News
- Rain triggers flood, mudslide worries: The slow moving Alaska storm that's drenched Santa Clarita off and on for the last day has some in the Southland concerned about mudslides in areas recently burned by fires, the Times reports today. Up to 8 inches of snow could hit local mountains by the time the storm passes through, and the Los Angeles area's typical 15 inches of rain per year "could easily get back on pace after this storm." Local freeways didn't fare well yesterday; on the 14, a 23 year old woman died after hitting a center divider, though authorities don't think the rain caused it. And on interstate 5, a jackknifed big rig shut down truck lanes in the Newhall Pass. Link
- Steady population growth in city's 20th year: Katie Geyer at the Signal checked some population statistics and found that the City of Santa Clarita adds about 6,000 people per year. That, along with the 30,000 added over the years from annexations around the valley have combined to give the city a population of 177,158. Geyer also says the SCV could support a population "twice its current size." There's a good map and a chart of annexations in the Signal today, so check it out.
- President Bush Pardons or Commutes sentence of Valencia man: A man named Charles Richard Fennell of Valencia California was one of 29 convicts who either were pardoned or had their sentences commuted by President Bush this week. According to press releases all over the web, Fennell was convicted in 1995 of "false statements to a federally insured financial institution." Despite my best efforts, I can't find anything on Fennell from the 1990s until now. Anybody know who this guy is? Hat tip to reader Rick for the find. Pardon list List
- Air Force tanker project could benefit at least three SCV companies: If the Air Force awards a contract to Northrop for its airborne KC 30 tanker project, at least three SCV companies could benefit from the project, according to a Northrop press release touting the program's economic impact in California. The KC 30 project replaces Boeing's controversial KC767 project. Both projects sought to deliver a new aircraft to the military that could refuel fighter jets, bombers, and other aircraft. The KC 30 is interesting in that it's built off a European Airbus frame, not an American Boeing airplane. Link
- Smyth contemplates legislation in wake of Mitchell Report: Cam Smyth, our assemblyman in Sacramento, is considering reintroducing failed legislation that would possibly test student athletes in California for banned substances and steroids. Smyth says he's not ready to embrace mandatory testing due to the cost, but vaguely says "steps need to be taken" to reduce steroid use in high school and college sports. The Mercury News reports
- Where in the world is Baby Jesus? At least 12 kidnapped baby Jesus figurines were found at OLPH Catholic church in Newhall recently. That followed one woman's discovery of note left at her nativity scene somewhere in town that said, "Do not worry, for baby Jesus is not gone. He just is not born yet. You can find your dear Jesus at OLPH on his birthday. God bless, a local Jew." ROFL
- Public school vs Private school sports programs: Mike Herrington, the longtime coach of Hart's football team, spoke with the LA Times about inequity in high school sports, specifically the fact that private schools can recruit from larger areas than public schools. No mention is made of Hart's recent loss to St. Bonaventure of Ventura, one such private school that recruited one standout running back from as far away as Moorpark. Link
- Westfield Town Center in the news SCVBlog Girl went on an oddyessy through our mall to find one thing: gift cards. She found them in the most unlikely place and has registered her discontent at her blog. Also, the mall will hold a ground-breaking ceremony on January 19 to commemorate the mall's expansion. The Signal has more
- City gets RSS feeds: You know, when I started this blog, there were only a handful of SCV-related websites that used RSS (Really Simple Syndication) "feed" technology. Now-a-days, you can't be a legitimate contender in the online SCV marketplace (haha) without a good RSS feed for your hungry readers. Well, the City's taken note of that and has now created three RSS feeds for your browser or feed-reader program: one is for city jobs, the other is a handy feed for city press releases and the last one is for council agendas. Now you can view city information alongside Sheriff's department information plus KHTS and local blogs all on one page (Such as iGoogle). Hopefully the Signal will be next with multiple RSS feeds for news, sports, opinion and features. Feed me!