By Charly SHELTON For years, the hype gained momentum. Star Wars Land was coming to Disneyland. In anticipation, Disney warned us how crowded it was going to be. Columnists wrote about it. Instagram models invited to the media events talked about the exclusivity of admission to Star Wars Land and how hard it would be […]
By Charly SHELTON Jurassic Park – The Ride opened at Universal Studios Hollywood in the summer of 1996, after the massive success of the film three years prior. The water ride was a technological marvel at the time, with life-sized audio animatronics of stegosaurus, parasaurolophus and even Tyrannosaurus rex. Then, 22 years later after the […]
By Charly SHELTON The Lumière Brothers debuted a collection of 10 short films on Dec. 28, 1895 in Paris. This is widely regarded as the birth of cinema in its truest form. Despite the invention of the medium years prior, it was never put to use in such a way as did the Lumière Brothers. […]
By Charly SHELTON A new study published this week in the journal Earth’s Future found that since 1972 there has been an average 500% increase in annual burned areas statewide, largely in part from an 800% increase in burned areas annually in California from forest fires. Human-caused climate change has heated the earth 1.4°C, the […]
Despite epicenters that were miles away, the Crescenta Valley was not immune to the shaking caused by the Ridgecrest earthquakes. By Charly SHELTON At 10:33 a.m. on July 4, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck just outside of Ridgecrest, California, in the China Lake area of the Mojave Desert. The next morning, a M 5.4 aftershock […]
By Charly SHELTON In 2017, SB 1, or the Road Repair and Accountability Act, was passed in the California State Legislature. This is a tax on gasoline sales that is supposed to funnel funds directly to improving the roadways in California. The voter-approved gas tax went up again on July 1 and, although drivers may […]
By Charly SHELTON Governor Gavin Newsom signed the newest California state budget last Thursday, taking effect on July 1 for the 2019-20 fiscal year. It was a budget full of firsts, not only in that it was Newsom’s first budget since being elected but also in the spending level. With a price tag of $214.8 […]
»PART I By Charly SHELTON The California State Legislature passed a $214.8 billion budget deal last Thursday. Governor Gavin Newsom has until next Tuesday, June 25, to either sign the budget into effect or veto it, as a whole or in part through line-item veto. Within the budget are many improvements and allocations of funds […]
By Charly SHELTON What strikes me first about the Electronic Entertainment Expo – or E3 as it’s known – on day one is the crowd. It has gotten more crowded each year, and harder to get into the demos to see the walk-throughs or play the games. I met Stan Lee my first or second […]
By Charly SHELTON Eid al-Fitr, the celebrated Festival of Breaking the Fast in the Islamic faith, was celebrated on June 3 across the world. It is a day when Ramadan, the month of daytime fasting, ends and Muslims thank Allah for the strength and blessings they received during the month. The festivities include feasting, shopping […]