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Today in S.C.V. History May 5
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Dale Donohoe and Kim Kurowski were named the Santa Clarita Valley's top volunteers of the year at the 2024 SCV Man and Woman of the Year dinner celebration held Friday, May 3 at the Hyatt Regency Valencia. The event also honored all of the 17 men and 17 woman nominated for the award.
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The regular meeting of the Saugus Union School District Governing Board will take place Tuesday, May 7, with closed session beginning at 5:30 p.m., followed immediately by public session at 6:30 p.m.
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The city of Santa Clarita Arts Commission is holding its regular meeting in City Hall's Council Chambers Thursday, May 9 at 6 p.m. The meeting will be held at Santa Clarita City Hall, 23920 Valencia Blvd., Valencia, CA 91355.
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Experience the Butterfly Encounter at Gilchrist Farm open now on weekends thorugh Sunday, June 18. Walk through a tent of beautiful flowers hosting live butterflies that fly freely throughout the tent.
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The Santa Clarita Community College District Board of Trustees will hold a business meeting Wednesday, May 8, beginning at 5 p.m. The board will first meet in closed session at 4:15 p.m.
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The Castaic Union School District Governing Board will hold its regular meeting Thursday, May 8, at 6 p.m. A closed session will be held at 5:30 p.m.
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Fire Service Day Open House will be held at all County of Los Angeles Fire Department fire stations on Saturday, May 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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The Santa Clarita Valley Media Collaborative invites the public as well as local creatives, media industry professionals, students, parents, teachers and others to celebrate the next generation of media makers participating in the inaugural NextGen MediaMakers Festival on Saturday, May 18 from 2-5 p.m. at the Canyon Country Community Center.
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Explore Vasquez Rocks during the magical twilight and early evening full moon hours. These fun, collaborative, interpretive hikes are led by trained staff and volunteers and will highlight the park's natural and human history.
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Astrotourism is top of mind for travelers making special trips for experiences in the sky, and with the recent “take-your-breath-away” total solar eclipse, thousands of cruisers onboard Emerald Princess and Discovery Princess off the coast of Mexico caught a glimpse of the total darkness event.
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The Santa Clarita City Council will hold a study session on Tuesday, May 7 at 5 p.m. The council will meet at City Hall, Carl Boyer Room, 23920 Valencia Blvd., First Floor, Santa Clarita, CA 91355.
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Garbage inspectors will soon be paying a visit to neighborshoods throughout the Santa Clarita Valley to inspect recycling bins to insure residents are following the recycling rules in the SCV.
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College of the Canyons competed at the 3C2A State Singles & Doubles Championships for a second straight year, with the doubles duo of Sydney Tamondong and Estrella Segura establishing program history by advancing to the round of 16 at the Ojai Athletic Club.
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College of the Canyons men's basketball head coach Howard Fisher's Cougar Basketball Camp returns in 2024 with three sessions open to boys and girls ages 8 to 14.
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The Friends of Santa Clarita Public Library is hosting a “Spring Bag Sale” event at the Valencia, Canyon Country and Newhall branches of the Santa Clarita Public Library, during normal operating hours from Saturday, May 4 to Sunday, May 12.
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A former public school teacher who launched a racist and anti-immigrant tirade against a Santa Clarita street vendor is being sued by a Latino civil rights group for civil assault and violating California civil rights laws.
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The Village of Pine Mountain Club has hosted wine festivals since 2003. You can taste exciting wines from the world’s top wine-growing regions, with dozens of premier wineries to choose from on Saturday, July 6, 1-4 p.m. at Wine in the Pines.
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The American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Santa Clarita Valley will be held Saturday, May 4, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. at Central Park, with the theme “May The Cure Be With You,” a Disney/Star Wars celebration.
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Ten risk-taking, mid-career artists were announced Thursday as the recipients of the 2024 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts (HAAIA).
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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The Master's University men's volleyball team won their opening match of the 2024 NAIA National Championship with a 3-set win over the No. 9-seed Mount Mercy (IA) Mustangs.
