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August 26, 2011 – Daily Brief
By Jeff— Jeff Wilson
Confirmed: Patricia McKeon will run to represent us in the 38th Assembly District. No quote from her but she already has a spokesperson. Also, Scott Wilk, Board Member at COC, will run for the seat and Paul Strickland -Hart Board member and Cameron Smyth’s District Representative- is also considering a runway. SIGNAL
More details on the Santa Clarita courthouse changes: the Signal says part of the building will be shut down in addition to felony cases being moved to the SFV. Department 4 of the Courthouse structure handles “traffic, eviction and small claims cases” according to the Signal. Police Chief Becker says the changes will force him to pay overtime to Detectives who have to travel over the hill to testify SIGNAL, SCVNEWS
City leaders and residents went to a ‘topping-off’ ceremony yesterday at the new Newhall library, where a gigantic four ton steel tower was raised. The time capsule was supposed to placed in the tower but that’s been postponed to allow residents to place more things in there. Laurene Weste added one of those outrageous orange Awesometown shirts to the time capsule DAILY NEWS, KHTS
Detectives are asking for the public’s help in finding out who vandalized Castaic Middle School. Detectives say sometime on Wednesday night last week, vandals entered the MPR and “damaged musical instruments, ripped wiring out of electrical boxes, and damaged the school with graffiti related vandalism.” SCVNEWS
A truck carrying lemons crashed on I-5 near Pyramid Lake after one of its tires blew out. Sadly the driver was killed. The northbound truck’s payload skidded across southbound lanes, tying up traffic for several hours SCVNEWS
Local education officials really dislike No Child Left Behind, the act passed in 2001 by Congress and President Bush that set stiff mandates for education across the country. Dr. Winger of Newhall School District says the mandates in the act aren’t realistic SIGNAL
Speaking of education, the Hart District has rolled out its “Hart @ Home” program, a program that helps home schoolers educate their 7-12 grade students at home. Some 30 local teens are part of the program. SIGNAL
COC dedicated a new 10,000 sq. ft. technology center at its Canyon Country campus yesterday SCVNEWS
Triple digit temps this weekend until Sunday. Don’t leave your kids or pets in the car! SIGNAL
Buck McKeon, reacting to a new Pentagon report on the power and growth of the Chinese military, says that China is taking advantage of the US’ weak economy to build its military forces and that, left unchecked, China could deny access to the Western Pacific. UPI, THINK PROGRESS
Last Concert in the Park concert this weekend. A Soul band will play CITY BRIEFS
What it’s like to go on a bike ride if you’re President of the United States STREETSBLOG
August 26, 2011 – Daily Brief
Comments (19)
ToddAugust 26, 2011 at 8:40 am
Fun fact! Marc Winger was my principal for K-3 at Edison Elementary school in Burbank. Fun fact bonus!!! His sister is three-time Oscar nominee Debra Winger… and she came to the school one time in a limo and all the kids were wowed by it!
MessickAugust 26, 2011 at 9:06 am
NCLB was not passed in 2011 by the Bush Administration. It was passed in 2001.
Joe KAugust 26, 2011 at 9:20 am
Don’t you mean, “What it’s like to be President and pretend to ride a bike?” Politics aside, we’ve only had one President who really knows now to ride a bike and it gave him a break from the presidency. Maybe Obama should take up Mountain Biking if he wants to get away for a bit http://www.bikegallery.com/blog/2009/why-george-rides-a-bicycle/ http://singletrack.competitor.com/2011/07/features/wounded-warriors-trailblazer-and-the-biffmaster_18907
Timothy Myers SRAugust 26, 2011 at 10:23 am
This Assembly election could be a first instance of an open primary resulting in two Republicans in the general, particularly if the Dems put forth a weak sauce candidate.
Phil EllisAugust 26, 2011 at 12:15 pm
If that were to happen then the Republican candidates will have to spend big bucks on both the primary and the general elections.
