The West Ranch Beacon – News & Commentary for the Santa Clarita Valley

The latest offer from the THiNK Santa Clarita Valley shop local campaign from the $8 Dollar Barber Shop located at 27737 Bouquet Canyon in Saugus. Get an $8.00 everyday price for everyone! For more information call 661-297-0169 or check out www.thinksantaclaritavalley.com

Top of the Halloween morn to you, saddleghosts and saddlegoblins. Hope this coming extra hour of sleep this coming Sunday morning refreshes you. We’ve got a rather interesting trail ride ahead, filled with killer trains, Billy the Kid (the real one), a rather oddball tombstone up Mint Canyon way and an actual and quite grisly vampire case here in the SCV.

There’s bears in the tire store, the Beatles and one major brushfire started by a crashed plane. Shall we mosey into the mystic? (more…)

Let’s see … should I write this column for Tuesday, November 3, which is Election Day?  That’s my usual slot.  Still, I am fearful that my column appearing then will give the people of the Santa Clarita Valley – notorious non-voters that they are — another excuse to do nothing on Election Day.  “Did you vote?”  “Oh, no.  But of course I was so busy reading the Beacon’s Chris Sharp Tuesday column that entire day (LOL).” (more…)

(From the New York Times) Swine flu is sickening so many children across the country, some of them fatally, that federal health officials decided Friday to release the last of the national stockpile of children’s Tamiflu. (more…)

 Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), issued the following statement in response to the Administration’s latest claims that the stimulus has successfully created jobs: (more…)

(From the Financial Times) US consumer spending stalled in September after climbing in each of the prior four months, dampening spirits, as the effects of government stimulus programs started to wane. (more…)

(From Science Daily) An experimental drug cocktail that includes three prescriptions now widely available offers the best hope in developing a single agent to treat drug-resistant H1N1 swine flu, says a virology researcher in the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. (more…)

Halloween night can be a fun opportunity for children and parents to show off creative costumes, spend time with friends at parties, and participate in the traditional trick-or-treat outing for candy and other goodies. But can also be an opportunity for germs, such as the flu virus, to spread. (more…)

There are plenty of Halloween events scheduled all around the Santa Clarita Valley this weekend. Whether you want to get pumpkins and do a Monster 5K at Lombardi Ranch or go to a Halloween Costume party at the Valencia Wine Company all you need to do is check out the Santa Clarita Guide which has a complete listing of all the weekends festivities. Check it out here: Santa Clarita Guide

(From the Wall Street Journal) People who refrained from splurging on big home-improvement projects during the housing boom are reaping the rewards now. Chandra and Kim Sobieski of Cat Spring, Texas, hold a photo of what their house looked like before it was remodeled. The couple saved about $80,000 by postponing the project. (more…)

(From Science Daily) As the nation copes with a shortage of vaccines for H1N1 influenza, a team of Alabama researchers have raised hopes that they have found an Achilles’ heel for all strains of the flu — antioxidants. (more…)

The following is a roundup of political activity going on in Washington and across the nation. It’s courtesy of Scott Wilk, Community Organizer, and Anchor Consulting group. The Beacon will be posting these daily as they become available. (more…)

First up: Halloween- Come down to Valencia Wine Co on Saturday, October 31st and enjoy the biggest Halloween Party in Santa Clarita! The Helen LaPrairie Band will be Rocking and Rolling until the early morning and Guy will be giving away prizes for the best and most outrageous costumes. 8pm-2am  (more…)

Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), member of the House Health Care Solutions Group, today issued the following statement after Speaker Pelosi unveiled the latest version of the Democrat health care plan for a government-run system: (more…)

(From the Financial Times) The US economy returned to growth in the third quarter after the longest period of economic contraction since the Great Depression, official figures confirmed on Thursday. (more…)

(From the AP) Internal investigations into the conduct of over two dozen House members have been exposed in an extraordinary, Internet-era breach of security involving the secretive process by which Congress polices lawmaker ethics. (more…)

Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are seeking the public’s assistance in locating the above missing person. The missing person, Bridgette Kennemore, lives on The Old Road in Newhall. She was last seen walking eastbound on Hasley Canyon Road at 4:20 p.m. on Monday, October 26, 2009, after exiting a Santa Clarita Transit bus on Hasley Canyon Road, just east of Cambridge Avenue in Castaic. The missing person suffers from a developmental disability. (more…)

The City of Santa Clarita, the L.A. County Department of Public Health and College of the Canyons along with the L.A. County Sheriff and Fire Departments, are reminding residents that the Friday, October 30 drive-thru flu shot clinic will dispense SEASONAL flu vaccine only. The flu-shot production line will be conducted in the College of the Canyons Valencia campus parking lots off Rockwell Canyon Road, with shots being dispensed from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., or as long as the vaccine lasts. (more…)

(From the Wall Street Journal) Senate negotiators reached a tentative deal to extend a tax credit for first-time home buyers, but its passage remains uncertain. The agreement would extend the existing credit for first-time home buyers, worth up to $8,000, while offering a new credit of up to $6,500 for some existing homeowners, Senate aides said. (more…)

(From Science Daily) New research from Queen Mary, University of London and Harvard Medical School has revealed precisely why taking fish oils can help with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. (more…)