A $30 million plan to provide standardized breathing equipment for every fire department in Los Angeles County has been suspended after a lawsuit alleged the contract process was mishandled and firefighters complained about the quality of the equipment. Arcadia-based Allstar Fire Equipment is suing the city and county of Los Angeles, contending the contract process was improperly handled in a manner that ignored firefighter input and unfairly favored the winning bidder, L.N. Curtis and sons.
Allstar Fire Equipment Inc., located on Lower Azusa Road in Arcadia, sells firefighting equipment to fire departments throughout California. Joe Sposato, president of the company, is providing supplies to fight the Williams fire.
An exhibit at the Ruth and Charles Gilb Arcadia Historical Museum spotlights Route 66. It features photographs of motels, restaurants, and some ephemera. It runs until March 28, 2009.
Arcadia-based Dr. Monique Williams has agreed to plead guilty to the unlawful distribution of the prescription painkiller OxyContin, aka Oxycodone. She admitted to writing prescriptions for people she did not examine and people that did not need it.
The Arcadia High School class of 2002 has 28 National Merit Scholarship finalists. It is the highest number in school history. A group photograph and biographical information on each finalist is presented.
Authorities say an E-mail unlocked a door into a string of vandalism and arson cases at SUV dealerships and led to the arrest of William Jensen Cottrell.
Cal Tech student William Jensen Cottrell, allegedly connected with an ecoterrorist group in connection with vandalism at Rusnak Mercedes-Benz and other car dealershships in the San Gabriel Valley, was arrested by the FBI.
Charles Cooper continues his Arcadia city centennial series "Memories of Arcadia" with a story about Arcadia's mayors. A. N. Multer was the first person to be given the title of mayor of Arcadia. City founder Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin was the city's first presiding officer, but he held the title of president of the Board of Trustees. The title of mayor was not adopted until 1927, when the Board of Trustees changed to the City Council. Arcadia will have 4 mayors this year to mark the city's centennial. Each city council member will rotate into the position. More interesting facts: Floretta Lauber was the first woman to serve as mayor. She paved the way for Mary Young, Barbara Kuhn, and Gail Marshall to follow. Other history of mayors is recapped. The first city manager was William J. Richards in 1951, when a charter was adopted. The longest serving city official was City Clerk Christine Van Mannen, who held the job for 32 years. See hard copy in VF Arcadia (City) History.
A chart shows school enrollment numbers from 1998 to 2004. More than 40 percent of the public school districts in California are experiencing declining enrollment. Experts say it is due to a decline in the birth rate and families' migration patterns.
The City Council has authorized the Arcadia Fire Department to issue citations for violations of the Uniform Fire Code. Mayor Gail Marshall honored William Barton and Arly Barton as citizens of the month.
Dr. William "Bill" Kaplan, the first geneticist at City of Hope, died November 6 of heart failure. During his retirement, Kaplan helped direct volunteers who ran Arcadia Public Library's bookstore.
Dr. William E. White will be honored by the Alpha Auxiliary of the Methodist Hospital foundation. White has practiced for 40 years in the Sierra Madre and Arcadia areas.
Due to heavy smoke from the Williams Fire in the Angeles National Forest, schedules at schools were cut back including the postponement of the tennis and water polo matches at Arcadia High School.
A federal apeals court overturned William Cottrell's (aka Billy Cottrell), convictions on two counts of arson for his role in the 2003 torching of several sport utility vehicles (SUV) at San Gabriel Valley car dealers, attacks authorities blamed on a radical environmentalist group. The court ruled that the judge in his trial should have allowed testimony regarding Cottrell's Asperger's Syndrome, a disability that could have affected the jury's decision.
Finalists have been determined in the 2001 City of Arcadia Mayor's Spelling Bee. Competition will be held at the Lucky Baldwin Day Community Picnic on October 28.