Hate-crime handling questioned

The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station is one of two Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department stations singled out as lacking in the way it investigates hate crimes, according to a county report examining stations throughout Los Angeles County.

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.

Helmet saves a life

Valencia woman unharmed after robbery attempt

A Valencia woman is safe and unharmed after she snubbed two would-be robbers who held her at gunpoint, a local sheriff's spokesman said.

UPDATE: Officials probe incident where pedestrian was hit running across I-5

A man seriously hurt when he was hit by two cars Friday had been running across the freeway at the time of the collision, an investigator with the California Highway Patrol reported.

Captain to make full recovery

Carrie Stuart, a captain in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department who nearly died in a fiery two-car crash before Christmas, is out of the hospital and expected to make a full recovery, her daughter says.