Whoa. It's a Double rainbow. Full on all the way across the sky. It's so bright and so vivid. It's so intense. What does this mean? Sent by an SCVTalk reader in the SFV
- Johnny Pride’s vengeance: The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has decided to drop all charges against Johnny Pride, the 26 year old reality tv show participant, body builder and one-time City Council candidate after he was arrested in March on rape charges. What took so long? Who knows. Looking back, the District Attorney refused to charge Pride one day after the LASD arrested him, citing lack of evidence. Nearly seven months later, the LASD says they’re dropping the case- there never was any DNA to analyze. As for Pride? Word is he had moved to Europe, but not before he filed a lawsuit against the Signal in small claims court. Was this a botched law enforcement case or was Johnny Pride unjustly accused and run out of town on a rail at the height of campaign season? SIGNAL, OLD SCVTALK COVERAGE
- Los Angeles County’s Vengeance: COLA has ceased a $2.5 million, 4,500 sq.ft. renovation project on the Canyon Country Jo Anne Darcy library, leaving it closed and unused. City leaders sound disappointed and somewhat confused, with Marsha McLean saying the County is holding Canyon Country hostage by refusing to finish the renovations. Tony Bell, Supe Antonovich’s deputy, says the City’s decision to seize the libraries “wasn’t well thought out,” and says of course the County stopped the renovation of CC Library: “What if the improvements were not to the city’s liking? There’s no sense throwing good money after bad if it is going to be something that would have to be redone.” Darren Hernandez, the Deputy City Manager who sold the library takeover project to the Council says he’s not surprised. Really? I didn’t see closure of the Canyon Country library for the next 9 months listed under the “cons” section on the City’s library takeover website, did you? SIGNAL
- SEIU’s Vengeance: The Service Employees International Union -boogeyman of the right and a well-worn magnet on Glenn Beck’s chalk board- starts a petition to save Santa Clarita’s libraries from takeover by a “private equity group [that] produces “hydraulic winches.” (they’re referring to Islington Capital, the equity firm that owns LSSI). The petition is on SEIU’s main website, not some local chapter, and in a truly strange twist of fate, the Union quotes David Gauny for support of its argument. Politics. Meet your strange bedfellow SEIU
- Cleaning crew goes in to fix up Valencia marijuana grow house that was busted last month, but the LASD didn’t get the memo. So a “cadre” Sheriff’s Deputies -even a helicopter- surrounded the house on Via Telino drive yesterday, ordering the cleaning crew out of the house with guns drawn. Only then was the “mistake” discovered. KHTS
- Micheal Dean Stephens jury selection begins with several hundred potential jurors being screened SIGNAL
- More Awesometown Angst from a housing blog. Can’t we all just recognize it’s a marketing ploy, and a successful one at that? That is why, after all, we keep bringing up the subject month after month. SOME HOUSING BLOG
- The Los Angeles Times is taking its popular and well-designed Los Angeles City crime/Google map mash-up County-wide, meaning we’ll soon be able to track violent crimes in the SCV. The Times says it’s getting data from both the LAPD and LASD now LA TIMES
- Governor Schwarzenegger vetos bill that would have set a $35 limit for red light runners on right turns. Some cities charge as much as $400+ for drivers who run red lights on right turns LA TIMES
- Wow: rare cooperative effort between LAPD Homicide detectives and FBI Agents yields big results: two dozen homicide cases solved. Maybe we could have some assistance too? LA TIMES
- Today is the 55th Anniversary of James Dean’s death. By now you know the legend: the famous actor allegedly had his last meal at
Saugus CafeTips (thanks for the correction) before crashing his car and dying near Paso Robles. There’s a local man who won a look-alike contest and will be attending a memorial for Dean today SIGNAL - Lynne Plambeck attacks Prop 23, the anti-California global warming initiative law funded by Texas oil interests and the Koch brothers empire. SIGNAL
- NotAFerryFan with another video on the library takeover YOUTUBE
- Festival of the Arts this weekend in Old Town Newhall. Cool event and the weather shouldn’t be too bad. WRB
- Food blogger Lady Ducayne went with a friend to enjoy some Indian food at an SCV restaurant when a crazy old white guy popped in and started in on a racist rant against Indians, to the owner’s face. She bravely confronts the old man. LADY DUCAYNE
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Couple of item from the council meeting Tuesday that night have been missed. Laurie Ender did a very nice commercial for a tobacco retailer, complete with address, driving directions and even what high school it is near. It is so important that we all know where to buy tobacco products, not just our kids. Of course, they have signed an oath not to sell to the high school kids this attracts, and who knows better then our city council that an oath is much more important then a profit? Thank Laurie.
