ONLINE EDITION!
PRINT
DIGITAL
I ♥ SCV
I Heart SCV
Summer's End
September, 2010 - Issue #71
We are told that global warming threatens our notion of winter, turning ice to slush and menacing frosts to mere chills. At least winter's on notice, courtesy of climate scientists and environmentalists. Far more insidious are the threats to summer. Traditionally, summer ended on the Autumnal Equinox - September 23 this year, a date marked by few outside of Santa Clarita's pagan circles. Or it ended on Labor Day, which isn't too outrageous. Then schools began chipping away at summer's trailing edge, moving the first day of class from early September to early August.

It appears that retailers stand ready to deliver the coup de grace. Hoping to reawaken the slumbering consumer that lies deep within all of us, holiday merchandise is already on display at a number of stores and there were even summertime Black Fridays. The media appears complicit. The Los Angeles Daily News ran the headline "Christmas in July takes the stress out of holidays" when it would seem to do just the opposite. Isn't summer the time to shirk chores, not welcome new ones? Though assaulted on all fronts, the stuff of summer is still out there.

Clean Cobbles
The days remain long and sun soaked, beckoning us to the great outdoors even in the midst of our other obligations. A nice spot to visit in September is the Santa Clara River, not for boating or other traditional forms of summer recreation, but to pick up trash. Indeed, the Santa Clara River only flows after a storm or when a treatment plant discharges water, but she's all we've got. And at the River Rally to be held on September 11, you can help keep the river clean by gathering junk unbefitting of the mighty Santa Clara. To date, over 140 tons of trash have been removed by volunteers, one pound for every man, woman and child in Santa Clarita. The event, which also includes an "Environmental Expo," starts at 9 a.m. just east of the intersection of Sierra Highway and Soledad Canyon Road.

A more passive approach to river appreciation may be found just down the road from the River Rally. The city recently opened Discovery Park, which is landscaped with drought-tolerant plants instead of turf to allow for the appreciation of nature via watching and walking rather than playing ball. If you like benches, flat trails and vast expanses of mulch, it just might become your new favorite park.

Summer Reading
Claritans love their libraries (or at least the idea of libraries), and City Council Member Laurie Ender proposed some sweeping changes to how they are run. Just before the summer recess, Ender suggested that the City of Santa Clarita take ownership of its libraries from LA County. She developed the idea with Mayor Pro-tem Marsha McLean, the other member of the Library Ad Hoc Committee, and city staff. Claritans currently pay more into the county library system than they get out of it, but city management would change that. All library-related tax dollars would stay in the valley, allowing for longer hours or other improvements. However, it would be up to the city to run the libraries. Thus, existing librarians would have to be re-hired or find a job elsewhere, the inter-library loan process would change, and it's not clear whether those living outside city boundaries would need to pay a fee to use the libraries.

Despite the objections of county
librarians, the city is vigorously
promoting the idea, suggesting that there may be more to gain than just extra reading hours. The plot of this summertime sizzler hasn't reached its resolution; for that, we must wait on the next chapter.

Back to School
Though the start of school marks the end of summer for most families, some recent decisions will be affecting the school crowd well beyond summer's tenure. Rob Challinor, a man with over three decades of experience in education, began serving as the superintendent of the Hart School District. In an interview on SCVTV, he said that he foresees a lot of building once the economy recovers and residential development resumes.

His first big project will be the long-awaited high school in Castaic. The district board selected a site in Romero Canyon that will be developed by Larry Rasmussen. Challinor called the site "challenging," but expressed hope: "Larry is gung-ho, and I think that people have enough confidence in him that it's going to get done." In this case, getting it done means opening the doors of the new high school by
August of 2013, leaving fewer than 36 months for an environmental impact report, architect selection, site preparation, and building and staffing the school. That's not going to leave any summer at all for our valley's developers and construction workers. We Claritans heart education and getting back to work, to be sure, but let's not declare summer dead just yet.
This column is intended as satire and a (sometimes successful) attempt at humor. Suggestions, catty comments and veiled threats intended for the author can be e-mailed to iheartscv@insidescv.com.
EMAIL SIGNUP
- What is the sum of 7 + 8?
This is a required value
to protect against spam
community events
08
01
16
23
04
13