Food critic Merrill Shindler favorably reviews Izakaya Tonchinkan, a Japanese restaurant at Arcadia Plaza, a mini-mall at 713 W. Duarte Road, just off Baldwin Avenue.
The City of Arcadia is using $646,000 in federal stimulus funds for repairs, repaving, re-striping and adding bicycle lanes on Santa Anita Avenue, north of Foothill Boulevard. The city has received $534,000 in stimulus money to retrofit City Hall with an energy-efficient heating and cooling system and $80,000 for equipment and training for its police department. Sometime in late spring, officials plan to widen intersections along Santa Anita Avenue, adding turn lanes or through lanes at Foothill Boulevard, Live Oak Avenue and Duarte Road.
Arcadia is sprucing up nicely. Phil Wray, Arcadia City Engineer, says the city has been making improvements to road medians. He is proud to share that, "We just finished our median island re-landscaping project from Michillinda to Baldwin." More drought-tolerant plants were planted on the median. The same re-landscaping will be done for the road median on Baldwin Avenue to Holly Avenue. Future projects include rehabilitation of pavement from Santa Clara Street to Fifth Avenue.
Street closures for the 59th Annual Festival of Bands Parade hosted by City of Arcadia. Baldwin Avenue between Huntington Drive and Naomi Avenue will be closed 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM, Duarte Road between Golden West and El Monte Avenue closed 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM, and Campus Drive between Santa Anita Avenue and Holly Avenue closed 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Attempted murder in Arcadia on June 25, 2013 at 1:38 PM. There were shots fired in the area of Lovell Avenue, just south of Duarte Road. The intended shooting victim ducked and was not hit by the gunshots. See also Mountain Views News, p. A6, June 29, 2013.
As part of a continuing investigation into a crash that killed Arcadia teen Alice Zhang and badly injured her friend Priyanka Patel, city officials will return to the site of the fatal accident to re-create the scene tomorrow. City officials will block off the 600 block of West Duarte Road between Baldwin Avenue and Lovell Avenue, from 3:30 pm to 9:30 pm, as Arcadia Police examine the crosswalk.
Who was Clara Baldwin Stocker? Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin's eldest daughter lived lavishly at her home Twin Oaks in Arcadia. See hard copy in VF Baldwin, Clara.
Saving Arcadia, the anti-mansionization group, sues City over controversial two-story home proposed at 1101 S. Fifth Avenue. Lawsuit alleges the project violates California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Two Arcadia homes used for indoor marijuana growing operations. Warrants were served and arrests were made in the 1800 block of South Baldwin Avenue and the 300 block of West Woodruff. A third house, on the 2700 block of Gilpin Way, was discovered to be an indoor marijuana cultivation house, too.
Arcadia City Council postpones decision on 1217 Mayflower Avenue home construction project. Scott Yang of Figure 8 Group Inc. seeks to replace a one-story 988 square foot ranch style house built in 1923 with a 5046 square foot home in the "modern" architectural style. In June, Planning Commission denied Yang's project.
Arcadia City Council approves Arcadia Highlands land development projects at 29 East Orange Grove Avenue and 1600 Highland Oaks Drive. The larger scale new construction of mansions will replace existing homes. The primary bone of contention came down to whether or not property owners' rights to maximize their investment and exercise freedom to build as they see fit should prevail over homeowners associations and residents concerned with maintaining a neighborhood's traditional aesthetic character while protecting neighboring properties' scenic views and privacy.
Arcadia Fire Department and Monrovia Fire Department resonded to a fire that destroyed a vacant Arcadia house in the 1300 block of South First Avenue. The house was in the process of being sold and was in escrow. The damage is estimated at $300,000.
Arcadia city is widening and improving three major downtown intersections, a $1 million project that has caused significant congestion in recent weeks. The work is taking place on Huntington Drive at intersections of Santa Anita Avenue, Santa Clara Avenue and Colorado Place. Sixty percent of the funding is by the City and forty percent by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The city is also replacing an older sewer with a new larger one on Baldwin Avenue, northbound between Huntington Drive and Duarte Road, and will repave the road. Cost about $413,000.
An 81-year-old West Covina man, Hao Liang, was struck and killed by a car when he was walking across Santa Anita Avenue, south of Duarte Road, last Wednesday, December 18, approximately 5:36 PM, at La Sierra Drive. The driver was a 36-year-old Monterey Park woman.
Arcadia Planning Commission denies 2236 Hollis Lane project, citing the applicant's lack of effort in finding a middle ground between the developers and the neighbors that oppose it. The applicant Marvin Fong aims to replace a 624 square-foot home with a 2500 square-foot home. Many Arcadians are concerned with "oversized" homes.
Residents object to proposed home to be built at 920 South Fifth Street. At issue are the size of the house and how its design may not fit in with the neighborhood.
Arcadia City Council clears way for massive new homes at 29 East Orange Grove Avenue and 1600 Highland Oaks Drive, despite opposition to the increasing "mansionization," from several members of the Highland Oaks Homeowners Association (HOA). City Council voted to move forward with both projects, finding they complied with city's zoning codes and were exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The two homes met the city's design guidelines and met the resolution that governs design in the HOA areas.
Largest mixed-use residential and retail property taking shape in Arcadia. Pacific Plaza is under construction at Duarte Road and First Avenue. It is estimated at 200,000 s.f. and stands 3 stories tall.