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Vol. 14, No. 24 – Aug 25 – Sept 7, 2021 – Police Reports

by Cindy Summers

Police reports are provided to us by the Ventura Police Department and are not the opinions of the Ventura Breeze. All suspects mentioned are assumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Brandishing and Possession of a Loaded Firearm in a Vehicle Arrest

On August 10, at approximately 9:45 am, officers responded to a call of a subject brandishing a gun from the parking lot of Enterprise Rental Cars. An employee from the business advised the subject, later identified as 30 year old Port Hueneme resident Michael Guerrero, was pointing the weapon randomly at vehicles driving by. Several Ventura Police officers responded to the location.

Officers located Guerrero in the parking lot of Enterprise. He matched the description of the suspect and was detained. During the investigation, it was determined Guerrero was brandishing a taser at people and he had a loaded concealed 9mm handgun in his vehicle. Guerrero was told he was under arrest and began challenging officers to fight. Fortunately, officers were able to de- escalate the situation and took Guerrero into custody without incident.

Guerrero also had additional firearms located at his residence in Port Hueneme. Major Crimes detectives obtained a search warrant for the firearms to prevent Guerrero from using them to endanger the community again. Detectives located and seized eight additional guns, one of which was an assault rifle. Guerrero was booked in Ventura County Jail.

Narcotics Arrest

On August 12, at approximately 8:00 am, members of the Ventura Police Department SCU unit conducted a search warrant at the above address due to an investigation into narcotics sales and operating a drug house. Detectives using investigative tools were able to identify a primary suspect as Michael Nelson.

During the execution of the search warrant, investigators located evidence of narcotics use. Detectives also recovered several forms of narcotics, including heroin, methamphetamines, suboxone, and oxycodone.

As a result of the investigation, 41 year old Ventura resident Michael Nelson was arrested for possession of a controlled substance. Travis Harkey, 37 year old Ventura resident, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance. Charlotte Bauer, 32 year old Ventura resident, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance.

A search of the Ventura County Superior Court shows that Michael Nelson has prior arrests for property crimes, narcotics violations, including arrests for possession for sales of a controlled substance. Travis Harkey has a previous arrest for public intoxication. Charlotte Bauer has prior arrests for resisting arrest, narcotics violations, identity theft, vehicle theft, theft, and burglary.

Sex Offender Compliance Sweep

On August 11, the Ventura Police Department in partnership with the Ventura County Probation and State Parole conducted a series of sex offender compliance checks within the City of Ventura. The offenders searched were on active CDCR State Parole and/or Probation in the County of Ventura. Compliance checks are done regularly to ensure high risk offenders are following their court ordered restrictions.

Officers visited 15 offenders’ residents and of those four arrests were made:.

James Robles, 51 years old, was arrested for felony possession of a controlled substance and possession of tear gas
Steven Perry, 54 years old, was arrested for a felony violation of parole
Joseph Hooton, 27 years old, was arrested for felony possession of a controlled substance and felony violation of parole.
Michael Lievre, 39 years old, was arrested for an outstanding warrant for lewd conduct and a felony parole warrant

Stolen Vehicle and Drug Sales Arrest

On August 17, at approximately 2:45 pm, a Ventura Police Department patrol officer saw a stolen vehicle in the area of Telegraph Rd. and Ashwood Ave. The officer followed the vehicle, stolen in Santa Barbara County on July 27, and initiated an enforcement stop. The vehicle yielded in a parking lot in the 5100 block of Telegraph Rd, and patrol officers took 29 year old Goleta resident Christian Juarez into custody without incident. Investigating officers searched the vehicle and located methamphetamine, heroin, and evidence of narcotics sales.

Juarez was arrested for unlawful taking of a vehicle, possession of methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine for sale, possession of a controlled substance, and three outstanding warrants.

Are there ghosts at the Dudley House?

Ghost files is a compilation of reports dating back almost twenty years.

This is a question the guides at the historic house museum are sometimes asked during the first Sunday open house tours. Well, now there is an
answer!

Published authors and tour guides Lynn Weitzel and Richard Senate–known nationally as Ventura County’s “Ghost Hunter”–have dipped into their “ghost files” and written a compilation of reports dating back almost twenty years. “Are There Ghosts at the Dudley House?” is a booklet available for purchase at the Dudley House gift shop (open first Sundays 1-4) for $6. Both authors will be guiding tours on September 5 and October 3 from 1-4.

