Prop 93 fallout in the statehouse, a police standoff in Woodland Hills, farewell to John Boston, and a new News Editor at the Mighty Signal? All ahead in the first Daily Brief of the Year of the Rat.

News

• Sheriff’s Department wants help with carjacking: Sheriff’s Detectives are asking for the public’s help in resolving a carjacking that occurred last week at the Costco store in Canyon Country. The victim of the carjacking, a woman, was tricked into helping the perpetrators jump start their car. From there, the Sheriff’s blog takes over: “As she started her car and popped the hood latch, the suspect claimed he was having trouble opening her hood. When she got out of her car and approached the suspect, she saw he was holding a shotgun at his side. The suspect ordered her to give him everything she had. Fearing for her safety, the victim told the suspect to take her car.” The suspects later got into an accident but somehow managed to evade Deputies. More info here
• LAPD SWAT officer killed this morning: SWAT officers were sent to a house in Woodland Hills after a man told the LAPD he had killed three family members. The SWAT team entered the man’s house after midnight which “triggered an exchange in which two veteran officers were wounded.” One officer was treated at Northridge Medical Center but died from his wounds. The suspect is still barricaded in his home. The officer’s death marks the first fatality in the 41 year history of the elite LAPD SWAT unit. EDIT: The house where the suspect is at is now on fire. Reminds me of our own standoff in August 2001 in which Deputy Jake Kuredjian was shot and killed outside a house in Stevenson Ranch. Daily News
• LA County to investigate polling problems: Confusion leads to complaints after independent voters question why they weren’t allowed to vote with a Democratic ballot. Registrar’s office to investigate.
• Prop 93 Fallout: Voters refused to pass Proposition 93, a measure which would have changed the way term limits are applied in California’s two legislative houses. The defeat of the measure will have an impact on both Senators who serve portions of the Santa Clarita Valley. Tom McClintock the conservative budget hawk, will term out of his Senate seat this November, and the Ventura County Star says that Democrats might have a chance at taking his seat despite the highly gerrymandered 19th District, which stretches from Valencia to Santa Barbara. Tony Strickland, former Assemblyman, has some $500k set aside and will probably face no primary challenger on the Republican side. Our other senator, conservative George Runner, is said to be in the running for Senate Minority Leader according to the ModBee.
• Council Candidates Debate Next week:Next Friday, Signal Editor Lila Littlejohn and KHTS News Director Jon Dell will moderate a debate between the five candidates for City Council at City Hall. The debate will air live on KHTS or you can attend for free. Link
• LA City Councilman introduces motion to stop Las Lomas: Greig Smith, who’s district butts up against the Newhall Pass, says he hopes the motion will “stop this project for good”. LAIst has the press release and some commentary on the controversial 5500 home project proposed for the Newhall Pass. Link

Blogs, Opinion, and More:

• Tim Myers on John Boston: The former Signal columnist says he learned more about the SCV from John Boston than anyone else and that Boston was authentic and accessible. “John provided the bridge from the old SCV of Scott and Ruth Newhall’s Signal and probably 50,000 residents to the present day of corporate media ownership and the 300,000 residents of one of the nation’s boomburbs. John could bring those old days to life since he really lived them, and even us newbies benefited from his repository of recent history. ” Good read
• Gary Horton’s withering response to McKeon fundraising letter: The newspaper columnist and businessman relays some outrageous excerpts from a recent Buck McKeon fundraising letter he got and responds to them. “Can I count on you to help stop Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Senator Hillary Clinton from taking us down a path of economic ruin and destroying our country’s image worldwide?” Buck asks his recepients. Great read
• New Signal News Editor: I’m a little confused. This week, the Signal added a new name and subtracted one (John Boston) from its masthead. The new name is Rob Bignell, and he’s apparently the new News Editor at the paper. If the order of names in the masthead is any indicator, Bignell reports to Editor Lila Littlejohn and has City Editor Josh Premako report to him. Of course, it could all be a mistake too: Bignell’s email address is listed as “kthomson@the-Signal.com” which makes no sense. If the Bignell I’ve found on the web is the same as the one in the mashead, then the editor comes to Creekside by way of the Eureka Times-Standard, where he was also news editor. Before that, he worked at a Crescent City California paper, a Palm Springs paper, and at the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He won an award for spot reporting in 2006 after a tsunami caused $5 million worth of damage to a California coastal town. Maybe I’ll email that strange address and see who replies.