Arcadia city officials adopt a 5-year redevelopment plan. The major goals are the expansion of the Rusnak Mercedes Benz auto dealership, development around the future Gold Line station and several affordable housing programs. The city demolished the Church of Arcadia's old building at 21 Morlan Place in September to make room for a parking lot that could be used by Rusnak.
Zenyatta, a filly and the kind of sensational race horse that comes along only once in a generation, scored perhaps the greatest victory in the history of the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park. With jockey Mike Smith (in photo), Zenyatta wins the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic by one length. Other winners are listed.
Kevin Modesti writes about the race horse Zenyatta, winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park. Zenyatta stunned the world's fastest thoroughbreds with a last-to-first rally in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic. Zenyatta is owned by Jerry and Ann Moss. Jerry Moss is the co-founder of A & M Records (with Herb Alpert) and was named after an album by 1980s rock group The Police.
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.
Westfield Santa Anita celebrated the opening of The Promenade, its $120 million open-air expansion of 30 stores. The 115,000 square foot addition was built on the former parking area adjacent to Nordstrom and Macy's. The 30 new stores, including Coach, J. Jill, Banana Republic and other upscale retailers, are set among landscaped walkways featuring fountains, seating areas, and shade trees.
Employees at Santa Anita Park fear bankruptcy of its parent company Magna Entertainment Corp (MEC). Chairman Frank Stronach said the horsemen would not have to worry about any of their monies. Paymaster accounts total $11 million at Santa Anita Park. The accounts contain money earmarked for winning owners, who must pay a percentage of those earnings to jockeys and trainers. Magna Entertainment Corp. has lost $500 million in the past 5 years.
Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrested Dr. Daniel J. Healy, 52, of Arcadia, operator of Dr. Healy's Diet Centers and Clinics in Duarte and Rancho Cucamonga. He is accused of selling addictive painkillers from his office over a 3-year period to patients he often did not examine. Federal authorities allege Healy dispensed oxycodone and hydrocodone, among other drugs, essentially using his practice as a drug-dealing operation.
62-year-old Gary J. DiSano of San Juan Capistrano, formerly of Arcadia, is the new Tournament of Roses president. He unveiled the theme for next year's parade: "2010: a cut above the rest." He has been a Tournament of Roses volunteer since 1972.
State officials have shut down 5 Arcadia massage parlors and fined one business $1.83 million for alleged labor code violations. Inspectors discovered that employees were not being paid hourly wages but got paid every time a massage was given. New Life Acupuncture at 610 E. Live Oak was fined $1.83 million for allegedly violating laws requiring employers to provide pay stubs and workers' compensation insurance. The four other locations fined were Ocean Health Center, C.H. Health Center, Arcadia Spa, and Best Health Center. The fines and closures continued a crackdown on massage-related businesses in Arcadia.
A water main broke on December 22,2008, creating a large sinkhole on Orange Grove Avenue, just west of Santa Anita Avenue, near the intersection with Hyland Avenue. The rupture opened a hole about 25 to 30 feet across and 5 feet deep.
A middle-aged man tried to kidnap a 5-year-old school girl from the Westfield Shoppingtown Santa Anita mall on November 26. His composite sketch is shown and is described as an Asian male in his 50s, 5'8" with gray hair and a bald spot. Police are calling it an isolated incident but parents should be vigilant.
Arcadia police are searching for a man in his 50s wanted in the attempted kidnapping of a 5-year-old school girl on a field trip to the Westfield Shoppingtown Santa Anita. He was described as Asian, with gray hair and a bald spot on top of his head. He was 5'8" tall, 170 pounds, with yellow teeth, blue pants, and white sneakers.
Two articles talk about trainers Bob Baffert and John Gosden, who trained horses Midshipman and Raven's Pass, respectively. Midshipman is owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum. Raven's Pass, ridden by jockey Frankie Dettori, won the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic. Midshipman, ridden by Garrett Gomez, won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
Arcadia police arrested Jaime Elvis Elizondo, 33, a sex offender from San Gabriel, on suspicion of attacking a 5-year-old girl at Borders bookstore at the Westfield Shoppingtown Santa Anita mall.
Terry J. Harmon, funeral director and co-owner of Chapel of Remembrance Funeral Home in Arcadia, was given the "Funeral Director of the Year" award at the California Funeral Directors Convention on May 7, 2008, in Long Beach.
The Board of Education of the Arcadia Unified School District has approved a one year contract with the teachers union that includes a 5 percent pay raise.
Ted J. Butler, 42, of Madison, Wisconsin, aka "Fellow Human", is walking coast to coast to spread a message of human understanding. He walked through Arcadia on Foothill Boulevard wearing a sign with his Website address: talkingaboutus.org
A murder charge has been filed against Isaac J. Campbell, 32, of San Gabriel, a suspect in the murder of his girlfriend Liya "Jessie" Lu. He is currently at large. Her body was found in a trashcan on Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia.