Archive By Author - Jim Holt
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.
Ex-deputy sentenced on drug charge
An "aggressive" undercover probe by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department led to the arrest, conviction and sentencing of three people, including a former sheriff's deputy, trying to smuggle drugs into the North County Correctional Facility, a spokesman says.
Coastal domination
The board that decides the issue of chloride in the Santa Clara River includes two advocates of Ventura County strawberry farmers.
Water’s recycled future
In the wee early hours of any morning, as you drive along The Old Road near Magic Mountain by the Tournament Players Club Valencia golf course, you might see the sprinklers hard at work watering the 10th or 11th hole.
Fallen Marine Pfc. Jake Suter: On son’s birthday, a mother grieves
Fallen United States Marine Corps Pfc. Jake William Suter would have turned 19 today. Instead, the last day of July is shaping up to be one of the worst days his mother, Michelle Unthank, and his stepfather, Chris Unthank, could ever imagine having to face. "I'm lucky I have work to distract me," Chris Unthank said. His wife, sadly, is nowhere near as lucky. This past week, instead of stacking birthday presents, she had the ...
Rain keeps chloride level low
Chloride levels in the Santa Clara River have risen above the limit demanded by Ventura County farmers only once in the past six months - and then only by two milligrams per liter, a Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District official said Thursday.
Delayed, but not defused
Santa Clarita Valley sewer ratepayers will wind up spending more in the long run, despite a decision Tuesday night to delay rate-hike discussion until spring.
Salty talk stalls rate hike
The vote on a proposed sewer-rate hike was delayed until spring following a lengthy public hearing Tuesday night that drew complaints from residents.
Salty talks stall rate hike
The vote on a proposed sewer rate hike was delayed until spring following a lengthy public hearing Tuesday night that drew complaints from residents.
Articles By Author - Jim Holt
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.
