The 4th Annual Veteran's Day Celebration took place November 11 at Arcadia County Park. Sponsored by Mike Antonovich of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. In photo, veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor James R. Wire.
15-year-old Richard Ung was arrested at his parents' home in Arcadia, where sheriffs recovered nine guns, including an AK-47 assault rifle and an assault pistol. Ung is being investigated for alleged involvement in the stabbing death of Boo K. Lee.
81 percent of area schools met their growth targets on the California state Academic Performance Index (API). However, 35 percent of West San Gabriel Valley schools failed to meet the federal accountability targets determined by Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. See chart on page A6 for Arcadia Unified School District progress.
About 1,000 local Taiwanese-Americans protested a proposed anti-secession law Saturday outside the Chinese Consulate General office in Los Angeles. Arcadia resident James Liang was one such protester.
Amanda Avila of Rowland Heights is one of 16 finalists on television's talent show "American Idol." Her family and friends meet at an Arcadia restaurant every week to see if she advances to the next round.
The Arcadia City Council voted unanimously to impose a 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, known as pot clubs. There are no such dispensaries in the city nor have there been any applications. The moratorium will give the city time to study the issue and see what type of regulation would be appropriate to put in place in Arcadia. The concern is that pot clubs could draw an element to the community that increases crime. The Compassionate Use Act (Proposition 215) legalized medical marijuana in California in 1996.
Arcadia City Manager Bill Kelly is skeptical about the way the State of California balanced this year's budget. The State promises to pay cities back for sales tax to be used to pay off $10.7 billion in loans. The maneuver, known as the "triple flip" will take half of the cities' sales tax revenue for the next five years, and pay it back out of property taxes now earmarked for schools. Arcadia will lose 25% of its vehicle license fee reimbursement, around $750,000. Arcadia is in good shape this year and next, primarily because of a healthy reserve fund. After 2004-2005, unless some solutions are in place, the city could face some hard times.
Arcadia High School to celebrate its 50th anniversary. See related stories Arcadia Weekly, p. 25 on September 27, 2001 and Arcadia Weekly, p. 8 on September 20, 2001.
The Arcadia Historical Museum opened October 20, 2001, 3 months past the target date. Admission is free. See also related story Arcadia Weekly p. 1, October 18, 2001.
Arcadia offers two $20,000 rewards. The police are seeking information on the homicide, hit-and-run of Fuzhi Ji and his grandson Vincent Ji and on the stabbing death of Charlotte Cole.
Arcadia Police Department confirms that James Allen Beck was a former police officer with the City of Arcadia. He is a suspect named as responsible in the death of Deputy Jake Kuredjian of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.
Arcadia police officers honor Albert Matthies, the city's only police officer killed in the line of duty, with a ceremony and a plaque, 80 years after his death. The plaque is on the 1000 block of North View Avenue.
Arcadia police shot a mountain lion, or cougar, at 8 PM in the backyard of a home in the 2200 block of Canyon Road. The mountain lion had just mauled a dog to death and was charging at police when police shot the cat with an assault weapon.
Arcadia Public Library garden dedicated to the memory of Jesse Vanlandingham, known to many as Van. He was instrumental in founding the Arcadia Public Library Foundation and served as its president since its inception in 1995, until his death in 2000. The Vandlandingham Memorial Garden was designed by landscape architect Bob Ericksson.