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Andrew Skerratt did not anticipate graduating with an electrical engineering degree from The Master’s University.
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REAL NAMES ONLY: All posters must use their real individual or business name. This applies equally to Twitter account holders who use a nickname.
22 Comments
I stopped reading when he incorrectly says “the entire Santa Clarita Valley “. tsk tsk
I stopped reading when he uses domestic violence as a hook.
When the boy choked her, or the fact that the little girl bit him on the wrist and drew Blood before he choked her. She omitted that part.
I got that, thanks! It was a poor hook.
Christi
do·mes·tic vi·o·lence
noun
violent or aggressive behavior within the HOME, typically involving the violent abuse of a spouse or partner.
I wish I could have stopped reading your comment but now I feel a lot dumber for having read it. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, save your two cents for something else. Like an education.
Valid hook.
Domestic violence? Did these kids live together? Maybe you don’t know what that means? I’m confused.
Thank you for your sage knowledge Craig Berry.
This is a teacher who has bragged in public about yelling at his kindergarten students.
This is a man who seems to have little self control, not worth listening to
Hi Greg, Why don’t you use your real name!
Hmmmm…
I definitely see the “issue” you’re raising here Mr.Lee, and I applaud you,for shedding some light about the “smell factor “.
As I see it, Sunshine Canyon Landfill made changes,Why can’t Chiquita?
Here is an article, I’ve read that shares some of the smelly views, shared by the landfill, just a crows fly away from Chiquita… If they were willing, maybe just maybe the sqweeky wheel, gets the greese! And we could all benefit from scents ability, pun intended.
“CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
Landfill’s new odor patrols have the right scents ability
February 11, 2012 | By Ann M. Simmons, Los Angeles Times
Dennis Montano stood on a corner in Granada Hills one recent brisk morning, lifted his nose to the sky and sniffed. “Right now, I don’t smell anything,” Montano said. That was good news for the embattled Sunshine Canyon Landfill. The disposal site operates roughly a mile away in Sylmar but has roiled the Granada Hills North neighborhood with a potpourri of foul smells. In the face of numerous complaints and dozens of public nuisance violations, the company has organized an “odor patrol team” in an effort to improve community relations and comply with state regulations.”
I only ask, for what is equality nowadays,
Always a plus, minus game?
Could, I be on the “oder patrol team”?
Hehe~
We don’t want them to make changes. We want them to shutdown!
Greg Kimura openly threatened his neighbors with fear of deportation, loss of income and fines from the county.
Here is the commercial in question:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBl_Uh8tsfw
And here is a more accurate look at Mr. Kimura including footage of him actually threatening members of the board he sabotaged.
https://youtu.be/9g-avdbICaw
Now how can the landfill say they didn’t pay for that first video?
It’s on their own YouTube channel. It says “by Chiquita Canyon” plain as day. Joseph Goebbels would be proud of this propaganda.
Listen, if people are here illegally, THEY SHOULD BE DEPORTED!
What I’ve learned
*this “commentator” is a broken record with a one track mind
*no one else should have an opinion different than his
*Greg Kimura, leader? Who elected him?
