Canyons News

Canyons News Canyons News is the official student news agency of College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita Valley.

06/11/2026

For most people, scaling massive rock walls seems impossible. But for local climber Christopher Wiggins, training six days a week, competing locally, and getting to climb some of the same terrain as actors in the media, climbing had soon become a pleasure he couldn't ignore.

Local indoor climbing gyms and popular local hikes like Stony Point Park are places Wiggins finds himself most.

“I got into climbing because a lot of friends in San Diego, including my brother, were big into it, so they kind of invited me,” said Wiggins

“I'm like, oh, that sounds pretty interesting. A little scary, but I'll try it out.”

Following this newfound passion, the same prep routine Wiggins used to copy is now one he's mastered. And that first time reaching the summit, it became a habit he could no longer ignore.

“And then that kind of euphoria of topping out a rock, feeling like you conquered something big, but at the same time, the rock didn't move a single millimeter, even though you were trying really hard,” said Wiggins.

“You know a little gecko can run up it in a tenth of the time it took you to get up there, so it's simultaneously humbling but also just really exhilarating.”

“I think that first time topping out was just really awesome.”

And although Wiggins, your inspiration from college friends and family members to reach that peak every time, his grit has inspired something similar within the people around him.

“Every single time we talk about rock climbing and me watching him rock climb, you can just tell that he's so motivated and so passionate about his hobby and that he's always driven to do as best as he can and to improve and what he can do better next,” said Jodeelyn Belle, a friend of Wiggins.

After playing team sports like soccer and basketball all his life, Christopher says that climbing offers him a different kind of challenge, one that still strengthens his discipline, accountability, and community.

06/10/2026

College of the Canyons held a two-day event at the Intercultural Center to honor AANHPI Heritage Month.

The first day was a collaboration with the COC animation department, where things turned golden as they showed off the movie K-pop Demon Hunters.

Themed snacks and crafts were handed out, and an animation workshop was available for event attendees to create their own characters based on those in the movie.

On the second day, a lei-making station, cultural food, games and a Kalakeke dance performance were showcased.

Katara Lloyd, a descendant of Native Hawaiians, hopes this event will highlight her culture.

Rebecca Suen, the AANHPI SAP, who is organizing the two-day events to promote awareness of AANHPI cultures, hopes this experience could benefit next year's event.

06/10/2026

Cover Charge is one of the most exciting and anticipated events to look forward to during the COC school year. For an entire decade, students have had the opportunity to learn the elements of music and perform in front of a live audience.

Bill MacPherson, a music faculty member and department chair at College of the Canyons, has been a full-time professor for 10 years. He was initially hired to develop a commercial music program, including a band that performs cover songs and music designed for commercial appeal.

“Cover Charge shows start out with the whole process, the whole semester of rehearsing,” said MacPherson. “We spend four months rehearsing, selecting the material, usually deciding on the theme for the semester.”

“This semester happened to be the 70s. Next semester is going to be the 80s, but we select a theme prior to the next semester, because I have a lot of returning students.”

“I initially joined Cover Charge because I abandoned the jazz band on campus and then decided on going for a change of pace,” said Aaron Swan, a trumpet player for Cover Charge.

“I certainly have a little more work for me to do, because right now I'm the only wind player in the band.”

Swan enjoys the challenge. Cover Charge offers mentions saying they might play the trumpet in one song and the saxophone in another.

06/09/2026

When you think of comfort, you think of something sweet, and in Santa Clarita, that sweetness comes with heart.

Tonight we visit a gelato shop that stays open till 1 a.m, serving late-night treats and building community one scoop at a time.

At a time when most shops are closing, this lot is pumping tunes and glowing inside. More than 48 flavors line the case, bright, colorful, and impossible to choose from.

Families stop in after dinner, teams come by after practice, and night shift workers grab a moment of joy before heading home.

“Gelaterias are known for, like late night, not just having a gelato, but a semi hangout spot, enjoying entertaining each other, talking to each other, so it's just having that Italian dessert,” said Taniel Hasserjian, owner of Gelati.

But what makes this place special isn't just the gelato, it's the managers, the workers, people who really believe dessert tastes better when it brings the community together.

“People enjoying themselves, having maybe a cup of coffee, a scoop of gelato, a crepe cake, and having fun, you know, along with us,” said Hasserjian. ”We like, we love to chit-chat with our clients.

06/09/2026

For years, the College of the Canyons community has come together on Friday nights inside Hasley Hall Theater, but these aren’t your typical blockbuster films.

That’s exactly how the cinema department likes it.

06/08/2026

Located in Agua Dulce, Animal Tracks is a non-profit organization directed by Stacy Gunderson.

“One, we're not a zoo, we're not a petting zoo, we're an immersive sanctuary where we are a healing center for the animal who's been caught in the pet trade, most of them,” said Gunderson.

“They don't have to live in a human world; they get to live in their world, where we join them on their level, and so that's the big difference.”

Environmental Crime is the 4th-largest crime in the world, and Animal Tracks offers multiple opportunities for the public to get involved in Exotic Animal Activism by visiting through a range of public tours, up to VIP tours.

“You get to come and enjoy it, but we're here for the benefit of the animal. Let me just tell you, the volunteers here make our world go round,” said Gunderson. “We could not do this.”

“We have 65 beautiful people who come, rain, snow, or shine, come and help us take care of these animals, and I'm talking about the worst kind, picking up their p**p, taking out the trash, washing the dishes.”

