SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, took a step in reforming the state's welfare system by introducing The Welfare Reform Act of 1997.Feb. 16
SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, took a step in reforming the state's welfare system by introducing The Welfare Reform Act of 1997.
Feb. 16
LANCASTER - A private survey of local government taxes and fees suggests that Lancaster is one of the least expensive places to operate a business in Los Angeles County. The survey compiled by Kosmont & Associates Inc. reports it would cost $120 a year in taxes and fees to operate a typical 30,000-square-foot law office in Lancaster.
PALMDALE - Mayor Jim Ledford is building support for a more than 30 aircraft display to line Avenue P for the half-mile from about 20th to 25th streets east.
Feb. 18
LANCASTER - A zoning change intended to pacify westside homeowners angered by commercial and multifamily development could cost one company more than $2 million. That is how much Doerken Properties Inc. has spent acquiring 29.5 acres and making plans for a 200-unit, $16 million apartment complex to be built immediately west of the Antelope Valley Freeway between avenues J-4 and J-8, company President Peter W. Doerken told the City Council.
Feb. 19
Statistics on hate-crime reports for other cities in Los Angeles County suggest that the Antelope Valley's major cities of Lancaster and Palmdale are no more or less prone to hate crimes than any of the other cities examined. The comparison was prompted by an Associated Press story that repeated suggestions by other media that the Antelope Valley is a hotbed of hate crime, attracting intense federal law enforcement scrutiny.
Feb. 20
PALMDALE - When packing a picnic lunch for a hike in the nearby Angeles National Forest this summer, don't forget to throw in $5 for parking.
Sometime this summer a 30month pilot program will begin to see how well a $5-a-carload fee can sweep away a growing list of forest maintenance and cleanup needs.
Lancaster High School Principal Beverley Louw was reassigned to the classroom Wednesday night. Antelope Valley Union High School District trustees cited a lack of confidence in her ability to be a principal as the reason for the demotion.
Feb. 21
LANCASTER - A fourmonth investigation into the bombing of a gay bar led to the discovery Wednesday of more than $300,000 worth of government property believed to have been stolen from Edwards Air Force Base.
Feb. 22
PALMDALE - A fatal accident reportedly caused by a man who lost control of his pickup truck as he sped up a freeway onramp caused the closure of a portion of the Antelope Valley Freeway for more than six hours Friday during the busy morning commute.
PALMDALE - Three City Hall employees were laid off Friday, a city spokeswoman announced. Although city information officer Barbara La Fata declined to identify the positions, other sources in City Hall said the layoffs were in the Finance, Planning and Parks and Recreation departments.
Feb. 24
LOS ANGELES - County supervisors held off for a day their planned discussion on whether to allow BioGro Systems Inc. to build a 67-acre compost plant at 145th Street West and Avenue A.
Feb. 25
LANCASTER - The Mira Loma county jail, closed by county budget cuts in 1993, reopened Monday as a federal way station for immigrants facing deportation.
LANCASTER - Pioneer ophthalmologist Forrest E. Hull, M.D., started his retirement in a big way this month - getting married at 85. Hull and Marte van Wachem, a Canadian raised in Holland, were married in Lancaster Feb. 4.
Feb. 26
LANCASTER - A security plan using metal detectors, X-ray machines, surveillance cameras and armed guards at the Lancaster courts complex will soon be on its way to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for consideration.
BORON - Highway 58 near Boron was closed in both directions from about 8 a.m. to 6 p.m Tuesday after a chemical truck ran off the road and overturned, spilling its contents onto the roadway.
PALMDALE - Citing budget cuts prompted by the effects of Proposition 218, City Manager Bob Toone laid off Al McCord, the deputy executive director of the city's Redevelopment Agency. The layoff follows two others last week.
Feb. 27
LANCASTER - Officials say hard work by peace officers and bad luck for booze-impaired motorists resulted in more arrests of intoxicated drivers during the past year. But local alcohol-control advocate Ray Chavira said the increase in drunken driving arrests and crashes involving inebriated drivers stems from what he calls the Antelope Valley's lackadaisical attitude toward alcohol sales.
LANCASTER - Randolph A. Rogers, a civil litigator of 19 years who spent the last 11 years practicing law in Lancaster, was appointed a municipal court judge Tuesday by Gov. Pete Wilson - creating the state's second household where both husband and wife serve on the bench.
QUARTZ HILL - About 20 science students from Joe Walker Middle School took top team honors at a regional science competition Saturday in Downey - the third year in a row they walked away with the team trophy.
Feb. 28
LANCASTER - Winds averaging 50 mph, with gusts above 90 mph, caused a brownout on the city's eastside Thursday, leaving sheriff's deputies unable to reach several traffic accidents because of the dangers posed by downed electric lines.
