Monrovia's Assemblyman Hits Brown on Prisons
In another open letter to Governor Jerry Brown, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly - who represents Monrovia - complained that Brown's plan to send prisoners to county jails "threatens public safety by placing an undue burden on the counties and forcing them to release inmates before their full sentences are served." Also, he adds, Brown has "approved unlimited vacation build-up time and several other lucrative perks for the CCPOA" and has "allowed AB 900 to sunset, meaning 10,000 additional inmates will soon be returned to California's prison system from private out-of-state facilities. We can send prisoners out of state for half the cost of what it takes to house them in California." Source: http://goo.gl/hMz64 - Brad Haugaard
Monrovia Coach in All-Star Game | Telling College Students About Money
~ Monrovia coach Jesse Mendez co-coaches in all-star game. http://goo.gl/pntCF ~ A bill by Anthony Portantino - who represents part of Monrovia - would tell college students they have access to federal money. It has passed the Assembly. http://goo.gl/Cs7jW - Brad Haugaard
Monrovia's MAP Program Wins Awards | Landscaping | Joplin
~ The Monrovia Area Partnership Program won several awards at the annual conference of Neighborhoods USA in Anchorage, Alaska.
~ The Fire Department has some hints for selecting landscape maintenance companies. Mistakes in landscape maintenance can not only be a fire hazard, but cause other expensive problems. (Click on the source link below and scroll down for the tips.)
~ Fire Engineer Jeremy Sanchez is coordinating a collection to help Joplin firefighters who have been most effected by the tornado. If you would like further information please contact Sanchez at (626) 367-5202.
Monrovia City Manager: Aztec Hotel 'Potentially Unsalvageable'
Monrovia City Manager Scott Ochoa is doubtful about the future of the Aztec Hotel. He writes:
"[T]he very historical significance of the structure [the Aztec Hotel] contributes to the high cost of renovation which makes the situation potentially unsalvageable. As a hotel, the economics of the property are challenging to say the least; as any other adaptive reuse, the significant rehab cost erodes the market value. Still, there are elements in the building that could inspire a long-term investor's imagination and vision. We shall see."
Source: http://goo.gl/gpPOH
- Brad Haugaard
Muskets in Monrovia
There will be a Civil War reenactment from noon to 5 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday (June 11 and 12), featuring soldiers with period gear, musicians, clothiers, etc. There will be stories, President Lincoln will talk about his times, and there will be a musket demonstration. The event is at the Monrovia Historical Museum, 742 East Lemon Ave. It is a fundraiser and tickets cost $8 for adults and $4 for children. http://goo.gl/1tAcU - Brad Haugaard (thanks to Becky Shevlin for the tip.)
Monrovia Economics: Getting Better
On the economic front, Monrovia City Manager Scott Ochoa says that things are getting better, but life's still tough. "The good news," he writes, "is that sales and property tax revenues are beginning to recover... . While it would be a stretch to consider this year as an economic juggernaut, we are meeting our conservative revenue estimates." The "bad news," he says, is that "we continue to have to economize on costs." He said the "foundation" of the city's business model is "attracting new businesses that generate new property and sales tax revenue; attracting employers whose employees shop and dine and live in Monrovia; and attracting the private investment that generates the momentum to sustain itself." Source: http://goo.gl/gpPOH - Brad Haugaard
Monrovia Senator vs. Mussels | Hearing Postponed | Anti-Cancer Event
~ Legislation to combat the spread of invasive mussel species, authored by State Senator Bob Huff, who represents Monrovia, has been approved by the state Senate and now moves to the Assembly. http://goo.gl/qdUvr ~ Hearing for former elementary school teacher from Monrovia postponed in molestation case. http://goo.gl/LoJfT ~ A successful anti-cancer event. http://goo.gl/69NPb - Brad Haugaard
Monrovia Art Walks This Summer
There will be three free Art Walks in Old Town Monrovia featuring local artists on the last Saturday of each month this summer, on June 25, July 30 and August 27, from 7-10 p.m.
Local artists will set up along Myrtle Avenue to show and sell drawings, paintings, sculpture, jewelry, photography, hand-made glass and ceramic artworks. There will also be live music, face painting, gallery receptions and the JACK FM 93.1 Street Team.
At the June 25 Art Walk, Paint-N-Play 2 Studio & Gallery will feature the 'Los Angeles Windows Collection' by photographer Stephen Colman, with live music by the Locke Brothers.