The museum is located at the corner of Loma Vista and Ashwood streets (197 N. Ashwood) in Ventura. The booklet can also be purchased by sending a check for $7.87 which includes tax and shipping to: San Buenaventura
Heritage, P. O. Box 6803, Ventura, CA 93006. For more information call
(805) 642-3345 or visit the website at dudleyhouse.org.

Ventura City Fire units dispatched to large vehicle fire

Ventura City Fire units were dispatched to a report of a large vehicle fire at Walker St. & Moon Dr. Fire and police personnel responded and arrived to find a motorhome fully involved with fire. Heavy smoke was visible for a long distance. Two adult occupants and a cat were able to escape from the vehicle unharmed. While they were driving, they noticed smoke and flames coming from the engine compartment and were able to stop and safely exit unharmed.

Vol. 14, No. 24 – Aug 25 – Sept 7, 2021 – Forever Homes Wanted

Stephan is a sweet and gentle bunny with excellent litter box habits. He is a bit shy at first but comes out of shell as he warms up. He is eager for a loving and safe indoor home where he can enjoy endless pets and let his personality shine. Please email the Ventura County Animals Services’ Bunny Brigade at [email protected] and ask for ID# A775580 to learn more about Stephan and our adoption process. For information on house rabbit care and enrichment, visit https://www.facebook.com/VCASBunnyBrigade.

Lindsey and Lucky are Chow Heeler mixes who came from a home that had too many dogs. They are still shy with volunteers, but we are hoping after some decompression time they will warm up. Their lives were turned upside down when they came to CARL, so we understand they need their time to get used to everyone.

They are a bonded pair and would need a home together. We were told that they are great with other dogs and older children. They are available for foster or adoption. Canine Adoption and Rescue League C.A.R.L CARL Adoption Center-call 644-7387 for more information.

Ventura City Fire units dispatched to vegetation fire

Ventura City Fire units were dispatched to a report of a vegetation fire in the area of Peninsula St. and Harbor Blvd. Emergency personnel responded and arrived to find a growing fire in an encampment area and nearby vegetation that was best accessed from the southbound lanes of the 101 freeway, south of Seaward Ave. Fire crews made an aggressive attack on the fire and prevented it from spreading to a nearby eucalyptus windrow. The fire was contained and completely extinguished within an hour. CHP units were on scene to assist with needed traffic control on the freeway. The cause was determined to be an unattended cooking fire in the encampment.

VCCCD Chancellor Greg Gillespie announces retirement in 2022

“I have appreciated the opportunity to work in the VCCCD community over the past eight years.”

Since joining the Ventura County Community College District, Greg Gillespie, Ph.D., has continually strived to provide students with access to high-quality, relevant educational programs and support services, first as president of Ventura College, and currently as VCCCD chancellor. After eight years of service to the District, Gillespie has announced his retirement, effective the end of June 2022.

During his tenure as chancellor, Gillespie spearheaded initiatives promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) to support the varying needs of the District’s students, employees and the greater community. This includes building a culture that encourages equity and social justice.

“I have appreciated the opportunity to work in the VCCCD community over the past eight years. We have experienced quite a journey together,” Gillespie said. Gillespie notably steered the District through the COVID-19 pandemic, collaborating with the District’s board of trustees and senior leadership for operations to continue at Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges and Ventura College East Campus. The District followed guidance from Ventura County Public Health, California Department of Health and Cal/OSHA to ensure the health and well-being of students, faculty and staff throughout the pandemic and instituted remote learning and hybrid courses, so students could continue their studies safely.

“Chancellor Gillespie has guided us through the pandemic with a focus on the needs of our students, faculty, classified staff and three colleges,” said Board Chair Joshua Chancer. “With Dr. Gillespie’s leadership, we have seen a greater emphasis on certificate and degree completion, allowing students to achieve their full potential in the classroom and progress into careers and further education.”

Chancer indicated the District will soon start the search process for a new chancellor. Gillespie will work closely with the board to ensure a smooth transition in District leadership.

Before joining the District, Gillespie served as vice president for instruction and student services at Yavapai College, Prescott, Ariz. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the community college system and has served in faculty, director, dean, vice president and president positions at four different community colleges in Arizona, California and Washington.

In his remaining time with the District, Gillespie will continue serving on the Ventura County P-20 Council, which advances the strengthening of educational and career opportunities in the community from pre-school through college, United Way of Ventura County and other local organizations.

