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Top 10 Stories That Impacted Santa Clarita In 2019

As 2019 comes to an end, KHTS is taking a look back at the top 10 stories that impacted Santa Clarita the most in the past year.

The past year has been one of the most impactful in recent memory for the Santa Clarita Valley. Throughout 2019, residents were able to celebrate together, work together and mourn together in ways that the city had not seen before, and may never see again.

The following 10 stories were selected by the KHTS newsroom, not based on the number of views they gained — although they certainly did attract a lot of attention — but rather on the impact they had on the Santa Clarita Valley as a whole.

  1. Season of the Bear

From May 5 to July 5, eight different bear sightings were reported by residents throughout the Santa Clarita Valley, the majority of which happened with nine days.

 

The first of these sightings occurred at around 10 p.m. on May 5, when a Ring home security device captured footage of the bear walking across a driveway in Stevenson Ranch. Two days letter, two more sightings were reported.

Of the eight sightings, two were reported in Stevenson Ranch, two were reported in Valencia, two were reported in Canyon Country and two were reported in Castaic.

The bear sightings sparked conversations on social media among residents on the best way to handle wildlife in populated areas, as well as mankind’s role in claiming their natural habitat.

  1. New Plans for the Valencia Mall

In April, officials with the Westfield Valencia Town Center announced plans to add the city’s first luxury cinema to the mall, as well as the addition of Santa Clarita’s second Costco retail location.

 

The $100 million investment, dubbed “The Patios Connection,” includes Santa Clarita’s first luxury cinema, a full-service health and fitness center, additional specialty brand shops and the addition of Santa Clarita’s second Costco retail location, which is set to take over the old Sears location.

The project is also set to create an estimated 486 full-time equivalent direct and indirect jobs, and contribute more than $6 million in annual revenue, according to officials.

In November, the mall completed a $20 million renovation project aimed at “bringing the interior of the property together” with the mall’s patio area and the shops along Town Center Drive.

The renovation project focused on improving the interior of the shopping center located in the “heart of the community,” including the food court, the floors and some of the interior landscaping, according to officials.

  1. Bella Vida Senior Center Opens

Officials from the SCV Senior Center opened the doors to Bella Vida, a new and improved senior center named after the Italian phrase for “beautiful life.”

 

The new 30,000-square-foot center is located at Golden Valley Road and Newhall Ranch Road on 2.5 acres of newly-developed land, and features a variety of amenities, including a banquet hall that can seat over 250 people, a fireplace lounge/library, six multi-purpose rooms, a fitness center and dance studio and an outdoor cabana with concert seating.

With the new location, officials say they can now serve up to 15,000 seniors from the community, which is 5,000 more than the original center could.

“We can open the doors and we can build the buildings, but if the people bring their positiveness and they can share time with each other and the camaraderie is built and the family is built,” said Kevin MacDonald, executive director for the SCV Senior Center, in a previous story. “And that’s what’s being built over here on Golden Valley Road, is a new family.”

  1. Community Rallies to Help Boy Ahead of Open-Heart Surgery

Near the end of December, a blood drive was set up for a 3-year-old Santa Clarita boy who is set to face his third open-heart surgery.

 

Rocky Graham was born with a congenital heart disease known as a double outlet right ventricle, or DORV. His DORV affects its two major arteries, the pulmonary artery and the aorta, both of which are connected to the right ventricle.

In a normal heart, the pulmonary artery connects to the right ventricle, and the aorta connects to the left ventricle. However, DORV creates a problem because the right ventricle carries oxygen-poor blood, which then gets circulated in the body, according to Children’s Hospital officials.

When Rocky was only two weeks old, he underwent his first open-heart surgery. Less than three months later, he underwent a second one. Now, his family prepares for a third, set to take place in March.

“Hopefully, it is the last one. He’s doing very good,” said his mother, Allyson Graham. “As far as we know with this surgery, we can be in the hospital from one week to one month. It all depends on how he recovers.”

Within 12 hours of Rocky’s story being posted online, it had been shared hundreds of times, with every single appointment slot for his blood drive being filled. 

“It is really, really important to us,” Graham said. “This is blood that could save his life.”

  1. The Saddleridge Fire

Near the beginning of October, the Saddleridge Fire placed the Santa Clarita Valley on alert, as the flames burned the hills along the valley’s southern border.

 

The fire was first reported Thursday, Oct. 10 just after 9 p.m. near Saddle Ridge Road and Yarnell Street in Sylmar, according to Fire officials.

Due to the Santa Ana wind conditions during the fire, the blaze quickly grew to 60 acres, and by Friday morning, it was over 2,000 acres.

During the early stages of the fire, officials with the Los Angeles Fire Department said the Saddleridge Fire was spreading at a rate of 800 acres an hour.

