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Buenaventura Art Association (BAA ) presenting the arts

Lightning in the Harbor by Denise Henderscheid

Members show plus board member appreciation show
January 14 – March 12, 2022
Open Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 4pm
First Friday receptions on February 4th and March 4th

Over a dozen new artist members have joined BAA in the last several months! Explore their work along with the artwork of veteran BAA artists and our hard-working Board of Directors in our upcoming shows at Studio 99!

Elsewhere from Buenaventura Art Association:
A members-only show at
Harbor Village Gallery & Gifts
January 12 – March 15, 2022
Featuring the artwork and artisan crafts of 10 resident member artists, Harbor Village Gallery & Gifts also exhibits the works of over a dozen other BAA members!

Members-Only shows upcoming at
SpiceTopia and Very Ventura Gift Shop & Gallery
January 20 – March 31, 2022


 Seaward by Laura Ray

City of Ventura welcomes new Chief Building Official 

The City of Ventura is pleased to welcome Shawn Huff as the Chief Building Official in the Community Development Department. Huff joins the Ventura team from the City of Chico where he was the Deputy Director of the Community Development Department. Prior to that, he served as the Chief Building Official for the City of Visalia.  

With over 20 years of serving both state and local governments, Huff has a wide range of technical and regulatory experience. He served as an administrator in the State Housing Law Program and helped develop the state’s building standards with the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Before starting his public service, Huff worked in the private sector in the trades.   

“It’s exciting to bring Shawn onboard with his broad background in both the private and public sectors,” shared Community Development Director Peter Gilli. “His technical and regulatory knowledge brings a diversified skill set in serving our residents and businesses.”  

Huff holds a master’s in public administration from Golden Gate University, a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University Chico, and an Associate of Science degree in Building Inspection Technology from Butte Community College.   

“I am looking forward to the opportunity to live, work in and serve the fine community of Ventura,” said Huff. “I look forward to fostering relationships with our citizens and providing safe and efficient building standards that protect our residents.”   

The City’s Chief Building Official is responsible for managing all building regulation services and programs. To learn more about the Community Development Department, visit www.cityofventura.ca.gov/CommunityDevelopment. 

Weather events December 2021

by Tom Johnston

The following weather report is based on weather stations data located near Ventura College campus beginning 1964 or 57 years of record. The weather events during this December 2021 have for the most part been beneficial and interesting to study. There were 15 days of measurable rainfall for a total of

10.2 inches. Two days each had two inches of rainfall. This month’s rainfall was

the highest December amount on record.

With all of this rain a person would think the current drought is over. Yes it

was beneficial. The demand for irrigation has decreased somewhat but the lakes, the water aquifers (ground water), wells and springs will need several years of above normal rainfall to fully replenish. Another subject is how much of this heavy rainfall is due to climate change. Probably some but I will let the experts answer that one.

The meteorologists with the National Weather Service located

in Oxnard have done an outstanding job of forecasting this weather. Their warnings of hazardous conditions on the highways, on the waters, sky and snow has saved the injury and even death of a number of persons and, yes, animals.

As for the air temperatures the daytime temperatures were

several degrees below normal due to thick clouds blocking

the sunrays. The average daytime temperature was 61

degrees while the average night time lows was 44.5 degrees. The

highest monthly temperature was 69, night 38 degrees.

Other weather-related events you may have missed. Depending

on where you were located you may have seen snow on the Topa

Topa mountain range north of Ojai. On the night of December 24

a weak thunderstorm made it presence known by brief thunder

and lightning. At colder inland locations a few mornings had light frost. As for the wind there were 5 windy days with highest gust 34 mph.

Tom Johnston became interested in the weather at age twelve.

He is now a retired Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Get a jump start on your Spring cleaning! 

On Saturday, February 12, 2022, the City of Ventura’s Environmental Sustainability Division hosts its next Community Cleanup & Recycling Event. These cleanup and recycling events are held throughout the year to help City residents drop off unwanted items to be properly disposed of or recycled. Event space is limited, and registration is required to participate. 

Items accepted, but not limited to the following:  

  • Household, trash, and garage items: appliances, clothing, furniture, and metal.  
  • Electronic waste: computers, TVs, printers, audio/video equipment 
  • Paper (limit two banker’s boxes): secure onsite shredding service available  
  • Tires (limit four per household): for drop-off instructions, visit the registration website 

Items not accepted:  

  • Household hazardous waste (HHW) is the only material type not accepted at the event. These items include but are not limited to aerosol cans, automotive fluids, motor oil and filters, paint, batteries, chemicals, and fluorescent tubes. For more information on how to dispose of HHW or register for an upcoming drop-off event, visit www.cityofventura.ca.gov/hhw.   
  • Commercial or business waste is not accepted at these events, and vehicles clearly marked for commercial purposes will not be allowed entry.  

