Category Archives: Opinion/Editorial

Vol. 17, No. 03 – Nov 1 – Nov 14, 2023 – As I See It

Oxnard College is joining Ventura and Moorpark community colleges to add bachelor’s degree programs. The community college received provisional approval on Oct. 13 from the California Community College Chancellor’s office to offer its first bachelor’s program in dental hygiene.

Ventura College got approval from the state community college board in May to offer a bachelor’s degree in automotive career education starting in Fall 2025.

I think this is a great idea to offer degrees in specific limited subjects that lead to a business career. Attending universities with 20,000 plus students is overwhelming for many high school students, and very expensive.

So much nonsense taking several weeks to select a Speaker of the House. The Speaker is the presiding officer of the House and the leader of its majority party. He/she keeps order and chairs most sessions. No member can speak without being recognized by the Speaker. He/she interprets and applies rules and procedures, refers bills to committees and puts motions to a vote. Third in line to be president.

The new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said that all his information basically comes from the bible, so we have nothing to worry about.

At least 18 people are dead in multiple shootings in Lewiston, Maine. The shooting was the country’s 36th mass killing this year. At least 190 people have died in those killings, which are defined as incidents in which four or more people have died within a 24-hour period, not including the killer. So, if you only kill 3, nobody cares.

A study of mass-shooting incidents found that about 30% of the perpetrators had experienced psychotic symptoms. Most were suicidal and had expressed an interest in previous shootings. Almost all showed signs of crisis before they acted – some even revealing their plans in advance on social media.

This tendency is one reason policymakers have gravitated toward “red-flag” laws in recent years.

“Even ardent Second Amendment defenders should agree that the Robert Cards of the world have no business accessing firearms. Red-flag laws pose no risk to sane and lawful gun owners. They’re accompanied by substantial due-process provisions in every state. They’re also supported by more than three-quarters of Americans, including most gun owners and most Republicans. In landmark legislation last year, Congress even doled out $750 million to help states put them in place.”

There should be no excuses for failing to pass such laws. Why would there be any opposition?

The nation’s largest drugstore chains, Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens, will close more than 1,500 stores, leaving millions of Americans without access to pharmacies. They join a slew of major chains that are closing many stores or declaring bankruptcy due to crime, changes in buying behaviors and economic challenges. Not good for our society on many levels. It has become also so easy to stay home and order things online. In fact, if doctors made home visits there would never be a reason to leave home.

All of the defendants in the burglary and theft of more than $572,000 from the Ventura County Fairgrounds on the night of August 10, 2022, have been sentenced including the person that prosecutors say was the “inside man”. 56-year-old Rafael Morales of La Puente and 55-year-old Jesus Rios of El Monte, were sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison each after earlier pleading guilty to Misappropriation of Public Money, Commercial Burglary, Grand Theft, and Conspiracy. I still wonder why it was so easy for them to steal such a large amount money.

Ventura’s La Quinta Inn will become a homeless housing facility with a $32 million grant from the state. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the grant as part of the state’s Project Homekey program to expand housing opportunities for homeless people.

The funds will turn the 142-room hotel, located at 5818 Valentine Road, into 134 permanent supportive housing apartments for those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. This is so very needed.

A move by Governor Newsom to switch to winter-blended fuel earlier than usual could see some reduction in the price of gas, which has gone down a bit recently (what a game they play). Wouldn’t that be nice?

Vol. 17, No. 02 – Oct 18 – Oct 31, 2023 – As I See It

A federal judge has approved LA County’s commitment to produce 3,000 new mental health and substance abuse treatment beds. This is much needed in all communities, especially housing for the truly mentally ill, so such a large percentage don’t end up homeless.

A had some lab work done and it said FAST so I ate my breakfast in a hurry.

How quickly our world has changed. Not so long-ago cannabis events would be unheard of. Now, the Ventura County Fairgrounds is considering allowing cannabis shows on the state-owned grounds.

The fairgrounds board of directors voted (in a 7-2 vote) to adopt cannabis event guidelines from the California Department of Food & Agriculture (owners of the grounds). They expressed their intent of drafting a policy detailing what could and couldn’t take place at gatherings.

The action was designed to allow negotiations to proceed for a well-known trade show, Hall of Flowers, that has expressed interest in coming to the fairgrounds for an event next year. Staff members said the show could generate more than $50,000 of revenue and noted other cannabis groups have expressed interest in holding events at the fairgrounds.

