2 articles. 1. Racing returns at Santa Anita. The historic Santa Anita racetrack reopened Friday for racing amid concerns for horse safety and the future of the track and the industry. There were no deaths in eight races Friday, which had been closed for racing since March 5.
2. Back in the saddle: racing resumes without incident after 26-day closure.
The 11.5 mile light rail Gold Line extension from Pasadena to Azusa was awarded to Foothill Transit Constructors. Kiewit-Parsons, a joint venture company, will design and build the project. Funding comes from Measure R.
$12 million headquarters of the Angeles National Forest Service was dedicated yesterday. It is an environmentaly energy efficient 24,000 square feet administrative facility at 701 N. Santa Anita Avenue. Mary McGrath, of Mary McGrath Architects, was the executive architect on the project.
23-year-old Arcadia man Joshua Martin Parra-Davis was booked by Arcadia Police on suspicion of possessing an explosive device and leaving it in a backpack near a Bank of America on Foothill Boulevard on Friday, January 14, 2011. Witnesses said Parra-Davis first went to Foothills Middle School and may have been trying to open classrooms when he was confronted and ran off. The suspect was then seen dropping a backpack in bushes near the Bank of America and then running through the parking lot, where officers detained him. Arcadia Police called the bomb squad. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Bob Squad successfully detonated the device. Parra-Davis could be arranged in Pasadena Court today.
$24 million winning lottery ticket purchased at Golden Donuts Place, 104 E. Foothill Blvd in Arcadia. It is unclaimed so far. See also Arcadia Weekly, p. 1, December 25, 2014.
30th annual Breeders' Cup World Championships brings exciting racing to Santa Anita Park. Record crowds filled the stands. Sierra Madre jockey Gary Stevens came out of retirement to win the Breeders' Cup Classic aboard horse Mucho Macho Man.
31-year old Kwan Chow of Monterey Park was arrested for fondling a 10-year-old boy in the restroom at Dave and Buster's at Westfield Santa Anita mall on November 10, 2014.
69-year-old Arcadia resident David Tran is the owner of Huy Fong Foods, the maker of Sriracha hot sauce. Huy Fong Foods should be operational in a new $50 million, 650,000 s.f. factory in Irwindale, by September. The factory is moving from Rosemead.
The 134th Santa Anita Derby took place yesterday. Jockey Joseph Talamo rode race horse Sidney's Candy to victory in the Grade I $750,000 race. The runner up was Setsuko and Lookin At Lucky finished third.
210 Freeway sound wall is finished. The Metro project, which started in 2009, consists of 2 miles of sound walls along westbound and eastbound lanes of the 210 Freeway between Santa Anita Avenue and California Avenue in Arcadia and Monrovia, paid with Measure R funds. The sound walls provide at least 5 decibels of noise reduction. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held. Several Arcadia residents near Victory Chapel on N. First Avenue, where the sound wall ends, are disappointed the barrier doesn't extend farther west.
The 626 Night Market is the brainchild of 3 Taiwanese-Americans who were heavily inspired by their experiences at night markets in Taiwan. The 626 Night Market will continue at Santa Anita Park next summer.
626 Night Market spawns copycats. The concept of a Taiwanese style foodie bazaar that has been held at Santa Anita Park, has spread to Orange County, Koreatown in Los Angeles, Monterey Park, and Studio City.
2010 U.S. Census data shows that 12 San Gabriel Valley cities, including Arcadia, saw the percentage of owner-occupied homes rise, something that experts said was extremely uncommon following the housing crisis. 63.1% of Arcadia's homes are owner-occupied, while 36.9% are occupied by renters. Other cities' figures are shown in chart. Arcadia's vacancy percentage is 5.3%. Vacancy rates are determined by the U.S. Census Bureau by sending out canvassers to homes that did not respond to Census mailers.