Local Columnists Section
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Choose Prop. 99 over Prop 98 There are two propositions on your June ballot that you will probably need some background on in order to cast an informed vote. These are Propositions 98 and 99. Proposition 98 is the California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act, and Proposition 99 is the Homeowners Protection Act. The purpose of both ballot measures is to amend current eminent domain laws to restrict government's use of eminent domain authority. Eminent domain is the authority that state and local governments may use to take possession of private property for the public good, under specific conditions. Typically, it is used sparingly and ... |
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SCV Sheriff's Station grows to fit time's needs The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station opened its doors on May 8, 1972, with Sheriff Coffeen officiating at the ceremony. Explorer Scouts conducted tours of the station and included demonstrations of computerized and expanded traffic record systems. Copies of historic dockets and cases dating back to the early 1900s were on display. Now here we are in 2008, still in the same building. Though the laws and method of operations have changed to fit our current everyday problems and rising crime, our deputies are better trained and equipped to handle whatever comes their way. As the official historian for the ... |
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The first Mother's Day I'm alone There is not a day that goes by when I do not think about the one person who made all the difference in my life. And at this time of year, the days seem to be strung together by a seamless, bittersweet preoccupation with yesterday. "Bitter" because death brings the weight of days lost; "sweet" because it somehow refines yesterday's memories to help one see just how good things really were. Those memories then become life's joys and lessons that cannot be spoken of enough, and that are held quietly in the heart. Today, my heart is set upon the ... |
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What do you want for Mother's Day? 'What do you want for Mother's Day?" I asked my wife earlier this week. "I don't need anything," she said. "Do you want to do something for Mother's Day?" I asked. "Anything you want to do, we'll do it." "I don't need to do anything," she said. Then, the great wife and mother that she is, never thinking of herself and always thinking of others, asked, "What do you want to do?" "I want to do something you want to do, not something I want to do. What could we all do as a family that would make you feel ... |
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Mother's Day ramblings and beauty tips What makes a mother feel beautiful? A pre-Mother's Day TV commercial promoting (what else?) Mother's Day commercialism is currently attempting to answer that question. In doing so, that particular jewelry store ad is venturing into some potentially dangerous psychological territory. In the commercial, a pretty, smiling woman is seen with her two little girls. They have just polished their Mommy's nails. Not a perfect job, but it's the thought, right? Next, Daddy is on the scene, surprising Mommy with a sparkly diamond necklace for Mother's Day. Shazzam! Now gushing with delight, Mom declares: "I've never felt so beautiful!" Seeing that, ... |
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Supreme Court saves the day What a great country this is! Just when it appears that the politically correct leftists are about to exchange our hard-fought American democracy for Third World socialism, the U.S. Supreme Court steps up to save the day. On April 28, by a 6-3 vote, the nation's highest court upheld the constitutionality of Indiana's law requiring voters to show personal identification when voting at the polls. This Indiana edict was created as a safeguard against potential voter fraud. The Supreme Court decision, if obeyed and enforced, ensures the very integrity of our unique system of political elections. Justices Stevens, Roberts, Kennedy, ... |
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Don’t suspend federal gas tax With the recent surge in gas prices, talk of suspending the federal gas tax is again making the rounds. Most recently it has become a talking point in the presidential campaign, with candidates from both parties arguing for a suspension of the gas tax. While the idea has understandable appeal to consumers suffering with gasoline prices that now commonly exceed $4 a gallon in the SCV, as most economists will tell you, it's a bad idea. Societies have two general ways to allocate scarce resources. In a planned economy, the government sets the prices and addresses market shortages through various ... |
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What is it to be a man? ‘You'll be sorry," was the accurate prediction sounding off from the guys sitting on the barracks' steps as our ragged lot passed by. We were brand new recruits at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Station in Manhattan Beach, in Brooklyn, N.Y. It was early June 1945. The war in Europe was over and we, no doubt, were being considered for cannon fodder in the assault planned on the mainland of Japan. The truth of this situation was somewhat obscure to me. I was the typical adolescent looking for a bit of adventure, a bit of excitement, a rite of passage ... |
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Pros and cons of June propositions There are two ballot propositions in the upcoming June 3 election that involve state constitutional amendments: • Proposition 98: Government Acquisition, Regulation of Private Property (includes rent control laws) • Proposition 99: Eminent Domain. Acquisition of Owner-Occupied Residence The major issues for consideration include whether or not the California Constitution should be amended to restrict state and local governments' authority to take private property through eminent domain, and should programs to promote affordable housing (including rent control) be phased out? Both issues are hot-button items for citizens throughout California - including Santa Clarita Valley. Old Town Newhall Revitalization Project Revitalization ... |
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What I learned during the city council campaign Being Mayor Bob Kellar's campaign consultant, I enjoyed an inside view of the longest council campaign (15 months) in Santa Clarita's history. When I was young, every September (remember when school started after Labor Day?) we wrote our perfunctory "What I did last summer" essays; this is my version for the just-concluded campaign. The city has finally matured: I remember looking at the dais during the first candidates debate and realizing that everyone on stage was qualified to be on the City Council. Hopefully, we will no longer have to endure Dennis Conn-type candidates mucking up the field. (One of ... |
