- In anticipation of an $8.2 million budget shortage, the Saugus Union School District is thinking of closing five of its 15 schools SIGNAL
- $13 million in “tax exempt private activity bonds” are available for Santa Clarita businesses as part of a City recovery program KHTS
- $35,000 offered as reward for information about the men who attacked and beat up a Sheriff’s Deputy last month. The two perps were apparently using stolen credit and debit cardsd in town when a Deputy performed a traffic stop on them. SIGNAL
- City’s Work Source center, which helps residents find work, will move from an old retail space to some new digs at the COC University Center. SIGNAL
- Chihuahua dogs are the number one dog in animal shelters around California, thanks in large part to the small dogs’ starring role in a number of Hollywood movies LA TIMES
- Speaking of the dogs, head on over to the Boston Phoenix and read a calm and assertive interview with Ceasar Millan, the dog psychologist, who calls Santa Clarita home PHOENIX
- The Newhall Ranch EIR/EIS doesn’t properly account for how much greenhouse gases the 70,000 new residents might create, argues Friends of the Santa Clara River SIGNAL
- On the other hand, this letter writer says the globe isn’t warming (it’s actually cooling) and the only thing to be scared about is “extreme green legislation.” LTE
- John Boston finds a liberal SCV school’s winter solstice celebration event and inadvertently gives me a good idea for a party HILARIOUS
Yelp Reviews in SCV- Jeremy p.'s Review of Thai Dishes - Valencia (5/5) on Yelp September 2, 2010OK I DONT KNOW... BUT I THINK SCV PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW THAI FOOD. I order from this place ( Delivery ) all the time during there lunch special times. I NEVER get a service charge. NEVER wait more than… […]
- Jeremy p.'s Review of Pho Nga Vietnamese Restaurant - Canyon Country (5/5) on Yelp September 2, 2010Love the Pho here. Best in SCV. Also great prices and parking is easy to find. Only bad thing is that i have a lowerd vehicle and have to pull out sideways to not scrape but for pho and kung-pao… […]
- Lady P.'s Review of All Star Sports Grills - Santa Clarita (5/5) on Yelp September 2, 2010All Star has quickly become my favorite place to eat! Do NOT be fooled by its sports bar ambiance, this is a high quality restaurant. With a variety classic bar foods like potato skins and wings to… […]
- C L.'s Review of Pei Wei Asian Diner - Valencia (1/5) on Yelp September 2, 2010Pei Wei earns the dubious distinction of being the worst chain restaurant in Santa Clarita. Congratulations! It takes skill to stand out among the worst of the worst. Well done. *slowly claps… […]
- Daniel K.'s Review of Jack-In-the-Box Family Restaurants - Santa Clarita (4/5) on Yelp September 2, 2010Not much to say that isn't already known. Jack-In-The-Box locations probably taste pretty much the same. But this is the one I go to frequently so I am reviewing it. What I like about Jack is that… […]
- Sheila L.'s Review of Gotta Have Chocolate Now - Canyon Country (5/5) on Yelp September 2, 2010If you are a chocolate lover, this place is for you. For my luau party I had ordered the chocolate covered frozen bananas (with and without nuts) with milk chocolate and the dark chocolate dipped… […]
- Ryan M.'s Review of Jack In the Box Family Restaurants - Valencia (4/5) on Yelp September 2, 2010How could there not be a review for this place at this location?! This is a busy Jack-in-the Box location especially if you are about to enter the I-5 South entrance. Well, after making a bad choice… […]
- Sheila L.'s Review of Babe's Dessert Bar - Newhall (5/5) on Yelp September 2, 2010LOVE IT...LOVE IT...LOVE IT! I wanted a specialty cake for a luau themed birthday. Babe's Dessert Bar exceeded my expectations. The cake was absolutely beautiful. Everyone loved it. It was a 2… […]
- Ryan M.'s Review of Wal-Mart Supercenter - Santa Clarita (1/5) on Yelp September 2, 2010What a day!!! I actually came to work early, just to work late...Well, that's more money in my pocket. I had no lunch and I had originally planned to go to Ralph's and pick up a sandwich. However, I… […]
- Matt P.'s Review of Dominique's Jewelry - Santa Clarita (5/5) on Yelp September 2, 2010Wheneve I come in the store or stop by her booth at the swap meet she always has what I need. Not only that I can always expect her kind and friendly service whenever I come in. Her store is in a… […]
- Jeremy p.'s Review of Thai Dishes - Valencia (5/5) on Yelp September 2, 2010
Boston’s article is indeed hilarious. Being the astronomy nerd that I am I only suggest one change. The party should start at 9:47 AM to coincide with the actual Winter Solstice.
http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/seasons.html?year=2000&n=137
Both Hart and Saugus say they have budget problems. I guess the the $3000+ a year Mello-Roos they each put on the Plum Canyon developments didn’t help.