If they can have gun shows there, they could certainly have these events. Which is more dangerous?

I am occasionally lambasted for being critical of the Trump presidency but not Biden’s. Truth is, I’ve never been critical of Trump’s presidency only of him being a completely immoral and dishonest person. You can decide if he, and Biden are good presidents. I just don’t think an immoral person should be our president. Truthfully, I don’t want either of them to be my president. It’s sad that they might be our choices – that’s it’s the best we can do in 2024.

A New York judge has found that Donald Trump committed fraud and lied about the value of his assets in a significant portion of a case in which New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Trump and his company for $250 million.

Certainly not my expertise, but if a person lies on loan documents in order to obtain a loan it seems the banks could take over the properties?

Trump loves making up things to validate his points. He stated that “California residents were getting five ballots or six ballots (Democrats only I assume), and there is no in-person voting in the state.” I feel cheated that I only get one ballot.

When Moses brought the 10 commandments down the hill, he was so mad at the Israelites that he threw the stone on the ground and it broke. So only he knew what was on it, maybe he made the whole thing up?

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several bills aimed at bolstering protections for LGBTQ+ people. The new laws include legislation that focuses on support for LGBTQ+ youth. One law sets timelines for required cultural competency training for public school teachers and staff, while another creates an advisory task force to determine the needs of LGBTQ+ students and help advance supportive initiatives. A third requires families to show that they can and are willing to meet the needs of a child in foster care regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The governor also signed legislation that requires schools serving 1st through 12th grade students to have at least one gender-neutral bathroom available by 2026. I certainly support this legislation.

Vol. 17, No. 01 – Oct 4 – Oct 17 2023 – As I See It

Vol.17 No.1. Another anniversary.

Printed from 2011 issue:

Wow, another year of publishing the Ventura Breeze has passed, quite amazing and wonderful for the Breeze and for Ventura as we start our fifth year.

When daughter Staci and I decided to launch Ventura’s only local community based newspaper four years ago we didn’t know what to expect or how it would be accepted in the community.

The acceptance of the paper has been simply wonderful and overwhelming.

There are just so many people that I want to thank: my incredibly dedicated and extremely hard working staff, our wonderful writers, distribution folks, photographers, Studio Nothing, our printer and our advertising advisers (that is the correct spelling by the way).

And especially wife Diane for still putting up with me working seven days a week and going out so much to all of the wonderful events that are being presented in Ventura (they just keep growing).

Thanks to Professor Scamp(deceased) for always being there for us, for his always interesting articles; he still doesn’t know that he is famous so he still works for treats, dog food and being treated as if he owns the place (actually not bad pay).

Our readership just keeps growing and our readers continue to tell us that they love reading the Breeze either by a wonderful phone call, or I am stopped in the street by strangers, or by receiving an email letting me know how much the paper is loved, read and appreciated and how wonderful it is that Ventura finally has a local newspaper just serving Ventura. A very special thanks to all of you readers and staff.

Sheldon Brown Publisher

A had some med lab work done and the instructions said FAST, so I ate my breakfast in a hurry.

How quickly our world has changed. Not so long-ago cannabis events would be unheard of. Now, the Ventura County Fairgrounds is considering allowing cannabis shows on the state-owned grounds. The board of directors voted (in a 7-2 vote) to adopt cannabis event guidelines from the California Department of Food & Agriculture (which owns the grounds) and expressed their intent of drafting a policy detailing what could and couldn’t take place at gatherings.

The action was designed to allow negotiations to proceed for a well-known trade show, Hall of Flowers, that has expressed interest in coming to the fairgrounds for an event next year. Staff members said the show could generate more than $50,000 of revenue and noted other cannabis groups have expressed interest in holding events there.

If they can have gun shows, they could certainly have this. Which is more dangerous?

I am occasionally lambasted for being critical of the Trump presidency but not Biden’s. Truth is, I’ve never been critical of Trump’s presidency only of him being a completely immoral and dishonest person. You can decide if he, and Biden are good presidents. I just don’t think an immoral person should be our president. Truthfully, I don’t want either of them to be my president. It’s sad that they might be our choices – that’s it’s, the best we can do in 2024.

A New York judge has found that Donald Trump committed fraud and lied about the value of his assets in a significant portion of a case in which New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Trump and his company for $250 million.

Certainly not my expertise, but if a person lies on loan documents in order to obtain a loan it seems the banks could take over the properties?

