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Ventura County Fairgrounds Board of Directors elects new President, Vice President.

The Ventura County Fairgrounds announced 2021 Board of Directors elections. Leah Lacayo will serve a 2-year term as president of the Board and Armando Lopez has been elected to the position of Vice President. The 2-year terms will include the return of the annual Ventura County Fair.

Lacayo is serving her 2nd appointment to the Ventura County Fairgrounds Board of Directors. She has previously served as Board President in 2005 and 2014. Lacayo also serves on the Board of Directors at California State University at Channel Islands and the Ventura County Community Foundation. Her community service includes the Ventura County Women’s Political Council, Congress of California Seniors Education & Research Fund and the Congress of California Seniors, the Destino Fund and the Jewish Labor Committee Advisory Board.

Lopez has served the Board of Directors since 2003 He serves as a liaison to the Ventura County Fairgrounds Foundation. He is a partner in Plaza Development Partners LLP and currently serves on the Ventura County Family Justice Center and the Children’s Workshop. His community service also includes El Concilio de Condado de Ventura, the Ventura County Community Foundation and St. John’s Healthcare Foundation.

The Ventura County Fairgrounds is owned by the State of California and administered by the 31st District Agricultural Association under the direction of the Division of Fairs and Expositions, Department of Food and Agriculture. A nine-member Board of Directors, appointed by the Governor, oversees the Association. The 31st DAA is a self-supporting entity, receiving no tax dollars.

The Fairgrounds serves as a command center for first responders and provides evacuation accommodations during times of emergency.

The 2022 Ventura County Fair, “A Country Fair with Ocean Air,” will open Wednesday, August 3 and run through Sunday, August 15. More information can be found at www.venturacountyfair.org or by calling (805) 648-3376.

Second Annual ‘Tis the Season for Holiday Giving event at the Ventura Pottery Gallery

One gift per customer per day while supplies last.

The Ventura Pottery Gallery is pleased to announce their second annual ‘Tis the Season for Holiday Giving event. Not only is the gallery a great place to purchase your holiday gifts (no supply chain issues here), but they have a free gift for you when you spend $25.

Potters always accumulate extra pieces in their studios, and we love to clean our shelves. Our forty potters are donating  bowls, vases, mugs,  ornaments or ? as gifts to our cherished customers. We continue to have strong sales during the pandemic and we want to thank those who support our handmade, from our studios to your home, ceramic creations.

We invite you to stop by the Ventura Pottery Gallery to view work from local artists and potters. The gallery is located at 1567 Spinnaker Drive, Suite 105 in Ventura Harbor Village. The gallery is open from 11 – 6 seven days a week. We also have an online store at  www.venturapotteryonline.com and for more information please visit www.venturapottersguild.org.

County CEO and PIO drop in on ECTV team at CAPS Media Center

Recently Mike Powers, Ventura County CEO and Ashley Bautista were at CAPS.

Recently Mike Powers, Ventura County CEO and Ashley Bautista, County PIO held an impromptu workshop with El Camino High in the ECTV program at the CAPS Media Center. Mr. Powers and Ms. Bautista were in the CAPS Media studio to record a cross-country interview, which was observed by the ECTV students. Afterwards the pair took the time for an informal meeting with the ECTV team discussing journalism, social media, marketing, career paths and more. The students will follow up with a more formal on camera studio interview with Mr. Powers.

ECTV (El Camino Television) is part of the Ventura Unified School District’s Visual and Performing Arts career pathways initiative. In weekly immersive workshops students explore all aspects of media, journalism and storytelling production including television, radio, social media, podcasting and more. The students utilize all of the resources of the CAPS Media Center including cameras, editing computers, the studio soundstage and radio control room. The ECTV program is mentored by Phil Taggart (electronic journalism and storytelling) and Elizabeth Rodeno (radio and podcasting).

Out in the community CAPS Media crews continue to support the County’s efforts to spread the word on the vital necessity of COVID vaccinations. Most recently CAPS produced a series special videos featuring doctors and other media professionals encouraging families to have young children vaccinated in compliance with recent guidelines. The COVID Vaccinations for Kids videos are distributed on the County website and multiple social media outlets in English, Spanish, and Hindi.

