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

Every year, a significant number of people throughout the City and County of Los Angeles engage in the extremely dangerous practice of discharging firearms into the air to celebrate the arrival of the New Year. In an effort to educate and warn the public of the problem, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD), Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the District Attorney’s Office have embarked upon an awareness campaign. This campaign is designed to help reduce incidents of indiscriminate gunfire that, while on the decline, has continued to be a deadly tradition in our County and in our City. (more…)

The Winter Holiday Anti-DUI crackdown has resulted in a significant number of DUI arrests from local routine traffic enforcement and special Avoid the 100 DUI deployments in Los Angeles County. From 12:01 AM Friday December 16, 2011 through Midnight Thursday December 29, 2011 officers representing 100 county law enforcement agencies have arrested 1,849 individuals for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In 2010, 1,720 DUI arrests occurred during the same fourteen-day time period. (more…)

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, some 40,000 new laws take effect across the 50 States effective January 1, 2012. California leads the nation is passing arguably the most absurd of these laws. The Assembly, State Senate and Governor Jerry Brown defy comprehension. Among the thousands of California laws passed in 2011, California leads the pack of States with its composite head in the toilet mentality. (more…)

(From the-signal.com) Under a new law that takes effect Sunday, California drivers convicted of three or more DUIs could have their driver’s license revoked for 10 years, a Santa Clarita Valley law enforcement official said Friday. “The whole idea is to mitigate DUIs,” said California Highway Patrol Officer John Lutz of the Newhall CHP station.

The change is just one of several to California’s traffic laws passed by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown earlier this year.

Read more here: New state traffic laws go into effect Jan. 1

(From the AP) Southern California will enter the New Year with Chamber of Commerce weather as a high-pressure ridge building in through the weekend combines with an offshore flow to bring above-normal afternoon temperatures. The National Weather Service says Jan. 1 will bring daytime highs in the 70s to around 80 in greater Los Angeles. (more…)

(From the nytimes.com) Verizon Wireless bowed to a torrent of criticism on Friday and reversed a day-old plan to impose a $2 bill-paying fee that would have applied to only some customers. The consumer vitriol, which cascaded across Twitter and onto blogs and petitions all around the Web, struck a chord with a company that was clearly not expecting it.

“The company made the decision in response to customer feedback about the plan, which was designed to improve the efficiency of those transactions,” Verizon Wireless said in a statement referring to the reversal.

That a company with revenue of $15 billion in the most recent quarter would have to quickly change course over such a small fee suggests something particular about its business and others like it.

Read more here: After Outcry, Verizon Abandons $2 Fee

(From the latimes.com) Coast Guard officials called off a search for a Pacific Palisades man whose overturned kayak was found off the Malibu coast on Thursday shortly after he called 911 for medical aid. (more…)

The website Really Patricia has posted an interesting piece on Buck McKeon for Congress finances and payments apparently made to companies controlled by a McKeon family member. There are a number of links to verify the various claims and the piece is certainly worth reading. Here is a sampling of the post and a link to the rest: (more…)

(From Science Daily) Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm). Its name comes from the fibrillating (i.e., quivering) of the heart muscles of the atria, instead of a coordinated contraction. The result is an irregular heartbeat, which may occur in episodes lasting from minutes to weeks, or it could occur all the time for years. Atrial fibrillation alone is not in itself generally life-threatening, but it may result in palpitations, fainting, chest pain, or congestive heart failure. (more…)

Hello Dear Wine Friends, today I am sharing news of an event for the non-profit, ChildHelp.org, and alcohol-infused cupcakes from Swirls.Desserts.com! Now, I call that a pairing! I queried Facebook friend and former Valencia resident, Barry Axelrod about both: (more…)

On December 26, 2011, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began using a new detainer form that will be used to notify Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) that ICE intends to assume custody of an individual in the LEA’s custody. The detainer serves as a request that the LEA notify ICE before releasing a person alleged to be in the country illegally (alien) and maintain custody of the subject for a period not to exceed 48 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, to allow ICE to assume custody. (more…)

The City of Santa Clarita will install a new steel bridge to upgrade an older structure within the south Valencia paseo system at Alta Madera Drive between Cortina Drive and Serena Drive starting Monday, January 9, 2012.  Weather permitting, the pedestrian bridge across Alta Madera Drive is expected to be closed for a minimum of eight weeks. The construction project is part of the City’s efforts in upgrading the paseo infrastructure to maintain its high quality bridges and trails. (more…)

(From the AP) Three Sears stores in California are slated for closure as part of a move by the parent company to raise cash following a disastrous holiday season. Illinois-based Sears Holdings Corp. said Thursday that two Sears stores in San Diego and one in the Los Angeles suburb of El Monte will be closed at a yet-to-be announced date.

The company posted a list 41 Sears and 38 Kmart stores targeted for closure on its website Thursday, the first wave of up to 120 stores nationwide that the company plans to shut down.

Sears Holdings declared Tuesday that it would no longer prop up “marginally performing” locations. The company pledged to refocus its efforts on stores that make money.

The projected closings represent only about 3 percent of Sears Holdings’ U.S. stores.

(From the wsj.com) Verizon Wireless has built its reputation on the quality of its cellular network, touting its reliability over rival AT&T Inc., but a series of outages this month threatens the largest U.S. wireless carrier’s image. On Thursday, Verizon Wireless said its engineers had fixed the third outage in December for its new high-speed data network. Some customers had complained they were getting slower connections or no signal at all. (more…)

At approximately 3:00 PM on Thursday, Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station received a 9-1-1 call from a male stating he was in the waters off the Malibu coastline and was having chest pains. Sheriff’s deputies, along with Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard personnel, responded to the area and searched for the male. Approximately 30 minutes later, a Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard boat discovered an overturned kayak and a life vest approximately two miles off shore. (more…)

(From the latimes.com) A shallow magnitude 3.0 earthquake was reported Thursday evening eight miles from Mammoth Lakes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 6:18 p.m. Pacific time at a depth of 5.6 miles. According to the USGS, the epicenter was 13 miles from Toms Place, 20 miles from Round Valley and 156 miles from Sacramento. In the last 10 days, there have been no earthquakes magnitude 3.0 and greater centered nearby.

On January 1, 2012, residents will have the opportunity to help celebrate a plastic bag free LA County as more than 700 stores throughout unincorporated Los Angeles County will no longer provide single-use carryout plastic bags. Customers are encouraged to bring their reusable bags when they shop to avoid paying 10 cents for a paper bag. (more…)

The City of Santa Clarita is offering free curbside Christmas tree recycling through January 13, 2012 for all single family and multi-family residents located in the city limits. Single family and multi-family complex residents should place un-flocked, undecorated, unwrapped Christmas trees at the curb on their regular collection. (more…)

In the wake of today’s ruling by the California Supreme Court upholding the elimination of redevelopment agencies, the City of Santa Clarita is partnering with the California Redevelopment Association (CRA) and League of California Cities (League) to work with lawmakers to develop legislation to revive redevelopment in order to protect local jobs and neighborhoods. (more…)