A 2-year-old legal battle between the city of Arcadia and Taboo Gentlemen's Club, a strip club, will most likely result in the club being closed or sold off by April, 2009. The federal court case started when the city revoked Taboo Gentlemen's Club's business license for breaking the city's adult business codes. The club's owners Bill Badi Gammoh and Chawkat Jajieh sued in response, claiming city and police had obstructed business and violated their civil rights. The city's adult business ordinance prohibits lap dances, sexual contact, private dance booths and direct tipping. It requires licensed dancers to perform on an elevated stage.
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.
7-year-old Maria Lugo Rocha of Sinaloa, Mexico, is recovering after a surgery to remove a bone tumor from her chin, performed last week at Arcadia Methodist Hospital. LIGA International, a non-profit group of medical experts, pilots and volunteers, helped to bring the girl to Arcadia to have the surgery.
The 9th annual "Remembering Our Veterans and Their Families" event was held at Arcadia County Park to honor our soldiers. Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich attended.
9-year-old Maria Lugo came to Arcadia Arcadia Methodist Hospital from Mexico to have a steel plate removed from her chin. It was a follow-up surgery to a softball-size tumor removal she had in April, 2008, at Arcadia Methodist Hospital. Dr. Jon Tyrell, a member of LIGA International, and Dr. B.S. Chandrasekhar operated on her. LIGA International is a non-profit group of medical experts, pilots and volunteers who travel to clinics in Sinaloa, Mexico several times a year.
The $16 million Arcadia Police Station building, built with bond money and city and CRA funds, is on target for completion in July. WWM Associates designed the building. Mallcraft of Altadena is the contractor and Construction Control Group is the manager of the project. The station is the first civic project constructed with bond funding.
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.
The 35th annual Public Schools luncheon was held at the Masonic Center to honor 26 National Merit Scholarship students. The Foothills Middle School Sixth Grade Chorus performed.
A 37-year old Los Angeles man died early Saturday morning after exiting the Foothill Freeway (210) at Baldwin Avenue driving through a perimeter fence and smashing into a concrete wall.
48th Annual Arcadia Festival of Bands will be held Saturday, November 17. The event, which showcases the finest high school instrumental music talent in Southern California, has been a proud tradition in Arcadia since 1953. Dennis Davies, who recently retired after serving 39 years as a music director in Arcadia Unified School District, has been named Grand Marshal.
The 65 year old statue of Hugo Reid created by Preston Prescott may be moved from Arcadia County Park to a spot between the Ruth and Charles Gilb Arcadia Historical Museum and the Arcadia Community Center. The City Council will have to approve $57,362 contract for its removal.
The 72nd $1 million Santa Anita Handicap is running today. Some of the top contenders are named Colonel John, Einstein, Cowboy Cal, Court Vision, and Matto Mondo. Helen Pitts is Einstein's trainer. Einstein is the son of horse Spend a Buck.
73-year-old Jesus Plasencia Lopez from El Monte has been arrested for a fatal hit-and-run. He allegedly drove a Saturn that hit Guey-Ying Wu and her husband Chia Wu at Santa Anita Avenue and Camino Real Avenue in Arcadia. Lopez is being held at Los Angeles County Jail on $50,000 bail.
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.
A 1927 bust of Anita Baldwin, hidden away in storage at the Arboretum, is on exhibit at the Arcadia Public Library along with photographs of Anita, examples of her musical scores, poetry and cookbook.
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.
About 4,000 Southern California Edison customers experienced some electrical service interruption on Tuesday due to thunderstorms. Affected cities included San Gabriel, Montebello, Rosemead and Arcadia.
About 1000 feet of sound walls will be built by the westbound lanes of the 210 Foothill Freeway between Second Avenue and Fifth Avenue. There is also discussion of future sound wall construction projects.