I rescued a dog from getting smooshed on Lyons Avenue this morning. The poor, confused pooch was running around in traffic, but he made the right choice and ran over to smell me as I rode past him. I give props to the motorists on Lyons, they did a stand-up job avoiding the cute ‘n furry little white dog. The dog is now safely back with its owner.
News
- New Support for McKeon’s CEMEX Legislation: HR 5887 just got a boost from the LA County Board of Supes, who voted unanimously to support McKeon’s land swap deal that would end CEMEX’s plans for the Soledad Canyon area. Perhaps more significantly though, Hannah-Beth Jackson, the Democratic Candidate running for the 19th District Senate seat (includes a portion of western SCV) will announce during a tour of Santa Clarita today that she also supports McKeon’s HR 5887. That puts her out in front of competitor Tony Strickland, who, to my knowledge, hasn’t mentioned the CEMEX issue and whose bid for the 19th Senate seat may be complicated by the fact that John McCain has come out in support of off-shore drilling, which Santa Barbarans aren’t too fond of. Back to Jackson- she’ll be interviewed this afternoon on KHTS at 4pm and will appear before Democrats tonight at Vincenzo’s at 7:30. The Jackson/Strickland race is one of the more closely watched Senate races in the state. KHTS
- SCV Sheriff’s station flunks facility test: Only three Sheriff’s stations county-wide received “unsatisfactory” ratings by a Los Angeles County grand jury, and Santa Clarita’s was one of them. Chief LaBerge acknowledges the problems but says most of is due to the age and inadequate size of the existing facility and says that improvements have already been made. There’s been talk but so far no action on plans for a new or renovated Civic Center, including an expanded Sheriff’s station. Parimal Rohit has a great and detailed report on the matter here.
- Another development gets water from CLWA: There will be enough water for a new 484 home development near Lombardi Ranch in unincorporated Santa Clarita, CLWA said last night in a vote. This sounds pretty close to the Gibbon center, does it not? Also, are the CLWA engineers magicians or are they just really good at what they do? This is the second 400+ home development approved in the same month that Schwarzenegger declared a drought. Jim Holt has the details.
- KHTS details Saturday Border/Praise America rally: Minutemen from the SCV and AV will gather at the civic amphitheater near the Valencia Library on Saturday to draw attention to illegal immigration and to raise money for two border patrolmen who were jailed after being convicted of shooting an illegal alien drug smuggler. The group also plans to “Honor America” during the rally. Link
- New staff positions at the City: The city passed its $165 million budget this week and despite the economic downturn, the city has enough money to fill several positions. Among them: a new tree specialist, a landscape specialist, three new Deputies, and a new code enforcement officer. Jerry Berrios runs through the spending here.
- IHT proclaims the end of suburbia: Six months ago, the media said the sub-prime mortgage crisis was doing to doom cheap housing in suburbia, now they’re saying that fuel costs may ultimately end suburban life as we know it. The International Herald Tribune article doesn’t specifically mention Santa Clarita, but the same issues arise here as they do elsewhere, particularly the expense of commuting to a job in the city in an era of $4 gas. One expert is quoted in the article saying that “Many low-density suburbs and McMansion subdivisions, including some that are lovely and affluent today, may become what inner cities became in the 1960s and ’70s - slums characterized by poverty, crime and decay.” Others aren’t so convinced that it will get that bad, but most generally agree that downtown areas in major cities will continue to enjoy a renaissance as people move back in. Link
- More details on city’s bike & pedestrian infrastructure: I bugged out of the Council meeting before they discussed the non-motorized transportation plan, but Katie Geyer stuck around and got the interesting (and, I must admit, exciting) details on what the city’s plans are. “The long-term plan calls for $14 million in bicycling improvements, including 11 miles of new bike paths, 13 miles of new bike lanes, and nine miles of bike routes, which are shared with motorists,” she reports. The city may also hire a full time person to manage the non-motorized plan and update it every five years. You know what I’m really eager to get? A bike path all the way from Santa Clarita, through the Santa Clara river valley, Fillmore, Santa Paula and ending in Ventura at the ocean. That’s still ten years away, according to the VC Star.
- Valley Fair at Saugs Speedway today: Tribute bands, comedy acts, and more acts and fair-ish type activities are planned as the San Fernando Valley fair kicks off today in Santa Clarita. The Daily News has the requisite complaint about thhe SFV fair being in SCV.
- Soledad/Highway 14 = death alley: Terrible accidents this week- a 25 year old man was killed in a vehicle accident in Canyon Country on Wednesday. His death marks the fourth vehicle related death in Canyon Country since Sunday; all of the accidents happened either on Soledad or Highway 14. Link
- Melody Ranch choice location for movie about poop: The brown in and around Melody ranch is so compelling that the brothers behind the forthcoming film “Manure” chose it over other places in California to film. Actually, it sounds like an interesting movie. Link
- One released without charges in car theft case: I missed this story yesterday…remember the big hoopla last week over the three people arrested after allegedly trying to buy a car with a bogus check at a Cadillac dealership here in town? The Sheriff’s department has released one of the suspects and the DA has “decided to reject the filing of charges” against Lisa Visin, 40, noting that there is “insufficient evidence against her.” Parimal Rohit has the story. So what’s the status of the other two people who were arrested? Well, according to the LASD inmate site, there will be a court date on July 2 for Dunbar Tuason, one of the suspects. Should be interesting to see this case play out.
- Ahh, if only: Apparently an Amtrak train was diverted through Santa Clarita recently. It rolled down the same tracks the Metrolink and freight trains do but didn’t stop at our stations on its way to LA. Santa Clarita has Amtrak bus service but unfortunately, no Amtrak train service. There’s a video of the long Amtrak train rolling through Via Princessa on YouTube (there are several train geeks who post vidoes of trains in the SCV; this was a major find for them. hehehe).