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.

Arrests: Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, May 13, 2013

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UPDATES: Biking activities take center stage in Santa Clarita Valley

You might call today the kick-off of Bicycle Week in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Insanity plea by Holmes holds risks for both sides

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) - One of James Holmes' lawyers asked a judge on Monday to change his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity in the Colorado theater shootings. Such a plea is seen as his best hope of avoiding the death penalty in the killings of 12 people at a packed midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora. Changing the plea still carries risks for Holmes but moving in that direction ...

Smoke from controlled burn alarms Castaic residents

Smoke from a controlled burn near Hasley Canyon alarmed some Castaic residents this morning, a Fire Department spokesman said.

City budget projected to be slightly smaller than last year

Even as state and national economic conditions continue to improve, Santa Clarita's proposed budget for next year will actually shrink a bit, City Manager Ken Striplin said at a recent budget study session.

Homeowners face challenges from high-speed rail project

While the planned California high-speed rail isn't expected to arrive in the Santa Clarita Valley for 20 to 30 years, homeowners are already being held hostage to what some call a boondoggle and others say is a step into the modern transportation era for the state, some local residents say.

Kids and youth compete in the Antelope Valley Youth Rodeo Association Junior Rodeo

About 90 contestants raced, roped and rode in the Antelope Valley Youth Rodeo Association Junoir Rodeo on Sunday at JPK Arena in Agua Dulce.

Babies and parents celebrate Henry Mayo NICU’s first birthday

Graduation season has begun in the Santa Clarita Valley, but one recent ceremony was unique: all the graduates arrived in diapers.

Road closures for Amgen

Family, friends gather to honor crash victim

Blast to the past at Placerita Canyon nature Center's Open House

Outdoor fire in Castaic spreads to house

An outdoor fire around supper time Saturday ended up spreading to a house, emergency response officials said.

Chloride options: Pay up or pay up

Nearly everyone who flushes a toilet or does a load of laundry in the Santa Clarita Valley faces a complicated and costly problem over the issue of chloride contamination ­- and, according to sanitation officials, it's a problem that's not going to go away.

Real Life Church opens community center

Real Life Church has opened "Savia," a 23,600 square foot community center in Newhall, Real Life Church spent more than a year finishing the interior of a vacant building in the Stagecoach Plaza retail center on Newhall Avenue that was originally slated for a grocery store.

Coyotes are threat at local park

A coyote snatched a dog from a girl's arms in Valencia Summit Park, where sheriff's deputies and animal control workers responded Friday on a report of a jogger chased by a coyote, officials confirmed.