- Brad Haugaard
Former Monrovian Leslie Van Houten Again Denied Parole
Former former Monrovia High School cheerleader and homecoming princess, Leslie Van Houten, was again denied parole - this time by Governor Gavin Newsom - for her part in the Charles Manson murders. https://is.gd/KBSOFg
- Brad Haugaard
- Brad Haugaard
I Only Wish!
This is rather funny.
According to the website, Zoominfo, MonroviaNow.com has an annual revenue of $3.2 million.
I wish! I think MonroviaNow made about $50 last year (Thanks for advertising Monrovia Historic Preservation Group! Hope it did well for you.)
Also, it says MonroviaNow has 16 employees.
Uh, no. Just me. Owner and chief bottle washer.
And it thinks we're based at 2033 E. Washington Blvd. in Pasadena (the address of St. James Church).
Nooo. I'm still in Monrovia. No idea where that came from.
Also, it appears the website believes Thomas Montes, who was recently appointed Monrovia Schools' new School Resource Officer, is somehow affiliated with MonroviaNow.
No again. He has no connection with MonroviaNow except for being the subject of a story.
I guess I should be flattered.
- Brad Haugaard
Report on Monrovia Music Fest
- Brad Haugaard
New Features on MonroviaNow
Well, I finally got around to adding a feature to MonroviaNow that I should have added long ago. At the top of the MonroviaNow.com webpage you can now click on either "Schools" or "Police" to see the latest stories on either of these topics. So far I have added stories from 2019. Hopefully I'll get around to 2018 soon.
- Brad Haugaard
Need a Piano? Get One and Benefit Monrovia Historic Preservation Group
Monrovia Historic Preservation Group is selling a baby grand piano with its bench for $2,000. All proceeds benefit the group. https://is.gd/QCAF7h
- Brad Haugaard
Council to Vote on Putting Sales Tax on November Ballot
At its Tuesday, June 4, meeting (agenda: https://is.gd/oJoNJ8) the Monrovia City Council will consider calling a special election on November 5, 2019 to ask Monrovians to pass a .75% city sales tax to prevent the county or state from grabbing the money. https://is.gd/0Wnrul
The idea is that by increasing sales tax to the maximum level permitted by the state, that would make any new sales taxes passed by the county or state irrelevant in Monrovia.
The wording on the ballot measure would be as shown above.
The main uses for the tax money would be:
- To upgrade the Community Center.
- Achieve a AAA credit rating (meaning cheaper money if the city has to borrow).
- Give money back to residents.
- Capital and infrastructure improvements
- "Community Priorities," meaning affordable housing, youth programs, crossing guards, etc.
Monrovia Church to Become Laser Tag Arena
This Friday a Monrovia church is going to turn its “whole auditorium into a giant laser tag arena” as part of a free event for high school students. From 6:30-10 p.m. The event will be held at Hope Unlimited Church (1900 Walker Ave., a block south of Duarte and a block east of Myrtle).
- Brad Haugaard
Comment: Let's Not Overlook the Trades at Monrovia Schools
Well, I got a response from a member of the district saying, if I may paraphrase, that the new Advanced Graphic Design, Web Development, and Game Development classes ARE trades because by taking them students can get good jobs without going on to college.
Okay, I suppose this is an acceptable definition of the "trades," but it was not what I was thinking about. Nor, do I imagine, is it what other people think about when they think of the trades. What I was thinking about was the traditional get-your-hands-dirty kind of jobs.
So why do I - who spent a career at tech companies - think the traditional trades are so important?
Well, suppose you are a computer graphic designer, web developer, or game developer. Who is your competition? I'll tell you who - Every other designer or developer in the whole big, wide, hungry world! Any job that can be done digitally can be done pretty much anywhere.
I know this because I've lived in the midst of it. I've watched programmers go from making well over $100,000 a year to being laid off. A nearby tech company I know recently laid off about a hundred programmers. At the same time the company is hiring programmers overseas.
