Monrovia Library Modified-Book Judging | MHS Painting

~ Monrovia Library is now judging the altered books entered in it's altered book contest. "The judges are taking a very hard look and frankly, it's hard.... Winning entries will be showcased on this very blog soon after." http://goo.gl/uvGPl

~ Monrovia High being renovated. http://goo.gl/jLqle

- Brad Haugaard

Old Town Monrovia Money

Been a bit unsure about the US dollar lately? Well, you may want to consider swapping some of them for the new Old Town money. The exchange rate is currently one-for-one. The new embossed currency is currently available at City Hall and will soon also be available in Old Town Monrovia. You can spend the money in Old Town. A number of stores have a sign in the window, or just ask.

Accepted (among other businesses) at:

A&M Heating and Air, Bellisima Salon & Day Spa, Candy Connection, Charlie's House, Crown Shoes, Diggin' for Daisies, Dollmakers' Kattywompus, Family Affair Music, Friends of Dorothy, Joe Ferrante Music Academy, kate | yoga, L&G Fashion Boutique, London Gastropub, Monrovia Bakery, Monrovia Floral, Nani Skin Care, Pages From the Heart, Paint n Play, Peach Cafe, Rudy's Mexican Restaurant, Salon Xylem, See and Believe Events, Six 2 Six, Stix Rideshop, Wil's Sport & Tackle.

- Brad Haugaard

Profile of Monrovia's Bowden Company

Profile of Todd Bowden's Monrovia home building company.  http://goo.gl/h4Eaz

- Brad Haugaard

Classic Rock Sunday at Library Park

This Sunday, free concert featuring The Answer, a SoCal Classic Rock group. 7- 8:30 p.m. at the bandshell at Library Park. http://goo.gl/9OB8K

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovian Creates ArtsyNote.com to Create Silly Messages

Monrovian Brad Haugaard - who has laughable pretensions of being a computer programmer - has created an online tool called ArtsyNote.com to create way-too-cutsy messages for friends. He hopes Monrovians (especially those who use the Mac's Safari browser since he hasn't tested it on Safari) will give it a shot and let him know if it has any bugs.

This shows what it does: http://goo.gl/Kgk2e

And here's the home page: http://artsynote.com/

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia's Green Dot Stock Falls Off a Cliff - Down 61.15%

The stock of Monrovia's Green Dot took a huge plunge today, dropping $14 per share, a fall of 61.15%, to end the day at $9.06. The fall resulted in a class action suit on behalf of shareholders filed by Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP. Here is the announcement of the suit ( http://goo.gl/PSk3w ), which says the stock fell because the company updated its outlook for the rest of the year to reflect increased competition. The suit claims the company "made false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts..."

- Brad Haugaard

Gold Line Billboards

Monrovia Gold Line billboard

The Gold Line has posted billboards at the soon-to-exist stations from Arcadia to Azusa. This is the Monrovia billboard. http://goo.gl/6Ktxv

- Brad Haugaard

Gold Line Billboards

Monrovia Gold Line billboard

The Gold Line has posted billboards at the soon-to-exist stations from Arcadia to Azusa. This is the Monrovia billboard. http://goo.gl/6Ktxv

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Rotary Old West BBQ Fundraiser

Rotary Club 'Old West' BBQ and Casino Night fundraiser. Sept. 22. Monrovia Community Center (Old West attire), 119 W Palm Ave, 6-10 p.m. Hor d'oeuvres, dinner, four drink tickets, and 250 playing chips - $70 per ticket. 626-824-2471 or http://www.monroviarotaryevents.com for
tickets.

Activities:

- Casino games (black jack, roulette, and craps)
- BBQ extravaganza, being prepared by Grill-Master Fil Lujan
- Texas Hold’em tournament (sign up early, 20 seats available)
- Great entertainment and line dancing
- Silent Auction
- Prizes, surprises

Proceeds benefit the many projects of the Rotary Club of Monrovia, including:

- College Scholarships for Monrovia Students
- Vocational Scholarships
- Youth Leadership Training
- School Tutoring
- Hermosillo Wheel Chair Project
- Foothill Unity Center
- Monrovia Reads
- YMCA

- Brad Haugaard

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly Article on Colorado Killings and Gun Control

An opinion article by Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, who represents part of Monrovia, saying tougher gun control laws wouldn't have prevented the Colorado killings. http://goo.gl/TXQKg

- Brad Haugaard

Lunch at Round Table Pizza

Lunch at Round Table Pizza, in the Huntington Oaks Shopping Center. Got a large regular crust pepperoni and sausage pizza and a couple drinks for about $20. Good, hot, basic pizza. No pretensions. And we took four slices home to our pizza-loving son.

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Police: Threatening Phone Calls, Watch Out for 'Distraction' Burglaries

[Monrovia Police activities from the Police Department's Neighborhood Watch Report for July 23-25. - Brad Haugaard]

During the last seven-day period, the Police Department handled 536 service events, resulting in 86 investigations.

 

Threats / Annoying Phone Calls

July 23 at 5:09 p.m., a mental health facility in the 2600 block of South California called to report a disturbed client who was making threatening phone calls and was now at the facility.  The client is a 42-year-old, male Hispanic subject.  He was upset at his doctor and was demanding a termination of service form.  The subject is schizophrenic, off his medication, and was acting oddly and making wild allegations.  Officers responded, but the subject left the location prior to their arrival.  The suspect was not located.  The investigation is continuing.