mikecAugust 26, 2011 at 2:34 pm
I remember folks were thinking that it was gonna be Janice Hahn and Deborah Bowen facing each other in the special election run-off, but they split the vote and the GOP candidate ran against Hahn… so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the GOP vote get split possibly up to 3 ways (assuming Strickland runs) and the GOP top vote getter facing-off against the DEM candidate in Nov. 2012…
Coastal SageAugust 26, 2011 at 7:56 pm
Or, Tim, I could write a nice check to a Lynne Plambeck campaign committee, which would screw up Mrs. McKeon’s unchallenged ascendancy to the Assembly because Mrs. McKeon has ZERO name recognition outside of the LDS community, has no college education, no experience legislatively, and has never done anything noticeably useful for the SCV community, except economically benefit from the McKeon brothers ripping off their creditors when the western supply store closed. A serious Democratic Party challenge to “The Queen Bee” just might force the Republican “boys club” to let Scott Wilk take his shot at the Assembly rather than trying to intimidate or insult him into not running. By the way, Mrs. McKeon is a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks in the San Gabriel Valley, is a venal social climber and has been enjoying her self-perceived status as a “belle of the ball” in Washington, now that Buck has ascended to his level of importance. I am hearing that they get invited to, and attend, a lot of nice coctail parties and dinner parties, and that Mrs. McKeon greatly enjoys going to the hairdresser, getting her nails done, and getting dressed up to attend these fun social functions. Last time I heard, the job of an Assemblyman is a full time job, which requires being in Sacramento. So does Mrs. McKeon expect Santa Claritans to elect her as a no-show, paycheck collecting elected official while she stays in Washington to attend all of her soirees? Perhaps Mrs. McKeon is so satisfied with her husband’s abject failure, for the last 8 years, to get legislation passed for Santa Clarita’s health and safety (the Cemex Mine bill) that she thinks it will be OK to simply be a no-show legislator in Sacramento. Love you LDS ladies. There are many of you who would be far more credible candidates for the Assembly than Mrs. McKeon. And if the Republican “boys club” doesn’t like Scott Wilk, then you have it in your power to find another candidate rather than simply rolling over and letting a useless woman get elected.
LindaAugust 27, 2011 at 8:48 am
Always fun to get the inside scoop from you, CS. “If you can’t say something nice about someone, then come and sit next to me!”
Coastal SageAugust 27, 2011 at 6:45 pm
By the way, Mrs. McKeon is 70 not 68, based on the age of her classmates at Arcadia High School.
AngeloCandelabraAugust 26, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Pat McKeon is well known in Republican power circles but not particularly well liked, unlike Buck who is a genuine gentleman. Pat’s candidacy is really a blocking move against Scott Wilk, who ironically was appointed to a vacancy on the COC board of trustees based on his close ties to Buck, but was let go by Buck following a falling out shortly thereafter. Scott Wilk is also well known in Republican power circles, but is not held in high esteem as he is considered untrustworthy and is known to make poorly considered statements when he drinks. The GOP establishment could just not stomach Scott’s acendancy to a position of power or prominence, lest he attempt to eclipse Cameron Smyth when Buck retires or when Big Mike is termed out. So, in a brilliant move, Pat McKeon at 68 will serve as a squatter.
Timothy Myers SRAugust 26, 2011 at 2:19 pm
I agree that Buck, agree with his politics or not, is gracious and a gentleman, and sincerely believes he is doing his best to represent his constituents.
Coastal SageAugust 26, 2011 at 7:36 pm
I don’t agree on the “gentleman” part. In fact he’s very rude to Democrat women in social settings.
Need for Involved CitizenryAugust 27, 2011 at 5:19 am
Kind of sounds like Ed Colley put up his wife Kathy to run for the Newhall Water Board against Mike Curz. No experience, no political involvement, a nobody but she was against the unions so the Repub’s endorsed her. What a joke. So will we really see the same thing happen again here? Is the local Republican group that “thin” in decent potential candidates?
Phil EllisAugust 27, 2011 at 7:54 am
Three have been mentioned so far – doesn’t sound thin to me.
RemStarAugust 26, 2011 at 2:14 pm
So Scott Thomas Wilk has both filed for reelection to his seat on the COC board in 2011 and announced he hopes to serve no more than one year of that new COC board term because he will run for the State Assembly in 2012. Sounds awkward, but at least he’s being forthright (well, actually, Team McKeon has forced him to be so).
AlpinerAugust 26, 2011 at 3:13 pm
Our current president may enjoy riding his bike, but our former president knows how to ride a mountain bike and rode with a special group of vets this summer. Truly cool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TiGYDvc4lU
Coastal SageAugust 27, 2011 at 7:51 pm
So Buck collects oodles of dollars in campaign contributions, and then funnels in excess of $110,000 in salary to his wife, as an employee of the committee. While it may be legal, it certainly doesn’t pass the smell test: http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/family-1603-member-campaign.html
Comments (19)