“We do look for people who have worked with animals in some capacity,” said Brunnella Grimaldi, a volunteer at Animal Tracks.“If you're like, if your goal is to work with the animals, because you can also be kitchen staff, you can do stuff that's hands off from the animals,”

But their operation is relatively small.

The land that Animal Tracks currently sits on is roughly one acre. For reference, the COC track and field is about double its size at two acres, leaving Animal Tracks with limited room for future expansion of animal enclosures.

“We want these animals to have a bigger and better place, so they’re currently on about an acre of land, and they’re going to spread out into 20 acres,” said Gunderson.

This expansion deal, 10 minutes up the road, allows Animal Tracks to continue its mission of conservation and awareness as an organization.

“Because we are basically mostly volunteers, there's a real want-to-be-here feeling,” said Jonet Leighton, a volunteer at Animal Tracks.

“There is a want to be with the animals. It's a very, it's a very calm time in many ways.”

06/08/2026

The Santa Clarita Grocery is a local food bank located at Centerpoint Parkway in Santa Clarita. They give to the community, allowing people to retrieve accessible groceries.

Every distribution we distribute between 1.75 and 2 tons of groceries, and the model is you get a week's worth of groceries,” said Bradley Grose, the Santa Clarita Grocery’s executive director.

“If any of you are having a hard time making ends meet, please come here, and you'll be our guest.’

This food bank allows residents to stop by and pick up groceries for the week. It provides a place the community can look to for help. With a goal of helping SCV, Santa Clarita Grocery looks forward to helping out those in need each week.

“The boxes came from the stores, all kinds of stores,” said Florent Moriau, a volunteer at the Santa Clarita Grocery.

“What we're doing is go through the food and make sure everything is good, because sometimes there is something that is not good. The main thing is what I would eat, I give out; what I wouldn't eat, I don't give.”

The Santa Clarita Grocery is a local resource that provides food and groceries to approximately 60 to 70 families per day.

“I'm right now preparing all the perishable vegetables to donate to the local forests for any animals. So, we're kind of like using the decomposed,” said Eduardo Delion, a volunteer at the Santa Clarita Grocery.

Volunteering plays a huge role in this. Santa Clarita Grocery offers volunteering opportunities to the Santa Clarita Valley. This provides experience that will help prepare its volunteers for the workforce.

“It takes 91 volunteers a week for this machine to work properly,” said Grose. “When you think about it, 10 volunteers is a lot, but it requires 91.”

“When Santa Clarita Grocery goes out of its way to help the community, this non-profit organization works hard to help provide food and products to the community.

06/07/2026

Across Santa Clarita and around the country, churches are reporting rising baptisms and renewed interest in faith. And at Real-Life Church in Valencia, pastors say baptisms have surged.

"Here in this past year at Real-Life, we've seen some really explosive growth, we're already just over 300 baptisms for the year...we had, uh, almost 700 baptisms last year in 2025,” said Pastor Scott Harland.

The pastors say the growing interest goes beyond attendance numbers. At Freedom's Way Baptist Church in Castaic, Pastor Jerry Cook says younger people are searching for what they see as something more genuine and direct."

"We're seeing kids and young adults that want truth, but they want it unvarnished...they don't want a thin veneer of religiosity, they just want a clear, unadulterated truth,” said Cook.

Pastors say the renewed interest is coming from different generations, including adults who are returning to beliefs they left behind years earlier.

"I think there's also a lot of people that maybe grew up in the church, went to college, or maybe became an adult and kind of explored different things and found the world lacking, and then as an adult and then are starting to return to their faith and really starting to own and take their faith a little bit more seriously,” said Harland.

The pastors also say the growing interest may be driven by a mix of faith, curiosity, and social trends.

"When it comes to the resurgence that we're seeing around the country, I think part of it is good, and I think part of it is I'm following other people,” said Cook.

But both pastors agree, the renewed interest in faith is becoming much harder to ignore.

06/07/2026

Dutch Brothers Coffee has over 1,000 locations nationwide and a quite dedicated fanbase, and on May 27th, it officially opened in Santa Clarita, creating an immediate buzz.

“I’ve been in line for about 30 to 45 minutes,” said Bethany Bayless, a Dutch Brothers customer. “I’m so excited! We haven’t had one yet.”

Some Santa Clarita residents are happy there are more options for their caffeine cravings.

“Now I have a place that I actually want to go to that’s not Starbucks or something else,” said Reagan Blade, a Dutch Brothers customer.

What makes Dutch Brothers special isn’t the wide variety of caffeinated drinks on the menu, but the tight-knit community that it forms.

“Being around and like, having community with everyone that’s here, literally just making a family and you kind of rely on each other to keep that vibe up,” said Randi Barkho, a self-described ‘Broista’.

Broistas and customers alike were having a good time, but one security guard controlling traffic couldn’t believe the craze for coffee.

“No, this is mad,” said Denoval Hawkins, a security guard hired to maintain traffic in the parking lot of Dutch Brothers. “I’ve never seen nothing like this.”

“This is really mad, it’s been going on like this since 4:30 this morning, non-stop. So, I don’t know what is in the coffee. It must be gold.”

Excitement for Dutch Brothers here in Santa Clarita is extremely high, but with lines around the block, potential for drama is, well… extremely high.

“We had one car hit another car because they didn’t want to lose their spot in line for some coffee,” said Hawkins.

The drive-thru line for Dutch Brothers doesn’t seem like it’s going to die down any time soon, but one thing is for… Santa Clarita sure loves its coffee.

06/06/2026

A new state-of-the-art fire station is in the works for one of Santa Clarita’s fastest-growing communities—near Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Officials say the future station could improve fire protection and speed up emergency response times in the area.

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