Why Produce So Many Bills? Next month, thousands will once again fill the halls of the State Capitol when the legislature reconvenes on Jan. 3. For the next few months, legislators, staffers, lobbyists and advocates will zip in and around the Capitol, resulting in upwards of a thousand new bills all vying to become law. […]
Laments the Loss of a Tree A battle to save the life of a tree ended in the LCF Planning Commission meeting in November. Brutal pruning by a utility crew combined with an arborist’s report of dubious merit spelled a death sentence for an old oak. Here the tree’s defender decries in poetic voice all […]
Canyon Name Origins – Winery Canyon, Hay Canyon, Gould Canyon Winery Canyon – This small, dry canyon is immediately above the old Hall Ranch property. No roads reach it, but it can be seen from the intersection of Alta Canyada and Hacienda. The canyon is named for the Hall Ranch winery, which operated out of […]
Canyon Name Origins – Snover Canyon, Webber Canyon, Hall-Beckley Canyon Snover Canyon – This small canyon is visible if one drives to the end of Canalda Drive off Ocean View. It’s an oak-wooded dry canyon with a tiny trail running a little way up it. It runs down the mountain from east to west but, […]
The LA County Board of Supervisors voted to scale back the Flood Control District’s Big Dig program for Hahamongna Watershed Park, thanks, in part, to local Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s leadership. They added efforts to increase stormwater capture and groundwater replenishment and other measures to enhance sustainability. Judge James Chalfant was scheduled on Tuesday to consider […]
GUSD Calendars: Shorter Summers, More AP losses The GUSD school board votes on the next two proposed calendars on Tuesday, Dec. 12. Unless people speak up, our summer recess will shorten to nine full weeks with partial days on either end and AP students and teachers will lose four more days of instruction. It is […]
Following several years of rainfall far below average, local rainfall during the 2016-17 winter season finally exceeded average precipitation. Precipitation in northern California, however, resulted in the wettest year on record filling the larger reservoirs that supply imported water to Southern California. Unfortunately, the rainfall last year was not enough to replenish our local groundwater […]
Canyon Name Origins – Sutton Canyon, Mullally Canyon Two large canyons feed into Pickens Canyon from the east side, and both have histories involving logging. The uppermost canyon is Sutton Canyon. It’s visible looking across Pickens Canyon from Briggs Terrace at the intersection of Manzanita and Canyonside. Sadly, we don’t know the origin of its […]
Moral Deterioration at Heart of Poor Behavior It is time for men (and women too) to weigh in on the subject of sexual harassment. The point is that not all men are knuckle-dragging prehistoric monsters preying on and victimizing innocent women. The problem is a decades-long deterioration of morals in this country fed relentlessly by […]
Canyon Name Origins – Pickens Canyon, Benjamin Briggs In this column, I’m straying from my original intention to reveal the origin of the names of the canyons on the San Gabriel Mountains side of the valley. I already told you about Theodor Pickens, for whom Pickens Canyon is named. But I can’t let the […]