Monrovia Y Celebrating 125 Years

Santa Anita Family YMCA in Monrovia is celebrating its 125th birthday and unveiling its donor wall on Saturday, June 16, 2012 at 3 p.m. If you would like to join the celebration, contact Cheryl Reynolds at (213) 639-7682 or cherylreynolds@ymcala.org by June 14.

- Brad Haugaard

Election Day in Monrovia

Don't forget to get out and vote today.

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia's AeroVironment Makes it Into New Yorker Magazine | Less Hack-able City Website | Substitute Teacher on Jeopardy

Monrovia's AeroVironment makes the pages of The New Yorker in an article about surveillance drones in civilian life that asks, "Should we worry about the rise of the drone?" http://goo.gl/DS4Ti

~ As you may recall ( http://goo.gl/wEuy8 ), the City of Monrovia's website was hacked last month. The city says upgraded software lessens the chance that the site will be hacked again. http://goo.gl/R6SUc

~ Monrovia substitute treacher Claudia Gray wins on Jeopardy. http://goo.gl/CWCco

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Police: Mixing the Wrong Chemicals, Thefts from Cars, Vandalizing City Mural

[Monrovia Police activities from the Police Department's Neighborhood Watch Report for May 31 - June 3. - Brad Haugaard]

 

Following are the weekend's highlighted issues and events.

 

Vandalism in Progress

On May 31 at 10:23 p.m., an officer responded to the report of vandalism in progress in the 1300 block of South Shamrock.  The reporting party was on the southwest corner of Shamrock and Evergreen when he saw a male subject vandalize the city mural under the freeway overpass.  The witness was able to get the license plate number of the suspect's vehicle and called police.  An officer responded to the address where the vehicle is registered, but did not find the vehicle.  The investigation is continuing.

 

Fire Assist

On June 1 at 9:44 a.m., fire and police personnel responded to a business in the 800 block of Royal Oaks regarding a possible Hazmat situation, resulting from the mixing of chemicals. Employees were evacuated and the Monrovia Fire Department checked the building.  The area was contained by the Fire Department and Los Angeles County Hazmat was requested and responded to the incident.

 

Vehicle Burglary

On June 1 at 11:18 a.m., a vehicle burglary was reported in the 100 block of North Myrtle.  The female victim had parked and locked her vehicle in her assigned parking stall in the rear of the complex on May 28.  When she returned to her vehicle on May 30, she found the rear passenger-side window had been smashed and her green purse had been taken from the rear floorboard.  Investigation continuing.

 

Vandalism - Suspects Arrested

On June 2 at 1:38 a.m., an officer was on patrol heading eastbound on Evergreen towards Myrtle when he saw a vehicle stopped by the freeway onramp.  A subject exited the passenger side of the vehicle, tagged the wall, stepped back into the vehicle and the driver drove away.  The officer conducted a traffic stop and arrested the two suspects for vandalism; one of the suspects was also charged with transporting a controlled substance and open container. 

 

Vehicle Burglary

On June 2 at 8:27 a.m., the victim of a vehicle burglary came to the Monrovia Police Department lobby to file a report.  An expensive pair of shoes were stolen from her vehicle.  She parked and locked her vehicle in her assigned stall in the 200 block of South Primrose.  When she returned to her vehicle the next day, she found the shoes had been stolen from the vehicle.  Investigation continuing.

 

Theft from a Vehicle

On June 3 at 9:48 a.m., a vehicle theft was reported in the 200 block of El Nido.  The victim parked his vehicle in the driveway, but could not remember if he locked the doors. When he returned to his vehicle about three hours later, his trunk was open.  He did not think anything of it until later in the day when he noticed several items missing from inside the car.  Investigation continuing.

Monrovia Library Reading Club to Rip Up Books | Gang Member Sentenced | Hong Kong Market | Vegetables

~ Monrovia Library's Summer Reading Club will take discarded books and "fold them, paint them, tear pages out, cut them into shapes, stamp them, glue them, re-bind them...in other words, transform them into altered works of art." http://goo.gl/SwZnK

~ Monrovia gang member sentenced for 2008 shooting that paralyzed teen. http://goo.gl/IKX3S

~ A peek at the work going on inside the new Hong Kong Market on Duarte Road. http://goo.gl/yvFUe

~ Pictures from the latest Produce in the Park. http://goo.gl/B6sGf

- Brad Haugaard

Star-News Election Endorsements

Star-News endorsements for Tuesday's election. http://goo.gl/U16oP

- Brad Haugaard

Info on Monrovia 32nd District Congressional Candidates

Interviews by Patch of the three candidates for U.S. House of Representatives for the 32nd District, which includes Monrovia except the area north of Hillcrest-Greystone. (Click the "Open Checked" button). http://goo.gl/6kR9M

- Brad Haugaard

Line Down the Street for Monrovia Yogurtland Opening

The grand opening at Yogurtland was apparently quite a success, judging from this line down the street. http://goo.gl/6iyBH

- Brad Haugaard

Contributors to 41st Assembly District Candidates

A good overview of who is contributing how much to the candidates for the 41st Assembly District. http://goo.gl/TUpF9

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Fire Responds to Problem in Park

Six Monrovia Fire units responded to a report of a woman feeling poorly at the falls in Monrovia Canyon Park today.

