Hi: I’m Cassie a very lucky shih tzu because I was fostered from Lhasa Happy Homes and I was so wonderful that the foster home became my permanent home. I like to look pretty and play with other dogs.
Hi: I’m Clover a one year old Australian labradoodle. I like to play and be with people. I have lots of dog friends that I hang out with.
On April 5 Pierpont Racquet Club (PRC)member and Ventura Community Development Director Jeff Lambert was working out at the Club when he suffered a heart attack, fell and broke his ankle in the process
PRC members and staff rushed to the rescue and immediately activated the Emergency Medical System (EMS) located at the Club. Their quick acting and response by paramedics resulted in a successful outcome for Jeff. Still limping but back to work.
On Monday, May 16 the Red Cross of Ventura County presented their 2016 Heroes Event, which honors seemingly ordinary people in our community who have made a difference through their selfless acts of courage. These heroes may have helped save a life, performed an extraordinary act of compassion, or demonstrated an exceptional spirit of giving.
Two Venturans were honored in the Health & Safety Hero category for helping in saving the life of Jeff Lambert. They were club member Suz Montgomery and club employee Jon Osumi. This category honors heroes that have demonstrated extraordinary courage in the field of health and safety. Heroes could be CPR first responders, paramedics, EMT’s, health professionals or just good Samaritans of any age that have gone above and beyond for their community.
The event was held at Madewest Brewing Co., located at 1744 Donlon Street.
Jon Osumi stated ‘I would like to thank the Red Cross for this honor as I only did what any human would have done in a similar crisis. It is a privilege to work for an organization (PRC) that prioritizes safety for our members and provides the employees with the resources and training for this type of emergency. It was truly a team effort and I am honored to be surrounded by people with character and courage.’
In thanking the Club Jeff Lambert said “As I new member of the PRC, I immediately felt part of the family as this club and its members stepped in to literally save my life. I know if I was anywhere else, I would likely not be alive. I now have a chance for a fresh start. To focus on what is important personally and professionally and find a way to ignore the bullsh*t. I want to spend time with positive people with the best interest of humanity and Ventura at heart.”
by the Grand Jury
Are our bridges, levies and personal property at risk? The 2015-2016 Ventura County Grand Jury noted an increasing level of vegetation growing in the Ventura and Santa Clara riverbeds. Investigation also revealed that smaller tributaries are similarly overgrown. The Grand Jury expressed concern that overgrowth could cause damage to bridges, as well as riverbank erosion, and flood plain inundation should it become uprooted and wash downstream to form a dam during heavy storms.
The Grand Jury learned that the presence of an invasive species of giant reed, Arundo donax (Arundo), is the major part of the problem. The Grand Jury conducted an investigation to determine the impact of this hazardous vegetation, the potential for infrastructure damage due to uprooted vegetation, and the actions being taken to control its growth in the Ventura County watershed areas.
The Grand Jury looked to County agencies to determine their awareness of hazardous invasive vegetation and how it affects the watershed, as well as their plans to address the issue. The Grand Jury took a two-pronged approach:
It investigated the County’s ability to remove hazardous plants and debris upstream of vital infrastructure in order to protect it from flood damage.
It investigated the County’s access to environmentally protected areas for the purpose of installing and servicing rain and water runoff measuring instruments.
There is a conflict of public interests between the need to clear hazardous vegetation to protect infrastructure and the need to preserve the natural habitat from human activities that endanger it.
Because a significant portion of the populated area of the County lies in the flood plain that borders the Santa Clara and Ventura Rivers, the Grand Jury found that it is imperative that these critical waterways stay clear of hazardous vegetation and debris that could form dams at bridge abutments and culverts. When high water does wash vegetation and debris downstream, it must be cleared quickly so that flooding does not result.
Drought resistant plants and collecting water from the air are ways the VBG is helping conserve water.
It’s not news to say that California is currently experiencing an unprecedented drought. What is news is the way that the Ventura Botanical Gardens (VBG) has decided to approach the problem. Using emerging technologies designed to provide greater new water options, the VBG, with an interest in reducing additional impact on current water resources, is initiating an experimental fog collection project.
Fog collection can harvest significant amounts of water per foggy day, factoring in daily and seasonal variables. The VBG project is designed to collect and measure water from Ventura’s atmosphere on foggy days; the foggier the season, the greater the water collection.
According to VBG Executive Director Joe Cahill, “With water resources at such low levels in Ventura, we are investigating a number of non-traditional sources for helping with long-term plans to irrigate plants for our botanical collection, including reclaimed water and rainwater collection. The atmospheric water harvesting (collecting water from fog in the air) is one of our most exciting options.”
The technology for fog collection made its greatest strides in the 1980s as Canada began to develop options for large-scale use. As the drought continues to cause concern for Southern California, innovative organizations are looking to technologies like this for current implementation.
The Ventura Botanical Gardens is teaming up with students from the Ventura College Water Science Department to share the collected data. The students will collect data and analyze it to calculate the potential for supplementation, and to compare it with other fog collection stations located throughout the world.
The experimental installation includes a one square meter collector with standard polypropylene mesh obtained from scientists in Chile, where much of the world’s recent fog collection research has taken place.
For further information please contact Joe Cahill at 232-3113, ext. 0 or [email protected].
The Ventura Music Festival is welcoming a new Board member: Richard Reisman, MD, Vice President of Ambulatory Medicine for Community Memorial Health System.