The CAPS Media Board of Directors meet in November and reviewed a staff presentation that included a brief summary of the multiple projects produced and managed by CAPS Media staff between July and October of this year. The report referenced more than 70 separate video productions for the City of Ventura, County of Ventura and other agencies. The government agencies distribute the media on various platforms including websites and multiple social media outlets. In addition CAPS Media airs the information on channel 6 and/or 15 as well as streaming on the CAPS website and social media sites. The report also highlighted more than 200 hours of originally produced radio programs for CAPS Radio KPPQ.

In addition the staff report included information on a facet of CAPS Media efforts that are often overlooked or taken for granted. During the 4 month window (July – October) CAPS Media staff provided the ongoing responsibility and oversight to manage, record and distribute multiple meetings held in Ventura City Hall chambers. The diversity of meetings included City Council meetings, administrative public hearings, arts and culture commission, design review committee, historic preservation committee, parks and recreation committee and more. In total CAPS Media staff managed 36 separate meetings during the four months totaling more than 88 hours of community information.

As the COVID 19 emergency continues to shadow the Ventura community, the CAPS Media Center will continue to remain closed to Member/Producers and the public until further notice. 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 encourage everyone to get vaccinated. The sooner we are all vaccinated the sooner we can fully enjoy our very special community. We hope you all Stay Safe and Stay Strong during these challenging times.

Writers and readers to connect at Writers’ Festival

WRITERS | Ventura is pleased to announce the first bi-annual Writers’ Festival, to be held at the E.P. Foster Library on Main St. This free community event will be on Saturday, December 11, 2021 and Sunday, December 12, 2021, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm each day.

“Our goal at WRITERS | Ventura is to provide a platform for writers to connect with readers,” said Pamela Zero, founding member of WRITERS | Ventura. “There are so few ways that our vibrant community can interact. It’s time to get readers and writers together.”

The Writers’ Festival will bring together local writers with local readers, creating and reinforcing a community that loves books.

Local readers and writers will be able to:

Meet local authors, Discover new books to read, Enter on-the-spot giveaways and get swag,

Play word games, Attend workshops and be a part of the local literary scene

WRITERS | Ventura offers readers a chance to talk directly to writers. Find out how their favorite characters came to be born. Find out how all those wonderful scenarios of danger, intrigue, romance, challenges developed in the mind of a skilled storyteller,” said Robina Kerr, founding member of WRITERS | Ventura.

“We are extending that very writerly practice of having writing partners into having publishing partners,” said Danielle Ste. Just, founding member of WRITERS | Ventura. “We see ourselves and other writers as allies, not as competition.”

Admission to the Writers’ Festival is free of charge for all readers. The event will include writers, librarians, book cover artists, and local booksellers. This event would not be possible without the support of the E.P. Foster Library and Hayes Graphics.

Founded in 2021, WRITERS | Ventura is dedicated to bridging the gap between writers and readers.

“This is just the beginning”

Great food and friendship was shared at Thanksgiving lunch. Photos by Patricia Schallert

The Salvation Army held a food distribution and Thanksgiving lunch for the community at the Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura located at 1153 Village Way, Ventura.

The holidays were off to a wonderful start with a Thanksgiving lunch for the Housing Authority residence on the Westside of Ventura. Over 250 plates were served with a traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, veggies and all the fixings. The Salvation Army, Ventura is so grateful to the Housing Authority staff for the wonderful collaboration. Volunteers from Ventura Downtown Lions, EPIC, Ventura Downtown Rotary, Ventura Rotaract served the lunch and helped distribute over 100 turkeys and pantry items to make a Thanksgiving meal at home.

This is just the beginning. This pandemic forced us to isolate, but we wanted to create an opportunity to, once again, sit at a table with friends and family to share a meal” stated Captain Juan Torres.

Vol. 15, No. 05 – Dec 1 – Dec 14, 2021 – Mailbox

Letters to the Editor

Proposed Logging in the Los Padres Forest is Unacceptable.