Register today at www.cityofventura.ca.gov/ESevents. For more information about this event or other questions for the City’s Environmental Sustainability Division, call (805) 652-4525. 

Bag food waste, tie it off, and place it in the yard waste cart

The Food Waste Recycling Program for residents launched on January 1, 2022. Residents in single-family homes must bag food waste, tie it off, and place it in the yard waste cart. Food waste includes meat, bones, dairy, bread, fruit, vegetables, as well as all other edible and inedible parts of food typically thrown into the trash. Once at the sorting facility, bagged food waste is separated and composted into soil products. Do not place food waste directly into the yard waste cart, as this will contaminate the yard waste.

E.J. Harrison & Sons is providing complimentary food waste collection pails (2 gallons) to assist Ventura residents with participating in the new food waste recycling program. In December, the City’s Environmental Sustainability team began delivering the pails to all single-family homes in Ventura. The food waste recycling pails are also available by request and to residents in multi-family housing units as the program expands.

Before buying new bags for the pails, consider reusing bread bags, takeout bags, or grocery bags as a liner for the pail to collect food waste. When the bag is ready to be disposed, tie off the bag and place it in the yard waste container. Do not place your food waste recycling pail out for curbside collection.

This new program is required by California’s Senate Bill (SB) 1383. SB 1383 aims to reduce methane emissions by diverting organic material from landfills by establishing statewide food waste recycling requirements for cities. The City is rolling out food waste recycling for all residents, businesses, and multi-family properties to comply with the law.

Vol. 15, No. 08 – Jan 12 – Jan 25, 2022 – Movie Review

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Queenpins – Showtime

3 out of 4 palm trees
Breeze rating from 1 to 4 palm trees, 4 being best.

Queenpins is based on actual events involving one of the largest pink collar crimes known to date. Connie Kaminski (Kirsten Bell) and her best friend JoJo Johnson (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) both had overwhelming financial challenges, so decide to turn a causal hobby into a coupon scam that netted them millions of dollars. After discovering that manufacturers were willing to send FREE coupons for complaint letters, Connie came up with the idea to get FREE coupons to sell at a good deal and JoJo was a vlogger who already had a coupon site they could use to sell them.

Connie noticed that the coupons all came from the same address in Mexico, not far from where they were in Arizona, so the two set out to find a way to obtain more FREE coupons directly from the source. They met a Hispanic couple who worked in the factory for only $2 per hour and gladly joined Connie and JoJo for a percentage of the profits, agreeing to mail all the excess printed coupons that were supposed to be destroyed directly to Connie and JoJo in Arizona.

The rush of coupons caught the attention of many stores who reported the issue to the district loss specialist Ken Miller (Paul Walter Hauser), who after searching receipts for 11 days was able to find a shopper’s information from her credit card who told him she bought the coupons online from the SavvySuperSavver website. Miller took the information to the local FBI office, which blew him off after he left and sent the information to headquarters to get buried.

After bankning several hundred thousand dollars in their paypal account, Connie’s account was frozen. Feeling it was the only thing to do, they reached out to Tempe Tina (Bebe Rexha) who was actually the person who caused JoJo’s financial trouble after stealing her identity. Tina picked them up, blindfolded them and took them back to her tech hideout. Tina apologized for her past issues with JoJo explaining that now her specialty was Cyber Security, assisting governments and corporations to deal with cyber attacks, and if paid enough to create them.

Tina gave them multiple IDs and a strategy to handle their money for 10% of the profits, and Connie and JoJo decided to follow Tina’s plan to stay off the radar and not spend any funds for six months. While Miller continued making unanswered calls to FBI headquarters, Connie and JoJo made over $5 million mailing coupons, which became their downfall.

Due to the fact that the coupons were mailed, the U.S. Postal Service sent Postal Inspector Simon Kilmurry (Vince Vaughn) to investigate the situation. Kilmurry got the basics from Miller, who was more like a mall cop wanting to be part of the real action. Though Kilmurry denied him initially, they eventually teamed up on the investigation which eventually lead to a cartel size takedown that included millions in fraudulant coupons, luxury cars, and guns.

Queenpins is based on the true story of three Arizona women: Robin Ramirez, Marilyn Johnson, and Amiko Fountain, who ran a coupon scam and the actual police raid found more than $40 million in fake coupons along with $2 million in other assets including 22 guns, cash, 21 vehicles, and a speed boat. Ramirez received 24 months in prison with 7 years probation while her friends served 3 years probation. They also had to pay Procter & Gamble more than $1.2 million.

