Sunday Signal Aug. 12, 2018

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A slimy endeavor 9-year-old creates business out of latest craze Page 6 Your News, Entertainment & Lifestyle Source

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BACK TO SCHOOL

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THINGS TO DO

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ARTIST PROFILE

PLUS : CITY NEWS | OPINION | SCHOOLS | FEATURES | CALENDAR | BEAUTY & HEALTH | HOME

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AU G U S T 12, 2018

STROKE: Know the warning signs to SAVE A LIFE

JOIN US | FREE COMMUNITY EVENT Learn about stroke risks and prevention at our FREE EVENT in August. You’ll also learn how to care for those who have had a stroke, and how to support survivors and caregivers.

TO REGISTER: 888-HEALING (432-5464) or visit ProvidenceClasses.org/Stroke Wednesday, August 15, 2018 5 - 6 p.m. Screenings 6 - 7 p.m. Lecture Providence Holy Cross Medical Center 15031 Rinaldi Street Mission Hills [North Building] Speaker: Neha Mirchandani, MD Includes light refreshments and validated parking

California.Providence.org 888-HEALING (432-5464)

AU G U S T 12, 2018

S U N D AYS I G N A L · 3

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AUGUST 12, 2018

TABLE OF CONTENTS

[4] NEWS FEATURES

[4] [5] [6] [8]

Curriculum better prepares students for real world SCV foster parents meet huge need 9-year-old starts business Ready for the next quake?

[10] NEWS OF THE WEEK

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ARE YOU QUAKE READY?

Irritant that sickened workers identified; Traffic accidents decrease; Equine therapy ranch needs new home; Countdown to opening of Castaic High

[14] CITY MANAGER COLUMN

[15] [16] [17] [18]

Addressing the homelessness problem

BUSINESS Intense heat changes some businesses HISTORY: John Boston’s Time Ranger SPORTS SCCS athlete’s European odyssey OPINION Our View

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TIME RANGER JOHN BOSTON

David Hegg, Tim Whyte, letters

[21] SCV CALENDAR [22] THINGS TO DO Out-of-the-ordinary day trips

Wine tasting event to benefit Boys & Girls Club

[26] ENTERTAINMENT National productions in L.A.

Ex-Queensryche singer Geoff Tate to play The Canyon

[29] YOUR HOME Beautiful tablescapes [30] KIDS & FAMILY What’s trendy for back to school?

Michele and the Giant Zucchini Restaurant Profile: Cathy’s Deli

[34] ARTIST PROFILE David Stears [37] SENIORS Second careers [38] HEALTH & FITNESS

Should you crush pills? When cancer comes back

[39] GARDENING

RESTAURANT PROFILE

Cool back-to-school fashions for less

[32] FOOD STUFF

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Tips for better gardening Getting to better know succulents

[41] BRAIN GAMES

Games, Crossword, Puzzles

SUNDAY SIGNAL STAFF

SignalSCV.com Richard Budman Jason Schaff

Sunday Signal Editor

Tim Whyte Trish Galloway Perry Smith Brad Lanfranco

On the cover: Samantha Wilder, 7, checks the progress of her slime before adding color during the Aloha Pink Fluffy Flamingo slime making workshop held at Chesebrough Park in Valencia. See story page 6. PHOTO BY DAN WATSON

Publisher Signal Editor Graphic Design & Production Deputy Managing Editor Advertising Director

26330 Diamond Place, Suite 100 | Santa Clarita, CA 91350

661-259-1234

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AU G U S T 12, 2018

S C V F E AT U R E

Schools meet the real world ‘Project-based learning’ prepares students at early age for workforce

By Brennon Dixson

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s industries around the world continue to evolve with technology, employers are seeking out those with the skills and critical thinking necessary to fill the jobs of tomorrow — prompting schools in the Santa Clarita Valley to adapt their teaching methods to better prepare the students who will develop into the SCV’s future workforce.

Whether it’s the planned career and technical education programs at the still-under-construction Castaic High School, the new STEM-based classrooms being built at school sites across the SCV or the project-based learning curriculum offered at charter schools like the local Santa Clarita Valley International, an increasing number of schools are teaching concepts with real-life applications.

Terms like “project-based learning” and “career and technical education” may seem new, but they’re not a new idea, Newhall School District Superintendent Jeff Pelzel said.

“When you look at project-based learning, people are trying to integrate math, reading, writing and science together,” and you’re explicitly giving kids the freedom to create and explore solutions on their own time, in their own ways and at their own pace, Pelzel said, Most public school districts don’t have a curriculum that emphasizes this specifically, but there are some areas, like science, where there is great integration.

In the Sulphur Springs Union School District, the integration and real-life applications take the form of rocket construction at its recent GATE Academy, where 85 students learned the influence of science and engineering practices on society through various projects, along with critical communication skills, said Kim Tredick, Sulphur Springs’ director of curriculum and instruction.

Other school districts, such as Castaic Union, follow a similar model to that of Sulphur Springs by providing a specific phenomena -- like “how to reduce energy consumption” -- that the young scientists will explore before coming up with a solution as a group.

“In Newhall, students are engaging in questions that ask them to use skills that prepare them for project-based learning concepts,” like the ones they’ll see in their future studies at Hart High School and College of the Canyons, Pelzel said.

Though it isn’t necessarily through a project, “social studies and math are included to help students think about (the science subjects) in a real-world context,” Pelzel said. This scenario plays out at many school sites, “and it will only increase as we roll out and get a better understanding of the Next Generation Science Standards.”

The newest head of the Newhall district believes his district’s curriculum prepares students for the project-based programs they’ll have in high school. “It just looks a little different in an elementary setting than in a secondary setting,” he said.

The SCV’s lone high school district and community college have both announced that they plan to increase the copious class offerings pertinent to the workforce industries their students will enter.

Students at Castaic High will have the opportunity to participate in an extensive career technical education program that will include a partnership with Kaiser Permanente, along with classes that will prepare future engineers, welders, health professionals and chefs for real-world job opportunities, district leaders said at the recent Castaic Countdown community event.

COC’s fall 2018 class schedule

An increasing number of schools across the SCV are teaching concepts with real-life applications.

features a wide selection of career technical education courses in which students gain the skills needed to work in high-demand fields, such as plumbing technology, electrical technology and carpentry technology, COC spokesman Eric Harnish said in a news release.

“Schools have always sought to offer children the skills to enter the workforce, but the idea of what those skills are has shifted,” Pelzel said. As schools across California complete their transition to the Next Generation Science Standards, students will certainly have more access to handson activities that provide an opportunity to experiment and connect learning concepts to the things they see in society. 

More BACK TO SCHOOL stories, page 30

AU G U S T 12, 2018

S U N D AYS I G N A L · 5

S C V F E AT U R E

Being a foster parent SCV families provide huge support in time of great need

By Brennon Dixson

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ore than 200 children in the foster care system attend schools in the various districts of the Santa Clarita Valley, according to EdData, making it possible that you or your child know somebody who’s part of the foster system — whether it be a parent or classmate.

The children look, play and laugh the same as your kids do, and their parents nurture, feed and provide just as yours did. In fact, the only likely difference between the children is one group is in an imperfect and often misunderstood system, said Bernadette Boylan, a 25-year social worker for the Children’s Bureau. “People have their own ideas, but foster care is different from private adoption where you hire an attorney, pay money and hope a family picks you. It isn’t just sign up and you’ll get a kid.”

In fact, it is usually four to five years after somebody has the original thought to foster before they Google or pick up the phone to find out how to get the process started, Boylan said.

That wasn’t the case for Jami and Jeff Hoslett, a couple who finalized the adoption of three children last week.

With two children out of the house and the youngest of the three constantly pleading a case about why she’d make a great big sister, the Hosletts began to discuss adoption.

“You know, we’re very faithful people so we’re praying about it a lot,” Jeff Hoslett said. “We wanted to make the right decision without jumping into it or blowing it off too quickly.”

Friends in church and school had shared their positive experiences with the Children’s Bureau, “so we checked them out and went to one of the informational meetings at COC,” Jeff said.

Similar to the Hosletts, Janelle Burkholder and her husband were introduced to the Children’s Bureau by friends in their church after finding private adoption didn’t fit their personality.

“We thought, ‘Let’s try it,’” Burkholder said, “What’s the worst that

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Jami and Jeff Hoslett.

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can happen?”

So, like the Hosletts, the couple attended one of the Children’s Bureau’s informational meetings, which occur every month in many Southern California cities.

The meetings cover the basics of what it takes to start the process, “and provide the first opportunity for families to understand if they even want to do this,” Boylan said. “Some attend and think, ‘This isn’t for me.’ Others move forward.”

Those single parents or families who proceed to the next step have to open up their home to a social worker and a family assessment, “which is a very inclusive process,” Boylan said.

It’s something the Hosletts discovered firsthand when they agreed in August 2016 to foster three girls, which was two more than expected, but was necessary due to an increasing number of foster children and decreasing number of foster parents.

In December 2016, the children had moved in, and the honeymoon period had begun, Jami said, but it wasn’t long before common foster challenges presented themselves.

Boylan said you have to remember that some foster children have been separated from their birth parents because of abuse or neglect, which can take many forms and result in behavioral, emotional and physical limitations.

See FOSTER, page 9

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The large dining room is perfect for entertaining. Going into the master bedroom you will find walk-in closets and opens to a beautiful master bath with large sunken tub with leaded glass windows and many amenities. All bedrooms are tastefully decorated. The oversize laundry is complete with sink, cabinets, and folding area. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this home is the back yard. It features a large pool and spa, fire pit with seating area, and so many beautiful plants and trees. Interior/exterior recently painted.

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AU G U S T 12, 2018

S C V F E AT U R E : H O B B I E S & J O B S

Slime Time Local Entrepreneur Makes Gooey Profit

By Cheri Jensen

This is one installment in an occasional series about unique Santa Clarita Valley residents, from those who enjoy the quirky side of life to those who are at the top of their field.

S

lime: A goopy, stretchy, taffy-like toy trend that started out as “how-tos” on social media a few years ago.

In years past, you may know it from a Nickelodeon TV show, or had seen it on retail shelves as Floam or Gak. The stretchy toy is back and has became so popular that there was a shortage of Elmer’s Glue on store shelves for a time.

One dynamo has put her entrepreneurial spirit to good use by capitalizing on the slime trend.

Audrey Joyce Fierro, known to her friends as AJ, is a 9-year-old ball of energy. She has used her love of the hit slime craze and has created her own successful business, Slimy Fun Creations.

The Rosedell Elementary school student is making a profit and learning about business as well as having a whole lot of fun.

The basic recipe involves some, or all, of these ingredients: glue, cornstarch, foaming soap, boric acid, baking soda, liquid detergent, contact lens

solution, hand lotion, scent and food coloring.

Fierro and other creators of batches of the stretchy glob, called slimers, like to personalize their concoctions by adding embellishments like confetti, glitter, foam beads and baubles. She aerates some of her slime products by using shaving cream for fluff. Her favorite slime product is the lemonade slime from her Summer Scented batch.

Do you like the popping noise from bubble wrap? Slime sounds are similar during the kneading process.

Fidget spinners may have had their minute in prime time in terms of relaxation, but slimers like Fierro claim that making slime relaxes them, with the constant “kneading and mixing and poking. Plus the sound.”

At a recent summer workshop at a Valencia park, the ambitious Fierro and a group of wantto-be slimers tested their mixing skills. They followed along as she showed them how to create their own goop.

“We want it to resemble taffy in terms of the

stretch and the feel,” she said at the slime factory session.

She started Slimy Fun “to make kids happy and to use the money to buy her first computer.” Her business started in June, which includes selling the addictive stretchy wonder in themed, decorative containers; social media tutorials; parties; and “how to” get togethers throughout the Santa Clarita Valley. The preteen sells her slime on social media and by word-of-mouth. She also has a Slimy Fun Creations Facebook page full of tips, giveaways, updates and selling information.

The fourth grader said, “Slime is a stretchy, sticky, fluffy mass of fun that you can play with your friends.”

“Watching Audrey discover her entrepreneurial spirit is something I couldn’t be more proud of,” said her father, Anthony. “She took something that was just ‘fun’ and turned it into a growing and exciting business. She has grown and is understanding the cost of goods, quality control, sales and marketing, branding and customer service. We couldn’t be happier.”

She held some slime themed workshops this summer, including Star Spangled Banner, Aloha Pink Fluffy Flamingo and a Super Hero slime session this month.

[Top] Audrey Fierro [Left] Jave Fierro , center, assists Courtney Carroll, 7, left, as she mixes the ingredients in her bowl during the Aloha Pink Fluffy Flamingo, slime making workshop held at Chesebrough Park in Valencia.

PHOTO BY DAN WATSON

AU G U S T 12, 2018

S U N D AYS I G N A L · 7

Audrey Fierro, 9, adds ingredients to make slime.

PHOTO BY DAN WATSON

AJ’s mom Jave, and friend Danielle Jacobs, help her out with different aspects of Slimy Fun. “I make slime, host parties and make party favors with special decorative themes,” she said.

She packages them in “cute plastic decorative cups.” For parties, she uses mason jars.

The best part of her business? “Duh, making the slime.” Her least favorite part is “going shopping for supplies and arguing with my mom on how my slime decorations should look.”

Although she has been officially in the slime biz for about three months, Fierro is learning a lot about entrepreneurship via hands-on experience.

“It is important to make good slime so my customers are always happy. Running a business can be fun. I’ve also learned that it costs a lot of money to start a business.”

She was offered to sell her slime with a

S C V F E AT U R E : H O B B I E S & J O B S

vendor at the yellow Victorian building in Newhall but “she was told she had to give percentage. She didn’t know what that meant. I explained it was the percentage paid for the space she was using,” said her mother, Jave.

School is about to begin for most Santa Clarita students, but AJ plans to continue what she started this summer. “I plan on doing birthday parties, selling different slimes and hosting workshops on weekends and holidays.

Handle it with care and not in the hair. There may be a humorous learning curve with handling slime. Jave added, “The other day she was playing with slime and got some in her hair, so I had to help her carefully remove it.”

AJ suggests keeping slime in a container with a tight lid on it. Keep it away from fabric and unprotected furniture as well. Fierro accidentally got some slime on her carpet and they had to comb the goop out of the fibers. “And never, ever, eat it.”

Audrey plans on entering an Elmer’s Glue slime contest featuring one of her favorite creations: Clear slime with gold pigment.

When she isn’t focused on her slime time, Fierro can be found at a gym. The spunky Valencia resident is starting her sixth season as a cheerleader for the SCV-Allstars.

“It is exciting for us as parents to see Audrey develop a business-owner mentality so young,” said Jave. “0ur hope is that this will blossom and continue to grow in other areas.”

Do you have an interesting or unusual hobby or job? Contact The Sunday Signal with details and contact information.

Email: info@signalscv.com. 

[Above] Lila Rich, 7, right, checks the consistency of her ingredients as Audrey Fierro, 9, center, assists attendees at her slime making workshop.

[Left] Charlie Hilstein, 9, checks her slime during the Aloha Pink Fluffy Flamingo, slime making workshop held at Chesebrough Park in Valencia. PHOTOS BY DAN WATSON

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AU G U S T 12, 2018

S C V F E AT U R E

THE NEXT QUAKE : Are you ready?

By Marilyn Chavez-Martinez

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On January 17, 1994, re you ready if an earthparts of the highway 14 quake rocks California? overpass fell onto sevIn 1994, many Saneral cars, but all of the ta Clarita residents had occupants were pulled the misfortune of experiencing the out alive. PHOTO BY Northridge earthquake.

RICH SHVEYD “I can sum it up in two words: ‘Sweet Lord.’ The ’94 quake made the ’71 quake look like child’s play… I will officials. never forget the ’94 quake,” said Santa “Part of being prepared Clarita City Councilman Bob Kellar, in is knowing who your parta previous interview with The Signal. ners are,” said Nuzzi about However, the occasional, minor city and citizen preparedearthquakes that shake the city remind ness efforts. “It’s a part of residents that at any moment, disaster looking out for each othcould strike again. er that way.”

“For another earthquake, fire, seLocal and county offivere weather, power outage you need to cials do their part to ensure that combe prepared in the same way,” said the munities can mobilize to meet the decity’s Emergency Services Supervisor, mands of any disaster with the help Another priority the city of Santa Donna Nuzzi. “You have to have stuff of city resources, according to county Clarita has during times of emergency in place.” officials. is preparing and disseminating emerShould disaster strike, city officials “We’re engaging with the fire de- gency public information to inform, are committed to coordinating with partment, with public works, with the alert and warn the public. appropriate federal, state, other local sheriff, and other county departments, The city’s official government agencies as well as appli- sort of that team “Emergency Mancable segments of private sector enagement” webpage at tities and volsanta-clarita.com unteer agencies, has a multitude according to the of links to resourccity’s website. es that residents walls. n o g n “I want to a h t a can use to stay inth workers. and objects co s, n d n io a is make sure she y v il le m te formed during fa ems, such as ” drills with out-ofgets a lot of cred• Secure it rop, Cover, then Hold On ations plan that has an times of emer“D nic it,” said Emily gency, such as • Practice mily emergency commu you get separated. fa t if for at e r a e te te m a a Montanez, senior w to re d C re n e a text alerts, email h • ugh food Cont. Plan w program manager state contac ply kit that includes eno nguisher, and a whistle. alerts, and the Do not re exti le a sup of the L.A. Councity’s emergency • Assemb e days, a flashlight, a fi including medication. -ty Office of Emerleast thre rson’s specific needs, updates blog. other critid n a sider each pe s of pets. gency Manages e n o “All the inforh es for p eed ment (OEM), about forget the n eries and charging devic mation is there, tra batt rd homea Nuzzi. “I think that d n ta S you just have • Have ex . y c li rance po nt.

Santa Clarita is a cal equipme ing an earthquake insu ake damage. to click on it,” at hqu rt th a r obtain s e e e r pretty prepared area d e su si v is n l o co Nuzzi said.

