Category Archives: This ‘n’ That

You might find this of interest

Submitted by Richard Senate

1860–all nine  eligible voters cast their votes for Abraham Lincoln at the Valdez Adobe. (One had to own land to vote–that would have included Raymundo Olivas). San Buenaventura liked Old Abe. No votes for Bell or Douglas.
In The 1860 township of San Buenaventura were the following:

Total Population                      377
Men        208
Women  169

California Born  309
Yankee Americans  3  (New York born)
Europeans             13     Spain, Italy, France & Prussia
Mexicans                17
South Americans      2  (Chile)
Indians 12  (Number could be off, perhaps greater)

Professions
Merchants    7
Stock raisers 13
Laborers        13   (Cowboys?)
Farmers           6
Saloon Keepers  2
Servants ?          9
Painters  1
Midwives 1
Cigar Maker  1
Hotel Keeper  1
Justice (Lawyer?)  1

Unlisted  is a Priest, (the Mission had one assigned). and a stable keeper (Peter Constancia) and a blacksmith (Figueroa).    Most likely two saloons, one hotel, seven stores selling a number of things, one tobacconist  with One Lawyer.

People had to vote.

St. John’s Regional Medical Center earns clean facility certificate

St. John’s Regional Medical Center (SJRMC), a member of Dignity Health, is proud to announce it has earned the Clean Facility Certificate from the Association for the Health Care Environment (AHE), the recognized authority in health care environmental services, and professional membership group of the American Hospital Association. AHE released the Pathways to Clean Certificate Program as a resource for members and the environmental services community at large in response to COVID-19.

“We are proud of our Environmental Services team’s commitment to maintaining a clean and safe environment for our staff and patients,” said Darren W. Lee, President and CEO of St. John’s Regional Medical Center and St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital. “This certification acknowledges our exceptional practices to maintain a sanitary environment, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

To receive the Clean Facility Certificate, SJRMC completed the Pathways to Clean Program, including training and education related to COVID-19, infection prevention strategies, cleaning, disinfection, sanitation, emerging pathogens, and preparedness for biological events. SJRMC affirmed its commitment to hospital-grade cleanliness and assuring patients, staff, and guests that their facility is clean and safe.

The Environmental Services team at St. John’s Regional Medical Center works tirelessly to ensure a safe, comfortable, and clean hospital environment. Their efforts have been integral to the safety of staff and patients throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

St. John’s Regional Medical Center is a 265-bed acute care, award-winning facility. Serving Ventura County for more than one hundred years, St. John’s is the first and only Certified Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center in Ventura County and a recipient of the American Heart Association’s, Get with the Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. Designated as a STEMI Receiving Center, St. John’s is highly recognized in the community for excellence in cardiac care. Our Cancer Center is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, and our Integrated Breast Center is accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. SJRMC houses a comprehensive Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, providing specialized care to the tiniest patients as well as a Beacon Award-Winning Intensive Care Unit. St. John’s is supported by an active philanthropic Foundation to help meet the growing health care needs of our communities. Learn more at dignityhealth.org/stjohnsregional.

Returning to the Classroom

9th grader Sierra Golden has enjoyed her time at home, but is ready for in person learning. Katie Gordon is a senior and plays softball for Foothill, posing here at a recent game in Thousand Oaks.

by Amy Brown
Part 1 of 2

When local schools closed down in March of 2020, it happened fast, and it was expected by most to last for a few weeks. Then VUSD announced that Fall 2020 would be 100% distance learning, with the hope to bring back students to the classroom in January 2021. Due in part to recent changes in social distancing guidelines from the CDC and health departments, the Board of Education met on March 28th, 2021 and voted in favor of a model that will allow students currently assigned to a hybrid learning model to return more fully to an in-person experience starting April 12. Students in grades 6-12 beginning on April 26th will return to a full time in-person five days a week schedule through the end of the school year, according to the district. Elementary schools, which have already been open to hybrid learning, will return to a full-time in-person model five days a week on April 12.

