Well the news this morning is simply awful. What can be said? It’s a tragedy.

News

•  Two year old boy found dead in minivan, mother apparently forgot: A two year old boy died Monday afternoon after apparently being left inside his family’s car for hours, according to multiple media reports.  Sheriff’s officials said that the “mother of this young boy was out running errands, shopping, and when she returned home, two of the three kids got out of the car and went into the house. A period of time elapsed and then the mother realized her young son was missing. She looked for him in the car and found him strapped in the baby seat.” Temperatures were in the high 90s in Santa Clarita on Monday, and Sheriff’s investigators think the boy was in the car for “several hours.” Initially this was reported as a homicide investigation, and the mother, according to The Signal’s Jim Holt, was taken from the scene by Deputies. It’s not known yet whether any charges will be filed against the mother, who’s said to be “distraught.” A Deputy said that the mother mentioned she was “distracted” while the child was in the car. AP Report, Signal report
• Teen Standoff ends peacefully in Newhall: A knife-wielding 17 year old held his family hostage for hours Monday night on Walnut Street in Newhall, but surrendered peacefully after two hours early Tuesday morning. According to CBS 2 news, the unnamed 17 year old “chased family members inside a Newhall home while waving a knife,” and later bariccaded himself in the house. Apparently the family escaped the house and informed deputies that the boy was “acting crazy.” The 17 year old then allegedly put mattreses up against the windows of the home and lit a small fire in one of the bedrooms, but that was extinguished before it spread. The boy surrendered to Sheriff’s Deputies at around 12:25 AM. Link
• LandSource/Newhall Land secure financing: The Signal reports today that LandSource have secured financing that in effect, “allows LandSource and its subsidiaries, such as Newhall Land, to keep operating.” The amount of the financing is $1.185 billion and The Signal says the agreement gives LandSource “just under a year to turn things around before its main lender, Barclay’s Bank, can foreclose on the company.” The decision, handed down by a judge last weekend, was “well-received” at Newhall Land, according to Jim Holt. Marlee Lauffer, Newhall Land VP of Communications, told Holt that the agreement will allow Newhall Land to “continue to move forward on some of our activities in accordance with the approved budget.” Holt said there is a list of creditors who will be paid what they are owed in the Judge’s decision. I haven’t had time to scan through the document yet, but a LandSource press release says the deal allows creditors a “real chance” to get what they are owed. Signal, Press Release,Court Document #0811111-293.
• Transient man allegedly attacks Sheriff’s Deputy: A 21 year old man was spotted lying in a wash on Saturday with a gash in his forehead. A Sheriff’s Deputy tried awake the man only to come under attack by him. The man, Alfredo Gonzalez, allegedly “jumped up and tried to punch the deputy while yelling expletives. The deputy told him to get back on the ground, but Gonzales picked up a wooden stick and began swinging it at the deputy.” The Deputy was able to subdue and arrest the man. Daily News
• State budget impasse means Sacramento staffers don’t get paid: Staff members working for Cameron Smyth, George Runner, and some 2,000 other workers for elected officials haven’t received a paycheck since June 15, according to the Ventura County Star. Most of the workers are able to get emergency loans while the legislators work out a budget, and local banks in Sacramento have even developed special loan programs just for Sacramento staffers. But that’s still not very encouraging to many staffers, one of whom told the Star that “It’s scary times. We’ve got no job security at all, and sometimes no pay, either.”Link
• Gas thieves target local business, get away with some $500 in diesel fuel: ABC 7 says that some 90 gallons of diesel fuel was stolen from a truck at a local pool equipment company by unknown suspects sometime on Sunday night. Workers at the company discovered that the gas cap was removed from one of its trucks, so they checked some surveillance tapes from the night before. “It showed someone drive up in a white pickup truck and start pumping the diesel from both of the trucks’ 45 gallons tanks. In just minutes, about 90 gallons of fuel were stolen,” ABC 7 says. Link
• Drunken TV channel dispute leads to arm-stabbing: Two men were watching TV and drinking and allegedly got into a dispute over what TV programming to watch. That lead to one of the men stabbing the other in the arm. The 46 year old alleged stabber was arrested by deputies. KHTS story Someone should tell those idiots to read Jay Harn’s appreciation for DVRs.
• LA Times discusses realty search websites: The Times did a great review of residential real estate websites meant for average Joes like you and me (non MLS sites to be specific.) Part 1 of 2 is available here.

Misc

•  Totally forgot Tim Myers’ Sunday Column: The Signal columnist wrote an interesting rebuttal to all the outrage over Frank Ferry and Laurie Ender’s picks for the Parks and Planning Commission. “I do not understand the criticism. Each City Council member retains the right to appoint one planning commissioner and one parks commissioner. To hear the critics, the only way that Ferry and Ender could prove purity would entail appointing to the seats a virulent political enemy who holds views on commission business diametrically opposed to theirs.” He goes on to describe the critics’ use of the term “PTA Volunteer,” which he says is “code for bubble-headed suburban mom.” Hehe. I’ve used that term. Anyway, it’s a good column and you can read it here.
  
• Buck McKeon promises $2.09 gas? So says Democratic Voices columnist Leigh Hart, who writes in an opinion piece today that a friend had received a mailer from Buck McKeon “stating that the price of gasoline could drop as low as $2.09 a gallon if only congress would approve a variety of bills presently co-sponsored by him.” Hart then describes some of the bills McKeon is talking about and disputes them. But holy cow! What politician would promise such a thing? Does McKeon keep a separate list of voters who are utterly clueless about geopolitics, world economics, and all the other components that go into the cost of gasoline? If anyone has this flyer and can scan it, I’d love it if you sent it to me at jeff@scvtalk.com Link
• Saugus School District to hold Centennial Celebration: It’s hard to believe that any organization in the SCV could actually be 100 years old, but the Saugus District is and will celebrate its 100th birthday in October. Details
• I Heart starts SCV book club: The blogger says there has “most certainly been stuff written about SCV and stuff written by people who in SCV, and by my reckoning, the time to read all that stuff is now.” So he’s starting a book club, which he acknowledges will likely be populated only by him. The first book on the list is John Boston’s “Naked Came the Sasquatch,” which I think is a horror story about Pico Canyon. Link
• Jay Harn doesn’t like your use of Bluetooth headsets: The Signal’s publisher says you should stop looking like your straight from the set of Star Trek and leave that Bluetooth headset in your car where it belongs.
  
• LA Times scores Hollywood Walk of Fame Stars: The paper says scores of stars lining the streets of Hollywood are cracked, broken or in other ways disfigured. It even built a database of stars and graded each one. I checked William S Hart’s star- the SCV icon’s star in the sidewalk gets a “B” rating for its current condition. Link
• Kids ask Mayor Kellar to save Bridgeport Geese: Rarely would I post something from the “Kids”Page in the Signal, but today’s content was just too compelling to pass up. A summer school fifth grade class from the Castaic School Districted submitted several letters to Mayor Kellar, asking him to save the ducks and geese who cross Newhall Ranch Road. One youngster told the Mayor in her letter that, “I felt sad when I heard that the mama duck got run over and the people were only able to save three baby chicks.” Another said the solution to the problem is to “put two fences on the side and make a bridge for ducks, geese, and people.”