USC Arcadia Hospital announces leadership changes. The appointments will "better serve its community and align with Keck Medicine of USC health system." Colleen Wilcoxen, is now chief nursing officer. Robert Begg has been named Vice President of Human Resources and will supervise workforce training and development. Beginning January 29, Lisa Johnson will serve as the USC-AH chief quality officer.
Indictment implicates Baldwin Park's ex-city attorney Robert Tafoya in $70,000 bribery scheme to help secure cannabis permit from a vote by Councilman Ricardo Pacheco. Special agents with the FBI and IRS arrested former Compton Councilmember Isaac Galvan, 36, and another person, a 50-year-old Arcadia resident, who is the owner and operator of a cannabis grower that obtained a permit in Baldwin Park.
Monrovia man Yi Chen gets 4 years in prison for fraud in a student visa scheme to get Chinese immigrants into the U.S. unlawfully. From June 2015-February 2021, Chen was the CEO and owner of two so-called educational consulting companies in Alhambra and Arcadia that charged foreign students thousands of dollars for "guaranteed" admission to a college that would lead to the issuance of an F-1 student visa. See also Arcadia Weekly, p. 2, October 6, 2022.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital set to announce partnership with USC. Bryan Green (or Brian Green) will discuss the hospital's new partnership with USC at the Arcadia Community Coordinating Council meeting on April 4. Includes biographical information on Green.
Anita Baldwin statue to be unveiled at Le Méridien Hotel in Arcadia
The Anita May Baldwin statue at the Le Méridien Hotel will be unveiled on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021 at 11 a.m. Anita is the daughter of city founder, Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin. The statue will be featured on the opposite end of the Huntington Drive islands’ hotel property.
“We are very excited to be bringing Anita back to Arcadia,” said Mayor Sho Tay in a statement released by the city. “I would like to thank the Shen, Liu and Chen Families, Jeff Lee, the Dextra Baldwin McGonagle Foundation, Heather D. Gibson and Margaux L. Gibson, and the Arcadia Historical Society, for their generous donations.”
“On behalf of the Baldwin family, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Arcadia City Council, the Arcadia Historical Society, the Le Méridien Hotel and all those who have supported this effort to pay homage to my great-great grandmother, Anita May Baldwin,” said Margaux Gibson. “This magnificent statue of Anita will showcase a strong woman who was ahead of her time. I am proud to call Anita May Baldwin my great-great grandmother, and I am truly proud to be a part of this historic project.”
The Anita statue was sculpted by local artist and southern California native Alfred Paredes — who created the Lucky Baldwin statue on the corner of Huntington Drive and Holly Avenue — and is aptly named, “A Legacy of Charity” in honor of Anita’s contributions to life in early Arcadia and throughout California.
Arcadia City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto has appointed Captain Roy Nakamura as the city's 30th police chief. He is a 28-year veteran of the Arcadia Police Department. He succeeds Chief Robert T. Guthrie, who is retiring. Nakamura is the first police chief of Japanese and Asian descent in a city that once temporarily incarcerated Japanese and Japanese-Americans at Santa Anita Park. Arcadia's population is currently 60.8% Asian.
Arcadia kicks off 2020 City Council election. Final candidates in District 1 are Mayor April Verlato running for reelection and newcomer Yuli J. Sira. Verlato is currently on the last year of her first term on city council and she as elected mayor her last year. She is an attorney with Verlato and Roberts law firm in Arcadia. She is a native of Arcadia, with a long list of endorsements, including former mayors of Arcadia. Sira is a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker. District 4 has two candidates--longstanding council member and former mayor Peter Amundson and newcomer Paul Cheng. Amundson has completed three terms on City Council and served twice as mayor. He is an Arcadia native, with a long list of endorsements. Paul P. Cheng is a highly publicized attorney specializing in business operations and commercial realty transactions. He previously ran for Arcadia City Council in 2010. Also up for reelection is City Clerk Gene Glasco. He is running unopposed.
Man charged with kidnapping, beating ex-girlfriend in Arcadia. Robert Michael Mendez faces one count each of kidnapping and criminal threats and three counts of injuring a girlfriend or child's parent.
Ex-boyfriend of Arcadia woman charged with kidnapping. The ex-boyfriend's name is Robert Michael Mendez, age 27. The woman was hospitalized. Doorbell camera footage showed a man dragging a woman.
Robert Michael Mendez was arrested for attempted murder and kidnapping of his estranged girlfriend, on the 1500 block of South Santa Anita Avenue, near Camino Real Avenue.
Los Angeles County Arboretum. $8 million cleanup and restoration of Baldwin Lake sought. Flood control district assigns funding; expense to go before supervisors in July. Baldwin Lake is severely polluted centerpiece of the county Arboretum, visited by 400,000 people annually. The 144-year-old lake, dug out by 19th century real estate pioneer Elias Jackson “Lucky” Baldwin on his estate, has been dying a slow death because of the accumulation of street runoff laced with heavy metals, automobile brake fragments and other chemicals that create algae blooms and strong odors. Supervisor Kathryn Barger is championing the project.
Arcadia brothers Eric and Richard Dong (they attend San Marino High School) receive Outstanding Young Philanthropists award. They offered piano lessons to kids at the Union Station family center. They gave money and talked to the kids about investing in the stock market. With profits they made from their investments, they established the Richard and Eric Dong Endowment Fund for Union Station to provide scholarships for children in sports, music and the arts, leadership, and human rights promotion, to buy books for the family library; to fund staff appreciation and recognition and to finance the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights educational programs.
Arcadia sexual assault suspect identified with DNA evidence on October 15. Warrant obtained for suspect’s arrest. The sexual assault occurred September 8 in the 2300 block of S. Santa Anita Avenue. Suspect has been identified as 27 year old El Monte resident Robert Anthony Padilla.
Arcadia brothers Richard and Eric Dong (they attend San Marino High School) give endowment to Union Station Homeless Services. The fund will provide scholarships for children, to purchase books for the family library, to fund staff appreciation, and to finance the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights educational programs.
Resident David Fong and Arcadia Police Chief Robert Guthrie address recent Arcadia school lockdowns. Highland Oaks School had been put on lockdown while Arcadia police searched for suspects in a residential robbery. Arcadia Unified School District has only one school resource officer and Fong asked the city to seriously consider additional safety measures at Arcadia schools.
Shock of brothers' deaths still lingers. John Ziska is trying to find ways to cope with the deaths of his sons JD and Brian Ziska, two former star quarterbacks at Arcadia High School, whose deaths in the past year have left many in their hometown of Arcadia reeling. This fall, the Arcadia High School football program has ceremonies planned to honor them. Last summer JD Ziska died of a stroke at age 35. Brian Ziska had a massive heart attack.
Arcadia City Council Recap: Council ends tutor feud and moves future elections. Arcadia Police Chief Robert Guthrie was honored for his exemplary performance, two Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade princesses from Arcadia, Lauren Buehner and Sidney Grace Pickering, were recognized, and Arcadia man Roshan Akula (pictured) announced his campaign to run for U.S. House of Representatives.