June 3, 2008 - Daily Brief
Written by Jeff on June 3rd, 2008Do you smell what the Daily Brief is cookin’?
News
- Another vague “inappropriate” relationship between teacher and student: This time it’s at West Ranch High, and as usual, the Hart District isn’t naming names and has placed the teacher on administrative leave while it investigates. The news follows allegations at two other high schools in April and May -thought to be Canyon High and Golden Valley High- where a teacher and a counselor were both investigated for having inappropriate contact with students. Is the singles scene in the SCV really this lousy? Link
- Powerful bankruptcy law firm giving advice to LandSource: A Chicago based law firm that is handling “six of the 12 largest US bankruptcies by debt” is giving restructuring advice to LandSource in the wake of its default on payments for the Newhall Ranch property, Bloomberg reports today. It’s only a short paragraph in an otherwise long article on the bankruptcy industry, but it’s the latest clue in the LandSource/LNR/Lennar/CalPers/Newhall Land saga that started way back in April and comes amid the continuing housing crunch and credit crisis. Link
- California gas price average now $4.24, people are starting to make changes: Gas prices in CA are second to none in the United States and transit ridership is rising as motorists leave their keys at home, according to the LA Times in a Column One story today. “You’re seeing more Americans trying to work from home, finding jobs that are closer to their homes or moving to new homes that are closer to their jobs. These are fundamental changes,” one expert said. Link
- State says “Paper water” can be counted: Water beat reporter Jim Holt has been following the progress of an Assembly Bill that would have “precluded the [water] supplier from relying on groundwater as a supply earmarked for any proposed development project.” That bill was modified last week by a state water committee which means that developers and water agencies can now count available ground water before it’s cleaned. Holt spoke to local activist Cam Noltemeyer who told The Signal that she not only doesn’t drink SCV water, but she’d “prefer not to bathe in it” (ROFL) and also talked with CLWA chief Dan Masnada who insisted that SCV water is safe. Link
- Tomorrow’s Headline: Antonovich wins reelection: Today is California’s primary contest in which (few?) voters will go to the polls to vote on candidates for various primary contests, judges, and propositions. In LA County, there’s a big supervisor’s race in the 2nd District, but our own 5th District supe, Mike Antonovich, is facing off against a 30 year old warehouse worker named Stephen Hinze who’s running in the Party for Socialism and Liberation and wants to make LA County a “sanctuary for all immigrants.” Parimal Rohit talked to both of them and has the story here.
- SCV Chamber Newsletter : The Chamber’s June newsletter is on the web and this month there’s some coverage and renderings of Phase 4 of the City’s Santa Clarita Sports Complex expansion as well as an op/ed from Chamber CEO Larry Mankin who says that while office and retail vacancies are on the rise, Santa Clarita would still be the envy of most communities in America. “When listening to or reading information released by the media, one might think our valley would be in a business depression. In fact, we are looking at….acceptable vacancy rates when comparing growing markets in America to the SCV. Clearly this valley has been able to absorb speculative office space,” he concludes. Also there’s a rundown of tourism numbers relating to sports events in Santa Clarita on page 1 (see if you can spot the typo). Link
- Smyth, Strickland use ATM prop to fight taxes in Ventura: Santa Clarita’s Assemblyman Cameron Smyth appeared alongside 19th Senate Republican hopeful Tony Strickland in front of a “12 foot gray and black inflatable automated teller machine” at a Ventura County Courthouse to fight against possible California state tax increases. No quote from Smyth, but Strickland -who if he wins in November would represent a small portion of the SCV- had this to say regarding how tax increases might impact Californians: “A lot of people can’t make ends meet…People have to choose between a gallon of gas or a gallon of milk.” Link The pair are asking Californians to sign an anti-tax petition.
- GM May shut down Hummer line, what would become of dealerships? The struggling motor company GM announced today that it is closing four truck and SUV plants in the US, Canada, and Mexico as sales of fuel-inefficient vehicles plummet as gas prices rise. GM also said “the iconic Hummer brand may be discontinued,” according to the LA Times. Santa Clarita, land of the giant stomper truck and the pimped out Hummer H2s has one Hummer dealership, Parkway Hummer which opened a few years ago on Magic Mountain Parkway.
- California hand-free law goes into effect next month: You’ll no longer be allowed to hold your mobile phone to your head and talk while driving after July 1. If caught, police can fine you $20 for the first offense and $50 for subsequent offenses, according to the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Sales of Bluetooth and other hands-free devices are spiking ahead of the new law. Said one retailer: ““I just gotta thank the cops for the sales.” Link
- Runner and Smyth on prisons: Build more! Paleo-conservative George Runner will have a proposition on this November’s ballot that would increase law enforcement spending by almost a billion dollars and would incarcerate more criminals, including juveniles. But there’s no plan to pay for the proposition if it passes in light of California’s huge budget deficit. Nevertheless, the Lancaster Senator who represents some of the SCV was on KHTS yesterday advocating the construction of more prisons to help solve California’s prison overpopulation problem. Jon Dell has that report.
