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Make Your Garden California Friendly | New Monrovia Condos at Ivy and Olive

~ Learn 6 ways to make your garden California friendly, Friday, Feb. 21, 6-9 p.m. at the Upper Water District board room - 602 E. Huntington Drive, Suite B, Monrovia. Limited to 50 people. Email Ruby@usgvmwd.org or call (626) 443-2297 to attend. http://goo.gl/7NifO4

~ Artistic evening photo of the new condos at the corner of Ivy and Olive. http://goo.gl/tSSCxl

- Brad Haugaard

Fundraiser for Monrovia's Unity Center | A Bit of Wind?

~ Foothill Unity Center fundraiser, Thursday, Feb. 27, 3-9 p.m. Foothill Unity Center Auxiliary will receive ten percent of all dining proceeds. Paco's Mexican Restaurant, 200 E. Foothill, Arcadia.

~ Possibility of wind up to 14 miles per hour tomorrow (Wednesday). http://goo.gl/FHx2Y9

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Police: Domestic Violence; Fraudulent Travelers Checks; Etc.

[Monrovia Police activities from the Police Department's Neighborhood Watch Report for February 13-16. - Brad Haugaard]

Following are the weekend's highlighted issues and events.

Warrant - Suspect Arrested
February 13 at 12:37 p.m., an officer observed a subject at a park in the 300 block of South Myrtle who he knew had an outstanding warrant out of Arcadia Police Department for domestic violence. He detained and arrested the suspect for the warrant.

Attempt Burglary
February 14 at 3:37 p.m., the principal of a learning center in the 1000 block of South Canyon reported that someone attempted to break in on February 12. She said a security camera shows a subject removing a window screen. Apparently the alarm went off and the suspect fled. The investigation is continuing.

Battery / Mental Evaluation - Suspect Arrested
February 14 at 5:23 p.m., a woman and her husband were walking northbound on Mauna Loa from Foothill when a mentally ill female subject began to chase them and attempted to hit the woman. Another female subject attempted to tell the mentally ill woman that her dogs had gotten out and she punched this female. Police responded and took the woman to a hospital, where she was held for mental evaluation. The female subject who was punched called police to press battery charges against the subject.

Fraudulent Use of Travelers Checks - Suspects Arrested
February 14 at 5:29 p.m., a loss prevention officer from a business in the 500 block of West Huntington called police to report a fraud in progress. Two females and one male subject were attempting to use fraudulent traveler's checks to make a purchase in the store. The same subjects reportedly used fraudulent traveler's checks at the Ontario branch of the same store at 12:00 p.m. that same day. They were now at the Monrovia store attempting to commit the same crime. Officers arrived and detained the three suspects as they were exiting the store. All three suspects were arrested and taken into custody for fraudulent use of traveler's checks.

Domestic Violence - Suspect Arrested
February 14 at 7:05 p.m., a male and female who are homeless were sitting on a bench in the park in the 300 block of South Myrtle. The male and female have been living together for eight years. The male suspect punched the female victim in the head and knocked her unconscious. Police responded and the suspect was arrested for domestic violence. The suspect is confined to a wheelchair, has a medical condition, and could not be housed at the Monrovia jail. He was taken to the Los Angeles County jail for housing. A computer check revealed the suspect is the restrained party in a domestic violence restraining order and the victim is the protected person.

Vehicle Burglary
February 15 at 8:24 a.m., a vehicle burglary was reported in the 300 block of South Violet Avenue. The victim reported that his vehicle was broken into and a backpack containing an iPad, iPod and other miscellaneous items was taken. The investigation is continuing.

Felony Vandalism
February 15 at 1:11 p.m., the victim parked his vehicle at a hotel in the 700 block of West Huntington at 2:00 a.m. in the morning. He went to his vehicle at 1:00 p.m. the next day and saw the rear passenger side door had been kicked in. Writing had been scratched into the paint and the right front fender area was damaged. The victim is from Nevada and had no idea how the damaged occurred. The investigation is continuing.

Domestic Violence - Suspect Arrested
February 15 at 2:53 p.m., police responded to the report of a male and female pushing each other in front of a residence in the 800 block of Alta Street. Officers arrived and separated the subjects, who are boyfriend and girlfriend. The subjects recently moved from Colorado to Monrovia and have been staying at her mother's house. They were involved in an argument and the male suspect choked the mother first and then the girlfriend. The suspect had a cut on this hand from breaking a mirror. Monrovia Fire Department paramedics responded and treated him for the injury. He was then arrested and taken into custody.

