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.
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.
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.
The 25-year-old City Council chambers will undergo its first major renovation, a project that will relocate meetings for the next few months to the Arcadia Public Library. Renovations will be completed in February.
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.
A 30-year old man was shot in an apparent robbery in the parking lot of 99 Ranch Market on Wednesday, April 13, 2005. He was pronounced dead at Huntington Memorial Hospital. The suspect got away.
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.
38-year-old Jose Ruiz of San Gabriel was struck by a sport utility vehicle while crossing the street at Huntington Drive and Baldwin Avenue. He remains in critical condition.
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.
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 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 95% of the more than 2,700 security alarms the Arcadia Police Department responded to last year turned out to be false alarms. Arcadia police Chief Bob Sanderson is asking the City Council to implement a $100 fine for a third false alarm issued in a 365-day period. A $200 fine for the fourth false alarm and $300 for the fifth and all subsequent false alarms would be part of the new ordinance that City Council will consider next month.
Adam Schiff has proposed a plan under which ten cities along the planned Gold Line extension route would gain effective control over the project's construction.
After a 13-hour meeting, Arcadia City Council voted unanimously to approve the outdoor mall to be built on the Santa Anita Park race track parking lot, a development known as The Shops at Santa Anita. Opponents may push a referendum and possibly file lawsuits to block the project.
After five years of filing applications and lobbying in Washington, D C., Arcadia and Sierra Madre will share $6.5 million in federal funding to improve the earthquake safety of both cities' reservoirs.
Alhambra city mayor Mark Paulson weighs in on Arcadia ballot Measure P, regarding parking at the proposed Shops at Santa Anita mall. Arcadia City Hall feels he has crossed a line.