As a life-long resident of Ventura County I realize how lucky I am to live between the ocean, two rivers and our majestic mountains in the Los Padres National Forest. Many local residents enjoy recreating in the Los Padres at Pine Mountain, Mount Pinos, and other wild areas.

The US Forest Service is currently proposing the removal of thousands of trees and old growth vegetation at four locations in our backcountry; an area that totals over eight square miles. The Forest Service argues that this project will improve wildland health and improve fire safety for forest-adjacent communities. I object because this plan goes far beyond those goals. 

Forest scientists tell us that removal of trees and native vegetation increases solar access to the forest floor creating drier conditions and increasing the presence of non-native grasses. These grasses dry out earlier in the year and are much more flammable than native chaparral.

We must reject ineffective forest vegetation removal projects that diminish critical carbon storage in our forest and instead invest resources into hardening wildland-adjacent homes to withstand ember casts. There are simple, inexpensive ways that homeowners can prepare their homes for wildfire: clearing combustibles within the first five feet of structures and native plantings. Advanced vent covers are more costly, but worth the investment to prevent embers from invading attics and crawl spaces, the main cause of losses during the Thomas Fire.

The Forest Service should focus their efforts near population centers, not in the middle of the wilderness. We need to work from the home out rather than from the forest in. This has proven to be the best strategy for protecting communities as well as our native ecosystems.

Kathy Bremer


Never try to tell everything you know. It may take too short a time.
~ Norman Ford

Tree Town

Five new Marina Strawberry trees were recently planted to beautify the intersection of Main Street and Emma St, in midtown Ventura.

The Midtown Community Council sponsored the landscape project along the edge of Main Street, paid for with a city beautification grant.

Many volunteers helped with the planting and staking and mulching, and Gator bags are being used to water with recycled water.

www.venturatreealliance.com

Vol. 15, No. 05 – Dec 1 – Dec 14, 2021 – Harbor Patrol Blotter

Wednes
11/10

6:26am, observed NWS issued a Small Craft Advisory for NW winds gusting to 30kys in the afternoon in the Western portion of the East Santa Barbara channel.

7:14am, received report of a baby Fur Seal and two pelicans injured near the Santa Clara River. Officers responded with CIMWI & captured the mammal & sea birds. Volunteers taking animals to Long Beach for rehabilitation.

8:15pm, received report of individual locked in HarborTown point club house. Officers responded and were able to free the older male from the rec room.

Thursday
11/11

1:27pm, dispatched to 46 y/o male with chest pain at Ventura Isle Marina K-dock. Officers responded with VFD/AMR to the call. Patient was transported to hospital by AMR for further evaluation.

Friday
11/12

5:54pm, while on patrol in Rescue B17, officers contacted two fishermen hoop netting for lobster in the Harbor entrance for illegal placement of traps.

6:20pm, dispatched to a vehicle fire at 1431 Spinnaker Dr. Officers responded and assisted VFD with the call. The vehicle is a total loss, no one was injured.

10:52pm, dispatched to difficulty breathing at the Portside apartments, 900 blk Schooner. Officers responded with VFD/AMR to the call.

Saturday
11/13

7:30am, while on patrol in vehicle, officers issued verbal warnings to several dog owners for not picking up after their animals and off leash at Harbor Cove.

10:50am, received report of an injured seal in A Basin of the harbor. Officers responded and found a sea lion “thermo-regulating” in the area, no injuries.

10:01pm, dispatched to behavioral emergency at Portside apartments. Officers responded with VFD/AMR to the call, staging for VPD to clear. No medical.

Sunday
11/14

1:49pm, dispatched to Ocean Rescue, kayaker in distress at Santa Clara Rivermouth. Officers responded by sea in Rescue B17 and by land in Harb1 with multiple agencies to the call. RB17 arrived on scene and found the victim caught in a rip current, unable to return to shore, treading water for 30mins.

Monday
11/15

3:23pm, dispatched to an ankle injury at Harbor Cove. Officers responded and assisted a 9 y/o with a ride to vehicle in the lot. She refused treatment and was transported to the hospital by her guardian for further evaluation.