Marsha McLean said it is alright with her if we exercise free speech. This comes as such a relief! Everyone knows that local control is better. Now I don’t have to rely on that silly old US Constitution.
Ach. I was hoping that there would be another explanation for the end to rennovations at the Canyon Country Library. Now the City Council and staff have a default response to every argument brought up against the decision to have LSSI run the libraries. They’re going to portray themselves as victims of county greed (and the county has enabled them to take this position!). LSSI, until now painted as villain, outsider, and mercenary will be heralded as a savior, working with the City to clean up the mess left by the petty, money-grubbing county. What a bad decision on part of Bell et al.–so much better to have left on a high note, finishing the Acton/Agua Dulce library and the CC rennovation.
(Sorry for the extra “n” in “renovation”.)
The county may not have had much of a choice. According to the city’s own figures, the county only runs a $400K “surplus” on city tax money. Once you add up the costs the county will incur to fund a transition (staff time for planning, costs for changing documentation, reviewing legal documents, etc.) the portion of the $400K that remains for this year will be significantly over-extended. The city’s supposed beef was that city tax money was going to fund other county operations. They can’t very well complain now that the county is not taking other county money to fund city initiated costs. I would not be surprised to see further reductions in service as the county shifts funds that now support libraries in the city to start supporting the costs of the transition.
McLean actually seemed shocked at the notion that her actions might have consequences. I’m starting to think she really believes that hiring a private company to run a public service is not privatization. She’s a lot scarier then I imagined.
Look in her eyes when she makes comment, no one is home! She runs a window washing business, not a library or any other serious business.
Watch notaferryfan’s video. See McLean count sand strawberries and click steel balls.
That all makes a lot of sense, and some of those ideas come out in the quotations from Lori Glasgow–it’s not just city money but county dollars funding the project, and there will be transition costs, etc. But Bell’s “There’s no sense throwing good money after bad if it is going to be something that would have to be redone” sounds bizarre and sarcastic and petty. His words make it seem like they have the money to finish the project but just don’t feel like using it because nothing the County does is ever good enough for the City of Santa Clarita.
And ultimately, the City is the entity that will be framing the conversation about this issue. Quitting the renovation is just ammo that will be fired straight back at the COLA Library System.
Mayor Weste would like to know what we want out of our new libraries after they are built. Bell would like to know before they are built. Which makes sense to you?
Curious how the city would had responded if it was the Valencia library still unfinished instead of the lowly, red-headed stepchild, Canyon Country library.
What do you have against red-headed stepchildren? I seem to remember baby Jesus loving all the little children.
James Dean actually had his last meal at Tip’s Restaurant, not Saugus Cafe.
Give this man a medal!
Most accurately, he had his last DRINK at Tips I believe. Tips was located at the site of the present-day Marie Calendars by the way.
If I’m not mistaken, that was the site of the Newhall Incident as well.
He also had a piece of pie with that drink.
1000 points to anyone who can tell me what kind of pie it was.
Without Googling, I want to say Key Lime.
Apple
D’OH!
Marie Calendars location was a J’s Coffee Shop.
Tip’s was where the Blue Moon once stood at Castaic Junction before being razed by NLF so it would not become a “Bikini Juice Bar” and tarnish their image.
Tip’s seems to have been in many locations. Form the SCVTV link:
“As for the location of Tip’s Restaurant, based on review of old menus and local phone books, and information from Tony Newhall, turns out there were two Tip’s locations along Highway 99 in 1955: one at Castaic Junction (the current I-5/Highway 126 junction), the other at the current Marie Callender’s site (Old Road/Magic Mountain Parkway intersection).
There was also a Tip’s on Sierra Highway, and later a Tip’s on Pico Canyon Road (the current Lyons Ave/I-5 interchange).
