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

The City of Santa Clarita recorded a 264-acre open space parcel today, dedicated by Pardee Homes to the City of Santa Clarita, as part of their Fair Oaks development located in unincorporated Los Angeles County.  The acreage will bring the City’s open space land holdings to nearly 3,500 acres of preserved open space that will be preserved in perpetuity. (more…)

(MMD Newswire) The 4th of July is one of the busiest traffic days of the year and nothing can ruin a vacation more quickly than an undeserved traffic ticket. Information on how many traffic tickets are issued in each state is hard to come by because most localities – especially ticket-happy speed trap towns — are reluctant to publicize their ticketing prowess and states typically don’t have an agency responsible for gathering and summarizing ticket data from the various jurisdictions. (more…)

The City of Santa Clarita is pleased to announce effective July 1, 2010, the Santa Clarita Valley Film Office will now coordinate the process of securing Sheriffs assigned to film productions working in the City of Santa Clarita. This new policy includes a more streamlined hiring process eliminating the need for productions to work through the downtown Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office.  It also reduces production costs by offering the same hourly rate the City pays for services, which means $10 or more per hour less in savings over current rates. (more…)

U.S. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.), the Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, today released the following statement praising the Senate’s swift confirmation General David Petraeus as the new commander of U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan: (more…)

The Fourth of July is one of the busiest times for the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control (DACC).  DACC would like to remind pet owners that extra precautions are necessary in order to protect pets during Fourth of July celebrations. Dogs and cats can become startled and disoriented by the loud noises of fireworks. Pets may panic and attempt to escape your property. To ensure the safety of your pets, here are a few tips: (more…)

The City of Santa Clarita’s Concerts in the Park series is one of the most popular summertime traditions year after year. The free annual concert series begins July 10th and runs through August 28^th, with all shows starting Saturdays at 7:00 PM at Central Park. (more…)

(From Science Daily) Providing healthier food choices for our nation’s schoolchildren is a hot-button issue in Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign. And a team of researchers from Cornell University have recently identified one simple solution to help schools serve more fresh vegetables and salad items. (more…)

The following is political activity for Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 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. (Flag by Jasper Johns) (more…)

“….the ants going marching one by one, the little one stops to suck his thumb, and they all, go, march-ing, down, to the earth, to get out, of the rain, boom, boom, boom …” – the children’s song equivalent to “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall”

I never think much about it, but ants are my closest neighbors. It’s funny, but I have a penchant for living in rural areas and the last two places called Scared o’ Bears Ranch had a combined age of more than 200 years. I’m currently hiding out in a place homesteaded at the turn of the 20th century and the little rascals surround me. They march in orderly trails down the eucalyptus trees that shade my sanctuary. They climb up the sides of the house, along the porch and live inside the walls. (more…)

“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.”-Socrates

When Councilman Frank Ferry called citizens who speak at our City Council meetings “Developmental Terrorists” he crossed the line from political rhetoric to hate speech. If citizens who choose to address their elected officials are labeled as “terrorists,” what do we call real terrorists who set out to kill and maim innocent human beings? (more…)

The American Planning Association recently recognized the City of Santa Clarita with two awards for creating outstanding planning project and information tools. The City’s “Community Character and Design Guidelines” won an Excellence Award for Best Practice, and the website “greensantaclarita.com” won an Innovation in Green Community Planning Merit Award. (more…)

(From the latimes.com) A package of proposals to increase accountability and oversight of Los Angeles County’s troubled Probation Department was unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. In response to scathing reports on the department’s broken internal affairs unit and the abuse of minors, the package authorizes (more…)

Dean Logan, Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (RR/CC) is pleased to announce that the public now has the added convenience of paying by either credit or debit card for most RR/CC services, including Birth, Death and Marriage transactions.  “We are excited to enhance our customer service by making public requests more accessible and convenient,” said RR/CC Logan. (more…)

California’s excise taxes on wine, beer and liquor remain a 1991 vintage, the last year the state hiked the price that producers pay on each gallon of alcohol. With California facing an ongoing fiscal crisis, lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have proposed using higher alcohol taxes to help balance the budget in recent years. More than four out of five voters supported a Schwarzenegger plan to charge an extra nickel a drink, one poll found. (more…)

(From the AP) Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday urged lawmakers to pull an $11.1 billion water bond off the November ballot after spending much of the last year fighting to get it there. The Republican governor had said improving the state’s water storage and delivery system was one of his top priorities. He now says the timing is poor and wants to delay the measure until 2012.

Schwarzenegger said the prospects for approval would be hurt by putting the measure on the ballot now, while the state faces a $19 billion budget deficit and record unemployment.

Instead, he said the focus in the Capitol should be on fixing the deficit, reforming government pensions and creating long-term budget reforms.

“It’s critical that the water bond pass, as it will improve California’s economic growth, environmental sustainability and water supply for future generations,” the governor said in a statement. “For that reason, I will work with the Legislature to postpone the bond to 2012 and avoid jeopardizing its passage.”

Read more here: Schwarzenegger seeks to take water bond off ballot

To prepare for the 2010 fire season, Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich announced that the Los Angeles County Fire Department has renewed a contract to lease two CL-415 SuperScoopers fire-fighting aircraft from the Government of Quebec. “To ensure that we are prepared for fire season, these vital aircraft have been requested to supplement our Fire Department’s water-dropping helicopters,” said Antonovich.  (more…)

(Special from Eve’s Wine 101) Celebrate the 4^th on the 1^st with friends at All Corked Up! I’ve had many more than just 5 years worth of 4th of July events with relatives.  We have birthdays too.  And the holidays.  Gotta love that.  But better – and harder to do – is finding a way to celebrate a holiday with my friends.  The ones that appreciate wine. (more…)

(From the sacbee.com) One gubernatorial campaign employs nearly 70 people and contracts with dozens of others as it spares no expense finding new ways to craft and broadcast its messages. Another relies largely on the spontaneity of its candidate with minimal infrastructure and almost nothing in the way of marketing dazzle. (more…)