Photos by Bob Messina
Heavy surf pounded Ventura on Dec.11 prompting the Pier to be closed. It will be closed for several weeks while damage is being evaluated and repaired.
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Santa Stops by the Ventura Family YMCA
The Y teams up with the ACTION Foundation and the Community Christmas Shoppe to Help Families in Need This Holiday Season
The Ventura Family YMCA presents their annual Santa Stops by the Y event on December 12th from 8AM-10AM. This morning is a community event for children to have their photo taken with Santa and the opportunity to participate in fun crafts! RSVP on the Y’s Facebook page and bring one unwrapped toy or gift per child to enter; with a suggestion of one gift per child. The donations will benefit low-income families by giving them the chance to find holiday presents at the ACTION Foundation’s Christmas Shoppe.
The Ventura Family YMCA, the ACTION Foundation, and the Community Christmas Shoppe
Unwrapped toys and gifts will be donated at the Y. These donations will help low-income families within the community. Children participating in the event will have their photos taken with Santa and a fun time making Christmas themed crafts.
Ventura Family YMCA 3760 Telegraph Road. Ventura
A free community event for families to enjoy their time together, which also supports those who need help in our hometown.
Established in 1887, the Channel Islands YMCA is a charitable organization of seven YMCA branches serving Santa Barbara and Ventura counties including: Camarillo Family YMCA, Lompoc Family YMCA, Montecito Family YMCA, Santa Barbara Family YMCA, Stuart C. Gildred Family YMCA in Santa Ynez, Ventura Family YMCA, and Youth and Family Services YMCA which operates Noah’s Anchorage Youth Crisis Shelter, the St. George Family Youth Center and My Home.
New West Symphony Harmony Project celebrates the season with free community concert Dec. 12th
Young members of the New West Symphony Harmony Project of Ventura County will present a free concert for the community on Saturday, December 12 at 6:00 pm at Bell Arts Factory, located at 432 N. Ventura Avenue in Ventura. The concert will include classical pieces, jazz tunes and holiday songs performed by 40 students from Ventura’s DeAnza Middle School and Cabrillo Middle School who take part in the New West Symphony Harmony Project youth development program. The sixth, seventh and eighth graders will perform on violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet and saxophone.
The New West Symphony Harmony Project provides after-school music instruction to 140 underserved children in grades 3 through 8 in West Ventura, with 40 students on the waiting list. The program, which is funded largely through individual donations and community and foundation grants, was founded in 2011 by Ventura arts philanthropists Sandra and Jordan Laby and is managed under the direction and auspices of the New West Symphony. During its first season, 35 participants began by learning rhythm and percussion on orange Home Depot buckets, and today the program currently offers instruction on 10 different musical instruments. All students receive a full scholarship and are given instruments to use for the duration of their participation.
“All of our students have been working very hard these past few months, attending rehearsals two-to-three times a week and regularly practicing at home,” said New West Symphony Harmony Project Director Andrea Landin. “Concerts provide a time for the community to come together to support these young musicians and listen to their accomplishments. Our parents and teachers are so proud of them!”
Ms. Landin, who has been instrumental in the development of Harmony Project as both administrator and teacher and runs the daily operations of the program, was recently named recipient of the 2015 City of Ventura Mayor’s Arts Award for Arts Educator. She may be reached for further information at 805-279-2424 or [email protected].
Ventura Potters’ Guild Holiday open house Sun., Dec. 13th
Ventura County Potters’ Guild Gallery
Ventura Harbor Village
1567 Spinnaker Drive Suite 105
The Ventura Potters’ Guild is having a Holiday open house, Sunday, December 13, 2015 from 2 – 6 p.m.
Handbuilding and wheel demonstrations will take place from 2 – 4:30 by Joe Cervantes, Roe Estep and Kim Mehyre Clarke.
Come meet some of the 23 ceramic artists from Ventura, Ojai, Santa Barbara, Simi, TO and Oxnard that represent the Guild. There will be refreshments and fun. Bring the kids! Join us for our 5th year at Ventura Harbor!
Harbor Village Gallery and the Tina O’Brien Gallery will also be have their Holiday Open houses that day. The more the merrier!
WHAT IS REUSABLE BAG DAY?
Reusable Bag Day is an educational grassroots event hosted by the Surfrider Foundation Ventura County Chapter along with local community groups. We are asking holiday shoppers and retailers to forgo single-use, plastic shopping bags in favor of reusable bags to help protect the oceans and Ventura’s beauty one reusable bag at a time.
Surfrider Foundation and City of Ventura Environmental Sustainability Division volunteers will be out front at the Vons on Main St. and Ventura Ave. near the Ventura River from 10am-Noon on Saturday December 12th handing out free reusable bags to shoppers! Get your reusable bags now and remember to vote YES on the statewide plastic bag ban referendum item in November 2016.
Plastic bag litter is one of many issues around Ventura that impacts the ocean and reusable bags help to address TMDL (total maximum daily load) limits set by the EPA. Cities and residential neighborhoods create concentrated levels of bacteria (pet waste), nitrates (herbicides & pesticides), litter, and other unnaturally occurring contaminates that can enter our stormdrains and waterways. To mitigate this, there are stormwater pollution prevention best management practices to help keep our waterways clean and free of these pollutants such as choosing reusable bags to help reduce litter.
70 year old woman rescued after falling through living room floor into basement
Just before noon on Saturday, Dec.5 , in the 2000 Block of Hyland Ave a 70 year old woman was walking from her living room through a hallway when she accidentally fell through an opening to the basement that was 8 feet deep. The vertical fall resulted in multiple injuries and possible fractures of the arm, hip, and leg. The home was estimated to be built in the mid 1900’s and the basement served as a utility room for a floor heater and water heater. The only access to the space was a straight vertical ladder.
