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Today in S.C.V. History December 27
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The South Coast Air Quality Management District continues the residential No Burn Day Alerts for the weekend, with the latest alert issued for Saturday, Dec. 28 for all those living in the South Coast Air Basin, which includes the Santa Clarita Valley.
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Step back in time to an era of glamour and grace at Bridge to Home’s 2025 Soup for the Soul Gala, "Roaring Into a New Era." Experience an unforgettable evening celebrating the dazzling 1920s.
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Visit the Valencia Public Library, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 3-4 p.m. for a concert with Paul Stein, the esteemed violinist formerly of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Symphony.
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As we head into the new year, the California Highway Patrol is highlighting the new public safety laws that were passed during this year’s legislative session and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom.
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The Hart District Variety Showcase, a fundraiser for the Wm. S. Hart Education Foundation, will be held Friday, Feb. 28, 6 p.m. at Saugus High School.
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As we reflect on this year, I am filled with gratitude and pride for the progress we've made together in Los Angeles County. Your dedication to our neighborhoods inspires me daily.
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Mission Opera, Joshua R. Wentz, artistic director, is the winner of The American Prize in Opera Performance, 2024 in the professional division for its production of "Susannah." The ensemble was selected from applications reviewed from throughout the United States.
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State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond is sponsoring Senate Bill 48, legislation that aims to keep U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents off California campuses by establishing a one-mile radius safe zone around schools, as well as protect against the use of school data for deportation efforts.
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The nonprofit Friends of the Library is looking for dedicated volunteers who are interested in helping the Friends of the Library Program to work together and benefit the Santa Clarita Public Library branches.
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The convenience store owner had said that six out of 10 people who entered his business came to steal. Sacramento County officials said that larger corporate businesses might be able to survive under those circumstances, but not smaller operations. Small businesses form the country’s economic foundation, and they needed state law to change.
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The South Coast Air Quality Management District has issued a residential No Burn Day Alert on Friday, Dec. 27 for all those living in the South Coast Air Basin, which includes the Santa Clarita Valley.
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The Saugus High School Instrumental Music Program is hosting its third annual Clothes for Cash fundraising event 9 a.m.- Noon Saturdays, Jan. 11, 18 and 25 at Saugus High School.
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Did you receive great new electronic gifts for the holidays? Awesome! Now where can you safely dispose of the old stuff? Where to take phones, TVs, computers, portable devices and more?
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Santa Clarita is a special place. It is the city where I chose to make my home, raise my family and now serve the community as a city councilmember.
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The Wish Education Foundation Wednesday Webinar series continues on Wednesday, Jan. 15 with "Trends in College Admissions and ROI on Majors."
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As the New Year approaches Santa Clarita Valley residents can enjoy a few New Year's Eve and New Year's Day events in the SCV.
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The MAIN will present "Heaven Can Wait" by Terrance Carty, showing Friday, Jan. 10-12 at 24266 Main St., Santa Clarita, CA 91321.
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The Docent Training Program at Placerita Canyon Nature Center, led by Ron K will welcome the next generation of nature enthusiasts to orientation on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
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The American Red Cross will host a blood drive Friday, Dec. 27, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Santa Clarita Sports Centre, 20880 Centre Pointe Parkway, Santa Clarita, CA 91350.
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The application cutoff for the next WomansNet $10,000 Amber Grant for businesses owned by women is Dec. 31.
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The Cube – Ice and Entertainment Center | Powered by FivePoint Valencia has opened registration for its learn to skate sessions for January and February.
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SCV Water is asking customers to refrain from all outdoor water use during the weeks of Jan. 6-13 and Jan. 27-Feb. 3 due to scheduled maintenance on facilities at Castaic Lake that will restrict the agency’s imported water supply.
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College of the Canyons men's basketball was the victim of an 82-79 road loss at Rio Hondo College on Wednesday, Dec. 18, with the Cougars falling despite a 22-point performance from Justin Perez.
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6 Comments
But what if it were your son? Instant justice shouldn’t reign, and no one knows whether any crime was committed by this kid. He was black, wore a hoodie and maybe wasn’t afraid to shoot his mouth off, and that’s why some seem to think it was just fine for him to be killed.
NO ONE thinks it was “just fine for him to be killed.” State your sources. His death was tragic and preventable.
