Mid-Valley Champs? / Track Ready? / Pipe Corral

PREDICTION ~ Monrovia will be Mid-Valley Division champion. http://goo.gl/wtZEi

TRACK WILL BE READY FOR GAME ~ Monrovia High's new track should be ready in time for Wildcats' first CIF game, against Gladstone. http://goo.gl/IsVSE

PIPE CORRAL ~ There is not much left of the old cabin on the Ben Overturf trail, but this pipe corral has stood the test of time. http://goo.gl/Z6ROw

- Brad Haugaard

Turkey / Maggie Clark

SPARE TURKEY? ~ Foothill Unity Center of Monrovia is distributing Thanksgiving food boxes to an unprecedented 1,400 low-income families next week and is still short 300 turkeys. "If you can donate a fresh or frozen bird, or a gift card for one, we'd be grateful if you could drop it off by 5 p.m. Friday at our Monrovia HQ, 415 W. Chestnut. (Feeling extra-sweet? We also need pies!)"

Source: http://goo.gl/cz7Ov

MAYFLOWER TEACHER HONORED ~ Teacher Maggie Clark honored posthumously. http://goo.gl/Xz1e7

- Brad Haugaard

Gardening / Dates

Monrovia-specific gardening tips. http://goo.gl/yaZtR

History: Monrovia Date Packing. http://goo.gl/63WbB

- Brad Haugaard

Football: Wildcats to Face Gladstone

In the CIF playoffs, Monrovia High faces Gladstone.
http://goo.gl/wPuub

- Brad Haugaard

Football: Wildcats Rio Hondo Champs :-)

Wildcats take league championship with strong win over La Cañada.
 
http://goo.gl/MQ08d
http://goo.gl/NtoA3

- Brad Haugaard

Kidnapping Arrest / Volleyball Loss

Monrovia man arrested in kidnapping case. http://goo.gl/HI4RM
 
Wildcat volleyball team loses to La Reina. http://goo.gl/s1czA
 
- Brad Haugaard

Veterans Day



Veterans Day ceremony at Library Park. I'm a Cold War vet, so if you are planning a war I can recommend that as the best kind.
- Brad Haugaard

ReNEWabottle / Schools to Charge Rent / Nick Bueno

RECYCLED BOTTLE ~ Naked Juice, of Monrovia, is introducing a 100-percent post-consumer recycled plastic bottle for its fruit and vegetable juices. The company is calling it the "reNEWabottle" and estimates it will reduce new plastic consumption by 7.4 million pounds per year. http://goo.gl/Bplaz


RENTAL FEE ~ The Monrovia Unified School District plans to charge organizations for using its facilities. http://goo.gl/73tQR


NICK BUENO ~ A profile of Monrovia High School quarterback star Nick Bueno. http://goo.gl/qTQev



- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Loses to Cerritos / Runner in Jennerstown / MHS Salutes Vets / Council Agenda

CERRITOS MOST BUSINESS FRIENDLY ~ Cerritos has been named the most business friendly city in LA County with a population under 60,000, beating out Monrovia, which was also a finalist. The award was given by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. http://goo.gl/nMdY5
 
RUNNER IN JENNERSTOWN ~ Monrovia lonnng-distance runner, 56-year-old John Radich, has passed through Jennerstown, Pennsylvania, in his quest to run from the Pacific to the Atlantic. He hopes to cool his feet in the Atlantic later this month. http://goo.gl/PTjUX
 
MONROVIA HIGH SALUTES VETS ~ California National Guard Captain Robert Parry raised a flag flown in Afghanistan over Monrovia High School. http://goo.gl/UHlv6
 
COUNCIL AGENDA ONLINE ~ The agenda for the November 16 City Council meeting is now online. You can see it here: http://goo.gl/t8ywD
 
One item on the agenda that caught my eye was a proposal to spend $8.3 million to make improvements to parks throughout Monrovia. I was amazed how much things cost. For example, at Canyon Park, for "Nature Center fencing and display repairs" and "Entry station exterior renovation," it would cost $150,000. Wow! However, it seems unlikely the renovations will proceed in the near future because the report indicates that: "Presently, there is insufficient funding to complete these projects...." http://goo.gl/0fYbs
 
- Brad Haugaard

Church Team Back from Mexico Orphanage

A team from First Presbyterian Church of Monrovia has returned safely from San Juan Bosco Orphanage in Tecate, Mexico, where team members painted the medical clinic, played with the children, gave the orphanage $700 and delivered several months worth of toiletries and cleaning supplies.
 
