Natural-gas lines under scrutiny

Could the Santa Clarita Valley fall victim to a massive natural gas explosion like the one that killed four people in San Bruno last week? That's what The Signal asked investigators still trying to figure out what happened in the disaster near San Francisco. The answer, as it happens, is uncertain. While natural gas pipes do run beneath the Santa Clarita Valley, experts still weren't sure what caused the blast in San Bruno. Peter Knudson, ...

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 ...

Non Non Non

Employees of a Stevenson Ranch cellphone store found it easy to describe the man who ripped a demonstration iPhone off its stand in October and ran out the door.

Waiting for answers

A Las Vegas man is waiting to hear from local investigators about the traffic collision that claimed the life of his daughter three weeks ago, he said Thursday.

Boy injured in bicycle collision remains hospitalized

A 15-year-old boy injured a week ago when his bicycle and an SUV collided on a Valencia street remains in the hospital, a local sheriff's deputy said this week.

Funeral scheduled March 2 for slain educator

Funeral arrangements for a former Santa Clarita Valley high school educator shot and killed in Woodland Hills on Valentine's Day are to be held in Pasadena, two of the victim's daughters said Thursday.

Hearing due to begin Monday in Sand Canyon street racing case

A preliminary hearing is expected to get under way Monday for two men described as street racers charged with murder in a fatal crash that killed a friend, a court clerk said Thursday.

Wind will die down but temps to rise

Winds are expected to ease off in the Santa Clarita Valley today following a day of high winds that caused some damage.

Granada Hills man sentenced in local forgery attempt

A 52-year-old Granada Hills man charged with trying to cash a forged check at a Valencia bank in January is now serving a three-year sentence.

SCV deputies chase down, capture burglary suspect

Jumping over fences, Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's deputies chased down and captured a burglary suspect Wednesday in Canyon Country.

Former SCV family mourns murdered mother

The children of a former Valencia High School educator shot and killed in Woodland Hills on Valentine's Day are struggling with "the worst thing" imaginable as they make funeral arrangements for their mother.

Pilot’s license suspended twice in past 10 years

A veteran Hollywood stunt helicopter pilot killed in a chopper crash in Acton earlier this month had his flying license suspended twice in the last 10 years, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said Tuesday.

Local educator found slain on Valentine's Day

A former Valencia High School educator was shot and killed in Woodland Hills on Valentine's Day and her daughter arrested in Oregon eight hours after the body was discovered, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

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.