Senator Dianne Feinstein joins call to end racing meet at Santa Anita Park. She demands suspension after two more horses die, racing total to 29 deaths.
Arcadia residents pass Measure A by significant majority. It is a 3/4 cent sales tax increase, passed with 63.94% of the vote in Tuesday's mail-in ballot. The increase will provide locally controlled funds to maintain Arcadia's public safety and other city services. See Also Mountain Views News, June 8, 2019, p. 7.
Downtown Arcadia hosts Patriotic Festival in honor of America's 243rd birthday. It takes place June 29, 5:00-9:30 PM on First Avenue, south of Huntington Drive, with live music, food, entertainment, and fireworks.
Gold Line stations planning parking charges. Metro official says parking fee pricing structure at Duarte and Arcadia stations will reduce crowds in lots. Starting June 3, Metro will charge $3 a day or $59 a month to park at Duarte and Arcadia station lots.
Measure A would increase sales tax by .75% to bring local Arcadia sales tax rate to 10.25%. It will be placed on a June 4 mail-in ballot. If passed, Measure A would yield about $8.6 million annually, which would be dedicated to keeping city services at the levels residents have come to appreciate.
How Measure A is expected to affect Arcadia. Arcadia City Council will put a sales tax increase of 3/4 percent on this year's June ballot. The added sales tax would be added to the city's income to benefit the current deficit.
Santa Anita Park to open Friday, March 29 with California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) approval. Santa Anita Handicap now to be run on Santa Anita Derby Day April 6.
Santa Anita Park horse deaths initiate congressional, district attorney investigations. Santa Anita Park hopes to return to live racing March 29. D.A. Venusse D. Navid has investigators working with California Horse Racing Board.
Santa Anita Racing to resume on Friday.
Santa Anita’s scheduled reopening March 29 is back on after the track’s parent company, The Stronach Group, and the Thoroughbred Owners of California reached agreement Saturday on the Lasix controversy that had swept through the industry the past few days.
The story was first reported by Jay Privman of the Daily Racing Form and confirmed by the Southern California News Group.
The deal includes the elimination of Lasix beginning with next year’s crop of 2-year-olds and immediately reduces race-day administration of the diuretic from a maximum of 10 ccs to 5.
Unanimous Arcadia City Council acts to place local funding measure, known as the “Arcadia Public Safety, City Services and Accountability Measure” on the June 2019 ballot to maintain public safety and other city services. City staff and the Citizen’s Financial Advisory Committee have indicated Arcadia has a multi-million dollar structural deficit.
Taking the A Train: Metro nixing colors. Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority is getting rid of the colored names of the train lines and switching to letter names. The transition period will begin in about nine months, during which both colors and letters would be used, then the colors will be phased out. The revamped Blue Line to Long Beach will become the A Line. The Red Line subway will become the B Line. Parts of the Green Line will become the C Line. The Purple Line will become the D Line. The Orange Line bus rapid transit in the San Fernando Valley will be the F Line. The Silver Line rapid busway will become the G Line. The Gold Line light rail from Azusa to Los Angeles will be renamed once the downtown Regional Connector is completed at the end of 2021 or early 2022.
Iconic windmill spins once more at Denny’s. Less than a year after it detached and crashed into the restaurant, the windmill atop the Arcadia Denny’s is spinning again at the northeast corner of Huntington Drive and Santa Anita Avenue. One new addition to the windmill is LED lighting capable of changing colors. See also Arcadia Weekly, p. 1, 11, November 29, 2018.
Arcadia brothers Eric and Richard Dong (they attend San Marino High School) receive Outstanding Young Philanthropists award. They offered piano lessons to kids at the Union Station family center. They gave money and talked to the kids about investing in the stock market. With profits they made from their investments, they established the Richard and Eric Dong Endowment Fund for Union Station to provide scholarships for children in sports, music and the arts, leadership, and human rights promotion, to buy books for the family library; to fund staff appreciation and recognition and to finance the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights educational programs.
Arcadia City Council takes steps to increase public safety. On October 16, City Council discussed a recommendation to add a measure to the ballot containing a ¾-cent sales tax, which is needed to help Arcadia with its current financial woes. The Citizens Financial Advisory Committee reviewed the city’s expenditures and asked the council to declare a state of fiscal emergency as soon as possible and no later than June 2019. The vote to add the measure passed almost unanimously, with one council member recusing themself from the vote.
Arcadia brothers Richard and Eric Dong (they attend San Marino High School) give endowment to Union Station Homeless Services. The fund will provide scholarships for children, to purchase books for the family library, to fund staff appreciation, and to finance the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights educational programs.
California State Treasurer John Chiang and Arcadia leaders shower accolades at the groundbreaking of Le Meridien, One Gallop Way. It is a $300 million hotel and mixed-use development on seven acres, opposite Santa Anita Park race track. Developer Chateau Group USA held the ceremonal groundbreaking on June 27. Le Meridien is a Marriott brand. CEO Eric Chen spoke. Architects Orange, interior design firm Linda Snyder Associates and construction company Snyder Langston have been tapped to work this project. To open in 2020.
Tarzan returns to Arboretum in Arcadia. Arboretum celebrates Hollywood history on June 30 with a special presentation of On Location: Tarzan at the Arboretum by Scott Tracy Griffin, author of Tarzan on Film and Tarzan the Centennial Celebration. Baldwin Lake and surrounding landscape served as stand-in for African jungle in 12 classic Tarzan films.
"Mother Road"-clear road ahead to make Route 66 a historic trail. A bill that passed the House of Representatives by unanimous vote June 5, could make Route 66 a National Historic Trail, meaning the 2400 mile road that passes through 8 states, could get federal dollars for preservation, promotion and rehabilitation. Part of the road runs through Arcadia.
Veteran's Memorial debuts at Arcadia Community Center June 16. The memorial was made possible through Rotary Club of Arcadia and Arcadia resident Mary Hansen. It consists of 7 pieces of polished black granite, one for each brandh of the nation's armed forces, including U.S. Merchant Marines, and a center stone commemorating all services.