*Don’t live in Val Verde
Went to the town meeting. Jaimie informed the town that he never knew the landfill was involved in the commercial that they have now admittedly:
When I first sat to interview with the young man I explained that I would be very straight forward and would say some things that he or his publishers would not be in favor of printing or airing.I must start by saying that I was very clear when I stated that the CBFC definitely contributed to many great programs that would not exist if not funded by it.It would be remiss of me to have not stated in this interview that our little community had great programs in place before I was born and before the CBFC existed.We had prominent programs in the 50’s, 60’s leading all the way up to the late 90’s without CBFC funds.NONE OF THIS WAS AIRED IN THIS INTERVIEW. In the fifties and sixties there were civic groups composed of community volunteers that contributed a great deal to this town. I have heard stories from my family members and old time residents about the muscle man contest, beauty pageants and parades that this community put on.The Olympic size swimming pool was always packed with residents and vacationers.I remember legendary folks like Ms.Chandler,Mr.Edwards,and Deputy Parsons, may they all rest in peace. Parks and Recreation had arts and crafts for adults as well as a ton of youth programs in place. I remember going to the park to see Santa every Christmas. All this was accomplished with no CBFC money. When I was a kid,I remember hundreds of choppers coming up from L.A. for Back to Val Verde Days,the people cooking, swimming and enjoying Val Verde. Growing up I remember going to the Boys and Girls Club in 1979 all the the way to the early 80’s,it was always a fun place to go to after school, as well as in the summer time. Ironically I worked for them for 18 years. The Boys and Girls Club was the recipient of large grants form the CBFC in early 2000 when it got in to financial trouble. The first 20 years of the organization being established it was self reliant. Unfortunately,like many businesses, the Boys and Girls Club went under, and closed its doors on March, 2011 after 30 years of service. I honestly believe that it got corporate with its highly paid office administrators, Chief Professional Officers, and forgot about the kids, but that’s another story. In 1997 we were fortunate to have another youth program establish itself in Val Verde called the Sheriffs Youth Activity League (YAL).It is very similar to the Boys and Girls Club with the exception that it has no membership fee and to this day has been more transparent with community funds and operates with about half the cost as the Boys and Girls Club claimed to incur. The YAL program was also self reliant for many years up until mid 2000. The CBFC has definitely been a contributing factor to its success. In the interview, there are topics of crime, drugs, gangs, and how some of these funded programs have helped kids away from these troubles. Once again, what is not stated is that when YAL was established in 1997, a Deputy was on site Monday through Friday by the name of Harry Hauge. With a Deputy on site it was a great turning point for Val Verde. With such a great Deputy being active in the Val Verde community it was certainly a turning point for our community and had nothing to do with CBFC funds. Since the departure of Deputy Hauge, Deputy Rooney has filled his shoes very well and is now a huge asset for Val Verde. Lately, the Sheriffs Departments monthly reports have read zero part 1 crimes. Since I have informed you of the great programs Val Verde has been fortunate enough to have it is also important to adress the contribution of the CBFC. The CBFC funding has given a number of programs funds to support the great things that have been accomplished. Without the funding for certain organizations from the CBFC many would cease to exist.The funding from the community creates great opportunity for education, senior programs, youth and food programs, just to mention a few. Without funding such as the scholarship program, some of the communities teens may have chosen a life of crime.To sum it up, I think the video was one sided. The video had nothing in it that spoke to our community’s true history. If we are going to educate people about our town and its history, we should not discuss half of the story. Having the CBFC has definitely benefited this community, but we should also not forget that the price we pay is having a landfill right next to us. With this being said,we must prepare ourselves for what is factual and face the reality of this potential expansion. If L.A.County grants the landfill a new CUP, we would be absolute fools to sit back and let the County tell us to let them negotiate for Val Verde. It would be just as foolish to let one of these County appointed committees handle any negotiations for us. At the end of the day, most residents really do appreciate what the CBFC does. For those skeptics,who choose to be syndical towards the CBFC, you can not argue with the fact that it is still a board who is elected by its residents.
Jaime Briano
produced. Sent me this response and asked me to post it.
No one elected him to the CATC. There was no vote by the citizens of Val Verde. Most people had no idea there was an open seat in the region. Now we have to get 20% of the voters to recall someone NEVER voted in.
The CATC election in question goes back to 2012 and it was mentioned on numerous occasions at the local VVCA meeting. Nobody chose to run against me, so by default I was placed on the CATC board. The same thing happened in 2014 and our other Region 2 (Val Verde) CATC rep was also placed on the CATC board without an election. One can make assumptions about why this has happened in the last two CATC elections, but the bottom line is that we both ran uncontested, because nobody else would step forward.