Dr. Reisman was hired by CMHS twenty-one years ago to develop a series of ambulatory care clinics throughout Western Ventura County and became the first Medical Director of the Centers for Family Health serving from 1994 to 2008 before becoming a Vice President of the health system. In addition to the Festival Board, Dr. Reisman is currently on the board of Ilan Ramon Day School. He is past Board Chair of the Jewish Federation of Ventura County as well as Chair for three years of the Rubicon Theatre Board.
Caitlyn Rose Fastenau, Girl Scouts Gold Award recipient and senior at Ventura High School, has been honored for her exemplary volunteer service with a President’s Volunteer Service Award.
The award, which recognizes Americans of all ages who have volunteered significant amounts of their time to serve their communities and their country, was granted by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program on behalf of President Barack Obama. Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast (GSCCC) nominated Caitlyn for national honors this fall in recognition of her volunteer service.
Following a long standing tradition, five local men’s golf clubs have once again presented six high school graduating seniors, who were school golf team members, with a $2000 or $1000 college scholarship. We can only imagine that they benefit from something similar to Ace Golf Netting – Golf Course Netting when practicing for their golf college scholarships.
Adam Franc, Adolfo Camarillo HS, and Niella McWeeney, Ventura HS, each received a $2000 Darrell Downey Memorial Scholarship from the Saticoy Senior Men’s Golf Club.
Jacob Johnson, Ventura HS, received a $1000 Scholarship from the Olivas Links Senior Men’s Golf Club.
Supreet Shah, Thousand Oaks HS, received a $1000 Scholarship from the River Ridge Senior Men’s Golf Club.
Karina Lopez Saldana, Carpinteria HS, received a $1000 Scholarship from the Olivas Links Men’s Golf Club.
Elizabeth Esquivel, Carpinteria HS, received a $1000 Scholarship from the Buenaventura Senior Men’s Golf Club.
On Sunday, May 31 fourteen members of Ventura High School’s Global Warming Action Team (GWAT) and three adult volunteers represented the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy (VHC) in a cheering competition hosted by the Mountains 2 Beach Marathon. The GWAT members arrived at 5:30 a.m. and danced, sang and cheered for 6.5 hours straight!
Thanks to the hard-work and enthusiasm of the GWAT cheerers, VHC received the most votes from the runners and earned the top $3,000 prize! To anyone who thinks that high schoolers’ are unmotivated, think again – GWAT is simply amazing!
From the “Ventura County Office of Education”
IrieAnn Harris – Buena High School-Unstable home life motivated her to build a better future
IrieAnn Harris had no choice but to grow up fast. Due to family problems, she says the responsibility of caring for her three youngest siblings fell primarily to her. “I would get up, go to school, come home right away, watch the kids until they went to bed and clean the house and make food and do homework,” she says. Then last summer, she says her mom moved away with the younger kids. She says it’s been years since she’s seen her dad.
She’s been living with friends and relatives, and despite the instability at home, she’s achieved great things as a student at Buena High School in Ventura. She has a near-perfect grade point average and earned a QuestBridge scholarship, which gives high-achieving low-income students a full ride to elite universities. She will attend USC in the fall and dreams of becoming a teacher. In January, Ventura Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Babb presented her with the “Most Inspirational” student award. She also finds time to volunteer at Casa Pacifica, which provides support services to families in crisis.
She credits her success to the positive role models in her life, including her half-sister’s father and her US history teacher Norma Saatjian. She also says the AVID program that helps underprivileged kids with the college application process was invaluable. “AVID taught me everything I didn’t learn at home and that would be too hard to figure out online,” she says. “It teaches you how to be a successful student.”
Instead of repeating mistakes made by some of the adults in her life, IrieAnn says she has learned from them. “Everything from life choices to mannerisms to how to raise a child. I learned what not to do and what I didn’t want my life to be like, so that really motivated me to go the other way.”
The New West Symphony Harmony Project of Ventura County’s Summer Music Camp is expanding to include third through ninth grade students throughout Ventura County. Two two-week sessions will be offered.
Students entering grades 3-5 are eligible to participate in the first session taking place Tuesday, July 5 through Friday, July 15. It will provide instruction in beginning strings, winds, and brass. Intermediate students entering grades 6-9 may attend the second session, being held Monday, July 18 through Friday, July 29. Both sessions will take place from 9:00 am to12 noon at Sheridan Way Elementary School, located at 573 Sheridan Way. Tuition cost is $150 for two weeks, with scholarships available for those who demonstrate financial need.
The Harmony Project Summer Music Camp will provide students with high-quality instruction from professional musicians who teach with the New West Symphony Harmony Project of Ventura County throughout the school year. Students will receive instruction on their specific instrument and in musicianship, and will also have the opportunity to take elective classes such as choir, jazz and art. Students will play in ensembles and perform in front of an audience at the end of their session.
“Our summer camp has been so successful for the past two years that this year we decided to open it up to the greater Ventura County community,” said New West Symphony Harmony Project Director Andrea Landin. “It’s important for all children to have access to a music education, and we are very excited to be able to bring students together from diverse schools and backgrounds to make music.”
The New West Symphony Harmony Project is a youth development program that provides tuition-free, after-school music instruction to 140 underserved children in Ventura County. The program is funded largely through individual donations and community and foundation grants, and is managed under the direction and auspices of the New West Symphony.
For more information or to enroll contact Andrea Landin, the Harmony Project of Ventura County Director, at 279-2424 or [email protected].
