Six Arcadia police recruits graduate from Rio Hondo Police Academy. They are pictured with Arcadia Police Chief Bob Guthrie and captains Larry Goodman and Paul Foley. They will be swon in as police officers and start their two week orientation on July 16. See also Arcadia Weekly, p. 1, 10-July 19, 2018.
Over the two days of the Breeders' Cup this year, there were 95,000 in attendance, at Santa Anita Park. It was a 5 percent increase over the last two year's two-day crowds.
Two Arcadia Unified School District schools earn California Distinguished School honors--Holly Avenue Elementary School and Longley Way Elementary School.
An episode of cable television channel AMC's show "Mad Men," that was filmed on location at Rod's Grill on Huntington Drive in Arcadia, last October, was shown this past week on the network. The episode is called "Far Away Places" and stars Jon Hamm as Don Draper, and Jessica Pare, as his wife. In this period drama, they are supposedly at a Howard Johnson's motor lodge (motel and restaurant).
Seven candidates for two seats on Arcadia City Council: Paul Cheng, April Verlato, Bob Harbicht, Peter Amundson, Dr. Sheng Chang, Burton Brink, and Paul Van Fleet.
Last week's fake bomb threat at Arcadia High School by a 14-year-old student, who was arrested, caused a lockdown of almost 4,000 students and personnel for several hours. This had a great impact on the school. Thousands of dollars of hot lunches were wasted, additional revenue was lost when all school activities in the afternoon and evening had to be canceled, and overtime had to be paid to maintenance workers.
Coco's Restaurant at 1150 W. Colorado Boulevard in Arcadia, was robbed by an armed gunman on January 4 at 10:31 PM. The gunman had a semi-automatic handgun, demanded cash, and locked two employees in the freezer before fleeing.
Arcadia, Monrovia, and Duarte schools all forced to lock down this week due to phoned in threats of a gunman on 4 separate campuses. On Thursday, September 12, the caller contacted Arcadia Police Department, reporting "he was at Arcadia High School and that he was going to start shooting students with an assault rifle." A second call was received during the police search of the campus that told officers to back off or they would be shot. No suspects of weapons were found.
Santa Anita Gardens Catering Services threw an extravagant showcase event to celebrate and promote one of their two hosting venues, Arcadia's historic Prince Erik Hall, located at 2607 South Santa Anita Avenue, behind Arcadia Congregational Church.
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.
Update on Jay Cohen and other Santa Anita news. Joan Schmidt writes that former beloved Santa Anita Park trumpeter Jay Cohen has Bell’s Palsy, which has caused paralysis of the right side of his face. Jay was born in Camden, NJ. Includes other biographical information. Jockey Ruben Fuentes was voted “Jockey of the Week” by Jockeys’ Guild Foundation Detox. Happy 98th birthday to Santa Anita Park worker John Shear, who still has no intention of retiring.
Two corporate executives found guilty in first-ever criminal prosecution for failure to report under the Consumer Product Safety Act. Simon Chu, 68, of Chino Hills, and Charley Loh, 65, of Arcadia, found guilty. They sold defective dehumidifiers manufactured by Gree Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai in China. See hard copy in VF.
Gary Kovacic is Arcadia's mayor for the sixth time since 1998. Mayor Pro Tem is Roger Chandler. Mayor Kovacic is in the final year of a second consecutive four-year term. Due to term limits, he will have to step away from Arcadia City Council for at last two years after he concludes his current term as mayor, next April.
Lawsuit filed against the City of Arcadia seeking an injunction against Mayor Sho Tay running for re-election on the November 2022 ballot. The City of Arcadia Charter limits City Council to two consecutive terms. He was appointed to City Council in 2018 when he ran unopposed for District 3. The suit challenges whether or not the term limits apply to Mayor Sho Tay, who is running for a third time.
Tranquility of Arcadia disrupted by barricaded gunman. Arcadia Police officer and two civilians wounded when police responded to a domestic violence call in the 2500 block of Greenfield Avenue in Arcadia. The suspect Nurhan Venk, 47, allegedly shot the Arcadia police officer in the face, allegedly shot his 73-year-old mother Ankine Venk. A stray bullet hit an 83-year-old man across the street.