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

Portions of the Castaic area were subject to a power outages that started at approximately 6:41 p.m. this evening, Wednesday, November 30, 2011, and continued for about 70 minutes. According to a regular Beacon reader, approximately 2455 So Cal Edison customers were impacted by the outage and may have included sections of Hasley Canyon and Val Verde. (more…)

To prepare for the anticipated fire danger as high winds are forecast for Los Angeles County, Mayor Michael D. Antonovich announced that the contract for two SuperScoopers fire-fighting aircraft leased from the Government of Quebec will be extended an additional week by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. (more…)

The Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center (LAC+USC) will host a free community health fair on Thursday, December 1, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM located at 2051 Marengo Street. The health fair is being held in honor of World AIDS Day which is observed worldwide on December 1st since 1988 to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. This year’s global theme is “Getting to Zero: Zero AIDS Related Deaths, Zero New HIV Infections, and Zero Discrimination”. (more…)

(From Science Daily) Distinct neural pathways are important for different aspects of language processing, researchers have discovered, studying patients with language impairments caused by neurodegenerative diseases. While it has long been recognized that certain areas in the brain’s left hemisphere enable us to understand and produce language, scientists are still figuring out exactly how those areas divvy up the highly complex processes necessary to comprehend and produce language. (more…)

“I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous- everyone hasn’t met me yet.’- the late, great Rodney Dangerfield; Back in the days when I spent too much of my waking hours in the newsroom, at least I profited from one small perk. I got to eavesdrop over the ASPS. In Journalism Speak, ASPS stands for Annoying Scratchy Police Scanner. (Photo caption: A while ago, a man was reported high-stepping it away from our local Henry Hold The Mayo Newhall Mammarial Hospital in the middle lane of a major highway. He was wearing nothing but a hospital gown, open in the back.) (more…)

(From the-signal.com and The Beacon) Scott Wilk, who is expected to seek the Republican nomination for state Assembly next year, has challenged fellow Republican and Assembly candidate Patricia McKeon to a series of public debates (see entire Scott Wilk letter below). McKeon parried with an email (see Patricia McKeon’s entire response below) noting the election is a year off and telling him, “I think you are getting a little ahead of yourself. It’s been just a couple of weeks since your last election and you’re already focused on your next campaign.” (more…)

(From the sacbee.com) California’s population increased by 10 percent between 2000 and 2010 but the number of Californians living in poverty grew more than three times as fast, a new U.S. Census Bureau report reveals. The data are found in a massive compilation of poverty statistics broken down by state, county and school district. And if the Census Bureau adopts a proposed new method gauging poverty, which takes into account regional and local costs of living and other factors, the state’s poverty rate may climb even higher. (more…)

Mayor Michael D. Antonovich has appointed Alice Petrossian to the Los Angeles County Commission for Women. A resident of Glendale, Ms. Petrossian received her Master of Arts Degree in Education Administration from California State University Los Angeles. She has served as Deputy Superintendent of the Pasadena Unified School District and Assistant Superintendent of the Glendale Unified School District. (more…)

At the International Environmental Protection Conference in Nanjing,China, Mayor Michael D. Antonovich, a member of the governing board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) and director of the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, and Director-General Chen Meng Meng (pictured) signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Jiangsu Province and the AQMD in Nanjing, China. (more…)

(From smartmoney.com) As shoppers gear up for the holidays, they may find that getting a deal increasingly involves giving to charity, too. Experts say retailers, daily deal sites and other businesses are running more promotions this year that entail an up-front donation, or send part of the purchase to a nonprofit. Plus, the number of deal sites that give a portion of every sale to charity has more than quadrupled over the past year, says Jack Vonder Heide, president of market research firm Technology Briefing Centers. (more…)

(From Science Daily) As we get older, our cognitive abilities change, improving when we’re younger and declining as we age. Scientists posit a hierarchical structure within which these abilities are organized. There’s the “lowest” level — measured by specific tests, such as story memory or word memory; the second level, which groups various skills involved in a category of cognitive ability, such as memory, perceptual speed, or reasoning; and finally, the “general,” or G, factor, a sort of statistical aggregate of all the thinking abilities. (more…)

The following is political activity for Tuesday, November 29, 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…)

Some people may remember Adam Clayton Powell, the late Democratic congressman who preceded Charles Rangel in representing the people of upper Manhattan in the U.S. House of Representatives. A handsome man, Powell liked to have pictures taken of him in yachts during his frequent tropical vacations, even though his constituency was literally malnourished in poverty. In this way, Powell resembled President Barack coming to Los Angeles every month to loot the local Democrat philanthropists for his 2012 re-election fund before any philanthropy money goes to help L.A.’s 50,000 malnourished people living in the streets. (more…)

Los Angeles County Mayor and First 5 LA Board Chairman Michael D. Antonovich applauded the decision of the Fresno County Superior Court which blocks Governor Brown’s raiding the funds of local commissions created by voters who passed Proposition 10 in 1998. (more…)

(From the-signal.com) On the economy: “Our big problem in the state is jobs, and it really isn’t jobs — it’s industry. We are pushing businesses out at a horrible rate. If you don’t have industry in California, you don’t have jobs. So bringing back industry to California has to do with less regulation, less taxation.” (more…)

(From the-signal.com) Assembly candidate Patricia McKeon says she’s busy, tough-skinned and eager to embrace comparisons drawn between her and her congressman husband. McKeon on Monday shared the beliefs and frustrations behind her decision to run for public office at age 70 with no electoral experience. (more…)

The National Weather Service in Los Angeles/Oxnard has issued a high wind watch in effect from Wednesday evening through Friday afternoon. Northeast Canyon winds increase overnight Wednesday with peak in intensity Thursday morning diminishing a little Thursday afternoon and evening. (more…)

(From the sacbee.com) As the holiday buying season begins, Californians’ confidence in their economic futures is declining, a new statewide survey by San Jose State University finds. SJSU’s Survey and Policy Research Institute says that its overall consumer sentiment index has dropped 10 points in the last year to 64.5, and the index of future expectations has dropped as well. (more…)

(From the AP) Los Angeles police say it may have been self-defense that drove a woman to pepper-spray about 20 shoppers on Black Friday at a Walmart store. The Los Angeles Times reports Monday that detectives have interviewed 14 witnesses and want to talk to 10 more shoppers about the incident. Detective Mike Fesperman says the case will come down to whether the pepper-spraying was a matter of self-defense or an inappropriate shopping tactic. (more…)

(From the latimes.com) A shallow magnitude 3.4 earthquake was reported Monday evening 32 miles from Malibu, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 10:56 p.m. Pacific time at a depth of 0.6 miles. According to the USGS, the epicenter was 37 miles from Palos Verdes Point, 38 miles from San Nicolas Is., 40 miles from Oxnard and 54 miles from Los Angeles Civic Center. In the past 10 days, there have been no earthquakes magnitude 3.0 and greater centered nearby.