The SCV's First Dog, WiFido, surveys his domain
- Oakland Police tragedy draws comparisons to infamous “Newhall Incident”: It’s been hard to escape the news this weekend that four Oakland Police Department officers were shot and killed during a shootout with a 26 year old male in East Oakland Saturday. Police officers haven’t suffered such losses since in the infamous Newhall Incident in 1970, when four CHP officers were killed in a shootout with two suspects near what is today Magic Mountain. The media has been drawing comparisons between that incident and the shootout in Oakland on Saturday and says the Oakland shootout may change the way officers interact with suspects just as the Newhall incident changed police tactics.
- More on Lennar and Reorganized LandSource: Over the weekend, the Times played catch-up and published a good article on Lennar’s possible take-over of LandSource, the bankrupt entity that’s developing Newhall Ranch. The Times says Lennar is prepared to put “substantial equity” into a reorganized Landsource. The Times even got our own Marlee Laufer on record saying Landsource “looks forward to the day when we are a reorganized company.” No one’s saying it, but it looks like this could be a coup for Lennar: they sold Landsource et al at the top of the Market in 2007 for nearly $1 billion, and they maybe be able to buy it back for much less. One of hte names that keeps getting mentioned in these articles is that of Emile Haddad, reportedly the guy who engineered the sale of Landsource and who may become its CEO if Lennar buys it back. Times, OCBJ
- February Real Estate numbers, get ‘em while they’re hot! Single family home prices rose 3% in February over January to a median price of $408,000, the Southland Regional Association of Realtors reports. Condos too were up by almost 10% in February over January. Realtors interviewed by The Signal say the rise in prices doesn’t mean we’ve “hit the bottom” yet, and indeed, they expect a “wave of foreclosures” to hit once a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac foreclosure moratorium ends on April Fool’s Day. Unfortunately, I can’t link to the SRAR datasheet like I usually do, so you’ll have to read The Signal to get the numbers.
- COC Halts Medical Assistant Program over accreditation matter: Some students say they finished the program but couldn’t find a job because the program isn’t accredited. One student told The Signal her medical assistant certificate would just be a “piece of paper” that’s not going to count. COC has halted the program until they can get accredited. Signal
- City Councli Agenda: Seven vacancies will be filled on the Newhall Redevelopment Committee, a single family home and “ridgeline alteration” for a property in Sand Canyon will be discussed, new architectural design guidelines for the entire city will be presented, and the council will hear about the proposed Golden Valley property that might be home to a new Santa Clarita courthouse. Regarding that last item, the city staff recommends the creation of a new Ad-Hoc Committee with Mayor Dude and Bob Kellar presiding. For the active and engaged citizen, your Tuesday night is laid out in detail here.
- Slimy Contractors and sleezy foreclosure experts preying on SCV: Seven illegal home-improvement type contractors were recently busted in the SCV Brian Charles reports. Meanwhile, those who have trouble paying their mortgages are being targeted by “loan-modification consultants,” who try to sell information the government dispenses free of charge. I like what Bob Kellar had to say about such people: “There’s a lot of what I call ‘bottom-feeders’ out there right now, wanting to take advantage of different circumstances to line their pockets.” The Signal has this story too.
- McKeon talks up lands bill: In a brief video, Congressman McKeon speaks a little about the lands bill he’s working on with Sen. Feinstein. The bill would set aside thousands of acres of land as protected wilderness. CQ Politics says there’s some funny business going on with the bill, however, and it’s having more trouble passing than it ought to.
- Letter Writer: Recall Cameron Smyth!!!1!11! Me: Yeah good luck with that: Canyon Country man Travis Janes, obviously a fan of John and Ken, writes to The Signal saying Assemblyman Cameron Smyth “willingly participated in raising every taxpayer’s taxes” and ought to be recalled. He has even contacted “several” friends who would be willing to sign a petition to recall Smyth, who he says is “no good for Santa Clarita.” He then goes off the deep end saying that California’s best bet is to “file for bankruptcy and start over.” I like that he’s upset about the Signal not covering this debate; newslfash, The Signal doesn’t cover a lot of things bub! LTE
- Anecdotal Economic Indicators: Like Tim Myers, I too enjoy extrapolating meaning from various experiences and interactions in the SCV. He did that in a column on Sunday where he discusses traffic on the 5, wait lines at local restaurants, and gym attendance. My wife and I still eat out occasionally and from what we’ve seen, there is no recession in the SCV. 45 minute wait for Sabor Cocina Mexicana two weeks ago and a 40 minute wait for Olive Garden (yes, Olive Garden! can you believe it? The Denny’s of Italian food!) just yesterday.
- Signal on homeless population and shelter: I lost interest half-way through the long editorial, but it’s here if you want to read it.