District Attorney Jackie Lacey finds no crime or wrongdoing in horse deaths. Prosecutor says there is no evidence owners, jockeys or trainers knowingly raced injured animals at Santa Anita Park over the past year. Since July 2018, 56 horses have died at Arcadia race track. Of those, 34 died while running on Santa Anita's main dirt track. Santa Anita Park averages about 2.04 deaths per 1000 racing starts, according to the Jockey Club. The national average in 2018 was 1.68 deaths per 1000 starts. The District Attorney's report includes 27 recommended changes to improve safety and reduce fatalities. See also same story at Arcadia Weekly, p. 2, December 26, 2019.
46th Annual Mayor's Community Breakfast to honor women of Arcadia, on February 21, 2020. Mayor April Verlato will give the State of the City Address. Dr. Jasmine Sharma will give keynote address
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.
57-year-old Richard Henry Solis of Arcadia faces two felony counts of grand theft from elder and six counts of petty theft from elder. The alleged crimes involved Solis claiming the victims had injured him with their vehicles and then asking for money for medical expenses or stealing their belongings, reportedly stealing $100,000 from the victims.
Arcadia Rotary Club and Arcadia Chinese Association (ACA) announce plans to restore Fort Rotary, a two-story western-style Boy Scout fort in the foothills behind Monrovia. This is historic, the first coordinated project between these two organizations. Architect Kevin Le from Le Architecture in Monrovia, has already volunteered his time to help. The project is expected to cost up to $140,000. So far, Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has pledged $25,000, ACA has pledged $25,000 and Arcadia Rotary has pledged $22,000 on behalf of Mary Hansen of Arcadia.
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.
World War II veteran Joe Sciarra, 95, makes history come alive at Holy Angels School in Arcadia during a Veterans Day assembly. Other veterans in attendance were Julian Andrews, 86 of Temple City (a veteran of the Korean War) and Darren Parsons, 45, a former U.S. Marine.
Breeders' Cup 10th Santa Anita Park visit overshadowed by another equine death. 70,000 attended Saturday's event. Terry Miller recaps the race day, which ended with racehorse Mongolian Groom being euthanized after suffering a serious fracture. Earlier in the day, protesters angered by 36 horse deaths since last December, stood outside Santa Anita Park urging the end of horse racing in California. Ricardo Santana in photo.
Chinese-Americans getting political. Residents becoming more active as they back recall of Governor Gavin Newsom and other conservative efforts. Photo shows women gathering signatures outside 99 Ranch Market in Arcadia.
Santa Anita Park: another horse dies; summary on its way. Death is fifth in month; The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) report on past meet is due in December. GQ Covergirl, a 6-year-old mare trained by Doug O'Neill injured her front legs Friday on Santa Anita's training track and was euthanized.
Man charged with kidnapping, beating ex-girlfriend in Arcadia. Robert Michael Mendez faces one count each of kidnapping and criminal threats and three counts of injuring a girlfriend or child's parent.
Pasadena Tournament of Roses 2020 Royal Court announced. Royal Court members will serve as ambassadors of the Tournament of Roses, the Pasadena community, and the greater Los Angeles area and will each receive $7500 educational scholarship. One girl on the court, Rukan Saif, is from Arcadia High School.
Successful opener. Jockey sets stakes record on first day of Santa Anita Park meet. Jockey John Velazquez won both the Chandelier Stakes and the American Pharoah Stakes, riding Bast and Eight Rings, respectively. Both horses are trained by Bob Baffert.
A royal contest. The Rose Court field of 617 entrants trimmed to 25 finalists for the 2020 Pasadena Tournament of Roses. Those from Arcadia High School include Rukan Saif and Sydney Chang.
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.