- Brad Haugaard
Latino Heritage Scholarship Fundraiser
The Monrovia Latino Heritage Society will hold a scholarship fundraiser dance with The Bobby Z Band Saturday, May 24 from 7:30-11:30 p.m. at the Masonic Center, 204 W. Foothill. $20 in advance, $25 at the door. For info call Louie Romero at 951 830-9648 or Cuca Mack at 359-2130.
- Brad Haugaard
- Brad Haugaard
Monrovia Temperatures May Go Over 100 This Week - 'Extreme' Fire Danger
Toasty hot this week. 93 today, 97 Tuesday, 101 Wednesday, 103 Thursday, 101 Friday, then back down to a balmy 90 on Saturday ( http://goo.gl/5BgyDL ). National Weather Service warns of "extreme" fire danger ( http://goo.gl/6FPwUw ).
- Brad Haugaard
- Brad Haugaard
Weird Cloud Over Monrovia
About 5:45 this morning I saw the most amazing cloud over Monrovia. It's in an otherwise perfectly blue sky. This picture was taken from the Pavilions parking lot at the corner of Myrtle and Foothill.
Update: Folks are telling me this is a "lenticular cloud." You can read about lenticular clouds here ( http://goo.gl/AFC5uC ), and here are a bunch of pictures of them: http://goo.gl/EdhMs0
- Brad Haugaard
Ale House Grill Planned on Colorado in Old Town Monrovia
A new Monrovia restaurant called 38° Ale House and Grill is applying to the city planning commission for an alcohol license and permission to stay open past midnight. The restaurant is to be located at 110 E. Colorado Blvd., the location of the current Merengue Bakery Cafe. http://goo.gl/ztKyZL
- Brad Haugaard
- Brad Haugaard
Old Cars on Tour in Monrovia
- Brad Haugaard
View Saturn Tonight at Monrovia's Library Park
The Sidewalk Astronomers will be out tonight, in Library Park at the corner of Lime and Myrtle between 7:30 and 9:30. The astronomers are hopeful they can give people a good view of Saturn soon after 8:30 p.m. Plus the moon and Mars.
- Brad Haugaard
- Brad Haugaard
The Fountain to the Falls Run
On the downhill stretch. Coming back on the Fountain to the Falls run this morning.
- Brad Haugaard
Monrovian Sets New Track Records
Monrovia High's Cravin Gillespie sets two Rio Hondo League track records. http://goo.gl/3OBxxI
- Brad Haugaard
- Brad Haugaard
Fire Watch for Monrovia Area - Sunday and Monday
The National Weather Service has proclaimed a fire watch for the Monrovia area from Sunday morning through Monday evening. Low humidity and wind. http://goo.gl/FlKHh4
- Brad Haugaard
- Brad Haugaard
Monrovia School Board: Attendance High But Down; Combine Elections?
At its 7 p.m., May 14 meeting (agenda: http://goo.gl/1FKsgg ), the Monrovia School Board will, among other things ...
~ Hear a report that attendance, while high, is lower than last October: "While district-wide student attendance this year was at the highest percentage over the last 15 years, our student enrollment has declined by 94 students from October to March." The declines came at Monrovia High, Plymouth, and Mountain Park. Details: http://goo.gl/Ud2XmB
~ Hear a report on the possibility of combining the school and municipal elections to save money.
- Brad Haugaard
~ Hear a report that attendance, while high, is lower than last October: "While district-wide student attendance this year was at the highest percentage over the last 15 years, our student enrollment has declined by 94 students from October to March." The declines came at Monrovia High, Plymouth, and Mountain Park. Details: http://goo.gl/Ud2XmB
~ Hear a report on the possibility of combining the school and municipal elections to save money.
- Brad Haugaard
Monrovia Robotics Team's Adventure in St. Louis Competition
The young ladies of Monrovia High School's robotics team "The Kings And Queens" returned from the FIRST FTC Robotics World Championships held in St. Louis April 23-26 successful, but not triumphant. As the team's mentor, Brian Johnson, says, "We knew going in that the competition on the field would be fierce. When you start with nearly 4,000 teams and winnow them down over the season to the 128 best, those that remain are very, very good. Since this was our first time competing at this level, we didn't know what to expect so we had a few basic goals of giving a good account of ourselves on the field, making an impression on the FIRST community, learning as much as we could, and having fun."
