Actor and activist George Takei, 75, famous for his portrayal of Sulu on television series Star Trek, will talk about gay rights and a childhood spent in internment camps at Santa Anita Park (assembly center), Tule Lake and Rohwer, Arkansas, during World War II. He will be speaking at Cal Poly Pomona on Tuesday.
HBO Television show "Luck" will hold open casting call February 12 for extras and season two will begin production. Shown in picture are actor Nick Nolte and Carolyn Conley, from HRTV.
How Arcadia gained a rare piece of history. Riyo Sato was a developing artist by the time she was sent to the Santa Anita Assembly Center at Santa Anita Park, in 1942, before being transferred to Wyoming, to a different detention facility called “Heart Mountain.” She left behind sketches of Santa Anita Park which will be displayed at the Gilb Museum of Arcadia Heritage.
Santa Anita Park's new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Verge, 44, a horse owner and entrepreneur, has big plans for the race track. He wants to expand its fan base, partly by reaching out to the local Asian community and to locals who grew up attending the track during the sport's heyday. While Santa Anita Park President George Haines is still running day-to-day operations, Verge will focus on bringing in more people, including celebrities, like actor Vince Vaughn.
Frank Stronach, chairman of MI Developments, the owner of Santa Anita Park, says he is optimistic his company can work out a new deal with developer Rick Caruso to build an outdoor mall at Santa Anita Park, even though he voided a 2005 joint-venture agreement with Caruso in April to build the Shops at Santa Anita mall in the race track's parking lot.
Paul Graf, 90, of New Albany, Indiana, came back to Arcadia to see Santa Anita Park again. He had been based there as a United States Army staff sergeant during World War II, when the track was turned over to the Army Ordnance Corps for training purposes and was officially renamed Camp Santa Anita. Graf said he used to run for exercise on the Anita Chiquita training track, which was eliminated when the Santa Anita Fashion Park was built in the 1970s. Graf had arrived at Camp Santa Anita around November 1942, after the site had already been used as the Japanese Assembly Center. Photo shows Graf holding an issue of Man O' War, a newspaper issued by army personnel at Camp Santa Anita.
Camp Santa Anita Ordnance Training Center, at Santa Anita Park, from 1942-1945, is featured in a temporary exhibit at Gilb Museum of Arcadia Heritage, through March 30.
Joel Rosario's (photo) big return to Santa Anita Park a success. He rode racehorse Mind Your Biscuits to win the Malibu Stakes during opening day of Santa Anita Park's Winter Meet.
Dennis Moore, 67 year old track superintendent since November 2014, helps Santa Anita Park race track shine, horses stay safe. He is currently maintaining the racing surfaces at Santa Anita Park, Los Alamitos, and Del Mar.
Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach, who is about to become the sole owner of Santa Anita Park, said he hasn't ruled out talking to developer Rick Caruso about reviving a project to build an outdoor mall in the race track's parking lot. Last week Caruso announced that he is no longer pursuing a development deal with Santa Anita Park's outgoing owner, MI Developments, Inc. (MID), for the upscale Shops at Santa Anita. Stronach is the outgoing chairman of MID.
Honorary degrees were awarded to Japanese-American former Pasadena City College students who had their educations cut short by internment during World War II. Japanese-American "nisei" students at what was then Pasadena Junior College never got the chance to graduate with the Class of 1942. One honorary graduate, Fusae Hamane (died in 1997), born and raised in Pasadena, was told to report to Santa Anita Park race track before being sent to a camp in Gila Bend, AZ. The graduation came 68 years later.
Trevor Denman, 63, the voice of Santa Anita Park since 1983, will retire and will not return for the 2015-2016 race meet. He has been calling races for 44 years, 33 at Santa Anita.
Faced with a shortage of thoroughbreds that has led to race cancellations, Santa Anita Park is exploring the option of stabling and training horses at Fairplex in Pomona, but a Fairplex official indicated this deal may not be happening anytime soon.
John Shear (pictured), a 5-foot, 110-pound, 90-year-old paddock supervisor at Santa Anita Park, nearly lost his life when he threw himself in the path of a runaway horse on March 12 to protect a little girl he didn't know. He has worked seasonally for Santa Anita Park for nearly 50 years. He sustained a fractured pelvis and other injuries but is recuperating at home now. He is a hero.
John Shear is turning 93 years old. He is celebrated as an everyday hero. He is a Santa Anita Park racetrack worker whose quick response saved a toddler's life on March 12, 2011. He was hurt then, but is surviving.
Paddock guard John Shear, a hero who was injured saving a girl from a runaway horse, has returned to work at Santa Anita Park. He turns 91 years old next month. He is a 5 foot tall, 110 pound Sierra Madre resident and sustained a fractured pelvis, internal bleeding and other injuries when he had a head-on collision with horse "Sea and Sage" on March 12, 2011.