Monrovia vs South Hills Friday

Monrovia plays South Hills (West Covina) tomorrow (Friday) night at Monrovia High School.

- Brad Haugaard

Azusa Pacific University Expands Nursing Program into Monrovia

Monrovia Planning Division Manager Craig Jimenez writes that Azusa Pacific University is expanding its nursing program into Monrovia, at 606 E. Huntington Drive, at the southwest corner of Huntington and Shamrock.

According to the staff report, the school will occupy 15,554 square feet on the first and second floor of the eastern-most section of the building, using the space for offices, classrooms, laboratory space, workspaces and conference rooms. There will be 8-12 staff members working between 8 and 5 and 7-10 faculty members working 8-10 p.m. for evening classes.

"Their current plan is to start with 3-5 classes with 20 students in the evening. The university does not currently plan to have daytime classes. However, they anticipate eventually scheduling 2 to 3 daytime classes (of 1.5 to 3 hour duration) with an average of 20 students. Eventual peak time student population during the day would be 60-70 students, 4 to 5 faculty and 5 staff."

- Brad Haugaard

Champion Broadband Wires City Hall, Library for Fiber-Optic Internet

Champion Broadband has just completed a dedicated fiber-optic network to City Hall and Monrovia Public Library. Dedicated fiber-optic networks bring data transfer speeds of up to 1 gigabit and more, faster and more secure than traditional copper/modem-based service.

Source: press release

- Brad Haugaard

Is This Your Dog? | Monrovia Halloween Activities | Holden Update

~ Is this your dog? Gabrielle Mejia (contact via Twitter: ‏@gabbklein ) twitters that she found it around Olive and Canyon.

~ Halloween activities for kids at Library Park. http://goo.gl/yS7SrX

~ Monrovia Assemblymember Chris Holden will update the City Council on the 'State of the State'. http://goo.gl/jmgfs9

- Brad Haugaard

Azusa Pacific Office to Monrovia? | Smashburger | Top-Price House

~ It appears an office of Azusa Pacific University will be moving into Monrovia. At its meeting today, the Monrovia Development Review Committee reviewed a sign for the school for the office building at 606 E. Huntington Drive, at the southwest corner of Huntington and Shamrock.

~ Also, the committee reviewed a sign for Smashburger, one of the tenants for the new restaurant building that replaced the old Acapulco building.

~ A home on East Greystone has recently been listed for sale at an asking price of $1.96 million, the highest ask-price single family home in town (that I can find). Pretty house: http://goo.gl/yZ8LfR

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia May Hire Consultant to Help Figure out Staffing Needs

Thin agenda ( http://goo.gl/BmfVEv ) for the Oct. 1 Monrovia City Council meeting. Mostly, the council will consider contracting with Management Partners for up to $71,500 to help the city figure out its staffing needs, salary and benefit levels, and and job classifications. Details: http://goo.gl/LTc3vn

- Brad Haugaard

Thoughts on Monrovia Running Back Kurt Scoby | Hammond in San Diego | Bookmarks | Origin of MAFA

~ Thoughts on Monrovia running back Kurt Scoby by South Hills coach: "You're not realistically thinking you're going to shut him down. What you want to do is contain him and keep him bottled up." Plus video highlights of Scoby in action. http://goo.gl/XWy6Nj

~ Canada-to-Mexico biker rider Rob Hammond is in San Diego. Popping back to Monrovia for a School Board meeting, then back to San Diego tomorrow to pedal to the Mexican border.

~ Winners of the Monrovia Library Bookmark Contest Winners. http://goo.gl/wr4IFC

~ Dispute over the origins of Monrovia Association of Fine Arts (MAFA): http://goo.gl/z6xEx1

- Brad Haugaard

Progress on Monrovia Rail Maintenance Yard

Gold Line Construction Authority Habib Balian reports that nearly half of the at-grade crossings for the 11.5-mile project are now complete, with six more currently under construction. Also, he writes:

"At the [Monrovia] Operations Campus, crews are nearly ready to start laying the six miles of track that will be installed within the $265 million facility. As of today, more than half of the 213 OCS pole foundations are drilled and poured, and the Maintenance of Way storage structure is nearly complete."

- Brad Haugaard

Champion Broadband Has New Website

Champion Broadband, which serves Monrovia, has launched a new website ( http://championbroadband.com/ ). Here is the announcement: http://goo.gl/63F4L5

- Brad Haugaard

Gold Line Freeway Bridge is Magazine Cover Story

The new Gold Line freeway bridge at Santa Anita Ave., and its echos of Native American culture, is the feature article in APWA (American Public Works Association) Southern California's Insight newsletter. http://goo.gl/smmIgU

- Brad Haugaard

Thrift Store to Open on Foothill | Mayflower Closing at Rail Crossing | Fire Update

~ Giving Hands Thrift store will be opening at the corner of Foothill and Lincoln, in the old Extreme Boot Camp building. The store is accepting donations of used items, and is hiring. http://goo.gl/nKusTA

~ Starting this Thursday, Sept. 26, through early December, Mayflower Ave will be closed at the railroad corridor for grade crossing improvements. During the street closure, which includes no through access for vehicles and pedestrians, a free shuttle will be provided to assist pedestrians around the closure daily from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

~ Madre fire 70 percent contained. Full containment expected by Friday.

