Arcadia named most business-friendly city finalist in the Eddy Awards by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. See also Arcadia Weekly, p. 11, September 29, 2016.
Arcadia city officials are cracking down on "maternity tourism" boarding houses by dedicating a full-time police detective to investigate the issue. Maternity or birth tourism is a phenomenon in which women, often from China, pay a handsome fee to have their babies in the United States, so the children can be citizens. While that is not illegal, at least five establishments have been shut down for violations, such as unlawfully operating boarding house businesses in residential zones.
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.
An ancient Chinese maternity tradition, from the Sung Dynasty (960-1275 AD), known as "Zuo Yue Zi," is translated as "doing the month."It refers to the care of a Chinese woman during the first month after giving birth. The practice is explained here by Wei-Chen Tung, a former registered nurse at Arcadia Methodist Hospital and now an assistant professor of nursing at University of Nevada, Reno. The practice requires new mothers to follow a strict diet and rest for 3-4 weeks following a pregnancy. Tung says a lot of Chinese women still practice this, so hospitals should be aware of this part of Chinese culture. Maternity tourists--women who want to come to the United States to give birth to a full-fledged American citizen, have given rise to businesses that cater to them, such as the maternity home that was shut down in the 1300 block of South Palm Avenue in San Gabriel on March 8. It had been 5 townhomes illegally converted into a maternity home.
Birth-tourism sites not easily detected.Terry Moore-Corse, a code enforcement officer in Arcadia has encountered three maternity homes in the past six years, most recently in 2009, when a resident reported "a lot of pregnant women" coming out of a house. Beyond building code and business license violations, there is nothing illegal about coming into this country to give birth, according to the U.S. State Department, which issues visas. Maternity tourism is a money-making cottage industry in which wealthy women from Asia pay anywhere from $25,000-35,000 to have American-born infants.
The California Horse Racing Board authorized Oak Tree Racing Association to have its traditional fall meet at another thoroughbred venue in Southern California since the association's use of Santa Anita Park is still uncertain. MI Developments, which is chaired by Frank Stronach, recently voided Oak Tree's contract after acquiring the race track from Stronach's Magna Entertainment Corp (MEC) through federal bankruptcy proceedings. Oak Tree's director Sherwood Chillingworth said, "If we can't make a deal with Santa Anita...we can take our dates and run them in Hollywood or Del Mar."
The Oak Tree Racing Association lost its lease to operate its fall horse racing meet at Santa Anita Park. Oak Tree has operated a fall meet at the track since 1969. Due to bankruptcy restructuring, Frank Stronach's company MI Developments took control of Santa Anita Park from Stronach's Magna Entertainment Corp (MEC). MI Developments wants to negotiate a new lease agreement with Oak Tree for fall racing.
Santa Anita Park's ownership changed hands on April 30 after Frank Stronach's Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC) transferred many of its assets to Stronach's MI Developments (MID) (one of MEC's creditors), as part of a bankruptcy restructuring plan. Last week MI Developments, a real estate operating company, canceled its 2005 agreement with Caruso Affiliated to develop to the proposed mall known as The Shops at Santa Anita, but this week MI Developments hopes to work out a deal with developer Rick Caruso to build an upscale retail project in the track's parking lot.
Magna Entertainment Corp., owner of Santa Anita Park race track, which is in bankruptcy reorganization hearings, filed a plan that would cancel its 2005 agreement with Rick Caruso to develop the 830,000 square feet Shops at Santa Anita on the race track's south parking lot. Caruso filed an objection to the move in bankruptcy court, citing "substantial economic harm" to Santa Anita Associates, LLC, the legal entity that was going to develop the project. Santa Anita LLC has so far invested over $25 million to the project's development. Caruso is committed to developing the project in Arcadia. If the contract is indeed terminated between the parties, Magna would have to start from scratch with new plans, new environmental impact reports, and new hearings to propose another development.
Last year it seemed Santa Anita Park might be sold in a bankruptcy auction, but it appears owner Frank Stronach will keep an interest in the track. Under a deal arranged by Stronach's bankrupt Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC) and its creditors in a Delaware bankruptcy court, ownership of the track would be transferred to MI Development, a real estate holding company controlled by Stronach. If a judge accepts the plan, Stronach would also retain ownership of Golden Gate Fields in the Bay Area, and Gulfstream Park in Florida. Also, it sets up developer Rick Caruso to proceed with building the Shops at Santa Anita mall that is proposed for the track's parking lot.
Since Magna Entertainment Corp., the owner of Santa Anita Park, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The race track will be auctioned off in September. That land is zoned for horse racing. Jason Kruckeberg, Arcadia's Development Services Director, said it will remain as a race track.
Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC) attorney Greg Scoggins appeared before a special meeting of the California Horse Racing Board to explain the impact of its bankruptcy. Track employees and horsemen will likely be protected. Satellite wagering locations that receive 2% commission on bets placed through their facilities will likely have to line up in court with other creditors to collect what is owed to them.
Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC), owner of Santa Anita Park, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Santa Anita Park may be sold to pay off Magna's debts. Frank Stronach paid $126 million for Santa Anita Park in 1996. The track has three potential buyers, including a group from Asia.
Although Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC) , the parent company of Santa Anita Park race track, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, the fate of the track's paymaster accounts remains uncertain. The bankruptcy judge could declare the $15 million, which was placed in the joint trust account, an asset of MEC and order it frozen.
Employees at Santa Anita Park fear bankruptcy of its parent company Magna Entertainment Corp (MEC). Chairman Frank Stronach said the horsemen would not have to worry about any of their monies. Paymaster accounts total $11 million at Santa Anita Park. The accounts contain money earmarked for winning owners, who must pay a percentage of those earnings to jockeys and trainers. Magna Entertainment Corp. has lost $500 million in the past 5 years.
Developer Rick Caruso, whose stalled $500 million, 820,000 square feet retail project "The Shops at Santa Anita," is planned for Santa Anita Park's south parking lot, said he has "no control" over possible bankruptcy at the race track's parent company, Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC). Caruso said he was still planning to go ahead with his mall and would "wait and see what happens and deal with it." Any reorganization at Magna Entertainment Corp. may delay the mall plans.
Santa Anita Park's parent company, Magna Entertainment Corp., faces the threat of bankruptcy amid mounting losses and a $600 million debt burden. The current racing season and status are unaffected. Frank Stronach of Magna Entertainment Corp. said he was looking for partners for the track.
A chart shows school enrollment numbers from 1998 to 2004. More than 40 percent of the public school districts in California are experiencing declining enrollment. Experts say it is due to a decline in the birth rate and families' migration patterns.
Magna Entertainment Corp, owner of Santa Anita Park, is the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against the State of California. The lawsuit alleges that the compacts between Governor Schwarzenegger and five Indian tribes is illegal.