Arcadia election heating up: candidate forum next week. There are two open seats on council for 4-year terms and the City Clerk position is open for a 4-year term.
Santa Anita Park's main track to undergo major renovation beginning July 11. Track is transitioning to a single source material consisting of highly coveted El Segundo Sand, a natural soil that will ensure balanced drainage during periods of wet weather and uniform, safe cushion year round. Dennis Moore is Track Superintendent.
Are April Verlato and Peter Amundson the new City Council? Election totals could change after 1300 more votes are counted. The late and provisional votes will be counted at Arcadia City Hall today.
City of Arcadia asked residents north of Foothill Boulevard and east of Santa Anita Avenue to voluntarily evacuate as strong winds forecasted overnight could fuel the Bobcat Fire. American Red Cross Los Angeles has opened an evacuation point at Santa Anita Park.
The City of Arcadia and Arcadia City Council are working on plans for a new civic center and multipurpose facility that would be located next to City Hall and the newly constructed police station. The project would use money from the capital construction fund and is not part of the city's general fund.
Arcadia-Monrovia Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2070 announced this week that it has created a scholarship fund to memorialize local service members who have been killed in combat. Clint Stamps is Commander of Post 2070.
About 220 Holly Avenue School students are already on the year-round schedule, currently in its 7th year of year-round instruction. Principal Bill Robinson invites local residents to an informational meeting about the school's year-round educational program.
Holly Avenue Elementary is the first school in Arcadia to test a year-round program for students. The year-round school began in 1995. Parents are questioning if other schools should follow.
The Arcadia city budget of $35.8 million for the 2003-2004 fiscal year was unveiled and will be the subject of a public hearing June 14. City Manager Bill Kelly called the spending program "flat line," with only 1.5 new city jobs in the coming year. Kelly said Arcadia is protected from possible cuts to meet state budget uncertainties because of $6 million in reserves, which were earmarked but never spent in a previous budget. The city is safe for at least the next two budget years.
Arcadia resident and LAUSD educator Jenny Lu writes book encouraging girls to enter STEM fields. Her book is titled Emma Ren: Robot Engineer and is aimed at children ages 4-8.
Parents demand schools reopen but is it safe during the pandemic? Teacher vaccinations are important but not a prerequisite for reopening, CDC says--at least in elementary schools.
Downtown Arcadia in 2019. Large mixed-use project (38 apartments, 16000 s.f. retail, office, restaurants) at First Avenue and Wheeler Street will finish and open later this year. New restaurant "Trendy Thai 2 Go" opened at 18 North First Avenue (formerly Stacked Sandwich) and Shabu Lin is about to open at 101 South First Avenue (formerly Zapata Vive). Downtown AIA will be implementing several new streetscape beautification projects this year, planning has started on year-round decorative tree lighting on First Avenue.
Arcadia City Manager Bill Kelly is skeptical about the way the State of California balanced this year's budget. The State promises to pay cities back for sales tax to be used to pay off $10.7 billion in loans. The maneuver, known as the "triple flip" will take half of the cities' sales tax revenue for the next five years, and pay it back out of property taxes now earmarked for schools. Arcadia will lose 25% of its vehicle license fee reimbursement, around $750,000. Arcadia is in good shape this year and next, primarily because of a healthy reserve fund. After 2004-2005, unless some solutions are in place, the city could face some hard times.
The abandoned rail bridge over Colorado Boulevard in Arcadia will be removed because it could not accommodate the two-track light rail system and the Gold Line Construction Authority determined it was more efficient and cost effective to remove the structure than to widen it or add a second structure directly adjacent to the ole one. Bridge demolition was the first significant construction effort for Foothill Transit Constructors (FTC) and the alignment project. The Construction Authority will have three open houses in the next two weeks to update the community.