Monterey Park

Thirteen young women have entered the Miss Monterey Park pageant to be held at 7 p.m. April 27 at the Lincoln Plaza Hotel in Monterey Park. The contestants are Diane Grbac, Sherry Spitler, Grace Naval, Stefanie Scarborough, Lilly Ramos, Lisa Carrasco, Margo Galvan, Lana Manibog, Nadine Bianes, Sheryl Jung, Marie Marcogliese, Kim Duran and Angela Medina. The event is being sponsored by the Monterey Park Chamber of Commerce.

Former U.S. Rep. Matthew G. "Marty" Martinez, an advocate for youth and the elderly who switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican after he was voted out of office in 2000, died Oct. 15 at his home in Fredericksburg, Va., his family said. He was 82. The cause of death was not disclosed. Martinez won a special election in 1982 to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Rep. George E. Danielson (D-Monterey Park). Reelected eight times, he was one of the major sponsors of the 1992 reauthorization of the Older Americans Act, which supported programs for the elderly, including Meals on Wheels.

So many breakfast foods around the world have the same familiar ideas at heart: simple, filling, just the thing to soothe your soul's journey from bed to the harsh light of the working day. Having Taiwanese breakfast at Huge Tree Pastry is like looking at an American diner breakfast, just slightly refracted. The place even feels like a diner, from the happily worn, old linoleum tiles to the pleasant Formica tables. The foods have about the same culinary thrust as your average pancake breakfast but are written all over with the Taiwanese bent for textural play.

LOCATION: 423 N. Atlantic Blvd., No. 105-106, Monterey Park, (626) 458-8689 PRICES: Breakfast dishes, $1 to $6; lunch entrees, $4 to $6; drinks, $1 to $3. DETAILS: Open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Sweet tea drinks. Lot parking. Cash only.

The Chamber of Commerce will hold a community workshop on redevelopment at 7 p.m. Aug. 12, at City Hall, 320 W. Newmark Ave. The workshop will cover the purposes and application of redevelopment law generally in California and specifically in Monterey Park.

So many breakfast foods around the world have the same familiar ideas at heart: simple, filling, just the thing to soothe your soul's journey from bed to the harsh light of the working day. Having Taiwanese breakfast at Huge Tree Pastry is like looking at an American diner breakfast, just slightly refracted. The place even feels like a diner, from the happily worn, old linoleum tiles to the pleasant Formica tables. The foods have about the same culinary thrust as your average pancake breakfast but are written all over with the Taiwanese bent for textural play.

A running gun battle Sunday in Monterey Park left a suspect dead and a police officer and two bystanders wounded. Authorities evacuated several dozen residents, and a SWAT team surrounded an apartment building where a second assailant was believed to be hiding, but a search turned up nothing, officials said. Monterey Park Police Officer Gilbert Alvarez suffered a grazing wound to the head and was in stable condition at County-USC Medical Center, officials said. The conditions of the bystanders were not immediately available.

First came the rain. Then the prayers for it to stop. Then when the sun came out and visitors began arriving, so did the cops ? to close everything down because of the weather. They handcuffed a local pastor. Their sirens wailed. Vendors and customers scurried off. This was not how the Year of the Rabbit was supposed to be kicked off at the Monterey Park Lunar New Year Festival, one of Southern California's biggest Chinese New Year celebrations. Even now, more than a week later, many vendors who were there remain outraged by how the city treated them.

Hop right into the year of the rabbit at the Lunar New Year Festival in downtown Monterey Park. There will be traditional food, gift vendors, live entertainment and carnival-style roller coasters at the event to shepherd in the new year. And, of course, what's Chinese new year without the lion and dragon dancers? Downtown business district, Garvey Avenue between Garfield and Nicholson avenues. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Free. http://www.ci.monterey-park.ca.us

Four Chinese nationals have been arrested on suspicion of recruiting women from China to work in brothels set up in residences in Monterey Park and San Gabriel. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, the weekend bust resulted from a nine-month investigation into a far-reaching prostitution enterprise that relied on word of mouth and personal referrals to lure customers into private condominiums for commercial sex. Court papers allege that the defendants engaged in various types of immigration fraud, including using fake documents and false marriages to recruit Chinese women, many with valid student visas, into a life of prostitution in the San Gabriel Valley.

It's easy to lose yourself in La Loma Park. Etched onto a hilltop at the apex of Monterey Park, it is sequestered from the city, connected only by a staircase to the outside world. Journalist Jesse Katz came to the park seeking an escape from his tumultuous personal life and found refuge there for nine years -- first as his son Max's baseball coach and later as the unlikely savior/baseball commissioner of the Monterey Park Sports Club. "It felt like our park. We had ownership over this place," he says.

Measured Moyers I am a 66-year-old lifelong Republican who always enjoyed listening to Bill Moyers. ("A Thoughtful Voice Amid the Din," by Neal Gabler, Dec. 13.) With his unique personal style and calming voice he had the ability to discuss both sides of a political issue in a calm measured way that enabled you to understand his point of view and what the real issues were. The shrill, vitriolic ranting of talking heads like Bill O'Reilly or Donna Brazile regardless of party affiliation only serve to polarize every critical issue we face as a nation and leave a scorched earth landscape behind them where no rational discussion can take place in the middle.