Girl Scouts and Monrovia VFW Retire Flags

The VFW recently had a flag retirement ceremony with a standing-room-only crowd. VFW spokesman Robert Parry reports that the Girl Scouts prepared more than 350 flags for burning over two days, but we only got through about 75. The Post will handle the the remnants.  Girl Scout Vienna Smith-Murillo, a Gold Award candidate and Freshman at Mayfield School, organized the event with VFW help.

- Brad Haugaard

Opinion: The Metro - Nice Trains, Lousy Ticket Machines

The Metro is coming to Monrovia soon, so to get a preview my wife and I decided to take the Metro into LA and have lunch at Phillipe's, so we got on at the Sierra Madre Villa station. I love trains and this one was clean and nice and the ride was pleasant, but the automatic ticket machine was - in my grandmother's colorful vocabulary - a disgrace to the hooty owls. It is the most baffling, confusing, frustrating ticket machine I have EVER had the misfortune to encounter. Even multi-language ticket machines in Europe are a breeze to use in comparison. And while we stood there confounded three other people expressed their confusion as well. And the five of us were the only ones there! 100% confusion.

So, can you Metro people please find some decent ticket machines before you install them in the Monrovia station?

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Author Publishes Outer Space Cowboy Book

Hard-working Monrovia author (right) with his editorial assistant (left).

Slow news day, so I'll mention that a Monrovia author (me) has just published a little Kindle novella on Amazon called The Outlander. It's a lightweight, old-fashioned western with a bit of adventure and a bit of romance. All that, and it takes place on another planet. For 99 cents you won't go broke.

Blurb: If his father's life wasn't at stake, TirĂ³n was the last planet in the galaxy Cyrus would have visited. It was like Arizona in 1875, and he had miles to ride along a dusty trail with a killer behind him and right ahead a beautiful young woman with a very short fuse...

Here it is: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I8VRJAC

- Brad Haugaard


Progress on Xpress Car Wash and Del Taco in East Monrovia

Construction seems to be proceeding nicely on the Xpress Car Wash (top) and the Del Taco (bottom) next to each other on Huntington at the east end of Monrovia, across from Target. Does it seem they're making fast food restaurants a lot bigger these days?

-Brad Haugaard

New Monrovia Subway

A new Subway sandwich shop has opened at the Rite Aiid shopping center at the corner of Huntington and Magnolia. The grand opening was just this weekend. Thanks to Brad Hori for the tip.

- Brad Haugaard

Parry: Woman Hurt, Homeless Man Arrested

Former Monrovia City Council candidate, Robert Parry, writes on Facebook: "I just saw one lady taken to the hospital and one guy arrested at the library park. He is one of the regulars among the homeless group."

Parry has been pushing the city to do something about homeless people congregating in Library Park.

- Brad Haugaard

Columnist Lauds Monrovia Hillside Preserve Booklet

San Gabriel Valley Tribune columnist Steve Scauzillo writes approvingly of a new booklet describing the Monrovia Hillside Preserve: http://goo.gl/HXjg8p . (Oh, by the way, here is a link to the booklet: http://goo.gl/EDFK08 )

- Brad Haugaard

Games for Kids at Monrovia Library

Board, video, and computer games at the Monrovia Public Library Community Room tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 15, 7-9 p.m. For grades 6-12 only.

- Brad Haugaard

Lunch at Caffe Opera

Lunch at Caffe Opera, at the corner of Myrtle and Lime. Elegant. Got the Atlantic Salmon ($15) and a beer ($4.25). Meal comes with delicious, fresh bread.  The salmon was very good, too. Had bread pudding ($7) for desert - very good!

- Brad Haugaard

New Restaurant: Distillery-Theme with Copper, Wood | Arroyo Coach Declines Monrovia

~ The Community Development Department reports that the planned Copper Still Grill, where Sam's Mediterranean Kabob used to be, will be "reminiscent of days gone by; rustic, distillery-themed with interior decor treatments of wood and copper throughout." http://goo.gl/TEKwY8

~ Arroyo High School head coach Jim Singiser has reportedly been approached to be considered as Monrovia's head coach, but declined. http://goo.gl/CR9LMs

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Police: Car Crimes; Suspect on Flyer Arrested

[Monrovia Police activities from the Police Department's Neighborhood Watch Report for February 10–12. - Brad Haugaard]

During the last seven-day period, the Police Department handled 358 service events, resulting in 66 investigations.