The Tip’s at the Marie Callender’s site was called Tip’s Saugus Road in the menus and phone books, and was locally known as Tip’s Coffee Shop. It went out of business around 1967, was replaced by the “Calico Kitchen” for a 12-month period, which was then leased to a new owner and opened as J’s Coffee Shop in 1969 or 1970. J’s was later torn down and replaced by the Marie Callender’s that we know today”
Also, the photo at:
http://www.scvresources.com/highways/us_99/us99015.htm
shows it signed as “Castaic Junction” not Tip’s, though perhaps there was a “Tip’s” sign out of the pictures borders.
SCV History in Pictures has its origins at 1925, by the way. Which location?
We still have some holes in this history, it seems.
You are correct. Newhall Incident happened there too.
Thanks for getting that correction in. The Newhall Incident happened very close by.
Am I entitled to another medal now?
Definition of double rainbow, according to urban dictionary:
intense joy, coupled with extreme emotional shifts; an experience equal to an orgasm!
With the exception of Bob Kellar, the city council lacks the ability to apply critical thinking to decision making. The library takeover is a disaster in the making.
only for people who use or work at the library
That’s right. The illiterates need not be concerned. They can wait until the next time the city council goes behind our backs to give something away.
When Warner Bros was casting “Rebel Without a Cause”, it got down to two contract actors who had never made a movie. The other one was Paul Newman. When James Dean died, he had been cast in two more movies: “The Left Handed Gun” and “Somebody Up There Likes Me”. Newman got both parts and the latter made him a star. Nice to talk about something besides the city council and libraries.
It is alleged that James Dean was to do King Creole where he played a juvenile delinquent with dreams of becoming a boxer, which was based on ‘the novel A Stone for Danny Fisher’, written by Harold Robbins . Instead after Dean died it was rewritten for Elvis Presley to play an aspiring singer.
■Food blogger Lady Ducayne went with a friend to enjoy some Indian food at an SCV restaurant when a crazy old white guy popped in and started in on a racist rant against Indians, to the owner’s face. She bravely confronts the old man
Not worth a comment. Lady Ducayne needs to learn to respect old white guys and avoid her racist comments. All old guys are not white and not all old guys are crazy.
Nice try at promoting the business though!
Of course, it’s racist to call a racist guy racist.
Was it you cash?
Does anyone recognize the guy in the picture?
No, wrong hair color.
Let It Be
(1) James Dean stopping in the SCV on the day he died is an urban legend. It is highly unlikely that he did so. Watch this -> http://www.scvtv.com/html/scvhs021509btv.html
(2) People tend to forget that “the county’s money” “belongs” to Santa Clarita Valley residents on both sides of the city-county line. City of Santa Clarita residents pay into the county’s general fund via property taxes, among other things.
to (1)- thanks LW. The truth is out there
…and those City residents get their money’ worth since the County still supports the City through the County Fire Department, health departments, and many other non-City services.
Spine – the county does not donate fire service to the city. The city contracts with the Los Angeles County Fire Department for fire service and pays for 100% of the service it receives.
The county is 100% responsible for health & human services, although the city contributes to some of those services even though it isn’t legally obligated to do so (homeless services, for instance).
Leon, I din’t say it was a donation, just that it is a County-operated service that is at least partially paid for via those property tax payments both City and non-City residents pay.
Say, do you have anything more about the several Tip’s locations?
(2) Really, do you think people are that dumb Leon?
Cash – I refer you to this (partial) quote in today’s Signal story –
“… We can’t keep pouring” county money into a soon-to-be city library, she said.
Leon you have always be the mouthpiece for the city. It is difficult to give your comments much weight with the knowledge of how well you are connected with the city. Having said that, I don’t blame the county for pulling the plug, especially given the less than stellar review the city completed before jumping into action. By the way, how much taxpayer money are you receiving to fund your TV programming.
Cash – Interesting to know I’m a “mouthpiece for the city.” I guess the city’s pounding on me for all of those years must have finally paid off for them.
How much taxpayer money we receive to fund our “TV programming” … I don’t know how to answer that question. We don’t break it out that way. We (SCVTV, a tax-exempt 501c3 nonprofit) operate the local public television channel. In the last fiscal year (ending June 30) we provided approximately $230,000 in service to the city and county. (We run as much county programming as we run city programming, not counting city council and planning commission meetings.) Of the total, the city contributed $50,000 to operations. The county contributed $0 (even though county residents pay into the county’s account for the local public television service we provide.) Funding also came from other government agencies, charitable contributions, advertising, etc. More than $100,000 of the total was contributed by SCVTV volunteers, including me. Although there is no law requiring us to do so, we open our books to public inspection, any time. But make an appointment in advance. We’re busy.
