City to seize control of SCV law enforcement, jail operations

Sheriff’s Deputies will be released from their jobs and Pitchess Detention Center will be run by a private corporation under a bold new City of Santa Clarita public-private partnership plan announced today, just days after the City wrested control of libraries from the County.

Under the plan, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will be released from its contract starting June 1, 2011, and Blackwater Security, a Virginia-based private security company, will patrol Santa Clarita’s streets and run its jails with the full force and authority of the law.

What’s more, the City says, the move will save Santa Clarita money.

“In our continuing effort to find performance improvements in this difficult time, we identified $450,000 the LASD was receiving but not investing back in the SCV. So we looked at alternatives that would save us money but also increase public safety” said City Manager Ken Pulskamp at a press conference with four Councilmembers.

Pulskamp cited an obscure state law that allows municipalities to fire sworn peace officers and hire private for-profit corporate security personnel instead.

Once the plan is implemented, Santa Claritans can expect to see results right away, City officials said.

“We looked at the juvenile arrest rate of the LASD and found it to be shockingly low. We are not getting bang for our buck people,” an excited Councilwoman Laurie Ender said. “Blackwater promises they can increase the performance of the Pitchess juvenile detention unit by a staggering 137% and their specialized ‘broom vehicles’ will sweep the homeless away much more efficiently than LASD,” she remarked.

Blackwater officials also attended the press conference and showed a video of their enhanced law enforcement vehicles, which will start patrolling SCV streets next summer. The massive SUVs -modified military HUMVEES- feature roof-mounted machine gun turrets, electrified armor, and spikey wheels that can puncture the tires of suspects fleeing black-clad security personnel. A front bumper-mounted razor-sharp plow, capable of pushing through and clearing crowds of protesters and other undesirables, is included at no additional charge.

“When we do things in Santa Clarita, it’s at the ‘Gold Standard’ level”, remarked Mayor Weste as she pointed to a sample vehicle’s gold trim package.

She added: “We all love and support our Deputies. No one is attacking them. We know they put their lives on the line for us everyday.  But they’re just too expensive.”

As part of the deal, Blackwater will deploy armed Predator drone aircraft in the skies over the SCV, providing a 24/7 security blanket for Santa Claritans, offering enhanced service that the LASD couldn’t possibly match according to City officials.

The City's new Predator Drone, nicknamed "Two Gun Bill," will expand the number of hours SCVers are monitored from above by 200% officials said

“These land and air-based high performance assets coupled with our lethal security personnel who are ex-Military will deter and prevent crime substantially in Santa Clarita’s toughest, most gang-infested neighborhoods. Mark my words. The good people of Santa Clarita will be safe under our 24/7/365 crime protection performance guarantee, or else” said Erik Prince, Blackwater’s CEO.

Echoing her comments on the recent hostile takeover of the County-run library system, Councilwoman Marsha McLean said that while LASD Deputies were brave and honest law enforcement personnel, cracks were beginning to form. “Maybe you don’t see them now, but you will. Big cracks. Ziggy-zaggy cracks. Cracks that might break your mother’s back. Cracks so mighty they crack at the very foundation of Lady Justice!” she said.

Under the plan, the City of Santa Clarita will be entitled to various law enforcement revenues approved by the voters in the last several decades. The City said it hopes to buy out the current Sheriff’s Station on Magic Mountain Boulevard and convert it into a high-security, high-performing Santa Clarita Justice Fortress.

City critics immediately pounced on word of the announcement. ”What about unincorporated County residents? Who do they call in case of an emergency? What about service costs for regular citizens?” asked a concerned county resident.

Councilman Frank Ferry, a noted critic of unincorporated residents, told reporters that County residents should have thought about city boundaries and the LASD’s declining budget before they bought their home.

“Yeah, I don’t care if some County malcontent has a problem with Blackwater. We’re providing a warm security blanket for our residents, our City residents. Okay?” he said.

The City’s move to take over law enforcement was its most bold yet, but City officials said if successful, they would apply the same performance improvement model to electrical power, water, schools, sewers, trash, AYSO, the YMCA, the Red Cross, cable TV, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Hulu, YouTube, The Signal, KHTS, and the Internet.

