I just realized I’ve been doing the Daily Brief for a year and a half now. Only a few more years to go!
News
- Teen stabbed near Stevenson Ranch Starbucks: An argument over a girl lead to an 18 year old male allegedly stabbing a 17 year old “four or five times in the abdomen” on Thursday. The unnamed victim was being treated at Henry Mayo hospital, while the alleged stabber, Elisha Brown of Canyon Country, was arrested by Deputies and booked on assault with a deadly weapon charges. Parimal Rohit described the scene of the crime: “A trail of blood nearly 30 feet in length stretched outside Starbucks and up a stairway leading to the Old Road, ending at a vehicle that reportedly belonged to one of the victim’s friends.” Link
- Hart District responds to coach accused of assault: Completely sidestepping the issue of volunteer screening and whether alleged sexual assaulter Kevin Thomas was ever screened before he started working at Canyon High, the Hart District released a statement on Thursday taking issue with a recent Signal editorial and claiming that the District’s Governing Board had nothing to do with Thomas’ hiring. The District says it utilizes “very stringent” hiring procedures and notes that the Governing Board approves hiring based on the recommendation of District staff. That statement is posted at the end of a Carol Rock story on KHTS. In her story, Rock says Thomas is being charged with a dozen felony counts, including “five counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object while the victim was unconscious.” Thomas had a daughter who played basketball at Hart and graduated in 2007. Finally, a brief item in the Signal today says that Board Member Gloria Mercado-Fortine wants the District Board to take a fresh look at volunteer procedures throughout the District. One wonders why we still haven’t heard from Canyon High prinicipal Bob Messina. Link
- New developments in Canyon Country: Signal reporter Jim Holt was at Wednesday night’s Canyon Country Advisory committee meeting to report on future developments in the area. Planning reps from the County and the City’s Paul Brotzman were also there. So what’s in the cards for Canyon Country? Some 2,420 homes according to the Signal, including 500 in the Tick Canyon area, and 500 in the Spring Canyon area. Something’s funny with the math though; one development in Shapell Plum Canyon has a proposed 1,298 single family lots and 1,202 condos. This all comes in the midst of the the joint County/City One Valley One Vision plan, which is being revised and updated as we speak. No quotes from attendees at the meeting though traffic was a big concern. Link
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Triple Digit Temps + Single Digit Humidity = Red Flag for SCV: The National Weather Service says temperatures reached 108 yesterday -in the shade- and it’s expected that it could be even hotter today. That, plus low humidity and northerly winds, has forced a red flag warning for the SCV today. That warning is in effect until Saturday night; check Santa Clarita Weather.com for updates in the temperature today. Warning
- DA Cooley speaks to area Republicans: Steve Cooley told 40 Republicans at the Theater Guild that crime rates in LA County are lower than any point in the past since 1956 and remarked on his record of prosecuting murders and corrupt politicians. Link
Misc
- Pulskamp responds to criticism: In an LTE to the Signal, the City Manager talks a bit about the One Valley one Vision plan, and the 450,000 people who might someday live here. He says the OVOV plan doesn’t increase development, rather “the land-use changes proposed in One Valley One Vision actually “down zone” areas, which will result in lower growth overall.” Finally, he addresses anonymous YouTuber FrankenFerry and other critics who have emphasized a supposed quote Pulskamp gave to the Signal regarding his desire to turn the SCV into an urban community. Pulskamp says he never said that and goes further by saying that “Our high quality of life in Santa Clarita is not only something I cherish, it is something I work hard to preserve every day.” Signal
- Smyth opines on UC Entrance requirements: The Assemblyman argues it would be a mistake for the UC system to stop requiring standardized testing as part of its admission criteria. Specifically, UC says it may eliminate the SAT from consideration, but Smyth says that would not only tarnish the UC’s well-deserved reputation for academics, but also hurt minority chances for entering the best public university in the country. Smyth, it should be noted, is a UC alum, having majored in Rhetoric at Davis. Link
- Odd video on YouTube: A female Golden West security officer posted a video on YouTube in which she describes giving CPR to an infant or toddler and saving his life near the BMW dealership a few days ago. She says she was standing guard when she saw a vehicle pull up not far from her; a man exited the vehicle, grabbed something, and started shaking it. Then a woman in the same car started screaming and crying about her baby; at that point, the security guard ran up to the couple, saw that a baby wasn’t breathing. She gave CPR to the baby and says she saved its life. Link
- Daily News getting even smaller: The Sunday opinion section will be two pages instead of four among other things, LA Observed reports. What a change in the DN it’s been: just one year ago, they had three or four full time reporters covering Santa Clarita news, including Council meetings, neighborhood disputes, crime, and education. We even had our own exclusive wrap, as did the AV. I still miss Judy O’Rourke’s no-nonsense reporting. Now the LA Times, which prides itself on ignoring places like Santa Clarita, spills more ink about the SCV than the DN on any given day. Pathetic.