A zusa B eacon Monrovia Weekly Temple Tribune ArcAdiA Weekly MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 - SEPTEMBER 30, 2012 VOLUME XVII, NO. XXXIX
Monday Edition of the
CITY
Supporters of Fired El Monte Lifeguards Make A Big Splash at El Monte City Council
Asian Tiger Mosquito Update Public Plays a Critical Role
BY DENA BURROUGHS It was a lively sight at the El Monte Civic Center Tuesday night. News trucks lined up the street outside the complex sporting the logos of all the major newscasts – ABC7, KTLA 5 LIVE, T52 Telemundo. Inside, camera crews took a large chunk of the available space. The City Council meeting hall filled up to capacity, and chairs were placed on the hallway inside City Hall East and outside in the common area in front of television screens that transmitted the goingons inside. The biggest action that an El Monte City Council meeting has seen this year was the result of the 14 lifeguards recently fired from the El Monte Aquatic Center on account of their “Lifeguard Style” version of Korean pop star Psy’s “Gangnam Style.” The lifeguards exercised their right to speak for three minutes each in front of the City Council during the Public Comment portion of the meeting. In their support dozens more spoke to the Council, as did a few who thought the lifeguards
FREE
After one year of intensive surveillance and control efforts directed at an infestation of Asian tiger mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus), the population continues to persist. This introduced species
was first identified in September of 2011 in the cities of El Monte and South El Monte. While the area of the infestation has not expanded, adPlease see page 6
San Gabriel Crossing Guard Hit, 70, in Critical Condition
Friends and supporters of Lifeguards pack City Hall Tuesday. -Photo by Dena Burroughs
should remain fired, and in the process the Public Comments extended for nearly two hours and forty five minutes. The matter of the 14 fired lifeguards was not even on the meeting agenda. The El Monte City Council had held a meeting on the subject the Friday before, a meeting that was announced just 24-hours earlier and which not very many people
knew about or were able to attend, a meeting that one of the people present called “seemingly strategic.” Only three of the lifeguards were able to make it that Friday due to school and work schedules, so Michael Roa, one of the fired lifeguards, said that they would not comment at that moment. However, their comments were heard at the regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday night.
One by one the majority of the speakers asked the City Council to reconsider the firing of the lifeguards. They questioned the management’s choices. “Why isn’t some sort of protocol being followed?” asked resident Gabriella Sandoval. “In any job people receive verbal warnings, then written warnings, then perhaps a suspension, but Please see page 7
At approximately 07:29 Tuesday, San Gabriel Police Dept received numerous 911 calls regarding a vehicle vs. a pedestrian. Upon arrival of paramedics, fire and police it became clear that a San Gabriel City Crossing Guard had been hit by an automobile accdording to Sgt. Jeff Whiney of San Gabriel PD. The accident occurred on the corner of Las Tunas and Burton leaving the vic-
tim in the number 3 lane. Paramedics transported the San Gabriel Crossing Guard Robert Kotob to Huntington Memorial Hospital with critical injuries but is in stable condition. The driver was not injured nor did he appear to be under the influence of any substance. The investigation continues to determine the cause of the accident at this time.
A Whale of a Bridge Emerges Over the 210 Fwy in Arcadia BY SUSAN MOTANDER
Public Health Alert El Monte City Council for Imported Canadian Calls for Independent Raw Boneless Beef Trim Review of Recent Products – May Be Terminations Contaminated with E. Coli The El Monte City Dayle Keller, El Monte’s The U.S. epartment of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing a Public Health Alert for raw boneless beef trim products imported from Canada that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. FSIS testing of raw boneless beef trim product from Canadian Establishment 38, XL Foods, Inc., confirmed positive for E. coli O157:H7 on September 3, 2012. FSIS alerted the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency (CFIA) of the positive results. After follow-up testing by FSIS and CFIA, the CFIA announced a recall by XL Foods, Inc. of a variety of ground beef products on September 16, 2012. Subsequently, the CFIA has expanded the scope of the recall to include additional products. The company has notified its customers, including U.S. establishments that beef trim assoPlease see page 9
Council has called for an “independent review” of the policies and protocols behind the recent firing of 14 lifeguards involved in creating and posting on YouTube a video mimicking the “Gangnam Style” video by Korean rapper, Psy. The video included images of the lifeguards in city issued uniforms utilizing the city’s Aquatic Center, without authorization. “The City will utilize a third-party to review the process and report to the Mayor and City Council as quickly as possible,” said
Interim City Manager. “We’re moving as expeditiously as possible because the City Council has made it clear that this issue needs to be resolved.” The decision to call for the independent review by the El Monte City Council followed a Special Meeting on Sept. 14 and extensive public comment during their Regular City Council Meeting on Sept. 18. During those public meetings, several of the 14 lifeguards addressed the City CounPlease see page 2
210 Bridge design elements are now visible. -Photos by Terry Miller
For the last few weeks and for the next several weeks, the eastbound lanes of the 210 Freeway have been closed from midnight to five a.m. five nights a week to allow for the removal of the “falsework” surrounding the new bridge over the 210 freeway. As the wood and metal structure is removed the bridge itself is slowly being revealed. The cast concrete fea-
tures of the bridge that are emerging look a great deal like the ventral pleats on the underbelly of a whale. It is an apt image as this is one whale of a bridge. It will span 584 feet from one end to the other, stretching from the center of the 210 Freeway over the eastbound lanes into Arcadia. It will allow the Gold Line to go from Union Please see page 5