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Today in S.C.V. History April 25
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Latest Additions to SCVNews.com
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Starting Monday, April 29, construction on the South Fork Trail will begin to replace a portion of the lodgepole fencing, the city of Santa Clarita announced.
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College of the Canyons dual-sport athlete Sam Regez will continue his career at University of Portland with plans to run on both the cross country and track and field programs.
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An entertainment industry initiative to support the voices of California State University, Northridge film and TV students was celebrated with a recent screening of stories they created.
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How important is Film and Tourism to the Santa Clarita Valley Economy?
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Earlier this month, a team of biology students at The Master’s University won a distinguished award at one of the oldest intercollegiate research conferences in the country.
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Lisa Zamroz has announced her intent to step down as the head coach of The Master's University's women's basketball team effective July 1, 2024.
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Spring heralds a time of renewal and rejuvenation, not just in the natural world, but within our homes and lives as well.
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College of the Canyons student-athletes Gigi Garcia (softball) and Hannes Yngve (men's golf) have been named the COC Athletic Department's Women's and Men's Student-Athletes of the Week for the period running April 15-20.
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California Institute of the Arts' Community Weekend kicks off on Friday, April 26 and runs through Sunday, April 28.
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May is National Foster Parent Appreciation Month! Celebrate by applying to become a resource parent and fostering or foster-adopting siblings.
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Santa Clarita resident Edina Lemus has been appointed Administrator of the Veterans Home of California in Lancaster by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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The California Department of Transportation has scheduled Lane Closures on the northbound and southbound State Route 14 between Technology Drive in Palmdale and Avenue A in Lancaster, closing up to three lanes.
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State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond testified today in the Senate Education Committee about the need for results-proven training for all teachers of reading and math.
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The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health cautions residents who are planning to visit the below Los Angeles County beaches to avoid swimming, surfing, and playing in ocean waters:
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Dust off the boots and get ready to holler, because Boots In The Park making its way to back to Santa Clarita, y’all.
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State Senator Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) and Supervisor Kathryn Barger honor the memory of those lost 109 years ago in Armenian Genocide.
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The Salvation Army Santa Clarita Valley Corps is excited to announce the inaugural Donut Day event.
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The Los Angeles County Animal Care Foundation has approved $370,000 in funding to support the Vet@ThePark program operated by the County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control.
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The California Department of Public Health is encouraging Californians to take part in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 27.
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The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion, introduced by Supervisor Kathryn Barger and co-authored by Board Chair Lindsey P. Horvath, proclaiming May 2024 as Mental Health Awareness Month in Los Angeles County.
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The Grammy-award winning rock ‘n’ roll group Blues Traveler will take the stage of the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m. May 9.
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1962 - SCV residents vote to connect to State Water Project, creating Castaic Lake Water Agency (now part of SCV Water) [story]
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Los Angeles County Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger issued a statement in support of the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Officer’s presentation of a $45.4 billion budget for the forthcoming 2024-25 fiscal year.
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21 Comments
The street by Sams Club is appropriately named “McKeon Way”.
IT REALLY DOES’NT GO ANYWHERE.
Can you change that hat to a arse hat!???? truly I don’t help the people person!!
I remember with great sentiment the one and only event in my memory, where Santa Clarita’s staunch Republicans and its environmentalist Democrats came together, the fight against the Cemex Mine. Reading BLM’s termination letter addressed to Cemex, I realize that Cemex and the BLM were guilty of “sneaking up” on Santa Clarita, making plans and agreements in the dark between 1999 and mid 2002.
In late 2002, thanks to Santa Clarita’s City Council, “the people” finally understood what was going on, and participated in a huge anti-mine pep rally in a high school gym. Then, the City chartered buses to take a horde of Santa Claritans down to County Hall in Downtown L.A. to oppose the County granting land use permits to Cemex. The City provided anti-mine T-Shirts for its residents to wear. My 11 year old daughter and her dad rode on the bus and I met them. (Just last month my now 24 year old daughter found her tiny anti-Cemex T-Shirt in the back of her closet!) The Board of Supervisors chamber was packed with people, hundreds of them. Supervisor Mike Antonovich was so revved up with indignation about the potential traffic impacts on his constitutions, in Santa Clarita, Agua Duce, Acton, Palmdale and Lancaster, he could not contain himself. If the middle of the presentation by Cemex’s lawyers in favor of their project our Supervisor became so outraged, he made a motion to stop the hearing and deny the permits. The other Supersivors voted to support him and it was over. Everyone applauded with joy…except for those of us who understood the process.
Despite beautiful legal work by the City’s lawyer, a notoriously cranky Federal judge later erased the Supervisors vote and ordered the County to issue Cemex its permits.
Years passed, and as Darryl Manzer and SCVNews point out, millions of Santa Clarita taxpayer dollars where dumped into complex maneuvers to kill the mine legislatively, without the BLM’s cooperation. Through the end of 2014 BLM was vehemently opposing cancellation of the mining program, because its managers wanted the cash flow to fund their other programs.