When Moses brought the 10 commandments down the hill, he was so mad at the Israelites that he threw the tablet on the ground and it broke. So only he knew what was on it, maybe he made the whole thing up?

Vol. 16, No. 26 – Sept 20 – Oct 3, 2023 – As I See It

Unfortunately, River Haven is closing down. This was the perfect solution to help with our city’s homeless problems. Hopefully, other living arrangements can be found for those living there so they will not become Ventura homeless (see article in this issue).

The earth has sweltered through its hottest Northern Hemisphere summer ever, with a record warm August capping a season of brutal and deadly temperatures, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Last month was not only the hottest August scientists ever recorded with modern equipment by far, it was also the second hottest month measured, behind only July 2023.

August was about 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than pre-industrial averages. That is the threshold that the world is trying not to pass, though scientists are more concerned about rises in temperatures over decades, not merely a blip over a month’s time.

The world’s oceans were the hottest ever recorded, 69.8 degrees, and have set high temperature marks for three consecutive months. Call it what you wish (and blame whomever you wish), but how can it be denied that the earth is going though severe climate change.

Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison for orchestrating his far-right extremist group’s attack on the U.S. Capitol in a failed bid to stop the transfer of presidential power after Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.

Tarrio’s sentence is the longest so far among more than 1,100 Capitol riot cases, topping the 18-year sentences that Oath Keeper’s founder Stewart Rhodes and one-time Proud Boy’s leader Ethan Nordean received after juries convicted them of seditious conspiracy and other charges.

“We need to make sure the consequences are abundantly clear to anyone who might be unhappy with the results of 2024, 2028, 2032 or any future election for as long as this case is remembered,” prosecutor Conor Mulroe said. “This was a calculated act of terrorism.”

Interesting was the fact that Tarrio wasn’t in Washington, D.C, when Proud Boys members joined thousands of Trump supporters, who smashed windows, beat police officers and poured into the House and Senate chambers. But prosecutors say the 39-year-old Miami resident organized and led the Proud Boys’ assault from afar.

Gets me thinking – who else wasn’t there that was a major contributor to this insurrection?

President Joe Biden is “old” and “confused,” and former President Donald Trump is “corrupt” and “dishonest.” Those are among the top terms Americans use when they’re asked to describe them. Unflattering portraits of Biden and Trump emerge in a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which asked an open-ended question about what comes to mind when people think of them.

According to the indictment filed in federal court in Delaware by a special counsel overseeing the Hunter Biden case, Biden is accused of lying about his drug use when he bought a firearm in October 2018, a period when he has acknowledged he was struggling with addiction to crack cocaine.

Of course, this law is necessary but not the “federal case” Republicans are making out of it. If we put everyone in prison who lied when purchasing a gun we would need a lot more prisons. And perhaps other Biden transgressions far exceed this particular item.

I think appropriate punishment would be a hefty fine and community service. He could mow the lawn at the White House and dad could bring him lemonade when it gets hot.

Vol. 16, No. 25 – Sept 6 – Sept 19, 2023 – As I See It

The Ventura County Fair made about $6.7 million this year. This is slightly less than last year’s $6.9 million. Ticket revenue was slightly up and parking was slightly down from last year. Carnival proceeds fell to about $3.6 million, nearly $230,000 less than last year.

The preliminary revenue numbers reported by the fair included $2.62 million in admissions; $3.55 million in carnival proceeds; $511,300 in parking; and $6.68 million in total revenue.

Inmate Number P01135809

What struck me as a little odd is Trump’s bond was set as $200,000 and he put 10% down and had a bond company guarantee the balance. This is usually done by people who can’t afford to cover their bond. Could it be that Trump doesn’t have $200,000?

Joseph Biggs, a former military service member who helped lead efforts by the Proud Boys to take over the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other crimes committed during the riot more than two years ago.

Ethan Nordean, 32, was sentenced to 18 years for a more serious seditious conspiracy charge.

Even though Bigg’s sentence is far below the 33-year sentence sought by prosecutors, I’m very happy with it. I’m a proud boy because our democracy is working so well finding and prosecuting many of the people who tried to overthrow our country.

US District Judge Timothy Kelly told Biggs that the events of the day broke a long political tradition. He said, “If we don’t have a peaceful transfer of power in this country, we don’t have anything.”