We keep talking about city money and county money and state money, so yeah, people are really that dumb. Vote NO on prop 22.
Cash, did you forget to take your meds again?
I stopped taking then. I am waiting for Obama care to offer free meds.
It was so nice to read this site without seeing your odd, unintelligent rants.
The higher up you go, the more people pay attention and the harder it is to steal. You say One Valley One Vision, I say One Government One Graft.
Money , you would not know the difference between intelligent and unintelligent. So, get used to my being here, I plan to stay until Obama gives me those free meds he promised.
Regardless of what anyone thinks of my political ideologies, I have never wavered in my fight for transparency and good process at City Hall.
Over the past six years, I have spent thousands of hours researching issues, oftentimes alongside people and groups that have sharply different views than my own. I believe all of us put our differences aside because a city that operates without proper checks and balances is bad for all of us.
Transparency and process are apolitical. The fight for facts renders traditional “left” and “right” political arguments irrelevant. Everyone deserves a right to apply their political opinion; a representative government is tasked with providing all facts in a fair and balanced forum. We are all better served when fair, equal, unadulterated process is available to the public.
I am not a “bedfellow” of the SEIU and I am not a union champion. I am, however, a tireless advocate for people who pay tax dollars and deserve fair representation in return. In the case of the libraries, people receiving our tax dollars –both staff and elected officials– appear to have worked against this our public, cutting deals without input. Those who fund their paychecks were abused and dismissed. That is very wrong.
As far as I can tell, the process on the library was a fraud and I support the public AND the employees who were robbed by the leadership that allowed it.
In the end, I’d much rather work with an honest Democrat than a crooked Republican. Honesty and fair process are the cornerstone of democracy and people from all corners of the political spectrum should come together in support of it. I am proud to do so.
This has nothing to do with Republican or Democrat, union or non-union. The city council is like a cancer. You don’t get a cancer transplant. You either get the thing cut out or you let it kill you. Oh, and by the way, vote NO on prop 22.
From what I’ve seen David, you’re politics are putting you at the front of whatever issue is controversial at the moment. Whether its stopping the hospital expansion or attacking illegal immigrants or opposing having the city run the libraries. The only common thread is making sure your face is displayed prominently. Interesting that in all three cases you failed to accomplish your goals. Except so far as your goal is getting airtime.
Actually, the common thread is any gross violation of my common sense – also an issue in the three instances you cited.
Some agree with my views, some don’t but I feel an obligation to speak up on matters where I see foul play. If you don’t like where I stand, feel free to move along.
SNAP!!!!!!
Let me get this straight, COLA is about to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into one of their libraries, then the city takes control of the library away from COLA. So why on earth would COLA put that money into a library that’s not going to be part of their system?
The issue of where the money comes from may be interesting, but it has real bearing on COLA’s decision. Revenge may have played some role in COLA’s decision, but it’s not necessary to explain it. Simply deciding that they’re going to keep those hundreds of thousands in their own system, rather than put them into somebody else’s system, is explanation enough. Any other action would have been irrational, and quite frankly a violation of their fiduciary duty to the remaining stakeholders in the COLA system. As a homely analogy, if the bank is about to repossess your house, you’re not going to put in new carpet.
I’m astounded that anyone in the SCV government thought COLA might still put that money into the Newhall Library. The only way to get that investment would have been to hold off until after COLA did it. That would be something of a dirty trick, of course, but then I’m not making a moral argument, just a practical one.
I think you mean the Canyon Country branch as that is the one that is currently closed for a renovation, but the rest of your post is spot-on. How on earth the council did not foresee or apparently even CONSIDER this possibility is beyond me. Talk about brilliant timing. They made such a fuss about how COLA is ripping them off and that they (the city and LSSI) could do SO much better that the county has apparently said “Alright, here ya go! Good luck with that whole running-your-own-library-system-thing!!!!” It’s like a game of tug o’ war where one side agrees to let go all at once and the opposite team, while still technically the “winners” still suffer an embarrassing collapse and perhaps some sore butts!
Remember “Revenge of the Nerds?”