Now, this letter called a BLM Record of Decision has arrived, with page after page of carefully written description, from BLM’s point of view, on how Cemex failed to perform on its BLM contracts, casting BLM as the aggrieved party, not Santa Claritans. In the last few pages of that Record of Decision, BLM includes language which tips off any lawyer that there IS more to come. BLM says it will pursue “the sureties” (insurance companies) for payment on the bond posted by Cemex to insure its performance on the contracts. BLM gives notice to Cemex that Cemex has a right to appeal the letter’s termination of the contracts.
The entry of surety bond insurance companies into a problem situation is never good, because they have but one objective: Not paying money. Under many legal theories the surety bond holder can step into Cemex’s shoes and pursue that appeal. So the “problem” of the mine will not be gone until BLM has the surety’s money. Perhaps more check writing by the city, to make BLM whole, and take the surety out of the picture, will be necessary. So Santa Claritans, don’t be angry if you hear that the city has to write more checks to make BLM whole under the last pages of that Record of Decision letter.
Outside of Santa Clarita, BLM’s world is very different. Senators Harry Reid and Dean Heller of Nevada have a wonderful relationship with BLM’s senior management in Washington. During the frenzy of legislation passed by Congress at the end of 2014, Nevada’s Senators were able to convince BLM to relinquish fee title ownership, including mineral rights, to more than 100,000 acres of BLM land in Nevada, giving the land to the state, to Clark County and to several Nevada cities. Prior to that 2014 Nevada BLM bill, Senator Reid had previously twice killed a proposed Cemex gravel mine in the south end of the Las Vegas Valley, near the M Casino if you know it.
In 2014 Nevadans got ownership of all of that BLM land “for free” at the same time Congressman McKeon, retiring Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, one of the most powerful Congressmen “on the Hill”, was unable to get his Cemex-solution bill through the Senate, because of the last minute intervention of an obscure junior Senator from New Mexico, Martin Heinrich, the son of Shirley Bybee, a member of a politically powerful western family which includes a rather infamous Federal judge Jay Bybee. Senator Heinrich sided with BLM and put a “hold” on Buck’s Cemex-solution bill, negating Buck’s “juice”. I won’t speculate on the Heinrich-Bybee-McKeon connection but perhaps other Santa Claritans can figure it out.
Even assuming that BLM has wiped the slate clean with this Record of Decision letter, removing Cemex from the picture, Santa Clarita is STILL at risk because that mine-able aggregate will still be sitting in those mountains northeast of Santa Clarita’s boundaries, waiting for BLM under some President’s administration to decide that cash flow from sale of mining rights is needed. It is absolutely essential that Santa Clarita or Los Angeles County obtain the same thing as Senators Reid and Heller delivered for their constituents last year. A gift of fee title ownership of the BLM land, including mineral rights, covering both the former Cemex mine site and additional BLM land to the north which Leon Worden identified, long ago, as being another candidate for a BLM mine which would be disastrous to the public health. How can that happen? Only if Santa Clarita figures out how to move BLM’s decision makers the way Senator Reid could for his constituents. Only through the gracious offices of Senators Feinstein and Boxer, with the cooperation of BLM officials who are still controlled by President Barack Obama, at least for the next 15-1/2 months.
A clue as to how far into the bubble Buck went was when his wife ran for local office! They thought they were invincible. So we find out what some of us have always thought: the McKeon’s are “takers”. And after 15+ years of political stagnation, the SCV can finally move forward. Thank you Sen. Boxer!!!!
Can we count on Darryl to pay the bill when it comes in the mail?
People will be sorry when they want to build a new patio, pool deck, etc…and there is a concrete shortage…typical not in my backyard mentality.
At least I can breath clean air from my backyard!
Yeah…mining sand and gravel is not a pollutant..
Maybe! But the pollutants from the hundreds of trucks traveling in and out of the canyons at all hours would. Plus if you enjoy viewing scarred mountainsides then more power to you but I’m certain you live nowhere near the would be impacted area. Have a nice day Amy!
All I’m saying is there are WAY worse things that could be coming to SCV. And we all benefit from concrete, Believe or not. Without it cost of living goes up. It really isn’t that bad. Take Care. Congratulations.
Thank you!
Wow, two people with opposing views not calling each other names on Facebook!? What a breath of fresh air. Thanks Amy and Frank!
Amy, perhaps those patios should be built with sustainable materials so that we can all continue to have a back yard and slightly less polluted air.
Hahaha. Are you kidding me. You must not live near the site or the 14 fwy where they planned to truck all this cement!
Thanks Ethan..yes people can debate opposing opinions without being jerks! Just want some people to hear the other side. Everyone needs to realize cement is used for a lot of things that we all will want or need at some point. Not just patios. And it does affect all of our costs of living.
Nothing is “over” and if any of you believe that you’re mistaken or like false hope! They, (someone) WILL mine there, period!! There is no other use for the land in question! The best reading the “pollution” argument…which is simply not the case nor has it ever been! When LA country run out of material, soon…most will eat crow and find another person or company to blame for the rapid rise in the cost of living!
Im sure there are other locations to obtain what is needed for patio material. That’s the least of our worries !
Manzer is right on the money with this one!
?can’t believe your liberal commit. Buck did more for Santa Clarita in spite of Boxer.thats like thanking Obama for our weak economy!
Are you sure it’s weak????