Source: http://goo.gl/2SdNE
 
- Brad Haugaard

Antonovich Warns of 'Rocky Future'

Michael Antonovich, the Los Angeles County Supervisor who represents Monrovia and much of the San Gabriel Valley, is warning that local governments may be in for serious trouble. On Twitter he writes this series of posts:
 
"California's projected deficit has ballooned to $25.4 billion -- a direct result of budget being built on a house of cards.
 
"This deficit will severely impact every county, city and school district in the state.
 
"We are all in for a rocky future -- especially if the state expects the federal gov't to come to its rescue by just printing money
 
"The State and all local gov'ts will be forced to review all labor agreements and commit to provide only funded mandated programs"
 
- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Police Report - Nov. 4-9

[Monrovia Police activities from the Police Department's Neighborhood Watch Report for November 4-9. - Brad Haugaard]
 
During the last six day period, the Police Department handled 433 service events, resulting in 85 investigations.  Following are the last week's highlighted issues and events:
 

Vehicle Burglary
November 4 at 9:55 a.m., an officer was dispatched to the 300 block of West Central on a vehicle burglary report.  The victim, a perfume distributor, told the officer that someone had broken into his vehicle overnight and had stolen his perfume supply from his vehicle.  The suspect smashed a rear window of the vehicle to gain entry.  The victim's vehicle was parked in his complex.
 

Grand Theft Auto
November 4 at 10:56 a.m., an officer responded to the 100 block of North Fifth regarding a stolen vehicle.  The victim reported his 2005, green, Ford truck was stolen during the night.  The victim has accounted for all sets of keys.
 

Attempt Burglary
November 4 at 2:56 p.m., an officer went to the 300 block of West Duarte regarding an attempt burglary.  The reporting party told the officer that someone had entered the laundry room and tried to break into the coin operated washers.  It appears the suspect used some type of flat screwdriver or pry bar in their attempt.  There was no loss other than the damage to the coin receptacles.
 

Burglary
October 5 at 7:50 a.m., an officer went to the 200 block of West Lemon on a burglary call.  The victim told the officer she secured her garage at 10:30 p.m. and went in the house.  She returned to the garage the next morning and saw the side door damaged.  She looked around and discovered some miscellaneous items missing from her garage.
 

Grand Theft
October 5 at 2:19 p.m., an officer responded to the 300 block of North Bradoaks regarding a grand theft.  The victim reported that he had three mini collectible firearms in a wooden display box stolen from his house last month.  He believes they were taken by a person who came to the house to work on his cable television.
 

Vehicle Burglary
November 5 at 10:45 p.m., a female subject parked and secured her vehicle in a parking lot across from a bar in the 300 block of West Foothill.  At approximately 2:30 a.m., the victim returned to her vehicle and discovered her right rear window was smashed and two purses had been taken from inside the vehicle.
 

Spousal Battery - Suspect Arrested     
November 5 at 10:57 p.m., an officer was dispatched to the area of Fig and Ivy regarding a suspicious person.  Upon arrival, the officer contacted a male subject who was standing in the intersection.  His mouth was bleeding.  The subject's wife was located west of the intersection.
 
The investigation revealed that the couple was driving westbound on the 210 Freeway, approaching the Myrtle off-ramp, when they got into a fight.  As they exited the freeway, the wife jumped out of the vehicle and ran to the corner of Central and Ivy.  The husband also exited the vehicle, chased her on foot and became physical with her.  Approximately four to five citizens came out of a house to help the wife.  One of the citizens punched the husband in the mouth and knocked him to the ground.  All of the citizens returned to their home without further incident.  The wife did not have visible injuries.  The husband was arrested for spousal battery. 
 

Warrants / Possession of Marijuana - Suspect Arrested
November 6 at 7:15 p.m., an officer observed a speeding motorist in the area of Myrtle and Live Oak.  He was attempting to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle when the driver immediately stopped and let out a passenger, who fled on foot.  The driver then continued on in the vehicle for a short distance, but then yielded at Live Oak and Tenth. The officer detained the driver at gunpoint until assisting officers from Monrovia and Arcadia Police Departments arrived.  A subsequent investigation revealed the driver had outstanding warrants and a small amount of marijuana in the vehicle.  The driver was also found to be a convicted child molester.  He was arrested and taken into custody.  The passenger was not apprehended and his identity is unknown.
 