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Take time to read beyond books' covers Never judge a book by its cover. You've certainly heard that statement countless times. Years ago, I met Mustafa Bell, Mike Baham and James Johnson at my work site, Kenyon J. Scudder Juvenile Probation Camp School in Bouquet Canyon. To be straight up honest with you, I really had my doubts about these fellows. Mustafa, James and Mike certainly appeared different. Nonetheless, their reputations as health educators preceded them; they came highly recommended from the Catalyst Foundation of Lancaster. Wow! Was my first impression wrong about these guys? I took the time to get to know them and listen to ... |
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Let's help keep our city clean Taking pride in the place where you live stems from each individual's sense of personal responsibility and desire for constant improvement. Residents of the city of Santa Clarita continue to demonstrate their desire to live in a community that values a clean and beautiful city. Santa Clarita is always on the forefront of creating a sense of community responsibility and pride. As part of the city's commitment, we have developed the 2008 Public Safety Month Campaign. The campaign focuses every month on an aspect of public safety in the city. The month of May has officially named Keep Santa Clarita ... |
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Who ought to be '08 candidates for veep? The vice presidency "isn't worth a bucket of warm p---." |
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Welcome to SCV May: Yuccas are in bloom! My favorite time of the year is when the yuccas are in bloom - and blooming they are, right now. Those big, fluffy white flowers look like popcorn on a stick. I find them beautiful and fascinating. McWilliams image seminar The Oaks Grille at TPC in Valencia was the scene as dozens of women from the SCV learned about fashion, style and what looks good on them during a seminar hosted by fashion designer Tracy McWilliams. It was a delightful way to spend a few hours having lunch and learning about what looks good - and what doesn't. Among those ... |
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Gardener? For what? Last summer, my wife asked if I thought we needed a gardener to maintain our front and back yards. My answer was a big "No." My dad took care of his yard work. My grandfather took care of his yard work. I'd be darned if someone else would do my yard work. I'm a Picarella man; I'll do my own work, thank you very much. I told my wife all of this, and then I said, "I have spoken, and that's that," which basically means nothing these days. So my wife and I spent another three hours arguing about whether ... |
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It doesn’t get any better than this The year was 1988 and the Los Angeles Dodgers were playing the mighty Oakland A's in the World Series. The A's were the dominant force in baseball that year, having won 104 regular season games and breaking the hearts of Boston fans by sweeping the Red Sox in four games in the ALCS. The "Bash Brothers," as Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco were called, combined for an amazing 74 home runs and 224 RBIs. The Dodgers, on the other hand, were the dark horse of baseball. Winners of only 94 games, they surprised all of the pundits by squeaking out ... |
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Will CalPers manage Newhall Ranch? Early in 2007, the California Public Employees Retirement fund invested some $1 billion in the proposed 21,000-unit Newhall Ranch project. The real estate market was beginning to unravel and this project would require massive infusions of cash to cover its many infrastructure needs. Now, little more than a year later, LandSource, the parent company of the Newhall Ranch project, is unable to make the loan payments. Environmental groups, including the Friends of the Santa Clara River, have opposed the Newhall Ranch project for many years over concerns about its impacts on the Santa Clara River, Los Angeles County's last wild ... |
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'I hate you, Hillary Clinton' There's a new pop movie playing over at the Town Center called "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." Basically, it's about a nice guy who's been dumped by his hot TV star girlfriend for a flashy boy toy. While it looks nominally entertaining, what's most compelling isn't the movie itself, but rather its grassroots, "viral" advertising campaign. Perhaps you, too, have seen those white-and-black billboards and bus-stop signs all over town? Large black handwritten text across plain white backgrounds: "I HATE YOU SARAH MARSHALL." "MY MOM ALWAYS HATED YOU SARAH MARSHALL." I've seen them nearly everywhere. At first I thought it was a ... |
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Judging the judges As a private investigator, I witness firsthand a competent but timid judiciary at work on a daily basis. Although I am quite proud of our judicial process, many of even the most deserving civil plaintiffs, the most noble and caring parents, and the most innocent victims of criminal misconduct experience frustrations with our court system. As many of you know all too well, I often voice my concerns regarding the poor sentencing choices our judges make and scream at their unwillingness to address violations of court orders with any meaningful action. One example is the very common practice is perpetuating ... |
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Annual Sacramento road trip offers many opportunities What a great way to start the week. Shortly after 7 a.m. Monday, April 14, some 50 residents of the Santa Clarita Valley gathered in the parking lot outside the Chamber of Commerce building. Positive energy filled the cool morning air as individuals made the rounds to introduce themselves, eventually forming small clusters of people animatedly discussing topics ranging from their favorite weekend activities to the heavy issues of the business at hand. In due course, Carl Goldman announced "It's time to go!" and the group dutifully boarded a bus to head north to Sacramento. The occasion was the third ... |