From 2012 to a month or so ago, the community I represent had no complaints against me. That’s over 30 months of service I’ve provided to the community. Time I’ve taken out of my very busy schedule to help my community. I’m not complaining about it, but I find it odd that my volunteer work is thrown in the trash, because I voted one time against a small group of people in Val Verde – I’ll explain next.
In August, I made a choice to vote against approving a letter presented by the other Val Verde rep. I believe the letter and the list was defective and poorly written, therefore sending it would shed a bad light on the CATC. The vote was 8-1 against sending the letter, which clearly states that the letter shouldn’t be sent. Steve Lee, then wrote a blog about corruption and pay offs to CATC board members. I know the people on my CATC board and even though we don’t see eye to eye at times, I can’t see any of them accepting bribe money.
From Steve Lee’s blog above: “He was no longer president after the town found out that the Civic Association was no longer legit due to Greg not filing with the IRS. He has not served in that position since April.”
My term on the VVCA ran out in May 2015 (I was elected for a one year term in May 2014). I filed the IRS tax forms – this was discussed at a VVCA meeting. Unless Steve Lee has proof showing otherwise, he shouldn’t keep making false accusations.
From Steve Lee’s blog above: “Last week an Internet commercial was brought to my attention. The video was an ad promoting the Chiquita Canyon Landfill.
The ad starts with a women announcing how Chiquita Canyon Landfill came to the rescue of Val Verde and how the money paid to the funds committee in Val Verde saved the town from imminent doom, great crime, and now pays the way for kids to go through college.”
Since this article starts out with a kid story, I’ll ask Steve Lee to remember something from his childhood; assumptions are very dangerous to make. In the case of this blog, I believe that doing a little work to find the truth is what should’ve been done vs making an assumption.
It’s a video about the community of Val Verde and it portrays the positive aspects of living here. There are some excellent programs available to the residents – things that are not provided at other communities.
A little background; the CBFC funds come from a 1997 contract (in place far before I moved here) between the VVCA and Chiquita Canyon Landfill. The CBFC receives these funds and distributes them to fund programs here in our community.
I have spoken to many people here in Val Verde who appreciate these programs. Many receive a direct benefit, which is something that I think is a huge positive. This is the only community I know of where every child can be given a scholarship for college or a trade school? I know many people who have accepted a scholarship and have graduated – doesn’t this make our residents better citizens? I also believe that every resident indirectly benefits through lower crime, friendly kids, a sense of community and opportunities. I don’t see what’s wrong with that, but there are some out there who see things differently. For those interested, here is where the video comes from – notice that it’s not an advertisement, nor it it a commercial. http://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-Signal-s-Weekender-September-11—13–Brewmasters–Kansas—Classic-Cars.html?soid=1102737359304&aid=gUdfJCcbOEk
We’ll let it go this time for the sake of your argument, but in the future please refrain from posting advertisements for businesses that don’t advertise with us. (This was a long-format advertorial produced for an advertiser. “Studio Santa Clarita” is a component of The Signal’s Advertising department, not its Editorial department.) For the record, we have instructed our ad reps not to solicit advertising/sponsorship from Chiquita for the simple reason of the 2019 closure agreement.
Greg, your last 4 posts are full of lies. Why can’t you provide proof that you took care of the taxes for the VVCA We have proof that you didn’t handle the taxes and you still continue to lie about it. At the last VVCA meeting that you were supposed to preside over you were afraid to show up at your own meeting and hid out in the parking lot because you knew everyone was angry with you for lying, so your term might as well been up in April. You lied about being anti dump expansion when along you have been pro-expansion. Your also lying about the complaint letter, you were all for it until your board voted unanimously for it then you flip-flopped. All you have done is lie and manipulate your own board members. And your time line is very flawed, you say the community was happy with your service until a month ago, another lie. We were questioning your motives back in March. I can see these post of yours are full of flat-out lies and in-discrepancies. I and many others think you are incapable of telling the truth and many wouldn’t be surprised to find out your on the landfills payroll. I would like to see you response to this post, come on tell me I’m lying!