Monrovia Adult Ed Ceramics Sale

Monrovia Adult Ed (Wheelhouse Ceramics) has two sales a year in the space just behind Santa Fe Middle School.  The spring sale is April 30, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.  Sellers are students who pay for the space plus a percentage of their sales. The studio runs on the fees of those enrolled and any money made from the sale. From Mary Coates

- Brad Haugaard

Citrus Grads Guaranteed Admission to La Verne

Citrus College, which serves Monrovia, recently signed an agreement that guarantees its students will receive admission to the University of La Verne provided they meet all of the eligibility requirements. They will also have access to academic and financial aid advisers, receive an application fee waiver, and they will qualify for a one-time $1000 TAG scholarship from ULV. Source: Citrus press release

- Brad Haugaard

Dinner at Mikomi Sushi

Dinner Wednesday at Mikomi Sushi on the east side of Myrtle just south of the theater. Got the Spicy Pork entree for $14 and a large beer for $5.50. Very good! Came with very good miso soup and a nice salad. I couldn't finish it all. Lunch for tomorrow. 

- Brad Haugaard 

Monrovia Police: Musical Meth; Under the Bed; Shoplifting and Robbery; Etc.

[Monrovia Police activities from the Police Department's Neighborhood Watch Report for April 4-6. - Brad Haugaard]

During the last seven-day period, the Police Department handled 440 service events, resulting in 67 investigations.

Possession of a Controlled Substance/Warrant – Suspect Arrested
April 4 at 9:06 a.m., an officer was dispatched to the 600 block of Montana regarding a subject in a resident’s backyard. The officer detained a subject near the residence that matched the description given. The subject claimed he was looking for a friend that was selling some type of musical equipment. A search of the subject revealed he was in possession of methamphetamine. The subject was coming from the wash area and was cutting through the resident’s backyard. A computer check revealed a no-bail warrant for a probation violation. He was arrested for the warrant and possession of methamphetamine.

Warrants – Suspects Arrested
April 4 at 12:44 p.m., officers responded to a domestic dispute at a residence in the 200 block of N. Shamrock. When officers arrived, there was no answer at the door. Officers have responded to the residence numerous times regarding the female resident and her boyfriend. A computer check revealed an outstanding warrant for the female subject that lives at the residence and a no-bail warrant for her boyfriend. Dispatch called the female resident on her cell phone. The female subject said she had been in an argument with her boyfriend on the phone, but she had left the house. The officer requested the Foothill Air Support Team helicopter because he believed both subjects were inside the residence, and the boyfriend has a history of running from the police. After talking to the female subject on the phone, she decided to open the door. The boyfriend was found hiding under a bed. Both subjects were arrested for the outstanding warrants and taken into custody.

Vehicle Burglary
April 4 at 9:25 p.m., a vehicle burglary was reported at a business parking lot in the 700 block of E. Huntington. The victim arrived at the location and entered a business. When she was done, she went back out to her vehicle and discovered a window had been smashed and her purse and wallet were missing with charge cards and her drivers license in them. The investigation is continuing.

Injury Traffic Collision
April 5 at 6:33 p.m., an officer was dispatched to a traffic collision at Mountain, just south of Huntington. Two vehicles had collided into each other. The drivers in both vehicles sustained minor injuries. One driver was taken to a hospital to be examined.

Shoplifting – Suspect Arrested
April 6 at 3:05 p.m., a business in the 500 block of W. Huntington called police to report a shoplifter. The male adult suspect entered the store, selected clothing and went into a fitting room. The subject put the selected clothing on and then put his own clothing back on over the stolen merchandise. The suspect left the location without paying for the merchandise. Officers conducted an area search, but did not located the suspect. About fifteen minutes later, he was seen walking on Huntington, but was now wearing the clothing he had stolen from the store. The suspect was detained and identified by store loss prevention. He was arrested and taken into custody without further incident.

Robbery – Suspect Arrested
April 6 at 3:09 p.m., a robbery was reported at a business in the 300 block of W. Huntington. A male adult entered a store and selected merchandise. The suspect tried to leave the store without paying for the merchandise. Several store employees tried to stop the suspect. The suspect pushed one employee to the ground and punched another. He was detained by store employees and customers, but managed to break away and flee the location. Officers located the suspect inside a nearby business. The suspect was positively identified by the victims. The suspect was arrested and taken into custody for robbery.

