Jeff dribbles up center court, spins around one defender, runs past another…he’s in the key, no one’s around him. He shoots! He scores! Another Daily Brief for the record books! The crowd goes wild!

News

• Housing workshop to be held in Newhall on Tuesday: How’s this for your Monday morning? The state says Santa Clarita will need some 10,000 more housing units by 2014, and by housing units, I’m not talking about 2,200 sq. ft. single family homes on a 10th of an acre near a paseo in Valencia. Rather, as Katie Geyer reported in Saturday’s Signal, the state says those units will need to be distributed among “extremely low income, very low income, low income, moderate income and market rate levels.” You can dig into the future of the SCV yourself by getting educated on this affordable and other types of housing on Tuesday at the Newhall Community Center on Market Street as the city tackles yet another phase of the One Valley One Vision plan. Link
• Utilities say late payments are becoming more common: The Daily News reported this weekend that both the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power and Southern California Edison -the utility that serves the SCV- have seen big spikes in the number of late electricity payments. SoCal Edison reported some 14% more disconnections this year than last year as prices have gone up in just about every sector. Said a Stevenson Ranch financial planner of late utility payments: “People generally have their priorities mixed up in a consumption society. We forget shelter, food, clothing. People don’t think of utilities. But this will mushroom.” Link
• Proposition 13 credited for once: Last week, the Times had a story on how Prop 13, the famous anti-tax measure that limited how much the state could collect from homeowners, was helping local governments weather the economic downturn. Well, on Friday, NPR echoed that in a story comparing California’s property tax receipts & Prop 13 with other states, which are faced with declining property values and declining tax revenue. For the story, NPR’s Karen Grigsby Bates spoke with LA County Economic guru Jack Keyser, among others. You can listen to the story here.
  
• Water fees to go up for developers? That’s what the CLWA will discuss this week after a recent examination of CLWA’s revenue revealed an $800,000 shortfall should the Whittaker Bermite and Newhall Ranch projects go through. At least that’s how I’m reading Jim Holt’s report on the matter. A discussion on whether to raise developer fees as a result will happen at the agency’s meeting on Tuesday night.
  
• “Hot Chips” gets some hot press: Both the Signal and the Daily News did in-depth stories on sexy card shark Tiffany Michelle, the 24 year old Newhall native who placed 17th overall at the World Series of Poker, held recently in Las Vegas. Here’s a sampling of the fawning coverage: “She might look like a young Sandra Bullock or glance at you with a sweet smile, but once the cards are dealt, the 24-year-old former beauty queen from Newhall is all business.” -Daily News. “Michelle’s performance in last week’s premiere poker event may have done more than break the gender barrier — she may have ushered in a new era of poker player.” - Signal Hey Ashley Tisdale, watch out, there’s a new bombshell from our town!
• Lyons Ranch project said to be on fast track: The proposed senior housing development -consisting of some 93 single units and 93 condos- is “being processed…under the wire” according to residents of Sunset Pointe and Stevenson Ranch, the nearest homes to the development west of Interstate 5 and just north of Towsley Canyon Park. Reporter Jim Holt says in today’s paper that though plans have been on the books for two years, the only public hearing on the project will be held by the County on July 30. The resident Holt interviewed said he’s concerned about the project because of oak tree removal as well as “brush parties,” parties where people go back in the hills and drink.
  
• City to hold another “Clean up your act” block party: This time, the city’s humorously named “Extreme Neighborhood Makeover” team will visit a Newhall neighborhood in September on the other side of the tracks, that being the old part of Newhall adjacent to the Community Center and along Market, Race, Arch and other streets east of San Fernando Road. The Signal reports today that the party will be held for some 150 properties in that area and that, like in the Canyon Country code enforcement party before it, residents will be encouraged to clean up their act.
  
• Reduced lunches for SCV kids not so reduced anymore: Signal .edu beat reporter Sharon Cotal reported this weekend that prices for reduced-price meals at area shcools will rise this fall as the agency that provides the meals passes on increased costs to student’s families. Link

Politics & Fall Ballot

• McKeon donates to McCain: Last week we read that Buck “Big Spender” McKeon had donated some $200,000 to the National Republican Committee, a group charged with helping to elect GOP members across the fruited plain. Well, today we find out that Buck McKeon is one of only a handful of House Republicans -22 in fact- who have actually donated to John McCain’s presidential campaign. The Hill says McKeon, along with Boehner, David Dreier, and others have given $5k to McCain. Link
• Carole Lutness opens up: The long-shot Democratic candidate for California’s 38th Assembly District -currently held by Cam Smyth- posted a long video over the weekend in which the Democratic activist interviewed residents of the district about the economy, gas prices, education, the hospital situation in the SCV, and many other topics. Some of the interactions are interesting while in others you can tell the voter is just waiting for a reason to exit. Link
• Strickland Says to Vote for Strickland: Paul Strickland, the elected official who serves on the Hart Board, says you should vote for Tony Strickland, the guy running for California’s 19th Senate seat, currently occupied by Tom McClintock. There’s no relation Strickland says, but Tony’s the right man for GOP folks, he argues. Hey, speaking of Strickland, an SCVTalker brought up an interesting question- how can someone who writes in the Signal week after week about the evils of government and taxes ask SCV residents to vote for a $300 million bond initiative for the Hart District, widely regarded as the least competent government agency in town?

Signal News

• Sad day for SCV News: Two of the Mighty Signal’s best reporters, Parimal Rohit and Karen Elowitt, have left the employ of Creekside to join other journalistic and media endeavors. Rohit, who worked the SCV crime beat, lent some authority to the Signal with his JD, while Karen Elowitt produced some great stories on the city/community beat and later features. Both reporters started at the Signal last year. Rohit is reportedly going to work for a Hollywood-focused website while Elowitt will manage content for a travel and tourism syndicate.
• Signal embraces online video even more: The Signal’s former features editor, Jim Walker, has moved on to become the Signal’s “Webcast Producer,” a role the Signal says fits him well since he’s been an extra in several movies and TV shows and has “experience in both acting and producing for television and movies.” Also in the notice, published Sunday, Michele Buttelman, the chronicler of the SCV Charity Circuit, returns to the Signal as features editor. Link

Misc:

• I Heart Interviews Canada Goose near Newhall Ranch Road: Leave it to the valley’s best blogger to do a journalist’s job better than a journalist- I Heart has scored a rare, one-of-a-kind interview with one of those Canada Geese who boldly (stupidly?) crosses Newhall Ranch Road just so they can get to the other side. Must read hilarity
• Two good stories from the Signal: Jim Holt details a group who played dress-up and make believe for an Afghanistan battle at a local movie ranch, while Parimal Rohit pens what may be his last story in the Signal about inmates who graduated from a rehab program at Pitchess.
• Say it ain’t so: Origami Bistro spreads to LA? Usually Santa Clarita gets the second-rate eateries, but this time it’s reversed. Origami Bistro, the ultra-trendy, super-high-priced, so-loud-and-dark-you-can’t-see-your-date bar, is opening a place in downtown Los Angeles.
  
• Signal gives civics lesson: Can you name the Five Sacred Freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights? I could only name a few. Anyway, the Signal’s Sunday editorial was devoted to them.