We has not shot for shooting his mouth off. He was shot by a man who was defending himself against Martin’s deadly and unprovoked attack against him. Martin was committing assault and battery and even told Zimmerman, “You’re going to die tonight.”
How was this “instant justice”? Would you have just laid there and allowed someone who’d just broken your nose and knocked you to the ground to repeatedly smash your skull into the concrete?
Why is Martin being promoted to sainthood? What are we teaching young people about violence? That it’s OK to attack someone… that the victim shouldn’t fight back and let you do whatever you want to them? That violence is an acceptable first response?
How’s that been working out so far in America? In Chicago, D.C., New Orleans, L.A…?
NO ONE is “promoting Trayvon Martin to sainthood.” State your sources. And yes, his death was truly tragic and preventable.
The reality is, we only know what George Zimmerman told us. Trayvon Martin is dead and cannot speak for himself.
Zimmerman had told so many different stories about what happened that night it’s impossible to find the truth.
http://www.hlntv.com/article/2013/07/02/george-zimmerman-trial-versions-story
And how do you know Martin wasn’t fighting back against Zimmerman’s attack? You don’t.
Just because Fox News doesn’t cover something, does not mean it does not happen.
“Why Don’t Black People Protest ‘Black-on-Black’ Violence?”
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/04/why-dont-black-people-protest-black-on-black-violence/255329/
Trayvon Martin is special because he was an unarmed teenager guilty only of walking home, who didn’t get a chance to stand his ground against an older man with a gun.
George Zimmerman was a vigilante judge and jury and murdered a young man based on prejudice and hatred instead of facts and waiting for the police as he was instructed. He knew he would be protected by his father the judge and Florida’s Stand Your Ground (SYG) law no matter what he did.
But how nice to see an ultra conservative white Christian lady like Arenson caring so very much about black crime in the inner cities.
For the first time ever.
And only because it seems conservatives think people can only care about one thing at a time. Only Trayvon Martin or only Chicago. Not both.
This will come as a shock to Arenson, but black groups have been working in inner cities to fight crime for decades.
But that isn’t reported on Fox News, so she wouldn’t know about it.
What is really happening in America? For starters, how about 1.6 million homeless children. How about 80% of Wal-Mart workers on food stamps. How about poverty. Hunger. Discrimination. Racial profiling. Corporate welfare. A deregulated Wall Street gambling with mortgages and pensions and crashing the economy. Companies outsourcing jobs and not paying taxes. Perpetual war. Gun violence. Institutional racism. Bigotry.
Blacks and whites do marijuana at the same rate. But blacks are 4 times more likely to be arrested than whites. Why?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/04/the-blackwhite-marijuana-arrest-gap-in-nine-charts/
The Koch brothers and American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) teamed up in 2005 with the National Rifle Association (NRA) to write and pass SYG laws to allow people to shoot first and not bother to ask questions at all. Vigilante laws. If you are “scared” you can shoot to kill, no worries.
(When will the NRA call for all young black males to be armed so they can stand their ground, the way they did for all school teachers to be armed after Sandy Hook? I’m not holding my breath.)
In Florida, where the SYG law was first enacted, homicides are up 300 percent. Now 31 states have enacted similar laws.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/five-years-since-florida-enacted-stand-your-ground-law-justifiable/1128317
The Tampa Bay Times investigated Florida’s SYG law and found people who killed a black person went free 73 percent of the time; people who killed a white person went free 59 percent of the time.
http://www.tampabay.com/stand-your-ground-law/data
That is just the tip of the iceberg.
And a wake-up call. SYG must be repealed in all states, just for starters.
This, and more, is why Trayvon Martin is special.
Martin’s death was tragic and yes, preventable. But you are not paying attention to the relevant facts whatsoever. You’re only offering up more Liberal talking points in hopes that no one will pay any attention to the facts in this case and continue to holler, “Racism! Inequality! Hate! Intolerance!” You do so at your own peril, just like taking aspirin hoping it will cure cancer.
The SYG law had NOTHING to do with this trial. NOTHING. Neither the prosecution nor defense brought it up as it was in no way applicable. So your entire premise has no validity.
