The race horse "Return of the King" with jockey Martin Pedroza, won a race at Santa Anita Park. The horse belonged to the Ortega family, some of whom were killed by Bruce Pardo in a Christmas Eve massacre in Covina.
Horse racing community feels the loss of James Ortega, Joseph Ortega, and Charles Ortega, 3 of the 9 victims killed by Bruce Pardo, a disgruntled former in-law who crashed a Christmas Eve party in Covina, dressed at Santa Claus. James, Joseph and Charles Ortega all owned race horses and loved the sport.
7-year-old Maria Lugo Rocha of Sinaloa, Mexico, is recovering after a surgery to remove a bone tumor from her chin, performed last week at Arcadia Methodist Hospital. LIGA International, a non-profit group of medical experts, pilots and volunteers, helped to bring the girl to Arcadia to have the surgery.
Obituary/death notice. Radio personality and singer Veeva "Suzy" Hamblen has died at the age of 101, in Santa Clarita, California. She and husband Stuart Hamblen (died 1989), also a radio entertainer, had a ranch in Arcadia for many years and were known as some of the leading trainers at Santa Anita Race Track in the late 1940s. Stuart and Veeva rode their Peruvian Paso horses in the Rose Parade from 1979 to 1989. Veeva was also famous as a gospel songwriter.
Public employees' retirement and pensions are costing cities up to 25% of the city budget. In March, CalPERS announced its stock portfolio had lost 39.8%. Costs for retirees are ballooning and El Monte and West Covina budgets have been hit hard from the recession. Arcadia, which had the fourth highest pension costs of the 24 cities surveyed, spent $6.7 million last year for its 357 current employees and retirees. The city's general fund budget is $46 million.
Marco Antonio Irigoyen of West Covina has been sentenced to seven years in state prison for lewd conduct with a minor. He was a fourth grade teacher at Rio Hondo Elementary School in Arcadia. He pleaded no contest.
Profile and biography of jockey George Woolf, also known as Iceman. Woolf rode race horse Seabiscuit to fame in 1938. He died in 1946. There is a statue in his memory at Santa Anita Park.
Johnny Longden, the Hall of Fame jockey who rode Count Fleet to the Triple Crown in 1943 and was the first rider to win 6000 races, died on Feb. 14. Services will be held on February 24 at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Arcadia.
The City of Arcadia budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year projects a positive balance of $236,892 but includes several spending cuts and revenue enhancements. The list of spending cuts includes freezing 6 police officer positions, shifting some signal maintenance, delaying city communications upgrades and eliminating a coyote management program. The list of revenue enhancements includes a $2 Internet use fee for library guests, among other things.