County Civil Grand Jury.
The civil grand jury has investigative powers
over the operations, accounts and records of local
government agencies, including school districts.
Altadena is an unincorporated community governed by
the county.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s field rep Sussy Nemer
confirmed to local activist Rene Amy that Barger
would recommend the matter to the civil grand jury.
“Additionally, we will be referring these allegations
to the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Division,”
Nemer wrote too Amy. “They have the ability to
investigate Brown Act and other possible violations as
well as other issues related to elected individuals or
bodies,” Nemer wrote. n
3
people were wounded
in a bomb blast in
Baghdad. According
to Reuters, the explosive
was placed
inside a bus carrying
commuters.
No one has claimed
responsibility.
6
Sunni tribal fighters were
killed and 30 people
were injured last
Wednesday in a
suicide attack in
Iraq, according to
Reuters.
— Compiled by
André Coleman
8 PASADENA WEEKLY | 10.11.18