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July 25, 2014· santaclarita.com · SantaClarita.com (SCVTalk 5.0) · Wayback capture

The (not quite) Daily Brief for July 25, 2014

By Mike Devlin

It's been a while since I've done a Daily Brief, but with Josh in Canada for a bit, I thought I'd take the old car out for a spin. But because my writing time is limited and sporadic, you get a two-in-one: the news from today and yesterday. Silly news first.
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  • Last night, Facebook was ablaze with the rumor (allegedly on the word of some employees) that Porto's, the famed Cuban bakery that originated in Glendale, is going into the former Elephant Bar space on McBean Pkwy. in Valencia. Right away, I thought it would be funny to give this rumor the Photoshop treatment. My attempt plus some (ahem) lesser attempts spread further, and the joke was lost. So no, sorry, not happening. The SCV is on their radar, but not now, not there. This rumor is still burning, so please feel free to share my now-modified gag photo.
  • In other fake news, comedian Nathan Fielder, whose Comedy Central show Nathan for You involves absurd ideas to help small business (it's quite funny). A recent episode involved Bouquet Plaza Liquor in Saugus and a clever scheme to let kinds "buy" alcohol. YOUTUBE 
  • The Chiquita Canyon Landfill is eying a big expansion, discusses "demand" like it's a gun to their head. The expanded dump would (at some point) be visible to the Hasley Hills neighborhood of Castaic. The Signal even gets favorable quotes from the Val Verde Community Advisory Committee, which is happy with the money that the dump puts into the community.  KHTS SIGNAL
  • But not so fast: there's a hush-hush agreement in place between the landfill and two Val Verde Community groups (read that here). Darryl Manzer's two latest columns have been assailing the expansion. Money quote: "In fact, roughly 80 percent of the stuff dumped there comes from outside the SCV." It will be interesting to see if this gets traction. MANZER1 MANZER 2
  • The strip mall on Citrus Drive was designed as a destination for furniture shoppers, high off that HELOC in the mid-aughts. Now it's home to a bank and apparently, an LASD detective unit as two teens discovered as they attempted to smoke marijuana in what they assumed to be a clandestine spot. Hilarity ensues. KHTS SIGNAL
  • I enjoy just about any video that The Signal has produced lately. The Jump is right up my alley, and I hope they keep at it. It still feels staged and it's awkward at times (that will get better with practice, I'm sure), but this episode is worth it for the collective crack-up over the teen weed smoking incident. THE JUMP
  • News that will be a relief to conservationist homeowners in sun-scorched and HOA-heavy SCV: the State is now forbidding HOAs from fining homeowners for brown grass during a drought. SIGNAL
  • Some high-speed rail meetings are coming up in and around the SCV. The pressing issue on the table is whether the route will follow the general I-5 to SR14 route along the western SCV or instead tunnel directly from Burbank to Palmdale. KHTS SIGNAL
  • I loved this piece by Placerita Nature Center docent Evelyne Vandersande on a recent bear sighting in Towsley Canyon. She also catalogues her adventures in seeking out bears throughout North America as a wide-eyed immigrant from Western Europe. SCVNEWS
  • Not enough is said about Central Park, which apart from being an all-around great place, still has so much potential. The latest expansion is moving ahead of schedule, and nearly done. There's video, too. SIGNAL
  • We now know that the bank employee who was arrested for stealing money from customers worked for Wells Fargo. No word on which branch yet. KHTS SIGNAL
  • Country music is very much a blind spot for me, but this piece about the KHTS Country Music Showdown is a reminder that "Poor Man's Poison" is a deceptive name when you play a park known for its 80s cover bands. KHTS
  • And lastly, a big shout out to the Hart 9U Pony team that's playing in the Mustang-9 League World Series. The double-elimination tournament starts today and concludes on Monday. More info, including the live stream right here. 


Comments (24)