Posted in Humor | 31 Comments

August 27, 2010 – Daily Brief

  • Wasting no time, the City is set to notify the County that it will assume control of SCV libraries and execute its contract with LSSI. Also, some more details on that special 1997 library tax approved by the County. KHTS
  • The sissy-boys over at the ACLU have a problem with the Sheriff’s new wonder-weapon, the one that shoots pain rays at rioting prisoners’ guts. Randles, who speaks with a certain authority on the topic, reports here
  • “At the park several witnesses pointed out a man who was lying on the grass with his pants down and his body exposed. The witnesses reported that the man had previously been rubbing himself in an indecent manner.” The SIGNAL says. The man “was ultimately pepper-sprayed to gain compliance and was additionally charged with resisting arrest,” adds KHTS.
  • The City will spend $40,000 creating a master plan for the old Pioneer Oil refinery in Newhall. Pat Saletore of the SCV Historical Society sounds excited; so am I SIGNAL
  • 35 years ago this month, Henry Mayo Hospital opened and a baby girl, Laura Battle, became the Mayo’s first live birth. Did you know I HEART was born at Henry Mayo? True story. SIGNAL
  • Whitman and Brown face off at dueling campaign events. The LA Times notes that Brown hasn’t been campaigning much because he’s got no money and has his job as Attorney General to do, while Whitman, in the words of Jerry Brown, has carpet-bombed the state with ads. They’re still even at the polls though LA TIMES
  • Great fortune article on the secretive and highly popular Trader Joe’s grocery chain, which just opened 344th store. Did you know they had $8 billion in sales last year and are owned by a German grocer giant? FORTUNE MAG
  • Two County supervisors say that if the state fails to pass a plastic bag ban, then LA County might do it instead. WRB
  • When LA Loved mass transit: Workers building a parking lot in downtown Los Angeles unearthed nearly 100 year old streetcar tracks that had been paved over BLOG DOWNTOWN
  • Mayor Villaraigosa announced his support for a new state law that would require motorists to give bicyclists three feet of space when passing. The new campaign is called “Give me Three.” STREETSBLOG
  • Time Ranger’s at it again: in today’s piece, we find the origin of some street names and more, like Bouquet and McBean (of Atholl fame, the real father of the SCV, whose birthday is today). Also, in 1950 a man walked into the SCV Sheriff’s Station and demanded to register himself as a communist. A front page Signal editorial followed, promising to get SCV commies once the war with the Russians started. And finally, Bermite munitions admitted in 1990 that it used to test atomic bullets in the vast donut hole in the center of the city WRB
  • Wendy Langhans explains the lenticular clouds that seem to hang over the SCV this time of year KHTS
  • Amazing 100 year old color photos from Russia BIG PICTURE
  • Lynne Plambeck raises a number of good points in her column today about the library takeover. Did you know there was a petition against the library takeover with 5,000 signatures? SIGNAL
Posted in Daily Brief | 22 Comments

August 26, 2010 – Daily Brief

  • More on the Library takeover: The Signal notes the “public outcry” over the library takeover, but also quotes Laurie Ender who said “I know there were people in the room that were not happy, but there are (278,000) people in the city and it’s my job to represent all of them.” Meanwhile, I HEART weighs in with two posts, one describing what went down Tuesday night and another suggesting performance measurement standards for our new City libraries.
  • New Facebook group “Save our Santa Clarita Libraries” has surfaced. Perhaps all the moms Laurie Ender referenced that support the takeover will create an alternate group.
  • Library messaging: Here is how you sell a library takeover no one wants. You say that the City voted in favor of a public-private partnership. PUBLIC CEO
  • Dianne Trautman, a respected community member and planning commissioner for eight years, was not reappointed to the commission at Tuesday’s council meeting. She says it’s because she supported Gauny and Boydston SIGNAL
  • Carmageddon on Highway 14 as car carrying truck hits a CalTrans truck and explodes into flames. And then the cars on the truck exploded into flames too. ABC 7, SIGNAL
  • Property tax revenue declined $148 million last year SIGNAL
  • California community colleges sever relationship with Kaplan University because the for-profit school’s classes weren’t transferrable to CSU or UC LA TIMES
  • Kyle Boller, the SCV’s greatest quarterback ever and a Hart alum, reflects on his career as he starts practice with the Oakland Raiders SIGNAL
Posted in Daily Brief | 103 Comments

Making the “Politburo” Uncomfortable

Well, Comrades, it pains me to say that after all these years last night’s City Council meeting proved me wrong and everyone else right.  My continued diatribes on the power of incumbency (and its proof over and over again with election outcomes) have been fully embraced by four of the five City Council members who, like the Politburo of the dissolved Soviet Union, act on recommendations of gray and unknown techocrats without question in a mixture of boredom (Comrade Frank) and befuddlement (Comrade Marsha), comfortable in their incumbency with an uninvolved electorate dutifully acting as a loyal Party Congress every two years to retain them in office.  Additionally, it appears that, at least with respect to the library issue, The Signal will act as the Politburo’s own Pravda.

