Mountain Views News          Saturday, November 27, 2010

5

 
Mountain Views News Saturday, November 27, 2010 

Book to Movie: 
Take 3!

Friday, December 3 at 3:30 
p.m. all middle school 
students sixth through eighth 
grade are invited to join in on 
the fun with a book discussion 
of The Lightning Thief. Each 
month join us as we enjoy 
snacks, create themed crafts 
and have fun. 

The Arcadia Public Library 
is located at 20 W. Duarte 
Rd. Arcadia. For more 
information, please call (626) 
821-5566.


Of Caruso, Stronach, 
Rusnak, more

Sitting in on board meetings 
of various organizations 
around town 
sure reinforces what 
great things are going on 
around town and what 
great people we have doing 
them. Here are some 
odds and end news nuggets 
I’ve picked up in the 
past few days, weeks, and 
months at Chamber of 
Commerce and Library 
board meetings:

by Scott Hettrick - Arcadia’s 
Best

U.S. funds Arcadia street upgrades: 
City staff took advantage 
of federal transportation 
funding to cover 80% of the 
$1.7 million it cost to widen 
and add turn lanes at three major 
intersections on Santa Anita 
Avenue — Duarte Road, then 
Foothill Boulevard, and now 
Live Oak Avenue.

Mall biz growing; mall expanding?: 
Westfield Santa Anita 
business was up 6% in October, 
with traffic up 8%. The mall 
recently filed a non-specific 
application with the city to 
convert the former and vacant 
Robinsons-May building to 
be used for a large-scale retail 
store and several small retailers 
that would flow out into the 
food court area.

No housing slump here: While 
new home construction has 
stalled in many cities, in one 
recent month Arcadia had 61 
new homes being built, including 
52 tear-downs/rebuilds and 
9 brand new homes.

Rusnak talking again: With the 
city in escrow on key properties 
on Morlan Avenue near 
the Rusnak Mercedes car lot on 
Huntington Drive west of Santa 
Anita, talks have resumed with 
Rusnak about buying those 
properties from the City to expand 
his dealership.

Caruso/Stronach talking again 
— smaller Shops at Santa Anita?: 
Officials report a new deal 
may be finalized by December 
between Rick Caruso and 
Santa Anita Park owner Frank 
Stronach about a new partnership 
between the two titans on 
a slightly scaled-down Shops at 
Santa Anita project.

Joint-Use Gym: The new joint-
use (City/School District) 
gymnasium being built at Dana 
Middle School will be opened 
in January with a City staff person 
assigned to manage it. The 
City will have use of it evenings 
and weekends, with the school 
accessing it weekdays.

Synthetic soccer field: The soccer 
field at City Hall will soon 
have the field replaced with a 
synthetic turf.

All bets off for Red Cross Monte 
Carlo night: With the Red 
Cross undergoing staffing and 
management changes, the annual 
Monte Carlo night fund-
raiser usually held in November 
has been canceled.

Bridge, anyone?: In addition 
to the $14 million bridge to be 
built over Santa Anita Avenue 
and the Iconic Freeway Structure 
(bridge) to be built over 
the 210 freeway for the Gold 
Line Foothill Extension, starting 
in January 14-weeks of 
work will begin to retrofit and 
add a second set of tracks for 
the bridge running diagonally 
over Huntington Drive at Second 
Avenue. And the bridge 
over Colorado Avenue west 
of Santa Anita Avenue near 
Newcastle Park will need to be 
torn down completely in late 
2011 and replaced with a wider 
bridge.

School budgets down 22%: Arcadia 
School District budgets 
have been slashed a whopping 
22% in the past two years, 
which means the school board 
and administrators deserve 
praise for ensuring the quality 
of education amidst such dramatic 
spending cuts.

School buildings get their own 
showcase between holidays

Before construction begins on 
the high-profile performing 
arts center, the public is invited 
to a preview tour of the completed 
Student Services Building 
on Campus Drive, 45,000 
square-foot Science Center and 
adjacent 134-seat Lecture Hall 
on Duarte Road from 2 p.m. 
– 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11. Exhibits 
and demonstrations will 
be available.

The Student Services Building 
on Campus Drive, which 
will serve as the school’s “front 
door” is a 50,000+ square-foot, 
two-story structure with 18 new 
classrooms that are each about 
2,600 square feet. The entry 
lobby and waiting area is about 
half that size at 1,250 square-
feet. In addition to AHS admin 
offices, conference rooms, labs, 
and others, the building also 
includes a new TV classroom 
studio with modern control 
and editing rooms, according 
to School District Superintendent 
Dr. Joel Shawn.