C t ra • nce does no ding to correct structu ra su in s because of the city’s r’ e n il The city’s ow uake. f your bu ng an earthq r a retrofit o efforts.” ri e u d d si n website also se o p C a ll o d • erable to co about what to s One way city ofil a et d offers a vad n a make it vuln . rmatio n v/ea rthqua ke o g y. ficials have worked d Fo r mo re info a re t riety of resi , vi n ea rthqua ke a er ft a with local agencies is d n a sources that befo re through the Communiresidents can ty Emergency Response use before and after an emergency.

Training (CERT) sesapproach that we In terms of preparation, city and sions, designed to help talk about,” Montanez said, referring county officials both recommend havfamilies, neighborhoods, schools and to one of the county’s goal to “establish ing a plan and making connections. businesses prepare for effective disas- a highly nimble, team-based organiza“Your family needs to know, if you’re ter/emergency response through train- tion designed to meet increased emer- separated, what’s your reunification ing and preplanning, according to city gency preparedness responsibilities.” plan? Do you have a phone? Do you

y d a e R g Get t in

have a backup charger?…

Do you have water in place?” Nuzzi said, adding that even the city has precautionary measures set in place for the continuance of government during times of emergency.

“If our primary site is not viable, then we have a secondary site,” said Nuzzi referring to the city’s emergency operation center. “The same thing for technology, we have satellite phones, we have internet satellite capabilities, we have multiple ways that we’re going to try to communicate if one fails.”

Montanez also weighed in on how what she believes are crucial aspects of a citizen’s plan.

“I say start small. I think that the best things that residents can do is look at their homes. What’s surrounding their homes? What are some of the threats, hazards?” said Montanez. “Then, start expanding that you know, what do your neighbors do... (Neighbors) are assets when there’s a disaster, because you guys are going to be helping each other. Government services are going to be maxed out, and I think it’s really critical that the neighbor to neighbor approach is definitely the best start.”

The city and the county both have resources lined up to help residents during any emergency such as an earthquake. However, the best way to ensure the safety of oneself and one’s family, business and community is to prepare for an earthquake before “the next big one.” 

AU G U S T 12, 2018

FOSTER

Continued from page 5

The kids are also dealing with a tremendous amount of loss, Burkholder added, “in ways that aren’t necessarily related to death.”

“Adoption is built on loss from a kid’s perspective,” Boylan said. “They have to lose their birth family before they can be adopted.”

Often, families want to adopt but that is not the goal or process of the foster care system, Boylan said. “Reunification is always the goal,” which can lead to heartbreak for some and happiness for others Many foster families, including the Burkholders, have felt the distress of “losing” a child, and the Hosletts have felt the happiness of gaining three, who have all settled in comfortably despite a few difficult and intense months.

With the harsh realities of the foster care bureaucracy constantly presenting themselves, both the Boylan and Burkholder families said they cherish the positive moments the system has to offer, such as family vacations, goofy playtime and the differences made in the children’s lives.

It’s not rare for a child to come into

S U N D AYS I G N A L · 9 your house and not be able to sleep, but soon they’re stable and developing a relationship, Burkholder said. “Before long, they’re reaching milestones that are extra celebratory, because you know how much they had to overcome to get there.”

“It’s really rewarding and beneficial, because not only am I making my foster daughter’s life better, but I’m also helping her family,” Burkholder said.

When Burkholder’s foster children go back to their biological family, she said, “We have more of an aunt and uncle role, (which) is really fun because our world is really expanding.”

As a middle school teacher, Burkholder said school prepared her to be a foster parent, but it’s likely you can do it, too.

“While I don’t think foster care is for everyone, everyone can play a role in it,” especially in L.A. County where there’s such a need, Burkholder said.

“There’s so many kids who need somebody and you can be that somebody.”

“It’s hard. It’s emotional. There are lots of tears and some anger that could come because of injustices,” but knowing that you’re a child’s safe place makes everything feel small in comparison, Burkholder added. 

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10 · S U N D AYS I G N A L

AU G U S T 12, 2018

LOCALNEWS

Industrial chemical causes concern in Castaic Fire Department identifies irritant that sent 8 aerospace firm employees to hospital as cadmium

By Jim Holt

The chemical that sent eight employees of an aerospace firm to the hospital Monday night was identified by fire officials Wednesday as cadmium, a naturally occurring heavy metal similar to zinc and mercury.

Cadmium is commonly used in the aircraft industry to reduce corrosion on steel components.

On Monday night, eight people were taken to the hospital after they — and 32 others — were exposed to cadmium as an airborne chemical irritant at an industrial company in Castaic.

The incident happened at TA Aerospace, a division of Esterline, on Franklin Parkway near Braxton Avenue, in Castaic. A company official said Wednesday that they still had not determined how the employees were exposed to the chemical. A state investigation into the incident is expected to take six months.

At least 40 people were exposed, and 31 of those were TA Aerospace employees.

Inspector Joey Marron of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said Wednesday that fire officials had identified Monday’s irritant as cadmium.

“They use it to make rubber for the aerospace industry,” he said.

Marron said he did not have an update on the medical condition of those taken by ambulance to the hospital Monday, only to say that there were no fatalities.

Official comment

“We are actively investigating,” Michelle DeGrand, spokeswoman for TA Aerospace and Esterline, said Wednesday from Washington, D.C. “As we’re still investigating, we don’t have confirmation on what may have caused the employees to report illness.

“This is an engineered materials manufacturing facility where we create formulas for harsh-environment elastomer products that can require several chemical components in the manufacturing process,” she said.

“Our top priority is ensuring the safety of our teams, so we are working to understand the root cause and ensure

Firefighters debrief outside a building near the 28000 block of Franklin Parkway in Castaic on Tuesday. PHOTO BY AUSTIN DAVE

we have enhanced preventive measures in place going forward,” DeGrand said.

Cadmium use

Cadmium is commonly associated with rechargeable batteries. Its primary use is in the manufacturing of NiCd rechargeable batteries.

A common industrial use of cadmium is in electroplating — the process of coating the surface of a conducting material with a metal.

According to the World Health Organization, cadmium exerts toxic effects on the kidney, the skeletal and the respiratory systems, and is classified as a human carcinogen.

The organization’s website describes cadmium as “generally present in the

environment at low levels. However, human activity has greatly increased those levels.

“Cadmium can travel long distances from the source of emission by atmospheric transfer... Human exposure occurs mainly from consumption of contaminated food, active and passive inhalation of tobacco smoke, and inhalation by workers in the nonferrous metal industry.”

In a 2007 report prepared by the Central Intelligence Committee, cadmium was being used in the aircraft industry to reduce corrosion of steel components.

Evacuation

Shortly before 11:30 p.m. on Monday, paramedics were dispatched to the

28000 block of Franklin Parkway for reports of a hazardous materials incident, Fire Department spokesman Marvin Lim said.

Paramedics, firefighters and hazmat crews remained at the scene overnight, clearing at 9:20 a.m. on Tuesday.

Deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff ’s Station assisted about 40 people in the evacuation of the industrial site, noting patients were taken to either Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital or Providence Holy Cross Medical Center.

Shortly after 1 a.m., officials with the California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health, were notified of the incident, CAL OSHA spokesman Frank Polizzi said Tuesday.

AU G U S T 12, 2018

S U N D AYS I G N A L · 11

LOCALNEWS

City’s traffic collision rates down from last year TOTAL COLLISIONS

TOTAL COLLISIONS

JAN TO MAY 2017: 683

(BIKE) JAN TO MAY 2017: 10

TOTAL COLLISIONS

BIKE COLLISIONS

JAN TO MAY 2018: 600 DECREASE: 12%

JAN TO MAY 2018: 9 DECREASE: 10%

TOTAL CAR CRASH INJURIES

COLLISIONS

JAN TO MAY 2017: 221

(PEDESTRIAN) JAN TO MAY 2017: 7

Law enforcement officials with the California Highway Patrol respond to a rollover crash on Placerita Canyon Road earlier this year. SIGNAL FILE PHOTO

By Crystal Duan

The city of Santa Clarita has seen improvements in traffic safety, as its total collisions for the first five months of this year compared to last year’s went down 12 percent, said Jerrid Mckenna, assistant to the city manager.

The total collisions in January to May 2018 were at 600, while there were 683 from January to May 2017.

Of those collisions in 2018, there were 207 injuries from car crashes, which was a 6 percent decrease from last year’s car crashes. This time last year, there had been 221 recorded crashes.

There has been one fewer bike collision this year than last year.

Pedestrian collisions went up in 2018 compared to 2017. This time last year, there had been seven incidents, while there were 15 recorded by the end of May. Mckenna said the unusually high number of pedestrian incidents was an anomaly, and the rates have since normalized.

The city’s traffic safety team has a goal of reducing pedestrian and bike collisions by 20 percent by the end of the year, he said.

That team was created after a significant spike in traffic accidents in 2015. The group of city staff, traffic engineers and sheriff ’s deputies

formed at the beginning of 2016 to talk about strategies for better traffic control.

“It’s about identifying and using data we’ve collected as part of the discussion,” he said. “The team meets quarterly to review problematic areas. If we saw an area with more accidents, we would try to look at how engineers can make those roadways safer or add more patrols.

We’ve come up with solutions over the last two years that directly correlated with the overall decrease in collisions.”

After the team began implementing its strategies in 2017, the city recorded a 9 percent decrease in overall collisions, 13 percent decrease in injury collisions, 39 percent decrease in fatal collisions, 47 percent decrease in pedestrian collisions and 0 fatalities that year.

They seek to replicate that success this year, Mckenna said.

Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff ’s deputies are increasing strategic enforcement measures that are resulting in more citations. Through May, deputies have written a total of 7,787 citations, which represents a 25 percent increase over the same time frame last year, when 6,209 citations had been issued.

The city’s Sheriff ’s Station issued 67 pedestrian-involved citations as of Aug. 1, Mckenna said.

TOTAL CAR CRASH INJURIES

JAN TO MAY 2018: 15

JAN TO MAY 2018: 207

INCREASE: 114%

DECREASE: 6%

Lic. #462231

12 · S U N D AYS I G N A L

AU G U S T 12, 2018

LOCALNEWS

A local lifeline in need of help

By Tammy Murga

At the beginning of the year, Dana Bradford found herself struggling to find help for her 13-year-old child, who was battling severe depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She found the help her son needed at the nonprofit SRD~Straightening Reins ranch.

And now, the ranch is in danger of closing, potentially eliminating the care the ranch provides for her child and hundreds of others.

“I’m heartbroken,” the mother said.

“They may not have a home, and we can’t let that happen.”

The Samantha Rocha-Dyer Foundation, or SRD~Straightening Reins, is a nonprofit organization that uses equine-centered psychotherapy to promote mental well-being for children and teenagers.

On Monday, Executive Director Deborah Rocha announced that the organization is in desperate need of finding a permanent home after not being able to renew its lease at its current Sand Canyon ranch location. The ranch’s original site was in San Francisquito Canyon.

“After our SRD board began renegotiating the lease with the current property owner, it became apparent that the facility will no longer work for the needs of our programs,” Rocha said in a letter to The Signal.

After a Tuesday night board meeting, members are eagerly searching to connect with anyone willing to help as the deadline to leave the ranch approaches on Nov. 1.

“The conversation was about

From left, Haley Moore and Hailey Hartigan work with SRD~Straightening Reins’ Ranch Crew, along with founder Debbie Rocha.

The facility recently moved to Sand Canyon, but it’s now in danger of closing down at the end of its lease. PHOTO BY PERRY SMITH.

finding steady revenue since we provide services for free,” Rocha said.

Since the meeting, Rocha and the rest of the board have received an avalanche of concerned emails and phone calls from parents, while others have already provided ways they could help.

Among them was Bradford. “I’m working on setting up a GoFundMe page, which the funds will go toward the forever home,” she said. “Our kids are suffering, and SRD has benefitted my two kids and hundreds more.

They need to stay.”

For over seven years, SRD has provided individual, family and group counseling for those facing multiple challenges. Those challenges range

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from: bullying, drug and alcohol use to feeling undervalued by peers. Mental health professionals, equine specialists and animals — like horses and donkeys — work alongside participants through a series of workshops.

The combined effort teaches youth about behavioral and emotional issues by understanding that horses are social animals.

“It’s like a mirror,” Rocha said.

“Horses will tell you a message with their behavior. This helps the youth talk about their own feelings with counselors after seeing it in the animals.”

Workshops like these helped 774 people last year, with 90 percent of the clients from the SCV. Rocha believes 2018 can top that number but is afraid that may not be the case if a permanent location is not found in time.

Would they consider leaving the SCV if a location elsewhere was found?

Said Rocha: “If someone has that place for us outside Santa Clarita, then we may have to. This is about helping family; we are a family. But we need support.”

HOW TO HELP BE A SPONSOR: THE NONPROFIT IS LOOKING FOR SPONSORS TO SUPPORT THE THERAPY HERD, WHICH INCLUDES 5 HORSES, 2 MINI DONKEYS, 3 GOATS AND 3 HENS. HELP FIND A HOME: AN IDEAL PROPERTY WOULD HAVE ENOUGH SPACE TO NOT ONLY SUPPORT THE STALLS AND ARENA BUT ALSO HAVE A HOUSE TO USE FOR THE FOSTER TRANSITIONAL COLLEGE YOUTH. DONATE: SRD IS SET TING UP A GOFUNDME PAGE, FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO HELP, CONTACT ROCHA AT 661-803-1641.

AU G U S T 12, 2018

S U N D AYS I G N A L · 13

LOCALNEWS

One-year countdown for Castaic High begins

By Marilyn Chavez-Martinez

The future students of Castaic High School joined state legislators, district leaders, parents and Santa Clarita Valley stakeholders on Aug. 3 at the future school site to celebrate the countdown to Castaic High School, an event commemorating the one-year countdown until the highly anticipated opening of the school.

“CHS has been talked about since I came on the board,” said Steve Sturgeon, the current board president of the William S. Hart Union High School District who has been involved with the project for nearly two decades. ”Nobody would’ve expected that it would be 2019 before the doors opened,” but the progress the district has made in the last six to eight years has been tremendous.

“The building portion of the project alone has been, to date, a little over 228,000 man-hours of effort,” project manager Randy Wrage told the crowd of more than 400 people. “Most of that is skilled tradespeople bearing 110-degree heat,” in order to raise the white science building, which provided the background for the event, or the maroon metal beams that rise from the ground and will serve as the future site of Castaic’s performing arts center.

The grinding and sounds of machine work rung in the background as children and adults, alike, attempted to guess the purpose of each building during their walk up the long road to the ceremony.

“Early on, Castaic High School was going to go in Northlake but that went belly up, so we finally landed here,” said Gloria Mercado-Fortine, a former Hart district board president. “We went through probably a good eight sites before coming to the most difficult site, but by then, there was no more land.”

“Since then, it feels like we’ve been travelling through this desert,” Mercado-Fortine said with a giggle.

At the podium, Principal Melanie Hagman agreed that the journey has been long, referring to both the mileand-a-half journey up the access road to the construction site, as well as the opening of the seventh comprehensive

Construction continues at a feverish pace in preparation for the opening of Castaic High School. PHOTO BY CORY RUBIN

high school in the Hart district.

Former Castaic resident Debbie Kelly believes the wait has definitely been worth it.

“This is like the icing on the cake,” Kelly said. “My children went to Live Oak Elementary and Castaic Middle School, and this was in the making from the time they’ve been in preschool.”

Today, Kelly said her children are 25 and 28 years old, nearly the same age as Kaitlyn Graff, who also expected to attend Castaic High School in her youth but now hopes to teach there in the upcoming year.

“It’s a little 360,” she said, before explaining her excitement for the school and its expected programs.

“Ultimately, I feel that this school is going to yield really wonderful students that are ready for their next journey in life,” Hagman said. Similar to every Hart district school, the academics will be rigorous and taught by highly dedicated and passionate teachers, she said.

Students will have the opportunity to complete up to two years of college credit, thanks to a partnership with College of the Canyons, Hagman said.

“We are also going to work through a career technical education program,” which will ultimately offer classes that will prepare future engineers, welders, health professionals and chefs for real-world job opportunities.

14 · S U N D AYS I G N A L

AU G U S T 12, 2018

FROM THE CITY MANAGER

Working together to address homelessness

By Ken Striplin

S

anta Clarita is unique in many ways. One of which is the giving and compassionate nature of our community. This is evident by the amazing number of nonprofits we have assisting those in need, the amount of donations these organizations receive and the number of our residents who volunteer their time and money to help.

The issue that is currently tugging at our heartstrings is the number of our neighbors, who for one reason or another, ended up living on the streets. There are many local organizations who assist the homeless and many people who want to help, and there is still much more work to be done to make a true and lasting impact.

The first step is to have a solid plan that is supported by the community.

Last October, the City of Santa Clarita received a City Planning Grant as part of the Home for Good Funders Collaborative, which was provided by United Way of Greater Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. Utilizing funds from the grant, the City hired a research group to work with the community and stakeholders to develop a comprehensive solutions plan to address and combat homelessness. After nearly three months of research, meetings and interviews, a draft of the Community Plan to Address Homelessness has been completed.

I encourage you to take a moment and read through the draft of the Community Plan to Address

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Homelessness.

The Plan identifies six areas of greatest need which are: lack of a permanent shelter; the need for more affordable housing; gaps in mental health services, coordination, collaboration; and the need for a more accurate homeless count. It includes 15 goals and 21 action-specific items, complete with detailed timelines for implementation and specific responsibilities assigned to local service providers. The plan is online at santa-clarita.com/ homeless, and will be available for review and comment through Wednesday, August 22. Please send any comments or questions to homelessplan@santa-clarita.com.

This plan is just one facet of the City’s work to combat homelessness – in fact, the City Council has been involved with, and helping with, homeless issues for more than a decade. In 2017, the Ad Hoc Committee on Homeless Issues was formed by your Santa Clarita City Council to discuss and work toward the most effective strategies for addressing homelessness in our City. The committee meets to collaborate with stakeholders from the Santa Clarita Valley and beyond – including homeless care providers, advocates, social workers and other partners.

