Controversial traffic barrier on San Carlos at Orange Grove Avenue apparently wasn't as useful in reducing speed on San Carlos as has been the installation of stop signs at the intersections of San Carlos with Oaklawn Place and Hacienda Drive.
Democratic fundraiser Maria Hsia of Arcadia was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Washington on charges of arranging to hide illegal campaign contributions to President Clinton's re-election campaign by a Buddhist Temple in Hacienda Heights.
Dwight Chang of Arcadia is owner of a house on the 1300 block of South Palm Avenue in San Gabriel. The building has been operating as a makeshift maternity ward with 10 newborns and about 12 Chinese nationals, crammed into an illegally converted townhouse. Chang has been warned twice before for operating a business that primarily caters to Asian "maternity tourists." Chang denied any wrongdoing and was fined $800 for building code violations. Children born on American soil automatically become United States citizens, under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Maternity tourism caters to wealthy Taiwanese, Chinese and Koreans. Throughout the past decade, similar set-ups have been uncovered in Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights, New York, and Quebec.
More than 100 people showed up at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse to offer their visions of how new legislative district maps ought to take shape--in a region critics say has become the most gerrymandered in the state. Eugene Lee, an Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) representative, said it is important for members of the public to participate in redistricting, describing historically low voter participation levels among Asian-Americans in the west valley. Lee said the community he works with are hoping to keep Alhambra, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel, Arcadia, San Marino and Temple City together; in the east, the community of interest includes Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights, Walnut and Diamond Bar. The voter-approved California Citizens Redistricting Commission is working on an August 15 deadline to submit final maps of new congressional, state Senate and Assembly districts, based on Census data and public input hearing.
Russell J. Ribb, former superintendent for the Hacienda-La Puente Unified School District, has been named to serve as Arcadia's interim school superintendent. Elaine Boyce of the School Service of California, a Sacramento-based consulting firm, has been hired to recruit a new superintendent.