Continue reading

Posted in City Hall | 40 Comments

Déjà vu all over again

The issue appeared suddenly on the radar of Santa Claritans.  Soon after, a City Council meeting was held to discuss, and possibly move the issue forward. Continue reading

Posted in City Hall, Opinion | 18 Comments

August 25, 2010 – Daily Brief

Library takeover protesters at City Hall last night. Photo courtesy of Bruce McFarland

  • The City of Santa Clarita Council voted 4-1 last night to takeover the three County libraries in the SCV from the County and outsource their operation to LSSI, a library services company based in Maryland. The Council chambers were packed with people against the move, but the opposition made no difference. Money quote from Laurene Weste, who told the crowd to be quiet: ““I know we’re all library people, so shhhh.” SIGNAL, KHTS, My commentary
  • Next move: Supervisor Antonovich? An LTE writer pleads
  • Assessed value of all 2.6 million homes in Los Angeles County fell $19 billion to just over $1 trillion in the last year. The news is good for homeowners who can apply to get their property taxes decreased, but it’s bad news for local governments because it means less revenue will come their way. Santa Clarita’s homes fell 0.7 percent in assessed value. DAILY NEWS
  • I saw the temperature yesterday hit 109 degrees in the SCV; no relief is expected today, we could, in fact, hit 110. Stay indoors, drink plenty of water, and please, don’t leave your pets or kids in a locked car! SIGNAL
  • 17 year old girl injured in a mountain bike crash is the first patient of Henry Mayo’s new Intensive Care Unit, an 18 bed, 9,660 sq. ft. addition to the hospital that is part of its master plan renovations SIGNAL
  • Jay Thomas, the “popular” president of Six Flags Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor, has been relieved of his duties and will take a job with Six Flags corporate in Texas. The move was part of a shake up at a few Six Flags parks nationwide. KHTS
  • Jewish Journal of Los Angeles takes a look at the SCV’s new Albert Einstein charter school and notes the growing number of such schools nationwide. Rabbi Mark Blazer, the guy behind Einstein, wants to start up three more charter schools in the LA area. “Some are celebrating this development, but many others are asking questions: Is it possible to teach Hebrew without teaching Judaism? Do publicly funded Hebrew-language charter schools violate the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state in schools?” the paper asks.
  • 90% of the Hart District’s 10th graders can pass the state high school exit exam, says the SIGNAL
  • Rim of the Valley corridor meetings will be held this fall to determine whether mountainous areas surrounding the SCV and other places should be added to the national park system. BLOG
  • Harry Welch, the celebrated Canyon High football coach who took the Cowboys to the state championship and defeated feared De La Salle in 2006, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. “I’m going to beat this thing,” he told the SIGNAL
  • Neat: City of Santa Clarita streaming Old Town Newhall redevelopment work SIGNAL
  • Letter writer thanks Egg Plantation for switching to cage free eggs SIGNAL
  • So that’s where he’s been: Dave Bossert sends a postcard from Zurich WRB
Posted in Daily Brief | 22 Comments

Disgusted with the whole lot of them (except Bob Kellar)

Tonight’s proceedings at the Council chambers of the City of Santa Clarita were breathtaking.

The City has voted 4-1 to takeover Santa Clarita’s three County-run and County-staffed public libraries, outsource them to a for-profit company that faced no competition in the bidding process, and to do so by July 1, 2011.

All this against massive opposition both in the Council chambers and in other places where people express their views.

It’s not just that the City Council ignored the 48+ people in Chambers who spoke against the item (and the many more who didn’t), it’s not just that they allowed this whole plan to be conceived, put in a nest,warmed up and hatched in just over 60 days, it’s that they were sloppy and lazy in their questioning of City Staff, derelict in their duty.

You SCVTalk readers -and this is the reason I value you so much- ask tougher questions than our own Council members. Example:

“Is this open to the unincorporated residents of the SCV?” Laurene Weste asked Deputy City Manager Darren Hernandez, forcing him to give a yes or no answer.

“Yes, access remains the same” he said simply.