How do the students, with a year of not being in the classroom, feel about the news? Sierra Golden had been excited about being in high school much of her young life. “All my friends and I would talk about from kindergarten to 8th grade was looking forward to being in high school,” said the current freshman at Ventura High. Instead, her high school experience started in her bedroom, via computer. “Of course, all of us were excited because we thought we would get to go back quickly, but when reality hit, I was super bummed,” said Golden. “But I’m a homebody; I love being home. But then mental health started becoming a thing,” she said. Golden reports that she realized that some friends started changing–they were getting sad, and not wanting to get out of bed, and that’s when she realized how important it really was to socialize. She says she’s excited about in-person learning. “I haven’t had a chance to be a high schooler, and I’m excited about seeing friends, and I already love all of my teachers.”

Some students had issues keeping their grades up during the past year and can’t wait to get back in the classroom on a normal schedule. Avery Almora is an 8th grader at Balboa Middle School, and said that she struggles with ADD, and that the most difficult part of distance learning is staying focused. “My grades were always good until quarantine happened, and I’m really happy to get back in class and get back on track,” said Almora. “It’s going to be a little difficult, obviously it’s a big change; it’s been a long time since we’ve been in school.  A lot of people didn’t really learn anything, if they weren’t paying attention.” She has been doing a small group twice weekly study hall on campus at Balboa in the meantime that she said has really helped, too.

12th graders lost most of their junior year and all of their senior year so far. No Homecoming, no prom, no face to face with teachers. “I feel really bad for the teachers because it’s so much work on their part,” said Katie Gordon, a senior at Foothill “They’ve had it so rough! No one turns on their cameras, the teachers now have to do both online teaching and in person, but at least they won’t just be talking to blank screens.” Gordon plays center field for Foothill’s softball team, with a truncated season more restricted than other high schools, since they use Ventura College’s fields. That means very few spectators allowed. “It sucks that our parents can’t come to home games,” said Gordon, who plans to major in Political Science and possibly become a lawyer after college.  She says she looks forward to returning to in person learning for what’s left of her senior year. “I feel like if I miss this opportunity, I’d regret it.”

Visit Ventura welcomes new team member Briana Diamond

Briana is a happy person who has melded work with joy.

Visit Ventura welcomes their new, talented, light-up-the-room Digital Marketing Assistant, Briana Diamond to the Visit Ventura team. Yes, Diamond has a resume — but she isn’t confined by one. She graduated from Brooks Institute of Photography and Film with a bachelor’s in Visual Journalism in 2014. Which, not coincidentally, is the perfect pairing for a life of trail running, surfing, rock climbing, swimming, horseback riding, and, yes, photography.

“We are so thrilled to have a local photographer join the team,” said Marlyss Auster, Visit Ventura President & CEO. “We had worked with Briana on other projects, so we already knew that her outside-the-box creativity and passion for Ventura was a natural fit for the Visit Ventura team.”

As for Diamond, she is the happy person who has melded work with joy.

“My goal with photo and video is to capture the true beauty and connection nature brings us daily and to get outside,” she said. “I picked up my first camera when I was 7 years old and immediately knew this is what I want to do forever.”

Visit Ventura is a non-profit organization designed to increase visitor expenditures, tourism revenues, and local employment opportunities by promoting Ventura as a travel destination. During the pandemic they have turned their efforts toward doing the next right thing; including helping local businesses stay in business through various creative programs that emphasize supporting local.

El Camino High School students interview Mayor Sofia Rubalcava

Mayor Sofia Rubalcava shared with the team that she is a native Venturan.

ECTV Students in the award-winning El Camino High School media program recently interviewed Ventura Mayor Sofia Rubalcava in the CAPS Media studio. The discussion covered a variety of topics with particular emphasis on racism. Ms. Rubalcava shared with the team that she is a native Venturan who attended Sheridan Way Elementary, De Anza Middle School and Ventura High School, and continued her education at UC Santa Barbara. Raised on the west side of Ventura, Ms. Rubalcava the first Latinx mayor of the city.