 

Vehicle Burglary

July 24 at 8:58 p.m., a vehicle burglary was reported in a business parking lot in the 700 block of East Huntington.  The burglary occurred between 7:15 and 8:45 p.m.  The victim left the windows of the vehicle down 4 to 5 inches.  A wallet and the car stereo were stolen.  Investigation continuing.

 

 

Tip of the Week

  

Distraction Burglaries - Don't Be a Victim

Recently, there have been a number of burglaries in the San Gabriel Valley where suspects have posed as either city workers or utility workers.  Please be cautious anytime someone comes to your door claiming to be a utility worker.  In these recent cases, the suspect wore a shirt and/or hat that identified him as a worker with a particular city or utility.  They convinced the resident to go into the backyard to look at either an electrical pole or some other meter.  While the victim is distracted in the backyard, a second suspect enters the home, ransacking various rooms and stealing property.  In each case, the suspect has either had a cell phone or wireless headset that allowed him to keep in contact with the second suspect.

  

Anytime someone contacts you at your residence claiming to be a utility or city worker, request that they show you valid identification.  A genuine caller will be happy to comply and there is no need to be embarrassed.  Distraction burglars often target single occupant homes and the elderly, but anyone can become a victim if you are not on your guard.  Remember, you do not have to open your door to anyone.  If you have any concerns about the validity of their employment, please call the Monrovia Police Department and have an officer come out and verify that they are a legitimate utility or city worker. 

Huff: State Fails to Address Pension Reform | Copper Theft

~ State Senator Bob Huff, who represents Monrovia, accuses Governor Jerry Brown and Legislative Democrats of failing to address "the elephant in the room" - public employee pensions - while pushing for a tax hike in November. http://goo.gl/WQqVA

~ Thieves stealing copper wire from city stoplights. http://goo.gl/wgUb5

- Brad Haugaard

Huff: State Fails to Address Pension Reform | Copper Theft

~ State Senator Bob Huff, who represents Monrovia, accuses Governor Jerry Brown and Legislative Democrats of failing to address "the elephant in the room" - public employee pensions - while pushing for a tax hike in November. http://goo.gl/WQqVA

~ Thieves stealing copper wire from city stoplights. http://goo.gl/wgUb5

- Brad Haugaard

Green Dot Signs Deal, Reports Earnings | Aerospace in Monrovia

~ Monrovia's Green Dot has signed a deal with UniRush, provider of the prepaid Visa RushCard. "The Agreement provides that Green Dot Bank will serve as the exclusive issuer of the retail version of the RushCard.... Green Dot has also agreed to make the product available for sale by select Green Dot retail partners nationwide, which includes many of the leading national grocery, mass merchandise, drug and convenience store chains." http://goo.gl/4NfV6

~ Green Dot has also reported its second quarter earnings. The company "reported a 17% year-over-year increase in non-GAAP total operating revenues to $139.3 million and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.35. GAAP results for the second quarter were $136.7 million in revenues and $0.27 in diluted earnings per share." http://goo.gl/53RWe

~ A brief report from the city about the aerospace industry in Monrovia. It employs about 1,000 people. http://goo.gl/58ARw

- Brad Haugaard

Photo: Monrovian Arrested

Monrovian arrested in parole sweep. http://goo.gl/XP86C

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia's Vinyl Tech Wins Business Award

Vinyl Technology of Monrovia has been selected by Hispanicbusiness.com as one of its "Top 500 Hispanic Businesses." http://goo.gl/QxFGz

- Brad Haugaard

Gold Line Spokesman Concerned About Measure R

Gold Line spokesman Habib Balian commented on the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments' (SGVCOG) support of Measure R, saying, "it is unfortunate that Metro continues to deny the Foothill Extension project," and that "the Construction Authority will continue to raise questions about the validity of the approved expenditure plan for the Measure's extension as it relates to our project."

According to this article ( http://goo.gl/ZMmFT ), the reason extending Measure R got SGVCOG's approval is because of an amendment that would allow the Metro to divert highway funds for Metro projects, though not requiring those funds to go to the Gold Line. So, if the Metro board decides to, it might pay to extend the Gold Line past Azusa.

Opinion: As I understand it, the original Measure R mandated the track would go to Claremont. Now, in what appears to be a flat violation of that mandate, Metro is denying the funds to make that happen. So... they aren't even attempting to follow the current law but SGVCOG wants us to give them more money so maybe someday if they feel like it they might extend the track to Claremont? This is highly unpersuasive.

- Brad Haugaard

Pouring the Bridge Deck and Checking Decorative Work Moldings

Gold Line spokesman Habib Balian reports that the formwork for the 210 bridge deck is being completed and concrete will be poured next week. Also, pictures of the bridge team reviewing the materials and sample forms for the decorative baskets on the bridge. Top, Director of Construction, Gary Baker, reviews the sample forms, and below, bridge design concept advisor Andrew Leicester looks over a sample form for the "reeds" that will extend from each basket.

 
- Brad Haugaard

Digital Storytelling Demo at Library

Demonstration of digital storytelling with DJ Phatrick. Incorporating multi-track recording and music. Saturday, July 28, 1-4 p.m. in Library Community Room. Free but sign up by calling 256-8274.

- Brad Haugaard