Rose Queen Natalie Innocenzi, of Arcadia, and her 6 member Royal Court of princesses, one of whom is June Ko, of Arcadia, prepare for the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade, by first getting made up at Amadeus Salon at 1:30 AM on January 1.
Missing Arcadia man Julius ("Cotton") Tinsley, 81, was found dead down a ravine at a turnout on Highway 18, about 2 miles north of the Snow Valley Ski Area. Julius Tinsley trained race horses for 54 years before retiring in 2000.
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.
Three women were violently robbed in a span of a week in the 99 Ranch Market parking lot at 1300 S. Golden West Avenue. In two of the incidents, a passenger leaned out of a car to grab purses, and in the other incident, two men pushed a woman to the ground, kicked her in the face and stole her purse.
Local Arcadia ice skater Mirai Nagasu, a 16-year-old who is home-schooled, is part of the United States ice skating team going to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics. She has no aspirations for a medal, but is fulfilling a dream by just going to compete. Two years ago, when Nagasu was a freshman at Arcadia High School, she won the 2008 U.S. title in St. Paul, MN.
Three area schools will be heading to the state competition after earning high scores in this year's Los Angeles County Academic Decathlon. The Arcadia High School team is shown in a picture with its second place "Super Quiz" trophy.
The Adams' Pack Station, owned by Deb Burgess, in the Chantry Flat area, 3 miles up a road starting from the top of Santa Anita Avenue in Arcadia, fights to remain open as it faces costly upgrades required by the Los Angeles County Health Department. Forest authorities want it to remain a historic landmark, which would limit the amount and types of renovations that can be done.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has voted to fully fund the $690 million Gold Line Foothill Extension, from Pasadena to Azusa, and to complete it by 2014, with money from Measure R. Measure R was approved by voters in the November 2008 election. It created a half-cent county sales tax intended for transportation projects. The MTA has the funding for the first phase of the Gold Line light rail to Azusa. The first phase is an 11-mile extension that includes stops in Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale and Azusa.
Results are in from yesterday's city council elections for the City of Arcadia and the City of Sierra Madre. In Arcadia, the semi-official results show the three seats will be filled by Bob Harbicht, Mark "Mickey" Segal, and Peter Amundson. Sierra Madre voted in Joe Mosca, Josh Moran and Nancy Walsh (uncertified totals).
With a slight increase in unemployment in March, the state of California reached a post-Great Depression jobless rate high of 12.6%. Los Angeles County's unemployment rate remained locked at 12.4% from February to March. Economists say unemployment has hit bottom. The jobless rate for Arcadia in March, 2010 was 7.1%, or 1,900 people unemployed. A chart shows numbers for nearby cities.
Magna Entertainment Corp., owner of Santa Anita Park race track, which is in bankruptcy reorganization hearings, filed a plan that would cancel its 2005 agreement with Rick Caruso to develop the 830,000 square feet Shops at Santa Anita on the race track's south parking lot. Caruso filed an objection to the move in bankruptcy court, citing "substantial economic harm" to Santa Anita Associates, LLC, the legal entity that was going to develop the project. Santa Anita LLC has so far invested over $25 million to the project's development. Caruso is committed to developing the project in Arcadia. If the contract is indeed terminated between the parties, Magna would have to start from scratch with new plans, new environmental impact reports, and new hearings to propose another development.
Arcadia High School's Constitution Team won the state championship in February and is now competing in the 23rd annual "We are the People: the Citizen and the Constitution National Finals" in Washington D.C. The last time an Arcadia High School team won the national title was in 1993. Team advisor is teacher Kevin Fox. Catherine Tong, Andrew Taylor, Frank Huang, Andrew Lin and Jesse Li are pictured.
Arcadia High School's Constitution Team won the national competition in Washington D.C. California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger offered his congratulations to the 30 member team. The team's advisor is teacher Kevin Fox. Arcadia High School students James Griswold and Kiko Sunata are pictured.
Twelve citizens from Arcadia raised thousands of dollars to help a woman named Yessica Hernandez Millan, 31, of Whittier, who had to bury her three children. They died in a traffic accident in Newhall on April 12. Their funeral was on Thursday, April 29. The deceased are Cynthia Hernandez, 9, Edgar Hernandez, 8, and Xochitl Hernandez, 5.
Arcadia High School's team took 4th place among 68 schools in the 2010 National Science Bowl held in Washington D.C. last weekend. First Lady Michelle Obama addressed the importance of science education and greeted the teams personally. The team is comprised of seniors Jason Jong, Alex Wang and Eddie Xue and juniors Samuel Zeng and Derek Chou. The team coach and advisor is Cheryl Mynster.
The Oak Tree Racing Association lost its lease to operate its fall horse racing meet at Santa Anita Park. Oak Tree has operated a fall meet at the track since 1969. Due to bankruptcy restructuring, Frank Stronach's company MI Developments took control of Santa Anita Park from Stronach's Magna Entertainment Corp (MEC). MI Developments wants to negotiate a new lease agreement with Oak Tree for fall racing.
The California Horse Racing Board authorized Oak Tree Racing Association to have its traditional fall meet at another thoroughbred venue in Southern California since the association's use of Santa Anita Park is still uncertain. MI Developments, which is chaired by Frank Stronach, recently voided Oak Tree's contract after acquiring the race track from Stronach's Magna Entertainment Corp (MEC) through federal bankruptcy proceedings. Oak Tree's director Sherwood Chillingworth said, "If we can't make a deal with Santa Anita...we can take our dates and run them in Hollywood or Del Mar."
Based on the description and surveillance video, Arcadia police believe the same man may have robbed two 7-Eleven stores this month. The most recent robbery took place on May 20 at the 7-Eleven at Live Oak and Tyler Avenues. The previous crime occurred on May 10 at the 7-Eleven at 1003 S. Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia.