Archive By Author - Jim Holt
In spite of sprawl, a tiny fish fights to survive
The unarmored three-spine stickleback is one tough little prickly survivor. As a freshwater fish the size of a minnow, fighting for its life in a quasi-desert terrain, the stickleback has survived every single major drought since the glaciers from the most recent ice age melted about 10,000 years ago and has managed to dodge every predator two to 10 times its size. It survived the dustbowl days of the "Dirty Thirties" and it outlasted Southern ...
Sun shines on Devil’s Den
While Devil's Den may sound like an ominous and scary place, local water officials want to turn the Kern County water outpost into a green and sustainable, solar-powered, money-making enterprise.
VIDEO UPDATE: Bailout package not that stimulating
President Barack Obama's $819 billion stimulus bill approved Wednesday by the Democrat-controlled House might be historic, but it won't create the jobs most people think it will, says Congressman Howard "Buck" McKeon.
Leasing company wants golf equipment returned from TPC
Two firms that lease equipment to the Tournament Players Club are seeking the return of their golf carts and course-trimming machines because they haven't received payment.
Local nurses do not want merit pay system
Local registered nurses held a candlelight vigil outside Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital Wednesday as a show of solidarity on the only sticky issue of ongoing contract negotiations - performance-based pay.
Agency wins award
In hockey it's a called a hat trick. For the Castaic Lake Water Agency it's the third consecutive national award for having prepared an exceptional budget. Valerie L. Pryor, the agency's Administrative Services Manager, and Controller Carlos V. Corrales, are credited with winning a national award for the agency from the Government Finance Officers Association for their exceptional budget. "It took a few years of hard work to achieve this," Pryor said. The finance officers ...
Sanitation officials plan to halt salt sales
In their ongoing effort to put the Santa Clara River on a salt-free diet, sanitation officials plan to stop the sale of salt at local hardware stores.
Prosecution sets sights on Arriano
Attorneys continued their prosecution Friday against 29-year-old Adrian Guadalupe Arriano, an undocumented immigrant who is accused of raping two women and attempting to rape a third in Santa Clarita. Arriano is expected back in San Fernando Superior Court Tuesday when prosecution testimony resumes.
Bill changes could leave more kids uninsured
About 20,000 underprivileged children in the 25th Congressional district, including some in the Santa Clarita Valley, are being deprived of the health care promised in a program set up more than a decade ago, Congressman Howard "Buck" McKeon said Friday.
Rain makes tough driving in SCV
Rain-soaked streets in and around Santa Clarita Valley contributed to almost an accident an hour Friday.
Water officials investing $100 million
Local water officials want to find new ways of safely investing more than $100 million. This week, members of the Castaic Lake Water Agency's Finance and Administration Committee recommended the board revise its policy on how to invest $100 million in its general agency fund. They want the board to hire a private company to deposit several large sums of the agency's money in several banks, in an effort to guarantee it's all insured. "First ...
Pedophile Jack McClellan loses appeal
A self-proclaimed pedophile who promised to return to Santa Clarita Valley to watch young girls in public areas has lost his appeal of a statewide ban keeping him away from children.
Locals clean up to save condors
Katherine Squires picked a shard of green glass from the dirt and showed it to her sister, Caroline.
UPDATED: Officials hope to breathe life back into Las Lomas
Las Lomas Land Company, LLC company lawyers announced Friday they will appeal a Superior Court ruling that snuffed construction of 5,500 houses into the hilly terrain that straddles the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys.
Las Lomas appeals court ruling
The Las Lomas Land Company, LLC announced today it will appeal a Superior Court ruling last month dismissing its lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles.
Articles By Author - Jim Holt
Saugus: HOA structures vandalized with anti-Semitic symbols
Vandals defaced HOA complex structures with racist slogans and anti-Semitic symbols during the weekend in Saugus, prompting a probe by local sheriff's detectives, a manager for the property said Monday.
Smoke from controlled burn alarms Castaic residents
Smoke from a controlled burn near Hasley Canyon alarmed some Castaic residents this morning, a Fire Department spokesman said.
Family, friends gather to honor crash victim
Blast to the past at Placerita Canyon nature Center's Open House
Outdoor fire in Castaic spreads to house
An outdoor fire around supper time Saturday ended up spreading to a house, emergency response officials said.
Chloride options: Pay up or pay up
Nearly everyone who flushes a toilet or does a load of laundry in the Santa Clarita Valley faces a complicated and costly problem over the issue of chloride contamination ­- and, according to sanitation officials, it's a problem that's not going to go away.
Coyotes are threat at local park
A coyote snatched a dog from a girl's arms in Valencia Summit Park, where sheriff's deputies and animal control workers responded Friday on a report of a jogger chased by a coyote, officials confirmed.
UPDATE: Coyotes snatch dog, confront person at Valencia park
A coyote snatched a dog from a girl's arms in Valencia Summit Park, where sheriff's deputies and animal control workers responded Friday on a report of a jogger chased by a coyote, officials confirmed.
Calif. PUC looking into Valencia Water Company purchase
The California Public Utilities Commission has opened an investigation into Castaic Lake Water Agency's purchase of the Valencia Water Company.
Valencia: SCV Sheriff’s deputies bust suspected meth-dealing operation
Local drug squad deputies disrupted a meth-dealing operation in a Valencia neighborhood this week with the arrest of one man charged with possessing a controlled substance for sale, court documents show.
Santa Clarita mayor sees ‘definitive year’ on two major city issues
This year will be the "definitive year" for chloride and Cemex - two of the weightiest issues vexing residents in the Santa Clarita Valley, said Santa Clarita Mayor Bob Kellar during a town hall meeting Wednesday night.
Memorial service for Brittany Schlumpberger scheduled Saturday
Parents of a popular woman killed in a single-car crash on Sand Canyon Road last week are inviting the public to join them Saturday in paying tribute to their daughter, Brittany Schlumpberger.
Newhall man gets 2 years in death of woman
A 68-year-old Newhall man who left the scene of a fatal accident in Valencia more than a year ago has been sentenced to two years in jail, a court clerk said.
2 suspected gang members arrested on weapons charge
California Highway Patrol officers arrested two women, identified as convicted felons and suspected gang members, for allegedly having a firearm in their possession, court papers showed Wednesday.
Saugus residents oppose registered sex offender’s return
A registered sex offender recently released from a jail sentence for previously violating his parole is back in the same neighborhood where he lived when he committed those violations, and neighbors are protesting.
