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

As part of State Route 138 widening and in order to perform asphalt work, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will close one lane of eastbound State Route 138, overnight, from 96th Street East to 106th Street East as follows: (more…)

According to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, today’s air quality is unhealthy for sensitive individuals in the Santa Clarita Valley. Los Angeles County Health Officer and Public Health Director, Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, advises people living or working in (more…)

On 1st August 2008 there will be a total eclipse of the Sun, visible from Canada, northern Greenland, Svalbard, the Barents Sea, Russia, Mongolia and China. From the whole of the British Isles observers will see a partial solar eclipse, with between 1/10th and 1/3rd of the Sun obscured by the Moon. (more…)

Thanks to one of our valued readers for passing along this article on how the environmentalists are killing the forests. The great treasures of the West are burning, and we’re still tangled in decades-old arguments about thinning, logging and managing our (more…)

Last Thursday, The Beacon published a guest commentary by Valerie Thomas titled, “One Valley One Vision Land Use; our neighborhood is presently under siege!” which was a very thoughtful piece that brought up several valid questions. In that commentary (more…)

Although this new suburb of 80,000 people was just a few miles from the epicenter of a 5.4-magnitude earthquake, the city withstood the shaking with almost no damage at all. If a quake had to hit somewhere in densely populated Southern California, (more…)

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law a measure that requires those convicted of graffiti to clean up their scrawls and possibly keep the surface clean for one year. (more…)

A majority of Californians favor more oil drilling off the coast, according to a statewide survey released Wednesday, for the first time since oil prices spiked nearly three decades ago. The support by 51 percent of residents polled this month by the Public Policy Institute of California represents a shift (more…)

After spending much of the summer searching for an effective line of attack against Senator Barack Obama, Senator John McCain is beginning a newly aggressive campaign to define Mr. Obama as arrogant, out of touch and unprepared for the presidency. On Wednesday alone, the McCain campaign released a (more…)

The Federal Reserve ramped up its liquidity support operations again on Wednesday in an effort to reduce money market strains and pre-empt the possibility of funding crises at the year-end or at other stress points. The US central bank said it would offer three-month cash loans to banks and create a new (more…)

The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station and the City of Santa Clarita teamed up to bring Santa Clarita residents the first annual Safe and Secure Community Shred and E-Waste Disposal Day.  The FREE program was held this past Saturday, July 26, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station (more…)

Santa Clarita Canyons is a beautiful proposed wilderness area. The views from this hike are probably the best in Santa Clarita. You will be able to see the Santa Clarita and the San Fernando Valley while on this hike. There is very little gain or loss while you traverse (more…)

This Saturday, August 2, 2008, the County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control, will be hosting a Bunny Adoption (more…)

I still read the local rag, The Signal. Why, I don’t know because over the thirteen years I have lived in the Santa Clarita Valley it has steadily declined as a newspaper. (more…)

To rise off the ground wearing a jetpack is to feel the force of dreams. Very, very noisy dreams. On Tuesday, an inventor from New Zealand unveiled what he calls “the world’s first practical jetpack” at the EAA AirVenture, the gigantic annual air show here. (more…)

The West Ranch Town Council will hold their monthly meeting on Wednesday August 6, 2008 at the Tournament Player Club in West Ranch located at (more…)

Public safety, children services and vital infrastructure needs top the list of priorities as we enter a new fiscal year. For fiscal year 2008- 09, the adopted budget for the County of Los Angeles provided funds for the County’s infrastructure needs to expand its jail capacity, add new libraries, improve animal shelters, add fire and sheriff stations, make improvements at parks, (more…)

Despite rattling a large swath of Southern California, Tuesday’s magnitude-5.4 earthquake was not the “Big One” that scientists have long feared. But the jolt that shook nerves from Los Angeles to San Diego occurred during what scientists say has been a relatively quiet seismic period since the deadly 1994 Northridge quake. (more…)