A zusa B eacon Monrovia Weekly Temple Tribune ArcAdiA Weekly MONDAY, JULY 16 - JULY 22, 2012 VOLUME XVII, NO. XXVIV
Monday Edition of the
Police Chiefs in El Monte Leave Posts with Lots of Money The modest City of El Monte is sending its police chiefs home with lots of money upon retirement thanks to its policies that allow for unlimited accrual of sick and vacation hours until they leave the job, reported the LA Times this week. Former Police Chief Thomas Armstrong was listed as a main example. He was reportedly paid almost $430,000 after he retired last Please see page 7
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El Monte Mayor Delivers State of the City Address BY DENA BURROUGHS For the first time in several years the residents of El Monte gathered last week to listen to their city’s Mayor deliver a State of the City Address. As part of a special City Council meeting that began with an invocation by Councilman Juventino Gomez and a flag salute led by Councilwoman Victoria Martinez, Mayor Andre Quintero delivered the speech to a Grace Black Auditorium filled with community members. Mayor Quintero started by recalling the evening of his second term Swearing, when he said that he had “a new hope” for the City. “That hope has been realized,” he assured, and he moved on to list the recent accomplishments of each of the members of the current City Council. The State of the City Address, he said, fits well with the Council’s Vision, which includes having transparent financial responsibility towards the community. He went on to speak about
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Monrovia Teen Commits Suicide BY SUSAN MOTANDER
Mayor Quintero delivers the State of the City Address in El Monte. -Photo by Dena Burroughs
the budget – how the City has $4 million of the $10 million it should have to be considered financially fluid,
about the ½ cent tax that will continue to help the budget at least until April of 2014, and about the efforts to save
IndyMac Bank to Settle Class-Action Lawsuit The Associated Press is repoting that leaders of the failed IndyMac Bancorp have agreed to settle a classaction lawsuit for $6 plus million. The lawsuit names Mi-
chael W. Perry, the former CEO of the Pasadena-based bank, and Scott Keys, the former chief financial officer, as Please see page 5
Crime Trends The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Temple Station is responsible for providing law enforcement services to the cities of Bradbury, Duarte, Rosemead, South El Monte and Temple City, as well as the unincorporated county communities of South San Gabriel, El Monte, Monrovia, Arcadia, Duarte (M.A.D.),
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East Pasadena, and North San Gabriel. Below you will find a summary of the reported crimes during the month of June for each of the above listed communities. During this past month, we are pleased to report a decrease in most of our theft related crimes in the majority of our communities. AlPlease see page 6
IN OUR ANNUAL
money for the City by reducing holiday pay, making changes to medical cafeteria plans, and reviewing the re-
tiree medical program. He spoke about the Please see page 7
A 16-year-old Monrovia teenager was found unresponsive in her home on Wednesday afternoon. The young girl’s older sister called Monrovia Police for assistance shortly before 2 p.m. Neither police nor firefighter paramedics were able to revive her. According to Monrovia Police Department, the young woman, who is thought to have been despondent over problems in a personal relationship, hanged herself. She had apparently fashioned a noose out of a scarf. Since no foul play was indicated, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office will complete the investigation. Monrovia Police Chaplin Johnson was sent to assist the family.
Monrovia Couple to Celebrate 72 Years of Wedded Bliss Saturday - June 14 BY TERRY MILLER Although Mildred (Milly) Lapson and Herb Stevens are celebrating their 72nd Wedding Anniversary, they’ve actually know each other more than 75 years – and they still are talking to one another and making each other laugh. Not many can say that! Quite an impressive figure, by anyone’s computation. In fact, I know of very few people who make it past the seven-year-itch, let alone 72 years of the marriage marvel that Milly and Herb have the benefit of today. The Monrovia Weekly took a look at this atypical couple two years ago when
Herb Stevens and Milly Lapson at their Monrovia home. -Photo by Terry Miller
they celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. It was then, we dicovered part of their covert marital operational triumph. We asked the couple
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what their particular recipe for success entailed: Milly quipped “When you’re handed lemons, you make lemonade….” “plus, we Please see page 4
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