On the field the team posted a respectable three wins and six losses and finished ranked 100 out of 128. Two of the matches were lost by less than ten points each, a difference of scoring just two of the plastic blocks that are the primary task for the robots. It was the goal of "making an impression" where the team really shined. Holding court from the purple and gold pavilion that was their home base and marketing billboard, the ladies in the purple velvet dresses charmed one and all. They opened the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper one morning to a story about girls in robotics and found two of the team members in a photo accompanying the article. The team was asked by the FIRST organization to co-star in a video to be used to promote FTC Robotics next season. The team pavilion became a favored stop for VIPs, sponsors and dignitaries as they were escorted around the event by FIRST guides, and many people made a special trip to see "the cool purple robot with all the jewels."
"Going to the World Championship was a great experience for the team," says Johnson, "they made a lot of friends, and really put Monrovia on the map in the FIRST Robotics world. They are already making plans for next year to earn their way back to the Championship in 2015 and be a much stronger competitor by applying what they learned this year. Now they know exactly what it takes." As an example to work toward, The Kings And Queens can look to the tournament champion team, "Hot Wired" from Portland, Oregon and the overall top Inspire Award winner, "The Bears" from Mexico City, Mexico.
The Kings And Queens thank the Monrovia business community, the Monrovia Unified School District, Monrovia High School and the people of Monrovia for supporting them so enthusiastically. Without the financial support and encouragement they received, they could never have accomplished so much.
The Monrovia High School Robotics Program will be putting on a robotics demonstration as part of the Monrovia Day festivities at Library Park on May 17. Stop by and meet the Kings And Queens and all the Monrovia robotics teams and see the robots in action.
Source: press release
- Brad Haugaard
Monrovia Church to Broadcast on Radio
Fellowship Monrovia reports that the church will begin broadcasting on radio, with two weekly programs on 99.5 KKLA: Made For Fellowship Radio (3-3:30 p.m.) and Good News Today Talk Radio (3:30-4 p.m.). If I'm understanding the church's notice correctly, the first broadcast will be on Sunday, May 18.
- Brad Haugaard
- Brad Haugaard
Boys & Girls Club Fundraiser Honors Monrovia Mayor
John Wilson, Mayor Mary Ann Lutz, Supervisor Mike Antonovich
A Kentucky Derby themed fundraiser by Monrovia's Boys & Girls Club of the Foothills at the Santa Anita Race Track raised thousands of dollars for youth programs and honored Monrovia Mayor Mary Ann Lutz with the Mary Wilcox Youth Advocacy Award.
Lutz, a longtime supporter of the club and its youth programs, said, "Of all the awards I have received in my career, this means the most."
Albert Tate, pastor of Fellowship Monrovia, led the audience in a "Change a Life" challenge that resulted in $40,000 raised in just five minutes.
"Thanks to the generosity of all our supporters who have given us their time and incredible gifts, more 'Great Futures' are in our future," said John Wilson, Executive Director.
The event's major sponsors included The Boone Foundation, Blaine & Lynda Fetter, Volkswagen Pasadena/Alhambra, the Sierra Family of Dealerships, and Monte & Meghan Baier.
Source: Boys & Girls Club press release
- Brad Haugaard
Lunch at Bella Sera Trattoria
Lunch at the remodeled and recently reopened Bella Sera Trattoria, on Myrtle a couple doors up from Lemon on the east side. Nice atmosphere. Sort of classy rustic. I got the lasagne ($15) and an iced tea ($2.50), plus bacon wrapped dates ($9) for an appetizer. Two of my favorite foods, dates and bacon, together at last. Loved it! Lasagne was very nice and service was attentive.
- Brad Haugaard
Chairman of Monrovia Plastic Bag Committee Has Concerns about Bag Ban
This Tuesday the Monrovia City Council passed an ordinance banning plastic carry-out grocery bags. Prior to that, the city formed an ad hoc committee to examine the issue. Former City Councilman Dan Kirby was chairman of the committee, and wrote a letter to the City Council outlining some of his concerns with the measure. Here is his letter:
Memo
Date: 4/1/2014
To: Monrovia City Council
From: Dan Kirby
Re: AR-2 - Single Use Bag Regulation Ad Hoc Committee
Madam Mayor and City Council,
Thank you for the opportunity to serve on the committee. I was elected by the committee members to serve as the chairman. The members who attended the meetings were highly engaged in the process. The final vote was 2-1 in favor of recommending the proposed ordinance.
Please accept my apology for not attending the meeting tonight. I have a previously scheduled family obligation. I have reviewed the staff report and have some comments for the record.