Just before jury selection was to begin in their trial, the remaining three defendants in the theft of more than half a million dollars from the Ventura County Fairgrounds on August 10th last year changed their pleas to guilty. They also admitted to 16 special allegations regarding the theft from the fair administration building. It’s still hard to believe it was so easy for them to steal almost $600,000.

Hopefully the dying of our sea dwellers is coming to an end. Algae that produce domoic acid along the Southern California coast have kept marine mammal rescue groups busy, but the blooms have diminished. Marine mammal centers treated hundreds of animals during what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said was the most severe algal bloom on record in a geographic region. It was so sad to see ocean dwellers dying.

Muslims in eastern Pakistan went on a rampage over allegations that a Christian man had desecrated the Quran, demolishing the man’s house, burning churches and damaging several other homes, police and local Christians said. Perhaps this was a bit of an overreaction.

San Francisco’s Roman Catholic archdiocese filed for bankruptcy, saying the filing is necessary to manage more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by church officials. The Chapter 11 protection filing will stop all legal actions against the archdiocese and thus allow it to develop a settlement plan with abuse survivors.

I hope that Ventura can support the many cannabis stores that will be opening here. Cannabis stores in other communities are already suffering financially. Just don’t know if there is this much need.

Three people were killed in a racially motivated attack after a gunman targeted Black people at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida, in one of several weekend shootings that again shocked Americans in public places.

A judge has refused to dismiss the case against a father who helped his son obtain a gun license three years before authorities say the younger man fatally shot seven people at a 2022 Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago. Illinois prosecutors charged Robert Crimo Jr. because he had alleged helped his son, Robert Crimo III, obtain a gun license even though the then 19-year-old had threatened violence. Perhaps this type action can help reduce gun deaths at least a little.

Vol. 16, No. 24 – Aug 23 – Sept 5, 2023 – As I See It

I feel sorry for the TC channels. They were all geared up to cover the “storm of the century” with a reporter on every corner. Except, in most cases it never materialized. Ventura had about an inch of rain. The only thing unique about this is that it was in August and not during our rainy season.

They were so desperate that innocuous events became big news. They kept showing a little fender-bender on the freeway and another one avoiding the first one. There will be more serious freeway accidents today. But my favorite was “It was reported that a rock fell on a car in Pt. Mugu.” I’m surprised that they didn’t have a geologist explain what a rock is.

And the TV alerts (couldn’t understand a word they said) warning of flash flood conditions in LA and Ventura counties. That’s like telling us there will be flash flood conditions somewhere in the United States.

This is disturbing. The very basis of our democracy is being threatened by very scary people. Folks on grand jury’s spend hours working each week for very little pay serving their county, county and our freedom. If they now need to be concerned about their physical safety, it’s a sad day for America.

The purported names and addresses of members of the grand jury that indicted Donald Trump and 18 of his co-defendants on state racketeering charges this week have been posted on a fringe website that often features violent rhetoric, according to NBC News. Must they now be concerned for their lives? Do their homes need to be guarded by law enforcement?

Recently, FBI agents fatally shot a 74-year-old Utah man who threatened to assassinate President Joe Biden. This was just the latest example of how violent rhetoric has created a more perilous political environment across the U.S.

Six days earlier, a 52-year-old Texas man was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for threatening to kill Arizona election workers. Four days before that, prosecutors charged a 56-year-old Michigan woman with lying trying to buy guns for her mentally ill adult son, who threatened to use them against Biden and that state’s Democratic governor.

Threats against public officials have been steadily climbing in recent years, creating new challenges for law enforcement, civil rights and the health of American democracy.

In our last issue, I commented on how good it was that some community colleges could offer bachelor’s degrees. Apparently, the idea isn’t welcomed by all. For over a year, the California Community College and the California State University systems have clashed over their respective roles. Who should be granting bachelor’s degrees?

Community colleges were designed to award two-year associate degrees and provide career training, while the Cal State system would offer four-year bachelor’s and master’s degrees and the University of California system would prioritize research and doctoral programs. Some career training, however, takes more than a 2-year degree to complete.

New law allows the community college system to approve up to 30 new bachelor’s degree programs each year at any one of the state’s 116 community colleges. Moorpark College is one of those community colleges and will offer bachelor’s degree under a new biotechnology program that launches in fall 2024.

Community colleges can only offer bachelor’s degrees in unique fields that no other public four-year campuses currently offer.