At Paint-N-Play Art Studio and Gallery, 418 South Myrtle Ave., the first 50 kids (12 and under) can paint a ceramic piece for free. Sponsored by MAFA.
Live art demonstrations will include ceramics wheel throwing by Monrovia High School Ceramics, plein-air painting and clay sculpture. Artists Frank Zgonc and Heather Shaw will bring back the "Brush-Off," which is the two artists painting on each other's canvases as a collaborative effort.
Old Town Merchants will be holding sales and special events, including the popular Traditional Music Gathering at The Dollmakers, 412 South Myrtle.
- Brad Haugaard (from press release)
Monrovia Chopped Again?
Here is a proposed redistricting map that shows Monrovia apparently getting chomped between a couple assembly and senate districts: http://goo.gl/WghrO (Here is the home page: http://goo.gl/6XbvD ) Alex Zucco, who brought this to my attention (Thanks, Alex), writes: "Here are the 'visualizations' - both the Assembly and Congressional seats have Monrovia in two districts, State Senate is harder to tell...it looks like since they call below Duarte 'Mayflower Village' they are trying to brand it as a different town - not a neighborhood." - Brad Haugaard
Monrovia Chopped in Redistricting? | MHS vs. Bullying | Joplin
~ Monrovia School Board member Alex Zucco tweets about redistricting, saying that "some maps [are] showing #Monrovia spilt in 2 -- AGAIN! ... What happened to keeping cities in 1 District?" Amen.
~ Monrovia High students beat up on bullying. http://goo.gl/MY8WU
~ New Beginnings Family Church tweets that its relief-supply team has arrived at Joplin.
- Brad Haugaard
Put Monrovia's Plymouth School on Traditional Schedule?
Here's the agenda of the School Board's 7:30 p.m. June 8 meeting. http://goo.gl/EVlPp
It looks like the highlight is whether to switch Plymouth School back to a traditional school year effective Aug. 1, 2011.
- Brad Haugaard
Monrovia Relay Against Cancer | Benefit Sale | Church Team Nears Joplin | Freeway Chase
~ Relay for Life tomorrow (Sat., June 4). More than $55,000 raised so far for American Cancer Society. At Recreation Park at 11 a.m. http://goo.gl/I7LBN UPDATE: Here's a Star-News article: http://goo.gl/I0fDD
~ Rummage sale scheduled to help children whose parents died. At Wild Rose School, Friday, June 17 at 9 a.m. through June 18 at 2 p.m. http://goo.gl/o5vLf
~ Team from Monrovia's New Beginnings Bible Church has passed Oklahoma City on its way to deliver relief supplies to Joplin. Pastor's blog post on entering Texas here: http://goo.gl/PP0nW
~ Monrovians arrested following short freeway chase. http://goo.gl/Owmc9
- Brad Haugaard
Lunch at Claim Jumper
- Brad Haugaard
Red Lobster Remodel
- Brad Haugaard
Monrovia Council: Land to Gold Line? Gear for Fire Department; Deal With Forest Service
The Monrovia City Council will hold be a special budget study session at 6 p.m. on June 6, and then a regular meeting on June 7 at 7:30 p.m. At the regular meeting the Council will:
- Hold a hearing on whether to sell to the Gold Line the land bounded by Evergreen Avenue, Shamrock Avenue, Duarte Road and California Avenue.
- Consider buying $27,782.91 of protective gear for the fire department, paid for by a federal grant. http://goo.gl/MDflV
- Consider working a deal with the Forest Service to cooperate if there is a forest-city fire. http://goo.gl/gHT2s
- Brad Haugaard
Goodbye Santa Teresita Hospital
At its June 7 meeting, the Monrovia City Council will consider zoning changes to facilitate a project to tear down Santa Teresita Hospital (mostly in Duarte but on the border of Monrovia) and replace it with the "Rose Gardens at Santa Teresita." This project will include "skilled nursing facilities as well as assisted living and independent living units in a campus type setting for seniors." The project "will be developed in four phases and the first phase includes construction of a 22-unit assisted living facility located in Monrovia." http://goo.gl/C81ZS
- Brad Haugaard
Monrovia Pastor Blogs Joplin Trip | Lutz Hopes Problems Can Be Fixed | Woman Not Charged
~ The pastor of a Monrovia church taking relief supplies to Joplin, Missouri, is blogging the experience along the way. http://goo.gl/CNXpD ~ Mayor Mary Ann Lutz hopes problems identified by CalTrans audit of the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments can be fixed. http://goo.gl/oDkDS ~ Monrovia woman not charged in Altadena shooting incident. http://goo.gl/hqDbM - Brad Haugaard
Monrovia PD to Receive $20,000 Alcohol Control Grant
According to the Monrovia PD's Neighborhood Watch Report, the department's Special Enforcement Team was selected to receive a $20,000 grant for fiscal year 2011-2012 (July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012) "to address alcohol related problems within the city." The program "will focus resources on licensed establishments that have a disproportionate amount of calls for service." The money will pay for overtime expenses and equipment.
