Amy Nelson and Kathleen Ashenfelter, both 16,toured the Soviet Union for 3 weeks with the People to People Friendship Caravan, a program which takes 1600 American youths to 50 Soviet cities. It is the largest student educational program in the history of the US and USSR.
The Arcadia City Council approved a 5% tax on interstate and international telephone calls over the strong objections of residents. The tax, which will cost about $.40 per person per month, is expected to generate $225,000 in city revenues, which will help close the gap between the city's general fund expenditures and revenue.
Arcadia joined the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito Abatement District, making it one of the last cities in the valley to participate in a mosquito control program. The program is designed to monitor mosquitos that transmit St. Louis encephalitis, a sometimes fatal viral disease.
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.
An application for state funds to make $8.5 million worth of repairs in 6 Arcadia schools is moving ahead. Funds for the repairs, from the Leroy F. Greene State School Building Lease-Purchase Program, a bond measure, have been exhausted. However, another bond issue, coming up in the June 1990 election, is expected to pass and provide money to continue the program.
Dr. Stephen Goldstone, Arcadia Unified School District Superintendent, is leaving his post here for a similar position in Chino. He says it is an advancement for him since Chino has about 23,000 students, compared to Arcadia's 7500.
Susan Robertson, 48, a 4th grade teacher at Hugo Reid School for 26 years, died on July 4 after an 11-year battle with cancer. Mrs. Robertson graduated from USC in 1963 and worked for the Arcadia Unified School District, teaching at Hugo Reid School for her entire career.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital now utilizes DOCENT, a communications computer program which automatically enters test results and other reports into the hospital's main computer as soon as they are processed by the laboratory, thereby eliminating the need for a technician or lab secretary to manually enter the data.
The Arcadia Unified School District's high school dropout rate was 1.13% for the 1987-88 school year. Erroneous figures previously released by the state Dept. of Education had the figures at 7.05% to 15%.
The Arcadia City Council has authorized a project to build concrete sidewalks adjacent to Camino Grove, First Avenue, Hugo Reid Primary, Dana and Holly Avenue schools.
The Arcadia Board of Education swore in newly elected member Joann Steinmeier and re-elected member Mary Dougherty at an organizational meeting. Dougherty was also elected president as the board selected its new officers.
Two recent Arcadia High School graduates, Maret Bower and Peter Sawires, each won $1500 in an essay contest held by the Azusa Landfill Reclamation Company. The purpose of the contest was to think of ways to maintain a suitable environment in the San Gabriel Valley.
New zip codes go into effect today. These include: 91006 - for all post office boxes in the main post office on Wheeler Street; 91077 - for all post office boxes in the West Arcadia Post Office; 91007 - for the area south of the 210 Freeway and west of Santa Anita Avenue.
The Arcadia Unified School District Board of Education has adopted a tentative $28 million budget for 1989-90. The year-end balance of $191,326, combined with the 1988-89 balance, will total 4381,714 as a reserve fund. The final budget will not be adopted until September.
The Arcadia Redevelopment Agency's financial obligations and development projects prevent it from saving $294,000, or 20% of its tax increment, for low-cost housing, as required under California Assembly Bill 265. The state law, concerned with agencies formed since 1976, does not affect the ARA, formed in 1974. Starting in the 1996-97 fiscal year, however, all agencies will be required to set the money aside.