Her candid discussion with the teenagers about growing up in the area and discussing racism, part of an ongoing series, was highly informative and enlightening. “Mayor Rubalcava was friendly, open to our questions and made sure everyone was included in the discussion on racism,” said Ruby Intner, a senior in the ECTV program. “I learned a lot about her growing up in Ventura and her experiences on the Westside.” The mayor after spending time in deep discussion said “I’m so impressed with these students’ thoughtful courageous discussions about issues like racism. These are issues we didn’t discuss in high school. Seeing them with such knowledge and passion gives hope for the future.”

ECTV is part of the Ventura Unified School District’s Digital Broadcast Media program. The ECTV crew takes over the CAPS Media Center every week to write, produce, direct and edit video and audio programs covering topics of interest to themselves, other students and the community.

Mentor/Instructor/Media guru Phil Taggart is the wizard behind the socially-distanced curtain, directing the program. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic the ECTV students have continued to produce programming utilizing all COVID protocols.

This is the fourth year of the VUSD/CAPS Media ECTV collaboration. Graduates of the program have gone on to study all aspects of media production in colleges throughout the state.

The wide-ranging and engaging interview with Mayor Rubalcava will air on CAPS Media, Channel 15 and on the CAPS Media website, capsmedia.org, as well as on the ECTV social media sites.

ECTV and CAPS Media producers gathered another set of well-deserved awards at the 2021 WAVE Awards. W.A.V.E. stands for Western Access Video Excellence. The awards contest is open to media cent

er members of California, Nevada, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico and Arizona.

This year’s WAVE Award winners from CAPS Media are ECTV (El Camino TV) for “ECTV – Mental Health” in the Community Issues Youth category, “ECTV at the Agricultural Museum” in the Culture and Lifestyle Youth category. ECTV for “ECTV – Confronting Cancer” in the Magazine Youth category, and CAPS MediaaCenter for “Ready for Wildfires 2020” in the Instructional/Training Videos Professional category. This year’s awards increase the CAPS Media members and staff collection of WAVE Awards to more than 50 over the past decade. Congratulations to all the honorees and winners for the outstanding productions.

Due to the COVID-19 emergency the CAPS Media Center is closed to Members and the public until further notice. We do not expect to reopen the facility to the public until after herd immunity is achieved. We encourage everyone to get the vaccine as soon as it is available to you.

During the shutdown, CAPS Member/Producers can submit programming via the online portal at capsmedia.org for broadcast and streaming on CAPS public access television Channel 6 and on CAPS Radio KPPQ 104.1FM.

All of us at CAPS Media hope everyone stays Safe, Strong, Socially Distant and Healthy during these very challenging times.

The Life & Times of Doug Halter

This is a book about Doug Halter’s fight to live with HIV, his family and his love for Ventura.

by Staci Brown

“You’d be expected to survive around 6 months, maybe a little longer if luck is on your side.” This was what Doug heard in 1987. Miraculously, with the help of Dr. Scott Hitt, he went on AIDs cocktails and continues to live today. Sadly, his boyfriend Randy Morrison wasn’t so lucky.

This is a book about Doug Halter’s fight to live with HIV, his family, his loves and his impressive careers leading up to purchasing and renovating homes and becoming a well-known landscaper. He got his first landscaping job at age 15 and eventually was able to do what he was passionate about. “I got an adrenaline rush as we neared completion and the original vision had come together”, he said after one of his first big jobs.

Although Doug had a rocky relationship with his father, Doug has demonstrated great warmth, kindness and honesty with the many, many friendships he has developed in life. He had a great mentor in Grandpa Salvatore who taught him all there was to know about plants, flowers, trees, seeds and gardening. He looked up to his grandfather and has very good memories of being with lots of family members at the Santa Cruz house where grandma and grandpa lived up until the earthquake. Doug ended up buying that house and rebuilding a new one where they have great family reunions. Doug met Randy Encinas coincidentally at the same place he met his previous Randy, and after a slow start, they became partners, eventually being able to marry in a grand ceremonial style at the Botanical Gardens in 2013 which is appropriate considering Doug was instrumental in the vision and opening of the gardens.

