September 30, 2013 – Daily Brief

By Jeff Wilson

Three families had to flee from their apartment building this morning after a propane tank caught fire and engulfed parts of their building according to the DAILY NEWS
Mike D. here on SCVTalk breaks the story that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office has issued a "strong rebuke" to the Hart School Board for Brown Act violations relating to the appointment of Chris Fall earlier this year. Fall, as you'll recall, was appointed in place of Paul Strickland. Devlin explains it all here. SCVTALK
And now that Fall has come and gone on the Hart Board, the District plans to do another appointment rather than hold a special election. "“If we do a special election, we foot the whole costs, setting up the booths, the polling places, all of that comes down on us. We have no control over it, we just get billed for it,” complains Joe Messina in a KHTS piece. Democracy is such a pain in the ass, isn't it? I mean you have to like set up booths and stuff. Smith at KHTS via SCVNEWS
Also Hart District related: The District hasn't begun construction yet on Castaic High School, citing delays imposed by various state and local agencies. SIGNAL
The Vietnam Memorial Wall left the SCV Sunday, after being visited by thousands of people from the SCV and further afield. SIGNAL, KHTS And the Signal has an interesting piece on SCV doctors and nurses who served in the Vietnam war. SIGNAL
Some on Facebook complain that the environment around the Wall memorial at Westfield took on too much of your typical SCV public event, namely, vendor booths all around, music, and people trying to sell stuff. FACEBOOK
And then at Central Park, there was more reason to mourn on Saturday night as dozens of people came out to remember young people who had died while driving on Santa Clarita's fast streets. "Alice Renolds said the grove should provide an opportunity for people to re-evaluate their driving habits, given the dangers that risky driving can pose. 'We need to reflect on the night and what’s happened here so we are all more responsible drivers,” she said.Renolds knows the risks all too well, as two of her sons are among the names memorialized at the grove.' Luke Money at THE SIGNAL. CITY BRIEFS
The parents of Bryce Laspisa will hold a vigil in Illinois to remember their son and try to keep his name in the press as one month passes since the 19 year old went missing in Castaic. EXAMINER
Teen court kids clean up bike path in Canyon Country. Nice work youths of the SCV! CITY BRIEFS
Saugus Union School District holds successful candidates forum in wake of Winkler-gate. The incumbents were all endorsed by the teacher's association. Mike Devlin was there and has a blog post, and the Signal has a report too.
Thanks to SCVTalk commenter SO_CAL_RETAIL_SLUT, we've learned that the SCV is getting several, potentially-great, fast-casual pizza restaurants. Devlin has more. SCVTALK
OMG: "A small part of me is still in love with that no good crack whore, your alleged hometown newspaper, The Signal. I’m sneaking up now on having written 7,500 columns in my career, about 5,000 of those were at The Signal.Wracked with fleas and slowly dissolving from mutant communicable diseases, unable to tell the truth if her (apologies to any male crack whores reading) life depended on it, The Signal is a stumbling tragedy in torn fishnet stockings." Remind me never to make an enemy of John Boston. SANTA CLARITA.COM
Lady Ducayne finds perhaps the best Mexican restaurant in all of the SCV in a place you'd be least likely to expect it. LADY DUCAYNE

Comments (5)

Bill ReynoldsMonday, September 30th, 2013 at 11:46 am

As a Vietnam Veteran, I thought the Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall event could not have gone better... perhaps I'm biased, but I thought it was THE biggest thing to hit SCV in many years. It was estimated that at least 3,000 people attended Thursday and close to that during the subsequent days.

Coastal SageMonday, September 30th, 2013 at 12:40 pm

I wish The Signal had been a bit more aggressive, demanding to know exactly which state agencies have not yet issued approvals/permits for Castaic High School. Under a Court of Appeals case decided long ago, the Taft case, the court said that no local agency, like the City of Taft, had any jurisdiction over the choice of a school site or construction of a school. The court said that instead, approval of school design is a state issue only. Several years later the Legislature passed and the governor signed a statute which required the Planning Commission of the local government entity where the school would be located (not City Council or Board of Supervisors) had to adopt a resolution stating that they endorsed the new school's location, before any state agency would consider granting approvals. One would assume that the LA County Planning Commission has adopted that resolution. Even later the Legislature passed and the governor signed a statute requiring the California Dept. of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to investigate the presence or absence of toxic chemicals on a potential school site, and to give a local school district a letter giving "clean clearance" of the site. That clearance is usually given after the EIR for the school site is prepared;. Given that the EIR for Castaic High School was prepared and approved long ago, one would assume DTSC has already issued that clearance. Next, the proposed school site goes to the Office Public School Construction (OPSC), which is part of the California Department of Education, for approval on a number of issues. OPSC assigns a particular "Project Manager" to each school district. So for example the same man sheparded West Ranch High School, Golden Valley High School and Rio Norte Junior High School. Apparently that gentleman has retired or has been assigned to a different job, because the name I see on OPSC's website with jurisdiction over all new schools in LA County to be constructed is a different man than the one who handled the Hart District's 3 most recent new schools. That's too bad, because the Hart District had a good relationship with their prior OPSC project manager. The project manager doesn't actually approve the location of construction of a new school, in terms of its compliance with all of the Department of Education's policies. The final approval of the new school site's location comes from the project manager's boss and a few other objective OPSC staff members. It would be interesting to know whether OPSC has approved the Castaic High School site. Finally, the Office of the State Architect reviews and approves the architectural and engineering plans for construction of a new school. That can be a lengthy give and take process. In the past, Hart District has had an architect/lobbyist firm which works with OPSC and the State Architect to "expendite" approval of the location of a new school and the construction plans for the new school. Off the new school site, if the school district is paying for the building of an access road, sewer and water lines, those construction plans and permits are reviewed and approved by a local government agency, in this case LA County. That process is supervised by the County engineer. In addition, if the local school district needs State funds to build the new school, they must "wait in line" at the State Allocation Board, where schools outside LAUSD are funded on a first-applied, first-funded basis. At certain times in the late 1990's and early 2000's the State Allocation Board ran out of money to fund the construction new schools. The Signal doesn't tell Castaic parents and students if that is an issue here. Sadly, The Signal failed to identify exactly where the Castaic High School is in the government agency approval process with each agency involved. As a result, Castaic parents and students have no firm assurance when the new school will open.

