Real estate affiliates party it up

Dozens of Realtors and real estate affiliates put aside gloomy market conditions to celebrate new leadership on Friday in the Hyatt Valencia Grand Ballroom.

Raining gravy

A rainy forecast could bring flash floods and release gravy-like debris flows just in time for Thanksgiving, a weather service official said.

Fire victim phone number

California residents in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and Santa Barbara counties who had their homes damaged during the recent wildfires can register for federal and state disaster assistance and get claims help by calling 1-800-621-3362 (FEMA) (TTY 800-462-7585).

Missing boy found in home

Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's deputies didn't need to search long or far for a missing 4-year-old Saturday evening, a sheriff's officials said.

Reader Meter results, Sept. 15-23, 2008

Here are the results of The-Signal.com's latest Reader Meter poll. Signal online visitors cast a total of 452 votes from early evening, Sept. 15 to early afternoon, Sept. 23, 2008. Question: "Does the recent Metrolink crash make you afraid to take the train?" * Yes (171 votes) * No (265 votes) * Don't care (16 votes) Click here to vote in The-Signal.com's current Reader Meter poll.

News briefs

One arrested in iPod theft Alfredo Enriquez, 19, was arrested Friday after he allegedly stole an iPod from a Newhall man in Valencia. The man initialy refused demands by two men to hand over the MP3 player, but gave in after two more men joined in the intimidation, said Sgt. Darren Harris with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station. The theft is under investigation, and the other suspects are described as Hispanic males. Walk, or ...

A neighborly send-off

Nicholas Herrera deploys to Iraq next month, but before the 23-year-old Saugus resident left for his third tour of duty, his family and neighbors gave him a proper send off with a Saturday night block party.

Miss White goes to Washington

When June Bailey, a teacher at Charles Helmers Elementary School, needed to nominate a class leader for the People to People Student Leader program, one student immediately came to mind: Rachael White.

Bring back those positive feelings

Locals are coming together next month to focus on ability rather than disability. Congress designated October as National Disability Employment Awareness month, and to kick it off LETMESAIL will host "An Evening of Inspiration" at 7 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center on College of the Canyons' Valencia campus. Patrick Henry Hughes and Kathy Buckley will deliver messages of inspiration. A virtuoso musician and singer, Hughes plays in the University of ...

There's a new CEO in town

Santa Clarita's Child and Family Center board appointed Darrell Paulk as the new CEO to replace co-founder and longtime chief executive officer Liz Seipel.

Taking their pole positions

The last piece of the water puzzle

Local water officials put the last piece of their overall water supply puzzle in place Monday when they agreed to replace the Sand Canyon Reservoir's dirt road with a paved one.

Residents protest 'green' power lines

Second in a two-part series A row of towers topped with electrical transmission lines slashes through the hills above Mike Milligan's restaurant in the Angeles National Forest. The towers are visible from the back of Milligan's Cavi at The Big Oaks, but he says it's not those power lines that concern him. The restaurateur is bothered by the lines that Southern California Edison will soon install midway down the slope in Bouquet Canyon as part ...

Fight cancer with music

Local singer-songwriter Stephen Sorenson was recently diagnosed with liver cancer. The doctors gave him 12 months to live.

Flag football fun

This is the second year that LETMESAIL has teamed up with College of the Canyons.

Local business taking donations for USO care packages

Flair Cleaners, a family owned business with a location in Valencia, has launched its third annual Flair Care Package Drive in conjunction with the USO of Greater Los Angeles for care packages to be sent to troops.

Princess Cruises becomes commemorative partner for Vietnam anniversary

Princess Cruises held an event Thursday to honor veterans and note the company's selection as a commemorative partner in the nationwide effort to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War this year.

Women Empowerment Build slated for Saturday

The Santa Clarita and San Fernando charter of Habitat for Humanity will join in the 2013 Women Empowerment Build this Saturday, which will focus on female veterans and those who have experienced loss during wartime.

McKeon says Benghazi is not a political issue

Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, said Thursday that a recent series of controversial topics, such as the inquiry into a terrorist attack on a U.S. embassy in Libya and the investigation into why the Internal Revenue Service applied additional scrutiny to conservative groups, are dominating the discussion on Capitol Hill.

Pit bull attacks second dog in Sand Canyon

A roaming pit bull that ripped the leg off of a smaller dog in Canyon Country is expected to be humanely killed, a county official said Thursday.

UPDATE: Traffic collision blocks I-5 lanes nearly 3 hours

Two lanes of southbound Interstate 5 near Hasley Canyon Road were closed for almost three hours Thursday afternoon after two big rigs collided, blocking traffic and scattering debris in the area, a California Highway Patrol official said.

UPDATE: Hart district to appoint new board member

Members of the William S. Hart Union High School District board will appoint someone to replace former board member Paul Strickland, rather than holding a special election for the seat.

UPDATE: Fire burns 3,500 acres in Calif. national forest

FRAZIER PARK, Calif. (AP) - Cooler temperatures and lighter winds gave hundreds of firefighters a slight reprieve Thursday from a 3,500-acre wildfire that has blackened rugged terrain in the Los Padres National Forest.

Two Fox bills approved in Assembly

(SACRAMENTO) Assemblymember Steve Fox (D-Palmdale) today announced that Assembly Bills (AB) 588 and 631 were approved by the State Assembly with broad bipartisan support. The bills address protection of student athletes and enhance core education for children in juvenile court schools. Both measures passed by a margin of 70-0, and now advance to the Senate.

Mountain lion stuck in Calif aqueduct tranquilized

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) - Police say a young mountain lion that was trapped in an aqueduct near downtown Santa Cruz has been tranquilized.

UPDATE: Names of victim, suspect released in Acton homicide

Investigators probing a homicide in Acton have released the identities of the man who was shot and killed and the name of his alleged killer.

Acton-Agua Dulce district to vote on Einstein Academy charter tonight

Members of the Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District board will vote tonight on whether to approve two charter petitions that would allow the Albert Einstein Academy for Letters, Arts and Science to open two schools in the district next year.

Boydston challenges chloride data

Santa Clarita City Councilman TimBen Boydston called the whole issue of chloride cleanup a scam Wednesday night after local sanitation officials presented their plan for reducing how much of the salty compound the sanitation district discharges into the Santa Clara River.

Newhall woman faces murder charges in Arizona

A Newhall woman charged with two counts of second-degree murder in connection with a fatal 2011 crash near the Arizona state line that claimed the lives of two children goes on trial in Arizona this week, The Signal has learned.

Reward offered in case of anti-Semitic graffiti

Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of the vandals who defaced HOA complex structures with racist slogans and anti-Semitic symbols at a Saugus HOA.