Thirty-one finalists have made the cut for the 2011 Royal Court for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade. The girls from Arcadia are Jaslyn Elders, Giselle Hillier and Tatyane Berrios. The seven member Royal Court will be announced Monday, October 11, and the Rose Queen will be chosen from the final seven on October 19.
Los Angeles County home prices and sales continue to decline. The median price of a Los Angeles County home fell in October to $339,910, down 2.6% from September's price of $349,040. However, Arcadia led all California cities with a 40% jump from last year's median price. Currently the median home price in Arcadia is $856,000. Other San Gabriel Valley area median home prices are given.
Hazel Williams, 96, of Arcadia, volunteers as coordinator of two outreach ministry projects she started at Arcadia Presbyterian Church--Operation Christmas Child and The Happy Big Box Program. The programs help needy children.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital's new wing, a $140 million, 184-bed tower, that opened last month, largely replaces 2 hospital buildings built in 1957 and 1967. This new building helps as Arcadia Methodist Hospital (AMH) plans to address the risks of buildings collapsing during an earthquake. Joe La Brie, a structural engineer said AMH has addressed utility line hazards. Acute services are being relocated to the new tower. See related story about earthquake preparedness at other hospitals in the San Gabriel Valley (see same page).
Federal legislation aimed at bringing more teachers back in the classroom is providing Pasadena-area school districts with more than $12.3 million, according to the California Department of Education's preliminary figures. Many district officials are wary of immediately using the money to hire teachers, saying they will likely have to lay off the teachers next year. The money comes from President Obama's $26 billion Jobs Bill for teachers and other government jobs. A chart shows preliminary allocations to San Gabriel Valley school districts. Arcadia Unified School District is scheduled to receive $1,667,871.
More high winds expected. Clean-up efforts remain ongoing across San Gabriel Valley. With Santa Ana winds expected to batter Southern California for several days this week, residents and work crews scrambled yesterday to clear downed trees, replace utility poles and restore power after the historic storm that hit Thursday, December 1, 2011. A small army of Southern California Edison (SCE) workers gathered in the Santa Anita Park race track parking lot--some waiting for orders, others moving the dozens of replacement transformers. SCE will need to bring power back to the 78,000 customers still without electricity as of yesterday afternoon.