By Laura Oergel

Many of us know that Men’s Journal Magazine’s March 2015 issue voted the city of Ventura the best place to live in the United States. (Still gloating) The article cites that Ventura’s draw is that it remains “refreshingly unpolished”. The one constant in between the ever changing weather and eclectic Main Street is the joy of being on the Pacific Ocean.

Larger than usual waves and tides from an El Nino winter caused extreme erosion of our beach area at Surfer’s Point. Back in December a palm tree and concrete planter fell over threatening the promenade. Behind the scenes, the Surfrider Foundation and others have been talking with the City of Ventura staff to encourage the most environmentally friendly way to rebuild the revetment.

The Surfrider Foundation, founded in 1984 in Malibu and now head quartered in San Clemente, is a largely volunteer-based non-profit environmental organization that works to protect and preserve the world’s oceans, waves, and beaches.  The Ventura chapter was created in the early 1990’s to help protect the surf break and beach at Surfers’ Point from beach armoring that would have destroyed it. How different would Ventura be today if Surfrider’s activism hadn’t been successful?

Besides the Surfers’ Point Managed Shoreline Retreat program, the Ventura chapter of the Surfrider Foundation currently has campaigns that welcome volunteer help such as Ocean Friendly Gardens, Rise Above Plastics, Ocean Friendly Restaurants, beach clean ups, Matilija Dam Eco System Restoration, Know Your H2O and Ventura River Parkway.

The chapter meetings are every first Tuesday of the month from 6:30-8 at Patagonia. Patagonia – Great pacific Iron Works is located at 235 W. Santa Clara St. It’s a great way to learn about what’s going on and how you can volunteer. Walk-ins are welcome.

I want to share a quote from Patagonia’s mission statement: “For us at Patagonia, a love of wild and beautiful places demands participation in the fight to save them, and to help reverse the steep decline in the overall environmental health of our planet. We donate our time, services and at least 1% of our sales to hundreds of grassroots environmental groups all over the world who work to help reverse the tide.” One of my favorite quotes is from Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard who said “If you love something, you have to protect it.”

There is and always will be a tug of war between developing a beautiful place to live such as Ventura and preserving it and the wildlife that we all appreciate and enjoy every day. Organizations like the Surfrider Foundation, it’s volunteers and the people of Patagonia, all helping us and future generations preserve our beautiful oceans and waterways, are some of the best examples of conscious living in Ventura.

Create momentum. Educate yourself, then educate others.

Celebrate!
By Elizabeth Rodeno

The CAPS crew spent a busy Saturday celebrating the 150^th Anniversary of the city of Ventura at Plaza Park. We brought in the CAPS Media mobile truck, built our own outdoor studio and invited our friend Suz Montgomery and friends to share their stories about Ventura. We had some great visits from Police Chief Ken Corney, Fire Chief David Endaya, Mission San Buenaventura’s Father Tom and State Senator Hannah Beth Jackson to name a few. We met long time Venturans, those returning from afar and newbies. They all sang the praises of our city, the beaches, mountains and most of all the people who make Ventura feel like home. These interviews, as well as our in-studio show, Ventura Legacies, will be airing on CAPS Media channel 6 very soon.

Registration is open for this summer’s Digital Storytelling programs. As a special treat, we are teaming with the City of Ventura’s Parks and Recreation’s summer programming and offering a week session July 11 through the 15^th at a special city rate. It’s a good way for those who have never taken one of our classes to try it. Our regular summer programs begin July 20^th and run through Aug. 5^th. Our chief instructor Phil Taggart is returning, splitting his time here at CAPS with his job as Poet Laureate of Ventura County. Accompanying him are returning students who have learned the ropes and want to share their knowledge with new students. Our skilled staff is always there to help them.

Your support is needed at this crucial time to ensure Ventura gets its Low Power FM Radio station. The FCC has given us a license for our station but we need the funds to build it. This station will offer residents young and old another way to continue to share their stories. Radio is a powerful medium and an important to share information. The station will provide a venue to those who may not be comfortable in front of the camera, yet want to share their interests and passions with the community. Not to mention they’ll be learning broadcast skills, both technical and managerial. Lots of talk, lots of music and lots of fun.

CAPS Media is the non-profit membership organization that is here to create an engaged and informed community through participation in electronic media. A yearly membership at CAPS is only $25 and includes training, equipment, use of our studio and edit suites. Keep up to date on what’s happening here at CAPS, on the channels and in our community by going to CAPSMedia.org, CAPS-TV Ventura on Facebook and CAPS Media Center on Twitter.

Rain didn’t detour the nearly 200 attendees from visiting Aera Energy’s Ventura Oil Field to meet Aera and community leaders and learn about state-of-the-art technologies in the industry from engineers and geologists. Aera opened its doors for the first time to community members, offering a platform for critical dialog between Aera and community members about Ventura’s rich oil history and current operations.

“Aera and its predecessor companies have been actively producing oil in Ventura County since the 1920s,” said Christina Sistrunk, Aera Energy president and CEO, who attended the event. “I’m proud of our safe and environmentally responsible operations that directly benefit the local economy. We have also established a strong reputation as a committed community partner and we hope that partnership will only grow stronger over the next 100 years. We hope the community enjoyed this celebration and the opportunity to learn more about oil production and Aera’s operations.”

Aera’s Ventura County oil and gas operations cover approximately 4,300 acres located largely in an unincorporated area of the county just to the northwest of the City of Ventura. Production from approximately 414 producing wells averages 13,005 barrels per day of crude oil and 7.5 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. To date, the field has produced 1 billion barrels of crude oil.

This milestone celebration featured exhibits that showcased photos and videos from 1916 to current day, commemorating veterans of the field, tools of the trade, and Aera’s community giving and involvement.

Ventura, Mayor Erik Nasarenko, was also in attendance and presented a proclamation to the company. “I was pleased to present Aera Energy’s Ventura Oil Field with a proclamation for its ongoing efforts to being a good community partner,” stated Nasarenko. “Aera and its employees have provided support for several of organizations here, including the County’s Homeless 2 Home project and the Ventura Police Activities League (PAL).”

The eight-day Jewish festival of Passover is celebrated in the early spring, from the 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Nissan (April 22-30). It commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. And, by following the rituals of Passover Jews experience the true freedom that their ancestors gained.

The story goes that after many decades of slavery to the Egyptian pharaohs, during which time the Israelites were subjected to backbreaking labor and unbearable horrors, God saw the people’s distress and sent Moses to Pharaoh with a message: “Send forth my people, so that they may serve me.” But despite numerous warnings, Pharaoh refused to heed God’s command. God then sent upon Egypt ten devastating plagues, afflicting them and destroying everything from their livestock to their crops.

At the stroke of midnight of 15 Nissan in the year 2448 from creation (1313 BCE), God visited the last of the ten plagues on the Egyptians, killing all their firstborn. While doing so, God spared the Children of Israel, “passing over” their homes—hence the name of the holiday. Pharaoh’s resistance was broken, and he virtually chased his former slaves out of the land. The Israelites left in such a hurry that the bread they baked as provisions for the way did not have time to rise. Six hundred thousand adult males, plus many more women and children, left Egypt on that day, and began the trek to Mount Sinai.