August 24, 2012 – Daily Brief — The SCV Talk Archive

The City Council's summer hiatus ends on Tuesday as the Council returns to address several items. On the consent calendar: paying a firm $75,000 to develop a master plan for a conference center, winding down redevelopment, and awarding $243k to a construction firm to build the Canyon Country community center. New/unfinished business items include adopting the Santa Clarita Climate Action plan, and nomination/appointment of commissioners to the various boards and panels, a contentious item left over from the late spring CC AGENDA
A man shot and killed himself on the transition bridge from I-5 south to Highway 14 yesterday afternoon. Law enforcement closed the Old Road below to search for his gun, which apparently dropped from the bridge. It was at least the second incident of a suicide from the 200 foot high bridge according to the SIGNAL
The Master's College student who died in a freak accident at an Oxnard beach was a former WRHS student and a native of Seoul, South Korea. Mingyu Sang, 19, died as the sand pit he was lying in collapsed during a college orientation program at the beach. It took 15 minutes for friends and rescuers to dig him out, but he died of "mechanical asphyxia with suffocation." SCVNEWS, VECO STAR, SIGNAL
The Afghan security contractor who killed Spc. Rudy Acosta in 2011 had threatened to kill American soldiers in 2010 and was fired by the Canadian security company he worked for according to NBC. The Canadian company even recommended that Shir Ahmed not be hired again, but he was rehired again in March of 20111 and "given body armor and a loaded AK-47." Acosta's family is in the middle of a lawsuit against the Canadian company. NBC
Meanwhile, Buck McKeon is facing pressure from a fellow Republican congressman to hold hearings on "green-on-blue" attacks like the one that killed Rudy Acosta. So far McKeon has not committed to holding a hearing. The problem has gotten worse, if anything, since Acosta died. DOD BLOG
Fake fire sprinkler inspectors are scamming local businesses according to the Sheriff's Station. WRB
Neat: small electronic parts manufactured in Valencia are on the Curiousity rover currently roaming around the surface of Mars SCVNEWS
Buck McKeon will discuss Medicare "and other topics" with seniors at the SCV Senior Center today. The announcement is short on details but Signal commenters and Facebookers quickly picked up on the theme: McKeon will tell seniors that any Republican plans to change Medicare won't affect people older than 55. It sounds more or less like McKeon is being deployed to meet concerns seniors may have about Paul Ryan's controversial Medicare plan SIGNAL, FACEBOOK LTE
Buck Stops Now blog gives 14 reasons why McKeon won't commit to a debate with Dr. Lee Rogers BLOG
So was Paul Strickland excommunicated last night for endorsing a Democrat or what? NFN
Tomorrow evening, a Bon Jovi tribute band will play at the City's last summer concert in the park CITY BRIEFS
How Atholl McBean saved the SCV from becoming SFV-junior, a massive fire devours much of Newhall, and someone stole actress Tippi Hedren's Siberian Tiger cubs from a ranch in Soledad Canyon. All that and more in this week's TIME RANGER
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