Arcadia High School sisters Renee and Isabella "Bella" Heinrichs led their Girl Scouts team Rock N' Roll Robots to victory at a regional contest and will advance to Robotics World Championship in Houston, TX.
Arcadia American Little League Marlins team is profiled. Coach Guy Gruppie, Sr., team mom Jennifer Jacson, and Manager Marc Mittelman are shown with the team.
California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) warned City of Arcadia of gift limits regarding the trip to China and Taiwan that city officials are planning for cultural learning and sister city relationships. See VF Sister City.
Arcadia City Council approves $30,000 for officials' trip to China and Taiwan. The purpose is to foster a better understanding of Asian culture in order to better serve Arcadia, which is heavily populated by residents from China and Taiwan. Establishing sister city relationships with Chinese and Taiwanese municipalities is another goal of the trip. See VF Sister City.
Arcadia High School graduate Mano "Paul" Kamaleson, age 55, was killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan this week. His sister Ruth Loisel still lives in Arcadia.
Arcadia High School boys cross country team's coach Jim O'Brien is profiled and is shown in photos with runners Esmond Wei, William Tsai, Ryan Vargas, Allen Leung, Francis Lee, Sergio Gonzalez and Eric Garibay.
City of Arcadia officials will be traveling to China and Taiwan two two weeks to foster a sister-city relationship by meeting with local government officials there to learn more about government services, residential development and the culture in an effort to better serve Arcadia. More than 50% of Arcadia residents are of Chinese and Taiwanese heritage. The trip tentatively set for March 9-April 1 will cost an estimated $65,000 with $20,000 of it donated by Chinese companies. See VF Sister City.
Arcadia City Council hears residents' concerns about large housing development and its associated loss of native sycamore trees. Council official abandons China and Taiwan (sister city) trip for now.
Chinese firms donate $20,000 to City of Arcadia. Several city officials and employees might use it for business travel to China and Taiwan in hopes of fostering sister-city relationships. City employees plan to meet with government officials in China and Taiwan to learn more about government services, residential design and the culture in an effort to better serve Arcadia. The two companies that donated this money are Companhia de Comercial Dingyuan Limitada and Sichuan Arrow Recovery Technology Company Ltd. See VF Sister City.
Trip to China and Taiwan called off by Arcadia City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto, in light of recent "questions" about city officials' motives. The $30,000 in donations to fund part of the trip will not be accepted. See VF Sister City. See also Arcadia Weekly, p. 1, February 26, 2015.
Ling Yu, 53, of Arcadia, and her sister Meichun Cheng Huang, 58, of Irvine, were sentenced to 37 months in prison for using their toy company, Angel Toy Company to launder money for Colombian drug cartels. Federal prosecutors said the toy company was a financial conduit for drug cartels in a scheme commonly known as the black market peso exchange.
Experts question donations for travel. Delegation from Arcadia City Hall given $30,000 from two Chinese firms and one local developer for trip to Asia, including Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong in China and Taipei, Taiwan. Government and ethics experts say the cash donations to the City of Arcadia for this trip raises concerns about transparency and influence. The trips are designed study sister city relationships, learn about the culture and talk to Chinese and Taiwanese officials. Those traveling include Mayor John Wuo and his wife, Council Sho Tay and wife, Councilman Tom Beck, City Attorney Stephen Deitsch, City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto, Fire Chief Kurt Norwood, Recreation Director Sara Somogyi, Public Works Director Tom Tait, and George and Sandy Wuo, who are relatives of the mayor. See VF Sister City.
City of Arcadia is highlighted as part of the Strong Cities-Strong State Campaign, a project of the California City Management Foundation and the League of California Cities.The city's profile is at www.strongcitiesstrongstate.com/city/arcadia. The website promotes city success stories with profiles of elected officials and city managers.