- Brad Haugaard

AeroVironment Gets Initial Order on Possible $65.8 Million Order

AeroVironment gets a initial $15.8 million order from the US Army for its Raven drone, with a total projected value of $65,889,191. http://goo.gl/knCI4

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovian Sentenced for Hit and Run

Monrovian sentenced to six months for hit-and-run. http://goo.gl/FPNyw

- Brad Haugaard

Interviews with Candidates for 41st Assembly District

Here are Patch interviews with all the candidates for the 41st Assembly District. Click the "Open Checked" button to see them all at once. http://goo.gl/c502s

- Brad Haugaard

School Board Budget Session | KNX Pictures | Huff Amendment Denied

~ The Monrovia School Board will hold a special meeting to study the 2012-13 budget situation. Comment: Should be a cheerful event. http://goo.gl/CdoWg

~ Photos of KNX broadcasting from the Monrovia Coffee House on Myrtle today. http://goo.gl/SgBTM

~ Video: Senator Bob Huff, who represents Monrovia, asks the Senate for an amendment to make it easier to fire teachers guilty of serious abuses of students. He said it currently takes up to eight years to get rid of such teachers. His amendment was voted down. http://goo.gl/N5dm6

- Brad Haugaard

Lunch at Shanghai Gourmet

Lunch at Shanghai Gourmet, new place in the shopping center near Fifth on Duarte Road. We passed on the pig stomach and sea cucumber and got sauteed beef with orange peel and the spicy chicken. Came with soup and tea. Chopsticks only. Really delicious! And lots. Had to take some home. My favorite was the beef but both were great. And cheap. $13.90 for both meals and a Coke.

- Brad Haugaard

Gold Line Funding

The California State Assembly has passed AB 1600 to extend the Gold Line to Montclair in San Bernardino County and making the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG) a non-voting member of the Authority.

 

Also, the the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments has decided to withhold support of a proposal to permanently extend the Measure R sales tax until it is made clear whether the money will be used to extend the Gold Line to Claremont.

Source: Gold Line press release

 

- Brad Haugaard

Gold Line Progress

Crews are finalizing the form-work and installing over 500 tons of reinforcing steel for the bridge's superstructure and outrigger (or main cross-beam). Once completed in early June, 2,100 cubic yards of concrete will be placed to form the main bridge structure. The photos above show the significant progress made on the bridge by the Skanska team in the last few weeks.

Nearly 80 full-time engineers and designers are currently hard at work designing the Pasadena to Azusa project. Some elements of the design are close to - or at - 85%; while most are at around 60% completion. This process will continue through 2012, with construction starting in earnest in September.

As design progresses, FTC crews are out along the corridor conducting pre-construction activities. During the last several weeks, crews have begun demolishing the abandoned track in Arcadia, as well as demolishing the Colorado Boulevard bridge, which crosses Colorado Boulevard just west of Santa Anita Avenue.  

Source: Gold Line press release

If you would like to attend a Gold Line open house, see details here: http://goo.gl/vunqM

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Mayor on Radio | Yogurtland Celebration Saturday

~ Mayor Mary Ann Lutz reports on Twitter that she is being interviewed by KNX Radio at 7:20 a.m. today. KNX is broadcasting live from Old Town Monrovia today. UPDATE: If you missed it, Mayor Lutz said that Monrovia is "more than just a town, it is a community," and she told the story of Samson the hot tub bear.

~ Yogurtland (on Myrtle near Foothill) is having a grand opening celebration tomorrow (Saturday) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free yogurt from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free Sanrio t-shirts for the first 100. Free $5 gift card for first 50. Balloons for kids.

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Company Helps Electric Vehicles Drive from Seattle to Canada

Electric vehicle chargers from Monrovia's AeroVironment now make it possible to drive an electric vehicle from Seattle to the Canadian border. http://goo.gl/t6Jis

- Brad Haugaard

Contract Night for Monrovia City Council

A lot of contract updates are on the June 5, 7:30 p.m. Monrovia City Council agenda, including: providing transportation service for county residents near Monrovia, having a company provide graffiti removal, renew a tree trimming contract, another contract for maintaining city vehicles, another for consulting about updating the city's "Pavement Management System" (street repair, I think), another to fix a water well pump, yet another to update a computerized water management system, and again, one to update the city and police computer systems, and finally, one to renew the trash hauling contract. http://goo.gl/iVCp6

Opinion: One item that caught my eye was that for the graffiti removal contract staff recommends an increased payment due to an "increase in fuel costs." Hmm. That's pretty standard, and fair enough, but fuel prices also go down at times. Does the price the city pays go down if fuel costs decline? If not, why not?

- Brad Haugaard