On Friday, Oct. 11, the 5 Freeway and The Old Road going in and out of the Santa Clarita Valley in the Newhall Pass were closed. The 14 Freeway southbound at Newhall Avenue was also closed due to the fire.

The only way for Santa Clarita residents to leave the valley was to either go north up the 5 to the 138, or go west on Highway 126.

The Saddleridge Fire was contained roughly two weeks after it broke out, burning nearly 9,000 acres of land, damaging or destroying dozens of structures and killing at least one person.

  1. CEMEX Mega Mine Dealt Major Blow

In March, the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) ruled that all of the mining rights that CEMEX had in Soledad Canyon would expire in July of 2020.

BREAKING: City officials are hosting a press conference to discuss a major breakthrough in the Cemex Mega Mine case.

Posted by KHTS Radio on Thursday, March 21, 2019

 

“CEMEX has never done any mining in Soledad Canyon, and after today’s decision, they never will,” said Councilmember and CEMEX City Council Sub-Committee Member Bob Kellar at the time. “Even though their contract will not expire (until) 2020, it would take them at least three years to get their operation up and running. The importance of this decision cannot be understated – this is a monumental victory for our residents and our environment.”

The City of Santa Clarita has been fighting to prevent mining in Soledad Canyon since the U.S. Bureau of Land Management BLM awarded two contracts to CEMEX in 1990, according to officials.

The CEMEX contracts would have allowed for the mining of 56 million tons of sand and gravel from Soledad Canyon, which would have added up to 1,164 truck trips a day to local roads and freeways. 

This would have caused air quality issues and potential negative impacts to the Santa Clara River, the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and wildlife corridors connecting the Angeles National Forest, as well as fish, wildlife and plants in the area, according to officials.

Then, in March of 2015, the BLM rescinded Cemex’s contracts, forcing the mining company to appeal the decision to the IBLA in September of 2015.

“We must continue to be vigilant in our efforts over the next 16 months,” Kellar said in March. “But if you came to a rally, if you signed a petition, if you wrote to your local officials or spoke up in council meetings, thank you.”

  1. Castaic High School Opens

The William S. Hart Union High School District welcomed another high school into the district in August when Castaic High School opened its doors.

 

The freshman class of 325 students is set to start the legacy of the new high school, which is capable of educating an estimated 2,600 students at full capacity, according to officials.

While initial grading for the project began in 2013 and construction of the school began in 2017, the idea of the school had been discussed by many residents of the Castaic community long before then.

With the completion of the $200 million school, a new chapter in Santa Clarita public education has begun, one that officials say should have a positive impact in the Castaic community for decades to come.

  1. Katie Hill Resigns from Congress

For the first time in the history of the California 25th District, the elected Congress member stepped down from office, as then-Congresswoman Katie Hill announced her resignation in October following allegations of improper relationships with staff.

 

“It is with a broken heart that I announce my resignation from Congress,”  Hill said in a statement. “This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I believe that it is the best thing for my constituents, my community and our country.”

Several days before, the House Ethics Committee had opened an investigation into Hill involving allegations of sexual affairs with staffers, after she called for an investigation into the publication of explicit photos of herself that were posted online without her permission.

These allegations, which include an extramarital affair with her legislative director and a consensual romantic “throuple” between Hill, her husband and a 22-year-old female campaign volunteer, who later also allegedly became a paid employee, were reportedly made by Hill’s estranged husband, Kenny Heslep, as the pair were going through a divorce, according to officials.

Photos and copies of texts allegedly between staff, Hill and her estranged husband were posted as proof of the allegations of her extramarital affairs. Hill had notified Capitol Hill police, who were investigating the situation and potential legal violations of those who posted and distributed the photos, according to statements made by Hill at the time.

Hill denied the alleged relationship with a House staff member in a letter to constituents, but acknowledged she was involved in a separate relationship with a member of her campaign staff “during the final tumultuous years” of her “abusive marriage.”

“I know that even a consensual relationship with a subordinate is inappropriate, but I still allowed it to happen despite my better judgment,” Hill wrote.

Since Hill’s resignation, over a dozen individuals have announced their intention to run for the CA-25 seat, including current Assemblywoman Christy Smith, D-Santa Clarita, former Congressman Steve Knight and former Trump staffer George Papadopoulous.

  1. The Tick Fire

Exactly two weeks after the Saddleridge Fire began, another blaze broke out in Canyon Country that would go on to devastate the northeast portion of the valley and force the largest evacuation in Santa Clarita’s history: the Tick Fire.

 

The Tick Fire ignited at around 1:45 p.m. on Oct. 24 near the 30000 block of Tick Canyon Road. The blaze was not fully contained until one week later.

During that time, the Tick Fire destroyed 23 residential structures, one commercial building and five outbuildings, as well as damaged 39 residential structures, two commercial buildings and three outbuildings, according to officials.  

Within 20 hours, approximately 15,000 homes were placed under mandatory evacuations, temporarily displacing an estimated 40,000 residents.