You don’t have to be an Ivy-league lawyer to recognize what a dodge that is. Access? Of course they can access it. The man from the moon can access it; illegal aliens can access it. My dog can access it. The issue is privileges: will County residents have the same check-out privileges and costs that City residents do? We still don’t have an answer to that. And Weste simply asked the question in a way that would allow Hernandez to tell her what she wanted to hear.

Then we get to the funding: Weste asks what happens if the opinion of our esteemed City Attorney on the matter of a 1997 taxpayer-approved funding program gets disputed by the County. Because guess what? The opinion of a paid City Attorney amounts to jack-squat legally. It’s no determination; it’s an opinion. And to his credit, Hernandez admitted that all we could do at that point (besides suffering under less funds than we have now) would be to take it to court or take it to the people. This answer was glossed over by the Councilmembers; it should have given them pause, it did not.

Next up: You gotta love this. Weste wants the City staff and LSSI to treat County librarians -who now face joblessness, unemployment, or some crazy move to another part of the County- with “mutual respect.” This after they spent a good 45 minutes bashing the County for its budget challenges, taking cheap shots at the people they say they respect. Bollocks.

And finally, the insult of all insults. Laurie Ender, citing statistics from the Valencia Library asks whether LSSI can improve the check-out rate of the Valencia Library and reduce the amount of books Valencia library patrons request from other libraries. She says Valencia had 19,000 intra-library loan requests one month and she says 50% of Valencia’s items never get checked out.

You SCVTalkers who feared that our SCV libraries will soon house 5,000 copies of Twilight and none of Pride and Prejudice were right to be concerned. For Laurie Ender a successful library is one that checks out a huge amount of books. When she chairs a meeting of some new SCV library committee, she’ll want to stock our library shelves so that they look like Walmart’s book section, with scores upon scores of low-brow, lowest common-denominator books for you to check out for free (or a nominal charge if you’re a County resident). And then the City will measure that performance and note the increase in checked-out items, which will soon be followed by a hyped-up press release.

Maybe this is an exaggeration, but not by much. She committed the fallacy of argumentum ad populum; just because 50% of Valencia Library’s books remain on its shelves doesn’t mean they aren’t valued or valuable. How do you measure the value of some kid who stumbles on a great book he might never have found except in a well-stocked library?

The honorable thing to do tonight -the only thing to do- would have been to continue the vote to a later date. Postpone the vote. Schedule some public-outreach meetings at our three libraries or conduct a survey. How about answering a live FAQ before citizens instead of putting a lazy FAQ up on your website? But they didn’t; they went full speed ahead.

And that’s why I salute Bob Kellar for his courage. He admitted he was convinced by the City staff, but said the many residents’ concerns gave him pause. He argued for a delay, and when the majority forced his hand, he voted no. Good on you Bob.

Recall, recall, recall the crowd chanted after the vote…It’s enough to make me want to get a pitchfork and torch and check out Saul Alisnky’s Rules for Radicals while I still can.

Posted in Opinion | 73 Comments

Library notes

So there was no let up over the weekend with library news and rumors. Let me update as we head toward Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Library privatization not so bad in Ventura County

The Signal article today on the Calabassas and Moorpark libraries that seceded from the Ventura County Library system is interesting and well-timed. It basically says that those two communities had and continue to have good experiences with LSSI, the private library contractor that’s under consideration for our town. Then again, if you ask a city administrator if he likes a program he planned and implemented, what do you think he will say?

Also interesting is a caption in the paper today: “The Santa Clarita City Council is expected tonight to approve seceding from the Los Angeles County Library System and entering into a contract with a private library management firm to run the city’s three libraries.” The Signal evidently thinks this is a done deal- do you?

Ventura City Manager blogs on future of libraries

A smart and timely post from Ventura City Manager Rick Cole, who says that VECO Library cutbacks forced one library in Ventura to close and Camarillo is thinking of ditching the County’s library because it subsidizes the rest of the County’s system with more than a half million dollars each year. Sound familiar?

He then writes about how libraries have and are continuing to change in America. Good read.

An alternate theory on the genesis of the library takeover

I have an intriguing theory to share with you on why the City has appeared so hasty in its desire to takeover the library system (remember they are planning to do this by July 1, 2011). The official line is that the City just wants to provide us better service, to expand hours, reduce costs and give us local control over our libraries.

