The Antelope Valley turned into a winter wonderland when up to 4 inches of snow fell, prompting closures and widespread early dismissals for schools, a slew of auto crashes and an early shutdown of Palmdale City Hall.
The Antelope Valley turned into a winter wonderland when up to 4 inches of snow fell, prompting closures and widespread early dismissals for schools, a slew of auto crashes and an early shutdown of Palmdale City Hall.
SACRAMENTO - A courthouse funding bill introduced in the Assembly this week could regenerate action on a new county courthouse in Lancaster. Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, authored and helped introduce Assembly Bill 124, which would return more than $12 million to Los Angeles County for construction of courthouses and other criminal justice system buildings.
Jan. 17
CANTIL - A Lancaster law firm has taken up the banner in the march against the spreading of sewage sludge on local ranches. Attorney Dominick F. Mills said he has the full backing of the law offices of David M. Wallin to seek legislative changes and court orders to prevent the Antelope Valley from becoming a dumping ground for sludge.
Jan. 18
PALMDALE - The "good people" of Palmdale's worst neighborhood are tired, it seems, of doing nothing. They have chosen to fight back against the drug dealers, thugs and other criminals who populate their neighborhoods.
Jan. 19
William P. Warford, staff columnist for the Antelope Valley Press, has been named the national Journalist of the Year by the Suburban Newspapers of America.
Jan. 21
VICTORVILLE - Regional water officials cannot claim they did nothing wrong in adopting a general order that allowed the spreading of sludge in the Antelope Valley, a state water board attorney said.
Jan. 22
LANCASTER - Long-awaited tax incentives offered by the new Enterprise Zone have again been postponed.
Jan. 23
LANCASTER - The Palmdale Chamber of Commerce can play a role in promoting the use of Palmdale Regional Airport, the chamber's president told the airport's advisory committee.
LANCASTER - City officials say a proposed deal under which the Michaels Arts & Crafts retail chain would build a new warehouse in the recently approved Fox Field Industrial Corridor are not finalized and, therefore, may not be discussed publicly. On Thursday, however, the City Council is scheduled to take action on an agenda item to approve city participation in an effort to extend a water main to the area where the new warehouse would be built.
Jan. 24
PALMDALE - Modification and maintenance work on space shuttle Atlantis is coming to Palmdale in November, and there are prospects for new roles for space shuttle workers.
MOJAVE - The proposed reopening of the Golden Queen Mine on Soledad Mountain has some residents worried about pollution, while others welcome the operation for its economic benefits.
LANCASTER - Lancaster Sheriff's Station officials announced that they will begin door-to-door neighborhood canvassing in an effort to identify crime hot spots. The effort, dubbed Operation High Desert Storm Phase III, will involve deputies, reserve deputies, Explorer Scouts and civilian volunteers going to residents to ask about problems in their neighborhoods.
Jan. 25
LANCASTER - A Palmdale man was convicted Friday of murder and child abuse stemming from the violent beating and shaking death of his 5-month-old daughter. David Nelson, 24, faces 24 years to life in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 18. Nelson's daughter, Alyssa, died from shaken baby syndrome Oct. 2, 1995, a day after she was rushed unconscious to a local hospital.
MOJAVE - The California Portland cement company will have to stop burning tires for fuel in its cement kilns under a decision issued Jan. 21 by the state's Fifth District Court of Appeal.
LANCASTER - Workers are busy cleaning and repairing Mira Loma jail in preparation for its new opening as a facility to house illegal immigrants. The Immigration and Naturalization Service will pay the county $52.69 per inmate per day during their stay at the 60th Street West and Avenue I jail.
Jan. 26
LANCASTER - A report by the city-funded Antelope Valley Film Office indicates $7.6 million was spent on film projects shot regionally during 1996.
Jan. 28
PALMDALE - A man armed with a handgun and assault rifle, who robbed a Kmart, shot at a security guard and a CHP officer and led police on a pursuit across the city, met his match Sunday: A woman armed with a shovel. Ja'Nice Wolfe whacked gunman Mario Barraillier so hard, he spent the day in critical condition in the intensive care unit of Antelope Valley Hospital - with "a lot of lacerations on his head," a sheriff's detective said.
LOS ANGELES - A Lancaster man with a 10-year criminal history of drunken driving was found guilty of causing an alcoholrelated crash that claimed the life of a Bakersfield man engaged to be married. Frederick Davidson, 47, was convicted of seconddegree murder and causing injury while driving under the influence of alcohol. He faces 15 years to life in prison at a Feb. 10 sentencing.
LANCASTER - All Antelope Valley dependency cases will be relocated to Monterey Park until renovation of courthouse space is completed in Lancaster, Los Angeles County Superior Court officials announced. The Antelope Valley's dependency court caseload is estimated at more than 2,500 - all cases alleging abuse or neglect of children by parents or guardians.
Jan. 29
LANCASTER - NASA's top administrator told Antelope Valley Board of Trade members the space agency's aircraft experiments should be consolidated at Dryden Flight Research Center. Bringing all of NASA's aircraft to Dryden will conserve scarce resources, said NASA administrator Dan Goldin.
Jan. 30
Authorities are again seeking help in locating Danny Edward Williams, one of the Antelope Valley's most infamous skinheads, whose attack on a teenage AfricanAmerican boy in July 1996 made statewide news, prompted a visit from a high-ranking official from the Nation of Islam and sent local politicians scrambling to set up a hate-crime hotline.
PALMDALE - The city will have its own full-service sheriff's station and commander under an agreement announced by representatives of the city and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The move will bring improved service for those living in the south end of the Antelope Valley, City Manager Bob Toone said.
Jan. 31
VAN NUYS - A Lancaster teen was sentenced to eight years in prison for his participation in a racial stabbing at Antelope Valley High School. Tim Williams, 18, received the penalty from Superior Court Judge John S. Fisher. The sentencing followed Williams' no contest pleas earlier this month to assault with great bodily injury and committing a hate crime.
PALMDALE - Homeowners in 187 individual Palmdale housing tracts will vote by mail this spring on whether to pay to maintain common-area landscaping or vote against paying and watch plantings wither and die. That vote-by-postcard decision is the local outcome of Proposition 218, which California voters approved as law in last November's general election.
