October 20, 2010 – Daily Brief

By Jeff — Jeff Wilson

Now that was a storm! The Twitter feeds were hopping last night as a lightning storm descended on the SCV from the east, creating a show the likes of which we haven’t seen in years. The National Weather Service issued four alerts in the evening last night as the fast moving storm moved over the SCV from the east. Rain and more lightning are possible today. AP, COUGAR NEWS has some footage
City of Santa Clarita yields to Save Our Libraries, releases a significant amount of documents to Save Our Libraries, the group headed by attorney Don Ricketts. Ricketts says the documents include communication between LSSI and the City prior to Laurie Ender floating the idea during a Council meeting in July. The group says it is analyzing the documents SAVE OUR LIBRARIES, KHTS
20 lbs of pot worth $80,000 seized from Nevada man staying in a hotel in Castaic. Now he’s enjoying a stay in the Long Bar Hotel KHTS
More evidence -this time from accused murderer Michael Dean Stephen’s Car- on display at trial yesterday. Some of the photographs were so graphic that Josh Pipho’s mother lost her composure SIGNAL
Gang member sentences to 87 years to life for 2008 Canyon Country shooting that injured another gang member WRB
County looks to renegotiate pension plans for tens of thousands of its employees in an effort to trim $200 million from the books. But County union leaders say their pension plans are modest compared to state and other public employees SIGNAL
Newhall School District, the highest scoring district in the valley despite the large amount of poorer students it serves, hosts its annual state of the district lunch SIGNAL
Iraq and Afghanistan veteran’s group gives Buck McKeon a “C” for his efforts at helping returning veterans THE HILL
New York Times uncovers a brochure advertising a Koch-brothers funded event for A-lister Republicans in Palm Springs in January. NY TIMES
An HOA board has decided to use the Signal’s LTE section to air out their dispute. What’s the dispute over? No, not a steamy affair between members or even matters of safety or money. No, the dispute is over pool temperature. Geez. SIGNAL

Comments (7)

PetzOctober 20, 2010 at 7:47 am

Jeff missed the story about LA County Supervirors accepting 3 million dollars of federal money to build a fire station in Canyon Country. This citizen is sick and tired of those “Republicans” who decry federal spending and the line up at the pig trough to gorge on borrowed or freshly printed money. Messina/Strickland accepting federal funds at the Hart district for general revenues – building pie in the sky solar projects to go green. McKeon-Mr Cash for Clunkers-let’s bailout Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-and voted for TARP. Frank Ferry and the whole lot of the city council extolling the jobs saved by Obama stimulus money and putting a $500,000 roof on the new library. It is time to cut spending and stop borrowing against our children’s future. Where are the adults?

cashOctober 20, 2010 at 8:24 am

It’s not just the Republicans that make me sick, the entry bunch do. Months ago I watched the down and out local car delears, led by the Acura King, meet with Mckeon to beg him to do something to save their business. The King located like he had been dethroned. Hence his McKeons support for the cash for clunkers give away. By the way, if you have not driven down Auto Row lately ,the row is starting to look like a heck. I guess the taxpayers will have to pay to clean the place up.

Daddy Joe GOctober 20, 2010 at 8:32 am

“Newhall School District, the highest scoring district in the valley despite the large amount of poorer students it serves” Did you think money equals smart? Possibly the biggest fallacy in Awesometown thinking.

ReaderMamaOctober 20, 2010 at 5:26 pm

Money doesn’t equal smarts, but it can go a long way toward encouraging it, especially when it is spent on a safe and secure home environment, good nutrition, a well stocked library, educated parents and the right kind of extracurricular activities. Test scores are almost always higher where family incomes are higher. That is true even within the Newhall School District. Test scores are markedly higher at Stevenson Ranch Elementary than at any other school in NSD. But the professional learning community approach has been transformative, especially at McGrath Elementary. It does prove that more can be done than is currently being done in most districts.

navigatorOctober 20, 2010 at 12:35 pm

I can understand the pain at the FV HOA. I heated my pool for a week and got a gas bill for $175! No wonder they’re not fixing the heater.

KLBOctober 20, 2010 at 2:12 pm

Our HOA is the same way. Every summer we go through this game of musical temperatures at the pool. You should hear the excuses I get from our property manager. In reality, I’m pretty sure it’s our property manager who is instructing the pool guy to turn off the heat until someone complains. Then the heat goes back on for a few days and then off again.

spineflower2October 21, 2010 at 9:19 pm

“But County union leaders say their pension plans are modest compared to state and other public employees” What, are they comaring themselves to those who work in Bell?

PetzOctober 20, 2010 at 7:47 am
Jeff missed the story about LA County Supervirors accepting 3 million dollars of federal money to build a fire station in Canyon Country. This citizen is sick and tired of those “Republicans” who decry federal spending and the line up at the pig trough to gorge on borrowed or freshly printed money. Messina/Strickland accepting federal funds at the Hart district for general revenues – building pie in the sky solar projects to go green. McKeon-Mr Cash for Clunkers-let’s bailout Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-and voted for TARP. Frank Ferry and the whole lot of the city council extolling the jobs saved by Obama stimulus money and putting a $500,000 roof on the new library. It is time to cut spending and stop borrowing against our children’s future. Where are the adults?
cashOctober 20, 2010 at 8:24 am
It’s not just the Republicans that make me sick, the entry bunch do. Months ago I watched the down and out local car delears, led by the Acura King, meet with Mckeon to beg him to do something to save their business. The King located like he had been dethroned. Hence his McKeons support for the cash for clunkers give away. By the way, if you have not driven down Auto Row lately ,the row is starting to look like a heck. I guess the taxpayers will have to pay to clean the place up.
Daddy Joe GOctober 20, 2010 at 8:32 am
“Newhall School District, the highest scoring district in the valley despite the large amount of poorer students it serves” Did you think money equals smart? Possibly the biggest fallacy in Awesometown thinking.
ReaderMamaOctober 20, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Money doesn’t equal smarts, but it can go a long way toward encouraging it, especially when it is spent on a safe and secure home environment, good nutrition, a well stocked library, educated parents and the right kind of extracurricular activities. Test scores are almost always higher where family incomes are higher. That is true even within the Newhall School District. Test scores are markedly higher at Stevenson Ranch Elementary than at any other school in NSD. But the professional learning community approach has been transformative, especially at McGrath Elementary. It does prove that more can be done than is currently being done in most districts.
navigatorOctober 20, 2010 at 12:35 pm
I can understand the pain at the FV HOA. I heated my pool for a week and got a gas bill for $175! No wonder they’re not fixing the heater.
KLBOctober 20, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Our HOA is the same way. Every summer we go through this game of musical temperatures at the pool. You should hear the excuses I get from our property manager. In reality, I’m pretty sure it’s our property manager who is instructing the pool guy to turn off the heat until someone complains. Then the heat goes back on for a few days and then off again.
spineflower2October 21, 2010 at 9:19 pm
“But County union leaders say their pension plans are modest compared to state and other public employees” What, are they comaring themselves to those who work in Bell?