- Brad Haugaard

Map of the Extent of the Madre Fire

Here is a map showing the extent of the Madre (Azusa Canyon) fire.


- Brad Haugaard

Madre Fire 30 Percent Contained

Star-News reporter Brian Day reports that the Madre fire in Azusa Canyon, now having burned 250 acres, is 30 percent contained and firefighters are working hard ahead of potential wind shifts tonight.

- Brad Haugaard

Madre Fire | Hammond Near Laguna Beach | Citrus College Grows | Zucco Endorsements

~ Driving home from Pasadena an hour ago I couldn't see a bit of smoke from the Madre fire. Hope that's a good sign.

~ On his Canada-to-Mexico bicycle ride, former Monrovia mayor and present school board member, Rob Hammond, is currently just past Corona Del Mar, heading toward Laguna Beach. About 100 miles to the Mexican border.

~ Citrus College, which serves Monrovia, has had its enrollment grow 13.9 percent. http://goo.gl/pdmbGm

~ Incumbent Monrovia School Board candidate, Alex Zucco, has announced that she has been endorsed by: Assemblymember Chris Holden; former Assemblymember Anthony Portantino; National Women's Political Caucus Greater Pasadena Area; Monrovia School Board Member Ed Gililland; Monrovia School Board Member Bryan Wong; and Monrovia City Councilman Larry Spicer.

- Brad Haugaard

Neighboring Fire Grows; 5% Contained

LA County Fire Department reports that during the night the Azusa fire, labeled the "Madre" fire, has grown to 200 acres and is five percent contained. http://goo.gl/MpUetO

- Brad Haugaard

A Monrovia View of the Azusa Canyon Fire

A 6:30 a.m. view of the smoke plume from the Azusa Canyon fire, from the Pavilions center in Monrovia.

- Brad Haugaard

Fire Next Door in Azusa Canyon

Update: Low wind, good. Voluntary evacuation for area. Copters fighting fire at night. No Super Scoopers, which don't operate at night. http://goo.gl/iG17vg

Fire in Azusa Canyon next door to Monrovia. http://goo.gl/aw7wr9 and  http://goo.gl/CZF5py and http://goo.gl/QFK9A8

- Brad Haugaard

Pouring Concrete at Train Maintenance Yard in Monrovia

Pumping concrete last week at the Gold Line Operations Campus in Monrovia.

- Brad Haugaard

Canada-to-Mexico Bike Rider, Rob Hammond, Makes It to LA County

On his Canada-to-Mexico bicycle ride, former Monrovia mayor and present school board member, Rob Hammond, appears (based on the somewhat fussy tracking device) to now be in the neighborhood of El Segundo, California, down near LAX. It is road day 14.

- Brad Haugaard

YES Program Wins Monrovia a Statewide Helen Putnam Award

The League of California Cities has selected the city of Monrovia as a 2013 Helen Putnam Award winner. The 2013 award winners were honored during the Opening General Session of the League's Annual Conference & Expo at the Sacramento Convention Center held Sept. 18 - 20.

Monrovia won the Ruth Vreeland Award for Engaging Youth in City Government for the city's Youth Employment Service (YES) program to provide job training, mentoring and internship opportunities to Monrovia-at risk youth.

Now in its sixth year, YES has successfully graduated over 135 at-risk kids. The program provides mentoring and intervention features geared toward high school students, specifically those who have failing grades, unstable home lives, a police record or simply bad attitudes. Launched in 2007, the program is designed to address the community's need to improve the quality of life and opportunities for local youth in response to gang violence in some areas of the city.

Studies indicated that the relative effectiveness of combating gang activity was to place 70 percent of its efforts on prevention and intervention, and 30 percent on suppression. In Monrovia, the allocation of resources was reverse: 80 percent was being spent on suppression, while only 20 percent was being spent on prevention and intervention. At the time there were fewer job opportunities for the city's youth and funding for internships. YES was started to address these issues by partnering with the Santa Anita Family YMCA, Monrovia Unified School District and the Monrovia Chamber of Commerce.

"We are honored to receive the Helen Putnam award and are very proud of the YES program's success.  Of those youth who have graduated, we've seen grade point averages increase by 14%, absenteeism decrease by 200% and tardiness decrease by 145%," said Mayor Mary Ann Lutz.  "Many of these youth have focused their energies back into the community, which makes the YES program even more rewarding."

Established in 1982, the Helen Putnam Award for Excellence program recognizes outstanding cities that deliver the highest quality and level of service in the most effective manner possible.   Monrovia was one of 13 cities out of 149 applicants throughout California to receive this coveted award.
 
Source: City of Monrovia press release

- Brad Haugaard