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Duarte Road and Mountain Intersection Closed Tonight

The entire intersection at Mountain and Duarte Road will be closed tonight beginning at 9 p.m. and ending Saturday morning at 9 a.m. as part of the Gold Line light rail project. Crews will be realigning the traffic lanes to the final configuration during the closure and re-striping the pavement. No additional full closures are anticipated.

- Brad Haugaard

Creative Writing for Family, Friends of Vets at Monrovia Library

The Monrovia Public Library is offering a Creative Writing Workshop for Family and Friends of Veterans, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 6 p.m. at the Monrovia Public Library Community Room. Bring an object or picture that means something special to you in relation to the veteran in your life. Pen and paper will be provided. Workshop is open to adults and mature teens. Contact Rebecca Elder at 256-8268 for more information. The library also offers resources for vets, here ( http://goo.gl/MGux6w ).

Comment: Since this program is funded by Cal Humanities, with a goal "to increase public understanding for those who have served in the U.S. Military as well as how best we can support the process of reincorporating veterans into our community," it got me thinking. As a vet, what do I think vets would like? Well, a) A job. b) An occasional thank you. c) The government fulfilling its obligations to vets (See VA hospitals as an example of how not to do this.) d) An occasional free beer. And what wouldn't vets like? Unless he's laid up in the hospital, anything that smacks of, "Oh, you poor dear! Let me help you with that." Any other vets have thoughts?

- Brad Haugaard

Investment in Monrovia's Huntington Oaks

$71 Million investment in Monrovia's Huntington Oaks Shopping Center. http://goo.gl/kmndIU

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Council: Wine Plaza Tuscan Village Planned; More Efficient Meetings; Veterans; Family Festival; Last Best Offer

At its next meeting (main agenda: http://goo.gl/2Sbt0M ), on Tuesday, Oct. 21, the Monrovia City Council will ...

~ Consider approving a $2,225,000.00 sale of property located at 123 and 137 West Pomona Avenue to Wine of the Month Club for "a Wine Plaza Tuscan Village, which is a conglomerate of wine ordering, wine blending production, wine shipping, wine purchasing, wine tasting, food and beverage sales and consumption, retail related to food and beverage production, and other food and beverage related uses or other shops consistent with the atmosphere of a European village marketplace," etc. http://goo.gl/uupHtd

~ Consider recommendations to make city meetings more efficient. They are: 1) Do all proclamations and presentations on first meeting of the month, begin that meeting at 6:30 p.m. 2) End meetings at 11 p.m. and carry over all other items until the next meeting unless the meeting is extended by a majority vote. 3. Enforce the current 5-minute time limit for speakers. http://goo.gl/RzoP2J

~ Honor local veterans: http://goo.gl/tQi78J

~ Approve an agreement with Family Festival Productions, Inc., for production of the Friday Night Family Festival in Old Town through 2017, with two one-year options to renew. http://goo.gl/tUcHxk

~ Impose the city's "Last, Best and Final Offer" to the Monrovia Firefighters Association. http://goo.gl/dur0ka

- Brad Haugaard

Street Construction Around Monrovia's Station Square

There will be work from October 22, 2014 to May 2015 on the area around Station Square (Duarte Rd., Magnolia Ave., Pomona Ave., Primrose Ave., Evergreen Ave., Myrtle Ave. and California Ave). Traffic on these streets will be reduced to one lane in each direction or closed at times. When full street closures or changes on the original lane closures are required by the construction activity, a notice will be provided to residents and businesses at least 48 hours in advance. Expect delays. City of Monrovia press release.

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Police: Casing Cars | Wallet Stolen from Unlocked Car

[Monrovia Police activities from the Police Department's Neighborhood Watch Report for October 13-15 2014 . - Brad Haugaard]

During the last seven-day period, the Police Department handled 376 service events, During the last seven-day period, the Police Department handled 376 service events, resulting in 72 investigations.

Warrant / Receiving Stolen Property / Petty Theft / Theft of Mail – Suspect Arrested 
On October 14 at 5:19 p.m., an officer on patrol in the area of Madison and Foothill observed a male subject on a bicycle acting suspicious. The officer watched as the subject was looking into parked vehicles and then looking around to see if he was being watched. The subject was contacted and found to have an outstanding warrant for his arrest. A search of the subject’s backpack revealed bank checks and identification with someone else’s name on them. The checks and identification were found to be stolen. The suspect was arrested and taken into custody.