When I was asked to participate on the committee, I came with an open mind hoping to learn what impact outlawing single-use bags would have on our residents, as well as the benefits to the environment and the surrounding communities. Staff was able to find out what other cities have passed and shared the information with the committee. They also informed us of pending state legislation sponsored by Senator Alex Padilla. This was good information, but several key committee members who were invited to participate chose not to attend so we never got their input.
Unfortunately, after being invited several times, representatives from the larger businesses who would be affected by an ordinance did not attend. We did however hear from Athens Services and retired engineer from JPL.
Most importantly, we were never able to ask the residents. When I shared with people that I was serving on the committee, their response was nearly unanimous, "Please don't take away my plastic bags." This is obviously not a scientific survey, but it says to me that people would definitely be inconvenienced, especially the elderly should you choose to adopt an ordinance outlawing the bags.
The information that we were not able to get were the answers to these important questions,
1. Do these ordinances actually make a real difference?
2. Is the environment really cleaner?
3. Is there really less pollution?
4. When people choose to use reusable bags, what happens to those bags when they wear out? Do they decompose slower than the single-use ones causing a worse impact on the environment?
5. Are reusable bags less sanitary when used in markets where food is bought and sold?
There were no quantifiable answers presented for any of these important questions so for that reason I voted no on the recommendation.
I meet neighbors and friends in the markets or on the streets often and wonder what I would say to them if they asked me why we outlawed their plastic bags. If I said it was good for the environment, they might say, "how do you know?" I wouldn't be able to give them a good honest answer because we don't really know for sure.
I believe we should all be good stewards of our environment, but based on the information we received, outlawing single-use bags has not been proven to have a positive environmental impact. I believe our residents will respond positively to a well conceived and executed information campaign and some will reduce the use of the bags voluntarily.
In a time when financial resources are scarce, we should carefully prioritize our spending so that we stretch our dollars as far as they will go. This may not be the best use of our taxpayer dollars.
Finally, the state government will eventually adopt a statewide law that will be another unfunded mandate for us to tackle. We will have to deal with it then.
In Gratitude,
Dan Kirby
Memo
Date: 4/1/2014
To: Monrovia City Council
From: Dan Kirby
Re: AR-2 - Single Use Bag Regulation Ad Hoc Committee
Madam Mayor and City Council,
Thank you for the opportunity to serve on the committee. I was elected by the committee members to serve as the chairman. The members who attended the meetings were highly engaged in the process. The final vote was 2-1 in favor of recommending the proposed ordinance.
Please accept my apology for not attending the meeting tonight. I have a previously scheduled family obligation. I have reviewed the staff report and have some comments for the record.
When I was asked to participate on the committee, I came with an open mind hoping to learn what impact outlawing single-use bags would have on our residents, as well as the benefits to the environment and the surrounding communities. Staff was able to find out what other cities have passed and shared the information with the committee. They also informed us of pending state legislation sponsored by Senator Alex Padilla. This was good information, but several key committee members who were invited to participate chose not to attend so we never got their input.
Unfortunately, after being invited several times, representatives from the larger businesses who would be affected by an ordinance did not attend. We did however hear from Athens Services and retired engineer from JPL.
Most importantly, we were never able to ask the residents. When I shared with people that I was serving on the committee, their response was nearly unanimous, "Please don't take away my plastic bags." This is obviously not a scientific survey, but it says to me that people would definitely be inconvenienced, especially the elderly should you choose to adopt an ordinance outlawing the bags.
The information that we were not able to get were the answers to these important questions,
1. Do these ordinances actually make a real difference?
2. Is the environment really cleaner?
3. Is there really less pollution?
4. When people choose to use reusable bags, what happens to those bags when they wear out? Do they decompose slower than the single-use ones causing a worse impact on the environment?
5. Are reusable bags less sanitary when used in markets where food is bought and sold?
There were no quantifiable answers presented for any of these important questions so for that reason I voted no on the recommendation.
I meet neighbors and friends in the markets or on the streets often and wonder what I would say to them if they asked me why we outlawed their plastic bags. If I said it was good for the environment, they might say, "how do you know?" I wouldn't be able to give them a good honest answer because we don't really know for sure.
I believe we should all be good stewards of our environment, but based on the information we received, outlawing single-use bags has not been proven to have a positive environmental impact. I believe our residents will respond positively to a well conceived and executed information campaign and some will reduce the use of the bags voluntarily.
In a time when financial resources are scarce, we should carefully prioritize our spending so that we stretch our dollars as far as they will go. This may not be the best use of our taxpayer dollars.
Finally, the state government will eventually adopt a statewide law that will be another unfunded mandate for us to tackle. We will have to deal with it then.
In Gratitude,
Dan Kirby
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