Arcadia ice skater Mirai Nagasu is going to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Friends and family send her off with a party at Arcadia Presbyterian Church. She will skate in the singles competition starting February 23, 2010.
Arcadia residents may vote again on street lighting fees. Under the new proposal, single family homes on arterial streets would pay about $17 a year, while those not on arterial streets would pay about $27 a year, making the assessments more fair. Voters in 2008 rejected a proposal to fund the lighting and now the city is considering another mail-in vote.
Six candidates are running for three seats on the Arcadia City Council. They are Bob Harbicht, Paul Cheng, Mickey Segal, Peter Amundson, Jason Lee, and Sho Tay. They each answer the questions, "What should be done to improve the city's fiscal situation?" and "How should the city handle the Caruso mall proposal at Santa Anita (Park)?" The election will be in April.
Local friends and supporters of Arcadia's figure skater Mirai Nagasu meet at Matt Denny's Ale House in Arcadia to watch her perform at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Peter Chang, 60, of Long Beach, admitted in court that he shot his estranged wife, Liya ("Sandy") Lu, 32, in front of her Arcadia home on Bonita Street. He was immediately sentenced to 29 years to life in prison. The murder occurred on January 27, 2008.
Six candidates vying for three seats on the Arcadia City Council have raised more than $250,000 in campaign contributions. The candidates are Bob Harbicht, Paul Cheng, Mickey Segal, Peter Amundson, Jason J. Lee, and Sho Tay. The amounts raised for each candidate are given. The election will be on April 13, 2010.
This article compares the public access that citizens have to local government/city council meetings. Arcadia provides minutes of council meetings dating back to 1957. About 70% of area cities offer some form of archived video, whether it's replayed on a local cable channel, or the Internet, or on DVDs available at the local library.
Results are in from yesterday's city council elections for the City of Arcadia and the City of Sierra Madre. In Arcadia, the semi-official results show the three seats will be filled by Bob Harbicht, Mark "Mickey" Segal, and Peter Amundson. Sierra Madre voted in Joe Mosca, Josh Moran and Nancy Walsh (uncertified totals).
None of the three Chinese-American candidates received enough votes to win one of the three open seats in Tuesday's Arcadia City Council elections. With the departure of Mayor John Wuo, who was the second Chinese-American to be elected to the council, Arcadia, an ethnically diverse city, is reverting to an all Caucasian council for the first time in 12 years. Many in the Chinese community prefer to relay a concern to someone of their own race and culture "because this person understands what they say, what their concern is based on," former council member Dr. Sheng Chang said. Councilman Roger Chandler, however, believes that the city has enough volunteers, associations and resources to facilitate communication and to aptly handle any issue that could come up.
Race horse Bourbon Bay became the first horse in 17 years to sweep Santa Anita Park's trio of marathon graded turf stakes races with a half-length victory in the $150,000 Grade 2 San Juan Capistrano Handicap on closing day of the track's 75th anniversary meeting. The jockey was Rafael Bejarano, the first jockey since Laffit Pincay, Jr. in 1978-1981 to win three consecutive Santa Anita Park riding titles.
Peruvian jockey Rafael Bejarano joined horse racing royalty when he became the first rider since Laffit Pincay (in 1979-1981) to win three consecutive Santa Anita Park riding titles. He is 28 years old. He credits the late Bobby Frankel for opening doors for him in California. Bejarano is known to be loving, kind and never abusive to his horses. (Photos).
Arcadia property owners will be asked to renew a street lighting fee schedule and assessment in June, when funding is set to expire. Officials warned that without an extension of the lighting assessment district, the city would lose about $420,000 a year. Unless the assessment is renewed, the city might have to cut services such as police protection, fire and emergency medical response services, library services, and recreation programs. Arcadia property owners currently pay 40% of street lighting repair and maintenance costs, while the city covers the other 60%. That would remain unchanged in the new assessment district, but the amounts each household pays will be different. Family households in residential neighborhoods will be charged $28.44 a year, while single-family homes along major thoroughfares will pay $16.73 a year.
George Haines, the interim president of Santa Anita Park since Ron Charles resigned, will soon be named president. He takes the reins at a time of uncertainty and change at the track and in the horse racing industry. Some of the issues and challenges that Haines will face are discussed. Haines is 55 years old and started working for Santa Anita Park in 1972.
Local transit authorities are preparing to move forward with the Gold Line Foothill Extension to the Azusa-Glendora border and local cities are planning to place residential and commercial developments along the line. Those developments are intended to prepare for future population growth. The first phase of the extension is slated to be completed by 2014, adding new stops in Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale and Azusa. Some plans near those stops could be scaled back due to the down economy. Arcadia officials are looking to build commercial developments centered on a planned station just east of Santa Anita Avenue. Arcadia's challenge will be land acquisition. Because Arcadia has ordinances limiting the use of eminent domain, Arcadia officials have to rely on negotiating land deals, a difficult process with limited redevelopment funds.
The Breeders' Cup announced that its internationally recognized thoroughbred horse racing event will be hosted by the Churchill Downs race track in Louisville, KY in 2011 for the second consecutive year. Breeders' Cup spokesman Jim Gluckson said, "It became a difficult situation to select Santa Anita Park for 2011 with the problems that occurred with the cancellation of Oak Tree lease."
Los Angeles County's median home price and sales dropped last month, a trend that was reflected statewide. Some San Gabriel Valley areas, such as Walnut, posted gains in June, but some cities, such as Duarte, Diamond Bar, and Arcadia, showed declines in their median home prices. Arcadia's median home price fell 5.8%.
Frank Stronach, chairman of MI Developments (MID), is requesting the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) to allow additional racing days at Santa Anita Park and at his other track Golden Gate Fields. He wants the number of racing days to increase from 85 to 140 days per year, to run races when he thinks he'll get the most customers. In order for MID to maintain its license and run thoroughbred racing at Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields, the CHRB has asked the company to submit a business plan. The plan has been a secret even to some of the company's board members. In the meantime, repairs are being made at Santa Anita Park in preparation for the fall Oak Tree meet (photo).