The City Council has also been actively working to support our local nonprofit organizations to improve and expand their services. Most notably, the City recently transferred $1 million worth of land to Bridge to Home, our local lead homeless service provider, where plans are already underway to build a permanent, year-round homeless shelter.

Another piece of the puzzle is how to provide more opportunities for

affordable housing in the City. The City Council contributed approximately $5 million for an affordable housing project in Newhall, which is now home to 30 families. There have been several affordable housing projects for our senior residents that have come through the City Council, which the City Council approved, supported and subsidized. In addition, the City annually awards Community Development Block Grant funds from the U.S. Department of

Ken Striplin

Housing and Urban Development to assist lower-income residents in the areas of locating decent housing, a suitable living environment and expanded economic opportunities.

The City is committed to upholding a high quality of life for our community while maintaining an environment where everyone feels welcome, and has an opportunity to thrive. To find out more about the draft of the Community Plan to Address Homelessness and to find out what resources and services are available in Santa Clarita, please visit santa-clarita.com/homeless.

Together we can help our neighbors who need it most. 

AU G U S T 12, 2018

S U N D AYS I G N A L · 15

BUSINESS

Summer heat waves benefit local business sales representative said Tuesday that due to high temperatures, more people hile many grunt stop by during the morning hours at the thought of rather than afternoons. continuous heat That seems to be the case for movie waves this summer, theaters, too. Ashley Manjarrez, local businesses are “running wild,” associate manager at Edwards as Newhall Ice owners put it, with Canyon Country theaters, said many booming sales. customers are now stopping by “We have been working like crazy between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., rather these days,” said co-owner Sara than their usual busy hours of 7 and Hajeck. In just the month of July, she 8 p.m. This has caused a change in added, sales increased by 10 percent the movie schedule, as additional when compared to last July’s figures. showings are added for the more “July this year appeared to be a lot popular films. hotter than last year.”

Opposite of that are frozen yogurt Power outages around the area and ice cream shops. More customers during the month are stopping by also increased during the later revenue, as the evening hours for SOME SHOPS family-owned an after-dinner business received HAVE HAD TO treat. Some shops, several orders including La STAY OPEN from residents Michoacana on LATER AND HIRE trying to conserve Newhall Avenue, their food. The ADDITIONAL have had to stay business has also open later and hire STAFF DUE greatly benefitted additional staff from constant TO HEAVY due to heavy foot ice restock in traffic during the FOOT TRAFFIC local convenience night hours. stores.

DURING THE With steady Hajek said they NIGHT HOURS. temperatures expect sales to no less than the peak this month, high 90s, outdoor especially when hitting triple-digit crews, like street maintenance weather. workers, have had to alter their work And they aren’t the only ones. schedules.

Portable air conditioner sales have “The city’s field workers begin each doubled in at least one of the local day as early as 6 a.m. to get the bulk Lowe’s hardware stores. of work completed before noon,” According to J Deras, a sales said Kevin Strauss, communications associate at the Bouquet Canyon specialist with the city of Santa Road location, the store is averaging Clarita. “The General Services 30 sales per week when they usually Division brings its field crews inside reach anywhere between 10 to 15. at 2 p.m. to finish shifts indoors “We have received a lot of fan working in the maintenance bay and returns,” Deras said. “People want completing necessary paperwork.” the AC. We put all our stock out on With more high heat alerts the floor, and it all runs out.” expected in the coming months, Other retailers selling swimwear businesses are gearing up for and watersports gear have seen an continued heavy traffic and, in uptick in foot traffic on weekdays. certain key business sectors, an Castaic Landing Boat Rentals has observed a shift in walk-in times. A expected rise in sales. 

By Tammy Murga

W

Parents and kids frolic in the pools at the Santa Clarita Aquatic Center in the midday heat. PHOTO BY CORY RUBIN

16 · S U N D AYS I G N A L

AU G U S T 12, 2018

Vampire Van Cannibal Killer Stalks SCV

A

warm and western howdy to you, saddlepals and saddlepal-ettes. Amen, boy howdy. I haven’t written that phrase in eons.

Bottom of my heart, it’s absolute Christmas to see all you old friends, new faces and aficionados of Santa Clarita history.

We’ve a most interesting trail ride ahead through the SCV’s back canyons and riparian vistas. This week, we’ll visit saints, sinners, gunfighters, hippies and even one (1), hock-ptooey, actual cannibal.

I’ve a few thousand steeds all saddled, waiting for adventurous riders. Come on, you bunk huggers. Jump into your jeans and boots, scamper out of those condos, townhouses and McMansions. I’ve hot coffee and pastries aplenty. Shall we mosey into the mystic?

The Time Ranger A weekly trailride through Santa Clarita Valley History

WAY BACK WHEN & THEN SOME

• THE FIRST CHOO-CHOO — The year: 1876. Newhall was founded (in Saugus) in October. In July, construction began on the world’s longest (6,940 feet) train tunnel.

Then, on Aug. 12, the first train roared through, from San Fernando to Newhall. And Tom Frew turned 7. (Just seeing if my old Scotsman pal is paying attention...)

• THE SANTA OFFREDUCCIO VALLEY!?!?! — On Aug. 10, 249 years ago, Father Juan Crespi camped along the banks of river that ran year round. The padre named the body of water after St. Clare on her feast day. Born Chiara Offreduccio in 1194 to a wealthy Italian count, she would be canonized as St. Claire in 1253. Get this. Centuries later, in 1958, Pope Pius II would name her the Patron Saint of Television (for real). In her last bedridden days, Claire claimed to hear and hear the mass on her bedroom wall.

AUG. 10, 1928 • FROM ONE, MANY — In 1900, we had a total of one (1) telephone in the entire valley. Phone stats came out in early August and we had 125 telephones, an increase of 7.95 percent from the previous year. Please don’t ask me how many phones we had in 1927. (But DO send in the number…)

• DEER ME — A Happy Valley woman woke in the middle of the night to the sound of what she thought were burglars. ’Tweren’t. From her bedroom, the lady started firing off her nightstand pistol (good band name) at various points of the compass. Neighbors called the gendarmes. The “burglars” turned out to be three deer peacefully grazing on her front lawn.

price-control program required Haddad to sell his crop of more than 1 million taters for cattle feed — at 10 cents per 100 pounds — minus the dime for each burlap sack.

Imagine. All that work and getting a penny for every 10 pounds.

AUG. 10, 1958 • BRRR!, PART II — Remember the cold spell from 1948 (cripes; hope you do; it was two paragraphs back).

This week in 1958, the evening low temps never rose above 42 degrees.

• ON THE ROAD TO NOWHERE — Signal editor/publisher Fred Trueblood celebrated his 20th year at the helm of The Signal. The biggest story of his tenure? He recalled Highway 99/Weldon Canyon becoming the major state highway in 1933 and Sierra Highway opening in 1938. The result was that Newhall went from being a roadside community to an isolated village.

AUG. 10, 1968 • HIPPY DIPPY, NOT SO RARE — A new creature was spotted wandering about the SCV. More and more, hippies were arriving into what was then a riparian farm and ranch community. Often, these “flower children” were given dark stares, and more, for their stances on free sex and drug use.

• SLIPPERY PRINCESS — Many new homeowners in the Princess tract were none too happy. Seems 60 of the

by John Boston

AUG. 10, 1938 • SORRY, CHINESE — Signal editor/publisher A.B. “Dad” Thatcher would eventually be the oldest working newspaper columnist west of the Mississippi. He wrote the Jin-Jer-Jar column for decades and, on this date, he apologized twice to the Chinese.

First, Dad printed a retraction, swallowing his words after he had falsely accused the Chinese of using more dope than Americans. It was the other way around. Second, he apologized to the Chinese for America inventing jazz.

• ALL CABINS BEIGE? — This very well could be the first HOA (homeowners association) in the SCV. The Bouquet Canyon Cabin Owners Association was formed. And, of course, so was a charter, bylaws and rules without number.

• TAKES 4 TO MAKE 3 SETS OF LEGS — State Fish & Game created their own creature: the Peg-Legged Coyote. Seems we had an entire passel of them limping around the • GRANT ME THE SERENITY. BUT NOT JUST YET — In early August of SCV. The area had started an eradication pro1948, Judge Arthur Miller (no relation to Mr. Marilyn Monroe) unsucgram, but found the wild dogs would either cessfully tried to start the first chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous here pull or gnaw off a leg caught in Newhall. If memory serves, A.A. would start their first meeting here in a trap. The injured predators seven years later in 1956. (Any tips or more background on those earwere forced to limp after simpler ly A.A. SCV days would be greatly, and anonymously, appreciated).

This famous painting, “Man on the Bed,” was created by an artist and prey: like pets and chickens. volunteer known only as Robert M. It was given to one of A.A.’s original founders, Bill W., in May 1950. It is perhaps ‘The’ trademark artwork for the 12-step program.

• CREEKSIDE LASALLE? — This week in 1928, young historian A.B. Perkins lusted after a luxurious new LaSalle. Though we were a rural armpit, we had a luxury LaSalle dealership, manned by a Mr. Householder and a Mr. Davis. Perk sent a letter, offering them, in trade: “Herb Ball’s Buick, 1 donkey, 4 calves, 2 horses, 10 chickens, 3 lots in Outer Newhall and $500 cash.” Today, that LaSalle Phaeton is worth at least $125,000. Perk’s property? Several million.

AUG. 10, 1948 • BRRR! — Not making this up: the overnight low for July 30, 1948 in Downtown Newhall was colder than a Democrat’s heart: 45 degrees.

It was even chillier in some of the higher elevations.

• DONCHA LOVE COMMUNISM? — Local rancher Al Haddad was one of America’s biggest potato farmers. (Meant in the sense that Al wasn’t 45 feet tall, he raised a zillion potatoes.) A government program forced him to turn his 1948 crop into mashed potatoes. Yup. Mashed potatoes. A federal

houses had collapsed or were about to be condemned due to hill slides. Now THAT wasn’t in the real estate brochure…

• GRAND OLD TRAIN — Yay for Metrolink but their modern vessels can’t hold a candle to the luxurious old Southern Pacific cabins. On this date, the last of the luxury cruisers passed through the SCV, never to return again. Problem? Only about 60 passengers a day were using the trains back then.

See TIME RANGER, page 40

AU G U S T 12, 2018

S U N D AYS I G N A L · 17

SPORTSCORNER

SCCS soccer player’s European odyssey Sydney Boswell represents U.S.

By Diego Marquez

A

lthough she led the Santa Clarita Christian School girls soccer team in scoring with 34 goals last season, Sydney Boswell admits she wasn’t too confident when her Real So CalSCV Girls 2003 coach advised her to try out for a travel team based in Orange County.

The team, So Cal Select, travels all over the world competing against girls soccer teams from myriad countries and was taking part in the Iber Cup Tournament in Estoril, Portugal.

“When I first got the email to try out from my coach, I didn’t think I would make the team,” Boswell said. “My expectations were kind of high.”

Two tryouts in December later, Boswell got word that she had been selected to the 16 and under team. The trip would last three weeks, June 24 to July 13, and the team would visit countries like Ireland, Italy, Portugal and England.

The day after arriving in Dublin, Ireland, So Cal Select played a friendly against Shelbourne LFC, winning 5-4 despite the girls being jet-lagged from the 10-plus hour flight from California to Ireland.

“I mean we were pretty tired from the flight,” Boswell said. “It was more of exhaustion but we all wanted to play. Exhaustion started to set in in the second half, but we stuck with it and we played well under the circumstances we were in.

“That win set the tone for the rest of the trip.”

On to Italy After a couple days off, the team was off to Italy, where they went on to play two friendlies against a team from Lavagna, Italy, beating them 7-0 and AC Roma of Rome, beating them 6-4.

“It was pretty crazy,” Boswell said.

“We were really exhausted from playing, but we were still super excited to see what their skill set was. “Going into each game we expected it to be hard so we didn’t let up at all.”

Winning the first three games in Europe, the girls felt confident heading into the main reason that they traveled

to Europe, the Iber Cup Tournament.

There were 80 different countries represented in the tournament with So Cal Select being one representative from the United States.

The team was in awe as they walked into the stadium behind the United States of America’s flag during the opening ceremonies.

“It felt amazing representing this great country of ours,” Boswell said. “It felt great knowing that they supported us.”

Being treated like celebrities, fans kept wanting to take pictures and meet the girls. A boy from China even gave Boswell a knot as a gift. The offering turned out to be a Chinese knot that signified good luck.

Strong French team

Facing off against a strong French team that touted four French National Players in the first match, So Cal Select fell 7-2.

“We had been winning all of our games so we didn’t really know what to expect,” Boswell said. “A lot of them were double our size. They were very aggressive and very quick.”

Dropping their second game in the tournament to the top-ranked Portugal team, 2-0, the girls knew something had to change.

“We knew that we were going to give it all for the next game,” Boswell said.

“We took it as an opportunity to motivate us to push through and win our next game.”

With their tournament hopes on the line, the girls delivered and defeated another Portuguese team 7-1 to advance to the playoffs.

In the quarterfinals, So Cal Select met another US team from Connecticut and blanked them 4-0.

Awaiting them in the semifinals was that same French team that beat them in the first game of the tournament.

Switching up tactics, So Cal Select played this game smarter and more tactical, knowing what they were in for against a very good French team.

“The first game we attacked and got exhausted,” Boswell said. “This time we laid back and let them do their

Sydney Boswell traveled with So Cal Select. COURTESY PHOTO

thing and then counter-attacked and exploited their weakness through the middle and outside.”

The game went down to the wire, with So Cal Select coming up just

short, falling 1-0 and ending their tournament.

Boswell finished with three goals and five assists in the Iber Cup See SOCCER, page 42

118 8 · SSU S IIGGNNAALL UN ND DAY AYS

Opinion

AUGGUUSSTT 12, 12, 2018 AU

Unless otherwise stated, the views and opinions expressed are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily represent the views of The Signal.

OURVIEW

E T H I C A L LY S P E A K I N G

The Interstate 5 Flu Shot Will Help Us All

Growing Your Comfort Zone Instead of Leaving It

By The Signal Editorial Board

By David Hegg

Y

ou know that feeling when you go to the doctor, and the nurse comes into the exam room with a big ol’ needle to give you your flu shot, and says, “This is going to sting just a little?”

You do the mental math: What’s worse, a few seconds of pain now, or shivering in the fetal position for a week because you’ve got the flu and everything it comes with, from fever to aches that go from head to toe?

You take the flu shot.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is what we are going through right now on the Interstate 5 through the Santa Clarita Valley, albeit on a much grander, longer scale.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) have been working together for more than 15 years to add capacity to the I-5 in northern Los Angeles County, between the Newhall Pass and Castaic.

Those efforts first came to fruition in 2014, with the completion of a twoyear, $67 million construction project that added new truck lanes between Pico Canyon Road/Lyons Avenue and the Newhall Pass.

It was Phase 1 of a two-phase joint

Metro-Caltrans project, utilizing funding from a variety of sources including federal, state and regional transportation funds. The project’s official name has evolved, but has often been called the I-5 North Los Angeles County Capacity Enhancement Project.

That’s government-speak for “more lanes to handle all that traffic coming your way.”

The $539.2 million Phase 2 calls for the construction of new toll-free carpool lanes, auxiliary lanes, sound walls and other improvements to the I-5 between the Newhall Pass and Parker Road. That phase is scheduled to begin construction sometime after the 2019 completion of the current I-5 construction project, which is technically separate from the capacity enhancement project: Caltrans is in the midst of a two-year, $171 mile pavement rehabilitation project that covers 16 miles of I-5, including the same stretch where the HOV lanes will be added.

So, adding up the tally, that’s about a decade’s worth of construction, at a See OUR VIEW, page 20

I

’ve been pondering the idea of “stepping out of my comfort zone.” Like me, you’ve heard this many times.

We’ve been encouraged to do it, to go outside the supposed boundaries of our comfort. Those calling us to do so make it sound like comfort is a bad thing, self-centered, and ultimately, a barrier to better living. And all this time I’ve believed that comfort was a good thing! So, I’ve been thinking about this, and have come to a conclusion: calling someone to “step out of their comfort zone” is foolish, and actually quite counter-productive.

If the thing you want us to do is “outside” the zone of comfort, then even if we do it, we’ll just retreat back into the zone when you’re not looking. This is especially true if you keep telling us that the “thing” is actually uncomfortable! So, I have a better idea.

Here it is: Instead of saying “step out of your comfort zone” to get me to do something uncomfortable, say “enlarge your comfort zone to encompass a new opportunity.”

Enlarging my comfort zone calls on me to do two things. First, to believe that there are actually “comfortable”

things that I don’t now recognize. Second, to understand that once I recognize and grasp those as-yet unknown comfortable things, it will make my life so much better!

And isn’t that what we all want anyway? Don’t we want some more “comfortable” things that more and more occupy our lives with great variety?

I guess the real problem is change.

As a student of society, change is something I find inevitable. If the business books and the ministry books are right, the pace of change is not going to slow down anytime soon. Given this, it is quite disconcerting to hear on every hand that “people hate change.” Actually, I don’t think its true. Here’s why: When people say, “I hate change,” what they’re really saying is “I hate the thought that change might make me uncomfortable.”

They begin with the point of view that change will be bad, even though there is a case to be made that change is often good. God must have thought change was a good idea when He decided to make the sun come up and go down every day. Every one of the See HEGG, page 20

READERLETTERS

Knight Leads Against Opioids If you are reading this, it is likely you know of the opioid epidemic plaguing this country. This tragedy has been played out in cities across our country, leaving overdoses and broken communities in its wake. But bold political leadership can help solve this problem and restore the lives damaged by opioids. Rep. Steve Knight is providing that leadership as our representative in Congress.

Knight worked on drug-related issues for 18 years in the Los Angeles Police Department and has brought that experience to the Bipartisan Heroin Task Force in Congress. There he has authored and helped pass legislation that appropriates $20 million to the National Guard’s counterdrug program. These funds will combat drug trafficking and stop drugs before they reach our communities.

