Daily Brief – January 9, 2012 (Less-than-brief edition)

By Mike — Mike Devlin

The Hart High community lost a giant over the weekend, with the passing of Mr. Pew, the ever-respected, intelligent and poised Government and History teacher, who inspired a several generations of students. Jeff’s very touching tribute is posted here, and by week’s end, it will probably be the most read post in SCVtalk history. I never had a class with Mr. Pew, but I had the pleasure of being coached by him for the AP US Government test, and his reputation at the time was that he had the highest pass rate in the US. I also know, first hand, that he also didn’t put up with any nonsense from 17 year-old know-it-alls. Facebook remembrance page here, Jeff Wilson’s tribute here.
The Signal leads with the odd headline, “Three men detained for fight in Newhall” and quick five-sentence writeup without a byline. Two adults and a juvenile were arrested after they returned to the Newhall liquor store that they robbed earlier, demanding the surveillance video. The clerk was attacked with a knife and the suspects were caught soon thereafter. It happens that SCVTV is next door, so Leon comes to the rescue with an in-depth report of the incident (SCV NEWS). Meanwhile, the story has been picked up by the Associated Press and as such, it’s officially national news. The AP report via the Washington Post is here, plus more from LA Times and KNBC.
KHTS has a writeup on city council candidates Jon Hatami and Ed Colley without mentioning any of the several elephants in the room. Speaking of Ed Colley, a common theme in the comments here and in the Signal is an episode where Colley was allegedly giving extra credit for JROTC students to work on Frank Ferry’s campaign, but I can’t find a link to any press reports (articles from The Signal from that time aren’t available online). Anyone have the real story?
Major shakeup in the regional political landscape with Elton Gallegly announcing his retirement after a quarter-century of service in the Congress. Redistricting put him, by a matter of blocks, in Buck McKeon’s district. He would have either faced Buck in the primary, or he would have ran in a seat where he didn’t live that appears to favor Democrats. The chain reaction? Buck runs without a GOP challenger, Tony Strickland may run for Congress in the 26th against lesser-known Democrats, and Cameron Smyth may run for State Senate in the 27th against Fran Pavely if she doesn’t run in the 19th instead (or maybe she runs for Congress, just like Tony?) Imagine the possibilities! Both the 26th CD and the 27th SD, which includes Steventon Ranch and parts of Valencia and Newhall, have a slight Democratic advantage in registration but show a mixed record in elections. I’ll predict that whichever party wins the Presidency will also win both of these seats. Be sure to check out Leon’s piece over at SCV NEWS and my previous district-level analysis here.
The Santa Clarita WorkSource center at College of the Canyons, run jointly by the city and the college, might soon rest completely on COC’s shoulders under a contract with the city. COC would be able to integrate some of the services it already offers through its career center. SIGNAL
First in a series on heroin in the SCV over at the Signal goes deep and communicates the seriousness of the problem without being hysterical. Worth a read. SIGNAL
Editorial: If you post a link to SCVtalk in the comments of the West Ranch Beacon, Dave Bossert will edit your comment without permission, as I learned this weekend, when I linked to our past coverage of Roger Gitlin in the comments of Gitlin’s column, who Dave still (inexplicably) publishes.
Paseo bridge replacement is a bigger deal than I thought. Road closures planned on Alta Madera. SIGNAL
We can all feel it: the driest winter since 1883 (!) means high alert for brush fires in the SCV. SCV NEWS
According to Al Ferdman, would-be City Council candidate Brandy Brown has decided not to run, after all (scroll down to the comments). Add this to the exit of Petz, and the race is getting much more narrow. Brown’s departure is unfortunate timing for Tim’s amusing column on “decoy” candidates.
E-waste recycling event is where it’s at, apparently. Recycled items included (emphasis added) “computer towers, vacuum cleaners, two turntables and a microphone…” SIGNAL
Lastly, I’d like to mark the passing of Tony Blankley, the former spokesman for House Speaker Newt Gingrich who could be heard locally every week on KCRW’s Left, Right & Center. The British-born, but Los Angeles-raised pundit was, to me, the epitome of a congenial and honest opponent – a conservative that this center-left type loved to listen to. For years, I caught him twice a week, on L,R & C and the McLaughlin Group on PBS. He was always transparent in his discourse and extended incredible respect to his counterparts, who would (usually) respond in kind. He’s the sort of person that has inspired me to do my best to maintain respect towards the many voices here at SCVtalk and to consider your political opponents’ humanity ahead of their ideology. He’ll be missed by many. WASHINGTON TIMES NY TIMES

