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

(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.

(From the nytimes.com) The parent company of American Airlines said on Tuesday that it has filed for bankruptcy protection, in an effort to reduce labor costs and shed its heavy debt load. American’s parent, the AMR Corporation, was the last major airline in the United States to resist filing for Chapter 11 in an effort to shed contracts, a move that analysts said left it less nimble than many of its competitors. (more…)

County Mayor Michael D. Antonovich announced that a state hearing officer ruled that a violent, severely mentally ill inmate recently transferred from the state under AB 109 to Los Angeles County will be placed in a residential facility and referred for voluntary outpatient treatment. “Governor Brown’s reckless realignment policy has resulted in this stupid ruling releasing a violent career criminal whose arrests include rape in concert with force and violence to a local neighborhood — posing a significant risk to public safety,” said Antonovich. (more…)

Recent water quality reports prepared at the request of County Mayor Michael D. Antonovich, reveal a significant increase in detectable chromium. The studies tested for a broad spectrum of elements in small county water system, county facilities and 60 brands of bottled water. (more…)

(From the ft.com) Fitch warned it could downgrade the US credit score if no “credible” agreement was reached over the next two years to curb the country’s mounting debt, as it placed a “negative” outlook on America’s triple-A rating. The move aligns Fitch with other ratings agencies that have already punished the US for the political gridlock that has prevented any long-term fiscal deal from emerging following months of negotiations in Washington. (more…)

Officers for 2012 will be installed at the monthly meeting of Santa Clarita Republican Women Federated on Tuesday, December 13, at The Paseo Club located at 27650 Dickason Drive in Valencia. The luncheon meeting, from 10:30 AM to 1 PM, is $20 for members, $25 for nonmembers. Reservations may be made by calling (661) 259-5416 or emailing beccakeating@hotmail.com (more…)

(From the wsj.com) Electronic gadgets are huge holiday sellers, but it’s hard to find really cool stuff for $100 or less. With a half-nod toward thriftiness in these tough economic times, here are some gifts to consider that won’t cost more than a C-note. uNu battery case for iPhones ($35 for the Power DX-1700B model). Are you constantly running out of juice? The uNu, a battery pack shaped like a cover, protects your iPhone from damage—and recharges a dead battery. (more…)

(From the economist.com) Climate science is famously complicated, but one useful number to keep in mind is “climate sensitivity”. This measures the amount of warming that can eventually be expected to follow a doubling in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in its most recent summary of the science behind its predictions, published in 2007, estimated that, in present conditions, a doubling of CO2 would cause warming of about 3°C, with uncertainty of about a degree and a half in either direction. (more…)

The following is political activity for Monday, November 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 contractor for Southern California Edison is currently in SCV neighborhoods installing the new digital ‘Smart Meters’ and we thought that it would be worth running an updated version of this commentary with more on safety and privacy issues. We have opted out of having the new meters installed as have a number of others.) On November 2, 2011 at the West Ranch Town Council meeting there was a spokesperson for Southern California Edison present to speak about the new digital “Smart Meters” being installed. The new meters (digital meter pictured) are being touted as being more “efficient” than the standard analog meters. (more…)

The public is invited to join Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich to officially kick off the holiday season in Los Angeles County with the annual lighting of the County Christmas Tree tonight, Monday, November 28, 2011 at 5:00 pm– continuing a special tradition begun by late Supervisor Kenneth Hahn in honor of the County’s children. The tree lighting will take place at the Los Angeles County Music Center located at 135 N. Grand Avenue in Los Angeles. (more…)