So personal resoponsibility is the theme of today’s Signal editorial page. What a wonderful topic for this valley. I can’t help but think that Editor Lila Littlejohn’s thoughts on personal responsibility ought to be applied collectively to certain organizations and institutions in town.

News

•  $300 million bond measure a go for November Ballot: Voters in the SCV will be asked to vote for or against a Hart District $300 million bond measure this fall. If passed, the District says the money will go towards modernization and improvement of district facilities and “relieving overcrowding at existing schools by adding a new high school in the Castaic area,” something residents there have demanded for almost 10 years. One board member told The Signal that she was excited about a recent opinion survey on the bond measure, which showed some 65% of SCV residents would vote in favor of the measure. Sharon Cotal has more.
• Clarification on Drop Out story: The Signal today published a one paragraph “Clarification” of a story that appeared in yesterday’s paper on state, county and Hart District dropout rates. Yesterday’s article looked at Hart Dropout rates for only one school year, while reports from the state covered a four year period. “The four year derived rates, which estimate how many students would drop out over a four year period based on data from a single period, were 15.6 percent for the Hart District,” the paper says in the clarification. The Signal had written that the “Hart district has a dropout rate of 4.1 percent, compared to 7.3 percent for the county and 24.2 percent for the state.” A case of apples and organges I suppose.
• Antonovich floats “Fair Share” transportation bond measure: The Fifth District supe says residents of LA County in places other than Los Angeles City “deserve to see the tax dollars they generate fund transportation projects in their communities.” He’s proposing a ballot measure for November that would set thta into law. Link
• Another motorist dies on local roads: NBC 4 says a man who was sitting in his disabled car in the HOV lane on Highway 14 was struck and killed by another motorist early Friday morning. That brings to 10 the number of people killed on local roadways just this summer. Link Also, there was a six car pileup on Highway 126 yesterday. No major injuries though.
• Hart District lays off five more: The state still hasn’t passed a budget, but that didn’t stop the Hart District board from laying off five more workers Wednesday, the Signal says. The layoffs, which should save the District some $450,000, were targeted at the District’s facilities department and included what looks like five white-collar type positions. Four of the five workers will “be able to find another placement in the district” though. One of the laid off workers said it was hypocritical of the District to lay off employees -some of whom have worked there for 15 years- when “the district has hired multiple consultant firms and attorneys to engage a $300 million bond measure to fund construction projects.” Link
• Two Starbucks stores closing in SCV: So reports Peter Viles, the LA Times blogger who runs the LA Land blog, which reports on SoCal real estate. Viles has created a google map of the closures,and it reveals that a Starbucks in Castaic and one in the brand-spanking-new Golden Valley shopping center are closing. The Seattle-based coffee giant announced earlier this month that it was closing some 600 stores nationwide amid slumping demand. Link
• One Valley One Vision 3rd Element: SCVTV.com has posted a three part video of the Planning Commission meeting held Tuesday that discussed the Land use element of the One Valley One Vision plan, the joint County/City plan for the future of Santa Clarita. I haven’t had time to watch it yet, but if you missed it like I did, catch up on it here.
• SCV Woman wins over $300k in World Series of Poker: A woman named Tiffany Michele finished ahead of all other women and 17th overall in the World Series of Poker event, held this year at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas. Michele scored a cool $330,000. They call her “Hot Chips” and though she’s from the SCV, she now lives in Vegas and used to work as a reporter for some Poker or Gambling news service. She’s an aspiring actress and one poker website says her career is about to take off. Link
• KCSN Evaluating mission, may change: If you’re a classical music fan, the only place to hear such music on the FM dial reliably in the SCV is on KCSN, 88.5, a public radio music station broadcasting out of Cal State Northridge. But CSUN may change the format of the station since it’s longtime programming director recently retired. Few people listen to it now and it’s so small it doesn’t even get public funding, other than CSUN. Daily News has more.

Three representatives, three different bills/ideas

•  McKeon/Feinstein Eastern Sierra Bill: The bipartisan bill that would protect some 475,000 acres of Eastern Sierrraand San Grabriel mountain land has moved forward, the Signal reports. The protected land would touch some areas near Santa Clarita, including Piru creek. Link
• Smyth gets cemetery for Simi: Assemblyman Smyth, meanwhile, penned a bill that will allow the City of Simi Valley to “dedicate, own and operate five or more acres of land” for a public, non-sectarian cemetery. The bill was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger this week. It’s amusing to think this was actually an issue in Simi Valley; the Mayor there notes that Smyth’s bill will allow “people who are nonsectarian” to have a place to bury their loved ones. Have we ever had controversy in our town about our only cemetery, Eternal Valley? Link
• Runner says state should hold fire sale rather than raise taxes: “California owns a variety of assets, including buildings, stadiums, arenas, railroads, fairgrounds, printing plants, parks, prisons, office complexes, golf courses and more. As time goes by, facilities age, become obsolete and priorities change,” the ultra-conservative Senator George Runner says in an editorial today. He manages to raise some decent points even if it gets lost in the bashing of “extreme environmentalists.” Link

Misc

•  Lila lays down the law: The Editor of the Signal once worked as an English (and journalism) professor for various colleges in the LA area and in today’s editorial she talks about one student, “Mr. Minimum,” who felt entitled to a passing grade even though he did the bare minimum of work and flunked his English 101 final. She says entitlement and personal responsibility are going to be the themes for this Sunday’s Op/Ed page in The Signal and invites readers to write in their own stories. Link
• Tim Myers is an erudite elitist and race-baiter: That seems to be West Ranch Beacon contributor Simon Weston’s opinion of Tim Myers after he left the WRB to join the cultural wasteland of the Signal. Link
• 20 year old woman not allowed to buy multiple R rated movie tickets: Kimberly Inverno says in an LTE that she recently visited Edwards Theater in Canyon Country and the clerk at the window refused to sell her multiple R movie tickets because she wasn’t 21. She reviews the list of things she is allowed to do at her age (including buying porn and/or becoming a stripper ROFL). Hey, this is Family Friendly SCV, you should just be happy that they’re showing R-rated movies at all Kimberly. Link
• KHTS posts a pair of finance stories in these tough times: Worried about the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout? Concerned over IndyMac’s failure? Don’t be; it doesn’t really affect locals KHTS says in a pair of articles on local business reaction to the evolving economic issues dominating the headlines these days.
• Odd stroke study may be underway locally: Another KHTS article details a stroke study that local paramedics and rescue workers may soon implement on stroke victims in the SCV. The study, which seeks to determine whether an injection of magnesium sulfate could help a stroke victim, requires the patient to sign off before it’s administered. Here’s how that process works: “The criteria for participating are simple: If you are having symptoms of a stroke, meet the study criteria, and 911 is called, you may be enrolled in the FAST-MAG Trial. The paramedics who respond to the 911 call are trained to identify potential study patients by following very strict criteria. If you are able to make decisions for yourself, you will be asked to read a study consent form, have any questions answered by a study doctor on cell phone, and decide whether or not you would like to enroll in the study.” interesting
• Blogger says LA should build subway all the way to SCV: “If we are to become a world class and livable city, we need a total transportation system and it must be built around the subway to the sea…with future extensions north of Santa Clarita and Palmdale Airport, south to Newport, and even further,” CityWatchLA says. That would indeed be pretty radical. Link
• Start your weekend off right with this fun,happy, and entirely goofy YouTube video: It’s so sweet, I needed a shot of insulin. I just love it. I’ve been humming the melody since I first saw it, and I show it to all my friends and family. Must See