Warrant – Suspect Arrested
April 7 at 12:15 a.m., a caller reported a suspicious vehicle with two subjects inside parked in a parking lot in the 100 block of Highland. Officers arrived and contacted the occupants. A computer check revealed the female occupant had a no-bail warrant for her arrest. She was arrested and taken into custody for the warrant.

Progress Report on Encinitas Historic District

Dennis Sanchez reports on the progress in creating an Encinitas Historic District:

Monrovia has only one Historic District, Wildrose, dedicated to preserving its neighborhood from Mansionization.  Therefore, the residents of the 100 and 200 blocks of North Encinitas in Monrovia have banned together to make these two blocks, 64 homes, an Encinitas Historic District.  We have completed 90% of our application and raised $7,300.00 of $11.9k, through https://www.gofundme.com/savingourblock, toward city fees, and have been working with the Monrovia Historic Preservation Group and the city to get this completed. One of our homes, 168 North Encinitas, will be on the Monrovia Home tour May 1st.  We have a Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Encinitas.Historic.District/, for those who want to learn more. Also, a video by Allen Holmquist and Dennis Sanchez containing photos of neighborhood homes and interviews with people living on our street: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aROUF2FC4s0 

- Brad Haugaard

Cameras in Monrovia Parks | Baseball Team Falls to Paraclete | Rain

~ Cameras to watch Monrovia parks. http://goo.gl/PRA96v

~ Monrovia baseball falls to Paraclete. http://goo.gl/AMcGK1

~ 100% chance of rain Saturday. 70% Sunday and Monday. https://goo.gl/0qMTb8

- Brad Haugaard

Auction to Benefit St. Luke Church

The entire contents of a 3,700 sq. ft. home in the Hollywood Hills will be sold at St. Luke Episcopal Church in Monrovia Thursday through Sunday,  April 14-17, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily in the Swan Hall building and patio area. All proceeds benefit the church. Appraiser TeBeau said, "Everything is custom made, much of it coming from designers and showrooms in the Pacific Design Center." Furniture, oil paintings, decor, lighting, chandeliers, clocks, pottery, silver plate, luxury bedding, kitchen items, Daum crystal, Murano glass, Pottery Barn pieces, Kitchen Aid appliances and holiday decorations. http://goo.gl/LjTJlb

- Brad Haugaaard

Restaurant Windmill to Turn Again

Okay, so this has nothing to do with Monrovia, but I just can't resist. The windmill on top of the restaurant at the corner of Santa Anita and Huntington in Arcadia will turn again. I think I remember it turning when I was a kid, waaay back when it was a Van de Kamp's restaurant and was painted powder blue. Van de Kamp's was a Dutch-themed restaurant, hence the windmill. http://goo.gl/SKELVU

- Brad Haugaard

Citrus College Transferring More Students to Four-Year Schools

Citrus College, which serves Monrovia, has achieved a new high for the number of students who transfer to four-year colleges and universities. A report from the college found that 1,234 Citrus students transferred to four-year institutions during the 2014-2015 academic year, a 67 percent increase compared to the 2002-2003 academic year, the first year the data was recorded. Source: Citrus press release.

- Brad Haugaard

Report on Homelessness in Monrovia

Monrovia has about one homeless person per 1,000 residents, according to a report to the City Council by Monrovia Police Chief Jim Hunt, though several audience members disputed that as too low a figure. San Luis Obispo, by comparison, he said, has about 48 per 1,000. Hunt said most of the homeless in Library Park are "resistant," meaning they've been offered assistance but have refused it. Also, he said that by making many felonies into misdemeanors, Proposition 47 has made it much more difficult to enforce laws, as basically all police can do is give tickets. Several speakers suggested the city provide showers, storage, bathrooms and housing for the homeless.