Doug stated “I wrote this book to share my life journey and all the unexpected challenges and triumphs; not unlike most others but the success I achieved through it all by having the courage to be the person God created me to be and knowing that every day is a gift to be used to make a difference and to develop and use our own unique potential to make the greatest contributions to our community and society.”

Read more in Doug’s book along with his plans for the city. I agree with every one of his plans and I am grateful that Doug has finally taken a well-deserved seat at the Ventura City Council. Congratulations!!

I hope these dreams come true. Doug has done so much for this city. Besides the Botanical Gardens vision, he bought the church that became the Rubicon Theater and brought exceptional theater to this town, and oh, so much more which you will find out about when you read his book.

And Doug has the greatest collection of photos in his book. You can see young Doug and how handsome he has remained, as well as both Randys’ as well as his brother, sister, grandparents, parents, family, houses, friends, landscaping and Ventura! It is a delight to look at this treasure, young and old.

I am very excited to see what the future holds and I am glad I got to know Doug better in this wonderful book.

You can purchase the book directly from Doug at [email protected].

The roads were out and Ventura was isolated

Once our Mission served as a rescue center.

by Richard Senate

In the months of December 1861 and January and February of 1862 a chain of rainstorms devastated Ventura County and all of southern California. It rained both day and night with one claim that it rained one hundred inches!

Some reported the hillsides and mountain changed their shape. This could be 19th Century bluster and hyperbolic language but it was historic as it ended the cattle culture of the area. Today weathermen estimate it was more like 60 inches. This is still a powerful set of storms.

So much water run off came down Main Street that it was impassible and washed a fifteen-foot channel down the center of the street. The worst night was that of February 1, 1862. Homes were lost and many, using horses, rescued people from the roofs of their homes. Half of the Ortega Adobe was washed away and never rebuilt. Many locals were cowboys and used their skills to rope people and pull them though the raging waters to safety.

That awful night, the old Mission San Buenaventura became a rescue center for the town. All were welcome that terrible night and given hot soup and a dry place to stay as waters surged around the building. One dedicated Chumash parishioner went up to the bell tower, in the height of the storm that dark night, and continuously rang the large bell so that survivors could home in on the sound to reach the safety of the Mission in the dark.

The roads were out and Ventura was isolated. In this crisis, like they always do, Venturans pulled together to help one another in this natural calamity. That night, as survivors huddled in their blankets in the old adobe and stone church, there were no Roman Catholics, Protestants or Buddhists, all were simply Venturans.

Austin Muhleka named CFO of Vista del Mar Hospital

Muhleka brings a broad background in corporate finance.

Austin Muhleka has been appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Vista del Mar Hospital. Located in Ventura, the hospital provides inpatient treatment for stabilization from an immediate mental health or chemical dependency crisis and outpatient programs to address long-term mental health recovery.

“Austin is a natural fit for Vista del Mar’s culture and we are thrilled to welcome him to our leadership team as we continue to plan for the opportunities ahead of us,” said Dan Powell, CEO of Vista del Mar Hospital. “Austin has been working with our sister hospital at Aurora Las Encinas understands our corporate structure and is committed to our mission of providing mental health programs and services.”

Muhleka brings a broad background in corporate finance, financial planning, analysis, strategy, and utilization review. After completing his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Midland University in Nebraska, Muhleka continued his education and earned his MBA at Midland University. Over the last several years, he has worked in various financial roles, including serving as a Financial Analyst and then Adbase Systems Specialist at Berkshire Hathaway Media Group/Omaha World-Herald. Before joining Vista del Mar Hospital, Muhleka was a CFO in training at Aurora Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, Calif.

“I am thrilled to join Vista del Mar Hospital and be part of the team,” said Muhleka. “I look forward to working together to advance the hospital’s mission and vision, especially as we rebuild the hospital, and am excited about developing professional connections in the community.”