Archive By Author - Jim Holt
Santa Clarita taps into a change
State and city legislators have seen the future of water, and the future feels soft. Standing on the dry west bank of San Francisquito Creek a few weeks ago, Santa Clarita Mayor Bob Kellar and Sen. George Runner, witnessed a way of turning hard water into soft water that promises to revolutionize water softening. Since September, about 400 Copper Hill Drive area residents have turned on their taps to get soft, clean drinking water, ending ...
The hard case for soft water
A groundbreaking water experiment is flowing through pipes under Santa Clarita Valley. The Valencia Water Company is supplying 1.2 million gallons of pre-softened water to about 400 Copperhill residents. The experiment, called the Groundwater Softening Demonstration Project, is the first of its kind in the country. If it works - and it seems to be doing well, according to users - the process promises to revolutionize the way water is delivered to the community and ...
I-5 project year late, over budget
Delayed by unexpected digging problems and running more than $6 million over budget, major road upgrades near Six Flags Magic Mountain are proving far from magical for city of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County administrators who now hope to have the entire project completed by the end of 2009.
Man shot in broad daylight
A passenger sitting in a pickup truck waiting for the light to change at a busy Newhall intersection Friday suddenly found himself locked in a life-and-death struggle with an armed robber.
Giving, and giving thanks
Here's how the whole Thanksgiving Day thing works: You give. It's that simple, says the man who runs a bicycle shop in Newhall and who, once a year, feeds as many people as he can. "Matthew 25:35 tells you what to do," Roger Hasper said between hugs given by men and women, old people and children, who stopped to thank him personally. "I'm not a smart man. I just know how to take directions," he ...
Turkey Day means Turkey Bowl
No TV station carried the great Santa Clarita Turkey Bowl on Thanksgiving Day, and that suited a dozen sweaty traditionalists just fine.
Castaic cops get new patrol boat
Police patrolling the waters of Castaic Lake are doubling their presence with the addition of a second patrol boat.
Online donations aid fire victims
If you've felt moved to donate household items to recent fire victims who were left with nothing but ashes, the state of California can help you do so with a click of the mouse.
Alamo arrested in Arizona
Moments before FBI agents arrested evangelist Tony Alamo in Flagstaff, Ariz., Thursday, he completed an interview with The Signal.
Water retailer finds a 'hole new way to work
A local water retailer plans to make potholes, not fix them. And it's going to spend close to $50,000 for a special pothole-making machine. The good news is that the potholes promise to save Santa Clarita Valley residents thousands of dollars. "Normally, we'd have a crew of about five, roping off an area, bringing in a backhoe and digging a large hole to find a pipe, and that takes a lot of time," said Stephen ...
Saugus wells flowing again
Two formerly perchlorate-tainted Saugus wells shut down for more than a decade should be pumping fresh, clean drinking water for Santa Clarita rate payers this spring, local water officials said.
Locals gear up for ‘Great California Shakeout’
Lee Ryan will drop to the floor right there in the bread aisle of Ralph's if it means bringing attention to earthquake preparedness.
Students hope to solve water woes
A local scholarship program called the High School Water Challenge is not about swimming, diving or even getting wet.
The last piece of the water puzzle
Local water officials put the last piece of their overall water supply puzzle in place Monday when they agreed to replace the Sand Canyon Reservoir's dirt road with a paved one.
New faces on the Castaic council
Castaic residents saw the faces of their newly elected local representatives Wednesday when the results of the Nov. 8 town council election were announced.
Articles By Author - Jim Holt
Firefighters contain 10-acre brush fire north of Santa Clarita Valley
A boat-towing truck caught fire on Interstate 5 north of Castaic Sunday afternoon sparking a roadside brush fire, emergency response officials said.
Santa Clarita Sheriff's deputies make arrest at gunpoint
A man wanted for allegedly hitting a woman in Littlerock on Sunday was pulled over by local sheriff's deputies on Highway 14 and held at gunpoint near Newhall, according to deputies in both Santa Clarita and Palmdale.
CORRECTION: Meet the water board
During the three years the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District has wrestled with a less costly way to remove chloride from the Santa Clara River, the water quality board to which it answers has seen a shift in its makeup.
CORRECTION: Petition offers yet another chloride option
Santa Clarita Valley residents will have a chance to challenge a proposal to reduce salt in the Santa Clara River, even if such a plan is selected by local sanitation district officials and approved by regional water quality ones, The Signal has learned.
Newhall man pleads not guilty in Feb. Canyon Country condo attack
A Newhall man who allegedly attacked a woman in her garage in Canyon Country three months ago pleaded not guilty Thursday to four felony charges filed against him, a court official said.
UPDATE: Saugus man re-arrested in online dating scam
To more than half a dozen duped women he was a member of the Special Forces, a secret agent and a chef to celebrities.
Santa Clarita: No charges against dog owner who left Chihuahua in parked car for 6 hours
The owner of a dog that was left in a locked car parked in the Six Flags Magic Mountain Parking lot will not be charged, officials said.
Newhall man pleads not guilty in Canyon Country condo attack
A Newhall man who allegedly attacked a woman in her garage in Canyon Country three months ago pleaded not guilty today to four felony charges filed against him, a court official said.
UPDATE: Powerhouse Fire claimed 16 homes
Sixteen homes were burned to the ground in the Powerhouse Fire, officials said Wednesday, nothing that after six days of spreading and burning more than 32,000 acres the blaze seemed at last under control.
UPDATE: Man believed to have committed suicide near Gorman was 53-year-old Torrance resident
Investigators with the coroner's office have identified the body of a Torrance man found dead in a car near Gorman on Tuesday, a coroner's spokesman said Wednesday.
2 Powerhouse firefighters taken to hospital
Two of the more than 2,100 firefighters working to contain the Powerhouse Fire were airlifted to the hospital today afternoon where they will be treated for heat exhaustion, a fire official said.
Defendant pleads not guilty in 2011 Saugus murder
A Saugus man accused of strangling his girlfriend in 2011 pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a murder charge, a court official said.
Santa Clarita citizens voice concern about proposed chloride plans
Local sanitation officials held their fourth of six public hearings in Newhall Tuesday night in an effort to gauge which plan they should pursue in reducing the amount of chloride discharged into the Santa Clara River.
UPDATE: 'Chemical suicide' reported in Gorman
Fire officials were dispatched near Gorman Tuesday afternoon after a person apparently committed "chemical suicide" in a car, according to fire officials.
UPDATE: Powerhouse Fire heading into 'super dry' area
The Powerhouse Fire is heading northwest of Green Valley into a "super dry" mountainous area that hasn't burned since 1929, a U.S. Forest Service official said today.