Comments (31)

BertaJanuary 9, 2012 at 9:54 am

Mike your “brief” is quite comprehensive, thanks. I would offer one minor correction, survalnce =surveillance.

MikeJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:11 am

I’m expecting many more typos to be found as the day rolls on. Appreciated, as always.

spineflower2January 9, 2012 at 9:57 am

Who is the least bit surprised by Dave editing content to suit his views? [sound of crickets chirping can be heard over sound of tubmleweeds blowing through West Ranch]

CCJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:13 am

He’s prefers all his content free of citation.

NateJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:20 am

This is also true Bossert for years was SCV’s number one plagiarist, stealing selected Associate Press articles without the proper attribution, I highly doubt he is paying for AP content which would equate to a double whammy of unethical behavior.

IHeartSCVJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:07 am

CC, that’s just not true. In fact, Bossert was careful to offer in-text credit to himself in one of his own pieces, posted today. http://bit.ly/yCZ18f “Back in February 2010 I wrote in regards to Ferry, Weste and McLean; “at what point will the voters of the City of Santa Clarita wise up and realize that the current Council incumbents have overstayed their welcome and have become too cozy in City Hall. Are you okay with the documented shenanigans and the entitlement attitudes seeping out of the Santa Clarita Council Chambers?”” Despite the short length of this excerpt, it contains a rather large number of mistakes: (1)”regards” should be “regard”, (2)the semi-colon after “McLean” should be a comma or even a colon, (3)”Council” doesn’t need to be capitalized, and (4)he didn’t end his question with a question mark. Still, it’s nice to see that he paid proper credit to himself.

TiredOfTheHypocrisyJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:17 am

Wow, maybe you should spend more time proofing your own comments. You have a couple ending quotation marks where you should have beginning quotation marks. I’m just saying…

MikeJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:21 am

Read his except, there are two opening quotation marks (before “Back” and “at”) and two closing marks, one to close Bossert’s self-quote and the second to close his quoting of Bossert.

TiredOfTheHypocrisyJanuary 9, 2012 at 12:40 pm

Actually, I was talking about ”regards” and ”Council.”

IHeartSCVJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:26 am

It’s a formatting issue; I can’t control which way the marks open. I try different spacing and sequencing but nothing seems to work. Do you know how to fix it?

spineflower2January 9, 2012 at 3:20 pm

He goes for EXcitation, not citation!

NateJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:02 am

The spineless coward known as Bossert turned of the comments on this racist piece… http://westranchbeacon.com/2010/08/guest-commentary-is-it-ok-to-use-the-word-negro/

LarMccJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:19 am

Wait…. He criticized The Signal for refusing to publish the piece and squashing this guy’s “freedom of speech.” The man has no freedom of speech at The Signal, but that’s besides the point. But then he runs the piece and refuses to let people comment on it? Isn’t he squashing those peoples ‘freedom of speech.’ Maybe I am missing something here.

NateJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:23 am

He actually didn’t publish the “piece” right away, Mike and I gave him a hard time about it… I actually have the screenshot of the before and after. Mike and I’s comments never saw the light of day of course…

Timothy Myers SRJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:25 am

I agree with Mike 100% on Tony Blankley. Like William F. Buckley Jr. and to some extent George Will, he was interesting to listen to even if one disagreed because his arguments were thoughtful and well researched rather than just screaming some talking points or supposed “facts.” It made perfect sense that the was a good choice to be the mercurial Newt Gingrich’s press secretary.

MikeJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:15 am

I’ve long enjoyed David Frum, who preceded Tony as the “Right” on Left, Right & Center for the same reasons. Ironically, the original “Right” chair on the show was held by Arianna Huffington.

MikeJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:26 am

I know there were a couple of guys in between Frum and Blankley, but I can’t remember them.

Timothy Myers SRJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:26 am

On the ROTC thing with Ed Colley, there was never coverage of that. It lived in Letters to the Editor and internet article comments.

NFICJanuary 10, 2012 at 6:27 am

I remember seeing a couple of stories on the incident. The story had a bit about a parent not being happy with it expecially because Colley would not give the extra credit points if the student campaigned for someone other than Frank Ferry. Perhaps our local historian John Boston could help!

Lori RivasJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:38 am

How to mess with plagiarists, *or* reading help for those unclear on the definition. http://collegemisery.blogspot.com/2011/12/henchminion-sends-in-tale-of-magna.html

Phil EllisJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:01 am

So much better than our own local examples.

The Venturan formerly known as NDJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:22 am

On Strickland and his all-but-announced candidacy: This is where “Top 2″ gets really good. The Dems have been salivating about the opportunity to replace Gallegly but have thus far put forward second tier candidates. Tony has a really good shot in the primaries to beat out at least 4 of those that have announced (with the exception of Pollock or Bennett – assuming Bennett is still in). After that it will be a redux of HBJ vs. Strickland wherein Strickland will lose by a narrow margin, regardless of the Presidential GOTV factor. The VC Tea Party is gasping for air, can hardly get a turnout at their “forums.” The 26th will be blue.

MikeJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:45 am

It’s the Dems to lose, but I think Tony vs. a second-tier type could win it for Tony. The 26th went Obama +15, but Whitman +1 and Fiorina +2. 2010 probably had an unusually high Republican turnout, but Obama probably won’t do nearly as well in SoCal as in 2008.

The Venturan formerly known as NDJanuary 9, 2012 at 2:17 pm

The Dems are going to shovel a mountain of cash into this race at every level. It’s a national turnover story already where Gallegly has been viewed as the incumbent, regardless of the redistricting. In the end, Whitman was a fluke of the 2010 race and the trendline will be clear from 2008.

AndreaJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:47 am

Re: Gallegly’s retirement and it’s effect on McKeon: I’ve heard from some people that Buck McKeon may very well have a GOP challenger in the primaries. And while this, as of yet undecided and unnamed, challenger doesn’t have the money or connections Buck has, he certainly has decent name recognition and a great story to bring to the voters. I wouldn’t say that Buck McKeon has a clear path to re-election. It’s less cluttered now, but not clear. Plus factor in his wife running for assembly is garnering a lot of unhappiness among the local GOP rank and file, and causing many Democratic operatives to salivate at a chance to attack him via her campaign as well as his, and you’ve got what could turn into a perfect storm of an opportunity for him to be unseated. Not that I would predict that happening because, as TMS so often points out, he’s an incumbent and incumbents win most of the time.

MikeJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:51 am

However much the McKeon brand is tarnished locally among activists – we’ll have yet to see what extent that applies to the causal electorate – his name is strong in the Antelope Valley, where the supposed ban on earmarks hasn’t prevented him from sending plenty of money back to the high desert. I still think he’s a 98% lock, as always, and unfortunately.

NateJanuary 9, 2012 at 1:22 pm

Let it be noted that TMS and KHTS have yet to question Jon Hatami on his blatant plagiarism. This is strange since TMS wrote an article so Juking Jon could rehash the dead irrelevant issue of illegal immigration. It is my opinion that since Jason Schaff’s arrival, the Signal has taken an even more drastic down turn.

BrianJanuary 9, 2012 at 2:31 pm

Burst fires? Is this something new?

MikeJanuary 9, 2012 at 3:23 pm

Well they all do, at some point, right? Right? *fixed

ToddJanuary 9, 2012 at 4:15 pm

After I ate Jack in the Box the last time, I had a burst that felt like fire was shooting out…. wait, nevermind. Not even the same ballpark.