Theft From an Unlocked Vehicle 
On October 14 at 5:48 p.m., a male subject called police to report his wallet was stolen from his unlocked car in the 600 block of West Foothill. The investigation is continuing.

Curious Facts about the Gold Line

Curious facts about the Gold Line, like: How many space shuttles would it take to carry all the concrete ties into space? http://goo.gl/ua4UMk

- Brad Haugaard

Opera Animata Canceled

The first two performances of the Opera Animata season, that was to have begun on Oct. 17-18 at Monrovia's St. Luke Church, have been canceled "due to unforeseen circumstances."

- Brad Haugaard


Work to Begin Soon on Improvements Around Monrovia's Station Square Project

Public improvements for the Station Square project (around the new train station) will begin in mid October and will include "modernization and beautification of medians and public right-of-ways of several streets ... as well as landscape areas east and west of Myrtle Avenue along the 210 Freeway frontages and on the underpass. Details: http://goo.gl/tU2SL8

- Brad Haugaard

Bone Marrow Match Test at Monrovia High

Vicki Barstow, 45-year-old wife and mother of two Monrovia High students, writes to say that she has Acute Myeloid Leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant, but needs a match. There will be a bone marrow test sponsored by "Be the Match," this Friday, Oct. 17, at the homecoming game at Monrovia High School from 5:30-8:30 p.m. The donor test (you must be 18-44) is an easy mouth swab. Details: http://goo.gl/4ibTS7

- Brad Haugaard

What 'National Monument' Designation Means for Monrovia

This fact sheet from the White House (http://goo.gl/38pjPb) gives a bit of detail on what it means that a big chunk of the San Gabriel Mountains is now a national monument. Here are a few points I find interesting for Monrovia:

- There is a map that is way too small to study detail, but it seems to show that the southern border of the monument is along Rincon Road, which is an east-west crestline dirt road several miles above the north edge of Monrovia.

- I had thought national monuments were all administered by the Park Service, but apparently they can be administered by a variety of federal agencies, and this one will be administered by the Forest Service, as it is now.

- Various charitable organizations have pledged about $3.5 million for the monument area.

Comment: Honestly, I'm not really sure what has changed. As part of the National Forest, all the things that will be protected now were protected before, and there doesn't seem to be a dime more in federal funds as a result of this (though it's nice some charities are chipping in), and the Forest Service, which was in charge before, is still in charge.

- Brad Haugaard

How to Lay Train Track - Gold Line Construction Video

To celebrate the near completion of track-laying for the Gold Line to Azusa, the Gold Line folks have released a video documenting the construction of the line. Gives a nice glimpse into the technical details of laying track ... in case you ever need to know ;-). http://goo.gl/lYPQiP

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia's World Vision Partners with Grundfos to Provide 2 Million with Clean Water

Monrovia's Christian relief and development agency, World Vision, is partnering with Grundfos, the world's leading pump manufacturer, to provide clean water to 2 million people in sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years. World Vision is the largest non-governmental provider of clean water in the developing world. http://goo.gl/AgChJC

- Brad Haugaard

Opera Animata Opens Second Season in Monrovia

UPDATE: Canceled. 

Opera Animata kicks off a new season on Oct. 17-18 with a madcap mix of arias and antics spoofing the beauty pageant scene. Performances start at 8 p.m. in Swan Hall at St. Luke's Church in Monrovia. In a world where opportunities for classical singers are few, five female opera singers compete in a beauty pageant in hopes of advancing their careers. When the contestants are tested by a disgruntled accompanist, capricious judges, and fiendish backstage workers, they must persevere or go back to searching the Gigs section of Craigslist. Presale tickets $25 at http://operaanimata.ticketleap.com and at the door for $30. Student/senior tickets for $20. For more information visit http://www.operaanimata.com. Source: press release.

- Brad Haugaard

Haunted Hikes Gone for Good? | 'Geo Listening' to Monrovia High Students | Taste of Old Town

~ Gem City Images says the Haunted Hikes in Monrovia Canyon Park have been cancelled and appear to be dead for good. http://goo.gl/e43ywM

~ Monrovia High implements "Geo Listening," monitoring students' postings on public media: http://goo.gl/xKsGxt

~ Taste of Old Town Monrovia October 19 in Old Town from 5-8 p.m. Advance Tickets $50; $60 at the door. Food and spirits from more than 40 vendors, plus live music.

- Brad Haugaard