Governor Signs Two Bills by Monrovia's Assemblyman

Governor Brown today signed Assembly Bills 201 and 250, both by Assemblyman Chris Holden, who represents Monrovia. AB 201 requires the Office of Small Business Advocate to include on its website information on the Small Business Loan Guarantee program's loan guarantees, direct lending, surety bond guarantees, and disaster loans. AB 250 is designed to increase the number of iHubs across California to create more opportunities for start-up companies, promote greater collaboration between innovators and venture capital investment within the state.

Source: Holden press release

Comment: It is amazing that we need both houses of the legislature and the governor's signature to force a state agency to do what it should have done long ago without having its arm twisted - post relevant consumer information on the Internet. I approve of the bill, but CHEESH!

- Brad Haugaard

Lunch at VegeUSA

Lunch the other day at VegeUSA, at the corner of Myrtle and the freeway. Got a Vegan Black Pepper Steak Wrap ($10.88 with tax) and a cream soda ($1.84 with tax) at its Good Eats Test Kitchen. Quite meat-like. Tasty. I wasn't converted to being a vegan, but still, pretty good.

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Mayor Endorses Zucco | Fitness | Focus Groups

~ School Board candidate Alex Zucco, emails that she has picked up the endorsement of Monrovia Mayor Mary Ann Lutz.

~ If you want to be part of Monrovia's fitness team, the kickoff event is tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 5, 9-11 a.m. at City of Hope Heritage Park. Details: http://goo.gl/0KiKm2

~ Former IRS agent explains the mystery of focus groups, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the library's Community Room. What are they? Why are they popular? How to identify legitimate groups? How to become a focus group participant? Sign up: http://goo.gl/tSijlt

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia School Board Will Have Goal-Setting Meeting

The Monrovia School Board will hold a special goal-setting meeting - if you'd like to sit in - on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at the district office board room, at 325 E. Huntington, to review the district's "vision, mission statement and goals," and set goals for the new superintendent, Katherine Thorossian. http://goo.gl/fSVXkT

- Brad Haugaard

Taste of Monrovia

Taste of Old Town Monrovia, Oct. 20, 5-8 p.m. on Myrtle Ave. Food by local restaurants, wines, spirits, live music. $50 per ticket: http://goo.gl/KpO4Rk

- Brad Haugaard

'Pirate Joe's' Wins Lawsuit Against Monrovia's Trader Joe's

"Pirate Joe's," a Canadian reseller of products from Monrovia-based Trader Joe's - though without Trader Joe's permission - has won a lawsuit brought against it by Trader Joe's. Michael Hallatt, who won the suit, said: "My number one supplier hates my guts." http://goo.gl/Gu713y

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Police Tip: Don't Let Thieves Steal Packages from Your Porch

If you order items over the phone, via the Internet, or by mail, chances are those packages will be delivered straight to your front porch. The majority of deliveries do not require a signature and are generally left at your door, even if no one is home to accept them. Some thieves look for crimes of opportunity, but other thieves actually target your delivery. Thieves will follow or watch for the UPS, FedEx, US Mail, or other delivery trucks, and then target a home after a delivery is made.

Suggestions for helping to prevent a theft of your packages:

- If possible, use your workplace as the shipping address.

- Track your shipments by phone or online so that you know what day they should arrive.

- Ask your neighbor to watch for your delivery and then hold the items until you arrive home.

- Keep an eye on your neighborhood and report suspicious persons or vehicles in the area.

- Request a signature delivery option if available or request the shipment be held at the shipping facility such as a UPS office.

- Check with "mailbox" businesses in your town and see if they will accept shipment of your item for a fee.

- If you do not receive your shipment on time, check with the company of origin and confirm the delivery. If the item was delivered and you did not receive it, report the theft or loss to the original company, the shipping company, and your local police.

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Police: Snatching an iTouch; Caddy Jacked Up to Steal Wheels

[Monrovia Police activities from the Police Department's Neighborhood Watch Report for Sept. 30 - Oct. 2. - Brad Haugaard]

During the last seven-day period, the Police Department handled 436 service events, resulting in 97 investigations.

Robbery
October 1 at 2:00 p.m., a robbery was reported in the area of Monterey and Colorado.  The victim was walking southbound on Monterey when a female suspect ran from behind her and stole the iTouch she was carrying in her hand.  The suspect continued running southbound on Monterey to a waiting vehicle and fled the area.  The investigation is continuing.

Grand Theft
October 2 at 10:12 p.m., an officer was on patrol in the 900 block of South Fifth when he saw a 2010 black Cadillac Escalade sitting on its axles without rims and tires in a hotel parking lot.  The owner was staying at the hotel and wasn't aware of the theft, which occurred some time between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m.  A witness saw a male White subject in a white utility van next to the victim's vehicle.  The witness noticed two of the rims and tires were missing, but thought the subject in the van was the owner of the Cadillac.  The investigation is continuing.

Brown Signs Holden Bill Designed to Help Architects

Governor Brown has signed Assemblymember Chris Holden's bill to end disputes over architects' designs. Holden represents Monrovia. AB 630 clarifies that a person can only use an architect's plans or drawings if they have written permission. Architects currently face a challenge preventing those who are not authorized to use their work from using it again and again.

