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

Monrovia Friends of the Library Book Sale

The Friends of the Monrovia Public Library will hold its semi-annual book sale, with more than 5,000 books, in conjunction with the Monrovia Association of Fine Arts' "Celebrate the Arts" festival in Library Park and in the Library Community Room on Friday, Oct. 11, noon-5 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 12, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 13, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. $2 per bag sale on Sunday from 4-5 p.m. All proceeds benefit the Monrovia Public Library.

- Brad Haugaard

Impressions of Provence Art Show at Segil Fine Art

"Ouvrez La Porte" by Julie Snyder

Impressions of Provence show at Segil Fine Art at 110 West Lime. Opening reception Oct. 5, 5-7 p.m. Exhibit runs until Oct. 31. http://goo.gl/6A6OgV

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Police: Injured Bear; Chasing a Suspect on a Bike; Warrant Arrests

[Monrovia Police activities from the Police Department's Neighborhood Watch Report for Sept. 26-29. - Brad Haugaard]

Following are the weekend’s highlighted issues and events.

Bear Incident
On September 26, police received numerous calls reporting an injured bear, but when the animal control officer located it, he determined the bear was actually ill.  The Department of Fish and Wildlife were requested.  They responded, tranquilized and took charge of the bear.

Delaying and Obstructing a Peace Officer / Gang Injunction Violation – Suspect Arrested
September 26 at 7:31 p.m., an officer on patrol saw a male subject riding a bicycle in the 400 block of East Duarte without lighting equipment.  The officer told the subject to stop, but the subject did not comply.  Instead, the subject jumped off the bicycle and ran west on Duarte.  The officer gave chase and detained the subject at on Monrovista.  The subject was arrested for delaying and obstructing a peace officer and was also found to be in violation of the gang injunction, which was added to his charges.

No-Bail Warrants – Suspect Arrested
September 26 at 8:25 p.m., an officer stopped a vehicle for a vehicle code violation in the area of Longden and Myrtle.  He observed a subject in the vehicle that he knew had two outstanding no-bail warrants for his arrest.  A computer check was run and the suspect was found to have three outstanding warrants: two no-bail warrants and a felony warrant.  He was arrested and taken into custody.

Out-of-State Felony Warrant – Suspect Arrested
September 27 at 11:00 a.m., an officer observed a subject he recognized from previous contacts in the area of Mayflower and Foothill.  A computer check revealed the subject had a felony parole violation warrant out of the Kansas.  The male was stopped and arrested for the warrant without incident.