“The major difficulty was access– the room was compartmentalized with concrete supports, and we could only get one paramedic down inside the vertical shaft to provide for treatment and to place the patient in a rescue harness”, stated Fire Captain Thom Hoffmann. “There was only one way in and one way out, and the only option of getting her out safely, was to construct a hoist system in the narrow hallway system to lift the patient out.”
Firefighter paramedics splinted extremities and placed the patient in complete cervical spine immobilization in the cramped space. Advanced life support was delivered in addition to pain medications prior to moving the patient. A rescue system was assembled in the cramped hallway to create a high point in which a rope and pulley assembly could gently lift the patient vertically through the opening. It took rescuers 71 minutes to get the patient safely out of the shaft and onto the gurney.
During the fall, numerous pipes and ducting systems were compromised and it was suspected that the victim and rescuers were potentially exposed to asbestos. Firefighters provided for rapid decontamination of the patient prior to being received at the local trauma center. The patient was transported in serious but stable condition.
Due to HIPAA we are prevented from disclosing an individual’s protected health information (PHI). We may not release information regarding patient’s names, DOB, address, SS# or medical status.
Ventura City Fire responds to multiple, simultaneous fires near NB-101 / EB-126 freeway interchange
On Sunday Nov.19 Ventura City Fire personnel responded to multiple, simultaneous fires reported in the general area of the NB -101 / EB-126 freeway interchange, during a period of gusty winds.Structures at a nearby mobile home park were initially reported to be threatened, prompting a full first-alarm structure fire response to that location, but were quickly determined to be non-threatened upon arrival of units in that area. First arriving engine companies responding to the reported structure fire found a large body of wind-driven fire, in heavy brush and trees, moving rapidly across the freeway interchange area. The fire was spotting well ahead of itself and across the freeway, with flame lengths up to 40 feet. Additional companies responded to a nearby downwind location where several palm trees had ignited and were casting a large shower of embers over several commercial buildings. The fire, smoke, and crews operating in the area, resulted in closures of the 101 freeway in both NB and SB directions, as well as the EB 126. The two separate incidents eventually were merged into one single incident, and through a prolonged cooperative effort, involving multiple agencies, the fire was contained and ultimately suppressed. The origin of the fire was reportedly in the vicinity of a homeless encampment and remains under investigation.
Ventura City Firefighters on scene at Montgomery Ave home fire in 3 minutes
Residents of a single family home located in the 700 block of Montgomery Ave. were awakened to the smell of smoke and the sound of fire alarms in the early dawn of Nov.27.. The home owner quickly ran into the living room from his bedroom and witnessed the television set and the items on top of an adjacent hutch– on fire. He evacuated his wife and 1 year old child and grabbed an extinguisher and fought the blaze.
Ventura City Firefighters were on scene in 3 minutes and ensured the fire was completely extinguished and performed salvage and overhaul to preserve as much personal property as possible and mitigated damages. The fire remained contained to the entertainment center. Whereas the fire directly entered the wall cavity through a wall speaker, an investigation with a thermal camera discovered that the heat and smoke damage was contained within the wall due to fire blocking.
A common military phrase often used by one of Ventura’s Police Commanders, ‘Victory Favors the Prepared’, was evident this morning. An unattended candle started the fire on a credenza that spread to a speaker and television. However, based on the preparation of the resident, a complete disaster was avoided and now the emergency is relegated to being an inconvenience.
A modern whole house smoke detector system, quick access to a fire extinguisher, swift actions by the occupant, and quick response by the fire department are credited in minimizing the emergency.
The Ventura City Fire Department would like to remind residents to be careful in placing and using candles and make sure they are never placed near combustibles, nor ever unattended. Additionally, as temperatures fall and the use of heaters increase, we are asking residents to have older furnaces and floor heaters inspected, a common cause of fires in older homes.
Looking back at severe weather in Ventura in 1992 & 1998
If you are so inclined, take the time and watch these videos.
News coverage of 1992 floods in Ventura, CA.
Ventura River floods the RV park off of Main St.
PART 1 10 Minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?
PART 2 The first 4 mins are about Ventura and then it goes to LA if you scan forward to the 7.39 mark it picks back up in Ventura
https://youtu.be/u8O0PtjnYW4
Less than 3 min promo video of the Ventura RV Park. It gives a great overview of the area that was shown flooded out in the previous videos.
https://youtu.be/DuKmsEwPSr4
1998 Ventura River Flood Highlights
Shows the raging Ventura River and Matija Dam by Ventura County Watershed Protection …
https://youtu.be/80HFhAvXWxc
Here is a link to many articles written about the flooding from the 1992, 1997-98 and 2005 storms
http://articles.latimes.com/
1992 Ventura, California flood, part 1 of 2
Television news coverage of the 1992 floods at Ventura, CA. Part 1 of 2
youtube.com
Ventura City Fire Department responds to fire burning in Ventura River bottom adjacent to Ventura County Fairgrounds
On Nov.23, at 9:25am the Ventura City Fire Department received a report of a fire burning in the Ventura River bottom adjacent to the Ventura County Fairgrounds. Upon arrival, firefighters discovered a 75’ x 100’ fire burning in the aforementioned location. Firefighters extinguished and overhauled the fire with hand tools and water achieving full containment 2 hours after the initial report. The cause of the fire was determined to be an escaped warming fire from a nearby homeless encampment. No firefighters were injured as a result of this incident.