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Six years of change since David March's murder "I will always be painfully honest, work as hard as I can, learn as much as I can, and hopefully make a difference in people's lives." -- David William March, husband, father, brother, son and friend This Tuesday marks an anniversary of when Santa Clarita lost one of its finest sons. On April 29, six years ago, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy David March was murdered by domestic terrorist Armando Jose Arroyo Garcia, a three-time convicted drug dealer, and twice-deported illegal alien. Deputy March, traveling alone in an LASD patrol vehicle, made a routine traffic stop in Irwindale, pulling over ... |
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New enterprise zone already boosting economy After nine full months of operation, the city of Santa Clarita's Enterprise Zone has proven to be an amazing new tool in the economic development toolbox, benefiting the local business community. All types of city-based businesses have taken advantage of the hiring tax credit including car dealers, restaurants, retail, and industrial and manufacturing companies. Since last July's final designation date, 569 people have gone through the pre-screening process resulting in 95 vouchers being issued. The city will issue a hiring tax credit voucher to a business for each qualified employee hired by a business located in the Enterprise Zone. The ... |
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Education funding should be a top priority California faces some very difficult times, given the state's budget deficit. In January, the governor announced a $14.5 billion shortfall. Some immediate cuts to spending by the Legislature got the deficit down to $8 billion. However, if income tax revenue is less than expected, the deficit could easily go back up to more than $10 billion. Wherever the shortfall ends up, it will be significant. To deal with the ongoing deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed 10 percent across-the-board reductions in state spending for the 2008-09 budget year. This would translate to a cut of $292 million for the community college ... |
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Enterprising pols shelve Californians' best interests I never cease to be amazed by the great lengths traveled by pols in trampling underfoot the shiny promises made on needy campaign stumps. And for high school juniors hoping to attend a University of California undergraduate campus in 2009, and for a California public hospital chief-of-staff already having to refuse patients due to mass overcrowding while trying to claw a path out of a monetary hijacking for his hospital, that amazement just became bitter awe. Yet as Mr. Post-Partisan spreads the budgetary pain nice and thick to nearly every state-funded program, the provocation goes far deeper than just Arnold ... |
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Last chance to attend Cowboy Fest Today's your last chance to saddle up and mosey on over to Melody Ranch for the annual Cowboy Festival - the best part of living in the great SCV! Have some Cowboy Cobbler from the Cowboy Cultural Committee (cooked on coals in a Dutch oven) and listen to some of the finest entertainment west of the Rio Grande! This is family friendly fun you can't miss. In addition, the historic streets of Melody Ranch are open to the public only once a year, its a great chance to walk where your Western television and movie heroes once trod! Miss SCV ... |
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Big steps toward stomping out arthritis The prevalence of arthritis and chronic joint symptoms is surging, affecting more than 45,000 in Santa Clarita alone and approximately 46 million (one in five) Americans. - The Arthritis Foundation When the (hopefully far-off) day arrives that Santa Clarita Valley auto dealer-socialite Cheri Fleming makes her heavenly debut, it won't be for selling Acuras, looking hot in a Margo gown, or even making her husband, Don, a better man. Instead, the bubbly and petite blonde's glorious payback will be for all the good she's done helping people in need - much of it accomplished while suffering with her own pain. ... |
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The lies of the Clintons Hillary's latest effort at "embellishing" (actually, it's called "inventing" or "fabricating") on her visit to our troops in Bosnia while a war was going on there comes as no surprise. She was merely trying to inform us of her foreign policy experience (which, as it turns out, was no more substantial than that of other first ladies - hardly commander-in-chief stuff). She made several appearances during which she asserted that her arrival was met with sniper fire, and that she had to run from the plane to avoid such fire. It turns out that there was no sniper fire, and ... |
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Earth Week in Santa Clarita The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, was conceived by Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin as a means of bringing attention to environmental issues troubling our nation. The 1970s were a time of renewed activism and belief in democracy. Students took to the streets in demonstrations aimed at changing the direction of the Vietnam War as well as to our wasteful and polluting use of America's bounty. Thanks to the interest generated by these events, that decade also saw the passage of landmark environmental protection legislation, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water ... |
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A legislative solution to a nonexistent problem One thing everyone can agree upon: Water served to the public should be clean, safe, potable and free of contaminants. Here at the Castaic Lake Water Agency, we settle for nothing less - and that always has been the case. Unfortunately, casual observers of a legislative debate in Sacramento may incorrectly assume otherwise. In The Signal's "Environmentally Speaking" column published April 10, 2008, Ms. Cam Noltemeyer argues that new legislation, Assembly Bill 2046, is needed to ensure contaminated water is not served to the public. "It should be made absolutely clear that such contaminated water cannot be used," Noltemeyer's column ... |
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A checklist for buying a new home Home ownership and housing are essential to the strength and vitality of a region. It is the cornerstone of family security and stability; it strengthens our communities; it is crucial to the national and regional economy; and it enhances overall quality of life. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the construction of 1,000 single-family homes generates 2,448 jobs in construction and construction-related industries, approximately $79.4 million in wages, and more than $42.5 million in federal, state and local tax revenues and fees. The construction of 1,000 multifamily homes generates 1,030 jobs in construction and related industries, approximately $33.5 ... |
