As the United States goes to war with Iraq and the threat of retaliatory terrorist attacks raised the national threat level to High Risk Orange, the cities of Monrovia and Arcadia are prepared for the worst. City officials are talking about emergency response. The city has developed the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), where representatives from all city departments can gather to organize and respond to any emergency.
Arcadia Fire Department received Fire Engine No. 343 from the Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES). The number is significant and it has been specially dedicated by the state to the memory of the 343 New York City firefighters who died on September 11, 2001.
Emergency response officials from around Los Angeles County gathered at the Arboretum for a workshop on disaster preparedness, especially to prepare for the outbreak of a pandemic flu.
The Arcadia City Council has approved a 12-month pilot program to expand its Dial-a-Ride service to include a new non-emergency medical appointment transportation program for seniors and disabled persons. The program includes service to five hospitals outside the city limits--Huntington Hospital, Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park, City of Hope Medical Center and Santa Teresita Hospital, both in Duarte, and Mountainview Dialysis Center in Monrovia.
Cities of Pasadena, Arcadia, Sierra Madre, and Monrovia are seeking funding for fire training from the federal government (FEMA). They want to establish a training facility on federal property in Arcadia near the 210 Freeway and Santa Anita Avenue.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital will no longer accept new patients with Blue Cross insurance. Blue Cross patients are being directed to Glendale Adventist Medical Center, Huntington Hospital, San Gabriel Valley Medical Center, and Citrus Valley Medical Center.
British food giant Tesco is going to open Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Markets in West Covina and Arcadia on November 8, 2007. Fresh and Easy stores are relatively small and lean heavily on fresh food offerings, including prepared meals and sushi.
Arcadia's Paramedic Membership Program continues to accept enrollments from both Arcadia residents and businesses. For $42/year ($40 if paid in lump sum), all permanent residents of a member's household or permanent employees of a business in the city will receive emergency paramedic ambulance transportation without direct cost. The subscription program was first offered to Arcadia residents and businesses on December 1, 1994.
A new Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has opened in Arcadia. It is owned by Tesco, a British food giant. Tesco's labor practices have come under fire for relying on part-time workers, which may limit the ability of workers to earn a living wage.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital opened a new four-level parking structure this week, completing the first phase of its expansion. The second phase will include a 152,000 square feet, five-story patient tower, with a bridge connecting the top three floors to the existing Berger Patient Tower. The new North Tower, to be completed in 2010, will house a new emergency department, medical and surgical inpatient beds, two intensive care units, and a pharmacy.
Arcadia firefighters and paramedics save a boy with asthma. The boy visits the fire station and firefighters go to the boy's birthday party. Community ties are strengthened by this emergency call.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital staff have a drill to practice responding to a dirty bomb detonation, imagining a scenario in which terrorists explode a bomb with radioactive material at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale.
Methodist Hospital expects an increase in the number of emergency patients using its facilities because of the closure of the emergency room at Santa Teresita Hospital in Duarte.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital has been accused of dumping homeless patients on Los Angeles' Skid Row. A hospital representative said it is compliant with the anti-dumping law, Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, and has done nothing illegal. The two alleged dumping incidents involve homeless patients Hector Salazar and Therese LaBossiere.
The Arcadia City Council voted unanimously to impose a 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, known as pot clubs. There are no such dispensaries in the city nor have there been any applications. The moratorium will give the city time to study the issue and see what type of regulation would be appropriate to put in place in Arcadia. The concern is that pot clubs could draw an element to the community that increases crime. The Compassionate Use Act (Proposition 215) legalized medical marijuana in California in 1996.
Cal Tech student William Jensen Cottrell, allegedly connected with an ecoterrorist group in connection with vandalism at Rusnak Mercedes-Benz and other car dealershships in the San Gabriel Valley, was arrested by the FBI.
A Monrovia firefighter, Fernando Rodriguez, 41, shot his wife, Katherine Rodriguez, and then himself in the parking lot of City of Hope National Medical Center. Arcadia and Los Angeles County fire teams watched over Monrovia after all Monrovia fire personnel were called in to hear the news.