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

(From the sacbee.com) California’s smallest businesses – those without employees – were clobbered by the first two years of recession, a new Census Bureau report shows, with more than 80,000 ceasing operations and the survivors’ annual incomes dropping by more than $20 billion. (more…)

The Real Side with Joe Messina airs today, Friday July 29, 2011 on KHTS from Noon to 3:00 PM. This week’s topics include the following: (more…)

(From the AP) A Southern California congressman wants to clip the wings of noisy, low-flying helicopters. Rep. Howard L. Berman introduced a bill Thursday requiring the FAA to set flight paths and minimum altitudes for helicopter operations in residential neighborhoods of Los Angeles County. Emergency responders and the military would be exempt. (more…)

The Community Hiking Club will be traversing between Baldy Notch and Icehouse Saddle on Saturday July 30, 2011. Between Baldy Notch and Icehouse Saddle are 3 summits rising over 8000′-Thunder Mountain (8587′), Telegraph Peak (8985′) and Timber Mountain (8303′).  These mountains are known as the 3 T’s.  This well beaten trail zigzags over crests and across saddles, through open stands of pine, fir and cedar, offering continuous vistas.  The high mountain air is cool, clear and clean.  From Telegraph Peak the desert view rivals the one from Mt. Baldy. (more…)

(From Science Daily) A new study by York University researchers finds that practicing yoga reduces the physical and psychological symptoms of chronic pain in women with fibromyalgia. The study is the first to look at the effects of yoga on cortisol levels in women with fibromyalgia. (more…)

The following is political activity for Thursday, July 28, 2011, going on in Washington and across the nation. It is courtesy of Scott Wilk, Community Organizer, and Anchor Consulting group. The Beacon will be posting these daily as they become available. (more…)

A happy Thursday morning to you, dear saddlepals. Hope those of you who aren’t in the saddle much are walking more like humans than cowboys after last week’s trail ride. Stretch. Walk. Hydrate. They are laws of the West. This morning, we have ourselves a most interesting ride through the yesteryears of Santa Clarita lore. (more…)

(From the economist.com) Everyone in the markets has known about the August 2nd debt ceiling deadline for a while but have tended to blithely assume that a deal will be done. Other crises, notably Europe’s sovereign debt problems, have loomed larger in investors’ minds. Only now, with a week to go before the deadline, are they starting to fret. (more…)

(From the AP) Californians’ support for building more nuclear power plants has eroded since Japan’s nuclear crisis, with less than one-third of adults now in favor, according to a poll released Wednesday. The survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found 65 percent of adults oppose more nuclear plants while 30 percent are in favor. The number supporting more nuclear power dropped 14 percentage points from the same poll a year ago and marks the lowest level of support since the institute began asking the question in 2001. (more…)

(From cnbc.com) President Barack Obama’s conduct during the debate over the debt ceiling has divided the country and will inflict damage that will last well after the battle is over, former New York Stock Exchange director and Wall Street stalwart Ken Langone said. While he believes a debt deal will get done and in fact favors a plan closer to what the Democrats are proposing, Langone told CNBC that Obama’s behavior has been “unpresidential.” (more…)

(From the nytimes.com) For a time it seemed safe for many people going about their summers to try to ignore the debt ceiling drama playing out in Washington. If Wall Street so far has not seemed overly concerned that the United States was headed toward default, why should anyone else worry? And there is the long history of crying wolf in Washington: in April everyone finally got up to speed on the threatened shutdown of the federal government just in time to see it averted by an 11th-hour deal. (more…)

The Los Angeles County Fire Department is advising that a freight train, approximately 70 cars in length, was traveling through the City of Littlerock when 22 cargo carrying cars derailed around 92nd Street East and “Avenue T”. The only passengers aboard the train were its operators who are uninjured. (more…)

(From Science Daily) Since 1999, several outbreaks of West Nile Virus, which causes fever or severe neurological symptoms and is transmitted from birds to humans by blood-sucking mosquitoes, have been seen in the U.S., usually during the summer months. But researchers aren’t certain how the virus migrated here — and they don’t know how, or where, it will appear next. (more…)

The following is political activity for Wednesday, July 27, 2011, going on in Washington and across the nation. It is courtesy of Scott Wilk, Community Organizer, and Anchor Consulting group. The Beacon will be posting these daily as they become available. (more…)

“If I’m going to be impotent, I’ve got to look impotent.”- punch-line to a questionable joke about vasectomy. Right off the get-go, I’d like to publicly announce that I, John Boston, am not, have never been, nor ever intend to be, affiliated with the Boston University School of Medicine. So don’t blame me for their press release. It seems if you sit down riding a bicycle, and, you’re a guy, it can lead to impotence. (more…)