Tuesday
11/16

8:46am, received compliment from the ocean rescue victim from Sunday. The individual thanked Harbor Patrol Officers for saving him from the rip current. He suffered from exhaustion and mild hypothermia. He retrieved his kayak.

Wednes
11/17

8:46am, dispatched to a fall victim 1000 blk Marina Dr, Portside. Officers responded and assisted VFD/AMR with an elderly female who fell out of her wheelchair. She was treated at the scene for a laceration.

10:40pm, received a request for help from a guest staying at the HarborTown point, he was locked out of his room in his underwear. Officers contacted management, provided clothing and stood by until he was let back in.

Thursday
11/18

9:39am, received report of found property, drone that crashed into a commercial fishing boat rigging just outside the harbor.

3:45pm, received request to assist CIMWI with capturing an injured sea lion. The mammal was caught, placed in a cage and transported to waiting vehicle.

Friday
11/19

4:47pm, received report of a cat wandering around the Harbor Village from tenants. Officers contacted rescue volunteers, but the cat’s owner arrived.

Tuesday
11/23

5:19am, received request from VPD to assist with investigation of stolen catalytic converter(s). The thieves fled the VWM parking lot and VPD pursued the three juveniles who eventually crashed near Seaward Ave. 11 catalytic converters were recovered from the vehicle with burglary tools & floor jack. A gun was recovered from the original scene, the incident is under investigation.

Vol. 15, No. 05 – Dec 1 – Dec 14, 2021 – Opinion/Editorial

I receive some emails from readers who do nothing but insult me and call me rather unflattering names. Most also make statements like “why would a person with any brains bother reading your article.” Seems rhetorical as they are clearly reading my article. For these readers, I’d recommend that they don’t read my publisher letter since it bothers them so much.

Or, if they do continue to read, send me an email that intellectually expresses thoughts about what I write and why you think I am wrong.

State Senator Monique Limon, D-Santa Barbara, and our own Assemblymember Steve Bennett, D- Ventura, have announced plans for a state bill prohibiting gun shows at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

There is some question if this action would be legal. Fair board directors want to talk to lawyers, and Gov. Gavin Newsom, before deciding whether to ban gun shows at the state-owned fairgrounds.

Fairground Directors voted 4-3 to hold a discussion as soon as possible with legal counsel on the liability that could come with ending gun shows held there. They expressed concerns about litigation threats from Crossroads of the West, the gun show operator, who won a $500,000 settlement in a lawsuit over a similar ban at another fairgrounds.

They did vote to prohibit the sale of “ghost gun” kits, which enable people to build firearms that do not contain traceable serial numbers.

You know my position on gun ownership, but you might be surprised to know that I am against prohibiting gun shows at the fairgrounds. There needs to be a fine balance between rights and concerns.

It’s our gun laws that need changing. It should not be legal for a 17-year-old (or anyone else for that matter) to walk down the street carrying a high-powered military rifle for protection. There should be some restriction on the types of guns sold. Perhaps high-powered rifles really don’t belong in the hands of most citizens so should be prohibited.

Guns in The News

Three people were shot and three more injured during a shooting at a packed shopping mall in Durham, North Carolina. Responding officers found three people had been shot in an incident between two groups of people who knew each other. Remember when this just became a fist fight?

A 5-year-old boy in Pennsylvania was shot and killed by his 6-year-old sibling after they were left unsupervised in a room with an unsecured firearm. Three children had been left alone in a bedroom with the gun.

A 15-year-old boy was charged with attempted first-degree murder in connection with a shooting that injured six high school students at a Colorado park. He is alleged to have been the driver of a Chrysler 300, one of two vehicles involved in the shooting that occurred about 12:45 p.m. at Nome Park, less than half a mile from Aurora Central High School.

A passenger was going through the screening process when “somebody recognized that there was a weapon in the bag,” an airport spokesperson stated. “When either the officer went in or when the passenger went in to get it, it accidentally discharged. The passenger “took off and was able to make it outside of the airport.”

