A 2-year-old legal battle between the city of Arcadia and Taboo Gentlemen's Club, a strip club, will most likely result in the club being closed or sold off by April, 2009. The federal court case started when the city revoked Taboo Gentlemen's Club's business license for breaking the city's adult business codes. The club's owners Bill Badi Gammoh and Chawkat Jajieh sued in response, claiming city and police had obstructed business and violated their civil rights. The city's adult business ordinance prohibits lap dances, sexual contact, private dance booths and direct tipping. It requires licensed dancers to perform on an elevated stage.
9-year-old Maria Lugo came to Arcadia Arcadia Methodist Hospital from Mexico to have a steel plate removed from her chin. It was a follow-up surgery to a softball-size tumor removal she had in April, 2008, at Arcadia Methodist Hospital. Dr. Jon Tyrell, a member of LIGA International, and Dr. B.S. Chandrasekhar operated on her. LIGA International is a non-profit group of medical experts, pilots and volunteers who travel to clinics in Sinaloa, Mexico several times a year.
10 year-old Arcadia resident Eddie Drain, who lost his hair after chemotherapy treatments, got a boost from his baseball league teammates when they got together and shaved their own heads.
The $16 million Arcadia Police Station building, built with bond money and city and CRA funds, is on target for completion in July. WWM Associates designed the building. Mallcraft of Altadena is the contractor and Construction Control Group is the manager of the project. The station is the first civic project constructed with bond funding.
17-year-old Arcadia High School student Courtney Chou Lee has been named the 91st Rose Queen. Six other young ladies are princesses including another AHS student, Lauren Valenzuela. The Rose Queen and her royal court will reign over the 120th Rose Parade and the 95th Rose Bowl. Article contains some quotes from Courtney Lee's parents, Andrew Lee and Ulanda Lee.
A 19-year-old man who was killed in a house fire in Arcadia was identified as Cheng Ming Dai of San Gabriel. A 16-year-old remains in critical condition and may be arrested and charged with arson. The house was located at 130 West Longden Avenue.
A $25,000 reward has been approved for information leading to an arrest of the ecoterrorists who attacked several sports utility vehicles in the San Gabriel Valley.
The 25-year-old City Council chambers will undergo its first major renovation, a project that will relocate meetings for the next few months to the Arcadia Public Library. Renovations will be completed in February.
The 35th annual Public Schools luncheon was held at the Masonic Center to honor 26 National Merit Scholarship students. The Foothills Middle School Sixth Grade Chorus performed.
48th Annual Arcadia Festival of Bands will be held Saturday, November 17. The event, which showcases the finest high school instrumental music talent in Southern California, has been a proud tradition in Arcadia since 1953. Dennis Davies, who recently retired after serving 39 years as a music director in Arcadia Unified School District, has been named Grand Marshal.
The 380-member Apache Marching Band, under the direction of Tom Landes and its 62-member color guard, will march in the 2003 Tournament of Roses Parade.
A 1927 bust of Anita Baldwin, hidden away in storage at the Arboretum, is on exhibit at the Arcadia Public Library along with photographs of Anita, examples of her musical scores, poetry and cookbook.
About 220 Holly Avenue School students are already on the year-round schedule, currently in its 7th year of year-round instruction. Principal Bill Robinson invites local residents to an informational meeting about the school's year-round educational program.
About 500 Hollywood hopefuls participated in the casting calls for the film "Seabiscuit." Possible shooting locations include Santa Anita Park race track where Seabiscuit raced.
The Administration at Arcadia High School had to institute a new policy against freak dancing or "freaking" after students got too wild at the Homecoming Dance. Freaking is a kind of dancing in which dancers grind against each other's pelvises. Students who attended the Winter Casual dance had to sign a contract "to conduct themselves appropriately both on and off the dance floor."
After receiving intense pressure from San Gabriel Valley lawmakers, the county's transportation board, the MTA, finally put the Gold Line extension in its long-term plans. This opens up the possibility of federal funding for the project. With this commitment, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has agreed to provide day-to-day operational funding for the first phase of the Gold Line Foothill extension once it is completed.