  1. Steven LeeFriday, July 25th, 2014 at 4:53 pm
    I am from Val Verde, and when the agreement was signed in 1997 Val Verde residents fought hard not to expand the landfill at that time. The residents were told that it would happen no matter what. The same thing we are being told now. It is now new owners and they have been caught taking in sludge high in Arsenic, which is a direct violation of the contract. The two houses closest to the landfill, and I mean really close, had to put down their dogs for kidney failure. The stench is thick at times in the neighborhoods. We complain, and are told that the stench is from farms, but not from the land fill. We are even called names if we question the landfill. The VVCA is questioning the landfill, but they are pretty much ignored by the landfill. There were air monitors to assure Val Verde of their safety, monitors came up missing about five years ago. The VVCAC was supposed to replace them. Still waiting. There is no current agreement for the VVCA to keep quiet, that agreement was during the negotiations in 1997. Val Verde was promised that if they signed the landfill would close at a certain capacity. We are near that capacity now and guess what. We were lied to. It is the poorest town of Santa Clarita, so it gets the landfill. Please! Someone else come and take it from us. I would save so much money on just the asthma medication. Please help Val Verde live in a stench free environment.
  2. SCVMJBFriday, July 25th, 2014 at 6:34 pm
    Hi Mike. Thanks for taking the time to do this column. It's a welcome relief since the anti-alien aliens moved in and took over the other page. Even though there's talk of a larger landfill, this page smells so much better than all of the fertilizer being spread in the other page. Have a gr8 weekend!
  3. Bill ReynoldsSaturday, July 26th, 2014 at 7:04 am
    Perhaps our trash could go to Central America since all their people are coming here? Must be tons of wide open space down there. :-)
  4. Susie EvansFriday, July 25th, 2014 at 7:09 pm
    I also live in Val Verde for the last 12 years and my husband for the last 30+ years. We do not want the landfill to expand. This town lived without money from the landfill before and we will be able to live healthier lives without them and their money. For those of you who have no idea of what we breathe, keep one of your trash bags in the sun for a couple of weeks and toss in some of your toilet deposits, then just breathe that for a couple of weeks. That is what we breathe and smell and get sick from.
  5. Steven LeeSaturday, July 26th, 2014 at 8:09 am
    VVCAC the liaisons between the landfill and Val Verde will be having their meeting this Monday night at the Embassy Sweets near the 5 Freeway and New Hall Ranch road at 6p.m. Please feel free to come out and listen to their stories of how glad we are to have the landfill. How we never smell it, and if we do we are mistaken. How they do not take in sludge with Arsenic even though Santa Barbara sold it to them. How they give electricity to 7,000 homes in our community. Well the community of Glendale, but close enough. If you are lucky you can hear them yell at us that we do not deserve to see the minutes. Fun for all. We are being sold down the river in Val Verde.
  6. SCVMJBSaturday, July 26th, 2014 at 8:47 am
    Bill Reynolds is the most disgusting excuse for a human being I have ever come across in my life. I've never met this cretin, and please God, I hope I never have to!
  7. Bill ReynoldsSaturday, July 26th, 2014 at 9:13 am
    Dear SCVMJB, thank you! I consider that a sincere compliment coming from you. :-)
  8. TortoiseLadySaturday, July 26th, 2014 at 5:29 pm
    I am a Val Verde resident for the past 15 years, and it has been nothing but lies from the landfill the entire time. The VVCAC does not represent me or any of my neighbors. The president is not a "liaison" to any of us. She was not elected or appointed by a single resident of this community. She was hand picked by paid politician. She refuses to answer any questions the people of Val Verde have or share meeting minutes, which should be public. I too had to put my dog down from organ failure, and I do not live as close as the other people who had to do the same thing. Total shame that the human beings of Val Verde are considered disposable. Where is our Erin Brockovich!
  9. Vanessa BrookmanMonday, July 28th, 2014 at 11:22 am
    Half truths and out and out lies... (and they call ME a bully - laughable) ALL MINUTES, ALL LANDFILL REPORTS etc. are, and have been, on the Val Verde Community Advisory Committee (VVCAC) website ( http://www.valverdecac.com/ ) for ANYONE to view. ALL questions have been answered, over and over and over again by multiple people, from multiple agencies. At our April 2014 meeting, we had 2 representatives from the AQMD, 2 Representatives from the LEA and one of the Head guys from RES there. Each division gave a detailed presentation, Greg Kimura, President of the Val Verde Civic Association (VVCA), was in attendance and told me the next day that he thought the presentations were "wonderful" and "full of great information" he also said he thought "just about everyone's questions had been addressed and answered". So much so, that he had the AQMD out to the VVCA's very next meeting for another presentation.
  10. TortoiseLadyMonday, July 28th, 2014 at 3:39 pm