Jeffery Lynn Johnson, 58, who appeared in “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” died by an apparent suicide during an argument with his wife. Johnson’s wife, Charity, told police her husband killed himself in front of her during an argument in their garage. Their 4 and 5-year-old children were inside the house at the time.

A Thanksgiving dinner turned tragic inside a Pennsylvania home when a 25-year-old man was shot and killed by a stray bullet that pierced through a window.  Edilberto Miguel Palaez Moctezuma, was eating Thanksgiving dinner with his family at the time and had nothing to do with the shooting, according to authorities.

 Metro Police are investigating a shooting in Nashville that left three dead and several others injured. The shooting occurred inside an apartment in the 2800 block of Torbett Street around 9:45 p.m. Police said seven people were shot, and three have died from their injuries.

An estimated 3,000 Chumash Indians were buried on the Ventura Mission grounds in downtown. The church office building sits on top of the land.

The Rev. Tom Elewaut has agreed to memorialize the Chumash as soon as possible. An Indigenous Peoples Day is being planned and a monument to honor the deceased Chumash.

This is certainly needed to honor this tribe who were basically made to work on the mission as slaves.

Does this make sense? We were watching the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera Symphony Orchestra (they were playing Mahler’s Symphony no. 1) on PBS. All the string instrument musicians were wearing masks and the wind instruments (of course) performers were not. I know it’s symbolic, but rather absurd.

A federal judge has sentenced the U.S. Capitol rioter known as the “QAnon Shaman” (for his horned headdress) to 41 months in prison for his role in the deadly Jan. 6 attack by followers of then-President Donald Trump. Good keep it coming.

The Defense Department is launching the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, a unit that will be charged with finding and identifying UFOs in restricted airspace, officials said Tuesday.

The new group will replace the U.S. Navy’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. The move comes after the U.S. intelligence community verified a number of unexplained aerial sightings earlier this year and admitted it could not explain the phenomena. The Defense Department said it takes the subject of airborne objects very seriously, whether the objects are identified or not.

I wonder what kind of idiots would want to come to earth unless it is to show the inhabitants how not to run a planet. I hope they show up so we can ask them.

A federal judge took aim at former President Donald Trump for lying about voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election, saying that former Vice President Al Gore had a better standing to challenge the 2000 election results but that he was “a man” and walked away.

“Al Gore had a better case to argue than Mr. Trump, but he was a man about what happened to him,” Senior District Judge Reggie Walton said of Gore’s decision to end his presidential bid following weeks of legal battles. “He accepted it and walked away.”

Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to punish abortion, unanimously annulling several provisions of a law from Coahuila, a state on the Texas border, that had made abortion a criminal act.

The decision will immediately affect only the northern border state, but it establishes a historic precedent and “obligatory criteria for all of the country’s judges,” compelling them to act the same way in similar cases, said court President Arturo Zaldívar. “From now on you will not be able to, without violating the court’s criteria and the constitution, charge any woman who aborts under the circumstances this court has ruled as valid.”

If a country that is 83% Catholic can think rationally about abortion why can’t Texas (and others)?

Just in time for holiday cycle needs

by Shirley Lorraine

Donate. Sell. Shop. Help get bikes for foster care kids. Support the Community Velo Swap.

Hypercat Cycleworks in Ventura is hosting a Community Velo Swap on Sunday, December 12 from 9 a.m to 2 p.m. All are welcome. Proceeds benefit Project Bicycle Love, a Ventura-based, non-profit that provides children in foster care with new helmets and bicycles. (https://www.bicycleslove.org)

Support the Velo Swap by donating your unwanted bike related parts and gear and/or selling your goods on site as well as shopping the swap! Donations accepted at Hypercat Cycleworks, 4160 Market St #13, Ventura, during business hours on Saturday, December 11. To reserve a space or for more details, email [email protected] with the subject Velo Swap. (805) 477-0353.

Hypercat Cycleworks has been in business for over 15 years providing quality services for all levels of biking needs. The shop was recently awarded the honor of Retailer of the Year by their peers and were named among America’s Best Bike Shops several years running.