Archive By Author - Jim Holt
Toxic lot nears milestone
Government officials monitoring the cleanup of nearly 1,000 acres of contaminated Whittaker-Bermite property in the heart of Santa Clarita could deem a portion of that land clean as early as February, an official said Wednesday.
No milk spills as cars crash in rain
A sudden, gusty rainstorm over Santa Clarita Valley was part of the reason a big-rig milk truck flipped on Interstate 5 near the Newhall Pass on Monday and contributed to more than a dozen traffic crashes Sunday night.
Investigators expected to keep quiet on fraud probe
The probe into allegations of fraud and illegal building contracts handled by the Los Angeles County Fire Department - punctuated with the recent suicide of a local fire chief who oversaw local station construction - will not likely wrap up before year's end, the county's top claims investigator said.
Woman injured in patrol car crash
A woman was hospitalized with serious injuries Monday after a California Highway Patrol officer, driving 90 mph on Interstate 5 in his patrol car to join a pursuit, slammed into the back of the SUV she was riding in, authorities said.
Land deal builds dream
Close to a thousand acres in the heart of the Santa Clarita Valley are still uninhabitable - the soil still contaminated with traces of explosive material and the water still dirty with perchlorate. But city planners are happy today over a court settlement that will save them about $5 million in the long process to, one day, make it fit to live on.
Alaskan chill visits SCV
A cold, wet low-pressure front on its way from Alaska to Santa Clarita Valley carries with it the threat of frost and rain this weekend and a reminder that winter is on its way.|
The fixings by the fix-it shop
The spirit of giving shut down Main Street Thursday. What began five years ago as a Thanksgiving Day dinner at the back of a Newhall bike shop mushroomed to embrace more than a thousand people this Thanksgiving Day, shutting down Main Street in Newhall to traffic for a couple of hours. A simple one or two plates of turkey and mashed potatoes shared back in 2006 evolved this year into a food line stretching down ...
A grateful gathering
Before Don Ferguson tucked into his Thanksgiving Day dinner of mashed potatoes and turkey at the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center, two boys on the Valencia High School football team sat down at his table.
Giving thanks for the place they call home
VAL VERDE - Thanksgiving in Val Verde has a lot to do with thanking the children who give back to their community.
Help for those in need of food — or just company
Roger Hasper loves to feed people. On Thanksgiving Day, as he's done every year for the past five years, he's expecting to feed more people than he's ever fed before. "Every year, it doubles," he said. "Last year, we saw about 450 people - so we're looking at nine-ish (hundred) this year." On Thursday, he and a small band of community helpers will be serving up Thanksgiving dinner to whoever wants one beginning at about ...
Agency fined for ‘chronic’ problems
The state department responsible for delivering water to Santa Clarita Valley from Northern California has been charged $33,000 for discharging muddy, greasy water from Pyramid Lake, officials said Monday.
Chief’s suicide under scrutiny
VENTURA - A Los Angeles County Fire Department chief who committed suicide in a Ventura County parking lot last month may have been under investigation for contract irregularities, a Ventura County coroner's official confirmed.
Heavy rains flood Southland freeways
Heavy rains contributed to a freeway crash near Magic Mountain Parkway on Saturday that sent four people to hospital with minor injuries.
The show must, and does, go on — for 24 hours
"Watch me pull an all-nighter out of my hat." That's the claim magician Lincoln Bond pressed into action Friday afternoon when he embarked on a bid to break the world record for the longest continual magic show. At 4 p.m. Saturday, Bond received a standing ovation from about 50 people - including pensioners with white hair and preschoolers in pigtails - when he made his last handkerchief disappear at the 24-hour mark. Despite the rain, ...
Boutique to benefit Valencia High choir
Some might expect Valencia High School choir students to sing for their dinner if they embarked on any sort of fundraising.
Articles By Author - Jim Holt
Hearing delayed for accused bank robbers
A preliminary hearing for three men identified by prosecutors as Crips gang members accused in a take-over bank robbery last September was postponed for the second time Tuesday, a county prosecutor said.
Hearing postponed in fatal Sand Canyon crash
SAN FERNANDO - The preliminary hearing of two men charged with murder in a Sand Canyon street racing death was delayed today over issues of evidence.
Valencia Water customers spout anger at rate increase
News of 20 percent hike in water rates over the next three years upset some Valencia Water Company ratepayers recently, but not as much as having missed the chance to file a formal complaint, according ratepayers who contacted The Signal.
Time tunnel invites visitors to Placerita Canyon Nature Center
Hawks with wings frozen in midair, turtles halted mid-step and snarling mountain lions - all preserved through taxidermy - compete for attention with a lesser-known attraction at the Placerita Canyon Nature Center: a time tunnel of sorts.
Police ID pedestrian killed on Interstate 5
Officials with the Los Angeles County Coroner's office have identified the pedestrian killed early Saturday morning after he was struck by an SUV in the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 but are still trying to reach his next of kin, a spokesman said Sunday.
DA reviews charges in boy’s death
Criminal charges are pending in July's fatal boating crash on Pyramid Lake that claimed the life of a 16-year-old boy visiting from Russia, a sheriff's spokesman said.
Chess players compete for championship
There was a beach party at the Hyatt Regency Valencia this weekend and partygoers brought their own boards - chess boards that is.
Motorcyclist taken to hospital after crash
A motorcyclist was taken to the hospital Sunday afternoon following a traffic collision in Canyon Country.
Suspect arrested in blond scammer thefts
A woman suspected of being the blond scammer for allegedly stalking other women at grocery stores, stealing their wallets and then using their IDs to obtain cash or expensive jewelry has been arrested, a local sheriff's spokesman said.
Driver unhurt as car rolls over
A motorist rolled his car several times Thursday after he reportedly pulled onto the gravel shoulder to let a "tailgater" pass on San Francisquito Canyon Road, said a man who towed the wrecked car from the crash site.
UPDATE: Woman returned from Oregon to face charges of killing mother
A former Saugus High School student was in jail in Van Nuys Wednesday accused of murdering her mother after homicide detectives brought her back from Oregon, said the detective in charge of the case.
Attacker sought in Canyon Country condo assault
Despite an arrest made in last week's attack of a woman inside her condo complex garage in Canyon Country, local sheriff's deputies are still looking for a second man wanted for a similar attack on a woman nearly a year ago at the same complex, a local sheriff's spokesman said Wednesday.
Canyon Country man sentenced to 14 years in extortion case
A Canyon Country man who shot up the American Beauty condo complex with a machine gun eight years ago pleaded guilty to five criminal counts in a more recent series of offenses, including two counts of felony battery on a peace officer and three counts of extortion, a deputy district attorney said Wednesday.
Trial delayed for pair charged in shotgun holdup
Trial was put off until March today for a couple who allegedly held up a Valencia home-improvement store with a shotgun last September, a court clerk said.
1 injured in Bouquet Canyon head-on collision
One person was rushed to the hospital with undisclosed injuries this morning following a head-on collision in Saugus, according to emergency response officials.
