Pasadena

This Spanish Colonial Revival known as the Fraser House sits amid oak and olive trees in Pasadena's Historic Highlands landmark district. Vintage details include tile work and arched doorways. Location: 1026 E. Elizabeth St., Pasadena 91104 Asking price: $1.099 million Year built: 1928 House size: Four bedrooms, three bathrooms, 2,620 square feet Lot size: 10,676 square feet Features: Exposed hand-hewn ceiling beams in the living and dining rooms, hardwood flooring, wood-burning fireplace, sun room, breakfast area, laundry, guesthouse/studio with own entrance, upgraded electrical work, two-car garage, flagstone patio, built-in barbecue area, lawn About the area: Last year, 294 single-family homes sold in the 91104 ZIP Code at a median price of $499,000, according to DataQuick.

Pasadena has a fork in the road. And it's 18 feet tall. Where south St. John and south Pasadena avenues divide, there's a towering wooden silver fork in the traffic median. The utensil has a black steel skeleton and is rooted in 2 1/2 feet of concrete. The art was originally intended as a surprise for Bob Stane of Altadena, who celebrated his 75th birthday Oct. 29. But Caltrans, which owns the median, and Pasadena, which maintains the land, are deciding whether to keep it up for a while as an impromptu piece of street art. "It was just the best birthday present I've ever had," said Stane, who owns the Coffee Gallery Backstage, a coffeehouse and showroom in Altadena, with the fork's artist, Ken Marshall.

Don't be confused by the title “Autobiography of Us”: This story set in mid-century Pasadena is actually a novel. It's the debut from Aria Beth Sloss, who gave birth to a baby the same month as her book was published. (Our interview took place via email on her due date.) Inspired by Sloss' own mother's Southern California upbringing, “ Autobiography of Us ” introduces the reader to two 14-year-old girls living in the patrician neighborhood of Pasadena during the late '50s.

Pasadena is about to get more fancy trash cans. The City Council approved a work order late Monday night to place 40 self-compacting solar-energy trash cans throughout the city, in addition to the 12 already on the streets. The city is joining Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Boston and Philadelphia in using the trash cans, called BigBelly Solar Compactors, according to the vendor's website. The 40 receptacles will cost $146,550. The trash bins, which first started appearing on Pasadena street corners in 2007, can compact 200 gallons of trash into one 60-gallon "neat" bag, said Gabriel Silva, the environmental programs manager with the city's Department of Public Works.

McKesson Water Products, marketer of Sparkletts Drinking Water, has moved its headquarters to Pasadena. The move to 3280 E. Foothill Blvd. involved 100 employees formerly located in Eagle Rock and Monrovia. The company occupies 44,000 square feet of the Foothill Boulevard building, which has been named for it.

Police shot and injured a suspect in a fast-food robbery Tuesday night and searched for two other suspects who fled. The suspects "were armed and dangerous," Pasadena Police Sgt. Ed Calatayud said. "There was a foot pursuit and an exchange of gunfire." The robbery occurred in the 1200 block of North Lake Avenue. The suspect was taken to the hospital, Calatayud said.

Regarding "Chick Flicks" [May 10], we have a pair of nesting peregrine falcons with two chicks at 177 Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, on the 11th floor ledge. You'll publish reports about peregrines in Frisco, but L.A.? Well, our peregrines are just as good as yours any day. They have been here for at least five years. Stephen Linowski Glendale

I read the article in the Times on Nov. 26, "City Cruises Into Age of Parking Meters" with a sense of loss. Is Pasadena to become like Los Angeles? Is the City Council going to "nickel and dime" its residents at every turn? There has always been a certain ambience about Pasadena that seemed a little more sophisticated, a little more refined, somewhat more humane than other cities. Installation of parking meters is shortsighted and petty. The projected revenue is, first, probably overstated, and, second, will not compensate for the loss of good will.

The Board of City Directors, its members saying they were acting to protect single-family homes, has rezoned more than 100 acres in northwest Pasadena. The massive rezoning will prevent future apartment and condominium developments in areas that are predominately made up of single-family houses. The rezoning follows a 90-day moratorium imposed in April that barred residential development in several sections of the northwest area while the city's Planning Department studied the issue.