Arcadia ice skater Mirai Nagasu is going to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Friends and family send her off with a party at Arcadia Presbyterian Church. She will skate in the singles competition starting February 23, 2010.
Isaac Campbell, a man charged in the murder of his former girlfriend Liya "Jessie" Lu, appeared in court for a pre-trial hearing and was ordered to return to court July 14. Campbell has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody on $1.2 million bail. Lu's body was found September 2007 at an Arcadia residence. Her body was wrapped in a plastic bag, placed in a blue trash bin and buried under 10 gallons of cat litter.
Business profile of Move It Aerobics Studio, an exercise facility that offers fitness classes for overweight students. Michele Silence is the owner. Her business is located at 40 E. Live Oak Avenue.
City Council revoked the business license of IFitness & Beauty Spa due to a number of violations. It is located at 133 E. Huntington Drive and is the 10th massage service establishment to have its license revoked for code violations since January 2009 as part of a crackdown on code compliance and to eliminate prostitution and other illegal activities. Michelle Ma, the manager of IFitness and wife of the owner said they have been trying to comply but needed more time.
John Pomazi of Temple City owns a business called Antique Radios at 125 E. Santa Clara Street in Arcadia. He collects and repair antique radios. He may have the only business of this kind in the San Gabriel Valley.
Summer temperatures in Southern California have been lower than usual. The average temperature in July was 79 degrees, which was 5 degrees below normal. Jill Morganelli, horticulture curator at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden says she is enjoying the lower than normal temperatures and is more productive because of them. She discusses how colder night temperatures have affected plants.
The Arcadia County Park swimming pool will be closed for the summer, to be demolished and rebuilt at a later date. The pool is 70 years old and officially known as the Norman S. Johnson Aquatic Center. On July 19, a chlorine spill sent 17 children to the hospital. The repairs would cost $80,000, so the County chose to not reopen the pool for the three weeks left of this summer.
Unemployment rates for Los Angeles County have climbed to 12.4% in July, 2010, well above the 11.9% from a year ago, according to the California Economic Development Department. Every San Gabriel Valley city saw its jobless rates rise. Chart shows that Arcadia's unemployment rate is 7.7%, or 2,100 people unemployed. A chart shows numbers for nearby cities.
The cause of the excess chlorine in the Arcadia County Park swimming pool that sent 17 children to the hospital on July 19 was found to be human error. Workers at the pool mistakenly primed the chemical pump twice, allowing up to 20 extra gallons of chlorine into the water.
The 2001 murder of grocer Adel Karas, a 48-year old Egyptian man from Arcadia, a few days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, was initially thought to have been a hate crime. He was shot at his store International Market at 1381 E. Last Tunas in San Gabriel. Now police suspect Adel Karas was the victim of extortion. The suspects are two Latinos in their mid-20s.
Children's Hospital Los Angeles opened a new outpatient services center at 468 E. Santa Clara Street in Arcadia on November 1. It is a 10,000 square feet facility with specialty services such as ophthalmology, pulmonology, lab and radiology services, pediatric surgery, orthopaedics, gastroenterology and ear, nose and throat. The outpatient clinic is open Monday through Friday.
23-year-old Arcadia man Joshua Martin Parra-Davis was booked by Arcadia Police on suspicion of possessing an explosive device and leaving it in a backpack near a Bank of America on Foothill Boulevard on Friday, January 14, 2011. Witnesses said Parra-Davis first went to Foothills Middle School and may have been trying to open classrooms when he was confronted and ran off. The suspect was then seen dropping a backpack in bushes near the Bank of America and then running through the parking lot, where officers detained him. Arcadia Police called the bomb squad. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Bob Squad successfully detonated the device. Parra-Davis could be arranged in Pasadena Court today.
Environmental activists gathered at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration to demand an investigation into the county's destruction last week of oak woodland in Arcadia. Shown in photo are activists Camron Stone, John Quigley, Andrea Bowers and Julie Posin.
Joshua Martin Parra-Davis, 23, of Arcadia, pleaded not guilty in Pasadena Superior Court, to charges of possessing and leaving an explosive device in a backpack near a bank on Foothill Boulevard in Arcadia, on Friday, January 14, 2011. He is charged with four felony counts, including possession of a destructive device near a school. Parra-Davis, a former Foothills Middle School student, was seen opening a classroom door last Friday and then later was seen dropping the backpack into some bushes. The bag contained what appeared to be a homemade explosive.
Two of four "tree-sitters" that were arrested while protesting the destruction of an 11-acre Arcadia oak woodland in January appeared in Alhambra Superior Court on Thursday and had their arraignment postponed until February 18. They are John Quigley, 50, of Glendale, and Julia Jaye Posin, 23 of Venice Beach. Travis Jochimsen, 28, of Lancaster and Andrea Bowers, 45 of Los Angeles, were also arrested but did not appear for arraignment.
All four "tree-sitters" arrested while protesting the destruction of an 11-acre oak woodland in Arcadia appeared in Alhambra Superior Court and pleaded not guilty to one count each of trespassing and obstruction a police officer. They are John Quigley, 50, of Glendale, Julia Jaye Posin, 23 of Venice Beach, Travis Jochimsen, 28, of Lancaster and Andrea Bowers, 45 of Los Angeles. They rejected an offer of community service and payment of restitution from the District Attorney's office. The four will appear in court again April 22 for a pre-trial hearing.
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.
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.
Joshua Parra-Davis, 23, of Arcadia, was allegedly found with a bomb after visiting Foothills Middle School on January 14, 2011. He will face four felony counts of possession of a destructive or explosive device. He is being held at Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, and due back at Pasadena Superior Court on June 15 to enter a plea. If convicted of all four felony counts, he could face up to 19 years in prison.