November 13, 2008 – Daily Brief — The SCV Talk Archive

CalPers in hot water, Newhall Ranch gets part of the blame: Three stories on the disastrous real estate portfolio of CalPers, the California state employee retirement fund. The Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Sacramento Bee all report that “the value of residential real estate investments owned by the [fund] has plummeted 35% –a paper loss of $3.3 billion for curent workers.” The kicker is that all three articles point to CalPers investment in LandSource and the Newhall Ranch property as one of the big reasons CalPers has lost so much. Recall that when CalPers jumped into the Newhall Ranch deal to the tune of $970 million when the 15,000 acres west of I-5 were valued at around $2 billion. Now the value of that property is unknown and, as the Times puts it, the “fate of the property, known as Newhall Ranch, rests with a federal bankruptcy judge.” No update yet on whether a Delaware Judge has agreed with one of LandSource’s creditors that that property and other LandSource assets ought to be liquidated.
Castaic Man busted for Craigslist prostitution: He wanted more than money in exchange for a room in his house in Castaic. KHTS reports.
Swastika painted in twin Jewish boy’s locker at Saugus High: No suspects yet and the high school is investigating. The targets were twin Jewish students at the 2,500 student high school. Brian Charles reports.
Father of suicidal Acton boy creates non profit group: Jeff Lasater’s son took his own life last month in the bathroom stall of Acton high School. In response, Lasater has created something called “Project 51, a nonprofit group that will serve as a watchdog over the Acton education system’s response to reports of bullying,” according to the LA Times. More details have emerged on what might have pushed 14 year old Jeremiah over the edge. The Times says that the day he killed himself, “other boys threw chili on him in the lunch line nad pulled his pants down.” LA Times
Assembly District 38 “bent, but didn’t break”: So says Capitol Weekly, a Sacto .gov newspaper, which says the race between Assemblyman Cameron Smyth and Democrat Carole Lutness was one of a number of Assembly races statewide that were closer than many thought they would be. What’s the reason Lutness and others did so well? “What’s happening is a significant decline in Republican registration in ever district in California, regardless of location. It’s across the board,” says one expert. Blue Wave, Blue Wave, Blue Wave! Interesting report
Setting up foreclosure office “cutting edge:” I was really entertained by Melissa Gasca’s report on local real estate today. It has no numbers or statistics on foreclosures and sales in the SCV, but it gives a good picture of how realtors operate in this environment. One Realty Executive office in Newhall has changed its signage from RE to “Foreclosure Center,” a move the realtor in charge of the office says is “cutting edge.” Of the amount of foreclosures and short sales on the market, the realtor had this to say: “It was like Muhammed going to the mountain. There was a mountain of foreclosures and we had to go.” Link
Bristol Farms opens to ooohs and aaaahs: This is one for that elite SCV magazine: Bristol Farms oepned yesterday, and The Signal was there to cover the reaction from slack-jawed locals who were amazed at the luxury of the high end grocery. “It’s very nice,” one said. “I thought Bristol Farms was for upscale areas like Beverly Hills,” said another. Not anymore baby, Valencia is ON THE MAP. Oh also, SCVTalk reader and gourmand Mike had his own mini-review in the SCVTalkers forum.
LA County Board of Supes object to Prop 8: Three of the board members voted Wednesday to join a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8. Our supe, Mike Antonovich, was out of town, according to the Times. He probably would have voted no anyway. Times Meanwhile, people opposed to Proposition 8 are getting more aggressive in their protests since the Prop passed last week. They are targeting Mormon temples nationwide now (some 12,000 protested last night at one in New York City) and boycotting businesses that gave to the Yes on 8 campaign. Times has that too.
More stupidity from local HOAs: Canyon Country resident Laura Scott relates the mistakes her HOA made when they trimmed a eucalyptus tree near her house. The tree trimming made all the hawks and owls disappear and as a result, the squirrel population surged. Now the HOA wants to poison the squirrels because they’re out of control. “It is time that we begin to work with nature by using natural pest management, such as placing hawk and owl perches for rodent control or not cutting down nearby trees that previously served that purpose, instead of poisoning the world that we all must share with these creatures,” she writes. That reminds me, when do the Canada Geese return to Bridgeport?
I Heart’s 9th Reason to Say No to Mayo Expansion: It’s ugly. Ferociously so. Fugly hospital.