Pasadena Showcase House of Design features the 1937 Federal country-style Locke House in Arcadia. The annual fundraiser is going virtual due to the pandemic lockdown. The house was originally built by Hollywood society architect Gerard Colcord in 1937. For this fundraiser, there were 17 designers who contributed to the renovation. This nonprofit supports music and arts programs in Southern California.
Tiny house homeless plan draws opposition. Council tables proposal to build shelters at park. The city will create a citizens committee to help study the issue. The city is looking into costs, infrastructure and grants for the proposed complex of tiny shelters, in response to the growing number of unhoused people in Arcadia. Homelessness in Arcadia grew from 85 in 2019 to 117 in 2020.
Arcadia City Council poised for historic changes. In a pair of firsts, the Arcadia City Council will have majority of women and three Asian-American members on the dais. New council members are:
District 2--Sharon Kwan
District 3--Eileen Wang
District 5--Dr. Michael Cao
See hard copy in VF City Council (2020-2029)
Arcadia will have a Patriotic Reverse Parade and Food Drive. People will drive on the parade route and wave to the "Stars of the parade" who are stationed on the sidewalk on July 2, 2021, 9-11 AM. The "stars" include firefighters, medical and police who have helped the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Canned food donations will be accepted by Foothill Unity Center.
Every 10 minutes, someone in Los Angeles County dies from the effects of COVID-19. Melody Stark of Monrovia is shown in photo displaying a photo of her husband Dr. William Stark who was a resident of Huntington Drive Health and Rehabilitation Center in Arcadia. He died on November 22, 2020. Since March, 2020, 10,056 people have died from the coronavirus.
New York's Carnegie Hall hosts young musicians from San Gabriel Valley's Classical European Music Academy Los Angeles (CEMALA). A list of young people who performed include a few from Arcadia--Allen Chen, Andrea Li, Evan Girard-Sun, Farrah Chan, Halley Wang, Ngai Zou, and Sunny Xu.
State offers funds for LGBTQ center in Whittier. The closest center like it are in Arcadia, Long Beach and downtown Los Angeles. The San Gabriel Valley LGBTQ Center is located at Prince Erik Hall, 2607 South Santa Anita Avenue, Arcadia, CA 91006, behind Arcadia Congregational Church--which is temporarily closed due to COVID-19). The SGV location was found on the website sgvlgbtq.org
A cabin is lost, but memories endure. Greg Vanni of Arcadia, had a cabin among the 80 historic Chantry Flat cabins in Big Santa Anita Canyon. It burned to its foundation in the Bobcat Fire. It was a 350-foot cabin built in 1910 during "The Great Hiking Era," a time between the 1880s to the late 1930s in Southern California, when settlers from the city were drawn to the San Gabriel Mountains looking for adventure. The historic Adams Pack Station survived the fire.
Los Angeles County coronavirus cases. Los Angeles cases: 208,528, with 1,789 new cases. Arcadia city has 380 total cases and unincorporated Arcadia has 75 total cases. There have been 4,977 Los Angeles county deaths total.
City of Arcadia Concert and Movies. Concert in the Park at Arcadia City Hall featuers Upstream, a band playing reggae, Soca and other Caribbean music on August 4. Movie is "Luca." August 4 is the 119th birthday of Arcadia and National Night Out.
$2 million in funding to help provide more homes. San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust gets state award for affordable, transitional housing. About 2 dozen cities have partnered, including Alhambra, Arcadia, Azusa, Baldwin Park, and others, to develop affordable housing.
Mall buyer a local resident. Wen Shan Chang, 71, of Bradbury, is new proprietor of The Shops at Santa Anita, formerly owned by Westfield. It was sold in August for $537.5 million. The property is at 400 South Baldwin Avenue and is now called The Shops at Santa Anita. Mall is 1.48 million square feet. Chang purchased it from France-based Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield in a sale considered the largest for a mall in the U.S. since 2018. The Arcadia mall site has been thriving through Asian retailers catering to the large Asian community in Arcadia and San Gabriel Valley.
Live Oak Library reopens new space at a new address. Previously located at 4153 East Live Oak Avenue in Arcadia, it is now 1.1 miles to the west at 22 West Live Oak Avenue. It has undergone a $7.3 million refurbishment.
Arcadia city considers ban on some restaurant takeout containers (polystyrene, aka Styrofoam). Restrictions on straws, utensils also under review. Arcadia Council Member Tom Beck introduced the idea and Council Member Paul Cheng is enthusiastic about it. Jason Kruckeberg, Assistant City Manager and Development Services Director, said the City will work with restaurants and the Chamber of Commerce to implement the ordinance. The Cheesecake Factory is already using eco-friendly containers and utensils.
Stuck in the backstretch. At Santa Anita Park racetrack, coronavirus cuts off horse caretakers from the outside world More than 750 backstretch workers at Santa Anita Park now live and work in isolation to prevent the spread of COVID-19. They sleep in worn dormitories, sometimes in pairs, tucked among the barns. New restrictions bar visitors. There is a sense of anxiety in the community about the novel Coronavirus and the future of their jobs. No cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus have been reported at Santa Anita Park, which ceased racing last month, but there isn't any proactive testing either. The worries have to do with the track being shut down, or trainers moving to other states and these workers having nowhere to work or stay. If they lose their jobs, they lose their medical benefits and will be struggling.