Though he has worked to stop opioid trafficking, Knight has also sought to empower professionals

who treat addicts. Last month, Knight helped pass the most sweeping package of legislation Congress has yet considered to address this issue. Nearly 40 bills were included in the package, which included provisions helping medical professionals get access to complete medical records for patients being treated for opioid abuse. It also requires the surgeon general to act in response to the rise in See LETTERS, page 19

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Opinion

Contact: Tim Whyte, Signal Editor Phone: 661-287-5591 | Email: letters@signalscv.com Mail: 26330 Diamond Place, Suite 100, Santa Clarita, CA 91350

BLACK&WHYTE

D R AW I N G CO N C LU S I O N S R I C K M C K E E

The N.Y. Times, Double Standards and Bigotry

By Tim Whyte Signal Editor

R

aise your hand if you’ve ever been denied employment, based on: A) Your gender B) Your skin color C) Your sexual orientation D) All of the above How many can choose D, “all of the above”? I thought so. Not many of you.

I’m in a pretty exclusive club.

One example: Over 20 years ago, I was recruited to apply for a job. I aced the interviews and as far as I know, I was the most qualified candidate they talked to. (I mean that in the most humble way possible, which I guess is actually not at all humble. Whatever.)

They told me I was hired, pending a successful drug test, which would be no problem. Then, at the last minute, I got a call saying they decided to go in another direction. I had no idea what that meant, until an employee — a black woman — gave her two weeks’ notice because she’d gotten the job.

The exact same job.

I was more experienced. I had a stronger portfolio of work. I had actually hired her a few months earlier — she was right out of college. I liked her a lot. She was smart, talented and had a good sense of humor. But, by most objective measures, at that moment I was the more qualified candidate.

I couldn’t figure it out. A while later, the person who had recruited me told a colleague that one of the higher-ups had said they needed to hire someone who didn’t look like me — straight white males need not apply. The joke, they said, was, “if only Tim had come in wearing black face and a skirt.”

Everything worked out well for me, career-wise, but if I’m being honest, all these years later, yeah. I’m still a little salty about it.

No one should be discriminated against because of their gender, skin color or sexual orientation. Not even a heterosexual white male.

This is why I’m disappointed now in some elements of the journalism profession, because many journos are perpetuating the notion that straight white males are a fair target for everything from discrimination to elimination.

For example, there’s the New York Times, which is becoming as well known for its double standards as for its once lofty journalism standards.

At the same time as the Times rides its editorial high horse on issues of social justice, including race, gender and sexual orientation, it has hired Sarah Jeong to join its editorial board.

If you’re unfamiliar, Ms. Jeong has expressed hatred of white people. In particular, white men. In particular, old white men. Cripes. If I run into her in an alley, I’ll need a bodyguard.

In an angry series of tweets, mostly around 2012-14, she said, among other things: “Oh man it’s kind of sick how much joy I get out of being cruel to old white men.” “#CancelWhitePeople” “Are white people genetically predisposed to burn faster in the sun, thus logically being only fit to live underground like groveling goblins.” “.@RepDanMode White people have stopped breeding. You’ll all go extinct soon. This was my plan all along.”

She also griped about “white people marking up the internet with their opinions like dogs pissing on fire hydrants,” and compared “dumbass f-----g white people” to dogs.

Now. As a First Amendment advocate, I’ll defend Ms. Jeong’s constiSee WHYTE, page 20

LETTERS

Continued from page 18

synthetic drug use, especially the use of fentanyl. This vital legislation will be the first step toward giving localities and medical professionals the tools they need to treat addicts.

Knight has also introduced and passed more targeted legislation to help some of the most tragic victims of the opioid epidemic: military veterans. This legislation, the Combating Opioid Misuse Before Addiction for our Troops Act, stops the over-prescription of painkillers to active service members, veterans, and members of military families.

Understanding how people become addicted is essential for prevention, and Knight’s bill accounts for this by stopping doctors from over-prescribing painkillers and risking addiction for their patients.

Tristan Maletich, Saugus

Miranda on Target I appreciated Councilman Bill Miranda’s piece on the high cost of prescription medications. (Aug. 9) There is one other possible solution, according to the Kaiser family foundation. Some policymakers and experts have proposed allowing Medicare to negotiate the

price of prescription drugs. Under current law, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services is explicitly prohibited from negotiating directly with drug manufacturers on behalf of Medicare Part D enrollees.

That doesn’t make sense to me.

Let them negotiate like in any other free market situation and that should help.

Nancy Neill, Valencia

Clean, Clean, Clean This morning I made an observation that I’ve experienced for many years. I walked into the restroom in Valencia Glen Park. It’s always clean, the soap dispenser is always full. Everything was there. This fact runs contrary to almost all public restrooms. I simply had to give thanks. To the city employees responsible for this and the entire maintenance within all our Santa Clarita Parks, keep up the good work. Thank you. You are doing a great job.

Dick Ramirez, Valencia Submit a Letter to the Editor

Include name, address & phone number; Anonymous letters are not printed; Email: letters@signalscv.com; Mail to: Letters to the Editor, The Signal, 26330 Diamond Place, Ste. 100, Santa Clarita, CA 91350.

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HEGG

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24 hours in His days is a study in change.

The Earth is constantly rotating, bringing the change of light and darkness, while it constantly revolves around the sun, bringing the change of seasons. Trees change colors, grass grows, and we grow older every day. Nothing remains static: not our eyesight, or nails, or hair, or weight, sadly!

As human beings, we are a “change machine.” Every day we are different, and were it not so, we would be bored. Remember? “Variety is the spice of life.” We need change, and we actually love it ... so long as we can still be comfortable!

We also love change outside of ourselves. Who doesn’t enjoy a new purchase, a new car, a new couch? Who doesn’t enjoy a new restaurant find, a new book, a new blouse or suit coat? And what about the growth and maturity of a child? Don’t we work hard to bring about change in our kids, as they progress from self-centered brats into helpful, loving adults?

Don’t we pray for change when they’re in junior high? And wasn’t the greatest change in all of life something we actually made happen, when we decided to have kids in the first place? Talk about change!

So why do we always hear that “people

WHYTE

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tutional right to be a racist jerk and to post whatever she likes. Part of the price of our freedom of speech is tolerating the speech of others, even deplorable, hateful speech like the bile that emanated from Ms. Jeong’s Twitter account.

She absolutely has that right. I’d protect it. But I wouldn’t hire her as an editorialist. And that venerable institution, the New York Times, would.

Ms. Jeong says she is misunderstood, that she had been subjected to racist and sexist trolling on social media, so she was “counter trolling.”

Because, you know. If some white racist, sexist jerks trolled her on social media, then all white people must be evil. It’s a fabulous leap of logic. Apparently dozens of wrongs make one right.

It’s also a pretty sophisticated attempt at a lame excuse. No one said she was a dummy. Next month, she leaves The

hate change?” The truth is that people hate being uncomfortable, and it is this preoccupation with self that prevents most of us from even considering that change can be good.

Perhaps the real problem with change is that we’ve become so comfortable with ourselves. When Jesus came into this world, what He brought was God’s mirror.

He forced us to look at ourselves as God sees us, with all of our brokenness in plain sight. But then, through the power of His redemptive love, He also called us to that kind of change that brings life eternal.

Ultimately, change is our only hope.

So, try this: Think of something you’re uncomfortable doing, but you know would improve your life. Then check off all the myths you believe that keep you from being comfortable doing what you know is best, and what God calls you to.

Then do it! And when you find the reward that change can bring you won’t be tempted to retreat to a zone of comfort; rather, you’ll find that your zone has grown to encompass what God has in mind.

So, don’t settle for “stepping out.” Grow your zone!

David Hegg is senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church and a Santa Clarita resident.“Ethically Speaking” appears Sundays.  Verge and joins the editorial board of the New York Times.

If Ms. Jeong’s targets had been any other group, does anyone believe the Times would have given her a pass?

Didn’t think so.

Dripping with hypocrisy, the Times defended its decision, accepting Ms. Jeong’s promise not to do it again.

“We hired Sarah Jeong because of the exceptional work she has done … her journalism and the fact that she is a young Asian woman have made her a subject of frequent online harassment.

For a period of time she responded to that harassment by imitating the rhetoric of her harassers,” the Times’ statement said. “She regrets it, and The Times does not condone it.”

Well. Only to the extent that they will turn a blind eye to it. But let’s not split hairs. Imagine the Times’ reaction if you did a search-and-replace on her tweets, and substituted any other demographic group. The manure would hit the fan and she would be out

OUR VIEW

Continued from page 18

total cost of $777 million, in round numbers, all to give us an I-5 that has fresh pavement, expanded capacity for truck traffic, and HOV lanes to reward ride-sharing.

That’s one heck of a flu shot. And, it’s not without some “sting” of its own. Anyone who has driven the I-5 during the construction periods knows that the construction has, inevitably, caused some inconveniences and slowdowns.

However, those pale in comparison to the inconveniences and slowdowns I-5 travelers would experience without these projects. It is a cold, hard fact that not only is the I-5 one of the most heavily traveled freeways in the nation, but also that the demands placed on it are only going to increase through a variety of factors, including increased interstate and in-state commercial traffic.

And, make no mistake, regional growth will place additional demands on the already-busy freeway.

With the Newhall Ranch project in the Santa Clarita Valley and the proposed Centennial development, on Tejon Ranch, adding approximately

of not just that job, but pretty much any journalism job.

There’s evidence, too. Earlier this year, the very same New York Times fired an opinion writer after unearthing several controversial old tweets that were potentially offensive to gay people and black people. (That writer, like Ms. Jeong, says the tweets were misunderstood.) But Sarah Jeong gets a pass because, well, #CancelWhitePeople.

For her part, Ms. Jeong issued this explanation: “I engaged in what I thought of at the time as counter-trolling. While it was intended as satire, I deeply regret that I mimicked the language of my harassers. These comments were not aimed at a general audience, because general audiences do not engage in harassment campaigns. I can understand how hurtful these posts are out of context, and would not do it again.”

Twitter’s a bitch when it comes to context, isn’t it? In this case, no context needed. These were not retweets, which leave things open to wild interpretation.

40,000 new homes to the region in the next couple of decades, we’re going to need all the capacity we can get. Obviously, those developments are obligated to contribute to the construction of roads and highways to meet the additional demand created by the projects, and they will.

But a major freeway enhancement like this just doesn’t happen without funding being cobbled together from a variety of sources.

Which brings us to the reason for the seemingly odd timing. To the lay person, it might seem as if all of the work should have been done at once — but instead we have three separate projects taking approximately a decade combined.

But, the experts tell us, such is the nature of major highway projects.

You do them when the stars align, and the funding, design work and approvals are all ready. If you don’t strike while the iron is hot, the funding can go somewhere else.

Thankfully, the state and Metro have made our stretch of I-5 a high priority for funding and improvement. It’s always going to be an exceptionally busy freeway, but thanks to this decade-long flu shot, the pain will be much more tolerable in the many years ahead. 

These were her own words, tapped out by her own angry, racist fingers.

Bigotry is bigotry. Doesn’t matter whether the target is black, white, Asian, Latino, male, female, gay, straight, transgender or any other of the many delightful variations of humans.

Yet, in today’s world, it’s people who look like me who are exclusively allowed to be targets, to be denigrated and discriminated against, as we must atone for all the sins of our ancestors — even though, I swear, I’ve never oppressed anyone myself — and it’s viewed as acceptable, particularly among the high-and-mighty self-proclaimed “progressive” crowd.

Meanwhile, a racist and a sexist like Sarah Jeong is joining the editorial board of the New York Times.

Yep. Makes perfect sense.

Tim Whyte is editor of The Signal.

His column appears Sundays. Email: twhyte@signalscv.com. Twitter: @TimWhyte. 

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THIS WEEK’S CALENDAR

ONGOING Boating Sunday 7:30 a.m. Dragon Boat Paddling.

Experience a long Dragon boat with the Castaic Lake Dragon Boat team and a two-hour physical workout. Free, no experience necessary. Paddle and PFD personal flotation device provided. Info: https://teamdragoneyes.my-free.website (213) 447-5707.

History Saturdays and Sundays 1-4 p.m. The Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society invites guests to visit Heritage Junction Historic Park inside William S. Hart Park in Newhall. Tours are held every Saturday and Sunday, 1-4 p.m. 24101 Newhall Ave, Newhall. Info: https://scvhs.org.

Music

Tuesdays 7:30-8:30 p.m. Remo Community Drumming Experience is an hour of fun entry-level experiential music making with drums and percussion that is accessible to everyone.

Family-friendly environment with facilitator.

All ages and levels of ability are welcome and no prior musical experience is necessary.

Drums and percussion instruments provided at no cost. Free. Info: santaclaritaarts.com.

Trails Saturdays thru Dec. 8 8 a.m.-noon. Trails & Open Space Beautification Projects. Join a group of dedicated volunteers and help clean up and maintain City trails. Interested volunteers must pre-register at SantaClaritaVolunteers.com.

Nature

Saturdays 11 a.m. Family Nature Walk and a Native Live Animal Presentation at 1 p.m. Free. Placerita Nature Center, 19152 Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall. Info: www.placerita.org.

= Family Friendly Event

Animals Saturdays and Sundays (except Movies Friday, Aug. ~ 8 p.m. Summer rainy days and holidays) 9:30 Movies in the Park Series starting at a.m.-noon. The Gibbon Conservation dusk. “Black Panther.”Family friendly Center is open to the public. A tour is given at 10 movies at the Hart Picnic Grounds area. Admission a.m. and self-guided tours are available at all is free. 8 p.m. William S. Hart Park 24151 Newhall times. Admission: Ave., Newhall. Info: (661) 259-1750 or http:// $15 (adults); $12 (teens and students); $10 friendsofhartpark.org. (seniors); $5 (children 6-12); $0 (Children under 5). Gibbon Conservation Center, 19100 Esguerra Road Saugus. Info: http://www.gibboncenter.org Music Saturday, Aug. 18 ~7 p.m. City of Santa Clarita’s Concerts in the Park Art presents returning favorite The Now thru Oct. 1. “Pettable Paintings,” Pettybreakers. Sing along to classics from Tom is animal-themed artwork by Santa Petty and help pay tribute to one of the most Clarita artist, Janine Cooper Ayres legendary bands ever. Free. Family-friendly where guests are encouraged to touch the atmosphere. Concert-goers are encouraged to artwork. Newhall Community Center, 22421 bring beach chairs and blankets, and food vendors Market St., Newhall. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Info: jbarber@santa-clarita.com or will be on site selling a variety of concessions and snacks. Central Park, 27150 Bouquet Canyon www.SantaClaritaArts.com.

Road, Saugus. Info: Santa-Clarita.com/Concerts.

Theater Santa Clarita Regional Theatre’s Hiking production of “Disney’s Beauty and the Saturday, Aug. 18 ~ 8 p.m. Placerita Nature Beast”thru Aug. 12. Tickets: Adults Center Twilight Hike. 19152 Placerita Canyon $12 to $29. Seniors and Juniors $10 to $26. Visit Road, Newhall. Info: www.placerita.org. canyontheatre.org or Box Office (661) 799-2702.

“Gilligan’s Island, The Musical”July 28 to Aug. 25 Tickets: $21-$19 for adults and $19$17 seniors (over 62) and juniors (under 18) Visit canyontheatre.org or Box Office (661) 799-2702.

EVENTS BY DATE

Benefit Tuesday, Aug. 14 ~ 7:30 p.m. The 7th Annual Comics for the Cause to benefit the SCV Youth Project. Tickets: $55 and $40. VIP add-on $35.

VIP ADD-ON: $35. Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center at College of the Canyons, 26455 Rockwell Second Saturday of the month 8 a.m. a Canyon Road, Valencia. Info: (661) 257 – YOUTH docent led Bird Walk for beginning to advanced birders. Bring binoculars, a field guide, and water. (9688) or http://www.helpnothassle.org/7th-annual-comics-for-the-cause-2/ 19152 Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall. Info: www.placerita.org.

Benefit Tuesday, Aug. 14 ~ 6 p.m. The WiSH Art Education Foundation Annual Burrito First, second and third Thursdays of each Bowl. Free. Cheer for your favorite month 6-9 p.m. ARTree Figure Drawing. Visit team, cheerleaders, bands and dancers. Held at ARTree Community Arts Center for a chance to the top of Town Center Drive at Westfield Valencia really explore your creative potential using a live model. Just drop in and bring a pencil and paper. Town Center the fundraiser benefits local public high schools through the sales of raffle tickets. $10 donation. ARTree Community Arts Center, 22508 6th St., Newhall. Info: http://theartree.org. Info: www.WiSHscv.org.

Cars Tuesday, Aug. 21 ~ 4 p.m. Rotary Pint Night and Car Show at Wolf Creek Brewery. Free. People’s Choice Car show with beer, food, trucks and a live band. Trophies for People’s Choice participants.

Only pre-registered vehicles will enter Wolf Creek Brewery’s parking lot to be set up and staged for the show. The Car show starts at 6 p.m. and trophies along with raffles will be presented at 8 p.m. Registration deadline is Aug. 14 $20 to register. Call Glenn Terry (661) 312-7268. Wolf Creek Brewery, 25108 Rye Canyon Loop, Santa Clarita.

Info: (661) 254-4401 or www.scvrotaryclub.com/ calendar/ or https://wolfcreekbrewery.com.

Music

Saturday, Aug. 25 ~ 7 p.m. City of Santa Clarita’s Concerts in the Park presents the final concert of the summer 40 oz. to Freedom. This award-winning tribute to Sublime has one of the world’s largest followings and brings people to their feet with powerful vocals and a So-Cal vibe. Free. Family-friendly atmosphere. Concert-goers are encouraged to bring beach chairs and blankets, and food vendors will be on site selling a variety of concessions and snacks. Central Park, 27150 Bouquet Canyon Road, Saugus. Info: Santa-Clarita.com/Concerts. 

N!IN! IN! WIW W CONGRATULATIONS to Gary Lane of Newhall — the winner of $100 for correctly identifying the artwork as being from the Mountasia advertisement on page 25 of our July 29 issue.

Identify this piece of artwork and the page number that it is on in one of the advertisements in this week’s issue, and you will be entered to win $100. One game and one winner each week.