Grand Theft Auto / Vehicle Recovered

February 10 at 9:23 a.m., a parking control officer noticed a vehicle parked in a no parking zone in the 100 block of West Central Avenue. The officer determined the registered owner lived at an address nearby and the owner was contacted. The owner said they last saw their vehicle in their driveway. It was determined that the vehicle had been stolen and left a few blocks away. A police officer responded to take a report. The investigation is continuing.

Wanted Person / Assault with a Deadly Weapon – Suspect Arrested

February 10 at 10:47 p.m., an officer was on patrol in the 200 block of North Grand Avenue when he saw a male subject who he recognized from a wanted persons flyer. He detained the suspect and confirmed it was the person from the flyer. The suspect was wanted for assault with a deadly weapon, a crime that occurred on February 7 in the 300 block of South Myrtle Avenue. The suspect was arrested and taken into custody.

Vehicle Burglary

February 11 at 6:03 a.m., police responded to the report of a vehicle burglary. A resident in the 500 block of West Duarte parked her vehicle in the carport area of her apartment complex in the evening. At approximately 4:40 a.m., she heard her car alarm activate. She looked out her window and saw a tan Honda Accord parked next to her vehicle that drove away with its lights blacked out. The victim saw three male Hispanics in the vehicle. The loss consisted of two jackets, the vehicle manual and service records. The investigation is continuing.

Grand Theft Auto / Vehicle Recovered

February 11 at 7:06 a.m., a vehicle was reported stolen from the 700 block of South Myrtle. The resident parked his vehicle in front of his residence in the evening and at 7:00 a.m. noticed it was missing. The vehicle was entered into the stolen vehicle system and the LoJack system was activated. Officers received a hit and located the vehicle in the 200 block of Stedman. There appeared to be no loss from the vehicle and there was no sign of forced entry. It was discovered during the investigation that the victim had left the valet key in the vehicle. The investigation is continuing.

New Monrovia Pizzeria Opens Tomorrow


Flamzz (I think it's pronounced "flames") is opening tomorrow, Friday. It seems to be a gourmet build-your-own pizza place. It's at the corner of Colorado and Ivy.

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Council: Tax Revenue Up ... Kinda; Robotics Team; City Newsletter

At its Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m. meeting (agenda: http://goo.gl/Tk4Q4x ), the Monrovia City Council will ...

~ Review the city's budget. A snip: "Overall revenue projections ... show an increase in both sales and property taxes. At this time, Staff still anticipates positive growth in both areas, but sales tax revenue will be a little less than first anticipated." Details: http://goo.gl/y8WX7k

~ Honor the Monrovia High School Robotics Teams for awards it received at the FIRST Tech Challenge Regional Qualifying Tournaments.

~ Consider having The Sauce Creative Services produce the Monrovia Today newsletter for $11,198.05 per publication during 2014. http://goo.gl/Hv3LnU

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia's Foothill Unity Center Creating 'Diaper Bank'

According to its latest newsletter, Monrovia's Foothill Unity Center wants to create a "Diaper Bank," with diapers and wipes for infants. Email Raina Martinez at raina@foothillunitycenter.org if you'd like to help coordinate the project.

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Wendy's Now Open


The remodeled Wendy's, in the Pavilions shopping area at Foothill and Myrtle, is now open. It looks pretty good. Inside is sort of a video fireplace and free wi-fi. 

-Brad Haugaard

Pictures of All 129 Monrovia Historic Landmarks | Monrovia Police Explorers Bring Home Trophy

~ The Monrovia Community Development Department has compiled a set of photographs of each of the city's 129 Historic Landmarks. Here they all are: http://goo.gl/QGW8OI

~ Last month, Monrovia Police Explorer Post 132 participated in a competition of police skills in Chandler, Arizona, and did well, bringing home a trophy. http://goo.gl/CjNSQn

- Brad Haugaard

Old Tract Map of Monrovia

A cool old tract map of Monrovia from 1887, along with a bit of Monrovia history. Foothill Boulevard used to be called White Oak. Who knew? (Okay, okay, I know. Steve Baker knew.) http://goo.gl/Z30lwr

- Brad Haugaard