Archive By Author - Jim Holt
Ex-deputy sentenced on drug charge
An "aggressive" undercover probe by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department led to the arrest, conviction and sentencing of three people, including a former sheriff's deputy, trying to smuggle drugs into the North County Correctional Facility, a spokesman says.
Coastal domination
The board that decides the issue of chloride in the Santa Clara River includes two advocates of Ventura County strawberry farmers.
Water’s recycled future
In the wee early hours of any morning, as you drive along The Old Road near Magic Mountain by the Tournament Players Club Valencia golf course, you might see the sprinklers hard at work watering the 10th or 11th hole.
Fallen Marine Pfc. Jake Suter: On son’s birthday, a mother grieves
Fallen United States Marine Corps Pfc. Jake William Suter would have turned 19 today. Instead, the last day of July is shaping up to be one of the worst days his mother, Michelle Unthank, and his stepfather, Chris Unthank, could ever imagine having to face. "I'm lucky I have work to distract me," Chris Unthank said. His wife, sadly, is nowhere near as lucky. This past week, instead of stacking birthday presents, she had the ...
Rain keeps chloride level low
Chloride levels in the Santa Clara River have risen above the limit demanded by Ventura County farmers only once in the past six months - and then only by two milligrams per liter, a Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District official said Thursday.
Delayed, but not defused
Santa Clarita Valley sewer ratepayers will wind up spending more in the long run, despite a decision Tuesday night to delay rate-hike discussion until spring.
Salty talk stalls rate hike
The vote on a proposed sewer-rate hike was delayed until spring following a lengthy public hearing Tuesday night that drew complaints from residents.
Salty talks stall rate hike
The vote on a proposed sewer rate hike was delayed until spring following a lengthy public hearing Tuesday night that drew complaints from residents.
Salty showdown draws near
The biggest battle in the on-going water war over chloride happens Tuesday. Officially, the showdown is called a public hearing sponsored by the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District seeking to raise sewer rates to help pay for a $210 million salt-ridding reverse-osmosis plant. The battle scene is City Hall; showdown set for 6:30 p.m. While the proposed 50-percent rate increase would likely be felt in residents' pocketbooks - especially those on fixed incomes - it's ...
Stephens will soon have day in court
Joshua Pipho would be 23 this year, probably helping his dad with a growing audio-visual business.
Killer’s lawyers wrap up death-penalty phase
SAN FERNANDO - Attorneys in the Antonio Rodriguez trial delivered eloquent arguments Friday for and against the death penalty for the man who beat a 5-year-old girl to death in a Castaic park bathroom in 2004. The jury in that convicted Rodriguez will receive instructions Monday from San Fernando Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen, then begin deliberations in the penalty phase of the trial. "There is no one here to speak for Desarie," prosecutor ...
Specter of violence appears in court
SAN FERNANDO - The elusive and allegedly abusive father of convicted child-killer Antonio Rodriguez dominated the closing minutes of the murderer's trial Thursday, as a jury decides his life-or-death fate.
The Signal's Water Wars 411 page
See "Related Content" for links to The Signal's exclusive "Water Wars" series, an in-depth look at the politics of water in the Santa Clarita Valley.
Child-killer’s chaplain proclaims trust during death-penalty phase
SAN FERNANDO - A chaplain who spent "hours and hours" with child-killer Antonio Rodriguez, sometimes talking about God, told jurors in Superior Court on Tuesday that she trusts him.
Frontal lobe abnormality affected child-killer
SAN FERNANDO - Jurors got a glimpse inside the brain of convicted child-killer Antonio Rodriguez on Monday, and what they saw was evidence of injury.
Articles By Author - Jim Holt
Is 'blond scammer' crime spree related to others?
Detectives in four jurisdictions are scrutinizing the actions of a woman suspected of being the so-called "blond scammer" - a woman believed at the center of a ring that stole wallets from shopping carts and impersonated credit card holders to obtain cash or expensive jewelry.
West Ranch: 1 student taken to hospital, 1 girl in custody in alleged pot-laced cookie case
A West Ranch High School student was treated at the local hospital Thursday after another girl allegedly gave her pot-laced cookies to eat, a sheriff's official said.
UPDATE: Red flag warnings issued for fire danger
High winds triggered local house alarms and fanned the flames of a brush fire in the Newhall Pass Thursday as the National Weather Service called a red flag warning for the Santa Clarita Valley and other areas in Los Angeles County.
Daughter pleads not guilty in mother’s slaying
A former Saugus High School student accused of killing her mother pleaded not guilty Thursday to a felony charge of first-degree murder, a court official said.
Preliminary hearing set for Castaic man in bar beating case
A preliminary hearing was set Wednesday for a Castaic man charged with attempted murder after he allegedly beat a disabled man with a "mini baseball bat" inside a Sunland bar last month, a court official said.
Jury trial scheduled in Agua Dulce assault, kidnap case
Two men charged in the alleged beating and abduction of an Agua Dulce woman last fall and with the alleged attempted kidnapping of her adult son will be tried by a jury next month, an assistant district attorney said.
Report: Agua Dulce driver in fatal crash was 3 times legal limit
An Agua Dulce man killed in a January head-on crash that left another man still recovering from injuries was three times over California's legal blood alcohol limit, a coroner's report shows.
Valencia: Two injured, including SCV Sheriff’s deputy, in crash
Two people, including a local sheriff's deputy, were taken to the hospital today following a two-car crash on Copper Hill Drive, a sheriff's spokesman said.
Probation ordered in car crash that killed woman
A 20-year-old Turkish man charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter for a car crash that killed a young Turkish woman last summer pleaded no contest Monday and was placed on three years' probation, a District Attorney spokeswoman said.
Woman pleads no contest to charges in ‘blond scammer’ ring
The ringleader in the so-called "blond scammer" case was sentenced to three years in prison Monday after pleading no contest to a charge of identity theft, a court clerk said.
UPDATE: At least 2 injured in Valencia crash
Six cars piled up in the eastbound lanes of Newhall Ranch Road in Valencia on Monday, injuring at least two people.
UPDATE: Boston Marathon runners with SCV connection shaken by experience
At least 15 Santa Clarita Valley marathon runners competing in Monday's death-marred Boston Marathon - including a 70-year-old pulled from the course half a mile before the finish line - are OK today but weighing the severity of the deadly incident, according to family, friends and at least one competing runner.
Fingers may point to identity of 'mummified' body
Investigators with the county coroner's office hope "re-hydrated" fingers will identify a Hispanic woman whose body was found "mummified" in a tarp and dumped at the side of San Francisquito Canyon Road last week.
'Mudders' get down and dirty at Castaic Lake mud run
They call themselves the "Dirty Girls," and on Sunday the four friends from Stevenson Ranch worked hard running, scrambling, climbing and crawling to get head-to-foot dirty in the Merrell Down & Dirty Obstacle Race at Castaic Lake.
Small brush fire in Valencia extinguished
A small brush fire at the side of Interstate 5 was quickly doused Sunday morning, an emergency response spokesman said.
