- City Planning Commissioners heard from the public on the OVOV plan last night for the last time. Some members of the public criticized the plan for its ambiguous language, others said it is too accepting of crowded roads in the future and at least one guy invoked the Nazis. And then there were the Placerita Canyon Homeowners, who made sure the Commission knew that, no matter what the City at large needs, their rural equestrian community ought to be protected above all else. I HEART, SIGNAL
- SCV Tea Party “upsets” and takes over SCV Chapter of the California Republican Assembly and puts our old friend David Gauny in charge. The Tea Party likes Gauny and endorsed him last year in the Council race. WRB
- Possibly to celebrate, the SCV Patriots have announced they’re going to have a party tomorrow night at the Embassy Suites. “Many of you have been hard at work since the last meeting and your results are showing all over town!” the email blast says. Raise your hand if you think a party with Tea Partiers would be fun.
- Also did Lynn Vakay, the former Signal columnist who got busted for plagiarizing, marry McKeon’s former deputy Bob Haueter? Cause they’re sharing the same last name in the WRB report.
- The City of Santa Clarita has launched a new website for the Whittaker Bermite site they’re trying to take control of. In a letter to the public on the homepage, the City Council says it views Whittaker Bermite as a place to build critical infrastructure and “new jobs.” Ignore the passing similarity to SCVTalk, the city’s web designers apparently chose the same (free) theme as my site WHITTAKERBERMITE.COM
- The 19 year old man who lead police on a chase from north of Castaic all the way to San Dimas before he was tasered is a 2009 graduate of Hart High and a Stevenson Ranch resident. Daniel Wachter was reportedly wearing a bathrobe during the chase. He’s in the clink now on $30,000 bail. SIGNAL
- Speaking of other winners, a 22 year old Valencia man was arrested after Deputies smelled pot in his car. And a guy in Sylmar was busted after cops discovered he had $2,500 worth of heroin stashed in underwear. They think the underwear -and the heroin within it- was headed for the SCV. SIGNAL 1, 2
- Meanwhile, LA gets the smart criminals: Authorities think some jewelry thieves in Los Angeles took their time boring through the ground and into a jewelry store where they made off with $3 million worth of wedding bands and engagement rings. LA TIMES
- The SCV Winter Homeless shelter will close in two weeks. Volunteers at the shelter say it was used heavily throughout the winter, often housing 50+ people on cold or rainy nights. At least five families with children under 18 used the shelter’s voucher program to stay at hotels. Be sure to read the priceless comment on the SIGNAL’s piece.
- Gas prices averaging $3.72 a gallon in Santa Clarita, probably the highest they’ve been since 2008. Meanwhile, anecdotally, I can report that ridership on the City’s commuter bus lines is approaching levels where I have to actually share a row with another sleepy commuter. SIGNAL
- Wow: The lock of Justin Bieber’s hair that Ellen Degeneres auctioned off has raised $15,000 for the Gentle Barn animal rescue shelter. The shelter, is of course thrilled, and slightly confused: “But on the flipside, the fact that there’s people out there who are willing to pay this kind of money for a piece of hair, I don’t know what to say to that.” Neither do I. KHTS has more on the Bieb’s golden mane
- For those non-profits not lucky enough to have a piece of the Bieb, there is, thankfully, the City of Santa Clarita, which is distributing $80,000 to several area non-profits through its Community Services Grant program. SIGNAL
- Regulators in Washington are considering making a 20% down payment for home purchases mandatory for “qualified mortgage products.” That’s distinct from “unqualified mortgages” which would require a smaller down payment but add more risk to the bank. Not sure what to make of this…20% is pretty steep even in a place like Santa Clarita LA TIMES
- Then again, maybe we’ll all be renting soon as California builders are pulling fewer permits for new home construction but are pulling more for rental units. TIMES
- Kevin Korenthal says street construction crews make too much money. LTE.
- Gary Horton nails it in his column today: It’s not Republicans vs Democrats, it’s a wealthy elite class that pits the middle class against itself. “We’re pushing back retirements and reducing medical care for average Americans — anything but reinstate taxes on the wealthy,” he writes SIGNAL
- New iPad2 possible today. I always keep an eye on Engadget.com’s live blog during events like this.
A decade of the Valley’s town square · 2006–2015
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43 · as published