Lori RivasJanuary 9, 2012 at 5:40 pm

The drought pronouncement has been bothering me all day, because of this I read last spring: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/04/local/la-me-cap-water-20110404 And didn’t we have record breaking rain in the fall? I realize the drought pronouncements were made based on snow pack, which is different than rainfall in SCV, but that article from the Times makes me wonder about the politics of it all.

BertaJanuary 9, 2012 at 9:54 am
Mike your “brief” is quite comprehensive, thanks. I would offer one minor correction, survalnce =surveillance.
MikeJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:11 am
I’m expecting many more typos to be found as the day rolls on. Appreciated, as always.
spineflower2January 9, 2012 at 9:57 am
Who is the least bit surprised by Dave editing content to suit his views? [sound of crickets chirping can be heard over sound of tubmleweeds blowing through West Ranch]
CCJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:13 am
He’s prefers all his content free of citation.
NateJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:20 am
This is also true Bossert for years was SCV’s number one plagiarist, stealing selected Associate Press articles without the proper attribution, I highly doubt he is paying for AP content which would equate to a double whammy of unethical behavior.
IHeartSCVJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:07 am
CC, that’s just not true. In fact, Bossert was careful to offer in-text credit to himself in one of his own pieces, posted today. http://bit.ly/yCZ18f “Back in February 2010 I wrote in regards to Ferry, Weste and McLean; “at what point will the voters of the City of Santa Clarita wise up and realize that the current Council incumbents have overstayed their welcome and have become too cozy in City Hall. Are you okay with the documented shenanigans and the entitlement attitudes seeping out of the Santa Clarita Council Chambers?”” Despite the short length of this excerpt, it contains a rather large number of mistakes: (1)”regards” should be “regard”, (2)the semi-colon after “McLean” should be a comma or even a colon, (3)”Council” doesn’t need to be capitalized, and (4)he didn’t end his question with a question mark. Still, it’s nice to see that he paid proper credit to himself.
TiredOfTheHypocrisyJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:17 am
Wow, maybe you should spend more time proofing your own comments. You have a couple ending quotation marks where you should have beginning quotation marks. I’m just saying…
MikeJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:21 am
Read his except, there are two opening quotation marks (before “Back” and “at”) and two closing marks, one to close Bossert’s self-quote and the second to close his quoting of Bossert.
TiredOfTheHypocrisyJanuary 9, 2012 at 12:40 pm
Actually, I was talking about ”regards” and ”Council.”
IHeartSCVJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:26 am
It’s a formatting issue; I can’t control which way the marks open. I try different spacing and sequencing but nothing seems to work. Do you know how to fix it?
spineflower2January 9, 2012 at 3:20 pm
He goes for EXcitation, not citation!
NateJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:02 am
The spineless coward known as Bossert turned of the comments on this racist piece… http://westranchbeacon.com/2010/08/guest-commentary-is-it-ok-to-use-the-word-negro/
LarMccJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:19 am
Wait…. He criticized The Signal for refusing to publish the piece and squashing this guy’s “freedom of speech.” The man has no freedom of speech at The Signal, but that’s besides the point. But then he runs the piece and refuses to let people comment on it? Isn’t he squashing those peoples ‘freedom of speech.’ Maybe I am missing something here.
NateJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:23 am
He actually didn’t publish the “piece” right away, Mike and I gave him a hard time about it… I actually have the screenshot of the before and after. Mike and I’s comments never saw the light of day of course…
Timothy Myers SRJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:25 am
I agree with Mike 100% on Tony Blankley. Like William F. Buckley Jr. and to some extent George Will, he was interesting to listen to even if one disagreed because his arguments were thoughtful and well researched rather than just screaming some talking points or supposed “facts.” It made perfect sense that the was a good choice to be the mercurial Newt Gingrich’s press secretary.
MikeJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:15 am
I’ve long enjoyed David Frum, who preceded Tony as the “Right” on Left, Right & Center for the same reasons. Ironically, the original “Right” chair on the show was held by Arianna Huffington.
MikeJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:26 am
I know there were a couple of guys in between Frum and Blankley, but I can’t remember them.
Timothy Myers SRJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:26 am
On the ROTC thing with Ed Colley, there was never coverage of that. It lived in Letters to the Editor and internet article comments.
NFICJanuary 10, 2012 at 6:27 am
I remember seeing a couple of stories on the incident. The story had a bit about a parent not being happy with it expecially because Colley would not give the extra credit points if the student campaigned for someone other than Frank Ferry. Perhaps our local historian John Boston could help!
Lori RivasJanuary 9, 2012 at 10:38 am
How to mess with plagiarists, *or* reading help for those unclear on the definition. http://collegemisery.blogspot.com/2011/12/henchminion-sends-in-tale-of-magna.html
Phil EllisJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:01 am
So much better than our own local examples.
The Venturan formerly known as NDJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:22 am
On Strickland and his all-but-announced candidacy: This is where “Top 2″ gets really good. The Dems have been salivating about the opportunity to replace Gallegly but have thus far put forward second tier candidates. Tony has a really good shot in the primaries to beat out at least 4 of those that have announced (with the exception of Pollock or Bennett – assuming Bennett is still in). After that it will be a redux of HBJ vs. Strickland wherein Strickland will lose by a narrow margin, regardless of the Presidential GOTV factor. The VC Tea Party is gasping for air, can hardly get a turnout at their “forums.” The 26th will be blue.
MikeJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:45 am
It’s the Dems to lose, but I think Tony vs. a second-tier type could win it for Tony. The 26th went Obama +15, but Whitman +1 and Fiorina +2. 2010 probably had an unusually high Republican turnout, but Obama probably won’t do nearly as well in SoCal as in 2008.
The Venturan formerly known as NDJanuary 9, 2012 at 2:17 pm
The Dems are going to shovel a mountain of cash into this race at every level. It’s a national turnover story already where Gallegly has been viewed as the incumbent, regardless of the redistricting. In the end, Whitman was a fluke of the 2010 race and the trendline will be clear from 2008.
AndreaJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:47 am
Re: Gallegly’s retirement and it’s effect on McKeon: I’ve heard from some people that Buck McKeon may very well have a GOP challenger in the primaries. And while this, as of yet undecided and unnamed, challenger doesn’t have the money or connections Buck has, he certainly has decent name recognition and a great story to bring to the voters. I wouldn’t say that Buck McKeon has a clear path to re-election. It’s less cluttered now, but not clear. Plus factor in his wife running for assembly is garnering a lot of unhappiness among the local GOP rank and file, and causing many Democratic operatives to salivate at a chance to attack him via her campaign as well as his, and you’ve got what could turn into a perfect storm of an opportunity for him to be unseated. Not that I would predict that happening because, as TMS so often points out, he’s an incumbent and incumbents win most of the time.
MikeJanuary 9, 2012 at 11:51 am
However much the McKeon brand is tarnished locally among activists – we’ll have yet to see what extent that applies to the causal electorate – his name is strong in the Antelope Valley, where the supposed ban on earmarks hasn’t prevented him from sending plenty of money back to the high desert. I still think he’s a 98% lock, as always, and unfortunately.
NateJanuary 9, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Let it be noted that TMS and KHTS have yet to question Jon Hatami on his blatant plagiarism. This is strange since TMS wrote an article so Juking Jon could rehash the dead irrelevant issue of illegal immigration. It is my opinion that since Jason Schaff’s arrival, the Signal has taken an even more drastic down turn.
BrianJanuary 9, 2012 at 2:31 pm
Burst fires? Is this something new?
MikeJanuary 9, 2012 at 3:23 pm
Well they all do, at some point, right? Right? *fixed
ToddJanuary 9, 2012 at 4:15 pm
After I ate Jack in the Box the last time, I had a burst that felt like fire was shooting out…. wait, nevermind. Not even the same ballpark.
Lori RivasJanuary 9, 2012 at 5:40 pm
The drought pronouncement has been bothering me all day, because of this I read last spring: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/04/local/la-me-cap-water-20110404 And didn’t we have record breaking rain in the fall? I realize the drought pronouncements were made based on snow pack, which is different than rainfall in SCV, but that article from the Times makes me wonder about the politics of it all.