Environmental activists are calling for an independent investigation into a Los Angeles County flood control project--6 days after they failed to stop bulldozers from clearing 11.1 acres of native oak woodland for a dam sediment dump in Arcadia. The group calling for the probe includes Glen Owens, Camron Stone, and "tree-sitters" John Quigley, Andrea Bowers and Julia Posin. Los Angeles County supervisor Michael Antonovich's deputy Tony Bell said the three-year county public works planning process for the sediment project was completely open and the facts were available to the public.
The new Norman S. Johnson Aquatics Center at Arcadia Community Regional Park (Arcadia County Park) is officially open and was celebrated yesterday by county supervisor Michael Antonovich and other local officials. The nearly $10 million project replaced the old 50-meter pool with a 6,150 s.f. competition swimming pool, and a 6,300 s.f. recreation and therapy pool with an integrated splash pad.
City to unveil Vietnam War monument today. A dedication ceremony will be held 2:00 PM at Arcadia County Park. The monument honors 14 Arcadia servicemen killed in the conflict.
Venting outage outrage. Utilities get earful from wind-affected residents and politicians. Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich chastised Southern California Edison (SCE) officials for not responding effectively and failing during the disaster (windstorm November 30-December 1, 2011).
Summary of a vintage promotional booklet about Santa Anita Park havings its inaugural race on Christmas Day, December 25, 1934. At the time, Los Angeles Turf Club Inc. was the owner and operator of Santa Anita Park and there were 53 racing days that first season. Charter stockholder and membership requirements are discussed.
Los Angeles County supervisor Mike Antonovich plans to set aside $650,000 of county funds to re-seed the oak woodland habitat in Arcadia that was demolished last week for flood control purposes, after mud and debris dredged from the Santa Anita Dam has been spread at the site. Bob Spencer, spokesman for Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, said there is much more debris poised to come down the hills and "We need to find a solution." Other county wilderness areas face destruction to make way for sediment. Officials are already considering the relocation of sediment from Devil's Gate Dam, which could end up on a 40-acre mature black willow woodland in the Hahamongna Watershed Park. Environmental activists won't let that happen without a fight.
Los Angeles County Supervisors are set to approve $8.5 million to build a new pool building, pool and splash pond at Arcadia County Park. Officials recommended hiring Sparano & Mooney Architecture. The firm designed the Arcadia Historical Society Museum.
Two passengers hurt in bus stabbing inside a Foothill Transit bus on October 31, shortly after 6:00 PM. The bus was on Live Oak Avenue, west of Myrtle Avenue, in unincorporated county area near Arcadia. Nicholas Patito, 51, a transient, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. The two sounded male passengers, age 54 and age 24, have non-life threatening injuries.
New state-of-the-art library coming to Arcadia. The Los Angeles County Public Library will replace the current branch in unincorporated Arcadia (4153 East Live Oak Avenue) sometime in 2017 at a new site at 22 West Live Oak Boulevard. It will cost about $9 million from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors capital projects funding.
Santa Anita Park's current Pro-Ride synthetic track surface will be replaced with a dirt track after the Oak Tree meet ends October 31 and before Santa Anita Park's winter-spring season starts December 26, 2010. Frank Stronach said it will cost about $6 million to install.
Dick Hale, a Bradbury councilman and CEO of development firm Hale Corporation, is proposing a four-story medical office building on the southern portion of the Santa Anita Park race track parking lot. It would be a joint venture with the race track's owner, The Stronach Group. It would create probably 300 jobs. An application has not been submitted but Arcadia City Council is set to discuss the developer's concept at a 6:00 PM study session on September 25 at City Hall.
Legislation. In the wake of 23 horse deaths at Santa Anita Park, California legislators are pushing for a new bill that targets racetrack oversight. It would allow state to suspend a venue’s license over safety concerns. Senator Bill Dodd, Democrat-Napa, and Assemblyman Adam Gray, Democrat-Merced, introduced the legislation and announced plans to have a joint oversight hearing on horse racing safety in the next month.
Dennis Mills, vice chairman and CEO of Canada-based MI Developments, which owns Santa Anita Park, said the company will be unveiling a new business plan. This new business plan has many horse racing industry people worried about the future.
Outage draws probe by California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to investigate the prolonged outages in Southern California Edison's (SCE) service area following last week's powerful windstorm. About 858 SCE customers in the San Gabriel Valley were still without power as of 7:00 PM yesterday, down from a total of about 434,000 initially affected by the windstorm.
Frank Stronach, chairman of MI Developments, is scheduled to address the California Horse Racing Board to address a number of issues, including a potential new racetrack surface for Santa Anita Park and the recent cancellation of its lease with the charitable Oak Tree Racing Association. Dennis Mills, MI Development's CEO and vice chairman has said Santa Anita Park might replace its synthetic track soon, which could jeopardize hosting Oak Tree's meet there.
MI Developments, the new owners of Santa Anita Park, defended canceling Oak Tree Racing Association's lease for fall racing, saying the contract did not account for the true economic cost of running the race track, according to Dennis Mills, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Canada-based MI Developments. On the other hand, Oak Tree's director and executive vice president Sherwood Chillingworth said the race track was getting the better deal, as Santa Anita Park got 75% of Oak Tree's profits. Chillingworth is talking about running Oak Tree at Hollywood Park or Del Mar.
California Philharmonic (Cal Phil) has announced its 2012 summer concert season is moving to Santa Anita Park. Cal Phil Music Director Victor Vener said a multi-year contract would be signed with the track, making the deal a partnership. CalPhil had been considered a Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden tenant for the past 15 years. The 2012 season will open June 30.
California Philharmonic Orchestra officials held a press conference and said they do not know why the county decided to end a 15-year run of concerts at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden with them. The press conference was held at Cal Phil's new office in Arcadia. In attendance were Cal Phil founder and Music Director Victor Vener, his son Andre Vener (the orchestra's CEO), Robert W. Miller (member of the Cal Phil board), Michael Arnold (principal clarinetist), Barbara Hicks (volunteer) and 20 protesters who had picketed at the Arboretum, in reaction to the ouster of the orchestra.
A day after the Arcadia County Park was closed for sending people exposed to excess chlorine to the hospital, the pool remained closed yesterday while Los Angeles County supervisors ordered a top-down safety review for all 27 county pools. The Arcadia pool will remain closed until the problem can be fixed to ensure public safety.
Arcadia firefighter Michael Herdman, who went missing and was found dead on June 27 at the bottom of a cliff in Los Padres National Forest, had drugs in his system when he died. Ventura County Medical Examiner toxicology report said he had alcohol, Ecstasy, and Adderall in his body.