Val Verde

Allowing Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Val Verde to expand its capacity tenfold would significantly harm the area's air quality, draw more traffic and simply isn't necessary, dump opponents told county planning commissioners Wednesday night. "Please remember, we are human beings and deserve a clean and safe community," said Jose Vega, a resident of the small Val Verde community that lies west of the Golden State Freeway and north of Six Flags Magic Mountain.

The Val Verde Park swimming pool will be rebuilt under a contract awarded Tuesday to Shasta Industries Inc. of Phoenix by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The project will cost up to $867,000, including a $140,000 allowance for change orders. As planned, it will include demolition of the existing pool and construction of a new one, along with decking, pool equipment and fencing at the park. Construction, set to begin by fall, is expected to take about five months.

A Val Verde real estate agent, who said she was kidnaped June 29 while showing a house to a Michigan man, testified Thursday that she had no chance to flee while she and the defendant shopped for camping gear. Paula Harrington, 27, said that most of the time she was with accused abductor Timothy Shue, her legs were tied with an elastic bandage.

A fast-moving brush fire Thursday burned 300 acres in Val Verde and threatened 20 houses and 113 mobile homes before it was contained at 8 p.m., Los Angeles County firefighters said. About 225 firefighters battled the flames and three helicopters dropped more than 300 gallons of water to extinguish the fire, which began about 3:30 p.m., Fire Chief Gordon Pearson said.

Val Verde real estate agent Paula Harrington, who was kidnaped two months ago by a man posing as a customer, has quit her job--at least temporarily. Harrington, 26, said she is devoting more time to her family and has gone back to college. She also is undergoing therapy. Harrington was abducted at gunpoint June 29 while showing houses to a man later identified by authorities as Timothy Daniel Shue, 39. Two days later, she was found tied up in an Arizona motel room.

Resting among the ashes in front of the Val Verde home gutted by fire on New Year's Eve was a bouquet of flowers, a small but powerful reminder of the tragedy that had occurred there days before. There were no other visible signs of grief Monday in this quiet, dusty town of 2,000 residents northwest of Magic Mountain.

A former transient who married an 80-year-old woman at a Las Vegas drive-through chapel shortly after she was widowed has been arrested on suspicion of embezzling about $300,000 from her, authorities said. Timothy Watkins, 53, was arrested on Sunday and was being held on $400,000 bail. His son and daughter-in-law--Loren, 28, and Christina Watkins, 26--were also arrested. Loren and Christina Watkins were arraigned in San Fernando Municipal Court on Friday.

Two Val Verde men were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder late Sunday in connection with the shooting of two men in Newhall, authorities said. Daniel Delgado, 21, and Juan Cardenas, 19, were held without bail at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Substation after their arrest at about 11 p.m. Sunday, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesmen said.

GIVEN THE RAVAGES OF TIME AND OWNERSHIP, many of Montecito's great estate gardens, most built in the early part of the century, survive only as stunning fragments. Not so Val Verde, home of Dr. Warren Austin, who began restoring the 17-acre grounds 40 years ago and has maintained them ever since. The oaks are taller now, the walls and paths weathered to an elegant patina.

FBI agents raided a rural home near Magic Mountain theme park and detained a railroad salvage company executive Wednesday morning in connection with the deadly derailment of an Amtrak passenger train in October near the remote Arizona desert community of Hyder.