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September 28, 2007· scvtalk.com · PHP-Nuke (SCVTalk 1.0) · Wayback capture

Daily Brief – September 28, 2007

What a week it's been! I'm looking forward to relaxing this weekend, so with that said, your Daily Brief is ready.

News
  • Val Verde Murder victim identified: The Sheriff's Department has identified the murder victim from last weekend's shooting in Val Verde as Gevorg Gasparyan, age 25. Josh Premako at the Signal reports that it took so long to release Gasparyan's name because his family lived outside the United States. A Lieutenant at the Cororner's office didn't know where the family lives. To me, the name appears to be Armenian, and I found an article in which a Gevorg Gasparyan, also aged 25, of Glendale, was indicted by federal authorities in an identity theft ring back in May. No word on whether it's the same man. Signal Article
  • Hart District candidates get profiled: Sharon Cotal has a well-written article detailing the three candidates for the two seats on the Hart board, which voters will go to the polls on NOvember 7 to decide. Joe Messina wants a more accurate budget for the district and thinks Hart needs to look into programs to address vocational studies as well as minority groups. Gloria Mercado-Fortine says a Castaic High school and better budgeting are necessary, while Steve Sturgeon would like to see more vocational programs and better communication with the community. Sturgeon and Fortine are incumbents on the board, Messina is not. Link
  • Environmental hearing for Natural Gas pipeline: This one kind of slipped in under the radar. A company named NorthernStar Natural Gas hopes to convert an off-shore oil platform into a storage facility for natural gas off the coast of Ventura. Part of the project involves building a few 36 inch natural gas pipelines through the streets of Santa Clarita. Those pipes will connect with pipe systems that deliver natural gas to the Ventura area. An environmental impact hearing will be held next week on October 4 for Santa Clarita. The project is facing some opposition in Ventura, but I haven't heard much about it here. Most of the pipes will be built under existing SCV streets (SFR, Magic Mountain Parkway) before linking up to a 52 mile pipeline system along the 126 corridor. Link
  • My Santa Clarita Interviews Hart High Prinicipal: Dr. Collyn Nielsen took over as principal of the valley's oldest high school in August. Read more here
  • Concerned about mountain lion attack? With all the things to worry about in your life, you probably don't need to add being eaten by a mountain lion to your list. Unless the mountain lion is really hungry or you're easy prey that is. KHTS has more on this topic, written in the wake of an unconfirmed but likely mountain lion attack on a horse and dog in Sand Canyon. I suppose you could just get a Grizzly Bear to protect you on nature hikes, but the last grizzly was killed in these parts some 80 years ago.
  • Harry Welch brings big-school discipline to private academy: The Los Angeles Times catches us up on what Harry Welch has been up to since he abruptly left Canyon high after their 2006 state championship.
  • Street Art Festival this weekend: Get your chalk, music, and diversity fix here
The Romney/Giuliani Split in the SCV: The third quarter is drawing to a close, and for political junkies like me, that can mean only one thing: numbers! Yes, numbers on the latest campaign contributions from the SCV's rich and famous to the various campaigns for president will soon be available. Wait strike that. Locally, there's only two horses in this race for president, and that's former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani. On the one hand, Romney is the fundraising champ in the SCV -he even visited West Ridge earlier this year- and he's raised some $88,925 from three SCV Zip codes at the end of Q2. He's supported by Buck McKeon and a large chunk of the SCV Republican base, as evidenced by Katie Geyer's excellent June article. But there seemed to me to be a split on who local Republicans would support. Cam Smyth is a supporter and organizer for Rudy Giuliani because he thinks Giuliani is the only Republican that puts California "in play." And I think the Runners support him too. So how big is the split? Not very. I pulled the numbers as reported to the FEC for Q2, and the graphs below are the result. We'll have to wait to see if Fred Thompson's entry into the race in Q3 has affected those numbers, but I doubt it. Even with his flip-flopping on abortion, Mitt's lead is too big. Surprisingly, the West side of the Valley is more pro-Rudy than the rest, but the SCV is solidly red and apparently smitten with the Mitt:
Image not recovered91321.jpg
Scrappy Newhall has sent $7,350 to Rudy Giuliani's campaign, but it pales in comparison to the contributions to Mitt.
Image not recovered91355.jpg
I hear if you wear a Barack Obama T-shirt in Valencia, you'll get beat up by Romney Partisans. 90% of Republican money in Valencia goes to Mitt, absolutely destroying all other candidates.
Image not recovered91381.jpg
West siders like Rudy a lot more than the rest of the SCV apparently, but the Mitt still wins 2-1.
Have a good weekend.

Comments (1)

  1. RickLSeptember 28 at 12:37 PM PT
    All that good money being wasted!

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