    True or False Section for the VVCAC = Val Verde Community Advisory Committee 1. To get on this VVCAC you are voted in by the people of the community you are a liaison to and represent. FALSE 2. The president of the VVCAC is dearly loved and adored by all the people she is a liaison to, and they are so happy with her performance. FALSE 3. The people of Val Verde would overwhelmingly remove the president from the VVCAC if they had a vote. TRUE 4. The president of the VVCAC goes out of her way to make sure the questions and concerns of the citizens of the community she is a liaison to get to be heard. FALSE 5. The president of the VVCAC is a 100% unpaid volunteer in any way shape or form. DOES ANYONE KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS ONE? Can someone please explain why this president wants to continue serving on a board representing these people that truly do not appreciate her talents? If anyone from the general public is actually reading this and cares, you get the point... We do NOT love the landfill !
  11. Steven LeeMonday, July 28th, 2014 at 3:10 pm
    Wow! I have never seen an organization go back and rewrite their minutes. Amazing. I was at the last meeting as people asked to see the 21 pages of minutes. Your reply, "You do not have the right." Of course those minutes might have even been changed by now. Some of the older minutes have definitely been changed. Is it possible for a non-profit organization to be corrupt? I cannot believe this is legal. Description goes beyond bully, will truth be coming in the future? I hope you can one day find your way to it.
  12. TortoiseLadyMonday, July 28th, 2014 at 3:44 pm
    Yes, it is possible for a non-profit organization to be corrupt. Sorry to break the bad news to you. I don't suggest CNN or Fox News if this is a hard blow. Don't worry though, Val Verde won't make that news as we are disposable people.
  13. Vanessa BrookmanMonday, July 28th, 2014 at 3:22 pm
    NO Minutes have EVER been changed.
  14. Susie EvansMonday, July 28th, 2014 at 3:27 pm
    Vanessa, Where are the minutes from the last meeting? This time you didn't post the minutes, why? Where are the answers to questions in the minutes that were approved at the last meeting? The answers are not there. You had a voice recording going at the last meeting and a stenographer. Still you can't post those minutes pre-approved like before? Who are you again? Need the link? Here it is http://valverdecac.com/
  15. Vanessa BrookmanMonday, July 28th, 2014 at 3:36 pm
    Last comment, last lesson on how Boards work... Minutes aren't posted UNTIL they are approved. e.g. a meeting is held in January, minutes are typed up and presented to the Board for approval at the next meeting which is in April, then this January Minutes are posted on the website, April is approved in July and then posted and so on and so on. I've explained this before it's the same with every correctly run board everywhere... Have a nice day.
  16. Susie EvansMonday, July 28th, 2014 at 3:54 pm
    Nice try, you seem to change the way you work at your convenience. The meeting minutes for January were posted but the questions had no answers at the end of January. I asked you for the answers to the questions. You told me that the answers to the questions would be answered at the next meeting when the minutes were approved. I went to that meeting. That is the one where I asked to read or get a copy of the 23 pages of minutes. You specifically said not once, but twice that I was "not entitled" to them. You also had the question period, three minutes, at the end of the January meeting but you changed that for the April meeting to two minutes at the very beginning of the meeting. You are special you can change how public meetings are run at your whim. Now that we have that straightened out, I am sure you will leave this forum. You have done your hit and run from the keyboard. Don't think I can be bullied and shunned at your PUBLIC meetings.
  17. ValVerdeFamilyMonday, July 28th, 2014 at 5:15 pm
    Vanessa works for Rosalund Wayman, as does the whole VVCAC. She hand picks only those that will do as she says (and a little cash).
  18. Steven LeeMonday, July 28th, 2014 at 5:17 pm
    Legally they are not supposed to take cash, if that could be proved then it would be highly illegal. I wish someone could prove it.
  19. Steven LeeMonday, July 28th, 2014 at 4:07 pm
    To clarify the members of this board are appointed by members of Antonoch's office. The community has no say in the appointing of this boards members. With that said, there were so many complaints about it all being pro land fill, that they gave in and actually appointed someone who is living in the stench of this landfill now. It will be an interesting meeting tonight. Embassy suites at 6 p.m. Looking forward to seeing everyone there.
  20. Steven LeeMonday, July 28th, 2014 at 4:31 pm
    The thing about lying, is that once you get used to doing it, it eventually becomes like breathing. In the end you even start to believe your lies. Could someone let me know what was the secret meeting before the last VVCAC meeting. I just know I was sitting there as they all came in from another room. Smug looks on some of their faces, and ready for every question that was given to them. Even page numbers they could turn to. The funny thing was the minutes they read to us did not match the questions that were asked. Easy to turn to a page where you come across as supportive, even if it is on a different topic.
  21. ValVerdeFamilyMonday, July 28th, 2014 at 5:18 pm
    I heard that they looked smug because their secret cash payment from the dump has been cut.
  22. Steve LeeMonday, July 28th, 2014 at 9:39 pm
    I think some people might be disappointed. tonight at the VVCAC meeting they treated us with respect. They answered our questions, and had some of their owns. Everyone got to speak. It was an amazing meeting. I can't quite put my finger on it. But something was so much different.
  23. TortoiseLadyTuesday, July 29th, 2014 at 7:34 am
    I too noticed something was VERY different and everyone really appeared to like it. Wonder what it could possibly be?
  24. Susie EvansTuesday, July 29th, 2014 at 11:45 am
    I am going to state the obvious.....the president was absent.

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