Palmdale Ca

Four Antelope Valley high school students have been arrested and at least four more were being sought Wednesday as members of so-called tagger groups that have covered Palmdale with an unprecedented amount of graffiti this fall, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies said. The arrests came after a Palmdale woman saw youngsters spraying graffiti Monday night and called deputies Tuesday with the license plate number of the youths' vehicle.

Chamber of Commerce leaders in Lancaster and Palmdale are opening talks aimed at ripping a hole in the "cactus curtain," a mythical barrier that divides the rival high-desert cities. The talks could lead to a merger of the Palmdale and Lancaster chambers, creating one large regional group representing businesses throughout the Antelope Valley, some local leaders say.

A land auction expected next month in U.S. Bankruptcy Court may resurrect long-dormant plans to develop Ritter Ranch on the outskirts of Palmdale, where a 20,000-resident mini-city was once planned. A Texas real estate company, RR Property Holdings LLC, is seeking to buy the remaining 7,400 acres owned by Ritter Ranch Development LLC, whose 1998 bankruptcy filing halted plans to build 7,000 homes in the Leona Valley area.

Palmdale water officials had hoped a giant wind turbine would be towering over this high desert city by now, its graceful, rotating blades churning out smog-free electricity in a moving testament to environmental foresight. It was supposed to be a novel and responsible way to power a water treatment plant. But winning over the neighbors has hardly been a breeze.

A Texas real estate company's plan to buy sprawling Ritter Ranch on the outskirts of Palmdale has hit a legal snag that could further delay development of the site where a 20,000-resident community was first proposed a decade ago. The real estate developer, RR Property Holdings, is seeking to buy the 7,400-acre parcel owned by Ritter Ranch Development, whose 1998 bankruptcy filing halted plans to build 7,000 homes in the Leona Valley area.

Federal aviation officials plan to send a team to the Palmdale air traffic control center to investigate why a technician failed to perform required maintenance on a radio communications system, causing it to crash Tuesday and snarl flights across the country. The shutdown, which lasted more than three hours, led to at least five instances in which planes came too close to one another and caused about 800 flights in and out of Southern California's airports to be canceled, delayed or diverted.

Glen Settle, 97, knew he had to act fast. The concrete marker on the grave of his sister Aileen, who died in 1918 at just 3 days old, was worn and faded. It needed to be replaced. So earlier this month, a friend helped Settle erect a new gray granite stone engraved with a baby angel at the plot in the Historic Palmdale Cemetery.

Palmdale has warned hundreds of homeowners that they may be violating a controversial ordinance requiring them to maintain attractive frontyards. The law, passed in June 2001, aims to spruce up this wind-swept desert city, where tidy suburban dream homes often sit next-door to dusty, neglected lots. The city gave residents until this December to get their yards in shape--either by planting grass lawns or installing decorative rocks and native desert plants.

The City Council has awarded a $239,000 contract to raze 57 rundown Antelope Valley homes. A.T.E. Environmental won a contract that includes the abatement of asbestos and septic tanks and demolition of the vacant homes, said Palmdale housing coordinator Mike Miller. "These properties are hangouts for transients and for crime activity," Miller said. For years, the city has tried to work with the owner of the homes, former Beverly Hills neurosurgeon Milton Avol, to improve the properties.

A brush fire swept through a mobile home park in the Lake Los Angeles area near Palmdale on Tuesday afternoon, destroying eight residences and leaving 10 people homeless. A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department said the blaze, which took two hours to extinguish, killed a cat and charred five acres. No firefighters or residents were hurt. The cause of the fire, which was reported about 2 p.m. from the 39800 block of 145th Street East, was under investigation.