Arcadia Weekly arcadiaweekly.com
Thursday, December 24 - December 30, 2009 Volume 14, No.103
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Altrusa Club Honored Jason Lee to Run for by SAFYMCA’s Youth Arcadia City Council Alliance Program
Pediatric patient Jayleen rushes to meet Santa after he gets off the chopper atop Huntington Hospital when he visited children at the Pediatric Unit last week as part of Pasadena PD’s Operation Polar Wind. -Photo by Terry Miller Full Story on Page 11
A Mother’s Christmas Wish: Her Daughter Back By Susan Motander
On the afternoon of October 29, this year, Sandra Ortega left her home in Monrovia for the short bus ride to her job in Duarte. She has not been seen since. Sandra had just turned 17 the month before and her family is worried. Sandra’s mother, Cassandra Lopez said that this year the one thing she wants for Christmas is her daughter back, or at least the knowledge that she is all right and safe. Sandra attended Monrovia High School and worked at the Dollar Tree in Duarte as part of the R.O.P. work experience program at the school. On the day she disappeared she never arrived at work. “She had said that she wanted to move out when she turned eighteen,” her mother explained, “but nothing happened that would make her suddenly leave now. “I just need to know she
Missing Monrovia Teenager, Sandra Ortega: Photo Courtesy of Cassandra Lopez
is OK,” the distraught mother said. If you have any information that would make this Christmas wish come true, please contact the Monrovia Police Department at (626) 256-8000.
The Altrusa International Club of Arcadia was honored by the Santa Anita Family YMCA’s Youth Alliance program at a Christmas dinner for youth and their families at the Monrovia Community Center. Altrusa was presented with a plaque in appreciation for its outstanding service to the Youth Alliance, a community outreach program that provides recreation, counseling, homework help, tutoring and mentoring to youth and teens. From left to right: SAFYMCA Chief Executive Officer, Damon Colaluca, Faye L. Nouhi of Altrusa, Monrovia Council Member, Becky Shevlin, and Youth Alliance Outreach Coordinator, Ulises Gutierrez.
Relocation of Bank’s Millard Sheets Mural Under Discussion By Sameea Kamal
Catherine Haskett-Hany has been going to what is now Chase Bank on Lake Avenue and Colorado Boulevard since she was a child, and has always looked forward to seeing the mural of the Pasadena Rose parade on the wall. When she walked in one day to see it covered up by a wall, she was alarmed that it was hidden. Haskett-Hany, who is the Communications Director at the Pasadena Library, said the mural is one of the reasons she enjoys going to that bank. “They’ve made it so it’s very bank-like … and before it was a very special place to go to because you had that mural,” she said. “It didn’t matter how long the line was because you could enjoy the mural and there was always something to learn about it.” Haskett-Hany then con-
-Photo by Terry Miller
tacted the Pasadena Cultural Affairs Office, who has been working with Chase Bank to find a suitable relocation. “Having grown up with it, it means a lot to me,” she said. “More people other than (those) who know of it at the bank should be able to see it.” As a part of reconstruct-
ing the branch, the bank placed a wall to create a work area for employees that is out of sight of customers for security reasons, said Gary Kischner, spokesperson for the Pasadena branch. As a result, the mural is partially obscured to the public.
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Local Attorney Expresses Campaign Goals at Press Event
Jason Lee is surrounded by well wishers and local dignitaries at the special dinner and press conference he held to kick off his campaign for Arcadia City Council. - Photo by Terry Miller
Jason J. Lee, an Arcadia resident, announced at a press event on Friday, December 18th that he would be running for the Arcadia City Council in the upcoming April elections. Mr. Lee, attorney and founder of a law firm based in Pasadena, was supported at the event by Wa lnut Mayor Ma r y Su, Monterey Park Mayor Mitchell Ing, Alhambra Vice Mayor Stephen Sham, and City Council Members David Lau, Anthony Wong, Laura Lee, Vincent Yu, Philip Reyes and former West Covina Mayor Mr. Bradley McFadden. Four other members of area city councils were also present to endorse his campaign for Arcadia City Council. They were Mr. Peter Yao of Claremont, Mr. Richard Sun of San Marino, and Ms. Polly Low of Rosemead, and E. Thomas Chavez of Temple City. In a speech prepared for the evening, Lee named his reasons for joining the Arcadia City Council race
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