Library traffic/use in the fast 
lane

Did you know that the Arcadia 
Public Library had nearly 
600,000 visitors in the past year 
and loaned out the collection 
of nearly 200,000 books and 
other items such as DVDs and 
audio books more than 725,000 
times? That’s way more than ten 
times the number of residents 
in Arcadia. About 168,000 visited 
the ever-expanding web 
site.

Also exceeding the population 
was the number of questions 
asked of librarians: nearly 
64,000. Maybe that’s because 
there are nearly as many current 
library cards for the Arcadia 
library the number of 
people living in town: more 
than 53,000. That’s a much 
higher percentage than the 
62% nationally, which is also 
impressive.

That means the library staff can 
always use help, which they got 
last year from 238 volunteers 
who put in more than 15,700 
hours, 32 of those volunteers 
tutoring residents how to use 
one of the library’s 60 computers 
— 802 questions and 7,435 
computer sessions in October 
alone!

Proving that public libraries remain 
a vital part of American 
life, there are 16,604 of them in 
the U.S., more than the number 
of McDonald’s restaurants.

– By Scott Hettrick

Carols, Choirs, 
and Cookies

“Joy in This Place” will be 
the holiday music theme 
for a Carol-Sing/Cookie-
Feast hosted by the Women’s 
Association of the Arcadia 
Presbyterian Church. 
Everyone is invited to taste 
some wonderful home-made 
Christmas cookies and sing 
favorite carols on Sat., Dec. 4, 
at 3:00 p.m.

Several magnificent 
choirs will be featured. 
Tabitha Henken will direct 
the combined choirs of 
Westminster Gardens, Royal 
Oaks Manor, and New Hope 
Presbyterian Church. The 
77-voice Arroyo High School 
Choir will be directed by 
Jennifer Stanley. Pianist John 
Brunn will accompany both 
groups.

Ms. Henken will open the 
festivities with carols played 
on the church’s beautiful 
3-manual organ. A cantata, 
“Joy in This Place,” is the 
centerpiece of the choral 
offerings by the combined 
choirs. The program will 
conclude with everyone’s 
joining to sing Handel’s 
glorious “Hallelujah Chorus.” 

 This is a marvelous 
opportunity to usher in the 
holiday season, and to fill 
your heart and spirit with 
joyful music celebrating Jesus’ 
birth!

The Presbyterian Church 
is located at 121 Alice 
St., Arcadia. For more 
information, call 626-445-
7470.

Breakfast with Santa 
and Holiday Snow 
Festival!

Saturday, December 4th

Get ready for the holidays and come join 
us for breakfast with Santa on Saturday, 
December 4th at the Arcadia Community 
Center, 365 Campus Drive, Arcadia, CA 
91007. Breakfast with Santa is $8 per person 
and includes breakfast, photos with Santa 
and holiday entertainment. There will be two 
options for breakfast: 8:30-9:30am (#4030) 
or 10:30-11:30am (#4031). Space is limited. 
Registrations are being accepted now! Just go 
on-line to the City of Arcadia’s website: www.
ci.arcadia.ca.us, to download the registration 
form or stop by the office, 375 Campus Drive. 

The Holiday Snow Festival is free to the 
public and will also take place at the Arcadia 
Community Center on the same day from 
9am-2pm. This event will feature holiday 
entertainment, crafts, trolley train rides, 
dual sled runs and two snow play areas. 
Carl’s Jr. will be available for purchase from 
11:30am-1:30pm. Santa will only be present 
at the Breakfast with Santa Event. Parking 
will be available at Gate 4 of the Santa Anita 
Race Track. Shuttle service will be available 
to transport participants to and from the 
Community Center from 7:45am-2:15pm. 
In the event of rain, the Snow Festival will 
be held Saturday, December 11th. For more 
information please call 626.574.5113!

Arcadia Police Blotter

For the period of Sunday, November 14, through Saturday, November 20, the Police Department 
responded to 909 calls for service of which 136 required formal investigations. The following is a summary 
report of the major incidents handled by the Department during this period.

Sunday, November 14:

1. Around 3:26 a.m., AMH security advised that a driver with facial injuries entered their parking 
lot in a vehicle with two flat tires and front end damage. Security personnel directed the driver to a 
Chevron gas station in the 100 block of Huntington for possible repairs. Units located the vehicle with 
three male Hispanic occupants. The odor of an alcoholic beverage was detected on the 26-year-old 
driver’s breath, and a field sobriety test was conducted. It was determined that the driver was operating 
the vehicle while intoxicated and was arrested for DUI. The passengers, both 20 years of age, were also 
arrested for public intoxication. Assisting officers located the accident scene at Holly and Campus, 
where a City sign was damaged in the center median.

2. While on routine patrol around 9:37 p.m., an automated license plate reader alerted officers to 
a vehicle that had a $75,000 misdemeanor warrant attached to it. A traffic stop was initiated at Duarte 
and Holly, and a record check of the 42-year-old male Hispanic driver confirmed that he had a warrant 
and was arrested at the scene without incident.

