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Today in S.C.V. History December 28
2011 - John Ford's 1924 "The Iron Horse," filmed in SCV, added to Library of Congress' National Film Registry [story]
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Latest Additions to SCVNews.com
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2011 - John Ford's 1924 "The Iron Horse," filmed in SCV, added to Library of Congress' National Film Registry [story]
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The California Highway Patrol has announced that all lanes of the Interstate 5 freeway in the Castaic area have been shut down in both directions to a possible ruptured gas line.
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At this time last year, we had no idea what changes and challenges 2025 would have in store. What I did know, and what this year reaffirmed, is that whatever 2025 brought our way, we’d get through it together.
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The National Weather Service reports that the Santa Clarita Valley was drenched with nearly nine inches of rain from the atmospheric river that brought a soggy Christmas week to most of California.
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The city of Santa Clarita is seeking five artists to create artwork on five 60-inches by 60-inches canvases that will be featured above the Valencia Library Branch's children's area for two years, May 18, 2026 through May 23, 2028.
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During the 2025 Christmas Holiday Enforcement Period, California Highway Patrol officers were on duty across the state, responding not only to enforcement needs but also to significant winter weather impacts, including snow, flooding and mudslides.
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Bring passport applications and all required documents to the Passport Community Fair, 1-5:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9 at the Old Town Newhall Library.
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The city of Santa Clarita has issued a traffic alert for Sand Canyon Road.
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Property Management Professionals will hold its grand opening and ribbon cutting 4-4:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29 at 25124 Springfield Court #220, Valencia, CA 91355.
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The California Highway Patrol is highlighting new public safety laws passed during this year’s legislative session and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom that, unless otherwise stated, take effect Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026.
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Kaiser Permanente has awarded a $12,000 Community Health Grant to Bridge to Home to help address homelessness in the Santa Clarita Valley.
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Boys and girls Foothill League soccer teams have been on holiday schedule this past week, with some teams taking time off and others playing non-league matches. Consequently, league standings haven’t changed much.
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College of the Canyons women's basketball notched another mark in the win column, as the Cougars were able to stack a second straight road victory 54-46 at Oxnard College on Wednesday, Dec. 17.
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1873 - Vasquez gang raids Kingston in (now) Kings County; ties up townspeople, makes off with $2,500 in cash and jewels [story]
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The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station has issued the following traffic alerts: Due to heavy rains, the westbound right lane is closed on Soledad Canyon Road between Camp Plenty Road and Langside Avenue.
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Fostering Youth Independence’s recent Charlie Brown Holiday party was attended by dozens of local foster youth and their volunteer Allies.
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The National Weather Service as issued the following alerts for the Santa Clarita Valley. Flood Watch until Dec. 26, 4 p.m. PST, High Wind Warning until Dec. 25, 3 p.m. PST.
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Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger is urging residents to remain vigilant as a powerful storm system moves through Los Angeles County, bringing periods of heavy rain and rapidly changing conditions.
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Thirteen suspects were arrested, and more than $800,000 in stolen merchandise was recovered following a coordinated, multi-agency operation targeting an organized retail theft network operating across Northern California.
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The California State Transportation Agency today announced a new joint effort by two of its departments, the Department of Motor Vehicles and California Highway Patrol, to curb excessive speeding and prevent deadly crashes.
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The city of Santa Clarita invites the community to heat up the holiday season at the Holiday Spice Salsa Edition on Saturday, Dec. 27, at the Canyon Country Community Center, located at 18410 Sierra Highway Santa Clarita, CA 91351.
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1965 - Signal newspaper owner Scott Newhall shows up for a duel (of words) with rival Canyon Country newspaper publisher Art Evans, who no-shows and folds his paper soon after [story]
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17 Comments
Thanks so much for this article Leon, it is an apt comparison! I also wanted to let you know about our new website and facebook page that is working to address our problems with the landfill.
http://www.chiquitalandfill.net
and on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/C4CCLC
We are a group of individuals who are dedicated to upholding the safety of individuals (past, present, and future) impacted by the Chiquita Canyon Landfill. And this means more than just Val Verde!
Beautifully written. Thank you for so much for listening to us here in Val Verde.
Very well said. The truth is the truth.
Thank you for writing about the Chiquita Canyon Landfill Expansion and our battle with not one, but two giants.
Greg
Mr. Worden, thank you for your comparison’s. Absolutely the truth. Godzilla vs. Mothra made me laugh at a very serious topic. You have stated everything we have been saying for a while.
Thank you, Mr. Worden!
Unbelieveable. We don’t need it, we don’t want it. Every community should take care of their own trash and be trash wise…no plastic bags, recycle everything, and compost. We’d all be a lot healthier without CEMEX and Chiquita. Thanks, Leon.
I can’t thank you enough Mr. Worden for writing this great article! So much is trying to just get shoved through…and it is an issue the whole SCV community will get impacted by. The expansion will be to the south and and the east where the ridge is the lowest and in the landfill presentation they even showed image of how you will be able to see a good 100 feet of the top of the expanded landfill. Nothing will separate the landfill from the Valencia Commerce Center, Post Office, Hasley Hills, SCVi, Live Oak, and the numerous restaurants and businesses currently operating there.
