City of Arcadia Mayor Gary Kovacic proclaims March 2 "Bobbie the Bobcat's New Friend: Day of Kindness" for Barnhart School's student-created book launch. It will be read at Arcadia Public Library on Read Across America Day.
Arcadia has a new emergency notification system called Alert Arcadia. Anyone can sign up to receive messages via phone voice mail, e-mail, and/or text.
Twenty times faster Internet access is available at Arcadia Public Library. High-speed Internet is available on the library's 65 public computers and Wi-Fi has also been greatly improved. The new one gigabit-per-second broadband comes to the library thanks to the California Public Library Broadband Consortium.
Matt Denny's: past and future success. Matt McSweeny talks about his early days owning Matt Denny's restaurant at 145 E. Huntington Drive, opened in 1997 and thanks the people who supported it for 19 years. He has sold it to new owner Long Nguyen.
Jo Anne Seaman, who is blind, shared her personal stories and her red ham radio with Camino Grove Elementary School fourth graders (in photo with Seaman) Nathan Chien, Audrey Cho, Bradford Hunt, Jonas Yee, Elise Fong.
Arcadia Elks Lodge has a new partnership with the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration to thank and honor Vietnam veterans for their service and sacrifice.
Arcadia Public Library Foundation donates over $16,000 to Arcadia Public Library. The money will be used to fund Kaleidoscope Classical Concerts, more chairs for the library auditorium, more new adult Chinese language materials, more copies of best seller e-books, updated software for the preschool computers, and updated performances rights DVDs for Children's programming.
Changes for Arcadia Transit's Dial-a-Ride. The new two-tiered system reserves the Dial-a-Ride for senior citizens and the disabled, while three new fixed routes will serve the general public. Includes history of Dial-a-Ride in Arcadia.
How can you help the Arcadia Educational Foundation? The Arcadia Educational Foundation (AEF) is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1981 in response to substantially reduced federal and state funding for California public schools, administered by parent and community member trustees, to raise funds for Arcadia Unified School District. AEF runs the annual summer school program, offers $25000 in teacher grants each year, funds district-wide phone and text communication system, and has also funded teacher positions due to state-wide budget cuts.
Arcadia Dial-a-Ride service to return to seniors, disabled after years of students "monopolizing" the service. On July 1, the fare will increase from 25 cents to 50 cents per ride and will have new fixed routes. The Dial-a-Ride will be for seniors over 62 years old and riders who are disabled.
New state-of-the-art library coming to Arcadia. The Los Angeles County Public Library will replace the current branch in unincorporated Arcadia (4153 East Live Oak Avenue) sometime in 2017 at a new site at 22 West Live Oak Boulevard. It will cost about $9 million from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors capital projects funding.
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.
Clean-up crews are collecting wind debris. Tom Tate, Director of Public Works for Arcadia, said that "on December 10, we started a systematic clean-up of the city, starting with city crews and contractors, one on the north end, one on the south end. We plan to move through the city, street by street, and hopefully meet in the middle." Tate said his crews have moved about 5,000 tons of debris off the streets since the windstorm hit on November 30-December 1, and estimates they are at least a quarter of the way done. Arcadia Public Works is trying to keep residents updated with Twitter and their website, as well as media releases, on their progress. Tate hopes to conclude the clean-up before Christmas.
Environmental activists plan to block work crews from clearing 179 oak and sycamore trees, north of Arcadia. Bob Spencer, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, confirmed that construction would begin this morning to clear the 11 acres of trees, to make room for an estimated 500 cubic yards of sediment from Santa Anita Dam, as well as debris from seven other area catch basins. Spencer said, "The purpose behind this project is public safety; the damn built in 1927 does not meet seismic standards. Arcadia city manager Don Penman hopes that the several hundred thousand cubic yards of extra capacity is not an invitation for frequent trucking from other basins.
Rides are hard to find for seniors. Dial-a-Ride, meant for home-bound elderly, being misused shuttling school children. In 2014 consultant group IBI Group recommended three changes--new fixed routes for the general public, a shuttle service from the Metro Gold Line station to popular locations in the city, and a return to Dial-a-Ride service to seniors and disabled. The changes were planned to coincide with the Gold Line opening in march but after hearing concerns from students and parents, city officials agreed not to cut off the Dial-a-Ride service to the general public until the end of the school year.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital unveils $2 million in upgrades to Catheterization Laboratory, an exam room with diagnostic imaging equipment , used to visualize the arteries and chambers of the heart. Registered Nurse Anne Lee in photo.
Iconic Arcadia windmill atop Denny's to be dedicated June 29, thanks to restoration efforts of former Arcadia mayor George Fasching and Joe Sargis. The windmill's new variable speed motor will run about 6 rotations per minute and it will be illuminated at night. Denny's is at northeast corner of Santa Anita Avenue and Huntington Drive. The location used to be Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakery and this windmill was its trademark. See also Arcadia Weekly, p. 1, 13, June 23, 2016.
Horse racing deaths report delayed. California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), the state regulatory board, aims for January 15 release of investigation of Santa Anita Park incidents. The report was supposed to become public before the end of the year. Several new policies and safety regulations were introduced the past year as a result of a public outcry over the horse deaths at Santa Anita. The state is doing more drug testing, more pre-race exams, improving medical record keeping, pushing for new technology. Santa Anita Park installed a PET Scan machine to help identify pre-existing conditions in the fetlock area of a horse. To date, 37 horses have died at Santa Anita Park since December 2018. Despite the deaths, the equine medical director Rick Arthur stressed that the number of fatalities in California is actually decreasing, saying there have been 58 deaths at race tracks across the state in 2019, compared to 67 deaths in 2018.