The Signal.com's Daybreak: April 15, 2009

Hello, Santa Clarita Valley! Welcome to The-Signal.com's Daybreak, your point of entry for the day, and a quick journey through the past, present and future. Let the adventure begin:

Hart singers compete in Orlando

On March 12, Hart High School Show Choirs' advanced groups, Sound Vibes and Hartbreakers, traveled to Orlando, Fla. to compete against the top choirs from across the country. Two other groups - Sweethearts and Hart and Soul - took their annual trip at the end of March to Disneyland for two nights and performed for the first time at California Adventure.

West Ranch junior chosen for Girls State

From written to spoken word, Hannah Langley has no problem expressing herself. That's at least partly why Langley, 17, a junior at West Ranch High School, was selected as the 2009 Girls State Representative to represent the school at the annual Girls State conference to be held at Pitzer College in Claremont this summer. Girls State, a program offered by the American Legion Auxillary, is a nonpartisan program that teaches young women responsible citizenship and ...

Santa Clarita PAC names literary scholarship winners

Three local high school students were awarded scholarships today for their performances in the Literature to Life essay contest, sponsored by the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center at College of the Canyons.

Join a pro-gun group

I would like to mention that the best pro-gun organizations to join and support are the John Birch Society, at jbs.org, Gun Owners of America or Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. All these groups are on the Internet.

Mideast policy

With the sixth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq just passed, please remind your readers that the debate about the U.S.-Iraq policy should not just be whether U.S. troops should stay or leave.

Gary Horton: Tea Partiers, freedom isn’t actually free

Immediately after the launch of George W. Bush's Iraq War II, war boosting bumper stickers appeared on cars like so many Lakers Flags during NBA playoff season.

'Relay for Life' team captains run to April 21 meeting

Captains organizing teams for the American Cancer Society's "SCV Relay For Life" and those interested in forming a walking team for the 24-hour event this spring are invited to a team captain meeting 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, at North Park Elementary School, 23335 Sunset Hills Dr., Valencia.

Relay for Life deadline races closer

Businesses interested in supporting the American Cancer Society's 2009 SCV Relay For Life with an ad in the official program have until Friday, April 24, to order their ad and send in ad copy.

Blue Star military moms host ‘Casino Night’ fundraiser

SCV Blue Star Mothers Chapter #91 hosts a "Casino Night" fundraiser at the Newhall American Legion Hall on Saturday. April 18 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Supervisors vote to ask for Japanese-American WWII stamp

LOS ANGELES COUNTY - To honor the sacrifice and patriotism of the Japanese-American soldiers who served in the United States Armed Forces during World War II, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion by Supervisor Antonovich to send a five-signature letter to the United States Postmaster General in support of a Japanese-American World War II commemorative stamp. "Despite President Franklin Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, relegating their families, friends and colleagues to ...

COC students explore Argentina

Gathered around a television set at the U.S. Embassy in Argentina, a group of College of the Canyons students watched as President Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. "We stood together and sang 'The Star-Spangled Banner,'" remembers Diane Raines, a nursing student who was on the trip. "I have never felt more proud to be an American."

Essay winners flying high with PAC scholarships

Officials at the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center at College of the Canyons (PAC) have announced the three scholarship winners of the college's Literature to Life essay contest focusing on Khalid Hosseini's best-selling novel "The Kite Runner."

Autism awareness campaign begins

The Help Group, the nation's largest and most comprehensive nonprofit of its kind serving children with autism and other special needs, recently launched its annual California public awareness and education campaign in recognition of National Autism Awareness Month.

SCV Sheriff's Station captain gives props to public dispatchers

April 12 through April 18, 2009 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. Public service and safety entities from all over the united states are participating in this recognition week in an effort to outwardly show appreciation for all the men and women who serve as public safety dispatchers.

LA council to vote on banning plastic bags

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles may be joining the battle against the bag.

Port of LA unveils plan for marine research center

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles port officials on Monday unveiled plans to create a $500 million marine research center called AltaSea.

Bieber's car hits photographer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Video shows Justin Bieber running into a photographer with his white Ferrari in Hollywood, but police say there was no crime and the injuries aren't life-threatening.

Serial murder suspect delivers opening remarks

SAN RAFAEL (AP) - Serial murder suspect Joseph Naso delivered an hours-long personal history Monday replete with childhood photos, as he launched his defense, denied the decades-old slayings of four women and claimed he is not the "monster" prosecutors have made him out to be.

Obama: NSA secret data gathering 'transparent'

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama defended top secret National Security Agency spying programs as legal in a lengthy interview Monday, and called them transparent - even though they are authorized in secret.

N. Calif. wildfire brings evacuation of 150 homes

MARIPOSA (AP) - A wind-whipped wildfire near the main route into Yosemite National Park in the Sierra foothills forced the evacuation of at least 150 houses Monday and was threatening more, state fire officials said.

Will Durst: Your ever-vigilant friends at the NSA

Dear U.S. Citizen,

Charlie Vignola: Giving up freedom and privacy for security

Two weeks have gone by since Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old computer tech working as an NSA contractor, leaked information about classified government information to the press, effectively exposing top secret programs designed to combat terrorism and save American lives.

John Rosemond: Living with Children

If my parents told me once, they told me at least one hundred times, "Don't talk to anyone about their religious or political beliefs." They meant, of course, that those topics are likely to generate tension and angry conflict. As such, they were not the stuff of polite social conversation. Notwithstanding the fact that I find religion and politics to be the two most interesting of all conversational topics, a third caution should be added ...

4 Saugus board members’ behavior professional during censure meeting

Where’s our raises, City Council?

I have lived in Santa Clarita since 1963, paying my taxes, gas bills, etc. myself. I and many others are on Social Security.

Sexual Assaults in the Military

The Senate Armed Services Committee is investigating an alarming Pentagon survey which revealed over 26,000 sexual assaults in our military ranks last year.

UPDATE: Suspected wrong-way driver arrested after multiple-car pileup on 14

By Signal Staff

Bruins beat Blackhawks 2-0, lead Cup finals 2-1

BOSTON (AP) - Tuukka Rask shut out the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals on Monday night and got enough help from the Bruins' offense to do it without another exhausting overtime.

Man arrested a month ago awaiting arraignment

A man charged with murder in an Acton shooting has yet to be arraigned and no prosecutor has been assigned to the case a month after his arrest, a court official said Monday.