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Today in S.C.V. History December 26
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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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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As winter storms enter Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control urges pet owners to take necessary precautions in light of the significant storms expected to last for five days.
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Brayden Miner scored 31 points and Rylan Starr had 24 as The Master's University men's basketball team crushed Bethesda University 145-59 The MacArthur Center.
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From surprise Santa arrivals to stacks of gifts waiting for young hands, the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley delivered holiday cheer on a large scale this season, reaching hundreds of children and teens throughout the Santa Clarita Valley, including Clubhouses in Canyon Country, Newhall, Val Verde and Castaic.
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Princess Cruises, headquartered in Santa Clarita, embraced a cherished maritime tradition in a uniquely festive way, celebrating a symbolic christening of its Rose Parade float with a ceremonial break of a bottle of Pantalones Organic Tequila.
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The Golden Globes have ushered in awards season with the announcement of the 2026 nominees across 28 categories. Among this year’s contenders is Pixar’s "Elio," which earned a nomination for Best Motion Picture – Animated.
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The National Weather Service has issued a "Hazardous Weather" warning for the Santa Clarita Valley and Southern California.
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Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Missing Persons Unit are asking for the public’s help locating at-Risk missing person Drew Barrick Russell.
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1997 - Five bodies found during grading of Northlake development in Castaic; determined to be Jenkins graveyard [story]
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Old Town Newhall Public Library will host "Spice Travels," Friday, Jan. 2, 9:15-9:30 a.m. at 24500 Main St., Santa Clarita, CA 91321.
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The California Highway Patrol encourages the public to “brake” the habit of speeding this holiday season. The CHP will launch a Holiday Enforcement Period starting at 6:01 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 24, and ending at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 25.
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Volunteers are needed to help clear brush and restore the tread from the existing lower Gates and Twister trails 8 a.m.-noon Saturday, Dec. 27.
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Join InfluenceHER's "Redefining Happiness, a Candid Conversation for the Modern Woman," 4-6 p.m., Friday, Jan. 16 at the Venue Valencia.
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The Santa Clarita Public Library system has announced that all library branches will close at 1 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Wednesday, Dec. 24, and remain closed on Christmas Day, Thursday, Dec. 25, in observance of Christmas.
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17 Comments
Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel I would love to sponsor a bill to declare those parts of the Angeles National Forrest wilderness. Let me know when you’re leading a hike to the area and count me in!
Lee C. Rogers, this area is closed for the remainder of the year due to the Powerhouse fire in two of the areas, and habitat restoration in the others. As soon as it’s open, I will let you know!!! THX!
Please know that once a Wilderness designation is given to an area it means that access is lost.
No access will be lost. The trails that used to be there are non-sustainable, and I’ve adjusted the boundary lines so the mountain bikers can keep the American Eagle Trail. I’m also asking that the forest make that a legal trail.
Let’s be clear that the Wilderness designation means that those who prefer to explore and enjoy the outdoors on a bicycle are excluded from a Wilderness area. But such designation still would allow someone like Dianne the ability to use unmechanized tools to clear old trials for use by hikers and equestrians only. Doesn’t sound like good public policy to exclude the 2nd largest and fastest growing trial user group (cyclists). The backcountry non-motorized designation is a more inclusive designation. And the definition of Wilderness should be changed to allow for cycling.
Yes, let’s close off more areas of land from use by all but the heartiest of hikers. Why would we want people of different abilities to have a chance to see what you can see Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel?
Just it is clear. Non motorized bikes and wheelchairs are banned in Wilderness Areas as are camp fires.
Those trails are not sustainable. They will go back to nature. There are no plans to recreate trails that are going to be destroyed by unstable earth/landslides. You bikers use the American Eagle Trail and the boundary has been adjusted to reflect that and keep that trail open for you. AND, all of the roads that divide all of the roadless areas will remain open for you as well. And, right now, all of these areas are closed due to the powerhouse fire. Please note that it is a $5,000 fine per person who enters into these areas, and a possible 6 month jail stint. Two bikers were seen in Fish Canyon last weekend…..
While I applaud the efforts to preserve wild and beautiful places in our country, I and scores of others strongly oppose the misuse of the Wilderness designation. A careful review of the original Wilderness Act shows it was never intended to be so widely used. The Wilderness designation has been vastly overapplied in recent years enabled by well funded legal action from environmental groups.
