Holiday decorations spread the word of "peace" in eight different languages at Arcadia Gardens apartment building. It started as an idea to win an Arcadia Beautiful Holiday Decoration Award at 1011 West Duarte Road, by Barbara Scott.
Horse racing deaths report delayed. California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), the state regulatory board, aims for January 15 release of investigation of Santa Anita Park incidents. The report was supposed to become public before the end of the year. Several new policies and safety regulations were introduced the past year as a result of a public outcry over the horse deaths at Santa Anita. The state is doing more drug testing, more pre-race exams, improving medical record keeping, pushing for new technology. Santa Anita Park installed a PET Scan machine to help identify pre-existing conditions in the fetlock area of a horse. To date, 37 horses have died at Santa Anita Park since December 2018. Despite the deaths, the equine medical director Rick Arthur stressed that the number of fatalities in California is actually decreasing, saying there have been 58 deaths at race tracks across the state in 2019, compared to 67 deaths in 2018.
The Southern California News Group gives grades for affordable housing in area cities. Every city and county in California is required to plan for adequate housing across income levels but actually building those homes is largely a goal rather than a requirement. Arcadia got an overall D Minus grade.
Santa Anita Park: weather could impact track. Santa Anita Park agrees to California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) demand to cancel horse racing in case of inclement weather during the winter-spring meet that begins December 26. Jockey Joel Rosario is mentioned in this article.Gregory Ferraro, new chairman of the California Horse Racing Board, a former race track veterinarian who was appointed to the board by Governor Gavin Newsom earlier this year, pledged the state board would be pursuing stricter regulations than it has in the past.
Racehorse Vino Rosso gets Classic victory. Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. rode Vino Rosso to win the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park yesterday.
Breeders' Cup Recap. Attendance on Friday, November 1 was 41,243. Turn blinkers are worn by Storm the Court and the horse wins the $2 million Juvenile race in the Breeders' Cup. In photo jockey Flavien Prat riding Storm the Court and jockey Javier Castellano riding British Idiom.
Arcadia City balks at surge in animal control bill. New contract with Pasadena Humane Society would raise costs fivefold, from $90,000 to $525,000 annually. See also Arcadia Weekly, p. 4, September 12, 2019.
Arcadia City Council member and Mayor Pro Tem Roger Chandler said he wouldn't want the basketball courts rebuilt because he doesn't like the "type" they attract. The old courts have been demolished already and City Council eventually recommitted to an improvement plan that permanently eliminates Eisenhower Park's basketball courts. Chandler's comments prompted an immediate uproar from residents in attendance. Council member April Verlato said his use of the phrase "the type" could be perceived as racist but doesn't think he meant it that way, but he should apologize. The renovated park will cost nearly $6.3 million, including a baseball diamond and large picnic area.
Veterans Administration (VA) opens clinic medical offices in May in San Gabriel Valley, in Arcadia, eight years after a VA clinic closed in Pasadena. It is called San Gabriel Valley Community Based Outpatient Clinic and provides--on an interm basis--basic clinical services that do not require surgery, such as physical exams and X-rays. Veterans also will have access to primary care, mental health care, telehealth and basic lab services. It will remain operational for 3-5 years and eventually be replaced by a permanent, full clinic. It is at 7 West Foothill Boulevard.
Is Breeders' Cup next fatality? Santa Anita Park trips its way to finish line of disastrous meet that saw 30 horse fatalities. Protesters gather outside Santa Anita Park on the final day of the winter/spring meet. Breeders' Cup board meets in New York to decide if it really wants to honor its commitment to Santa Anita Park in November. See also same date, p. B1, B7 "Questions abound as Santa Anita meet ends," by Art Wilson.
Voters max out Arcadia sales tax. Huge lead for Measure A pushes levy to 10.25% ceiling set by state. The election was conducted exclusively by mail. The vote was for a .75% sales tax increase to bring the tax from 9.5% to 10.25%. This hike could bring in $8.6 million annually to keep city services, especially public safety, at current levels.
Santa Anita Park suffers 24th horse death of season. Horse "Commander Coil" sustained a fatal shoulder injury and had to be euthanized, despite new safety measures that had been put in place March 15. Trained by Marcelo Polanco and owned by Jose Romero.
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.
Television show “Trading Spaces” transforms teachers’ lounges at First Avenue Middle School and Holly Avenue Elementary School. Shown in photo “Trading Spaces” host Paige Davis and Arcadia Unified School District educators Karalee Nakatsuka, Megan Forbes, Regina Ringo and Teresa Oakland. The show airs on the TLC network.
Legislation. In the wake of 23 horse deaths at Santa Anita Park, California legislators are pushing for a new bill that targets racetrack oversight. It would allow state to suspend a venue’s license over safety concerns. Senator Bill Dodd, Democrat-Napa, and Assemblyman Adam Gray, Democrat-Merced, introduced the legislation and announced plans to have a joint oversight hearing on horse racing safety in the next month.
Authorities identify dead woman found slain at her home in Arcadia as 76-year-old Chyong Jen Tsai. Detectives are still looking for whoever killed the Arcadia grandmother and stole a white Lexus RX300 from the home in the 300 block of East Forest Avenue. Three weeks before the killing, her home had been burglarized. Detectives are not ruling out this connection to the homicide.
Police find woman’s body in Arcadia backyard in the 300 block of East Forest Avenue. A 76-year-old Arcadia woman was killed yesterday at her home and her vehicle was stolen. The coroner’s office has not yet identified the woman. Neighbors said she was a longtime resident with two daughters and a grandson. The motive behind the killing is unknown.
Los Angeles County Arboretum. $8 million cleanup and restoration of Baldwin Lake sought. Flood control district assigns funding; expense to go before supervisors in July. Baldwin Lake is severely polluted centerpiece of the county Arboretum, visited by 400,000 people annually. The 144-year-old lake, dug out by 19th century real estate pioneer Elias Jackson “Lucky” Baldwin on his estate, has been dying a slow death because of the accumulation of street runoff laced with heavy metals, automobile brake fragments and other chemicals that create algae blooms and strong odors. Supervisor Kathryn Barger is championing the project.
Santa Anita Park. Federal lawmakers Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Judy Chu (D-Arcadia) call for halt to racing. Both send letters to California Horse Racing Board demanding ways to address horse deaths at Arcadia track.