A 5.0 aftershock from last October's earthquake did little damage but rattled the nerves of local residents. Three people were treated for minor injuries as a result of the aftershock.
The $10.5 million renovation project at Santa Anita Fashion Park has begun, with a formal ground-breaking ceremony to be held January 26. The project is expected to last 10 months.
After presentations by 3 architectural firms Tuesday night, the Arcadia City Council voted 4-1 to ask one of the companies back for further discussion on doing a master plan for the city's proposed civic center project. The proposed center would probably be located on the Huntington Drive median where the city hall and police station are now located. Mayor David Hannah indicated that this could be a long-term project, perhaps lasting as long as 20 years.
Although Arcadia students slipped in their 1983-84 California Assessment Program scores compared to their own performance last year, they still scored well above the average compared to schools statewide. According to figures released by the Arcadia School District and the State Department of Education, Arcadia students in grades 3, 6, 8 and 12 did well above average in all areas tested.
Although two of Arcadia's 14 water wells have been contaminated by industrial solvents for years, a purification system installed by the city last December is reportedly working well, allowing the water from these wills to be used.
An international businessman was abducted from his Arcadia home and later released the same evening after his abductors demanded he pay them $1 million. He was told that he would be contacted the next day with instructions about where to put the money, but no money has been paid. This is the first kidnapping of this type in Arcadia, although there have been four other kidnappings in the San Gabriel Valley since last October.
Anoakia School plans to relocate to another city. The Fire Department has cited the school with many violations in the past year. Last month the Department closed a group of 10 classrooms for being unsafe.
The Arcadia Board of Education has begun the process of finding a new superintendent of Arcadia schools. Elbert Souders, current superintendent who announced his retirement last spring, will leave the district in June 1985. The Board has hired Dr. Elaine Boyce of School Services of California, Inc. to coordinate recruitment and selection process.
The Arcadia Board of Education has unanimously passed a tentative budget for the 1983-84 academic year that, although expected to be comparable to last year's, will still require reductions.
The Arcadia City Council has grounded a proposal that would have allowed hang glider pilots to land their grafts on an unused LA County floodplain in the north end of the city. The 30 pilots of the Mr. Wilson Soaring Society need a landing site because the one used for the last 8 years in Pasadena has been developed with the new Pasadena Rose Court homes.
Arcadia High School graduation requirements were defined and settled after considerable discussion by the Board of Education at the regular meeting last week.
Arcadia joined the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito Abatement District, making it one of the last cities in the valley to participate in a mosquito control program. The program is designed to monitor mosquitos that transmit St. Louis encephalitis, a sometimes fatal viral disease.
Arcadian Luben Balabanoff, a Bulgarian by birth, was in Dresden, Germany when it was bombed during World War II. Retired now, he has spent the last 10 years making travel films and touring with them.