Let’s not even get started on how much is projected to be developed on the south and southwest of the dump in the Newhall development. The landfill will literally be surrounded by residences and businesses. This will be disastrous on some many levels to so many lives.
So really, thank you for shining a light on this situation when other news media outlets just re-word a press release for the expansion.
The figure of 20% of the trash is repeated, however, less than 10% of the refuse at the landfill originates from the SCV.
(The SWIMS reports have an accounting of this. See page 27 of the below link)
http://dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/swims/ShowDoc.aspx?id=391&hp=yes&type=PDF
In addition, the landfill had 3.97 million tons remaining in their contract on December of 2012. At present, they are averaging an intake of 1.1 to 1.2 million tons per year. If you do the math, you can see that they are very close to reaching the 23 million ton limit.
Here is a link to the tonnage report:
http://dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/swims/reports/previews/Report%2039.pdf
Hi Sara! The 20 percent “at most” figure is merely intended to avoid making a misstatement. You’re right, it could be considerably less. But from the state of California’s “waste origin” report, it’s impossible to calculate the exact amount. That’s because the amount generated within the city of Santa Clarita that went into Chiquita in 2013 (132,297 tons of a total 1,029,327 tons, or 12.85 percent) is one figure; but then you have to add in the unincorporated SCV — and that figure is not given. Only the total for all of unincorporated Los Angeles County at Chiquita (63,881 tons) is given. But again, you’re right: If every single ton of unincorporated trash at Chiquita comes from the SCV, the combined total in 2013 (city+unincorporated) is 19.05 percent. The fact is, the Santa Clarita Valley generated somewhere between 12.85 percent and 19.05 percent of the trash that went into Chiquita in 2013. Perhaps instead of saying 20 percent “at most” we should say “less than 20 percent.”
Here is the state report => http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/ChiquitaSourceReport2013.pdf
Thank you so much for writing this article. Honestly I am so emotional about this issue. We live here in Val Verde and feel so alone in our fight. I pray this article will bring the awareness we need. We already deal with the smells and the risks of living near the landfill. The risks and the smells will only be doubled with the expansion. Even though we have been screaming up until this point, we have been largely unheard and stepped on. I plead with the rest of the Santa Clarita valley to put yourselves in our shoes and help us fight our Godzilla.
Leon, I was so happy to have read your article and wish to thank you for making the SCV Community aware of this menace that is literally trying to degrade our valley and make Val Verde an unhealthy place to live. You are correct that there are people who feel they have a right to have some of the $$ Val Verde gets even though they don’t have to put up the smells and health issues. Val Verde is a poor community so the landfill is the big bully here and we need all the help we can get. Their broken promises and outright neglect to fix the odor issues is so morally wrong! I fear we don’t have a chance as they are already making a new entrance for the landfill. A new site would take 12 yrs. to complete (per DEIR) and I know they have not sought other sites. The County is out of $$ and therefore cannot/will buy another site. Thanks again for your great article.
Another Val Verde resident chiming in to thank you for continuing to put this issue in the spotlight.
Thank you for taking the time to write about this important issue. This Valley must demand that
it be shut down.
I’ve read Cam’s efforts in the news for a long time, and I understand her point of view. But I cannot agree to shutting Chiquita down. I can agree, however to limiting it’s capacity and to focusing the facility on handling refuse from the SCV. I lived in the SFV for many years, and remember the days of hauling “stuff” to the dump in Sun Valley. It was exciting to go there as a kid; we could find all kinds of neat stuff to take home!
The world has changed. It is not permitted to take discards from your neighbors once they are inside a refuse facility. Most importantly, EVERY city needs a dump, recycling facility, or transfer station simply due to our economy/lifestyle of obsolescence. We need Chiquita to keep the SCV from drowning in our “stuff” that we no longer need.
Should we become a smarter and more forward thinking society we may outgrow the need for dumps. But I’m not betting on that in my life time.
Keep Chiquita, but limit it to our valley. If necessary, the City of Santa Clarita should purchase Chiquita and keep it only for local use.
Until such time as we no longer need it.
If Vanessa Brookman believes that I am for the DEIR and the landfill expansion, she is not hearing me. If she want’s to take quotes and twist them, so be it. I can hire an attorney myself if necessary.
I am so glad you recorded the meeting. That means you have proof of the snide comment you made while I was speaking.
Who here would have a problem sending our trash to Riverside or Lancaster/Palmdale? If our trash rates rose 20%, would anyone worry.
We would be trading this 20% increase for something valuable; the peace of mind of the people who are affected by the landfill.
Even though I don’t smell the landfill from my house, it doesn’t mean that I am not breathing in particulate matter from the landfill.
How upset would you be if there is a correlation between the health of residents in Val Verde and air pollution from the landfill?
How upset would the Hasley Hills and Live Oak residents be? What if it’s no longer Val Verde’s problem, but it’s now getting pushed northeast toward those residences?
Those who feel okay letting be Val Verde’s problem may need to think again; the landfill is headed your way and once the odors crest the ridge, there’s a clear path to Hasley Hills.