An Arcadia family was terrorized and victimized at gunpoint in a home invasion robbery. The robbers choked the father of the family until he gave them cash and threatened to return to kill the family if they called police. The robbery occurred in the 100 block of West Forest Avenue. It is not known if this crime is related to the robbery of an elderly couple in Arcadia last week.
An elderly couple in Arcadia was robbed outside their house on the 300 block of West Duarte Road by two teenagers. The robbers took the man's wallet and his wife's wedding ring and watch.
9-year-old Maria Lugo came to Arcadia Arcadia Methodist Hospital from Mexico to have a steel plate removed from her chin. It was a follow-up surgery to a softball-size tumor removal she had in April, 2008, at Arcadia Methodist Hospital. Dr. Jon Tyrell, a member of LIGA International, and Dr. B.S. Chandrasekhar operated on her. LIGA International is a non-profit group of medical experts, pilots and volunteers who travel to clinics in Sinaloa, Mexico several times a year.
Isaac Campbell, an Alhambra man charged with the murder of Liya "Jessie" Lu, appeared in court for a hearing on Tuesday and was ordered to return to court December 3, 2009. He is being held on $1 million bail. He allegedly stuffed her body in a trash can in Arcadia.
Helen Meredith is the founder of Pegasus Ranch in Tehachapi, CA, a place where 60 retired thoroughbreds live. She is struggling financially and estimates that the United Pegasus Foundation is $80,000 in debt. Some of the famous race horses there are Cardmania, winner of the 1993 Breeders' Cup Spring at Santa Anita Park, Music Merci (another Breeders' Cup veteran), Time to Pass, Sand Lizard, and Kingdom Found.
Monica Rodriguez, a 27 year old pregnant woman from El Monte, died at Arcadia Methodist Hospital. The family believes she died of complications from the H1N1 virus (swine flu). The family is considering legal action against Greater El Monte Community Hospital because she went there to be treated October 14 and 15, but was sent away with medicine and cough syrup, instead of admitting her.
Carol Libby and Scott Hettrick of the Arcadia Historical Society are both on the Baldwin Adobe Restoration Committee, which wants to restore the Hugo Reid Adobe on the grounds of the Los Angeles County Arboretum. They want to re-create the adobe as it was in its heyday, when Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin lived there from 1875 until he died in 1909.
A U.S. District judge overturned convictions for bribery, mail, wire and tax fraud and harboring illegal immigrants, against George Torres, 52, of Arcadia, the former owner of Numero Uno supermarket chain. The judge threw out the more serious convictions for racketeering, conspiracy and solicitation of murder, back in June. Torres has been set free after 2 years in custody.
Tamara Kato owned the Arcadia franchise of Comfort Keepers, an in-home care service. She celebrated her business' one year anniversary this week. She employed about 30 caregivers that visit and live in clients' homes to help clients enjoy some company and maintain their independence.
Robert Seares, born in Pasadena in 1909, had an amazing career as a journalist, photographer, and police official. He was chief of police in Arcadia and remained there for 15 years until retirement. He wrote a memoir called "Eighty Years: a Memoir." A copy is in the Pasadena Museum of History library.
Bankrupt Santa Anita Park race track will not go on the auction block Tuesday as planned because no acceptable opening bid has been offered. The sale of the track has been postponed. The track has court-sanctioned access to operating funds at least until the first quarter of next year.
Montecito Fine Arts College of Design has declared bankruptcy but intends to reopen. The college has campuses in Monrovia, Arcadia, and Brea. The school's founder is Ed Kuckelhorn and the Vice President is his wife, Trisha Zhang.
Dr. Elizabeth Lee is a board certified general/vascular surgeon, currently practicing with Arcadia Surgical Associates and is medical director of the Methodist Hospital Wound Healing Center in Arcadia. She answers questions about wounds in today's column.
Montecito Fine Arts College of Design, which had campuses in Monrovia, Arcadia, and Brea, has shut down, leaving 1200 students stranded and employees owed thousands in unpaid wages.
Survivors of a bus crash on Santa Anita Avenue that happened 50 years ago, on July 14, 1959, recall the accident. The bus had been carrying a group of boys from a Catholic summer camp at Chantry Flat. Brakes failed coming down the steep grade of Santa Anita Avenue. The crash killed 3-year-old Cory Matson. The driver was Brady Bolt. Ken Kramer shares his story of the crash in a separate, related article on p. A4.
Senior citizens competed in the Senior Olympics powerlifting event held at the home gym of Arcadia personal trainer Harry Sneider as part of the California Senior Games Championships. The highlight of the games was seeing 89-year-old Eugene Mailin lift 140 pounds, winning gold in his weight division. Other participants named were 53-year-old Val Olotoa and 75-year-old Ernie Smith. Legendary competitor Beatrice Maullin died two weeks before the games began.
San Gabriel Valley home values went up in May, the third month in a row in which median home prices rose across the state. Arcadia had the highest median price at $700,000. A chart compares SGV cities.
Arcadia police surrounded a home in the 1700 block of Mayflower Avenue in a 7-hour standoff with an armed suspect believed to be threatening suicide and harm to other people in the house. Herb Rodrigues said the alleged gunman was his girlfriend's son. When police entered the house, only an elderly man was there, alone. The suspect had fled.
A federal judge overturned several charges in the case of Arcadia man George Torres, 52, accused of running his Numero Uno grocery store chain in Los Angeles like an organized crime ring. He had been convicted of racketeering charges, solicitation of murder and multiple tax and fraud charges when prosecutors came forward with new evidence that appeared to exonerate him on the more serious charges. Torres was released from federal custody after being held without bail for two years.