Security Tight on Set of Kerrigan’s TV Commercial

Security was tight at the Pasadena Ice Skating Center as skater Nancy Kerrigan recently shot a Reebok television advertisement inside the closed-off facility.

Kerrigan, who has recovered from a Jan. 6 attack in which a man struck her on the leg with a metal bar, was protected by police and security guards at the filming Jan. 22. She was not visible to the public. Plastic sheeting screened off the ice center entrance and transit trailers obscured other views.

The commercial will appear as part of Reebok’s “We Believe in the Athletes” series during this month’s Winter Olympics.

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The executive director of a New York City AIDS organization will take the top spot at the AIDS Service Center starting Feb. 15.

Larry A. Pagnoni was appointed executive director by the center’s board of directors after a six-month search. Pagnoni formerly headed the Upper Room AIDS Ministry, a support group in Harlem for homeless people with AIDS.

Pagnoni replaces Mary Nalick, who resigned last year for personal reasons. In his former job, Pagnoni helped the AIDS ministry grow from a deficit to a $2.4-million annual budget in four years. He has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in theology.

The AIDS Service Center, the largest such group in the San Gabriel Valley, has also officially dropped its former name, the All Saints AIDS Center. The board approved the name change because they learned that some people avoided the center because they mistakenly believed it was a religious organization.

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Cal Poly Pomona President Bob H. Suzuki has been appointed to a two-year term on the national board of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, an advisory group to U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley.

The 15-member board advises the secretary and assistant secretary for higher education on grants, program development and project selections.

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Monterey Park Councilwoman Judy Chu officially kicked off her bid for the 49th District Assembly seat held by Diane Martinez. Chu, a psychology professor at East Los Angeles College, said she will run regardless of whether Martinez, a fellow Democrat, makes a bid for a state Senate seat.

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The California School Boards Assn. has named Assemblywomen Hilda L. Solis (D-EL Monte) as its outstanding freshman legislator for 1993. Last year, Solis co-authored several bills handling primary and secondary education, including AB-160, a bill giving additional money to school districts with decreased funding due to military base closures.

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Makoto Nakayama, president and chief executive officer of San Gabriel Valley Medical Center, will be honored by Family Counseling Services of San Gabriel as an outstanding community leader Feb. 24.