Aerial view east on Huntington Drive toward Arcadia from a position just west of Rosemead Boulevard. El Rancho Shopping Center and May Company Department Store can be seen as the business complex on the north side of Huntington Drive one block east of Rosemead Boulevard. Santa Anita Park Race Track can be seen on the left in upper portion of photo.
Aerial view toward east of Santa Anita Race Track with enormous crowd. It may possibly be opening day or shortly thereafter judging by small size of trees planted along edge of property.
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.
After serving 17 years as a crossing guard, 83-year-old Harry Christianson is retiring. The children at Highland Oaks honored him with a special Mr. Chris Day.
Alhambra Superior Court Judge Alice Hill found "sufficient cause" to hold Isaac Campbell, 34, to be tried for the murder of Liya "Jessie" Lu. He will be arraigned May 7.
Ambassador Jason C. Yuen, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, will be grand marshal of the 49th Festival of Bands Parade in Arcadia.
An activist group called Save the Arcadia Highlands is suing the City of Arcadia over two residential developments that Arcadia City Council approved in February, citing possible violations to "specific provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the California Planning and Zoning Law, filed March 12. The addresses involved are 29 East Orange Grove Avenue and 1600 Highland Oaks Drive. See also Arcadia Weekly, p. 1, 17, March 19, 2015.
An ancient Chinese maternity tradition, from the Sung Dynasty (960-1275 AD), known as "Zuo Yue Zi," is translated as "doing the month."It refers to the care of a Chinese woman during the first month after giving birth. The practice is explained here by Wei-Chen Tung, a former registered nurse at Arcadia Methodist Hospital and now an assistant professor of nursing at University of Nevada, Reno. The practice requires new mothers to follow a strict diet and rest for 3-4 weeks following a pregnancy. Tung says a lot of Chinese women still practice this, so hospitals should be aware of this part of Chinese culture. Maternity tourists--women who want to come to the United States to give birth to a full-fledged American citizen, have given rise to businesses that cater to them, such as the maternity home that was shut down in the 1300 block of South Palm Avenue in San Gabriel on March 8. It had been 5 townhomes illegally converted into a maternity home.
An eastern extension of the Metro Gold line from Pasadena to Clarement has not been funded but government leaders and residents are planning for the trains to go east. Cost of the extension may top $1 billion.
Animal Pest Management Services, Inc. will conduct a peafowl census in Arcadia during the week of May 20. The results and courses of action to contain the peafowl population will be given to City Council to review.
Anita Baldwin statue to be unveiled at Le Méridien Hotel in Arcadia
The Anita May Baldwin statue at the Le Méridien Hotel will be unveiled on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021 at 11 a.m. Anita is the daughter of city founder, Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin. The statue will be featured on the opposite end of the Huntington Drive islands’ hotel property.
“We are very excited to be bringing Anita back to Arcadia,” said Mayor Sho Tay in a statement released by the city. “I would like to thank the Shen, Liu and Chen Families, Jeff Lee, the Dextra Baldwin McGonagle Foundation, Heather D. Gibson and Margaux L. Gibson, and the Arcadia Historical Society, for their generous donations.”
“On behalf of the Baldwin family, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Arcadia City Council, the Arcadia Historical Society, the Le Méridien Hotel and all those who have supported this effort to pay homage to my great-great grandmother, Anita May Baldwin,” said Margaux Gibson. “This magnificent statue of Anita will showcase a strong woman who was ahead of her time. I am proud to call Anita May Baldwin my great-great grandmother, and I am truly proud to be a part of this historic project.”
The Anita statue was sculpted by local artist and southern California native Alfred Paredes — who created the Lucky Baldwin statue on the corner of Huntington Drive and Holly Avenue — and is aptly named, “A Legacy of Charity” in honor of Anita’s contributions to life in early Arcadia and throughout California.