Archive By Author - Jim Holt
Water quality causes quite a buzz
Clean pre-softened water conveyed to 400 select homeowners in Copper Hill through an experimental process is drawing worldwide attention, says the man who brought the ground-breaking technology to the Santa Clarita Valley.
Las Lomas czar resigns
The man who tried to reshape the Santa Clarita Valley by building 5,500 homes into the hillside border with the San Fernando Valley now has other plans to develop local land.
TPC program remains intact
The membership program at Tournament Players Club at Valencia remains intact and unchanged following a ruling Friday by a bankruptcy court judge in Delaware.
Why it's taken so long
Road work on Magic Mountain Parkway at Interstate 5 will finish four months ahead of schedule, city engineers said.
HOA asked to stop killing squirrels
How to get rid of a growing population of ground squirrels is dividing a manicured Canyon Country community.
Housing project put on hold
Canyon Country residents expecting a school, a fire station and sheriff's sub-station - along with close to 500 new homes - in the proposed Spring Canyon development are going to have to wait.
Sheriff's sleuths getting some help
Local CSI detectives will get some crime-fighting training that might make their TV counterparts green with envy.
Bleak houses, hard times
Part two of a two part series: Streets in Stevenson Ranch will be darker and bleaker this Christmas.
Game over for golf club?
Dr. Mehran Abbassian is a dentist when he's not golfing. He bought a house in West Ridge, next to the Tournament Players Club at Valencia. He also made sure it was near his work. Dr. Mehran Abbassian is a golfer when he's not fixing people's teeth. "The reason I moved there is because I love golf," he said. If he walks to work, his five-minute morning commute takes him on foot across the golf course ...
Alleged I.D. thief in court today
A man charged with four theft-related felonies for allegedly using his girlfriend's credit card to run up thousands of dollars in purchases was expected to appear in court today.
No money but lots of fineries
Golfers are back on the green at Tournament Players Club at Valencia following a couple of weeks of necessary seeding.
Bailout cash comes home to SCV
Part of the federal government's $300 billion housing market repair package is trickling down to foreclosed homes in the Santa Clarita Valley's unincorporated areas, but local social workers fear it's not enough.
Players Club in bankruptcy
In these times of big bailouts and bankruptcies, it's hard to make par. For the Tournament Players Club at Valencia golf course it means delivering a high standard of quality at the front door while coping with bankruptcy issues unfolding in the back room. Ever since 16-time PGA Tour event winner Mark O'Meara smashed the first golf ball off the tee on June 26, 2003, TPC at Valencia became the anchor of the West Ridge ...
‘Troops’ honor Henderson
In life, he always put his "troops" first. At the end of his life, the "troops" put Sgt. Archibald "Archie" E. Henderson Jr. first. On Wednesday morning, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department motorcade slowly wound its way through Santa Clarita, from one end of the city to the other, in a line of black-and-white patrol cars almost a half-mile long. More than 200 people, all but a few of them sheriff's deputies wearing green ...
SCV a soft-water test zone
Just call the Santa Clarita Valley green and salt-free. By endorsing Measure S in November's election, the valley is the first community in California to ban salt-rendering water softeners. It is now the testing ground for the next generation of water softeners after pioneering a move to stop water-softener-rendered salt from ending up in the Santa Clara River. "Santa Clarita is in a very unique position compared to the rest of California," said Paul Martyn, ...
Articles By Author - Jim Holt
Is 'blond scammer' crime spree related to others?
Detectives in four jurisdictions are scrutinizing the actions of a woman suspected of being the so-called "blond scammer" - a woman believed at the center of a ring that stole wallets from shopping carts and impersonated credit card holders to obtain cash or expensive jewelry.
West Ranch: 1 student taken to hospital, 1 girl in custody in alleged pot-laced cookie case
A West Ranch High School student was treated at the local hospital Thursday after another girl allegedly gave her pot-laced cookies to eat, a sheriff's official said.
UPDATE: Red flag warnings issued for fire danger
High winds triggered local house alarms and fanned the flames of a brush fire in the Newhall Pass Thursday as the National Weather Service called a red flag warning for the Santa Clarita Valley and other areas in Los Angeles County.
Daughter pleads not guilty in mother’s slaying
A former Saugus High School student accused of killing her mother pleaded not guilty Thursday to a felony charge of first-degree murder, a court official said.
Preliminary hearing set for Castaic man in bar beating case
A preliminary hearing was set Wednesday for a Castaic man charged with attempted murder after he allegedly beat a disabled man with a "mini baseball bat" inside a Sunland bar last month, a court official said.
Jury trial scheduled in Agua Dulce assault, kidnap case
Two men charged in the alleged beating and abduction of an Agua Dulce woman last fall and with the alleged attempted kidnapping of her adult son will be tried by a jury next month, an assistant district attorney said.
Report: Agua Dulce driver in fatal crash was 3 times legal limit
An Agua Dulce man killed in a January head-on crash that left another man still recovering from injuries was three times over California's legal blood alcohol limit, a coroner's report shows.
Valencia: Two injured, including SCV Sheriff’s deputy, in crash
Two people, including a local sheriff's deputy, were taken to the hospital today following a two-car crash on Copper Hill Drive, a sheriff's spokesman said.
Probation ordered in car crash that killed woman
A 20-year-old Turkish man charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter for a car crash that killed a young Turkish woman last summer pleaded no contest Monday and was placed on three years' probation, a District Attorney spokeswoman said.
Woman pleads no contest to charges in ‘blond scammer’ ring
The ringleader in the so-called "blond scammer" case was sentenced to three years in prison Monday after pleading no contest to a charge of identity theft, a court clerk said.
UPDATE: At least 2 injured in Valencia crash
Six cars piled up in the eastbound lanes of Newhall Ranch Road in Valencia on Monday, injuring at least two people.
UPDATE: Boston Marathon runners with SCV connection shaken by experience
At least 15 Santa Clarita Valley marathon runners competing in Monday's death-marred Boston Marathon - including a 70-year-old pulled from the course half a mile before the finish line - are OK today but weighing the severity of the deadly incident, according to family, friends and at least one competing runner.
Fingers may point to identity of 'mummified' body
Investigators with the county coroner's office hope "re-hydrated" fingers will identify a Hispanic woman whose body was found "mummified" in a tarp and dumped at the side of San Francisquito Canyon Road last week.
'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.