- Brad HaugaardMonrovia's House of Spirits Loses Liquor License
Following a February undercover operation at House of Spirits Liquor Store at 501 W. Duarte, the store "will not be allowed to sell alcohol for 25 days and the liquor license will have to be transferred to a new owner within 180 days," according to the Monrovia Police Department's Neighborhood Watch Report. - Brad Haugaard
Monrovia Police: DUI, Burglary, Etc.
[Monrovia Police activities from the Police Department’s Neighborhood Watch Report for May 26 – June 1 – Brad Haugaard]
During the last seven day period, the Police Department handled 566 service events, resulting in 77 investigations. Following are the last week’s highlighted issues and events:
Driving Under the Influence – Suspect Arrested
On May 28 at 2:09 a.m., an officer on patrol observed a vehicle traveling south on Myrtle at Central and noticed it was weaving on the roadway. The driver failed to use a turn signal and was stopped. During the investigation, the driver was determined to be under the influence and was arrested.
Vandalism In-Progress / Minor Consuming Alcohol / Possession of Controlled Substance – Three Suspects Arrested
On May 28 at 7:12 p.m., a business owner was driving in the area of Ivy and Walnut when he saw two male subjects tagging city property with spray paint. The suspects fled in a vehicle and the witness called police. Officers saturated the area and located the suspects in the 100 block of East Colorado, still in the vehicle in a parking lot behind a bar. As officers detained the suspects, a female subject exited the bar to inquire what was going on, as she owned the vehicle. Through investigation, it was learned the female was under age and had used false identification in the bar and had consumed alcohol. During a search, she was also found to be in possession of cocaine. She was arrested and taken into custody. The male subjects were positively identified as the suspects who spray painted city property and were also arrested. The witness will be contacted to receive the $100.00 Stop Graffiti Bounty for reporting a graffiti vandalism which led to an arrest.
Driving Under the Influence – Suspect Arrested
On May 29 at 3:34 p.m., an officer noticed a vehicle exit the 210 Freeway and drive north on Myrtle. The driver was weaving on the roadway and was stopped by the officer. Through investigation, the driver was determined to be under the influence and was arrested. The driver was booked and later released on a citation.
Commercial Burglary
On May 29 at 10:30 a.m., an officer was dispatched to a business in the 400 block of South Myrtle regarding a burglary. The suspect(s) pried open a window, made entry into a business, and then pried open the door to the office of another business. Once inside the second business, the suspect(s) ransacked the office and took cash from a filing cabinet. They also took electronic items from both businesses, which included a flat screen television, three computer monitors and four computer laptops.
Driving Under the Influence – Suspect Arrested
On May 31 at 1:44 p.m., an officer was flagged down and told there was a possible drunk driver at a business in the 100 block of East Duarte Road. The officer stopped the vehicle in the parking lot. The female driver was determined to be under the influence and was arrested. She was in the area to pick up her children from school. The school office and principal were notified. She was booked and held for detoxification.
Vehicle Burglary
June 1 at 3:49 p.m., an officer responded to a residence in the 1200 block of Encino. The victim reported that someone had broken into her vehicle and had stolen property, and that her credit card information had been used.
Battery
June 1 at 5:10 p.m., a 16-year-old, male victim of battery was brought to the police station lobby by his father. The victim reported that he had walked a girl home on Monterey after school when a male suspect struck him in the head with a skateboard and grabbed him in a choke hold. The suspect then let go of him and left the area. The victim went home and his father brought him to the station when he got home from work. Investigation continuing.
- Brad Haugaard
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