A drainage problem forced the cancellation of horse racing at Santa Anita Park since three inches of rain fell yesterday. The track has had to cancel racing 12 times since the synthetic track was installed two years ago. In 2006, the California Horse Racing Board banned dirt surfaces from thoroughbred tracks. Santa Anita Park has tried two synthetic tracks but the surfaces have not worked out. Officials announced they will replace the synthetic surface before the Oak Tree Meet in the fall.
Police are seeking three men who attacked, robbed and carjacked a mother and son in front of their home in the 200 block of West Lemon Avenue. The crime occurred on March 4, before 9:30 PM, as they pulled into their driveway. The suspects got away in the victims' blue 2006 Lexus.
Isaac Campbell, a man charged in the murder of his former girlfriend Liya "Jessie" Lu, appeared in court for a pre-trial hearing and was ordered to return to court July 14. Campbell has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody on $1.2 million bail. Lu's body was found September 2007 at an Arcadia residence. Her body was wrapped in a plastic bag, placed in a blue trash bin and buried under 10 gallons of cat litter.
The California Second District Court of Appeals rejected Mulji Patel's claim that the restitution awarded to Erwin Nepomuceno for $20,250 in lost earnings was excessive. Patel was convicted in March 2009 on two counts of assaults with a deadly weapon for the January 31, 2006 attack on Nepomuceno, a workers' compensation attorney. Patel was a Rockwell International employee and a jury found him sane at the time. Patel was sentenced in May 2009 to 12 years in state prison.
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 Mayor Peter Amundson's selection of Reverend H. B. London, Jr. to speak at the community breakfast on March 4, is drawing criticism from some residents and gay-rights activists. London is a vice president of ministry outreach at Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group that opposes gay marriage. Some residents are asking Mayor Amundson to reconsider and they feel Focus on the Family delivers hateful messages. The city estimates it will pay between $5000 and $5500 for its contribution to the event, which will include the speaker's plane fare.
Margaret Mathews, 85, of Arcadia, wants the stone pine tree in front of her house to be removed. It has caused more than $14,000 of damage to her home. Hers is one of 36 huge stone pines the City of Arcadia will soon remove and replace in the Highland Oaks area north of Elkins Drive. The trees were originally planted in 1955. The Arcadia City Council last month approved spending $181,700 to rehabilitate several streets and curbs damaged by the trees and nearly $78,000 to remove and replace them. Each tree that is removed will be replaced with a smaller 24-inch box tree, either a fern pine, an evergreen, or a southern oak.
Arcadia Mayor Peter Amundson defends his speaker of choice at next month's Mayor's Community Breakfast. He has invited H. B. London, of Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group that opposes same-sex marriage. Residents and activists upset about this choice are organizing two counterevents of their own. Activists are planning a "peaceful" demonstration March 4 outside Arcadia Community Center and a bar-b-que at Pasadena's Unitarian Church for all families. Focus on the Family was founded in Arcadia by Dr. James C. Dobson and believes marriage is meant to be between a man and a woman. Amundson said the event is not about sexuality but about the Arcadia family.
H. B. London, Jr., of Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group that opposes gay marriage, spoke at the 2011 Mayor's Community Breakfast, about the importance of compassion and unconditional love in the family. Outside there were some 90 protestors that support the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Pasadena Star News conducted a survey of local city government websites among area cities, looking for transparency of public information. Monrovia and Rosemead scored the highest, with A grades. Arcadia came in 6th among 32 cities, with a B-minus grade.
The City of Arcadia's contribution to the cost of the 2011 Mayor's Community Breakfast will total $4795. The event drew protestors upset about the mayor's choice of Reverend H. B. London, of conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, as keynote speaker. London received a standing ovation.
Hollywood actors Ed Begley, Jr. and Daryl Hannah called on prosecutors to drop a trespassing case against the group of tree-sitters who have become known as the "Arcadia 4." The four climbed into oak trees on January 12, 2011 while Los Angeles County bulldozers destroyed an 11-acre woodland around them. Begley rallied with supporters outside Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley's downtown headquarters. The four are John Quigley of Glendale, Julia Jaye Posin of Venice Beach, Travis Jochimsen of Lancaster and Andrea Bowers of Los Angeles. The trees were cleared to make room for a sediment site.
The trial for Isaac Campbell, charged with the murder of Liya "Jessie" Lu, has been delayed to give the Public Defender Jim Duffy time to transcribe a set of tapes from follow-up witness interviews from August. Lu went missing August 11, 2007 and her body was discovered a month later in the trash can of Campbell's friend's house in Arcadia.
Isaac Campbell, 36, will stand trial next week for a second time for murder of girlfriend Liya "Jessie" Lu, who died in 2007, after a jury in December 2011 was unable to reach a verdict. The hung jury was split 10-2, with 10 in favor of convicting Campbell.
Arcadia Unified School District releases records of two teacher misconduct investigations that resulted in dismissals. The first was 48-year-old Robert Harbicht, a substitute teacher who was found drunk at work. The second was Phillip Sutliff, dismissed from the district in 2007 and sentenced to 12 years in state prison for sexual misconduct (rape) with a girl at Arcadia High School.
A jury convicts Isaac Campbell, 37, of voluntary manslaughter in the death of his girlfriend Liya "Jessie" Lu, whose body was found in a trash can, covered with kitty litter, at Campbell's friend's house in the 1700 block of South Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia, in 2007.