Rated: R (Language Throughout)
Runtime: 1h 50m

Free virtual seminar addresses kids and the COVID-19 Vaccine

Are you thinking of vaccinating your child against the COVID-19 virus? If you have questions or are looking for more information, join Community Memorial Health System for a free and informative online discussion about the COVID-19 vaccine and children.

CMHS’s pediatric specialist, Dr. Alison Shuman, will talk about the data, safety, and the most recent FDA recommendations for children and the vaccine. CMHS is hosting this free online seminar at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 13 to kick off the Speaker Series Online for 2022. There will be a live question-and-answer session for participants to have their questions addressed by an expert. To join in, please RSVP at www.cmhshealth.org/RSVP.

Community Memorial Health System is a not-for-profit health system that comprises Community Memorial Hospital, Ojai Valley Community Hospital, a skilled nursing facility, and a network of primary and specialty care clinics that serve communities throughout Ventura County, California.

Campuses will start Spring 2022 semester primarily online

To protect the health of students and employees within the Ventura County Community College District and to help mitigate the surge in the county’s COVID-19 cases, Ventura County’s community colleges will start the Spring 2022 semester primarily online beginning Jan. 10. Spring classes at Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges and Ventura College East Campus will be mainly remote for a limited time with exceptions for classes requiring in-person instruction. Scheduled in-person class sessions will be reinstated following a reduction in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations.

“The health and safety of our students and employees has been paramount in operations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We made the current decision to help reduce transmission and support ongoing public health efforts. We know we must be flexible in our planning as we approach the start of the Spring semester. Remote instruction will contribute to reducing employee and student absences as we help students attain their educational goals,” said Chancellor Greg Gillespie.

“We need to make sure that our campuses are safe, which is why the board of trustees voted unanimously to mandate the vaccine for all students, faculty and staff on our campuses. Online options are available for students who choose not to be vaccinated,” added Board Chair Dianne B. McKay.

Only vaccinated employees and students, and those with an approved exemption, can be on-site. All health and safety protocols currently in place will continue, including daily screening, wearing face masks and twice-weekly testing for people with medical or religious exemptions.

The District’s action related to remote learning for the Spring semester will be continually monitored with input from the Ventura County Public Health Department and in accordance with applicable laws, regulations and guidelines.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines state the best protection against COVID-19 is to be vaccinated and get a booster shot. Ventura County vaccination information is available at Ventura County Recovers. Vaccination appointments can be scheduled online at MyTurn.

Vol. 15, No. 08 – Jan 12 – Jan 25, 2022 – Opinion/Editorial

∙ Court proceedings for Jamal Omar Jackson, 52, the suspect (we need to call him that) in the 2018 fatal stabbing of Anthony Mele, 35 at the Aloha Steakhouse in Ventura are scheduled. That terrible tragedy occurred nearly four years ago.

In Nov. 2020, Jamal was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial. It has since been determined that he is well enough to appear in court. His mental competency hearing is scheduled on Thursday, Jan. 13.

I know that many people will say what’s the difference if he was mentally ill when he killed Anthony Mele? The difference is motivation. If his mental demons were telling him that he was being followed by the CIA and they are instructing him to kill someone this is very different then killing during a robbery or an argument.

Perhaps Jamal knew he needed help but the unwillingness to accept treatment or care by the mentally ill is over 60% in the U.S.

Stigma is the biggest barrier to obtaining mental care. That could be reduced if people understood, and accepted, the fact that mental illness is a neurological condition the same as other illnesses such as diabetes. We need to think of these as brain disorders that can not be controlled without proper treatment.

∙ In her newly drawn 26th District, Congresswoman Julia Brownley will represent a more conservative Simi Valley, but lost the cities of Ventura and Ojai. The changes came as part of redistricting, which happens once every 10 years, after every census, to ensure that each district has the same amount of people.

∙ NASA’s Jim Green has left the agency where he served for 12 years as the director of NASA’s planetary science division and the last three as its chief scientist.

He is forming a plan to geoengineer Mars into a planet habitable for humans. Green’s plan hinges on warming and thickening Mars’ atmosphere by using a giant magnetic shield between the Red Planet and the Sun, which would bring temperature and pressure levels above the point at which humans could walk on the surface without a space suit, without their blood boiling inside their bodies.

Wonderful – one day we could live on Mars and destroy it also.

∙ In a previous issue, I stated that I felt it was good the city has made the process easier to secure the required permits and approvals to obtain permits for developments. To clarify my position, I’m not happy with the huge amount of multi-unit projects being built, especially on Thompson Blvd. (the townhouses, fancy word for condos, that will cost $800,000 and up).

