In an article reviewing the problems of hillside development in the San Gabriel Valley, Arcadia's problems with Charles Bluth's yet-to-be-built Whispering Pines subdivision are discussed. Excessive runoff caused damage to property below the development.
Article describes the California Home for the Aged Deaf. The facility can accommodate 24, but at present there are only 12 residents who pay $375 per month for their room and board.
Jim Helms chosen President of the Association of San Gabriel Valley Cities. Cities which have confirmed membership are: Alhambra, Arcadia, Covina, El Monte, Irwindale, La Puente, Monrovia, Monterey Park, Pasadena, San Marino, South Pasadena, Temple City, and Walnut.
More than 40 cats and kittens have taken over a foreclosed house in Arcadia and while most neighbors are complaining, some are feeding and trying to find a home for the cats. The house, at 381 Walnut Avenue, has been described as "one big litter box."
Arcadia, along with several other communities in the San Gabriel Valley, face termination of animal control services now rendered by the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society. This agency will discontinue services as of June 30, 1978.
Three city-owned lots at 521 N. First Avenue, adjacent to the Foothill Freeway, were sold last week by the Arcadia City Council to the W. D. Wilson Co., which will construct a building on the site and move from its present location in South Pasadena. James J. Melas, president of the W. D. Wilson Co. and an Arcadia resident said his firm deals in sophisticated biomedical supplies and unusual alloys and fittings for medical instruments. Selling price was $41,500. The city originally purchased the lots from the state Department of Highways for $33,000.
County supervisors approved a $4.7 million infusion of funds to aid mental health programs in the Children's Home Society in Arcadia. The Children's Home Society, a non-profit organization that places mentally disturbed children in foster homes, will now lose $16,000, instead of the anticipated loss of staff and $32,000.
Longtime San Gabriel Valley pediatrician "Bud" Koch died Friday of cancer in his Ventura home. He was 72. Koch worked on staff of the Arcadia Methodist Hospital from 1956 -1981.
The Association will prepare a profile of the San Gabriel Valley within the coming month. A second project will be to organize themselves to deal with the "incoherence of Los Angeles County government."
An international businessman was abducted from his Arcadia home and later released the same evening after his abductors demanded he pay them $1 million. He was told that he would be contacted the next day with instructions about where to put the money, but no money has been paid. This is the first kidnapping of this type in Arcadia, although there have been four other kidnappings in the San Gabriel Valley since last October.
Barbara Wild is the new administrator at the California Home for the Aged Deaf. Biographical details on Ms. Wild are offered. Activities at the home are outlined.
Arcadia joined the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito Abatement District, making it one of the last cities in the valley to participate in a mosquito control program. The program is designed to monitor mosquitos that transmit St. Louis encephalitis, a sometimes fatal viral disease.
The California Home for the Aged Deaf celebrates its 30th anniversary. Funded by residents fees and donations, it has provided housing to over 400 deaf persons since its beginning. It is one of only five such homes in the nation.