March 7, 2011 – Daily Brief — The SCV Talk Archive

Image not recoveredgas-623x480.jpg

137 teachers, counselors and other certificated staff received layoff notices from the SCV’s local school districts last week. It’s the third (maybe fourth?) year in a row for layoff notices SIGNAL
A man set himself afire then intentionally drove his car off a Castaic cliff on Saturday in a failed attempt to kill himself. The unnamed driver, from San Diego, reportedly warned his mother that he was going to try to kill himself. A passing motorist saw the vehicle on fire and the victim was helicoptered to Holy Cross SIGNAL
Auto shop owners unhappy with City of Santa Clarita’s Old Town Newhall redevelopment as they face eviction. The City is offering them $530,000 to move by April SIGNAL
In a blog at the WRB, David Gauny posts a tell-all about his successful bid to take over the local chapter of the California Republican Assembly. It’s a tale of hot GOP-on-Tea Party intrigue in which we learn that local conservatives were ordered to support Meg Whitman against their will and were disgraced and insulted when the GOP forced them to make signs outside the HQ building last year like a bunch of outcast cranks. But don’t worry, things aren’t changing too much under Gauny’s regime; the club will still meet at the old Pico Canyon IHOP each month. Gauny now has a platform for next year’s Council race WRB
Speaking of the Tea Party, they notice that the chloride tax is back on the agenda for the SCV. The Sanitation District sent mailers to homeowners late last month ahead of a public meeting on April 14 at City Hall SCV PATRIOTS
20 percent of Californians had trouble affording food last year according to a study LA TIMES
Sad: the Val Verde Boys and Girls Club is being shut down after 30 years of operation after the group’s parent organization decided to conserve resources for the Newhall and Sierra Vista clubs. The Val Verde club will donate its equipment to something called the Sheriff’s Youth Activity League, however. SIGNAL
2009 survey of 84 Henry Mayo Hospital patients reveals that hospital is below average in some measurements and about even in others compared to other hospitals across the state and nation. Only 58% of the respondents said they’d recommend Mayo to a friend or family. Then again 84 is not a good representative number. Commenters at the SIGNAL pounce
Friends and family recall Sgt. Ian Gelig, the Stevenson Ranch man who died in Afghanistan one year ago SIGNAL
Newsflash: some Castaic residents don’t like the location of the new Castaic High School SIGNAL
So it’s confirmed: female gibbons, like the kind at the Gibbon Research center in Saugus, are more cautious and intelligent when it comes to using tools than male gibbons are. The research was performed by Scottish researchers at the Bouquet Canyon Center and found that male gibbons “display no caution” about the dangers of tools, unlike their female counterparts. SIGNAL
A man who regularly walks the Santa Clara river wash stumbled across a file cabinet containing $15,000 worth of treasury bonds. For the last five years he’s tried to find the owner of the bonds but hasn’t had any luck. Interesting story SIGNAL
COC and the SCV Economic Development Corporation will host a 12 month economic forecast next month for local businesses. Cost is $95. KHTS
Local mom builds cookie business, gets noticed by Oprah SIGNAL
“It’s been reported” that the Enterprise Zone program in Santa Clarita has created or retained 1,900 jobs says State Senator Tony Strickland in an opinion piece defending the program that hands out tax credits to local businesses. He doesn’t cite a source for the number. The city’s own website says 562 jobs have been created. SIGNAL, CITY
The City of Stockton is furious that Forbes magazine has labeled it America’s most miserable city for two years in a row. Stocktonites (Stocktonians?) plan a mass street demonstration in April. LA TIMES
Myers compares private sector pay & benefits with public sector pay & benefits, concludes that public sector workers will have to take a cut SIGNAL
Dave Bossert remembers a close friend who died after he was hit by a car on the freeway last week. WRB
Tony Miano, the preacher cop who evangelizes people on streets around town, is upset that St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Valencia has ordained an openly gay woman SIGNAL LTE
Don Ricketts of Save our Libraries says Cracks Are Forming™ in City’s library takeover process SIGNAL

Comments (7)

HermanMarch 7, 2011 at 8:20 am
Might be worth changing your name to “Royce”.
NateMarch 7, 2011 at 8:28 am
OMG on the suicide. Unsucessful in life and death. Hey guy next time try a garden house and your car… Well your new car or a rental doesn’t matter. You take a nap and never wake up. $530,000 sounds very reasonable to me. Wait the guy that runs around town yelling at cars and holdings a giant cross is upset about a gay woman being treated like everyone else. Shocking! I would like to see a study of whether female gibbons are smarter then Tony Miano.
spineflower2March 7, 2011 at 8:45 am
One way to guarantee Castaic HS costs will rise is to delay the construction until after the recovery. Costs are as low as they will ever get during the recession, and the school should lock up contracts as fast as possible. Once a recovery starts, they will see labor and material costs rise. So keep it up, so-called Citizens for Castaic, and watch your actions create the very thing you are complaining about.
Timothy Myers SRMarch 7, 2011 at 11:45 am
On David Gauny: That is one bizarre rambling tale of what I don’t know; particularly an “apology” that DG did not stab Lynn Vakay in the back but was drafted while others stuck in the blade. The absolute hilarity, however, is that redistricting will go one of two ways so that local Republican operatives won’t matter. Santa Clarita will either be placed at the rump end of SFV (Democratic) or High Desert (some Republican from the Antelope Valley will always be the nominee) Congressional, State Senate and Assembly districts so that no one with a Santa Clarita address gets elected for the next ten years.
ReaderMamaMarch 7, 2011 at 1:10 pm
I can’t think of a worse way to commit suicide than by setting oneself on fire. And surviving such an event … well my heart goes out the guy. I hope he finds the help he needs once his physical wounds are taken care of.
ReaderMamaMarch 7, 2011 at 1:19 pm
BTW, I noticed in yesterday’s Signal that they have altered their rules for the $500 weekly giveaway to allow for non-subscribing recipients. But the nominators still must be subscribers.
4eyedsueMarch 7, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Tony Miano has been parading around in front of St. Stephan’s church for the past few Sundays carrying his big wooden cross. He lures unsuspecting parishioners into theological debate with him, which he records, then posts on his blog. I don’t believe he is out there to glorify God. It seems to be more about his ego.