“The Tick Fire forced the largest evacuation of residents in our city’s history,” said Santa Clarita City Manager Ken Striplin.

Schools across the Santa Clarita Valley were closed for two days, while several schools in the Sulphur Springs School District were closed for an additional week following the fire.

Three firefighters had reported minor injuries, and there were no reports of civilian casualties or injuries. 

In the wake of the flames, the Santa Clarita community rallied behind those affected, from setting up “pop-up shops” to organizing GoFundMe pages to raise money for victims of the Tick Fire.

  1. #SaugusStrong

While this should not come as a surprise to most that the events of the Saugus High shooting likely impacted the Santa Clarita Valley the most in 2019, the top spot on this list goes not to the initial shooting, but to the outpouring of support and unity shown by the community in the wake of the tragedy.

 

On the morning of Nov. 14, 2019, the landscape of the Santa Clarita community was “forever changed” when 16-year-old Nathaniel Berhow walked into the quad of Saugus High School, pulled a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun from his backpack and opened fire, according to Sheriff’s officials

Two students, 15-year-old Gracie Muehlberger and 14-year-old Dominic Blackwell, were killed as a result of the shooting. Three other students were shot before Berhow turned the gun on himself, resulting in his death the next day.

The next day, GoFundMe pages had been set up by the Blackwell and Muehlberger families. As of Dec. 31, each had raised over $100,000.

In the wake of the sudden tragedy, the Santa Clarita community came together in a way that many say they had “never seen before.”

“There is a pride and spirit in Santa Clarita that is very special,” then-Mayor Marsha McLean said three days after the shooting. “Saugus, you have a fabulous school with fabulous spirit and pride, and I know that you will not let anything take that away from you.”

On the day of the shooting, support resources were open to students and community members at the Santa Clarita Activities Center. The Samuel Dixon Family Health Center opened their support groups to those affected. Elevate Church also had a therapist and psychologist available the very same day.

Across the valley, several separate vigils were held to honor those who died and lift up those who had survived. Grace Baptist Church, Sri Siddhi Vinayaka Temple and others held their own respective vigils.

The City of Santa Clarita stepped in and hosted the Saugus Strong vigil at Central Park on the Sunday after the shooting. Over 10,000 people are estimated to have attended the event.

“In the face of unspeakable violence, we have united to care for each other and to begin the slow process of healing, knowing that none of us will really ever be the same again,” said Vicki Engbrecht, superintendent for the William S. Hart Union High School District, at the time.

The #SaugusStrong logo began to be displayed all over the valley, from the marquees on Santa Clarita public transit buses, to various billboards and signs posted throughout the city, to shirts, sweatshirts and hats worn by thousands of residents.

Dozens of celebrities from the entertainment industry have sent words of encouragement to the students of Saugus High School, including Will Ferrell and Elizabeth Olsen.

Dozens Of Celebrities Send Words Of Encouragement After Saugus High Shooting

In the wake of the Saugus High shooting, dozens of celebrities from the entertainment industry have sent words of encouragement to the students of Saugus High School, including the likes of Will Ferrell and Elizabeth Olsen.See More: http://www.hometownstation.com/santa-clarita-news/community-news/dozens-of-celebrities-send-words-of-encouragement-after-saugus-high-shooting-304103

Posted by KHTS Radio on Friday, December 6, 2019

 

“We are thinking about you guys,” Will Ferrell said in his video. “We are pulling for you guys, and our thoughts and prayers are with you.”

Tens of thousands of dollars have been raised through the nonprofit Santa Clarita Coalition by various organizations and individuals throughout the valley, with all of the money collected set to go to the families of the victims.

Newly-selected Mayor Cameron Smyth used his first address as mayor to discuss how the coming year would continue the healing that started during the past month.

“2020 will be a year of healing,” he said. “I know I can speak for the council when we say that we will individually, collectively, as a city, do whatever we can, play whatever role is necessary to help with that healing.”

To donate to victims of the Saugus High shooting, click here.


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Top 10 Stories That Impacted Santa Clarita In 2019

One comment

  1. Too bad that KHTS doesn’t recognize the increase in crime and traffic accidents that now occur in Santa Clarita compared to years ago. What about the homeless problem?

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About Michael Brown

Michael Brown has lived in Santa Clarita his whole life. Graduating from Saugus High School in 2016, he continued to stay local by attending The Master’s University, where he achieved a Bachelor's Degree in Communication. Michael joined KHTS in January of 2018 as a news intern, and has since gone on to become the News Director for the KHTS Newsroom. Since joining KHTS, Michael has covered many breaking news stories (both on scene and on air), interviewed dozens of prominent state and federal political figures, and interacted with hundreds of residents from Santa Clarita. When he is not working, Michael enjoys spending time with his family, as well as reading any comic book he can get his hands on.