Assault with a Deadly Weapon - Suspect Arrested
November 7 at 1:35 a.m., officers responded to a bar in the 300 block of South Myrtle regarding a fight in progress.  Upon arrival, officers located a victim with a head injury.  Witnesses provided a description of the suspect and the suspect vehicle, which was last seen southbound on Myrtle.  The Foothill Air Support helicopter was monitoring the police frequency and responded to the area.  The helicopter located the suspect vehicle entering the 210 Freeway, eastbound.  Monrovia police units were able to catch up to the vehicle and officers conducted a high-risk stop on Azusa Avenue, south of the freeway.  Officers from Azusa and Irwindale Police Departments arrived to assist and the suspect was taken into custody.  The suspect had kicked the victim in the head when he was lying on the ground.  The victim positively identified the suspect and he was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.   
 

Possession of a Controlled Substance - Suspect Arrested
November 8 at 9:23 p.m., officers were patrolling a park in the 400 block of North Grand when they observed seven subjects near the base of some stairs.  They contacted the group and had additional officers respond.  While questioning one subject, the officers noted that he appeared to have something in his mouth.  Officers discovered he was attempting to conceal a baggie containing six foil-wrapped tabs of LSD.  The officers were able to recover the evidence without incident and the subject was arrested. 
 

Wanted Burglary Suspect Apprehended
Monrovia detectives issued a wanted person warrant for a burglary suspect.  The suspect is also the subject of recent allegations of drug sales near Monrovia schools.  On November 9 at approximately 1:30 a.m., an officer on patrol observed the wanted burglary suspect in the 300 block of Norumbega and was able to detain and arrest him.

Volleyball - Monrovia 3, Paloma Valley 0 :-)

VOLLEYBALL ~ Monrovia won its first playoff game against Paloma Valley 3-0. http://goo.gl/nlh11

- Brad Haugaard

Fire Department / Restaurant / Fun-Run / Less Gang Crime

A few items of interest from City Manager Scott Ochoa's weekly report:
 
BATTLE TO CONTROL FIRE DEPARTMENT? ~ City Manager Scott Ochoa said he believes a lawsuit by the president of the Monrovia Firefighters' Association is, in his opinion, "about control over the Fire Department. Folks have tried to make it about safety (remember the fracas over the grant-funded regional procurement of firefighter breathing apparatus?), but couldn't; they've tried to make it about ethics (the aborted D.A. investigation), but couldn't. This is about control and change in organizational culture. Thus, with apologies to the community for the ignominy of having this power-play play out in public, all I can offer is that sometimes these situations simply need to work themselves out."
 
JAPANESE RESTAURANT ~ Oto Oto, an authentic, upscale Japanese restaurant will open at the northeast corner of Huntington Drive and Fifth Avenue. He said that Oto Oto's parent corporation, Ramla Ltd., owns and operates more than 150 restaurants in Japan, and this Monrovia location represents their first venture into California and the U.S.
 
FOUNTAIN TO FALLS ~ The Community Services Department is preparing a "Fountain to the Falls" run for the 2011 Monrovia Days celebration. The run will begin at the Library Park Fountain, follow a more than 3.5-mile route up to the Canyon Park Falls, and then return to the park. Community and non-profit groups can use the fun-run as a fundraising vehicle. Contact the Community Services Department for more details.
 
LESS CRIME ~ Operation Safe Neighborhoods, a city-county gang effort, has "identified and served due process on a number of local gang members, while at the same time we are noting that long-time gang members appear to be avoiding Monrovia or, at least, trying to be inconspicuous - that is, not breaking the law. Either way is fine by us. Serious (Part I) crime continues to be down in Monrovia during this quarter."
 
Source: http://goo.gl/6bof
 
- Brad Haugaard

Hillsides / Green Dot / Cats / School Arts / Cheap Shopping

PICNIC AREAS ~ Monrovia hillside areas may get more visitor amenities such as picnic areas and parking. http://goo.gl/e8bDG
 
STOCK OFFERING ~ Monrovia's Green Dot corporation plans to launch $100 million public stock offering. http://goo.gl/n8bnj
 
FERAL CATS ~ Animal shelter reports overpopulation of feral cats, so neuter your kitties. http://goo.gl/1aOsx


ART PROGRAM ~ After-school arts program at Plymouth School. http://goo.gl/pOP3Q


CHEAP SHOPPING ~ Monrovia's CouponMountain.com has suggestions for cheap holiday shopping. http://goo.gl/e1jjR



- Brad Haugaard

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