New development and businesses in Downtown Arcadia. The Metro Gold Line train has brought renewed success and energy to Downtown Arcadia. A mixed-use project near the Gold Line's Arcadia station will include over 16,000 square feet of commercial space, 38 residential units, and 110 new parking spaces are under construction, as is a 4,000 square foot Art Deco style office building at 130 S. First Avenue. Last year, Mr. Lowe Brewing Co. opened Arcadia's first microbrewery and in July, Vendome Wine & Spirits opened at 103 E. Santa Clara St. Article by Mayor Peter Amundson.
Arcadia High School students and staff, Mr. Christopher Schultz (Track and Field coach), aid victims of Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 storm that struck the coast of South Texas.
375 Arcadia High School Apaches are set for marching in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on January 2, 2017, and at the Rose Parade Band Fest on New Year's Eve at Pasadena City College. Band director is Mr. Seth Murray. The Apache Marching Band has performed in the Rose Parade 15 times over the past 50 years.
Denny's windmill spins again. The windmill atop Denny's at northeast corner of Santa Anita Avenue and Huntington Drive was designed by Harold Bissner as the template for Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakery's coffee shop franchise. It opened in 1967 in Arcadia, the first of 15 built from his designs. Denny's bought the location in 1989. Denny's spent $100,000 refurbishing the windmill.
Denny's CEO considers firing up the old windmill in 2016. It is atop the Denny's Restaurant at the corner of Huntington Drive and Santa Anita Avenue. It used to be the Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakery, founded in 1915, a Los Angeles institution for much of the 20th century. According to Los Angeles Conservancy, the building was completed in 1967 and designed by Pasadena architects Harold Bissner and Harold Zook. Denny's Corporation CEO Stephen Dunn is happy to explore the possibility of activating the windmill.
George Fasching leads campaign to get Denny's to fire up historic Van de Kamp's Dutch windmill. According to Los Angeles Conservancy, the coffee shop was completed in 1967 and designed by Pasadena architects Harold Bissner and Harold Zook.
Arcadia Unified School District school board refuses to reinstate James O'Brien as the cross country coach. The school board expressed appreciation for all the individuals who shared their perspectives on the Arcadia High School cross country program at the Board of Education meetings. Mr. O'Brien continues to be employed as a teacher at Arcadia High School. Coaching assignments are made on a year-to-year basis.
Fired Arcadia High School cross country coach James O'Brien questions reason for dismissal. The Arcadia Unified School District's Board of Education upholds its decision to not reappoint Mr. O'Brien as head coach for the 2013-2014 year. He will continue to teach at Arcadia High School.
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.
Santa Anita Park race track draws 44,000 plus fans on this season's opening day December 26. Hero John Shear (photo) returns to track duties as paddock guard after saving a child's life last spring. Jockey Mike Smith rides Mr. Bossy Pants to win the 7th race (photo).
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.
Pasadena Fire Department officials spent more than $320,000 to purchase breathing apparatus from distributor L.N. Curtis and Sons, which is at the center of a lawsuit filed by rival equipment company, Arcadia-based Allstar Fire Equipment against the city and county of Los Angeles. 57 self contained breathing apparatus remain unused at Pasadena Fire Station 34 pending a judge's ruling next month.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant has voided a $30 million contract that Los Angeles County awarded to L.N. Curtis and Sons for fire equipment. Arcadia-based Allstar Fire Equipment sued the city and county of Los Angeles, claiming the selection process used to award the contract was improperly handled and the judge agreed. The actual funding for the contract came from the federal Department of Homeland Security. The judge's orders require the county to either restart the bidding process or re-evaluate all the bids properly.
A $30 million plan to provide standardized breathing equipment for every fire department in Los Angeles County has been suspended after a lawsuit alleged the contract process was mishandled and firefighters complained about the quality of the equipment. Arcadia-based Allstar Fire Equipment is suing the city and county of Los Angeles, contending the contract process was improperly handled in a manner that ignored firefighter input and unfairly favored the winning bidder, L.N. Curtis and sons.
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.