Like most things in Santa Clarita, this theory revolves around Newhall, the bedrock of the SCV, the SCV’s soul if you will. In planning for the brand-spanking new Newhall Library, which is designed to anchor Old Town Newhall redevelopment and be a centerpiece of the City’s efforts there, the City of Santa Clarita has learned or inferred that the COLA Library system can not or will not properly resource the new 20,000+ sq. ft. library.

Think about that for a second. According to a reliable source, COLA spends $1 million a year to resource and run Newhall’s tiny library, currently on 8th Street. Projections for the cost of running the new, much larger library are around $3.5 million a year (indeed the City’s LSSI proposal snippet shows that number for FY 2011-2012), and, the theory goes, the County can’t properly resource and staff such a large facility in an era of budget cuts, reduced library hours and $20 billion state deficits.

The City is justifiably nervous about opening a brand new library in 2012 that will be under-resourced and therefore under-utilized by its residents due to COLA’s problems that are entirely out of its control. Ergo, the city decides that the solution is to takeover all three libraries, hire a private company that’s more cost effective than public employees and all their (from the City’s point of view) baggage.

When I first heard this theory, I felt that, if true, it represented a spectacular failure on the part of the City in that they simply haven’t communicated this reality adequately. They’ve been selling this as a service enhancement when they should have been telling us that if we don’t takeover our libraries, the new Newhall library will sit vacant and under-utilized for many hours of the day due to COLA’s problems.

And no one wants that. We have many expectations for the new Newhall library. It is designed as an integral part of Old Town Newhall redevelopment, the City hopes it will draw foot traffic to the area that will then step over onto Main Street, which will be great for the businesses there.

I have no proof for this theory, but it has hit my email inbox several times this weekend and, it makes sense. If it’s true, would it change your mind on the library takeover matter? It would change mine; I want the new Newhall library (and all of Old Town) to be a raging success for the City.

Alternatively, could this entire thing be a kabuki theater production designed to bluff the County into adequately funding the new Newhall library? Our City staff is pretty sharp; are they that sharp?

Protests Planned for Tuesday night

Lynne Plambeck has email blasted her list, telling her sympathizers to show up at Tuesday’s Council meeting with protest signs. She’s taking the traditional Democratic line that privatization of government services is, well, not  desirable, a line that I admit, I’m sympathetic to. Take it away Lynne!

As you are all probably well aware, free public libraries have been around in the US since the 1800s and have long been considered one of the great American democratic institutions.

1. a private corporation’s profit motive will not ensure that the public interest is served.  Certain materials may not be made available because they would cut into the profit margin, the content of library material may be controlled to align with the view points of the corporation.
2. Trained and degreed librarians are likely to be cut, since this is a way of reducing costs.
3. Library contracts will become one more political football.  What promises will be made to Council members to obtain a contract? What controls will be placed on content?
4. We will not have access to the huge volume of County library materials without an added fee.
5.  We are all paying property taxes to support our library.  Do you want your taxes used by a private corporation?

So if you plan to attend Tuesday’s Council meeting, expect to see some protesters out front with signs supporting traditional, unionized, government labor & services.

Myers weighs in

Tim Myers, columnist and SCVTalk contributor, says the City just doesn’t understand how SCVers like himself use the library:

I humbly assert that Hernandez and other proponents of a city takeover do not really understand how those of us who actually use the library rely on the entire county system. They instead visualize library usage that seems more akin to the 1950s, with parents taking their children to brick and mortar facilities to check out volumes of “The Cat in the Hat.” I really don’t think they understand the actual usage model now, and do not currently use or plan to use the library in any meaningful way.

This brings back a point I made way back in July. The claims that the City puts more money into COLA than it gets out are unpersuasive to me. Why? Because we city residents have true access to the entirety of COLA’s 7 million item collection. So, in other words, if we’re sending $400k+ south every year, I still feel it’s not bad because we can, ultimately, access those resources. It’s not like we’re sending excess money to the County to build roads in some other city; we’re sending excess money to the County to continue its library operation, which ultimately benefits us due to the intra-library loan system, which Myers harps on in his piece. Call this socialism if you must, but it’s socialism that works.

NotaFerryFan Confused

The conservative anti-city video blogger can’t see past his hate for the city and decides he’s against the takeover and privatization of the library, even though the County is a much bigger bureaucracy. Oh well. At least he includes a shot of SCVTalk’s headquarters.

PS: No Daily Brief today.

Posted in City Hall, Media, News, Opinion | 43 Comments

Randles, we salute you!

