A drainage problem forced the cancellation of horse racing at Santa Anita Park since three inches of rain fell yesterday. The track has had to cancel racing 12 times since the synthetic track was installed two years ago. In 2006, the California Horse Racing Board banned dirt surfaces from thoroughbred tracks. Santa Anita Park has tried two synthetic tracks but the surfaces have not worked out. Officials announced they will replace the synthetic surface before the Oak Tree Meet in the fall.
The graduation of a San Gabriel Valley Law Enforcement Explorer Academy class is dedicated to the memory of retired Azusa police Officer Randall ("Randy") Phillips, 55, of Ontario. Phillips died in a car crash on his way to teaching that first day of class.
Caltech graduate Tyler Johnson, who had been identified as a suspect in the firebombing and vandalism of more than 130 sport utility vehicles (SUVs) at automobile dealerships in the San Gabriel Valley in 2003, has died in an avalanche while hiking in the Corsian mountains in France on December 26, 2009. Johnson has been a fugitive for the past six years. Surveillance cameras captured Johnson and William ("Billy") Cottrell spray painting environmental slogans on the cars at Rusnak Mercedes Benz in Arcadia in 2003. Cottrell was convicted.