Congratulations to Jeff Lambert who is returning to Ventura. We just can’t get rid of him – kidding. The Board of Commissioners for the Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura (HACSB) announced the appointment of Jeffrey “Jeff” Lambert as the new Chief Executive Officer for the HACSB. Lambert brings a wealth of experience and expertise in housing planning, policy development, and community engagement. Jeff served as head of Ventura’s community development department for many years and I always found him to be very approachable and easy to work with.

Vol. 16, No. 23 – Aug 9 – Aug 22, 2023 – As I See It

Ventura College President Kim Hoffmans will retire at the end of the school year, leaving the 10,000 student community college after five years at the helm. This leaves plenty time to find a permanent replacement. She has done a wonderful job leading the college.

California’s community colleges (116) offer a great opportunity for all graduates to continue their education and decide what they want their future to be, while also saving some money.

Before attending USC, I attended LACC. This not only saved me a lot of money but they also had an excellent architecture program which made my transition to SC much easier.

The XGames were very successful. So the question now is are they interested in returning next year. I certainly think we should we try to get the X Games back next year? It was a win for all involved. The $250,000 the City Council agreed to spend was money well spent.

A slight problem was the event ran so close to the start of the fair. The short turnaround time put a lot of pressure on fair venders and participants to be ready for their opening.

A repeat performance would be due to the vision of Marlyss Auster, President and CEO of the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau, who began promoting the idea to X Games officials 2019

X Games officials said more than 51,143 people attended the three-day finals with a sellout crowd of about 23,000 on Saturday.

Football player Aaron Rodgers has a new deal with the New York Jets and he’s taking a pay cut. Rodgers agreed to a new two-year, $75 million guaranteed contract with the Jets.

Poor guy is only going to make $37.5 million per year to play football. Hope he has saved for his future.

Three military veterans, and others, testified in Congress hearings on UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena) the military’s term for UFOs. One claimed the U.S. government has operated a secret “multi-decade” reverse engineering program of recovered vessels. He also said the U.S. has recovered non-human “biologics”(whatever that is) from alleged crash sites.

Much of the discussion centered on improving processes for reporting referring to “anomalous” rather than “aerial” phenomena, to account for sightings in both air and water.

Personally, it would be very exciting if UFOs did come here for a visit. I’m not sure why the government would hide it. If they had plans to destroy us they certainly could have done that many times over.

“Kids, today we are going for a ride to look at the earth. I know it’s a long 5-minute ride so you can take your brainphones with you. We won’t visit because there’s too much shooting and wars which might upset you. Daddy, daddy are we there yet?”

The surface ocean temperature around the Florida Keys soared to 101.19F (38.43C) in what could be a global record as ocean heat around the state reaches unprecedented extremes. I’d bring soap and take a bath.

The Santa Barbara News-Press, one of California’s oldest newspapers, has ceased publishing after its owner declared the 150-year-old publication bankrupt. The newspaper was online only since April. I hate to see this as local papers might be the last hope for the survival of newspapers.

A professional butcher whose bloody, wild-eyed face became one of the most memorable images of the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for hurling a bow like a spear at police and attacking several other officers. At least he has his job set-up in prison.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito accepted a 2008 trip to a luxury fishing lodge in Alaska from two wealthy Republican donors, one of whom repeatedly had interests before the court, and he did not disclose the trips on his financial disclosure for that year. It seems Supreme Court Justice’s are exempt from any disclosure rules. It seems to me Justices should have the most restrictive laws governing them. Their decisions are the most important that can be made.

Vol. 16, No. 22 – July 26 – Aug 8, 2023 – As I See It

So sorry to hear that Former Ventura Mayor Sandy Smith has passed away at the age of 77. Another victim of cancer.

Smith served on the Ventura City Council from 1997 to 2005 and was our mayor from 1999 to 2001. He was also a land-use consultant for Sespe Consulting and a senior adjunct professor at California Lutheran University.

Many also knew Smith as the former chef and owner of the closed Rosarito Beach Cafe in Ventura.

“I looked everywhere for the senior X Games so that I could compete but couldn’t find them.”

The X Games seems to have been a success and was very well attended. It had extensive coverage on ABC and ESPN. There were several transportation options which really helped traffic in and out of the site.

Hard to tell what the long-term results will be. Some of the athletes (and winners) were as young as 12. I’m sure many attending will decide this is a nice place to vacation and maybe live. So should have a positive impact, especially on our tourist trade.