Misc
- Be Cool to my School event ends: Bridgeport Elementary, Castaic Middle School, and Saugus High school win the contest and $1000. Over all, parents did 126 test drives of vehicles and purchased 19 vehicles. Link
- Buck’s challenger blogs on Iraq, gas prices, PTSD and other topics: Calling the Iraq War “McKeon’s war” and liberally sprinkling exclamation marks in every other sentence, Barstow-based Democrat Jacquese Conaway has a new blog post on her official campaign site. *sigh*
- The two sisters behind Stone Fire grill: People in the SCV either love Stone Fire Grill or they hate it; despite the Yelp rating of 3.5 stars, that’s the reaction I get when I suggest dining there (I happen to love Stone Fire). Anyway, the Daily News has an interesting story on the two sisters who founded the successful restaurant in Valencia 10 years ago and have expanded but so far resisted the temptation to franchise the operation. mmm Chicken wrap
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Re: Parkway Hummer, I noticed that the Parkway dealerships aren’t participating in the Auto Dealers latest promotion. A smart business move, because you save in dues, but you get all the benefits of the wider campaign. However, the city shouldn’t be spending money advertising these businesses if all of them aren’t on board.
In real life, I’m as anti-drug as they come, but the drug war is far and away the number one problem with our prison overcrowding, even more so at the federal level. Do something about the sentencing on drug cases and you will free up the prisons for more serious criminals.
Listening to the opinion of a lot of different people from a lot of different viewpoints, I haven’t heard a single person rise to defend Buck McKeon in well over a year. I’m really surprised that no serious candidate thought challenging him would be worthwhile. There would probably be a lot of national funds directed towards the race as well.
On Stonefire, I really dislike the food, but I give them credit for taking the chance with a new restaurant concept of limited service. I prefer limited service to full service done poorly, and it is neat to see a home grown restaurant spread out like they have.
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“Chamber CEO Larry Mankin”
I wonder if Larry was on the high school pep squad!
His pep talk reminds me of a coach in the locker room at half time.
His opinion of the economy does not stack up with the real world.
Perhaps the downturn in the economy has not hit those that have all the tax and other benefits of a business owner. Enterprise zone, low cost undocumented labor, etc, etc. !
I am glad SCV is doing well, but I also know that many residents are being challenged to make ends meet.
Even Cartman is having to ride the bus to work. If nothing more, a major lifestyle change driven by the economy.
Chamber CEO Larry Mankin did not mention that Newhall Land, once the pinnacle company of the area, is only a few dollars away for bankruptcy. Nor did he mention that the car dealers are headed for a major downturn, or that real estate has crashed, hurting local agencies, etc…
Things do not seem so bright to many, Larry! Rah Rah Rah.
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Gas prices in CA are second to none in the United States - NOT TRUE! Hawaii is currently at $4.46/gal for regular and is usually .25 - .40 higher than the mainland.
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Not so, much of Hawaii is significantly lower than CA:
http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/HImetro.asp
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High gas prices can be attributed to several things:
War in Iraq, which has caused instability in the oil markets. U.S. debt of almost 9 trillion, which has caused the dollar to be de-valued. The cost of oil is based on U.S. currency. I can only imagine sooner rather than later, that they could switch to the euro. There is high demand from China and India. Lastly, people (speculators) who are investing money in the oil markets are contributing to the increase in price of oil as well.
Demand for oil is down in the U.S.. The oil refineries are now choosing refining diesel and other oils, because the profit margin is much higher, than that of regular gasoline.
A combination of factors contributed to the increase in the cost of oil and it will take a similar combination of plans/ideas to lower the cost.
On a personal note, I drive a 6-cylinder Jeep liberty, the car is paid off and drives well. I am spending about $300 or so a month on gas. I figure if I trade in my car for a more economical vehicle, I will be paying more. I figure at least $300 a month for a car payment for at least 3 to 4 years, increase in insurance plus gas. Although I drive an SUV, for me it seems to make more economical sense to continue driving my care instead of trading it in at this time
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I just returned from Maui on 5/30 and it was $4.46 everywhere on the island, I think AAA is a bit behind the times.
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From what I could gather, Honolulu metro is much lower than most other islands, and the population pulls the average down. In the Big Sur area, gas is over $5/gal.
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re. Stonfire:
I enjoy the food (especially the salads), however my experience with management wasn’t so hot!
About 3 years ago my family volunteered to make dinner for the temporary shelter. It was after the bad rains and there were quiet a few displaced families there that year.
We made the meat loafs (12 in all) and salad, but decided to order the potatoes from a resturant (we really were not up to mashing!). When a called Stonefire I explained what the 3 sides were for and asked if they might want to either ‘donate’ those dishes, or give us a discount of some kind. The girl at the ordering desk said she didn’t think that they did that ’sort of thing’, but would check with the ‘manager’ when she comes in the next day. Long story short……NOPE! They don’t ‘do that kind of thing’. I asked to speak to the manager (again had to leave my number ’cause the mgr. only comes in a few times a week) She called 2 days later (day of meal being served) and she said no,, sorry, but if they did it for the shelter, then EVERYONE would want a free meal!
So there you go……Family is very important to the 2 sisters that co-own Stonefire, just not other families who may really need the meal! It was mashed potatoes for crying out loud! Okay, so we ordered them anyway and yes, they were a hit! But, so were our ‘home made’ Meat Loafs!
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After having worked for a high end auto dealer with two brands, one being Land Rover, I understand how hard it can be for Hummer to stay in business.
In Beverley hills Range Rovers are booming as they always have but for the rest of the country who can’t pay $150 every 5 days to fill the tank, it surprises me that any suburban, Yukon, or Hummer line can survive.
It’s an environmentalists dream to see this gas issue the way it’s going but you don’t notice them out calibrating over it even though they have an inner gleeful celebration going on. Not to be a hypocrite but I never liked Hummer anyway. Their just dressed up GM trucks. I don’t mind seeing them go. I do mind the hardship for families who have 4-6 kids and have carrying needs who are hurting. They should never be told what they should drive. But, there are those who love to watch them get squeezed financially and don’t mind it a bit as our energy legislation continues to force us over sees to buy our energy.