The USFS and BLM have numerous designations which protect precious lands, yet enable use by more non-motorized user groups. Many environmentalists like the Wilderness designation because it restricts access to only those users they approve of and keeps all other users out of vast expanses of land. All around Souther California, Nevada and Utah, millions of acres of remote and relatively desolate land that have historically been used for mountain biking and OHVs have been classified as recommended Wilderness, shutting generations of kids and families out of historical areas they’ve biked for generations. Interestingly, many of these lands don’t remotely qualify as Wilderness, but again, aggressive legislation has forced the closure of these lands.
Unfortunately this aggressive closure and restriction on land is not only in remote areas. The USFS is being forced, again via litigation, to classify tens of thousands of acres in our own back yard, near Castaic, as recommended Wilderness. If Congress approves this area as Wilderness, there will never be new trails or family bicycle access to these wonderful areas. Again, these lands should remain classified as back country non-motorized (BCNM), one of the most restrictive of designations, and not as Wilderness.
Many readers may fail to understand the impact of such restrictive Wilderness designations for years, but as they come closer to our homes and our communities expand, the effects will be felt not only by climbers, bicyclists and OHV users, but by everyone when land we’d all love to enjoy is forever restricted to only a few users.
Let’s all work to preserve wild and beautiful places, but also work to resist and turn back some of the unnecessary or overly restrictive Wilderness designations.
Instead of complaining about trails that you DO NOT use, you would be much further ahead if you worked with me on the 25+ trails that I have mapped in the contiguous Angeles National Forest. These trails, when approved, will connect every single Congressional District and will take us on foot, on bike, or on horseback from Santa Clarita all the way to Cucamonga. They will all be multi-use Kevin D. Korenthal, Ken Raleigh, and Sean M. Morrisey. Due to the diversity of endangered species in the Fish Canyon area, NO TRAILS will ever be built there. To hike in there, I will be using the same roads that you will be using.
Not to mention the other thing in Fish Canyon that everybody needs to stay the hell away from.
This conversation physically sickens my stomach. For a bunch of supposed Republicans to suggest that “mountain bikers” should be a federally protected class is absurd. Mountain bikers have rights – mountain BIKES do not. Mountain bikers have exactly the same rights as ultimate fighters and ballerinas – they have the right to HIKE (or not).
All I see are threats to ride bicycles all over the sacred Indian archaeological sites that are riddled throughout Castaic Canyon, Fish Canyon, Elderberry Canyon and San Francisquito Canyon. Why do you suppose you haven’t been able to ride bikes there?
What’s next? ATVs? Monster trucks? Why not just nuke the Native American sites and be done with it?
If you persist in trying to make (literally) a federal case out of your quest to desecrate Native American sites, I will have no choice but to bring the tribes into the discussion, and you WILL lose. And you MIGHT lose some of the privileges that you CURRENTLY enjoy elsewhere.
Diane, thanks for what you are doing in the Angeles, assuming they are all multi-use. We desperately need the additional trails. Please let us know how to assist with securing and advancing the cause on those trails.
That said, those of us that enjoy mountain biking with our families or OHV vehicles will continue to oppose the abuse of the Wilderness act in making areas never intended to be Wilderness into study areas. We want to preserve plenty of land and access for generations to come and not close it down.
Though we realize the Fish area and 40,000+ acres north of Castaic will eventually be Wilderness, we will continue to believe that’s an inappropriate designation and one that’s far to limiting for such an expanse of land so close to home.
Thank you, Leon. Mountain bikes were documented as zipping back and forth over the native American burial grounds in Fish Canyon. I also have photos of a dead Arroyo Toad (endangered) that was run over by a bike, and a Southwestern Pond Turtle (Endangered) that was also run over by a bike and killed. I also have photos of multiple illegal trails that the mountain bikers put in, and they were running over the sand banks in the river during breeding time right in the center of the Arroyo Toad breeding ground. These reasons are why it needs to be closed.
Furthermore, the topography does not allow for any new trails in the area. The roads that are there will remain open for OHV, bike, equestrian and hiking. The non-sustainable trails will be closed to all to protect the endangered species. It is not cost effective to keep them open when the forest service would have to be repairing them on a weekly basis. And, the endangered species need to recover, and the Native American sites need to be left alone.
Diane, please forward or let me know where I can pick up the copies documentation in the cases of the toad, turtle, and if possible burial ground so we can investigate further.
Tony Arnold, all of the trails that I am working on in the Angeles National forest will be designated multi-use (hike, bike, horse). If you and your buddies want to help, I will let you know as soon as I get the go-ahead to put them in. The go-ahead will hinge on the passage of the National Recreation Area in the Angeles. With that comes money.