Second, you place 100% of the blame on Zimmerman, and completely ignore the reality of:
(A) Martin’s documented run-ins with the law, drug possession and use, bragging about fights he’d been in, stolen property in his possession, use of hateful and racist speech directed toward whites, brandishing firearms, and Tweeting about making the street drug “Lean”, comprised of Arizona Watermelon Tea and Skittles plus Robitussin cough medicine– two of which he coincidentally had in his possession that fateful night. Oh, and THC in his system from recent marijuana use. And yellow spots on his liver indicating abuse from the street drug “Lean”. Stop making this young man into some kind of holy saint. He had a LOT of problems, and they eventually lead him to HIS actions that night.
(B) Martin– younger, stronger, and larger– aggressively and physically attacking the older and out-of-shape Zimmerman– who did not have his weapon drawn and as far as we know had not even revealed it to Martin. THAT IS ILLEGAL. It’s called “assault and battery”, and when he broke Zimmerman’s nose and began bashing his head on the concrete telling him, “You’re gonna die tonight…” it because a deadly assault in which Zimmerman reasonably defended himself. (I suppose you would not have defended yourself?)
(C) You continue to call it bigotry with no factual support whatsoever, and an embarrassment of evidence to the contrary: Zimmerman is not white, his business partner is black, he had black friends in his home growing up– some of them living with him– and he dated a black girl. So lay off the ridiculous race card. It only makes you look ignorant or a racist propagandist like Sharpton and Jackson. (If there is another option, let me know.)
If you want to focus on the REAL problems, why even bother with the SYG laws? Is THAT the cause of the insane black-on-black murder epidemic across America? Is THAT the cause of the horrific black-on-black murders raining down on Chicagoans on a daily basis (with their useless strict gun control laws)?
Your arguments are without merit. If you are serious about stopping murder, you need to deal with the underlying causes: fatherless black children, rampant abortion that teach children that some lives aren’t worth valuable anyway (if they are inconvenient, kill them), corrupt officials and unions who siphon government money away from education and societal programs for their own selfish use, removing the free exercise of religion from schools and the public square– ensuring that children will be surrounded with people with no moral compass, a persistent and growing welfare state where the government– to get their votes– instructs the young in entitlement and dependence (plantation mentality) instead of encouraging entrepreneurship and personal responsibility.
You seem passionate about this, as I am, but we must deal in the realities and not just what our uninformed emotions are dictating to us. Everything else is just applying a band-aid to a spurting arterial wound. And people die that way.
EJody, don’t lecture me on reality when it is clearly missing from your response and from Betty Arenson’s column. Or are YOU Betty Arenson?
1. Reality is not “liberal talking points.” What about white-on-white crime? Happens in the same numbers. Black-on-black crime is just white supremacist code. Which is what Arenson’s column is.
2. Stand Your Ground was indeed the focus of the trial. I am so tired of right-wing lies about this fact.
a. Jury instructions from the judge: “If George Zimmerman was not engaged in an unlawful activity and was attacked in any place where he had a right to be, he had no duty to retreat and had the right to stand his ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he reasonably believed that it was necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”
b. Jury instructions link: http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/news/documents/2013/07/12/Zimmerman_Final_Jury_Instructions.pdf
c. Zimmerman’s team chose to not use the procedural portion of SYG as their defense, but the substantive portion of SYG was used in the jury instructions.
d. According to Juror B-37, Stand Your Ground was key to reaching their verdict.
3. Trayvon Martin was not on trial. He was the murder victim. He had committed no crime.
4. Zimmerman had a gun and outweighed Martin by 50 pounds. He was well-versed in SYG, and his father is a judge. Martin had Skittles.
But you won’t find these facts or reality on Fox News or any other right-wing “news” outlet.
Your concern for the fate of black inner city youth in Chicago, for the very first time, is touching. But it is the number one topic on white supremacist Internet sites. You can conflate the two different circumstances all you want, I don’t think you give a rat’s behind about either one.
Why don’t you right-wingers talk about George Zimmerman’s criminal past and history of violence, his anger management, domestic violence, restraining orders, arrests, violence against a police officer, drug use, and incest (he molested his cousin for 10 years)?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/05/28/george-zimmermans-relevant-past/
Zimmerman is a scumbag that got away with murder, and mark my words, he will do it again.
Besides, it’s hard to take you and Arenson seriously on the black experience when I see the same talking points as yours on Stormfront.org.