Major deal struck at Tejon Ranch, budget challenges at City Hall, perchlorate to get cleaned up despite EPA, Cesar Milan loves the SCV, oil and Santa Clarita, plus the Signal gets a makeover? Hey, lazybones, it’s the Thursday Daily Brief! What are you waiting for?
News
- Environmentalists/Developers strike deal for Tejon Ranch: A coalition of environmental groups including the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Audubon Society and others will not oppose the construction of some 26,000 homes in the untouched Tejon Ranch wilderness area north of Santa Clarita, the Los Angeles Times reports today. The groups came to an agreement with the developer of the property, Tejon Ranch Company, that will set aside some 178,000 acres -plus options for an additional 62,000 acres- of land in the area. The Times calls the deal a “major truce” that will allow Tejon Ranch to build homes without fighting a potentially decades-long court battle. The environmental groups seem to be happy that the area’s unique biodiversity will be preserved to a large extent, though some groups still express reservations. Interstate 5, here they come. Link
- Housing downturns makes City tighten belt: The City Council and City staff met recently to discuss the 2008-09 budget for the City of Santa Clarita and are “expecting a 2 percent drop in total revenue” due mostly to a drop in “housing development revenue,” according to Katie Geyer at The Signal. The drop in revenue may affect some of the larger projects the City hoped to work on this year, but for the most part, “funding will continue for existing projects and services.” Councilwoman Marsha McLean thinks Santa Clarita is in pretty good shape compared to other cities: “There are an awful lot of cities having a really tough time and are on the verge of bankruptcy,” she said. Geyer has details on what’s hot and what’s not in the new budget here.
- EPA wavers on Perchlorate contamination, CLWA says plans for cleanup moving forward: Here’s a story that came out of left field: The Signal’s Jim Holt reports that on Tuesday, an assistant administrator of water at the EPA testified before the US Senate that perchlorate contamination in water supplies poses a risk but that regulating it might not do much good. That had The Signal curious about our own perchlorate contamination in the SCV at the site of the Whittaker-Bermite property in the so-called donut-hole. Holt spoke with Castaic Lake Water manager Dan Masnada about the news and whether it would effect the ongoing cleanup of that site, which was home to a weapons manufacturer back in the day. “It doesn’t have a whole lot of relevance…what is most important is that we have a settlement agreement regarding the cleaning up of perchlorate and we’re moving ahead on that,” Masnada told The Signal. Also in the article: our favorite local lobbyist has his hands in a new honeypot: this time, Scott Wilk is working with his old boss Buck McKeon and CLWA to secure funding for the cleanup. Story here.
- Alleged Kidnapper nabbed in Canyon Country: On April 29, a 15 year old girl was waiting at a bus stop on Soledad Road when authorities allege that a 27 year old Palmdale man named Cesar Galvan “approached her, began asking questions, then grabbed her arm and attempted to pull her away,” according to CBS 2. The girl fought back, kicking the attacker, and was able to run to a nearby business. SCV Sheriff’s detectives then assembled a “surveillance operation at the same bus stop” on Tuesday and when they spotted Galvan, they arrested him. They’re now asking the community whether anyone has run-ins with this man before. CBS 2, SCVSheriff.com story with photos.
- Oil prices make SoCal oil extraction feasible again: Interesting program last night hosted by KCRW’s Warren Olney. The price of a barrel of oil now hovers around $123, and some analysts think it could shoot as high as $200, all of which makes it once again economically feasible for oil companies to expand extraction of Southern California oil fields. The show didn’t mention Santa Clarita specifically, but as we all know, our valley has an intimate history with oil that continues to this day. In fact, I did some digging just to see where SCV oil fields are and how much production is going on. Did you know that there are some 15.8 million proven barrels of oil beneath Placerita Canyon, where two companies continue to extract supply to this day? Berry Petroleum, a Bakersfield company, operates scores of wells in the Canyon and north of it along Sierra Highway. And that’s not all; according to the state’s Geothermal department, there are huge oil fields all around the SCV, including the massive Newhall-Portrero one near where Newhall Ranch is to be built. “Billions” of barrels of oil have been extracted from Southern California (at one time California was the top oil-producing state in the country) so you should listen to Olney’s show to see how the future might look a lot like the past in Southern California.
- Cesar Millan dishes on life in the SCV: The popular host of the Dog Whisperer, the hit NatGeo show, moved his entire “Dog Psychology Center” to the SCV last year and apparently moved his family with him. He writes in the Times today on what he likes to do in Santa Clarita. The Mexican-American man says one of his favorite meal spots is Tortas Ahogadas (anyone know where that’s at?) and he digs El Torito as well. His family is still getting used to having Magic Mountain nearby as well; Millan says they go just about every week. Link
Miscellaneous
- New Look for The Signal: The newspaper that’s served the SCV in one form or another since 1919 had a significantly different look this morning. Mostly the paper’s fonts are different, but the layout, UPC code, and weather have all been moved to the left side of A-1. A-2 has a better design as well with the commentary more prominently featured. What I like best is the funny pages -aka the opinion section- it looks much more professional and dare I say it -sophisticated- than the old look. Now Editor Lila Littlejohn, Josh Premako, and Stephen Peeeples are listed as the Signal’s “Editorial Board” (sounds fancy huh?). Anyway, it’s a nice little redesign and was a long time in coming.
- Also new computers for Signal staffers: The journalists on Creekside are no longer typing their stories out on first generation, 10 year old
boat anchorsiMacs; a source tells SCVTalk that all computers at The Signal have been replaced with modern ones. Get this, I think they have internets at The Signal now too. - Runner’s Anti-Crime bill: Just six weeks ago, KHTS reported on Senator George Runner’s effort to get a new “get tough” crime bill on the ballot in November. The bill, variously referred to as a Safe Neighborhoods Act or an anti-gang initiative, didn’t take long to qualify for the ballot; Runner reportedly gathered some 800,000 signatures and has turned them into the state for verification. But now state Democrats are looking at the bill and say they see right through it; the SacBee reports on some who think the measure is designed to “lure ultraconservatives” to the California polls in November so that the national GOP can have an edge in California. This was tried before of course, in 2004, and it’s often been referred to as a Karl Rove tactic. Notable quote: “[The measures is designed to boost the turnout of] ultraconservatives, fearful, people who believe that black and brown children are the criminals.” Strong words! Runner denies that it’s a scheme to drive Republicans to the polls in what might be a bleak year nationally for the GOP. Link