Archive By Author - Jim Holt
A blast from the past
If something goes "boom" in the hills east of Railroad Avenue, do not be alarmed. It's simply cleanup crews dismantling and removing unexploded munitions found on the Whittaker-Bermite site.
9/11 events honor victims, the first responders and others who have given their lives
Three thousand miles away and nine years later, the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks were remembered throughout Santa Clarita Valley. Poems were read, songs were sung, patches, plaques and honorary T-shirts were offered for sale at Central Park in Saugus on Saturday. The message of the poetry, the songs and the slogans on the patches was consistent: "We remember." It was a day ...
In remembrance of their sacrifice
From the tragic minutes that unfolded nine years ago on Sept. 11 to the tragic minutes that recently claimed the life of a local, young United States Marine Corps hero, first responders to the terrorist attacks and our latest responders were remembered Saturday.
No fine lines for water board
Water-law enforcers have hit the Santa Clarita Valley with some of the largest fines in Southern California during the past few years, including a half-million-dollar fine against the city and close to a million dollars in penalties against Six Flags, The Signal has recently learned.
Water board levies four more fines
A nonprofit marine institute devoted to understanding and minimizing human impact on oceans is among the latest agencies to be fined by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board for polluting water.
Smyth to float bill
Santa Clarita Valley Assemblyman Cameron Smyth wants the regional water boards that issue "devastating fines" against small towns to be more accountable to the public and is calling on an oversight body to see that it happens.
The faces behind the fines
Santa Clarita Valley has a chance to control its own water destiny this fall when most of the seats on the ruling water board come up for grabs.
Crashed and burned
An explosive, fiery crash shut down Highway 14 for hours and sent a truck driver to the hospital Wednesday after his big rig, which was hauling several cars, reportedly collided with a parked Caltrans truck north of Sand Canyon Road, authorities said. The driver, whose name has not yet been released, was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital with undetermined injuries. The driver was conscious and moving after the crash, according to motorists stopped ...
No silver bullet for salt
After talking to farmers, water officials, engineers, scientists and city officials from the San Joaquin Delta to the Pacific Ocean, a monthlong investigation by The Signal into chloride in the Santa Clara River and those who enforce a clean water balance comes down to one simple observation: We're adding too much salt to our state.
Salt-of-the-earth solution
DIXON - If you take Interstate 80 from Oakland to Sacramento, you'll pass near the tiny farming town of Dixon.
High cost of compliance
FILLMORE – Never has the Santa Clara River been filtered so vigorously, so urgently and at such great cost to tiny towns as it has in the last two years.
SCV challenges water cops
At a raucous public hearing in July, Santa Clarita Valley residents made it clear they have no intention of shelling out $210 million from their own pockets so farmers downstream can raise salt-sensitive crops in the Santa Clara River Valley.
Patented rides
A Santa Clarita man has reinvented the wheel - and put a bicycle seat on it. Local inventor Doug Fraser now holds the U.S. patent for a bicycle in which the seat is directly attached to the back wheel. For more than 30 years, Fraser has pursued his vision of perfecting a revolutionary new style of bike that's more than a unicycle, but less than a conventional bike. "I got little boys knocking on my ...
‘Fair and firm’ cash grab
You might call them the water police. Their beat runs from storm water runoff to overt dumping and extends throughout California. Their staff of 12 is evenly split between scientists and Special Investigations team members, their cases made and culprits exposed through lab work. While they carry no firearms, the sting of their punishment - including millions of dollars in fines - has proven so punitive and persistent that it's prompted some cities to band ...
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.
Articles By Author - Jim Holt
Valencia: One injured in collision of motorcycle and car
One person was taken to the hospital with undisclosed injuries Thursday following a traffic collision involving a motorcycle and a car in Valencia, a Sheriff's Department spokeswoman said.
UPDATE: Suspected ‘blond scammer’ taken into custody by Ventura deputies
SAN FERNANDO - A woman suspected of being the "blond scammer" - who stalked other women at grocery stores, stealing their wallets and then using their IDs to obtain cash or expensive jewelry - appeared briefly in court today only to be arrested by Ventura County sheriff's deputies, a bailiff said.
Stevenson Ranch: 5 ID theft suspects make court appearance Wednesday
Five people suspected of identity theft after being arrested at a Stevenson Ranch hotel this week made a court appearance Wednesday and were scheduled to be arraigned next month.
Saugus man gets probation in online dating thefts
A Saugus man charged with three felonies for stealing from local women he romanced online received a suspended sentence and three years' probation this week after pleading no contest to the charges.
Resolution possible for Valencia pair charged with possessing illegal weapon
SAN FERNANDO - The lawyer representing a young Valencia man who made national news last fall for allegedly posting online comments about hurting children told a San Fernando Superior Court commissioner Wednesday he anticipates a "possible resolution" in the case.
5 due in court Wednesday on ID theft charges
Five people arrested at a Stevenson Ranch hotel Monday are expected to appear in court Wednesday on felony identity theft charges, a local sheriff's spokesman said.
UPDATE: Canyon Country: One taken to hospital following fight near fast-food restaurant
A man was taken to the hospital today following a fist fight near the McDonalds Restaurant on Soledad Canyon Road in Canyon Country, emergency response officials said.
UPDATE: Admitted Stevenson Ranch rapist sentenced to 43 years to life
SAN FERNANDO - A 19-year-old man who admitted to a brutal rape last year, then tried to withdraw his admission, was sentenced to 43 years to life in prison Monday after a judge said he couldn't change his mind about the plea.
Newhall: Man arrested on suspicion of van theft
Sheriff's deputies arrested a man in Newhall this morning on suspicion he stole a van, a sheriff's spokesman said.
UPDATE: Acton crash survivor listed in good condition
A 9-year-old girl who survived a vehicle crash that killed her father in Acton is expected to be released from the hospital Tuesday, a California Highway Patrol official said Monday.
All for the competition
More than 160 young people on their way to becoming police officers competed in a series of challenges Sunday similar to what law enforcement officers experience day to day.
UPDATE: Attempted homicide charge filed in bar beating
A Castaic man was charged with attempted murder after he allegedly beat another man in a Sunland bar Monday night, using a "mini baseball bat," officials said Thursday.
Alleged gang members to stand trial for Canyon Country bank robbery
SAN FERNANDO - Three men identified by prosecutors as Rollin 40s Crips gang members were ordered to stand trial Wednesday for a take-over bank robbery in Canyon Country last September.
Valencia woman faces felony charge in hit-and-run
A Valencia woman faces a felony hit-and-run charge today for allegedly hitting a bicyclist in Newhall on Friday, then leaving the scene, court papers show.