Mail your entry to: The Signal – Contest 26330 Diamond Place | Santa Clarita, CA 91350 Or email to: contest@signalscv.com Advertiser: Page # Name: Address:

Phone:

This week’s entries are due Wed. Aug 22nd.

Winner to be announced in 2 weeks.

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Take a Different

By Michele E. Buttelman

D

isneyland, check, Universal Studios, check. Catalina, check. Santa Barbara, check. Solvang, check.

Ventura, check. Ojai, check. Where haven’t you been?

Try these five family-friendly road trips.

You’ll wonder why you didn’t think of going here before.

1. Downtown Los Angeles.

It is surprising the number of Santa Clarita Valley residents who have never been to downtown Los Angeles or haven’t been for years.

While you weren’t looking downtown Los Angeles has transformed from a gritty urban wasteland to a vibrant, interesting destination with dozens of new places to eat, historic architecture and iconic vistas.

There are history museums The Italian

Space Shuttle Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial.

COURTESY PHOTOS

American Museum (125 Paseo de la Plaza Suite 406), Chinese American Museum (425 N Los Angeles St.) and art museums The Broad (221 S. Grand Ave.) and The Museum of Contemporary Art, (250 S. Grand Ave.).

The best part of a downtown Los Angeles day trip is that you and the family can travel to DTLA (the hip new way to refer to downtown Los Angeles) without firing up the family minivan.

The Antelope Valley line of Metrolink offers stops at three Santa Clarita Valley stations (Via Princessa, Santa Clarita and Newhall) where riders can embark on their adventure. Make sure to wear comfortable walking shoes.

There are six weekend trains from Santa Clarita to Union Station at varying times during the day and it only costs $10 to ride anywhere on Saturday or Sunday.

Once you disembark at the historic Los Angeles Union Station take a moment to explore this iconic landmark. Union Station is a frequent star in commercials, film and television.

Then head across the street from Union Station to Olvera Street otherwise known as El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument (125 Paseo De La Plaza).

From Olvera Street head to Los Angeles City Hall (this 1928 landmark with docent-led tours features a ziggurat tower and 27th-floor observation deck, 200 N. Spring St.) then to the Bradbury Building (304 S. Broadway) and on to Grand Central Market (317 S. Broadway).

If you want to visit the City Hall observation deck go in the visitors’ entrance off Main Street, then tell the security guard that you are there to visit the observation deck. Ask for directions, which includes switching elevators at one point and then taking stairs up to the deck. On a clear day the view is worth the effort.

The Bradbury Building opened in 1893 and is the oldest commercial building remaining in the central city. It’s light-filled Victorian court, open cage elevators, marble stairs, and ornate iron railings make this one of downtown’s most photographed buildings.

Grand Central Market opened in 1917 and has remained in continuous operation.

After a stroll through (and lunch) at Grand Central Market walk across the street and take Angels Flight Railway from 351 South Hill Street up to California Plaza, 350 South Grand Ave. This funicular opened in 1901. A ticket to

[Below] Angels Flight [Bottom right] L.A. City Hall.

COURTESY PHOTOS

ride is only $1.

There’s lots more to see in downtown including Walt Disney Concert Hall and The Last Bookstore. Try not to get lost in The Last Bookstore, it is easy to lose your bearings. This is not your ordinary bookstore. The store includes whimsical art made from books and bookthemed art throughout the store.

If you still have time to kill head over to Chinatown (North Broadway at North Hill Street) or the Space Shuttle Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial (123 Astronaut Ellison S Onizuka St.) Little Tokyo.

See DAY TRIP, page 24

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THINGSTO DO

Wine tasting to benefit Boys & Girls Club

By Carl J. Kanowsky

“It’s so nice – small and intimate, only for 75 people. Really, a celebration of what the Boys & Girls Club does, which is helping kids.”

That’s Ann-Marie Bjorkman, President of the Santa Clarita Valley Boys & Girls Club, speaking about the upcoming Wine Tasting to benefit the Club.

Jake Bilbro, owner of Limerick Lane Winery in Healdsburg, Sonoma County, will pour six of his award-winning wines on Thursday, August 16 at Salt Creek Grille at 6:30.

Tamra Levine, the Director of Catering for Salt Creek, has crafted four dishes to marry with the wines being served.

The media had a preview at Salt Creek of those wines on July 31. Also in attendance were some long-time friends of the Club, such as Wayne Crawford (Ann-Marie’s predecessor as President of the Board of Directors of the Club) and Salt Creek’s proprietor, Greg Amsler.

Six wines were poured, starting with the 2017 Rosé, which Amsler raved about. This was followed by 2016 Hail Mary, 2016 Estate Zinfandel, 2015 1910 Block Zinfandel, 2016 1910 Block Zinfandel, and finished with 2015 1023 Estate Cuvée. All of these wines have quite highly in wine critic ratings worldwide.

Chef Levine brought out to acclaim from the crowd some of the dishes she will serve on the 16th. These include Grilled Cheese Panini, Grilled

Chicken/Vegetable Fritter, and Wine Country French Toast.

Mike Bjorkman, Ann-Marie’s husband and co-chair with her of the Boys & Girls Club Auction for the past few years, enjoyed the 2016 Estate Zinfandel the most, savoring the pepper hints in the wine.

Santa Clarita’s Wine Blogger and Consultant, Eve Bushman, was also in attendance. In commenting on the 1023 Cuvee, she said, “Love a wine that has the aromas to pull you in.” On the event itself, she said, “What I find amazing about my fellow wine writer Carl Kanowsky is how he always brings in top-notch and extremely highly scored wines for this event every year. Add in that Salt Creek Grille has Chef Tamra Levine doing inspired food pairings and all for the benefit of our own Boys and Girls Club. Ladies and gentlemen, you have the trifecta: wine, food, and a good cause!”

Amsler, who has partnered with the Boys & Girls Club for eight prior wine events, said, “We have been a proud supporter of the Club for 19 years. I’ve really enjoyed the wine tasting partnership with the Club.

It’s a great way to support the club while also learning about new wines and winemakers. It’s also fun for Tamra and staff to take new wines and play with different recipes.”

The tasting is Thursday evening, August 16, starting at 6:30 at Salt Creek Grille. Tickets are available online at http://www.scvbgc.org/ wine-event/. 

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Continued from page 22

There are so many places to see you might want to map your own walking tour to see the places of most interest to your family.

Info: www.laconservancy.org/events-tours/self-guided-tours; www.downtownla.com.

2. Oak Glen

Apple season starts Labor Day weekend and you want to be in Oak Glen.

The Oak Glen Apple Growers Association welcomes guests to Southern California’s premiere apple growing area where there are more than 30 independently owned and operated businesses in a 5-mile loop.

Pick your own apples, raspberries or pumpkins, press your own cider, and enjoy country music, dancing, dinner events and other old-fashioned activities. Explore and hike at The Wildlands Conservancy. Visit the historical Oak Glen School House Museum or take a horse drawn wagon ride through the orchards.

Among the highlights: Riley’s Farm 12261 S. Oak Glen Road Oak Glen, 92399 (909) 797-7534 Riley’s Farm typically offers Living History Tours on weekdays only, but does offer “Adventures in the Old World” activities on most Saturdays. Adventures in the Old World offers farm guests a choice of candle dipping, tomahawk throwing, and archery accompanied by a historian.

These activities are $3/person per activity, and tickets can be purchased in the Mercantile on Saturdays before 3:30 p.m.

The Hawk’s Head Restaurant offers a menu inspired by the comforts of early colonial America and a selection of ales, wines, and ciders. The Colonial Chesterfield Bakery (where you can purchase apple pies and other goodies) is closed on Sundays.

Riley’s Apple Farm 12201 S. Oak Glen Road Oak Glen / Yucaipa, 92399 (909) 797-4061 www.rileysapplefarm.com Riley’s Apple Farm (three acres) is one of the original fruit farms in Oak Glen. Pick your own apples and press your own cider.

Parrish Pioneer Ranch 38561 Oak Glen Road

Yucaipa, 92399 Angeles Crest Highway COURTESY PHOTO (909) 797-1753 https://parrishranch.com In 1866, Enoch Kidder Parrish arrived in Oak Glen and traded four mules and a wagon for 160 acres of land. By 1867 he had planted the first full-scale orchard in Oak Glen, just over an acre of mainly Rome Beauty trees. By 1900 he had just over 22 acres and Oak Glen was rapidly becoming a thriving commercial apple growing area. Apples from this historic orchard are on sale in the main barn each fall along with cider, apple butter, jams, jellies and syrups.

The ranch’s restaurant, Angus McCurdy’s is housed in the former ranch equipment and horse barn built in 1867, the second oldest stick-framed structure in the county. The original beams are still visible above the diners and outside a giant sequoia tree grows that was planted in 1905.

Willowbrook Apple Farm 12099 S. Oak Glen Road Yucaipa, 92399 https://willowbrookapplefarm.com A 100-year-old apple orchard offers guests a chance to pick your own fresh, crisp Stayman Winesap apples and make your own cider using an old-fashioned cider press.

Apple Annie’s Restaurant & Bakery 39062 Oak Glen Road Oak Glen, 92399 (909) 797-2311 www.appleanniesoakglen.com Apple Annie’s Restaurant & Bakery in the 14-acre Oak Tree Village is one of the oldest restaurants in Oak Glen. For more than 50 years, Oak Tree Village has offered year-round fun for families in an outdoor setting. Feed the animals in the animal park and visit the local shops and artisans. Stop by the trout ponds and catch a fish. On the weekends there are train and pony rides.

Pan for gold in the stream. During the fall season visit the Apple Shed, taste mountain-fresh apples and cider, dance to foot stomp in’ country music, milk a goat or race pigs.

Info: http://www.oakglen.net.

3. Angeles Crest Highway

Pack up the family (and a picnic) in the SUV and head out to visit one of the most scenic roads in Southern California: The Angeles Crest Highway. This “road less traveled” runs through the San Gabriel mountain range through the Angeles National Forest. The route is rarely congested in the summer/fall months and leads to many picnic areas and trailheads for

AU G U S T 12, 2018

Fort Tejon Barracks.

COURTESY PHOTO

Gabriel Mountains and are a historic landmark.

Next is the Eagles Roost and Vista Ridge picnic areas followed by the Kratka Ridge trail. Kratka Ridge is a 1.7 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail. It is a steep hike with spectacular views.

Buckhorn Campground, Buckhorn Station Day Use Area, Mount Waterman Trail Head, John Henge Trailhead, Devil’s Canyon Trailhead, Red Box Picnic Area, Colby Canyon Trailhead, Switzer Falls Trailhead and other picnic areas and trails can be found on your way back to civilization.

As you descend from the mountains stay on Highway 2 and it takes you right to the 210 Freeway, head north and back to the SCV. Info: (Road info) www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/display. php?page=sr2 or www.facebook.com/AngelesCrestHighway.

4. Fort Tejon State Historic Park

4201 Fort Tejon Road, Lebec, 93243 Park grounds open sunrise to sunset, park open 9-4 daily, interpretive exhibits open 9-4 daily. Day use fees: Adults $3, children $1, under age 6, free.

Fort Tejon was first garrisoned by the United States Army on August 10, 1854 and was abandoned ten years later on September 11, 1864. There are restored adobes from the original fort and the park’s museum features exhibits on army life and local history. The park also has a number of beautiful 400-year-old valley oak trees.

Living History demonstrations take place on the first Saturday of each month. Talk with soldiers who grumble about fatigue details. Visit the Blacksmith at his forge, the carpenter in his shop, or the soldiers in the barracks. Servants, cooks, officers, laundresses, and laborers are eager to share their stories with you.

The Fort Tejon Historical Association offers an annual Spring Civil War Reenactment at Fort Tejon State Historical Park.

Info: www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=585 or www.forttejon.org/ civil_war.html. 

THINGS TO DO

mountain biking and hiking.

The Station Fire in 2009 burned a large swath through the Angeles National Forest but most of the damage has since been repaired.

The 66-mile route runs from La-Canada Flintridge to Wrightwood. You can access the road from either side. From the Santa Clarita Valley take the 14 freeway to Pearblossom Highway (State Route 138) and follow the signs to Wrightwood. Stop for lunch at Grizzly, the Yodeler, Blue Ridge or the Evergreen Café and enjoy fresh air and mountain views.

If you’re feeling adventurous you can zip through the treetops at the Ziplines at Pacific Crest which is located next to Mountain High Ski Resort. Take the canopy tour ($119-$129 per person) or the mountain view tour ($109 per person). Info: https://ziplinespc.com.

After leaving Wrightwood you will pass through Big Pines.

If you plan on hiking or enjoying a picnic in the area you will need a National Forest Adventure Pass. It is to be displayed on all vehicles parked for recreational purposes. National Forest Adventure Passes can be purchased for $30 a year per vehicle or $5 a day from the Grassy Hollow Visitor Center and Big Pines Information Station. A good reference for those wanting to hike is “Trails of the Angeles,” www.wildernesspress.com/product. php?productid=17079.

As you continue along Highway 2 you will see the Pacific Crest Blue Ridge Trailhead and the turnoff for Grassy Hollow Visitor Center.

A few of the nearby hikes include: Blue Ridge, 2.6 miles from Grassy Hollow. Hike starts 100 ft. east of Big Pines Ranger Station on opposite side of Highway 2.

Hike is 4-mile round trip with 1000′ elevation gain.

Lightning Ridge, 0.7 miles from Grassy Hollow. Hike starts on north side of Highway 2 from the parking lot. This is a 3/4-mile nature trail with 300′ elevation gain.

Vincent Gap, 2.6 miles from Grassy Hollow. Mt. Baden Powell Hike: Starts from parking lot on south side of Highway 2. This is an 8-mile round trip with a 2,800-foot elevation gain.

Vincent Gap to Big Horn Mine: Starts from parking lot on south side of Highway 2. Take dirt road going south from parking lot and stay on dirt road.

Hike is 4-miles round trip.

Manzanita Trail: This one starts from the parking lot on the north side of Highway 2. Trail goes down to a stream. It is about a 5-6 mile round trip down to the stream and back.

If you brought a picnic on your excursion you can stop at the Pine Hollow Picnic area for spectacular views.

Past the turn off for Highway 39 (stay on Highway 2) are the Angeles Crest Tunnels. The tunnels, measuring 680 and 470 feet in length, bore through the San

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E N T E R TA I N M E N T

Musicals highlight national productions in L.A.

By Michele E. Buttelman

Y

ou don’t have to be a musical theater geek to anticipate the major national touring productions soon to light up stages in Southern California. Now through the end of the year tickets are currently available for:

Pantages Theatre

The historic Pantages Theatre is located at 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood 90028. For tickets visit www.

HollywoodPantages.com or call 866755-BWAY (2929) (M-F; 8 a.m.-6 p.m.)

“Waitress” is now on stage through Aug. 26. Brought to life by a groundbreaking all-female creative team, this Broadway hit features original music and lyrics by six-time Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles. “Waitress” is inspired by Adrienne Shelly's film that tells the story of Jenna. A waitress and expert pie maker, Jenna dreams of a way out of her small town and loveless marriage. A baking contest in a nearby county and the town’s new doctor may offer her a chance at a fresh start.

Tickets start at $49.

“Beautiful-The Carole King Musical” runs Sept. 12-30. “Beautiful” tells the inspiring true story of King’s rise to stardom, from being part of a hit songwriting team with her husband Gerry Goffin, to her relationship with fellow writers and best friends Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, to becoming one of the most successful

solo acts in popular music history.

Songs include “I Feel The Earth Move,” “One Fine Day,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “You’ve Got A Friend” and the title song, “Beautiful.”

Tickets start at $49.

The Los Angeles premiere engagement of “A Bronx Tale” (the first show of the Broadway LA 2918-19 season) will run at the Pantages Theatre Nov. 6-25. The new musical features a book by Academy Award nominee Chazz Palminteri, music by Oscar, Grammy, and Tony Award winner Alan Menken, and lyrics by Grammy Award winner and Oscar and Tony Award nominee Glenn Slater, directed by two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro and four-time Tony Award

winner Jerry Zaks, with choreography by Tony nominee Sergio Trujillo. This streetwise musical will take you to the stoops of the Bronx in the 1960s where a young man is caught between the father he loves and the

‘Come From Away’

mob boss he’d love to be. Featuring an original doo-wop score, this is a tale about respect, loyalty, love and family.

Tickets are currently only available to Pantages season ticket holders. Individual tickets will be on sale soon.

One of the most popular musicals in recent memory “Wicked” returns to the Pantages Nov. 28-Jan. 27. “Wicked” tells the stories of the witches of Oz from an unexpected angle. On July 12, 2018, with its 6,138th performance, “Wicked” surpassed “A Chorus Line” to become Broadway's sixth-longest running show. Touring productions of “Wicked” have been seen internationally by more than 4 million patrons. “Wicked” is Broadway’s highest grossing musical, surpassed only by “The Lion King.”

Tickets start at $62.

the greatest R&B group of all time (Billboard magazine 2017), they were just five young guys on the streets of Detroit. After getting discovered by Berry Gordy and signed to his brandnew label, Motown Records, it took them 24 tries before they finally had a hit song. The rest is history. Tickets range in price $30-$145.

The Ahmanson Theatre

“Dear Evan Hansen” is the Tony Award-winning musical’s First National Tour and will play at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles Oct. 17-Nov. 25.

The title role will be performed by Ben Levi Ross direct from the Broadway cast where he made his Broadway debut and stage and feature TV star Jessica Phillips who will play Heidi Hansen The winner of six 2017 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, “Dear Evan

The Ahmanson Theatre is located at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, 90012.

Tickets are available by calling (213) 972-4400, online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org, or by visiting the Center Theatre Group Box Office located at the Ahmanson Theatre.

The pre-Broadway run of “Ain’t Too Proud-The Life and Times of The Temptations” plays at the Ahmanson Theatre Aug. 21- Sept. 30.

