On a boat was not a good place to be yesterday, as two men traversing the Pyramid Lake in the Angeles National Forest quickly discovered. According to a statement released by the LA Sheriff's Department, the men, a 60-year-old former opera singer and a 29-year-old, both residents of Agoura Hills, were out in a Pond Prowler, a small two-seater that's designed to maneuver hard-to-reach areas of lakes and ponds. more ›

Last week, the family of 67-year-old David Lavau located their loved one alive and surviving on bugs and leaves at the base of a ravine in Castaic. His vehicle had plunged off a mountain road a week earlier, and was located near a second vehicle that contained the body of a deceased male. Now authorities are hoping to identify the body, and that man's relatives believe he is missing Palms resident Melvin Gelfand. more ›

Castaic, known for its beautiful lake, its proximity to Six Flags, and its ongoing prostitution problem, has hosted another Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department "John" sting around a heavily-trafficked area on Castaic Road, according to a LASD statement. more ›

In response to complaints about prostitution-related activity on Castaic Road, Vice Detectives setup a "John" sting and prostitution sweep in Castaic last night, according to CBS Los Angeles. The result? Eighteen people were arrested including 16 men for solicitation of prostitution, two women for loitering for the purpose of prostitution and two other men were arrested for interfering with a police officer. One of the men arrested was also charged with sexual battery. No names were released, but officials plan to conduct similar "John" stings in the future. more ›

Two inmates are missing from the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic, according to LA Now. The 24-year-old men, both from Van Nuys, may have made their escape sometime after 1 a.m. while they were working on the loading dock for the kitchen. They were determined to be missing after a 3:15 a.m. head count. Winder Barrios and Jose Aldana were arrested on April 2 in an armed robbery case. The pair were due in court today, according to a live report on KTLA, which has led authorities to believe the escape was planned. A large-scale search is underway in the Castaic area. more ›

A fire was already burning in the Castaic area when an Amtrak bus nearby on the 5 Freeway caught fire--"exploded" according to news reports--and spread flames into the grass. The Sloan fire has reached heights of 3,000 feet elevation and is persisting in the 103 degree weather of the Santa Clarita Valley. However, good progress is being made, according to the Angeles National Forest's Twitter. Even without the fire, the Santa Clarita Valley and San Gabriel Mountains and Valley were and will continue to be under an air advisory alert for sensitive individuals (heart disease, asthma or other respiratory disease). Over in Monterey Park against he 710 freeway, a small 8 acre fire, called the Mcbride Fire, broke out, but was knockedown around 2:30, reported LA County's Fire Department Twitter. more ›

A fire that sparked up yesterday in Castaic is still burning, but fire officials are starting to gain an upper hand. As of 6 a.m., the Osito Fire near Pyramid Lake is 65% contained and was downgraded from 400 acres to 288, according to official reports. Two lanes were closed on the northbound 5 Freeway and remain closed this morning. No structures have been reported to be damaged and there has been one minor injury--a bee sting. more ›

A small brush fire broke out tonight in Val Verde, northwest of Santa Clarita Valley (LAist penned a history piece on Val Verde this summer). It was quickly put out by firefighters, but "several fires have been reported in the area recently," CBS2 reports on a homepage alert banner. A National Weather Service red flag warning is in effect until 8:00 p.m. Wednesday night. more ›

With up to two meteors flying by per minute, tonight's big Perseid meteor shower (around 1 a.m. to 4 a.m.) is probably one of the best. Of course, being in the city, gazing at the sky can be pretty useless when trying to find stars. more ›

Good thing the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) put out a Red Flat Alert (move your car if you live in the hills or you could be towed) last night for today -- a major brush fire began this morning around 5:50 a.m. near Tampa Ave and Sesnon Bl (yo, Valley, people, this is Porter Ranch) in Los Angeles County territory according to alerts from the LAFD. In the name of mutual aid, the... more ›

2,000 DWP customers lost power today in Sun Valley. At noon, power was threatened to be cut from large energy consumers. But as the afternoon progressed, the Stage 2 was unlikely to happen. Yes, this is a heat wave. At age 18, having a DUI conviction, being a tagger and dealing in drugs is bound to get you caught up in murder charges in Van Nuys. A brush fire broke out in Castaic today... more ›

All of you looking for a quick getaway Up North might want to think about going tomorrow morning, or taking the scenic route up the 101, or getting ready for some long delays. NBC4 is reporting that due to a semi-truck crash in Castaic, the CHP is detouring northbound cars off the freeway to avoid the wreckage. Several lanes of the Northbound 5 Freeway are closed because of a big rig crash in Castaic,... more ›

The week began on 9/11 and we remembered Howard Stern's 2001 broadcast of that day. There were many choices of visual stimuli. Among those were Loose Change, Dateline in Long Beach, Path to 9/11 or Football. While we watched Castaic burn, we felt the need to be a little more green and looked into Griffith Park planning, e-waste, coastal cleaning and Eastside reservoirs. Speaking of e-waste, one of our writers got his computer stolen... more ›

1. Mayor Lashes Out at KFI's John and Ken [Mayor Sam] 2. VenturaCountyStar.com Video of the Day Fire just north of Los Angeles in Castaic [Ventura County Star]... more ›

late night thoughts... Today, Castaic is on fire. The one year I spent there was pretty much fireless. All I experienced were the 2005 rainstorms. I lived on a slanted street called Cascade. That rainy winter, it literally became that. DR Horton built the 10-year-old tract in the Hillcrest neighborhood. I would walk down the street and recognize my rented house in various forms: inverted, inverted retrograde, one shade brown lighter, etc. My house... more ›

Brentwood: You would think that street barricades and cones blocking an intersection mean that it is closed. Rather, many people just see this as an obstacle. If there happens to be a tight space to fit through, surely, the city must have done so for cars to pass through. Sherman Oaks: Probably not a good idea to dangerously and rudely cut someone off in a parking lot full of LAPD officers. Even a worse... more ›