One thing that really impressed me was the comradery between the athletes. Especially with the BMX and Moto X riders. It seemed as if they were just one big family happy no matter who won. An athlete would have a great ride and be congratulated with smiles and hugs even if it meant another rider lost their medal. They would hoist winners up on their shoulders parading them around. It seems there were no losers.

The amount of construction done was amazing, which will be removed. When a press conference was held before the games I asked, “Would there be improvements made to the fairgrounds.” We were told “yes”. I plan to go back in a few days and see if anything was really done.

Standing next to the Moto X ramps it was almost impossible to believe that motorcycles could possibly fly that far and land, but they did.

The City Council agreed to spend up to $250,000 on staffing, traffic mitigation, police overtime and other public services. I think that Ventura made an excellent deal in negotiating to get the games here. Cities spend much more than they hope to recover but Ventura did not do that.

The $250,000 investment to secure the X Games should generate at least that much tax revenue from hotel stays and other businesses now, and in the future.

Recently, the entire planet sweltered for the two unofficial hottest days on human record according to University of Maine scientists at the Climate Reanalyzer project.

For two straight days, the global average temperature spiked into uncharted territory.

Weather continues to be unusually hot while at the same time cities are experiencing huge rains and floods. Over 90 million Americans are under extreme heat warnings. Could this be a change in our weather?

The man who carved a love note into a wall at the Roman Colosseum wrote an apology letter to authorities in Rome. The tourist who infuriated a nation when he was captured scratching a love note into the wall claimed he didn’t understand the history of the Roman monument. Perhaps he thought it was where USC plays football.

Kyle Fitzsimons, 39, of Maine, whose bloody, wild-eyed face became one of the most memorable images of the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for hurling a bow like a spear at police and attacking several other officers.

He separately assaulted at least five officers near a tunnel as police desperately tried to protect an entrance to the Capitol from the angry mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters, prosecutors said. Seems to me seven years is not nearly enough time.


I was reading the dictionary, I thought it was a poem about everything.
~ Steven Wright

Vol. 16, No. 21 – July 12 – July 25, 2023 – As I See It

When Liz Campos, who uses a wheelchair, was elected to the Ventura City Council my first thought was the council chamber raised dais wheelchair accessible? After 6 months on the council she is unable to sit with the other council members even after a temporary ramp was built. A solution still seems to be months away to meet ADA requirements.

It’s absurd that the city didn’t immediately take steps to see that she could participate on the Dais with other council members.

The Baldwin Park man accused of being the insider in the theft of $572,020 from last year’s Ventura County Fair was sentenced to three years in prison. Assuming the money has been spent so he can’t return it, that’s not a bad income of $190,673 per year even if he serves the entire 3 years.

The Ventura City Council voted 6-0 to hire Don Penman, 72, as interim city manager. Councilman Mike Johnson was absent from the meeting. We continue with city manager roulette. Hopefully the next one will hang around longer (if he-she isn’t fired first).

An animal virus outbreak has caused cancellation of two horse shows at the August County Fair and could bring precautions for other events involving animals.

Basketball player Russell Westbrook has enjoyed his time playing with the LA Clippers so much that he decided to re-sign with them – he took the biggest pay cut in league history. Westbrook agreed to a two-year, $7.9 million deal. How embarrassing playing a game for only $3.95 million per year. I feel sorry for him.

The Ventura City Council has banned bicycles, electric bicycles, skateboards and other wheeled devices on five blocks of Main St in downtown because of community concerns over safety.

The ban is in the car-free zone from San Buenaventura Mission to Fir St., and the one block of S. California St. between Main and Santa Clara that is also closed to cars. There are exceptions for people with disabilities and people with baby strollers.

Downtown Ventura Partners has a Park Ambassador team that monitors the area and will issue warnings to those who will be breaking the law when it becomes effective on July 26. Once the ban is in effect, violators could receive a warning from police on the first offense. Subsequent offenses will be considered an infraction, which could result in a ticket costing between $100 and $500 for repeated offenses.

Sounds good, but enforcement might be a lot more complicated. I doubt if the police will be involved, but there have been injuries caused by bikes (especially ebikes) driving downtown.

Council member Mike Johnson had this to say; “On a vote of 4-2 (Councilmember McReynolds and I dissenting; Councilmember Campos was absent), we banned riding bikes, skateboards, and the like downtown, on the blocks that have been closed to cars as part of Main Street Moves. While I myself once called the police when a swarm of bicyclists was riding recklessly down Main Street, Council should have tried addressing the specific problems rather than impose a blanket ban.”

