Defense funds may flow to SCV

Aiming to address the readiness of and strain on America's military, both the House and Senate are considering the National Defense Authorization Act today, which may bring more than $7 million in defense spending to the Santa Clarita Valley for Fiscal Year 2009. The House of Representatives' Armed Services Committee considered the bill last week, and it is on the legislative docket for a vote in the lower house today. Debate on the bill began Wednesday night.

Supervisors approve Sheriff academy probe

You can expect to hear plenty of grunting from inside the College of the Canyons gymnasium this summer as young recruits continue training for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, despite a call this week for a formal review of the training that goes on there and at other academies. What you won't see at the academy, however, are recruits adjusting their hair in the mirror or practising their smiles for TV cameras.

3 arrested for bat attack

Three boys were arrested after they allegedly conspired to assault a fellow Valencia High School student and assaulted him with an aluminum baseball bat after school on Tuesday, sheriff's Lt. Tom Bryski said. The attack took place shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Newhall Ranch Road and Dickason Drive, when a 16-year-old suspect allegedly spouted a racial comment and a gang name and then hit the victim on his head with the bat.

Castaic Lake Water Agency approves camera installation

If anyone should actually ever attend a water meeting they can expect to be videotaped. The Finance and Administrative Committee of the Castaic Lake Water Agency is going to recommend the agency's board of directors hire a video company to install cameras at four agency locations at a total cost of $330,000.

Applications available for July 4th parade

Applications are now available for the 77th annual Santa Clarita Fourth of July Parade in downtown Newhall. The parade attracts more than 3,000 participants and 25,000 spectators each year.

Mixed reactions to budget revisions

After educators, parents and teachers urged him to spare education from across-the-board budget cuts, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled a revised budget plan last week, calling for borrowing against future lottery sales in order to maintain minimum funding levels for K-14 education. The announcement of the revised budget coincided with California's "Day of the Teacher." "The good part about the revise is that the governor is looking to fully fund Proposition 98," said Assemblyman Cameron Smyth. ...

Rides to a transitional care unit offered

The city and county will soon be offering transportation for families with patients staying at a San Fernando Valley skilled nursing facility in response to fears that the closure of the local transitional care unit will mean frequent trips outside of Santa Clarita to visit their loved ones. The transitional care unit at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital is set to close within two weeks and, although plans are in the works for a health ...

UPDATED: Winds fan fire in San Francisquito Canyon

Firefighters rushed to contain a 15-acre brush fire burning in the U.S. National Forest, north of the Santa Clarita Valley and south of Elizabeth Lake on San Francisquito Canyon Road near Powerhouse Lateral 14 this afternoon.

Northbound on I-5? Leave early

An ongoing lane closure on northbound Interstate 5 at Templin Highway, approximately five miles north of Castaic, may make the holiday getaway take a bit longer for some drivers this Memorial Day weekend.

60-foot tree collapses on car

Commuters travelling on Arroyo Park Drive in Valencia had a difficult time trying to access McBean Parkway Wednesday afternoon, after high winds forced a 60-foot eucalyptus tree to be uprooted from the ground and blocked the road shortly after 2 p.m.

Mom graduates after 17 years of night classes

When Jillian Griffith discovered she was pregnant two months after starting college, she knew that getting her degree was going to be more of a challenge, but after more than 17 years of night classes Griffith will graduate Thursday on her oldest daughter's 17th birthday. "The fact that her birthday is the same day as graduation day, I feel like my life has come full circle," said Griffith, 36, of Valencia. "My goal was to ...

Firefighters train at Disney Ranch

With hot temperatures and vast amounts of rugged terrain and dry brush, fires are a constant threat in the Santa Clarita Valley, especially in the summer months. Firefighters help combat that threat. Yet to ensure that they are able to keep the public safe while fighting a blaze, firefighters from the state, county and city fire departments constantly train together to streamline communications and operations. On Monday, three firefighting agencies trained at Placerita Canyon's Disney ...

Free child ID kits offered

The Newhall Community Center is offering free child identification kits through May 31 to give local parents the tools they would need if their children were to ever go missing. As part of National Missing Children's Day, the Santa Clarita-based Mothers Against Sexual Predators of California is now providing the community center with identification kits containing fingerprinting materials, a place to keep a current photograph of their child and a place to record distinctive characteristics ...

500k people in the SCV?

If you ever get frustrated driving across McBean Parkway at rush hour and wonder just how big Santa Clarita Valley will likely get, city planners have the answer. Take all the people in Santa Clarita Valley and double that number - that's the biggest Santa Clarita Valley will ever get, they say.

Planners to discuss pending projects

Santa Clarita city officials are scheduled to give a presentation on all of the development projects currently proposed in and around the city at a Canyon Country Advisory Committee meeting on Wednesday.

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.

Suppliers during 2000 energy crisis face billion-dollar refund

SAN FRANCISCO, February 19, 2013 - The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today said that an Administrative Law Judge at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last Friday issued a sweeping "initial decision" finding more than a dozen electricity wholesalers guilty of market manipulation in the summer of 2000, when California suffered the highest electricity prices in history. If the Administrative Law Judge's decision is adopted by FERC, the sellers will face a collective refund ...

Bi-partisan bill by State Senators to require prevailing wage jobs in California charter cities

(Sacramento) – Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Senator Anthony Cannella (R-Ceres) will co-author a measure on prevailing wage to increase middle-class jobs, sustain a skilled workforce, and ensure cost efficient and high quality public works projects. Senate Bill 7 would make charter cities eligible to receive or use state funds for a public works project only if the city has a policy of requiring contractors on all its municipal projects to comply ...

LAPD chief: Review of Dorner firing under way

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck says the review of ex-officer Christopher Dorner's firing is under way, but it's too early to comment on the re-examination.

UPDATE: Storm due to hit SCV overnight

Santa Clarita Valley residents will be asleep for most of the latest winter storm expected to hit our area, a spokesman for the National Weather Service said today.

"Every 15 Minutes" program planned for Hart High School

On Thursday, February 21st 2013, the City of Santa Clarita, the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station and Hart High School officials will join in partnership to conduct the Every 15 Minutes program at Hart High School.

Today in the SCV: Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013

Today is Tuesday, Feb. 19, the 50th day of 2013. There are 315 days left in the year.

Helmet saves a life

HOA still recovering months after paint crime

Vandals who hopped a North Valencia HOA pool fence last summer and dumped seven gallons of paint into the pool and hot tub, causing more than $300,000 damage, are still at large.

Storm expected; local snow level to be low

A very cold upper-level low pressure system originating from the Gulf of Alaska is predicted to bring thunderstorms, snow, hail and rain to Southern California on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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.

Clothes for a cause

Santa Clarita Valley fashion icon Margo Hudson has a new mission in life: clothes for a cause.

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.