Archive By Author - Jim Holt
Boxer-sponsored bill is last-ditch try to block Cemex mine
Mining and airborne dust in Soledad Canyon, along with a daily parade of gravel trucks on Highway 14, would likely become fixtures if an omnibus bill introduced by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., goes off the rails in the Senate, according to the city official monitoring Santa Clarita's relationship with Washington, D.C.
Valentine’s Day business has rosy outlook
Red roses and dark chocolate remain the valentines of choice for lovers in Santa Clarita Valley.
Sweet seconds at Super Bowl
Ten-year-old Hunter Terry really does feel like he's a kid in a candy store since an estimated 111 million people worldwide saw him in a TV commercial that aired during the big game on Super Bowl Sunday.
Mystery still surrounds local Marine’s death
It's been more than eight months since local United States Marine Corps Pfc. Jake William Suter died in Afghanistan, and military officials are still waiting for official word from their investigators as to how he died.
From free to fee
Parents of football players, saxophonists and swimmers - and any other students participating in school-related events after hours - might have to pay their own way to their respective events, a school official said Wednesday.
Car dealer sues partner
Kevin Malone, part owner of the Mercedes-Benz car dealership in Valencia, is suing his business partner Leonard Sage for allegedly breaching his trust when it came to managing the company.
Water plans may drown in earmark moratorium
Recent rules on earmarks are casting a cloud of doubt on Capitol Hill over the fate of two key projects pursued by the local water wholesaler: the ongoing cleanup of toxic salts in groundwater and a growing water recycling program.
Fire academy sets teens on right path
Santa Clarita Valley's prep school for firefighters is heating up. There was a time five years ago when the William S. Hart Regional Occupational Program Fire Academy operated out of a pickup truck with no hoses, no water and just a firefighter with a vision and a couple of high school kids willing to listen. Now that ROP academy has established itself as the go-to place for serious young firefighters. It now has hoses - ...
Cemex bill may die in Senate
A Washington state congressman sidelined the bill to ban mining in Soledad Canyon due to House earmark rules, and he's also committed to sinking a Senate omnibus bill that would spare the Santa Clarita Valley the proposed 56 million-ton open-pit mine.
Harken back to a time when silence was golden
If Trekkies are a testament to the success of Star Trek, then the appearance of at least one "Chappy" at Santa Clarita Valley's first ever ChaplinFest this weekend bodes well for organizers hoping to make it a tradition. Legendary cowboy movie star William S. Hart surely would have been proud to watch young and old show up at his park to honor not only one of his contemporaries, but one of the world's most ...
McKeon: no Cemex bill in ’11
Blaming prohibitive new anti-earmark rules, the Santa Clarita Valley's congressman said Tuesday he will not introduce a new bill to ban mining in Soledad Canyon during this congressional session.
School officer charged in shooting
A police officer who lives in the Santa Clarita Valley and works in the San Fernando Valley was arrested Thursday night and charged with a felony for allegedly filing a false police report in connection with claims he had been shot in the chest. Los Angeles Unified School District Police Officer Jeffery Stenroos, 30, of Mayfair Drive in Valencia, was arrested by detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery Homicide Division at 6:30 p.m. ...
Water officials extend savings for dry days
Despite recent heavy rains that swelled water levels, local water officials voted this week to keep out-of-town water reserves in their cache.
Officials close Ottman case
Local civilian Fire Chief Timothy John Ottman, who shot and killed himself while being investigated for allegations of wrongdoing, committed no crime, according to Ottman's relatives.
Agency to go solar
Water resource planners want the public to weigh in on their plan to turn part of the Castaic Lake Water Agency's back lot into a cost-saving field of solar panels.
Articles By Author - Jim Holt
'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.
Deputy accused of beating 19-year-old inmate
A Saugus man who works as a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has been charged with assaulting a 19-year-old inmate in the back seat of a patrol car almost two years ago, according to the Los AngelesCounty District Attorney's office.
20-year-old Valencia woman arraigned on felony count
A 20-year-old Valencia woman was arraigned this week on a felony charge of hit and run causing injury or death following a collision with a bicyclist at a Newhall intersection last month, a District Attorney's spokeswoman said.
No injuries reported in two morning crashes on Highway 14
Crown Valley Road in Acton was a busy place this morning with traffic collisions reported on both the north and southbound lanes of Highway 14, emergency response officials said.
UPDATE: Newhall: Young woman talked down from freeway bridge
Quick-responding California Highway Patrol officers talked a young woman down from a freeway bridge Wednesday as she threatened to jump, a CHP spokesman said.
UPDATE: Sanitation district board OKs $334,000 ‘outreach’ contract
WHITTIER - Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District directors agreed Wednesday to pay $334,000 on public outreach as the district prepares to release a plan to reduce chloride in the Santa Clara River.
UPDATE: At least 4 injured in Highway 14 collision
Four people were hurt, including a mother and her 9-year-old son, in a multi-vehicle crash on the southbound Highway 14 freeway near Via Princessa on Tuesday.
Outreach on chloride in river could cost $334K
Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District directors are due to decide today whether to spend $334,000 on public outreach as the district prepares to release a plan for ridding the Santa Clara River of chloride.
Acton: Girl on slow recovery following devastating car crash
On Nov. 21 last year, Laurel Slothower of Acton received the phone call that every parent dreads.
UPDATE: Saugus Brush fire held to 4 acres despite high winds
Winds approaching hurricane force whipped flames through brush in Saugus on Monday, prompting swift reaction from firefighters who halted the blaze after it blackened more than four acres in Bouquet Canyon.
UPDATE: Powerball arrives in California
Tickets for the Powerball lottery went on sale in California for the first time Monday, and the new game was a big hit with one Castaic cashier selling the tickets.
Big winds may cause damage
Property damage due to high wind is expected in the Santa Clarita Valley today as two intense wind systems collide, a weather specialist said.
3 arrested in local Wal-Marts
Three people arrested recently for crimes allegedly committed at local Wal-Mart stores are expected to appear separately in court this month, charged with offenses including burglary, embezzlement and trespassing.
Pitchess East graduates first EBI class
Five dozen inmates at the Pitchess Detention Center proudly took the jail's podium Thursday as the east facility's first graduating class from the Sheriff Department's newly launched Education Based Incarceration program.