“There is much work ahead of us in the coming year. We are challenged to learn everything we can from what has occurred in the past 18 months, preserving the best of practices—past, present and future—and integrating them into our emerging new normal,” said Gillespie.

Vol. 14, No. 24 – Aug 25 – Sept 7, 2021 – Opinion/Editorial

∙ As previously covered, two 15-year-old students were arrested for starting a fire at Mound Elementary School in Ventura on July 22.

The damage to the school is preliminary estimated at over $1,000,000.

The Ventura Unified School District board unanimously voted to declare an emergency which will expedite the necessary decisions as necessary to quickly resolve the situation. The district will be leasing and installing a portable building and proceed with repairing the fire damage. Demolition has been started.

The moral and legal question remains in terms of what is the appropriate action to take against 15-year-olds? Certainly, they need lots of help. Should they be incarcerated until they are 21? Will putting them in prison help or just make them worse?

I feel for their families trying to deal with this.

∙ Because we have a Sudoku puzzle in each issue, I thought it would be fun to share this.

Maki Kaji, the creator of the popular numbers puzzle Sudoku whose life’s work was spreading the joy of puzzles, has died. He was 69 and had bile duct cancer. Known as the “Godfather of Sudoku,” its name is made up of the Japanese characters for “number” and “single.” There are different levels of difficulty for each puzzle.

It wasn’t until 2004, when Sudoku became a global hit, after a fan from New Zealand pitched it and got it published in a British newspaper.

∙ Question: Regarding Afghanistan, what president said this last year? ‘It had been a long and hard journey in Afghanistan. It’s time after all these years to bring our people back home.”

Answer: Trump.

I certainly agree with Trump and feel that Biden is doing the correct thing. He isn’t doing as well as it should have been accomplished, but after 20-years and an estimated 2 trillion dollars, the time has come to get out.

Of course, some Afghanistan people, especially women will be hurt by this, but there is really no way to deal with religious zealots no matter where, or who, they are. If this had been done with better preparation (as it should have been), eventually the results would have been basically the same.

The Taliban rule will be draconian. But how long would the United States need to remain there to prevent this from happening? Another 20-years, forever?

The basic problem, and miscalculation, was that the Afghanistan military would fight to “save” their country. Maybe we should have known this.

Act 1: Ten Taliban (driving old beat-up trucks and old motorcycles) wearing sandals, head scarfs and civilian clothes approach an Afghanistan military base and declare “we have the place surrounded so give up.”

Act 2: 50% of the military throw down there never-used weapons and give up. The other 50% change into their civilian clothes and go home.

U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan stated, “The Afghan military chose not to fight for their country.” It appears Taliban fighters met almost no resistance from the U.S. trained military.

If they are not willing to fight for their country, I don’t think that we should die for them anymore.

We can no longer be the savior for the entire world. Right now, we have enough of our own serious problems to deal with. We should certainly still provide aid to situations like the one in Haiti.

Those are my thoughts. As always, I would love to hear yours. Publisher @venturabreeze.com

∙ The cousin of a Texas mother of four who died recently following a month-long battle with COVID-19 told news outlets that she asked relatives to make sure her children get vaccinated before she was intubated.

Lydia Rodriguez, who was not vaccinated and whose husband Lawrence also died this summer after contracting COVID-19, was first hospitalized in mid-July. According to a fundraising page set up on the family’s behalf, the couple were both in the ICU at the same time.

“Before she got intubated, one of the last things she told her sister was ‘Please make sure my children get vaccinated,’” Dottie Jones, the woman’s cousin, told the news outlet. “She would be there for her kids right now if she had been vaccinated.”

Most days during the coronavirus pandemic, Cardinal Raymond L. Burke could be found strolling down the streets of Rome mask less and carrying rosary beads. The 73-year-old conservative cardinal was an early critic of social distancing and, later, an unabashed skeptic of the vaccine.

Last Tuesday, Burke announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Now, the cardinal is in a hospital bed in his native Wisconsin, breathing with the help of a ventilator.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has tested positive for COVID-19, the governor’s office announced in a release.

Conservative talk radio host Phil Valentine has died following a lengthy battle with COVID-19. He was 61 years old. Recently Valentine voiced skepticism about the COVID-19 vaccine.

In December of 2020 he tweeted, “I have a very low risk of A) getting COVID and B) dying of it. If I do, why would I risk getting a heart attack or paralysis by getting the vaccine?”