Before The Temptations became

See MUSICALS, page 28

AU G U S T 12, 2018

S U N D AYS I G N A L · 27

E N T E R TA I N M E N T

Ex-Queensryche Singer Geoff Tate Artist to Commit ‘OPERATION: Mindcrime’ at The Canyon on Aug. 18 have a great time doing it,” he said. “It really comes off to the audience as being ock singer Geoff Tate of progres- very sincere and real. That’s how I want sive metal band Queensrÿche the audience to feel about the album.” and solo notoriety will celebrate On the “OPERATION:Mindcrime” the 30th anniversary of “OP30th anniversary tour, Tate, now 59, and ERATION:MindCrime” at the Canyon his longtime collaborator Scott MoughSanta Clarita Saturday night, Aug. 18, ton (guitar) are backed by much younger by performing the epic 1988 concept al- guys bum in its entirety.

Kieran Robertson (guitar), Jack Ross Tate is No. 14 on Hit Parader’s list of (bass), Josh Watts (drums) and Bruno Sa the “100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All (keyboards).

Time” and the million-selling “OPERATate’s daughter, Emily, fronts her own TION:Mindcrime” ranks No. 34 on Kergroup before joining her headlining dad rang! magazine’s “100 Greatest Heavy to sing the parts of Sister Mary.

Metal Albums of All Time.”

“She’s an incredible singer – really Through powerdelivers night after ful tracks like “Revnight,” he said. “And olution Calling,” TATE CAN’ T she’s also our open“I Don’t Believe in ing act. Her band Till Love” and “Eyes of a EXPLAIN WHY Death Do Us Part has Stranger,” Tate and “OPERATION: been opening all my his five-piece band shows over the last – also named OPMINDCRIME” year.”

ERATION:MindTate can’t explain STILL BLOWS crime – will replay why “OPERATION:the album’s bizarre PEOPLE AWAY Mindcrime” still storyline, which blows people away afAFTER 30 he said started as ter 30 years, but he’ll a study in human YEARS, BUT take it. nature.

“It’s magic,” he “Nikki, the lead HE’LL TAKE IT. said. “I just know the character, is a confused young (recovalbum really struck ering drug addict) who gets caught up people and held on tight, and now my in a revolutionary movement that’s try- fans have grown up and they’re bringing ing to make dramatic, sweeping chang- their kids to the shows. It’s a strange phees,” Tate said in late July, calling between nomenon, but I feel very fortunate the alshows in Italy. bum stands the test of time and still has “Along the way, Nikki falls in love with people buying tickets to see and hear it a Mary, who happens to be a nun. And it performed 30 years later. That’s a wongets even more strange from there,” Tate derful feeling.” said, as Nikki gets tangled up with bad ***** actors including the evil Dr. X and the Find the Canyon Santa Clarita on the corrupt Father William. ground floor of the Westfield Valencia Along with “OPERATION:Mind- Town Center. Get tickets at the box ofcrime,” Tate’s Canyon Santa Clarita set fice 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, will include Queensryche favorites like by phone at 888-645-5006, or via Tick“Jet City Woman,” “Empire” and “Silent etMaster.com. For more info, visit www.

Lucidity.”

WheremusicmeetstheSoul.com.

While Queensryche famously added Stephen K. Peeples is a Grammy-nominated record spectacle to their concerts with big multimedia production, Tate’s solo shows fo- producer and award-winning radio producer and journalist based in the Santa Clarita Valley. He has covered cus more on the music and message.

“I have a great band who performs the the SCV music scene for local media since 2004. Conalbum in its entirety to perfection and tact him via stephenkpeeples.com. 

By Stephen K. Peeples

R

Geoff Tate and his five-piece band will perform the epic 1988 concept album “OPERATION:Mindcrime” in its entirety.

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AU G U S T 12, 2018

MUSICALS

Continued from page 26

Hansen” features a book by Tony Award winner Steven Levenson, a score by Academy, Tony and Grammy Award-winning composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and direction by four-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif.

In addition to winning six Tony Awards, “Dear Evan Hansen” has won numerous other awards, including the 2017 Drama League Award for Outstanding Musical Production and for the off-Broadway production, two Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and two Helen Hayes Awards.

Tickets for “Dear Evan Hansen” begin at $75.

Subscriptions for the 2018 – 2019 Season at the Ahmanson Theatre, are available by phone at (213) 972-4400 and online at www.CenterTheatreGroup. org/Ahmanson.

The national touring company of Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical “Come From Away” will bring the show to the Ahmanson Theatre Nov. 28-Jan. 6.

“Come From Away” tells the true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. Cultures clashed

and nerves ran high, but uneasiness turned into trust, music soared into the night, and gratitude grew into enduring friendships.

A “Best Musical” winner all across North America, the smash hit musical has won the Tony Award for “Best Direction of a Musical” (Christopher Ashley), five Outer Critics Circle Awards (NYC) including “Outstanding New Broadway Musical,” three Drama Desk Awards (NYC) as well as a host of other prestigious awards.

Tickets range in price $30-$135. 

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S U N D AYS I G N A L · 29

YOURHOME

Beautiful

Unique Tablescapes

Make your house get noticed when guests come over

By Michele E. Buttelman

Y Decorating with succulents is very trendy these days. METRO CREATIVE

ou’ve crafted a menu, invited guests, bought the liquor and now… how are you going to decorate the table?

Every occasion, from holiday dinners to parties with friends, is an opportunity to unleash your hidden interior decorator.

If there’s a table involved you need an elegant, playful or clever tablescape.

From Super Bowl party to New Year’s Eve celebration there’s a theme or a decorating idea waiting to find a place in your home.

Simply put a tablescape is an artistic arrangement of articles on a table.

Tablescapes have evolved from the traditional lace tablecloth with

a few candles or the Thanksgiving cornucopia.

“A tablescape used to mean your mother’s flower centerpiece and that was it,” said Ronda Chobanian Murray, a Santa Clarita Valley interior decorator who enjoys the creative challenges of finding the perfect tablescape for any occasion. “Now anything and everything goes.”

Murray said tablescapes don’t have to be expensive.

“When entertaining family or friends people can utilize items from around the house and transform the item into a planter, a vase or a display for the table,” she said.

Examples could include a unique antique item gathering dust on a shelf that can become the star of your tablescape.

“You might have an heirloom silver teapot, or an old school bell your grandma gave you. Take those items off the shelf and turn the teapot into a vase for flowers and the school bell can be placed on a small fabric covered box,” Murray said. “A beautiful serving platter can be tipped on its side, placed on an easel and displayed as a centerpiece.”

Murray said hosts can be limited only by their imagination.

Know your guests

“There are pages and pages of ideas available on the Internet on site like Pinterest for example,” she said. “However, the best ideas are usually the ones that come from the heart and by knowing your guests.”

Murray said one the most versatile décor items are clear glass cylinders that can be filled with nearly anything, from colorful jelly beans for an Easter table or candy corn for a Halloween party.

“If you just invest in two or three clear glass cylinders of varying heights they will make a great start for your table decor by filling them with something different depending on the occasion or season,” she said.

Use cylinders of varying heights and stuff with autumn leaves for a fall event or assorted Christmas tree ornaments

for a holiday vibe. Battery operated flashing holiday lights inside a clear glass vase can be the perfect accent piece for a festive seasonal celebration.

“Use your imagination,” said Murray.

Using layers in your tablescape is also strongly suggested.

“For me the key to a beautiful tablescape is layers,” Murray said. “You don’t want your tablescape to be one dimensional. Use varying heights and vary the textures.”

Murray said using an unconventional material like burlap adds an element of surprise and fun to your tablescape.

“Take burlap and make a table runner then add something shiny, like an exquisite shiny silver vase,” she said.

Use contrasting colors and materials to build layers by using multiple placements under your place settings or building layers of fabric with offsetting tablecloths or table runners.

Key elements

“Varying heights, using multiple layers and combining different textures are the three key components for a unique and striking tablescape,” said Murray.

A word of caution from Murray about adding height to your tablescape with boxes.

“Be careful when adding height to your table, you always want to use a stable and solid foundation like a metal or wooden box,” she said.

Cover or drape fabric over or around your box and make sure it is not off balance.

“Going that route to build height can be very striking, but just make sure the box is very stable,” Murray said.

“Stability can be a factor with a table.

People tend to bump into dining tables in particular when they are getting up and down.”

Hosts can still use your heirloom lace tablecloth but Murray suggests changing it up by adding accent fabrics of different colors in the center of the table, either folded uniquely to create a runner down the middle of the table or puddled where you can stage your vases See HOME, page 42

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K I D S & FA M I LY

The Power of the Brand for Kids

By Ryan Painter

A

s summer vacation winds to an end and the start of another school year fast approaches, many families are faced with the yearly ritual of back-to-school shopping — a phenomenon on which the average American household will spend over $600, according to marketing firm IBIS World.

Such a hefty expenditure seems to naturally beg the question — on what is this money being spent?

Shoes and clothing account for 40 percent of back-to-school shopping purchases, says IBIS World. Electronics and school supplies constitute the next largest percentages, respectively.

But, statistics aside, what’s cool? What are kid’s ‘must-haves’ for this upcoming school year? Here we explore some of the latest trends in this burgeoning industry.

The New

Water bottles, especially in the Southern California heat, are a must have during the late-summer months.

Surprising, however, is the extent to which a particular brand of water bottle has grown popular with students.

Hydro Flask, an Oregon-based company specializing in camping and outdoor gear, has quickly gained notoriety among young people for both its unicolor, stainless steel designs and for its claims that the contents of its bottles stay cool all day.

Yet, many students value these bottles for more than just their utility. Students commonly adorn their Hydro Flasks with stickers and decals from popular ski resorts, tourist destinations, bands, professional sports teams and

universities — effectively using the bottle as a canvas to display their own personalities.

Hydro Flasks are available at most sporting goods stores. In Santa Clarita, 18 oz versions can be found at Walmart and Dicks Sporting Goods for $29.99, according to each company’s respective webpage.

The Status Quo

The vast majority of this year’s back-to-school trends remains relatively similar to that of years past. Traditionally popular brands are still near the top of many students wish-lists.

Vans and other surf-associated brands are as demanded as ever, particularly among junior high school students.

Jansport remains the backpack of choice on junior and high school campuses. The brand’s trademark canvas design, typically offered in one single color, places function above form without sacrificing stylishness — rendering it a persistently popular choice.

Some students have opted for more expensive brands — like Herschel or Fjallraven — that feature similar yet more design-conscious products, often including leather straps and pockets.

As for school supplies, little has changed.

However teachers’ growing propensity to move toward “paperless classrooms,” or those in which all course submissions are digital, may eventually shift the market away from traditional pencils and notebooks.

For now, though, traditional school supplies remain relevant as ever.

The Revival

Brands once considered by young people to be ‘unstylish,’ like Champion and Reebok for example, have made an unexpected resurgence.

The consumer revival of such brands has played into a wider sartorial theme — the resurgence of the retro. Much to the chagrin of an older audience, in this case “retro” refers to the 1990s.

Neon windbreakers, wider cropped pants and patterned shirts are no longer faux pas on many high school campuses, and top many back-toschool lists for the first time

Trendy: Hydro Flask water bottle, retro brands Champion and Reebok.

COURTESY PHOTOS

since Bill Clinton was in office.

As many have aptly described the new-found popularity of these styles — “Seinfeld is in.” *** Back-to-school shopping can be a headache for parents and students alike, and with the industry banking more profit than ever, the pressure to remain “in the know” has become as intense as ever.

This list is not exhaustive, but rather a glimpse at what many students purport to be in vogue as they step onto campus this August for another year of academic, social and personal growth. 

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S U N D AYS I G N A L · 31

K I D S & FA M I LY

Build a trendy school wardrobe for less

By Metro Connection

The dawn of a new school year requires restocking school supplies. But for some kids, the most important part of returning to school is making sure they look good walking through the door on the first day of school and each day thereafter.

The National Retail Federation says the average family with school-aged kids expects to spend $630 this year on school supplies. A large percentage of that money will be spent on clothing. Naturally, parents want their children to have clothing they’ll love and feel comfortable wearing, but do not want to break the bank buying wardrobes for their youngsters.

But parents can employ various strategies to ensure kids look good without Mom and Dad going broke. » Invest in few essential clothing items.

Ask children what they are most interested in buying.

One or two trendy shirts or an expensive pair of sneakers can be paired with seasonal pieces.

The result is a trendy, affordable look. » Shop discount retailers.

Stores like TJ Maxx and Marshalls offer many brandname items at a discount over department store prices. While these stores customarily stock items that may be a season or two out of date, they can help budget-conscious families nab some key clothing items at affordable prices.

» See if replicas will fit the bill.

Girls may be enamored with an oversized hair accessory dubbed the JoJo Bow, an accessory popularized by celebrity Joelle Joni “JoJo” Siwa.

They’re big and colorful, but the name-brand, authentic hair bows may be beyond some parents’ budgets. However, there are plenty of bows that can achieve the same look at a fraction of the cost of the JoJo Bow. Parents also may find more affordable alternatives to other trendy items. » Choose a size larger.

Children grow very fast, so it may be well worth the investment to purchase trendy items one size larger so kids can get more use out of the item.

However, this likely won’t be possible with footwear. » Share clothes.

Savvy bargain-hunters can swap gently worn shoes or clothing with other families when kids outgrow items. » Spread out purchases.

To make purchasing easier on the wallet, grab items here and there throughout the year and put them toward school wardrobe essentials, rather than cramming in shopping right before the school year begins. This approach also helps families shop sales and maintain a variety of pieces that make it easier to transitions kids’ wardrobes throughout the year.

School clothes can make up a large chunk of back-to-school shopping budgets. Smart choices help families save money. 

Parents want their children to have clothing they’ll love and feel comfortable wearing, but do not want to break the bank. METRO CREATIVE

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AU G U S T 12, 2018

FOODSTUFF

Michele and the Giant Zucchini

By Michele E. Buttelman

I

spent most of last summer on Whidbey Island, a 169-square mile patch of rock off the coast of Seattle. It gave me an opportunity to unleash my inner farmer. I felt reborn.

It has been years since I’ve planted a true vegetable garden.

I have planted many vegetable gardens in my life, I come from a family that loves to garden.

I remember as a child planting dahlia flowers and being enthralled as the tubers came to life and produced beautiful purple blooms.

My aunt’s vegetable garden was a place of magic with sun ripened tomatoes, zucchini, beans and herbs.

When I moved to my own home I couldn’t wait to feel the dirt under my hands. I added bag after bag of soil amendments to my Canyon Country clay until I had soil that could support my vegetable growing addiction.

I planted tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, beets, carrots, radishes… even okra. I experimented with pumpkins, cantaloupe and artichokes, all with varying degrees of success.

I loved my vegetable gardens.

However, life eventually got in the way of my gardening. I don’t know how I let that happen, but it did.

Now, my inner gardener is back in full bloom.

The first successful product from my Whidbey Island garden was a huge, huge zucchini.

I had been watching my zucchini plants blossom and bloom. I was enthralled with each little baby zucchini and anticipating the days until harvest.

Then one day, I went into my garden, moved one of the large fan-like zucchini leaves aside, and there it was.

The Giant Zucchini

It never occurred to me, at the time, to weigh the beast. My guess is that the zucchini must have weighed at least three or four pounds. I may be underestimating the weight, because like distance, I’m not very versed in those kinds of measurements.

I placed the zucchini horizontally across the front page of the Seattle Times newspaper. It blocked out a lot of the page and hung over each side. I placed a regular supermarket-sized zucchini next to the behemoth for comparison.

Part of the fun of growing your own food, is eating the food you’ve grown.

As I pondered the giant zucchini, which appeared, as most giant zucchini do, seemingly overnight and out of nowhere, I wondered what to do with the massive vegetable.

It became a personal quest to discover how many different ways I could prepare zucchini.

Here is the tale of “Michele and the Giant Zucchini.”

In the end the Giant Zucchini made its way into nearly a dozen different recipes.

I will share a few recipes that I devised to deal with the monster zucchini with anyone who needs a few ideas for their own Giant Zucchinis.

You will discover in my recipes that I use Morton’s Nature Seasoning in nearly all of my savory recipes. It is a “must have” ingredient for the recipe to taste as intended.

I started my Giant Zucchini master class with a recipe courtesy of my aunt, one I remember making in our Eastern Washington kitchen nearly 50 years ago. I have updated the recipe to suit my own palate.

Aunt Nancy’s Zucchini Patties

1/3 cup biscuit mix 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 1 tsp Morton Nature’s Seasoning 1 tbsp dried onion flakes 2 eggs slightly beaten 2 cups shredded zucchini

Mix dry ingredients, add beaten eggs and zucchini. Fry in melted butter.

Makes 12 patties.

3

After the zucchini patties I made tempura zucchini.

Followed by zucchini fritters.

I experimented with zucchini cupcakes.

I made several varieties of zucchini bread including lemon zucchini bread, chocolate chocolate chip zucchini bread, zucchini banana bread, zucchini walnut bread and regular zucchini bread.

Michele’s Chocolate Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread 4 cups grated zucchini (make sure you squeeze the extra moisture out of the zucchini).

2 1/2 cups flour 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon cloves 1 teaspoon allspice 2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 cups white sugar 2 eggs 3/4 cup melted butter 1 tbsp instant coffee 1 cup chocolate chips 3/4 cup chopped walnuts Preheat oven to 350°F and butter and flour two 9x5inch loaf pans.

Mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and spices in a large bowl.

In a mixing bowl beat eggs and sugar until smooth, approx. one minute on medium speed. Add melted butter and instant coffee, beat until smooth.

Stir zucchini into sugar egg mixture, add flour mixture. Add chocolate chips and walnuts.

Divide batter into the two pans and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

See ZUCCHINI, page 40

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S U N D AYS I G N A L · 33

R E S TA U R A N T P R O F I L E

Cathy’s Deli Cool vibe, crazy delicious food

By Michelle Sathe

E

ric Tovar-Plummer loves breakfast.

So much so that he and his wife would drive all over California, as far as Carmel, to find that perfect morning meal.

Still, the Newhall resident could never quite find a breakfast that matched those he had enjoyed as a boy during road trips with his grandfather, when the duo would stop in diners across America.

