“Now with more verbs.”
THURSDAY, JULY 30 - AUGUST 5, 2009 VOLUME 14, NO. 61
monroviaweekly.com
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Two Seats Up For Election on the School Board Election to be Held November 3rd BY SUSAN MOTANDER The Monrovia Unified School District has two offices on its governing board up for election this November. The filing period for candidates for the Monrovia School Board ends August 7 at 5 p.m.
The seat of former School Board member Clarence Shaw who was elected to the Monrovia City Council in April is now open. Chris Rich, a current member of the Board is up for reelection. To date, only Alexandra Zucco has pulled the paper-
work necessary to run for election and returned those papers. Chris Rich has pulled the paperwork, but has not yet filed them. Contacted by this newspaper, Rich, who is out of town on business, said that he will be filing for reelection when he returns prior to the
deadline. Rich will be filing as the incumbent, and is a local business man. Zucco has listed her occupation as “consultant/ parent. According to the school district’s web site “To qualify to for the Board of Education
a person must be able to read and write, must be a qualified voter of the district, must be a citizen of the United States, and must be eighteen (18) years of age or older.” The Board makes the policies for the school district.
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Pasadena City College 5K Run Celebrates 25th Year
tor has been charged with Grand Theft by embezzlement, that charge being enhanced by the allegation that more than $100,000 was stolen from his victims, many of whom were elderly Monrovia residents who thought
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Mini Madoff Trial Set to Begin Area Man Runs135-Mile Badwater Ultramarathon Former Tax Doctor Mark Colasuonno to Face Could you ever imagine yourself running 135 miles in 120 degree heat? Could you imagine doing that nine times? Well, native Monrovian John Radich has completed just that in his fifty-five years of life, among other running REAL ESTATE NOTES
Dancing Around Default Is there hope for the real estate market? Yes, and she called me the other day. PAGE 13
Embezzlement Charges in Pasadena Courthouse
feats, and plans on continuing his running career in support of The Way to Happiness Foundation, a non profit public benefit organization built to reverse the current moral decay of society. Having run over 30,000 miles and raised over $100,000 for various charities through his running efforts,
BY SUSAN MOTANDER The trial of Mark Colasuonno, Monrovia’s Mini Madoff was set to begin today, July 30, but has been continued to next Wednesday, August 5. The former Tax Doc-
Continued on 22 DESIGN SENSE
FOOD
BOOKS
TRAVEL
Design Budgets And The Diet Of Spending
Ice Cream Sandwiches
Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss
Summer Water Parks Rage like Hurricanes
Sticking to your design budget can be as difficult as sticking to a diet. PAGE 13
Dessert is never the part of a meal I worry about, so of course when I feel the need to have something, I want it simple and delicious. PAGE 8
Writer and performer Tom Davis was on the original staff of Saturday Night Live when it started in 1975, with his partner, Al Franken. PAGE 5
The City of Monrovia has won in court again in its continuing efforts to keep the Sawpit Trail accessible to the public The State Court of Appeals took just two days to uphold a trial court ruling in favor of the City, concurring that the residents of Monrovia have the right to continue to use the trail for recreational purposes, including the portion that runs across private property near Norumbega Drive. Mr. and Mrs. Steve Buckner, owners of the property, put up a gate across the trail more than a year ago, blocking access to hikers and dogwalkers, saying that the trail was on their property and that walkers where disturbing their dogs. Attempts by the City to mediate the dispute failed and the matter ended up in court. The City’s position was that, while the Buckner’s owned the property, the trail was on a County Flood Control easement across the land that predated their relatively-recent purchase, that the County and City had agreements in place to allow City use of the easement, the City had made substantial public improvements to the trail and, most importantly, the trial had been in use by the public for decades. After more than a year in the court system, both the trial court and appellate court have now agreed that the public continues to have a right to use the trail. Cit y Ma nager Scot t Ochoa asked hikers and neighbors to be patient as the dispute now moves toward resolution. It will be a few
Chantal Cravens, racer number 164, heads for the water fountain a few minutes before the start of the PCC 5 K race early Saturday morning at the Rose Bowl. The race attracted over 700 runners this, the 25th anniversary of the race. See page 12 for more coverage of the annual non-profit race. -Photo by Terry Miller
BY KYLE KHANDIKIAN
CITY AGAIN WINS ‘SAWPIT TRAIL’ LAWSUIT; GATE COMING DOWN SOON
Summer is in full force and temperatures are hitting triple digits in the San Gabriel Valley. PAGE 9
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