“I ride my bike downtown, and I don’t pose any sort of threat. I don’t like riding on Santa Clara, I won’t ride on Poli, and walking my bike the length of Main Street Moves is going to be flat-out annoying. There are people — including families — who go downtown mainly because it’s a nice place to ride a bike, skateboard, scooter, or a one-wheel dealio, and they don’t cause any problems. They help make downtown more fun.”

“I’m concerned about whether and how it’s going to be enforced; we’re not directing the PD to spend more time along Main Street Moves, and if they’re not going to warn or ticket every person they see it’s going to look like selective enforcement. It’s a bitter pill, banning bikes and skateboards while rolling out the red carpet for the X Games.”


I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
~
Mark Twain

Vol. 16, No. 20 – June 28 – July 11, 2023 – As I See It

We have an article in this issue regarding a sea lion that is doing just fine. As explained in the article, many sea animals are suffering from a neurotoxin and are dying. The brain damage is irreversible. So sad to see so many dying right here in Ventura. To report animals in need, call Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute (CIMWI) 805-567-1506.

We also have an article about the removal of the Father Serra statue and the wooden sculpture that was the basis for it. This wooden sculpture was previously located at City Hall. It was the art piece of a Venturan, and I think should have remained at city hall.

Also, we have the third article featuring a homeless Venturan. We hope that these articles will help give a face to the homeless and an understanding of why they are in this predicament.

Research at UC San Francisco found that 82% of homeless report that they have experienced a serious mental health situation, 27% have been hospitalized for that condition and more than 60% report regularly using illicit drugs or heavy alcohol drinking.

Whatever happened to USA men’s tennis domination? We finally have 2 men ranked in the top 10 after many years. The 2 finalists at the recently completed French Open came from countries with a combined population of 12 million. There are 10 million people in just LA County.

Business leaders and public figures are concerned about the threat of mass extinction posed by artificial intelligence (Ai) including Sam Altman of OpenAI, the company behind the popular conversation bot ChatGPT. AI goes way beyond just creating articles. It could include phony photos with voices of leaders making statements such as, “The USA has dropped nuclear bombs on China.”

It’s started. A federal judge has imposed $5,000 fines on two lawyers and a law firm in an unprecedented instance in which ChatGPT was blamed for their submission of fictitious legal research in an aviation injury claim.

For the last six years, Finland has ranked No. 1 as the happiest country in the world. A Finnish philosopher Frank Martela, PhD explained how to be happy:

1. Live for yourself, not someone else’s expectations.

2. Become an expert and share your knowledge.

3. Practice random acts of kindness.

4. Be a good neighbor.

5. Embrace quiet time together.

An Idaho father killed a neighboring family because he was upset that the neighbor’s 18-year-old son had reportedly exposed himself to the man’s children. Majorjon Kaylor, 31, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the Father’s Day shooting. It now takes 4 people killed to be considered a mass killing how sad is that?

A man in South Florida shot at the car of two people who drove onto his property after they got lost trying to drop off an Instacart order.

An Illinois man using a leaf blower in his own yard was fatally shot by his 79-year-old neighbor during an argument, marking the latest incident in which people are gunned down while going about their everyday lives.

“There’s no question there’s been a spike in violence,” said Daniel Nagin, a professor of public policy and statistics at Carnegie Mellon University. “Some of these cases seem to be just disputes, often among adolescents, and those disputes are played out with firearms, not with fists.”

Most gun killings are not by the “bad” guys, but just regular decent folks that bought guns to protect themselves. Will this madness ever stop?

The Ventura City Council has voted to hire a construction company to build a pipeline for an advanced water treatment plant for approximately $50 million. This is about $5 million more than another company with the lowest bid.

According to the city, the decision to hire Santa Barbara-based Aqueos Corp. over San Diego-based Pacific Marine Group Inc. was based on a technicality because Pacific Marine Group did not complete the necessary paperwork.

For $5 million, it seems to me that Pacific Marine should have been given the opportunity to correct the paperwork and given an opportunity to be selected for the work.

The program will convert treated wastewater into safe drinking water and reduce discharges of effluent into the Santa Clara River estuary. Construction is expected to begin in September in the area of Marina Park.


How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you was?
~ Satchel Paige