“These were neighborhood diners, where there were unique specials and owners who really knew their customers. That’s what I grew up on,” Tovar-Plummer recalled fondly.

Three years ago, Tovar-Plummer, who managed restaurants such as the Hard Rock Café and Grandville Café for 17 years, was at Cathy’s Deli in Newhall, having yet another mediocre breakfast.

He told the owner that he felt the restaurant had a lot of potential. He was told it was for sale.

Tovar-Plummer took the plunge, taking over Cathy’s Deli in 2015. Under his ownership, Cathy’s Deli now boasts an innovative, delicious menu and a hip yet family-friendly vibe reminiscent of a neighborhood café one might find in Silverlake or Los Feliz.

It’s a place where food culture and pop culture converge beautifully, from the colorful sugar skulls and comic book characters on the black walls, to the mismatched plate ware, and eclectic rock and roll playing overhead. A neighborhood joint where smiling servers interact with diners that come from near and far, thanks to Yelp.

“When we get compliments from people from New Jersey, which is known as the state of the diner, that means a lot,” Tovar-Plummer said.

Those kudos are well deserved.

While it’s hard to make a choice from the mind-boggling array of tempting breakfast and lunch choices, you really can’t go wrong here.

Take the Eggs Benedict or “Benny” options.

There are 8, ranging from the traditional ham to a vegetarian Cauliflower Benny with garlic sautéed mushrooms and sriracha hollandaise atop cauliflower patties ($13.95) or a Salmon or Pork Belly version ($14.95).

The Duck Confit Benny ($13.95) is incredible.

Think layers of savory duck layered over English muffins, topped with luscious, perfectly poached eggs and the crowning glory, a lemony

bright, creamy hollandaise with a drizzle of tangy balsamic reduction.

This devour-worthy dish, like many things at Cathy’s Deli, takes a lot of time and energy to put together.

“The duck confit is a three-day process and we make the hollandaise sauce up to three times a day,” Tovar-Plummer said.

The restaurant even makes its own line of delectable jams (raspberry rose, blueberry lavender, strawberry English breakfast, blackberry plum oolong, and apricot sage) and coffee creamers, to enjoy with your breakfast or to take home by the bottle or jar.

The creamers, inspired by Tovar-Plummer’s wife, start off with a sweetened condensed milk base, with flavors such as vanilla plus half and half added until it reaches the right consistency.

“It’s hard work, but people love it,” Tovar-Plummer said.

But back to breakfast. The breakfast hamburger ($13.95) combines everything you love about the most important meal of the day – crispy hash browns and eggs any way you choose – with a sizzling beef patty and a generous smear of bacon onion cranberry jam on a soft brioche bun.

It’s huge, a bit unwieldy, and obscenely delicious, served with a side of thick, golden brown cinnamon-tinged tempura onion rings that beg for a dip into one of those jams.

The cinnamon touch in the onion rings came from a tartar sauce Tovar-Plummer had in Northern California, while the Horchata French Toast ($13.95) was something he had been dreaming up for years.

“My grandpa was a bodyguard. He lived in Santa Clarita, but we we would spend days in East LA, where local delis made cinnamon horchata, so I came up with a way to make it part of oven-baked French toast,” Tovar-Plummer said.

The towering slabs are something to behold,

[Above] Owner Eric Tover-Plummer holds up the Breakfast Burger. [Below] Horchata French Toast. PHOTOS BY MICHELLE SATHE

bearing crispy brown bits from the griddle and a custard-like, sweet cinnamon center that melts in your mouth. It’s a cross-cultural mashup that succeeds wildly.

Diner and deli standards are well represented here, from stacks of pancakes and fluffy omelets to cheese blintzes and potato pancakes. There’s also a wide selection of crepes and hearty fare, like Corned Beef Hash or Chicken Fried Steak ($13.95).

If you’re in more of a lunch mood, there’s a staggering list of burgers, sandwiches, salads, wraps, and bowls to choose from.

(All items, breakfast or lunch, are available throughout the day).

Bowls are substantial and creative. The Loco Moco ($11.95) is a behemoth of steamed rice, topped with a burger patty, brown gravy, and two eggs sprinkled with sesame seeds and green onions while The Southern-inspired Sweet and Savory Grits ($11.95) features strawberries, pork sausage and two poached eggs.

Keep an eye out for the specials board, which changes monthly according to season and what Tovar-Plummer’s team is feeling passionate about, such as a spectacular fresh banana and peanut butter cup ice cream.

“Our staff can make a dish and if it’s good, it gets on the specials board. If it’s really good, it becomes part of the menu,” Tovar-Plummer said. “It’s not just the kitchen staff, it’s the servers or anyone who wants to try. Everyone has a shot.

It’s part of the fun.” 

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AU G U S T 12, 2018

THEARTS

David Stears

Passion for the theatrical

By Patti Rasmussen

“Go wisely and slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall.” ~ William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

W

ho doesn’t remember watching or reading the play Romeo and Juliet in high school? Who really understood what was going on except that two young lovers kill themselves because they couldn’t be together?

Romeo and Juliet is that and so much more, says David Stears, President and Executive Director of the Santa Clarita Valley Shakespeare Festival.

But he admits having felt

the same way about Shakespeare in high school.

“I remember reading Romeo and Juliet in ninth grade and it was torture,” Stears said. “It seemed so foreign to me.”

After viewing a tape of Stacy Keach in the chorus of a performance of Shakespeare’s Henry V, Stears said the plays suddenly became clear to him.

“Shakespeare was meant to be spoken and heard, and the characters, relationships, power struggles, jealousies and loves haven’t really changed since he wrote his plays,” Stears said. “(Shakespeare’s)

writing elevates the conversation.”

Born and raised in New York, Stears considered himself an underachiever and was in danger of failing high school but, once he discovered theater, found a direction in life.

Two community college teachers in particular “lit a fire under me,” he said.

While training in New York, Stears decided to complete his degree and ended up at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia.

From 1986 to 1994, Stears said enjoyed his time at CalArts. “It was, at the time, a classically-based

David Stears is best known for his role as President and Executive Director of the Santa Clarita Valley Shakespeare Festival. PHOTOS BY DAN WATSON

school. They gave you a lot of freedom to develop as an artist and make connections. It was a wonderfully creative place to be.”

While CalArts got him to the West coast, it was the California weather that kept him here after graduation. That and meeting his future wife Debbie while both were working at CalArts.

New graduate Stears got involved in the community. He made the rounds at every high school and presented a theater production of Romeo and Juliet to ninth graders. He developed children’s theater productions and brought those to the local elementary schools. He volunteered to sit on arts organizational committees and was known to help others when it came to writing grants or starting a non-profit.

Stears’ motto was “What can I do to help you succeed?”

In 1999 he found himself redesigning a former dry cleaner space on what is now Main Street into a small theater venue.

For the next 11 years, Stears worked hard to bring a different type of theater to mainstream Santa Clarita. With 81 seats, The Santa Clarita Repertory Theatre held forth several plays with a goal of becoming an Equity venue, raising enough money to pay actors and technical staff.

Upon leaving TheSCRT, Stears worked various jobs and got himself out of debt (“acting doesn’t pay much,” he said with a smile). He taught part-time at College of the

AU G U S T 12, 2018

S U N D AYS I G N A L · 35

Stears in the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center.

PHOTOS BY DAN WATSON

Canyons and for 10 years was the director of their New Works Festival. He directed and produced over 120 original short and oneact plays and published two anthologies.

In 2008, Stears again embraced Shakespeare by producing summer-time shows in Towsley Canyon. When asked if it seems he is defined by Shakespeare, Stears said he is glad to be associated with the Bard.

Stears was recently hired as a full-time instructor in the Theater Department of College of the Canyons.

“One of the reasons I love teaching at College of the Canyons is because I want to pay it

forward,” Stears said. “I want students to find a passion in their life, even if that passion isn’t theater. Maybe the spark will lead them to a direction, any direction, but to have a direction

with passion.”

For Shakespeare Festival, Stears continues to focus on finding a permanent space for the summer festival, a community

amphitheater and performance space. He also brings free and low-cost programs to local schools and sits on the boards of two non-profit organizations. He believes the next step to nurture the arts in Santa Clarita is securing affordable rehearsal space where community classes and workshops can be held and possibly provide a space for smaller non-profits to conduct administrative work.

He does all this while raising a family with his wife; daughter Madison, 14, son Jaden, 12 and daughter Kylie, 9.

Look for Stears’ productions at the MAIN this summer: Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s classic children’s play The Little Prince, and Euripides’ Greek tragedy Trojan Women, a classic that seems to be speaking to the world today.

For more information regarding the Shakespeare Festival or summer productions at the MAIN, go to www.scshakespearefest.org. 

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AU G U S T 12, 2018

PAW P R I N T S

Kit tens

By Michelle Sathe

K

ittens. They’re cute, they’re cuddly, and there are currently a lot of them at Castaic Animal Care Center. That’s because summer is also kitten season, which brings kittens and pregnant cats by the hundreds into the center.

“During kitten season you can find almost any type of kitten, from tabbies to Siamese, Maine Coons to Russian Blues,” said Larissa Barnes, senior volunteer at the center. “Over 70 cats and kittens have already been fostered through our program since March and each and every one of them is adorable.”

To get the influx of kittens into homes, the ASPCA is paying all cat and kitten adoption fees (there is a $5 license fee for adopters residing in unincorporated areas of the Santa Clarita Valley).

Georgia, an 8 week old kitten, awaits adoption at Castaic Animal Care Center. COURTESY PHOTO

Yoda, an adoptable kitten, strikes a pose.

COURTESY PHOTO

There are lots available these days; here’s how to care for them The benefits of adopting a kitten are many, as Barnes illustrated.

“You can rest assured that your kitten has been spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped,” she said. “Many of our kittens have started out in foster homes and have learned how to use a litter tray, been socialized and are healthy.”

Because kittens can live to be as old as 20, Barnes suggested considering the following before adopting: •

Evaluate your living and financial circumstances. Are you able to afford ongoing vet bills and care requirements?

•

If you are planning on moving or are unsure how you will care for your future cat, wait until your situation is stable.

•

Be prepared to keep your kitten indoors at all times, as the Santa Clarita Valley has a large amount of predators including coyotes and owls.

Since kittens can be nocturnal and tend to get lonely and rambunctious on their own, Barnes recommended to adopt them in pairs.

“No one wants to be awoken at 3 a.m. by a playful kitten that is looking for a friend,” she said. “By adopting two kittens you ensure your new feline has a constant companion whether you are at work or sleeping. Plus, two little purrs are always better than one.”

Now that you have a kitWHERE TO GET A KITTEN ten, how do you take care Ready to bring home a kitten or cat? of it properly? The first Come to Castaic Animal Care Center to step is a stop to your local meet a fabulous array of felines, which are veterinarian. all fixed, vaccinated, microchipped and ready to go home with you!

Castaic Animal Care Center is open Monday - Thursday from noon – 7 pm and Friday – Sunday from 10 am – 5 pm.

For more information, call 661-257-3191 or visit animalcare.lacounty.gov

Checkup

At Happy Pets Veterinary Center, a kitten consultation includes a full physical exam, blood work to detect for any diseases such as leukemia or immunodeficiency viruses, as well as parasites and other conditions.

“The most common thing I see is feline herpes as it presents as an upper respiratory infection,” said Evelyn Vega, veterinarian and owner

Shannon Wahrman at Castaic Animal Care Center takes a moment to snuggle with Georgia. COURTESY PHOTO

of Happy Pets Veterinary Center.

A vaccine protocol is also discussed. Kittens need to have their first vaccines at 6-8 weeks and will need to be boostered every 3 to 4 weeks until 16 weeks of age.

Kittens are vaccinated for FVRCP or the “5 in 1,” which protects cats from infectious upper respiratory diseases and panleukopenia. A rabies vaccination, which is required, is usually given at 12 weeks or older. It requires a booster one year later.

“Most owners believe since their cats are indoor only they do not need the rabies vaccine. I always warn them otherwise as bats carry rabies and they can fly into your home thus exposing your indoor only cat,” Vega said.

Other tips

Diet and nutrition, home dental care, parasite prevention, and socialization with other pets in the household are some of the other subjects discussed during the vaccine booster appointments.

Vega recommends a kitten specific diet for the first twelve months. “Kittens need more calories to help their bones and muscles grow into an adult cat,” Vega said.

If you acquired a kitten that is not spayed or neutered, Vega recommends doing so at 5 to 6 months of age. “If you wait longer then 6 months, then they may develop habits related to mating and territoriality that may be hard to break,” she said. “A microchip can be placed at any age. We recommend to do it at the time of spay or neuter.”

A microchip, Vega said, is the best way to get your pet back if they accidentally leave your property. “We have reunited multiple pets with their families because they were microchipped.

Some were lost only for 1 day, others were lost for 3 years,” she said.

Once your cat turns a year old, they are considered an adult. Vega recommends annual exams for adult cats and bi-annual exams for senior cats aged 7 or older. 

AU G U S T 12, 2018

S U N D AYS I G N A L · 37

SENIORLIVING

Second Act: Seniors find new careers

By Martha Michael

E

veryone knows the most exciting part of a sporting event occurs in the second half. Sometimes it’s even in the last few minutes of the game.

There are many Santa Clarita seniors who are finding out firsthand how true that is. Still vibrant and energetic, they are beginning second careers, sometimes using skills they hadn’t practiced in decades of employment.

Alan Willis didn’t expect to still be working at 70, but he came out of retirement for a new opportunity and he’s happy with the twists and turns his career path has taken. The day he earned a master’s degree from Northeastern University, he was hired by the college to teach civil engineering. He taught for a couple of years, then began a 23-year career working for the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation. He was promoted up through the ranks, eventually in charge of the San Fernando Valley District operations.

“I handled the citizen complaints about traffic and parking, and planning for events like the L.A. Marathon and the Academy Awards,” he said.

“And I was also in charge of the emergency response department, so I responded to the Chatsworth Metrolink

Phil Althouse has a photography career now. Here’s a whimsical portrait of him riding a chicken. COURTESY PHOTO

train crash, detouring traffic around it during the investigation.”

The scope of his work was extremely broad. He worked with police and fire, evacuating people during the huge Oakridge Mobile Home Park fire in Sylmar in 2008. “And I licensed all the taxi cabs and drivers in L.A.,” he said, “and reviewed all the development projects in the San Fernando Valley.”

But in 2010, after the dot-com bubble burst, money was tight and the government made Willis an offer for early retirement. He stayed retired for seven months.

Until he got an offer, that is. Willis went to work for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority on the Regional Connector Transit Project. They were building the two-mile subway under Los Angeles that enables Gold Line riders to get to other parts of the city.

For more than five years, Willis worked on traffic maintenance and detouring during construction. Then he left a year and a half ago to work for consulting company Arcadis, where

SENIOR CENTER BRIEFS The SCV Senior Center is located at 22900 Market St. in Santa Clarita.

Veterans Social Aug. 16

The SCV Senior Center Veterans Committee invites veterans to a Sizzling Summer Social from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 16 at the SCV Senior Center Rooms A1 and A2.

A fajita bar lunch catered by Sharky’s Woodfired Mexican Grill will be served.

RSVP to Robin at 661-259-9444, rclough@scv-seniorcenter.org. A maximum of 30 people can be accommodated.

Silvertone Singers Doo Wop Aug. 23

The SCV Senior Center Silvertone Singers under the direction of John Swinford will present a Doo Wop Concert from 2:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 23, at the SCV Senior Center Dining Room.They will perform popular doo-wop songs such as “Rockin’ Robin,” “Sh-Boom,” “Under the Boardwalk,” “Tears on My Pillow,” “Earth Angel,” “Daddy’s Home,” and many more as you drift back in time to those carefree summer days of youth.

Light refreshments will be served and donations are accepted.

he’s whittled his responsibilities down to about one day a week.

“I was really happy I was able to retire early,” Willis said. “But my financial plan was to have my mortgage paid off when my wife retired about four years later … I got an extra paycheck to make that happen.”

In her 20s, Laurie Morgan was a musician who studied acting, and in her 30s she got married and started a family, putting her career behind her.

In her mid-40s, she returned to the stage.

“Once my eldest was old enough to babysit the two younger ones, I started auditioning,” she said. “I have been in film, TV, commercials and stage performances. And now in my 60s I’ve started directing!”

Morgan’s current directorial project is Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” playing at the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center. Prior to that, she directed two shows at the Canyon Theatre

Lynda Frautnick’s “Into the Woods” in alcohol ink won second place in Mixed Media and the “Jury of Your Peers” award at the SCAA Art Classic in 2016. COURTESY PHOTO

Guild – the musical “Don’t Hug Me” and “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

But there’s always more for Morgan.

She doesn’t settle for tackling one career at a time.

Not long after getting back to theatre, she bought a month of art classes at a fundraiser. “Once I started the classes, I knew I couldn’t stop,” she said. “From those art classes, I built enough confidence to enter art shows.”

Now the 63-year-old has expanded her CV to include “award-winning fine artist.”

There is, of course, a limit to the types of careers that individuals can See SENIORS, page 40

38 · S U N D AYS I G N A L

AU G U S T 12, 2018

TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH

By Keith Roach, M.D.

IS IT OK TO CRUSH PILLS?

DEAR DR. ROACH: I would like to know your opinion about whether it is OK to crush up different psychiatric medications and put them in a small container of water to drink. This doesn’t seem very safe to me, but I’d like an expert opinion.

– Anon.

ANSWER: I’ll give you my answer, and also tell you where to find an expert opinion. My answer is that many people have trouble swallowing pills, and that most pills can be crushed and taken with water or mixed in with food. Your local pharmacy sells pill crushers, or you can get a mortar and pestle.

While you are at the pharmacy, ask your pharmacist. He or she can look at your medications and tell you whether it is safe for you to crush your particular medications. Slow-release medications, of which there are many, should not be crushed. Often, the bottle will tell you, but ask your pharmacist for the expert opinion. *** DEAR DR. ROACH: What are your thoughts about the MiraDRY procedure to get rid of underarm sweat?

Is it safe not to have sweat under the arms?

