It’s National Back to School Month! ENTERTAINMENT North Woods Celebrates 50 Years! Page 8
BUSINESS PROFILE iStringing: What’s All the ‘Racquet’ About?! Page 12
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SPORTS Is This the End of Blair Football? Page 26
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Thursday, August 4, 2016 - August 10, 2016
Since 1996
COMPLIMENTARY COPY VOLUME 20, NO. 31
Monrovia Holds Annual National Night Out
BY TERRY MILLER
Monrovia Motorcycle officer Jim Mead shows 2-year-old Beckett Kyle what it’s like to be aboard one of these beauties.
Old Town Report BY PAM FITZPATRICK
N
ews flash: not everybody likes everything - such is the case for variety - variety in food, in beverage, in retail (although we need more in Old Town!), and variety in music. We have that variety in Old Town for the most part. “Back in the day,” as my 12-year old grandson likes
– Photo by Terry Miller
In Dallas, five police officers were killed by a gunman who was angry with law enforcement for killing black men. In Missouri, a family mourns the loss of 18-yearold Michael Brown, an unarmed black student killed in a fatal police shooting. In San Diego a police officer was killed … the list goes on. Tensions between minorities and police departments across the nation have been fraught with mistrust and misunderstanding. On Tuesday evening local leaders throughout the nation hosted National Night Out activities to bolster ties between law enforcement leaders and the communities they serve. The annual event comes at a time when lawmakers and social justice activists are calling for police reforms amid high rates of police killings and a growing trend of brutal deaths by police videos being shared on social media. In Monrovia, the event was held at Library Park, with hundreds of people enjoying a warm evening with local law enforcement personnel, as well as city council members. One of the more popular events was getting a chance SEE PAGE 14
Monrovia Begins Effort to Curtail Mansionization
to say, we didn’t have very many choices. Although Collin is probably referring to electronic devices, the concept is the same, and choice is the name of the game. But here’s the conundrum: the more choice we have, the more decisions we have to make and the more chances there are for disagreements. SEE PAGE 15
First Step Revises City’s Building Code After almost two years of work, Monrovia’s Planning Department presented its recommendations to the city council regarding the issue of mansionization. The new regulations will limit size of single-family residences and increase the rear setback. Council unani-
mously adopted these suggestions at their most recent meeting. In the fall of 2014 the city imposed two moratoria, one on demolition permits and the other on building permits for certain parts of the community. At the meeting on Tuesday even-
ing, Craig Jimenez, the city’s community development director, presented proposed changes to the city’s building code and fee schedule for single-family residences in the Residential Foothill (RF), Residential Estate (RE) SEE PAGE 15