I just don’t think you control development by making it extremely time consuming and difficult to obtain permits. Proper control is done by thoughtful zoning and a general plan.

This is like controlling traffic by putting a speed hump (cities call then humps, not bumps) every 10 feet to slow down traffic.

∙ Mozart and I have something in common; we both have an un-finished symphony. The only difference is that I haven’t started mine yet.

∙ I love things being pitched on TV that are not for sale anywhere else so there is no comparative pricing. For instance, something like this; “Pots for sale. Six pots for 3 payments of $39.95, and if you buy in the next 10 minutes you get 3 more for free.” You’re not getting anything for free, you’re getting 9 pots for 3 payments of $39.95 because they have no intrinsic value except what they tell you that they’re worth. And “buy in the next 10 minutes” is also a joke because you could order in 10 hours or 10 days and they wouldn’t know the difference.

∙ Funny stuff – twins were born on both sides of midnight to end the year. So, one baby was born in 2021 and other in 2022. Do you think they will have separate birthday parties?

∙ A federal judge sided with the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot by refusing to block the release of scores of White House documents from the Trump administration. The federal judge was unimpressed with Trump’s legal arguments.

While most Republicans were absent on Capitol Hill Thursday, one of the party’s most prominent statesmen was there. Asked why he came to the Capitol for the Jan. 6 anniversary Dick Cheney said, “It’s an important historical event. You can’t overestimate how important it is.” He added, “I’m deeply disappointed we don’t have better leadership in the Republican Party to restore the Constitution.”

President Joe Biden marked the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection by calling out former President Donald Trump for attempting to undo American democracy, saying such an insurrection must never happen again.

“For the first time in our history, a President had not just lost an election. He tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob reached the Capitol,” Biden said in a speech from the US Capitol that lasted just under 30 minutes. “But they failed. They failed. And on this day of remembrance, we must make sure that such an attack never, never happens again.”

∙ The largest and most powerful space telescope is on its way to a destination 1,000,000 miles away. It will take months to get there and an additional five months, give or take, to start eventually sending information back to earth. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the $10 billion observatory “is going to give us a better understanding of the universe and our place in it, who we are, our search that’s eternal.”

On Saturday, Jan. 8, the new observatory successfully unfolded its final primary mirror segment to cap what NASA has billed as one of its most complicated deployments in space ever. The team is now turning its attention to directing the telescope to its final destination.

Maybe we will finally find other worlds full of polluting people.

Sad in a way that humans have the incredible intelligence and abilities to create such a telescope and send it into space but can’t solve things like mental illness, homelessness, global warming and food scarcity here on earth.

 

Ventura County’s Community Colleges named among 150 community colleges eligible for 2023 Aspen Prize

Ventura County’s community colleges are among 150 institutions nationwide eligible to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges are now eligible for the 2023 prize, known as the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement and performance among America’s community colleges. It recognizes colleges with robust student outcomes in equity, teaching and learning, certificate and degree completion, transfer rates and bachelor’s degree attainment and workforce success. 

Only 15% of the approximately 1,000 community colleges the Aspen Institute evaluates across the U.S. are selected to contend for the esteemed honor. This is the first time that all three Ventura County Community College District colleges have been eligible for the Aspen Prize at the same time. Ventura College was previously eligible in 2017, 2019 and 2021; and Moorpark College in 2019.  

The 150 eligible colleges have been invited to submit data and narratives as next steps in an intensive data and practice review process. The top 10 finalists for the 2023 Aspen Prize will be announced in spring/summer 2022.

A jury of notable leaders will select a winner, finalists with distinction and institutions that have significantly improved their practices known as “Rising Stars” in late spring 2023. 

Following the announcement of being named eligible for the prize, the VCCCD board and college presidents expressed their appreciation of the honor: 

“The fact that each of our colleges is eligible for this prize serves as a testament to the District’s commitment to equity and high-quality education that yields professional and personal success for our diverse students,” said VCCCD Board Chair Joshua Chancer.  

“Ventura College is honored to be recognized multiple times. It reflects Ventura College’s educational opportunities and academic success as an accredited two-year institution of higher education,” said Dr. Kim Hoffmans, president of Ventura College. “This distinction illustrates the dedication of our faculty, classified professionals and administrators and their commitment to the success of all Ventura College students.” 

For the list of the top 150 eligible institutions and to read more on the selection process, visit https://highered.aspeninstitute.org/aspen-prize/. The Aspen Prize is made possible by generous support from Ascendium and the Joyce Foundation. 

The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program aims to advance higher education practices and leadership that significantly improve student learning, completion, and employment after college, especially for the growing population of students of color and low-income students on American campuses. For more information, visit https://highered.aspeninstitute.org.