– S.J.

is not normal underarm sweating, but a rare condition of abnormal, drenching sweat that greatly interferes with social activities. It is currently used only for underarms -- not hands, feet or face, the other most common places for localized hyperhidrosis.

According to several published papers, the microwaves heat up the water in the sweat glands, destroying them, while the skin itself is cooled. The published success rates (at reducing sweating to “never noticeable” or “tolerable”) are very high, as are patient satisfaction results. Side effects included swelling, redness and temporary numbness.

This is a new procedure, but it appears to have promise in the treatment of excess sweating. I also found a very helpful website at www.sweathelp.org. *** DEAR DR. ROACH: What causes foot drop? Is there any cure for it?

– B.H. ANSWER: Foot drop is most commonly caused by damage to the peroneal nerve, which wraps around the fibula, one of the two bones of the leg (anatomically, only the lower leg is called the leg, as opposed to the thigh). The nerve can be damaged from trauma, such as during surgery or prolonged hospitalization. Leg casts and prolonged positioning with stress on the nerve, such as squatting, also can damage the nerve. Most people describe numbness but not pain, and the dropped foot can cause people to trip, so people with this condition learn to flex the hip to lift the thigh up higher. The diagnosis can be confirmed by electrical studies of the nerves.

Treatment usually is to prevent further damage, with a splint to keep the foot flexed upward. A physical therapist can prescribe helpful exercises.

*** Dr. Roach regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but will incorporate them in the column whenever possible. Readers may email questions to ANSWER: MiraDRY is the brand name ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu. © 2018 North America Synd., Inc. of a microwave device designed to treat hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating). This All Rights Reserved 

H E A LT H & F I T N E S S

Why cancer comes back

By Metro Connection

R

cancer cells behind may recommend additional treatment to attempt to kill any cancer cells still in the body. · Chemotherapy: Cancer occurs when cells do not die and begin to grow uncontrollably. Chemotherapy aims to kill cells that are attempting to double and form new cells. However, all cells do not divide at the same time. This is why chemotherapy involves a series of treatment sessions, as physicians hope stretching treatment out over time will enable them to catch as many dividing cells as possible. Some cancer cells left behind after chemotherapy may fall victim to the body's immune system,

esearchers continue to make strides as they look for ways to defeat cancer. In many areas of the world, significant progress has been made in regard to improving cancer survival rates.

While cancer treatments continue to evolve and help people fight and ultimately overcome their disease, cancer is a formidable foe that can sometimes return. Understanding why cancer returns can help patients and their loved ones prepare to fight all over again.

Why does cancer come back?

Cancer patients who have finished successful treatment may be disheartened to learn that their cancer has come back. According to Cancer Research UK, cancer can come back if treatment failed to get rid of all the cancer cells. In such instances, the cells left behind may grow into a new tumor. Some cancers also can spread to other areas of the body, forming new tumors elsewhere.

Cancer also might come back if it has become resistant to the drugs used to treat it. Cancer cells are mutated cells in which the genes within them make the cells behave differently Understanding why cancer returns can help patients from normal, healthy cells. and their loved ones prepare to fight all over again.

Cell mutations vary, and some might make canwhile others will simply die off. But cer cells resistant to drugs used during some may survive and ultimately dichemotherapy, targeted therapy and vide, prompting cancer to return. hormone therapy. Multi-drug resis· Radiation: Radiation therapy aims tance occurs when cancer cells have to prevent cells from growing and dibecome resistant to many drugs at the viding by making small breaks in the same time.

DNA inside the cells. Radiation theraDoes the type of treatment matter? py is common and effective, but it can Cancer can come back regardless of which type of therapy or therapies doc- leave cancer cells behind. When it does, those leftover cancer cells can lead to a tors initially employ to get rid of it. recurrence of cancer. · Surgery: Cancer can return after No one wants to receive a single surgery if any cancer cells were left behind during the operation. Small cancancer diagnosis, much less learn that cer cells sometimes break away from their cancer has returned after treatthe primary cancer prior to surgery, ment. But cancer can return, and when and these are too difficult for surgeons it does, it's important that patients fight to see and remove during surgery. just as hard as they did during their Surgeons who suspect they left some initial treatment sessions. 

AU G U S T 12, 2018

S U N D AYS I G N A L · 39

GARDENING

Gardening tips: Sure-fire ways to save time and labor

D

oes it feel like you’re wasting too many precious summer afternoons and evenings doing chores in the yard and garden?

Give some of these labor-saving tips a try so you have more time for your favorite summer activities.

By Metro Connection

T

1. Get organized

Nothing wastes time like having to search around for misplaced trowels, seed packets and garden rakes. It’s worth the time and effort to create a zone in your garage or shed that’s just for gardening and yard care tools. Use organizing tools like pegboards and repurposed containers to keep like items grouped together. A dollar-store photo album is perfect for keeping seed packets and plant care sticks organized for future use.

2. Harness perennial power

Instead of planting a new set of annual flowers and plants in the ground each spring, opt for more perennials. These hardy plants will leap back to life without needing much attention. Talk to a local nursery to discover the beautiful blooms that thrive and renew in your region.

3. Lighten your container pots

Larger container pots add color and dimension to any yard or patio. Trouble is, they can get heavy and hard to move. Before planting, fill the bottom half of the empty container with packing peanuts.

Then, fit a piece of landscaping fabric on top. This lets the water drain through, but still

Getting to better know succulents

barricades soil. Fill the rest of the container with soil, add the plants, and, voila! Your containers are now several pounds lighter and much easier to move.

4. Automate your watering

Watering your lawn and garden is not only physically taxing, it’s easy to forget. Between over-watering and under-watering, it can also be tough to get just right. Luckily, there’s a new generation of irrigation tools that let you customize and automate your watering schedule for the entire yard with a smartphone app.

The Gro 7-Zone Controller is an easy-to-install smart irrigation system that uses real-time weather data to tailor watering schedules to your lawn’s needs. Add Gro Water Sensors to container pots and gardens to measure the moisture content in your soil; when plants get thirsty, you get a smartphone alert. Finally, Gro precision watering kits feature one-time, easy installation for hands-free watering while delivering water precisely where and when plants need it most.

Even if you’re on vacation

or getting through a hot dry spell, these tools will greatly streamline your watering routine while keeping your turf lush and blooms beautiful.

5. Use “instant” lawn fertilizer

Emptying the grass catcher wastes precious time when mowing the lawn. Save yourself some labor and simply let grass clippings fall right onto the turf. They break down relatively quickly, providing the perfect food for your lawn.

6. Win the war on weeds

If unwanted weeds start surfacing in garden beds, try this easy, chemical-free fix. Start by placing newspaper and cardboard on top of the soil, leaving a little space around the stems of the garden plants.

Then, cover the entire surface with a layer of mulch.

This barrier blocks weeds from emerging at the surface and lets you cross that chore off your list for the rest of the season.

– Brandpoint 

he word “succulent” brings to mind juicy, savory foods. But succulents aren’t meant to be consumed. In fact, they get their mouth-watering name from their uncanny ability to store water in fleshy stems or leaves. That means they do not require frequent watering like other plants might. Succulents also may prove more durable in the face of drought and are a handy plant for forgetful gardeners or those who travel often and want something more hands-off in their gardens.

According to the succulents resource Succulents and Sunshine, most succulents prefer warm temperatures and are not very cold-tolerant. However, there are some varieties that can survive freezing temperatures.

Still, for most succulents, it’s best if they are kept in warm, moderately sunny conditions.

The DIY Network says succulents grow best in bright light, but not always in full, hot sun.

Succulents also may attract gardeners thanks to their diverse looks. Better Homes & Gardens says that color variations of succulents are quite varied and include green, yellow, burgundy, white, blue-green, pink, red, and variegated combinations. Their shapes can be just as diverse, with many having pointy, rounded, spiky, or ruffled leaves.

People may be particularly familiar with one type of succulent: cacti. These traditional desert-dwellers are prized for their water-retention abilities, but some seem downright scary with their prickly exteriors. While all cacti are succulents, it’s important to note that not all succulents are cacti. Less needle-like succulents include aloe, jade, snake plant, and agave. Hens and chicks (sempervivum) and wax plant (hoya) are other succulents to consider. 

40 · S U N D AYS I G N A L

AU G U S T 12, 2018

TIME RANGER

ZUCCHINI

Continued from page 16

AUG. 10, 1978 • CANNIBAL KILLER — A month earlier, Ronald Doyle Wilburn, the Vampire Van murderer, killed and partially ate a young hitchhiker, Mary Ann Linco. She had been a motorcycle gang groupie and had started using drugs at the age of 13. Two CHP officers had stopped Wilburn on that night for a routine traffic violation. Wilburn ran away and one of the officers quickly captured him.

Returning to the van, the two officers shined their flashlights and saw a suspicious bundle. It was a rolled up carpet.

Inside were the partially dismembered and devoured remains of the 21-yearold woman.

• HOT ACTON TRAGEDY — Triple-digit heat and macho stubbornness were the cause of the deaths of two fire trainees in Acton. Tim Rodriguez and Joe Hughes were ahead of the pack, running up a mountain. Then, they sat as everyone passed them. At the finish line, the trainees noticed the pair were missing. They found them along the trail, dead. It was 107, in the shade, and humid.

• RARE AUGUST STORMS — Epic thunderstorms and rain pelted the SCV,

Continued from page 32

causing dozens of fires from Agua Dulce to Castaic.

• GUYS 3, GIRL 1 — It was hard to get fired from civil service, even back in 1978. Hart Park was the center of steamy sexcapades when a young lady employee scattered her affections amongst a few, ahem, male staff members. The girl? Fired. Two of her male paramours soon thereafter received promotions.

The department head was promoted two levels.

Well saddlepals. I see by that familiar vortex light we’re back to present-day Santa Clarita. Sure appreciate the good company and looking forward to seeing you next Sunday at The Soon To Be Again Mighty Signal with another thrilling Time Ranger adventure. Vayan con Dios, amigos…

John Boston, aka, Mr. Santa Clarita Valley, has been writing about and teaching the history of the SCV for more than 40 years. Recipient of The Will Rogers Lifetime Achievement Award and 119 major journalism honors, he is also author of the historical tome, “Images of America: The Santa Clarita Valley.” 

SENIORS

Continued from page 37

pick up in their “second half,” but there are also a tremendous number of opportunities, and all it takes is connecting individuals to jobs. ‘The 2nd Career Center’ is what the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center is doing to make that happen.

“The 2nd Career Center is beneficial on so many levels,” said Robin Clough, volunteers and recreation coordinator at the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center.

“We have a lot of expert speakers and collaborations, and the seniors we are helping would really be an asset to the workforce.”

There is a meeting for people who want to re-enter the workforce on August 22 from 10-11 a.m. in Rooms A1 and A2 at the SCV Senior Center. The 2nd Career Center meetings will be held the fourth Wednesday of every month.

One of the most prolific settings for post-retirement careers is the Santa Clarita Artists Association. Though many of the men and women begin as amateur hobbyists, often they become successful at selling their artwork, winning awards and writing books.

Lynda Frautnick of Canyon Country is one of those artists. “I have always loved art, but before

Make sure you let the cake cool before slicing. It tends to fall apart if you cut into it too soon (learn from my mistake).

3 I also made my favorite zucchini preparation, Michele’s Stewed Zucchini (and the variation Michele’s Stewed Zucchini with Italian Stewed Tomatoes). This is a recipe that started out from a zucchini preparation made by my aunt in that comfortable Eastern Washington kitchen. I’ve made a few changes to make it my own.

I “rough chop” the vegetables into fairly large pieces to give the dish a more “rustic” look.

Michele’s Stewed Zucchini

1/2 cup butter 1 tbsp dried onion flakes 4 or 5 small zucchinis chopped into 1/2 to 3/4-inch discs 4 ribs of celery cut into medium dice 1 large sweet onion cut into large dice Morton’s Nature Seasoning to taste Optional: 1 can Italian Recipe Stewed Tomatoes

retirement, I mostly worked on craft projects rather than fine art,” said Frautnick, chairperson for the Santa Clarita Artists Association Gallery on 6th Street in Newhall.

Some of Frautnick’s recognition comes from her Chinese watercolors and alcohol ink art pieces.

“I’ve always admired artists and wished that I were one,” Frautnick says in a bio on her website, www. lyndafrautnick.com.

She worked as a research technician in immunology at UCLA and then spent 25 years in education teaching math and science, also working as a middle school guidance counselor.

“Soon after retiring in 2007, I stumbled upon a workshop in Chinese watercolor, and I fell in love,” her website says. “In 2015, I accidentally learned about the media alcohol ink, and I was in love all over again. The vibrant ink colors and their abstract unpredictability really attracted me.”

Another SCAA member, Meryl Goudey also has a history of education behind her art. “I was teaching creatively with second to sixth grades for 22 years,” Goudey said. “I combined all curriculum into life-meaning themes, woven with student-made movies, debates, art expressions, music and lots of creative writing and literature. I began painting during school holidays, to get in touch with my soul and replenish with the joy of bright colors, which celebrate nature.” (meryldenise.artistwebsites.com)

Melt a stick of butter into a 3 or 4-quart saucepan.

Add the dried onion flakes, zucchini, celery and onion.

Cover tightly and cook over medium low heat.

Do not add any water, the water from the vegetables as they warm up and begin to cook will be all the liquid you need in this recipe.

Season to taste with Morton’s Nature Seasoning.

After 10 minutes stir. Stir every 10 minutes until vegetables are tender. Optional: Add the Italian Recipe Stewed Tomatoes when vegetables are tender and heat until warm.

The total cooking time should be approx. 30 minutes, give or take.

3 In the end I used every bit of the Giant Zucchini. I took a photo of the very end of the zucchini perched atop the shredder. It made me smile.

If you have any questions on any of these recipes please contact mbuttelman@signalscv.com. 

Phil Althouse pursued an acting career when he first moved to Los Angeles. His “day job” as a field representative for the Directors Guild of America turned into a 31-year career instead.

After retirement in 2010, Althouse’s path changed considerably when his wife, Diana Shaw, sent in one of his photos to a competition hosted by Smithsonian Magazine. There were 45,000 images from 102 countries submitted, and the photo by Althouse ranked in the top 30.

“I was shocked,” he said. ““It’s a picture of a praying mantis I took when we were walking around Bridgeport. It looked right straight into the camera and made meaningful eye contact.”

Using his photography skills, photoshop capabilities and strong comedic inclination, Althouse has a full schedule of exhibits, mostly portraits of people or animals, usually with a twist that may include a hidden image of himself riding a chicken. (shawhousephotography.com) “I really did find something – I just really took to it,” he said. “I work much harder now than I did when I was working.”

Two or three generations ago it would be unusual for a person to aspire to shift to a new career in middle age or later. But modern culture applauds those who stay active and engaged. And sometimes income is part of the reward. 

Relax Give your mind a workout with these brainy exercises!

S U N D AYS I G N A L · 41

BRAINGAMES

AU G U S T 12, 2018

42 · S U N D AYS I G N A L

CROSSWORD TIME SOCCER Continued from page 17

Answer to Sunday 8/5 Crossword

Tournament.

“I felt good with how we competed,” Boswell said. “We played great as a team and we gave a 100 percent effort and we felt accomplished with the outcome. We weren’t afraid and we weren’t deterred to give them our best.”

To round out their trip, So Cal Select flew to London, England where they had one more friendly against AFC Wimbledon, defeating them 8-2.

The team even got to experience European futbol fanaticism with England beating Sweden 2-0 in the 2018 World Cup Quarterfinals.

AU G U S T 12, 2018

“It was crazy,” Boswell said. “Huge crowds gathering on the streets chanting. Everyone was celebrating and it was a great atmosphere to be in.”

Being one of the youngest girls on the team, Boswell carried a chip on her shoulder and played with more aggression and speed so she could showcase just how equipped she was to compete with older and bigger girls.

Going into her sophomore year at SCCS, Boswell’s future seems bright as she has just skimmed the surface of what could be an amazing athletic career. ”No matter the end result, what matters is the effort that you put in out on the field and how you set yourself up going into the next game.” 

YOUR HOME

Continued from page 29

or other décor.

“You may have a pot, a platter or candlesticks, any number of décor pieces and can use your fabric bunched up and puddled around your accent pieces,” she said. “Use your fabric so that it frames the item and adds extra dimension to the table.”

Reuse items

For homeowners and others wanting to make the most of their budgets Murray suggested keeping a few items that can be reused, like the clear glass cylinders augmented by other decorative items that can keep your tablescapes new and fresh.

“A pot with succulents in it can work with almost anything,” she said. “Decorating with succulents is very on trend right now.”

When combined with several glass cylinders filled with different items reflecting the theme or season you will have a creative tablescape that looks different for every event.

“Versatile cylinders are something that people who entertain a lot always have on hand,” Murray said.

Another current trend is using an eclectic mix of china and flatware.

“Some people use pieces of antique china they have collected throughout the years,” she said. “They might have 12 plates and none of them match, but they are all unique pieces of antique china.”

Murray said she tells people just starting out as hosts to invest in white plates and dishware.

“Buy simple silver and some wood and silver platters because you can interchange any number of themes with those pieces.

White goes with anything,” she said. “Use live plants and floral centerpieces to reflect

The use of unexpected material such as burlap can be an attention-getter. METRO CREATIVE

the season. If you change the foliage for the season you won’t be bored by using the same tablescape over and over.”

In a move away from “cocooning” made by previous generations millennials are returning to entertaining more with family and friends.

“Millennials are bringing people into their homes more in the last few years.

They are doing really pretty tablescapes and creating cool craft cocktails to go with the food and table themes,” Murray said. “They might not cook as much and they might order take out, but they are much more into entertaining.”

Murray said she is also seeing cleaner and more elegant tablescapes than many of the “over-the-top” or theme-specific tablescapes of the recent past.

“It could be the result of many young people just beginning to collect build their collections of interesting and unique pieces,” she said.

Themes for entertaining are more popular than ever and include the Oscars, Super Bowl, March Madness, Summer Solstice, World Series, Halloween, Easter and the classics, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah. 

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