Source: Holden press release

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Housing Meeting | Football vs. St. Francis

~ The Planning Commission will hold a study session at 7 p.m. today on Monrovia's housing needs. In the Community Room at the library. http://goo.gl/1VWqNj

~ Football tomorrow (Friday). Monrovia High vs. St. Francis (La Canada) at Monrovia High. http://goo.gl/9z7Pkp

- Brad Haugaard

Interview With Monrovia High Principal Kirk McGinnis

Monrovia High Principal Kirk McGinnis skateboards and surfs and wants the school's API scores to grow past 806. Here's an interview with him in the latest edition of the MHS Wildcat newspaper: http://goo.gl/NhnHgp

- Brad Haugaard

Red Flag Warning for Monrovia and Valley | Produce in the Park

~ The National Weather Service is issuing a Red Flag warning for the San Gabriel Valley for Thursday evening through Sunday because of "moderate to strong Santa Ana winds and very low humidity."

~ Produce in the Park, this Saturday, Oct. 5, 9-11 a.m. in Library Park (corner of Lime and Myrtle).

- Brad Haugaard

Obamacare Insurance Rates

My diligent wife checked out the new Obamacare insurance rates for our son, who is in good health but is not piggybacking on our own insurance. He has had a PPO that costs $112 a month. In searching for a roughly comparable plan the best she could find was $164.70 from Blue Shield and $173.41 from Health Net. So, if I'm understanding this correctly, his insurance rates are going up 47-54 percent. Anyone else finding interesting results?

- Brad Haugaard

Liu, Holden Bill to Kill Surface Route for 710 Freeway Signed by Governor

Governor Jerry Brown has signed a measure to clear the way for the sale of state-owned real estate along the 710 Freeway corridor in South Pasadena and end decades of speculation about a freeway surface route. Assemblymember Chris Holden, who represents Monrovia, is a principal co-author on SB 416, authored by Senator Carol Liu, who also represents Monrovia.

Source: Holden press release

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia's AeroVironment Gets $20 Million U.S. Army Order

Monrovia's AeroVironment announced today it has received a $20 million U.S. Army order for multi-axis pan, tilt and zoom sensor payloads to upgrade the Army's RQ-11B Raven drones.

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Shouldn't Be Seriously Affected by Federal Government Shutdown

Monrovia City Manager Laurie Lile told the City Council that a brief federal government shutdown should not cause much of a problem, but if it is longer, people who rely on government checks, like Social Security, could be hurt. Still, she said, local government services probably would not be significantly affected unless the shutdown is lengthy.

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Council: Holden Report on State; Closure of Myrtle

~ Assemblymember Chris Holden told the Monrovia City Council the state economy has rebounded, he'd like to switch school funding from being attendance-based to enrollment-based, that he supports more local control of money used for local infrastructure, and that he is disappointed that his human trafficking bill - which would allow law enforcement to listen in on cell phone calls - was shot down. He said he'd try again in January.

~ Gold Line Construction Authority spokesman Habib Balian told the council Myrtle will be closed at the rail crossing from early next year until October.

- Brad Haugaard

$1.5 Million to Fix Old Monrovia Train Station; Station Square Features

It'll cost $1.5 million to fix up the old Monrovia train station, according to the developer working on the planned Station Square Project around the upcoming Gold Line station. Councilman Tom Adams suggested leasing the building for $1 a year in exchange for some private company fixing it.

Also at the City Council's Station Square study session this evening were preliminary plans for the project, which show a parking structure, traffic circle out front, tree-lined promenade and park area, commercial spaces, restrooms, and a cross-track pedestrian path. Oh, and Councilwoman Becky Shevlin wants a water feature - a fountain or something.

There was more, but the Internet video stream went off the air.

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Firm Testing Autoimmune Drug | Blessing the Animals | Forest Closed | Watch for Fraud

~ Monrovia's Xencor, Inc. today announced that the first patient has been given a dose of XmAb587 in a clinical trial for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The drug has the potential to treat other autoimmune diseases, such as lupus. In autoimmune diseases the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy body tissue. http://goo.gl/V3Gqul

~ Monrovia's St. Luke Episcopal Church (corner of Foothill and California) will hold a "Blessing of the Animals" service on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 10 a.m. Bring your pet (all species welcome).

~ Angeles Forest shuts down. The Forest Service reports: "Due to the lapse in federal government funding, the U.S. Forest Service, as with other federal agencies, is closed with the exception of certain essential services. However, we will attempt to make timely updates about public health and safety."

~ Monrovia Chamber of Commerce reports that a company is calling local businesses and falsely claiming to be working for the Chamber, and is threatening fines for being out of compliance with poster regulations.

- Brad Haugaard

Prediction for Monrovia vs. St. Francis Game

Star-News sports writer Steve Ramirez is picking St. Francis (La Canada) over Monrovia in this Friday's game (7 p.m. at Monrovia), but thinks it could go either way. http://goo.gl/DsTtSO

- Brad Haugaard