This summer, a heatwave forced much of the country to briefly experience what Claritans routinely endure for months every year. When it's 99 degrees in Santa Clarita, no one bats an eye. Yet when it was 99 degrees in Manhattan, no one could talk about anything else. Like so many big national news stories, the heatwave made Santa Claritans feel both connected and disconnected at once. Why no feel-good piece about our perfectly mild July? Don't people want to know? We always seem to be in the mix, just a few degrees of separation - pardon the pun - away from the main story.

From Here
After UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was allegedly killed by Luigi Mangione, there were concerns about others using high-profile assassinations to incite fear or make an ideological statement. Then, Shane Tamura drove from Las Vegas to New York City and allegedly murdered multiple people at Blackstone in cold blood. It was hard not to interpret the violence as aimed at the world of finance and the 1 percent. But further investigation revealed the intended target was the NFL, located in the same building. A note on his person apparently read, "Please study brain for CTE. I'm sorry," referencing chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is associated with the head trauma from playing football.
The question of where such killers come from is going to take a long time to answer, but at least part of that answer is 0 degrees of separation from Santa Clarita. Tamura played football at Golden Valley High School before moving to Granada Hills. The Signal dug up its old coverage from 2014 and he was viewed as a rising star full of potential. Obviously, there's no excuse for what happened, and investigators are sure to keep digging into how a hometown football phenom could turn so violent.

Letter to the President
For weeks, Los Angeles was a tense national focal point as ICE escalated enforcement actions against illegal immigration. It was a story that quite literally hit close to home in Santa Clarita. Many of the streets where confrontations took place were directly familiar. Maybe you saw scenes near where you work or used to live or bought a Labubu a few weeks ago. And while some violent criminals were apprehended, so too were people simply going to work and leading fairly quiet lives.
In response, several members of the California State Senate wrote a letter to President Trump. They asked for moderation in the contentious enforcement activity: "America needs a system that reflects both compassion and lawfulness - one that upholds sovereignty while recognizing the reality on the ground." Perhaps surprisingly, the letter came from Republicans - and Santa Clarita's State Senator Suzette Valladares was the lead signature. The view expressed was certainly more nuanced than what has constituted the polarized national debate. It made sense for Valladares to weigh in, given our proximity to ground zero for news coverage in Los Angeles. The White House acknowledged the letter and the story and policies are sure to continue evolving.

In the Movies
"Summer blockbuster season" might not be as official a season as winter, spring or fall, but it's probably my favorite. Santa Clarita is always just a degree or two removed from Hollywood, whether as a remarkably unremarkable backdrop or contributor of technical wizardry or the hometown of one of the supporting actors. This year, I was the most excited about "M3GAN 2.0," a sort of horror-thriller-comedy about some rampaging AI robots. The reason was Joshua Rothkopf's long and thoughtful profile of Adrien Morot and Kathy Tse in the Los Angeles Times. Morot and Tse work on makeup and artistry in their Santa Clarita studio and brought M3GAN's namesake to life.
The profile had plenty of name-dropping (prior work with Christian Bale, Nicolas Cage, Steve Carell, Brendan Fraser) and accolade dropping (Morot's 2023 Oscar win for makeup). But despite their formidable reputation, makeup and design alone couldn't save "M3GAN 2.0," which flopped in theaters. I'd still give it a try - there's a scene with a Kate Bush song that is just undeniably hilarious. And I think we can all heart knowing that the SCV is so close to the spotlight, even if not quite in it.
This column is intended as satire and a (sometimes successful) attempt at humor. Suggestions and catty comments intended for the author can be e-mailed to iheartscv@insidescv.com.