So, these jobs are very easy to outsource to India or Ukraine, but also everybody and his brother's cat is being taught computer tech. I just saw an article called: "Coding for kindergarten." The concepts and tools for programming are being made simpler and simpler, which means more and more competition, even locally.
But suppose instead that you are a plumber, welder, or auto mechanic - someone who has to be physically at a location. Who is your competition? Probably nobody outside of maybe a 20-mile radius. You are NOT competing against the whole world. And when I talk to people in the trades they complain that they can't get enough workers.
So while I don't want to demean tech jobs, and I think, in particular, that the robotics teams in the Monrovia schools are really great, I think we are giving the trades - in the traditional sense - very short shrift, and I think in fairness to our students who do not want to go on to college that we should offer them training in skills that cannot be done in India or the Ukraine for a quarter of the cost they can be done here.
Rant concluded.
Update: Oh yeah, I wanted to add this joke:
Man gets a bill from his plumber.
Man: "$150 an hour! I'm a lawyer and even I don't make that much."
Plumber: "Yeah, I didn't make that much when I was a lawyer either."
- Brad Haugaard
Dinner at Jake’s Roadhouse
Dinner at Jake’s Roadhouse. Got the Smoked Sausage for $13.95 and a small beer for $5.25. Very good and filling. Had to take some home. - Brad Haugaard
Former Monrovia High Teacher Honored by Citrus College
Medina graduated from Citrus in 1995, went on to the University of La Verne where he earned his bachelor's degree in political science (1998) and master's degree in education (2000), then accpeted a position as a political science teacher at Monrovia High School, where he was known for his engaging style and ability to motivate students. In addition to teaching, he coached the girls' volleyball team and served as adviser to the Key Club.
In 2007 he launched his own business: Packing House Wines. In its first year, Packing House Wines was recognized as the Claremont Chamber of Commerce "Business of the Year." Since then, it has developed from a small boutique to a full-sized wine bar and restaurant located in the Claremont Packing House.
Source: Citrus College press release
- Brad Haugaard
Monrovia Instructor Featured on Radio
Garcia discusses Monrovia Days, a three-day civic celebration that highlighted the district’s visual and performing arts programs. Listen on iTunes. https://buff.ly/2Z4WMix
Source: Monrovia Schools press release
- Brad Haugaard
Is Hartford, Connecticut, Interested in Monrovia's Idlewild House?
The Hartford Courant - the newspaper for Hartford, Connecticut - apparently finds Monrovia real estate an interesting topic. This story in the Courant is about Monrovia's Idlewild house: https://is.gd/x3vHmKActually, my guess is that because Monrovia Nursery (home office in Azusa) has a nursery in Hartford County, Connecticut, the newspaper's computer picked up the story and ran with it simply because the word "Monrovia" appeared in it. Computers gone goofy.
- Brad Haugaard
ABC7 Reports on Monrovia Eagle Scout John Maines
ABC7 News recently reported on Monrovia Eagle Scout John Maines, whose Eagle Scout project was raising money for an instrument rack for the violins and the violas for the music program at Monrovia High. Also, Maines recently wrote a suicide awareness PSA that was rated best PSA on this topic in all of California. https://is.gd/1riL69
- Brad Haugaard
- Brad Haugaard
Problems at the Monrovia Weekly
According to an article in the Monrovia Weekly, the paper has undertaken a transformation that "involved consolidating our news and information resources and devoting more space to regional news, albeit at the risk of scaling back our local coverage."
But apparently Monrovians were not wild about the change. The article continues: "[I]t has become abundantly clear that you want and need LOCAL Monrovia news each week in our newspapers. And you want it NOW." So the paper is planning a community forum (no date set yet) "to discuss these very issues." https://is.gd/dgHgO1
- Brad Haugaard
But apparently Monrovians were not wild about the change. The article continues: "[I]t has become abundantly clear that you want and need LOCAL Monrovia news each week in our newspapers. And you want it NOW." So the paper is planning a community forum (no date set yet) "to discuss these very issues." https://is.gd/dgHgO1
- Brad Haugaard
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