What a trooper Signal journalist Jonathan Randles is.

I totally missed a really neat (and very appropos) story in the Daily News (hat tip: Jim Farley) about a new Sheriff’s Department device that is meant to control crowd and prison disturbances by making their guts unbearably hot. It’s a truly frightening non-lethal weapon.

And wouldn’t you know that we had a huge prison disturbance just last weekend?

Well intrepid Signal reporter Jonathan Randles -who’s been targeted by Roger Gitlin’s fanatical goons in the past yet still survived- totally took one for Team SCV and for journalism in general by volunteering to be subjected to the device before the prison riot happened. Here’s the picture of him in PAIN:

For his courage in taking an LASD shock/prisoner device in the interests of journalism, Signal journo Jonathan Randles wins SCVTalk’s coveted Kick Ass Journalist of the Year Award, equal in respect and dignity to my own Forty under 40 Award.

We salute you Randles!

Posted in Media | 3 Comments

August 23, 2010 – Daily Brief

  • A 14 year old girl was assaulted by an unknown man while walking toward Central Park on Saturday night. Deputies say the girl was pushed up against a tree and the man tried to kiss her, but he fled when someone approached. They’re asking for the public’s help in finding the man SIGNAL, KHTS
  • Last night, some 200 inmates were involved in what’s being described alternately as a “fight,” a “fracas,” or a “riot.” The LA Times has the best report and says the fighting was between two groups of inmates. Two men were injured and sent to the hospital. No one escaped, but the LASD called in the CHP to help restore order LA TIMES, AP
  • LASD Internal Affairs officials are investigating a Deputy involved shooting that took place on Chiquella Lane in Stevenson Ranch Friday. The Deputy wasn’t injured and the suspect, presumably the person he was shooting at, is only listed as “outstanding.” Strange story WRB
  • So we all know that tomorrow the City Council will tackle the library takeover proposal, but what else is on the Council Agenda? Quite a bit: There’s a Tesoro annexation item, Council member nominations for several panels and committees and, interestingly, a new business item that notes a “proliferation of retail automobile and light trucks sales businesses throughout the City, including areas outside the Vehicle Services Overlay Zone.” Staff proposes a 45 day “moratorium on the issuance of any new permit, license, approval, or entitlement pertaining to the retail sale of new or used automobiles and light trucks anywhere in the City” while it studies the issue. The agenda item notes that the moratorium and new ordinance will help protect “the city’s commercial retail trade.” AGENDA
  • Councilwoman Laurie Ender will call into SCV-Family’s internet radio show today to discuss the City’s library proposal. Jackie, (fellow under 40er High Five!) has a good summary of the issues SCV-FAMILY
  • I get the feeling that as The Signal’s Jim Holt started out as a skeptic on the chloride matter and now, after reporting on it for over a month, sees the need for us to build a $210 million reverse osmosis plant. His latest story is a good one: it’s not farmers vs urban dwellers or the salinity of the State Water Project water, it’s the drought that’s the problem SIGNAL
  • The unemployment rate in Santa Clarita hit an all time high of 8.3% in July this year, according to the City’s Jason Crawford. There are a total of 7,300 people out of work in the SCV SIGNAL
  • Speaking of jobs, copper wire theft can pay well and offers you a chance to work outdoors, but has some occupational risk as one 40 year old Tujunga man found out Saturday morning. Deputies say he climbed up a 35 foot tall power pole, “hoisted a cordless saw up the pole with a string,” and attempted to cut some copper wire away. He was shocked, fell to the ground and required surgery. Deputies arrested a man that was with him as well. SIGNAL
  • Castaic residents who are fighting the Romero Canyon site for Castaic High school are being “selfish” according to a woman who sits on the Castaic Town Council. Most of the community supports the school being built at the Romero site SIGNAL
  • Last week a big rig carrying cars flipped on I-5 near the Newhall Pass. So what is it this week? A big rig flips over carrying carrots in the Grapevine Sunday afternoon, sparking a blaze. LA TIMES. And in a related note, The Signal writes a piece about the trucking life and Castaic’s continuing role as a truck stop hot spot SIGNAL
  • Short sales and economic uncertainty are making for many empty homes in the SCV a local realtor tells the SIGNAL
  • Steve Lunetta on the NYC mosque two blocks from Ground Zero. For a balanced diet of opinion, read Frank Rich’s Sunday column in the NYT
Posted in Daily Brief | 96 Comments