ToddTuesday, October 1st, 2013 at 12:17 am

The state is way backed up thanks to the wonderful furloughs we've had for the past, what, 5 years now. All sorts of projects which should be taking 18 months from start to finish are 3 years or more behind schedule. There is not likely one place where the process is delayed. At any and all levels, its likely delayed.

Lori RTuesday, October 1st, 2013 at 7:02 pm

FYI to John Boston: it's the single mothers who have ruined the newspaper industry. http://www.businessinsider.com.au/a-us-new

evitalc31Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013 at 5:51 am

I do not like that article at all. Basically, it reads that all single mothers have little education and collect welfare. I am a single mother and so are many of my friends. We are educated and do not collect welfare. Perhaps writers like this one need to do some more research.

Bill ReynoldsMonday, September 30th, 2013 at 11:46 am
As a Vietnam Veteran, I thought the Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall event could not have gone better... perhaps I'm biased, but I thought it was THE biggest thing to hit SCV in many years. It was estimated that at least 3,000 people attended Thursday and close to that during the subsequent days.
Coastal SageMonday, September 30th, 2013 at 12:40 pm
I wish The Signal had been a bit more aggressive, demanding to know exactly which state agencies have not yet issued approvals/permits for Castaic High School. Under a Court of Appeals case decided long ago, the Taft case, the court said that no local agency, like the City of Taft, had any jurisdiction over the choice of a school site or construction of a school. The court said that instead, approval of school design is a state issue only. Several years later the Legislature passed and the governor signed a statute which required the Planning Commission of the local government entity where the school would be located (not City Council or Board of Supervisors) had to adopt a resolution stating that they endorsed the new school's location, before any state agency would consider granting approvals. One would assume that the LA County Planning Commission has adopted that resolution. Even later the Legislature passed and the governor signed a statute requiring the California Dept. of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to investigate the presence or absence of toxic chemicals on a potential school site, and to give a local school district a letter giving "clean clearance" of the site. That clearance is usually given after the EIR for the school site is prepared;. Given that the EIR for Castaic High School was prepared and approved long ago, one would assume DTSC has already issued that clearance. Next, the proposed school site goes to the Office Public School Construction (OPSC), which is part of the California Department of Education, for approval on a number of issues. OPSC assigns a particular "Project Manager" to each school district. So for example the same man sheparded West Ranch High School, Golden Valley High School and Rio Norte Junior High School. Apparently that gentleman has retired or has been assigned to a different job, because the name I see on OPSC's website with jurisdiction over all new schools in LA County to be constructed is a different man than the one who handled the Hart District's 3 most recent new schools. That's too bad, because the Hart District had a good relationship with their prior OPSC project manager. The project manager doesn't actually approve the location of construction of a new school, in terms of its compliance with all of the Department of Education's policies. The final approval of the new school site's location comes from the project manager's boss and a few other objective OPSC staff members. It would be interesting to know whether OPSC has approved the Castaic High School site. Finally, the Office of the State Architect reviews and approves the architectural and engineering plans for construction of a new school. That can be a lengthy give and take process. In the past, Hart District has had an architect/lobbyist firm which works with OPSC and the State Architect to "expendite" approval of the location of a new school and the construction plans for the new school. Off the new school site, if the school district is paying for the building of an access road, sewer and water lines, those construction plans and permits are reviewed and approved by a local government agency, in this case LA County. That process is supervised by the County engineer. In addition, if the local school district needs State funds to build the new school, they must "wait in line" at the State Allocation Board, where schools outside LAUSD are funded on a first-applied, first-funded basis. At certain times in the late 1990's and early 2000's the State Allocation Board ran out of money to fund the construction new schools. The Signal doesn't tell Castaic parents and students if that is an issue here. Sadly, The Signal failed to identify exactly where the Castaic High School is in the government agency approval process with each agency involved. As a result, Castaic parents and students have no firm assurance when the new school will open.
ToddTuesday, October 1st, 2013 at 12:17 am
The state is way backed up thanks to the wonderful furloughs we've had for the past, what, 5 years now. All sorts of projects which should be taking 18 months from start to finish are 3 years or more behind schedule. There is not likely one place where the process is delayed. At any and all levels, its likely delayed.
Lori RTuesday, October 1st, 2013 at 7:02 pm
FYI to John Boston: it's the single mothers who have ruined the newspaper industry. http://www.businessinsider.com.au/a-us-new
evitalc31Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013 at 5:51 am
I do not like that article at all. Basically, it reads that all single mothers have little education and collect welfare. I am a single mother and so are many of my friends. We are educated and do not collect welfare. Perhaps writers like this one need to do some more research.