Drive66:
For what seems like the umpteenth time, a Mello-Roos is a tax put on a tract by the developer to repay bonds issued for necessary infrastructure or fees, ranging all the way from curbs and gutters to school fees. Effectively, the developer is shifting that cost directly to the folks buying homes.
Naturally, if the developer covered the costs they would have to fold this into the price of lots and finished homes. However, by placing it in a Mello-Roos they can “lower” the price. In any efficient market a home price in a Mello-Roos tract should be lower than one that is not in a Mello-Roos tract since this constitutes a real incremental cost to carry the property.
Now for people to swallow the Mello-Roos, tract salespeople and real estate agents always say it was “for the schools.” This might be indirectly true at best
Timmy,
Mello-out!
Drive66:
Sorry, but it has become an article of dogma in real estate circles that Mello-Roos is always for schools, and not just a way of funding development infrastructure, INCLUDING schools in some cases.
Hey Timmy:
How long is the term on most Mello-Ross assessments. 20 years? My house in Northbridge is about that old. Should the assessment be reaching a horizon?
OK, cash lives in Saugus so scratch that off the list of places to move to…Jimbo lives in Northbridge so scratch that off, too. Now, if I can just find out what area Petz and Fred live in, I can scratch off those as well.
Jim Farley:
The Nebraska bride handles all the finances. I thought the Mello Roos fell off a few years ago? (Of course, we were in the last houses built in Northbridge in 1996 so maybe we did not have it, but I thought we did for a while.)
Money:
I live in Northbridge. Do I cancel Jim out? (hee hee)
Come on now Money. Please move to my hood. Maybe some of my (and most of my neighbors)good Conservative values will rub off on you. It would do you a lot of good.
…..and you’d have T.M. to help you maintain your lefty perspective.
I live in Northbridge also. If I remember right, they refinanced the original set of bonds a few years ago, which does lower the annual assessment, but does extend it out. There may be ten years left on the refinance bonds.
The Plum Canyon Mello-Roos is 30 years
Jim:
I may just have to show you some 2008 presidential precinct results for Northbridge that you’re not going to like!
Nickeldime:
80% of people with a graduate degree voted for Obama.
Think about it!
ND, the turnout was off the charts in the SCV, despite your gut feeling, conservatives, like everyone else, voted in droves in 2008. After all, there were civil rights that needed stripping, right?
ND, are you going out on a limb to predict a Buck McKeon victory in 2010? That’s pretty bold, yeah?
ND:
On behalf of all the cool kids who mistreated you in high school, please accept my most sincere apologies.
“80% of people with a graduate degree voted for Obama.”
This statistic is not that surprising being that those who spent the most time in colleges that lean very liberal would vote for Obama. I’d like to know how that number breaks down between those who graduated in liberal arts vs those in business and science.
Many who voted for Obama were voting for the ‘anti-Bush’. As the current polls are showing many are now regretting that vote. I’d like to see how that polling is playing out in the precincts of Northbridge now.
The only poll that will really count is the elections in November. Me thinks the conservatives will make a comeback.
ND:
Your numbers are slight off. In fact one-third of the population is under 18, but the 85 number is the number of registered voters in the City proper with 160K in people and one third under 18, sooo the City residents are about 80% registered to vote. Not perfect, but not bad. If one kicks up adult expatriates the City is probably closer to 90%.
The County areas not so much. There are 16,000 more voters out of an incremental population of 115K. Kick out the kiddies and that results
in a registration rate of about 20%. No wonder Dave Bossert gets elected with 23 votes!
ND:
I was about to say what Tim just said. But to your hypothesis that conservatives “voted with their feet”, are you suggesting that they somehow “unregistered” to vote? hardly. This is a town that is rapidly becoming purple.
ND, the pattern isn’t in the 2008 election but in the the gap in party registration in Santa Clarita, which has narrowed substantially over the last half-decade. Feel free to wish it away, but there are a lot of things at play that are moving these numbers. In short, people under 35 aren’t becoming Republicans like they used to, and people who are moving to the SCV don’t have the same motivations as people who used to move here had. Newer areas like West Ranch and Tesoro are among the valley’s most Democratic.
Locally, we’ll just have Smyth and McKeon in 2010. Nationally, the GOP will gain a bunch of seats, it seems. After 2010 we get redistricting, which may change the game entirely. The first great SCV showdown may come if Runner wins the Board of EQ race and there is a special election to replace. Runner’s district is nearly even, much more purple than Smyth’s, for example.