Monday, November 15:

3. Units responded to Nordstrom in reference to an internal investigation of thefts committed 
by an employee between August 31 and November 15. Loss prevention personnel discovered an 
employee had made fraudulent returns of merchandise in which he credited to Nordstrom gift cards. 
The employee then used the gift cards to make purchases with his employee discount. A 23-year-old 
male Caucasian was arrested for grant theft and commercial burglary.

4. Around 8:49 p.m., officers observed a vehicle traveling about five miles per hour with its 
headlights off. A traffic stop was conducted at Peck and Clark and two male occupants were contacted. 
When questioned, one subject admitted that he had a methamphetamine smoking pipe inside the car. 
Officers searched the vehicle and a smoking pipe was located, along with a keyhole lock punch, multiple 
screwdrivers, knife, flashlight, and GPS unit. A 24-year-old Caucasian and a 31-year-old male Hispanic 
were arrested for attempted auto burglary, receiving stolen property, and possession of burglary tools. 
The older subject was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and two outstanding warrants 
totaling $70,000. 

Tuesday, November 16:

5. Officers responded to City Hall in reference to a fraud report around 8:55 a.m. A City 
employee was notified by her credit card company of possible fraudulent activities on her account. She 
discovered that unknown suspect(s) had made 11 fraudulent charges totaling over $1,943.

6. Shortly before 5:00 p.m., a consensual contact with two male subjects was made at the Unocal 
gas station located at 701 West Huntington. A consent search of their vehicle was also initiated, and 
officers located a fraudulent social security card. A 22-year-old male Hispanic was arrested at the scene.

Wednesday, November 17:

7. Around 10:00 a.m., a robbery and residential burglary occurred in the 300 block of 
California. Two male Hispanic suspects entered the house by pretending to deliver a UPS package, and 
one suspect also displayed a semi-automatic handgun. The housekeeper’s eyes were covered with tape 
and her hands were bound. The suspects stole miscellaneous jewelry, watches, and a safe. 

8. Units were sent to the 500 block of West Leroy regarding a grand theft that occurred between 
8:00 p.m. on November 2 and 9:00 p.m. on November 14. It is believed that a former 59-year-old 
female Asian housekeeper stole $8,000 from a houseguest staying at the home. 

Thursday, November 18:

9. A traffic stop was conducted at Baldwin and Huntington for a code violation around 10:09 
p.m. Record checks of the occupants were conducted and it revealed that a 27-year-old male 
Caucasian passenger had a $15,000 outstanding warrant for DUI. The man was arrested at the scene.

10. Shortly before midnight, units were dispatched to the 800 block of West Duarte in reference 
to a disturbance between a mother and son. A record check revealed that the 27-year-old male 
Hispanic had a $50,000 outstanding warrant for possession of a controlled substance and was taken 
into custody.

Friday, November 19:

11. Between 11:00 p.m. on November 18 and 6:30 a.m. on November 19, a residential burglary 
and vehicle theft occurred in the 300 block of Oxford. Unknown suspect(s) entered the house through 
an unsecured window and stole a purse, gaming console, and a 1998 BMW from the driveway.

12. A Wells Fargo representative came to the station around 11:14 a.m. to file a fraud report. A 
female suspect deposited four non-sufficient checks totaling $25,150 into her checking account and 
then withdrew the funds shortly thereafter.

Saturday, November 20:

13. Around 2:14 p.m., units responded to Motel 6, 225 Colorado, regarding a vehicle theft and 
grand theft report. The victim advised that he was partying with a female acquaintance in the room 
and they both fell asleep. When he awoke he discovered that the woman had stolen $500 from 
his wallet and his 2007 Nissan Sentra. The woman was later arrested by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s 
Department and the victim’s car was recovered.

14. Around 5:23 p.m., a 28-year-old male Asian driver was busy looking for a street address 
and collided with a patrol unit in the intersection of First and Diamond. Fortunately, there were no 
injuries.

Winter Holidays 
Around the World 
at the Arcadia 
Historical Museum

On Saturday, December 
18 at 2:30 p.m., come see 
how people around the 
world celebrate the winter 
holidays! Enjoy an afternoon 
filled with activities and 
crafts including a puppet 
show! Get a henna tattoo 
and make a cheeky caroler! 
Seating is limited and 
families will be accepted in 
the order that they are in 
line.

 The Arcadia Historical 
Museum is located at 380 W. 
Huntington Drive, immediately 
behind the Community Center. 

 For more information, please 
call (626) 574-5440.

APARTMENT 
FOR RENT

753D Arcadia Avenue 
Arcadia

1 BR Refrigerator/Stove 
A/C - Carport

$1095 per month 

Call 626-893-0473