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Council Approves Measure to Open Cloverleaf Access Point to Wilderness Area

The Monrovia City Council Tuesday night unanimously approved a measure to purchase rights-of-way to open access to the Cloverleaf entry point to the Monrovia Wilderness Preserve. Part of the agreement is for the city to install gates, locking mailboxes for the residents, a water fountain and to perform trail upgrades, so these tasks need to be performed before the trailhead is opened.

Comment: Thank you to the City Council and particularly to City Manager Oliver Chi and his staff for the work they did in bringing this measure before the council tonight!

- Brad Haugaard

Holden Bill Would Add New Technologies To Talent Agency Law

Assemblymember Chris Holden's Talent Agency Scam Prevention Bill, AB 2068, passed the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee with unanimous, bipartisan support. AB 2068 updates the Talent Scam Prevention Act to include new technologies, such as mobile apps and online services that are not on the internet as websites, to require them not to charge upfront fees or to refuse to remove content at the request of a client. Holden represents Monrovia. Source: Holden press release

- Brad Haugaard

Country-Psychedelic Band, Nocona, Coming to Monrovia

The Venice, California, based band, Nocona, is bringing its music To Monrovia's Resistor Records (511 S. Myrtle) for Record Store Day, Saturday, April 16 at 6 p.m. The country-psychedelic music of Noconais is based on the family tradition - from The Carter Family and The Louvin Brothers to Willie's Family Picnic and the cool California breeziness of The Mamas and the Papas. A sample of their music: https://goo.gl/ZCLlUJ . For more info: http://noconamusic.com

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia's Giggle Fiber Being Sold; Four Companies Offer to Run Street Fair; Work on Depot; More Bluebirds; Concerts; Etc.

Concept plan for old train depot.

In his weekly report ( http://goo.gl/Su5Kst ), City Manager Olvier Chi reports, among other things ...

~ Monrovia's Giggle Fiber is being sold to Jim Chiu, a resident of Bradbury, who founded and operates Vertex Telecom, which provides telecommunication services for the Asian-American community.

~ The city's request for proposals to run the street fair brought four responses, from Coastal Pacific, LLC; Raw Inspiration; Los Angeles PartyWorks; and GreenLeaf Events, Inc.

~ On April 19 the City Council will consider designating the Monrovia Santa Fe Depot as a historic landmark and - if everything goes according to schedule, rehab work should begin in mid- to late-summer and hopefully be done towards the end of this year or early in 2017.

~ Canyon Park Volunteers and Monrovia High School Advanced Placement biology students placed numerous blue bird houses throughout Monrovia parks, replaced existing damaged bird boxes, cleaned out old nests, and monitored nesting habits. Results: a larger population of blue birds to our urban parks.

~ Summer concerts at the Station Square band shell: July 14 - The Who Show (The Who Tribute Band); July 21 - Escape, The Journey Tribute; August 4 - Mirage, Visions of Fleetwood Mac;
August 18 - Doobies, Inc., The Doobie Brothers Tribute Band. All Concerts are from 6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.

~ Monrovia's Summer Extravaganza program was selected as one of 11 award recipients hin the 27th Congressional District to be presented with a Congressional Recognition of Excellence Award. It is an eight week summer program held in Recreation Park involving games, educational activities, crafts, excursions, diversity programs, exercise, and nutrition.

~ Monrovia company ChromoLogic (1225 South Shamrock Avenue). recently installed the largest commercial solar panel system in Monrovia, a 65 kW system.

~ Librarians will be at the Friday Night Family Street Fair on April 16 and May 20, from 6-6:30 p.m., with a Storytime Carpet location where families and children can read stories and sing songs.

~ The 6th annual Fountain to the Falls Run / Walk, a 6.38 mile out-and-back race from the Library Park Fountain to the Canyon Park Waterfall, will take place on Saturday, May 7, at 7 a.m., in cooperation with the Santa Anita Family YMCA. All participants will receive a t-shirt and ribbon.  Medals for best time for male and female participants, and for first place through third place in each age category. Maximum of 325 participants. Registration through May 4 is $35; event-day registration is $45. Register here: https://cityofmonroviarecreation.org/. For more information call Public Services at 256-8246.

Monrovia On Top in Baseball

Monrovia is in top position in local baseball rankings. http://goo.gl/bMbIhj

- Brad Haugaard