At least he won’t have a heart attack or paralysis.

I certainly understand that vaccines aren’t 100% perfect, but of the new 10,000 COVID cases in Miami, 98% of the patients were not vaccinated.

∙ Guns in The News:

A 3-year-old girl was killed after a 5-year-old boy shot her in Minnesota. The shooting was reported in a residence in the town of Bena, according to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office. Upon arrival, deputies learned that the victim had been shot inside the home.

An autopsy is pending with the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office, and an investigation is ongoing, Burch said. It remains unclear whether criminal charges will be filed in connection with the incident against the gun owner. They certainly should be.

At least 3,371 children and teens in the U.S. were killed with guns in 2019, according to a report this year from the Children’s Defense Fund, a child advocacy nonprofit organization. The group estimates that a child was killed by a gun every two and a half hours during that year.

Three people are dead, and two others are in critical condition after an overnight shooting at an East Side sports bar, according to San Antonio police. The shooting happened around 3:23 a.m., Sunday, after-hours at the Boom Boom Sports Bar (I guess Boom Boom is the sound of guns being fired.)

Police said a fight started inside of the bar between two people before it spilled into the parking lot. A man then went to his car, pulled a long gun, and started shooting rounds in the air, striking five people – two women, and three men.

The two people shot dead at an NHK factory in Frankfort, Indiana, were employees of the company – a grandmother and granddaughter who were arriving for their shift, according to the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office. The alleged suspect, 26-year-old Gary C. Ferrell, an employee at the factory is in custody.

Ventura street names have interesting origins

by Richard Senate

The Street names in Ventura reflect her long and colorful past. Each one has its own story to tell. The Street we call today “Main Street” was once known as “El Camino Real” the famed royal road that linked all the Missions in Spanish Times. With the coming of the Yankees they wanted to devest themselves of anything that sounded Spanish so the name was changed official by Ordinance #10 in 1867 by the new city of San Buenaventura.

The oldest street name that survives today is that of “Figueroa” that stands before the old Mission. Contrary to legend, it wasn’t named after the popular California Governor of that name. It is named for the local blacksmith named Figueroa who had an adobe on that street in 1850. “Palm Street” was named for the three tall date palms planted at the Mission by the padres. Sadly these tall trees, once landmarks are gone. Perhaps we should plant new ones to replace them?

“Oak Street” was given that name because a large oak tree one stood on the roadway. It first appears on the maps in 1869. “California Street is believed to have been given its name when California became a state in 1850. It ran from Main Street to the spot on the beaches where boats landed before the construction of the pier in 1872.

“Thompson Street” gets its name from local farmer “Dixie” Thompson who was known for his dancing horsed that performed in local parades. It was originally called “Meta Street” and used as a horse racing track in Mission Times. “Poli Street was named for popular landowner and doctor Dr. Manuel Antonio Rodriguez de Poli. He was our first town doctor. He had a large adobe on the place where it turns to connect with the Ventura Avenue.

“Ventura Avenue” was originally called “Canada Street” before its name was changed by an act of the state Assembly in 1872. Another odd street name is “Sanjon Street”. It is not named after an unknown Catholic saint, even if it sounds that way. It was a Yankee corruption of its true name–“Zanja” that means a man made ditch or canal. The names of our street tell a unique story of our community.

The celebration of Jewish New Year

Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first and second days of Tishri. Jewish Year 5782 starts at sunset on Sept.6 (The Jewish calendar date begins at sundown of the night beforehand. Thus all holiday observances begin at sundown on the secular dates listed, with the following day being the first full day of the holiday. According to the Torah, the story of creation in Genesis says “And it was evening, and it was morning day one”, “And it was evening, and it was morning; the second day”, thus night comes before day. So, for the Jewish calendar all days begin at nightfall and end the next day at nightfall including holidays.)

In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means, literally, “head of the year” or “first of the year.” Rosh Hashanah is commonly known as the Jewish New Year. This name is somewhat deceptive, because there is little similarity between Rosh Hashanah, one of the holiest days of the year, and the American New Year.

There is, however, one important similarity between the Jewish New Year and the American one. Many Americans use the New Year as a time to plan a better life, making “resolutions.” Likewise, the Jewish New Year is a time to begin introspection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and planning the changes to make in the new year.

The shofar is a ram’s horn which is blown somewhat like a trumpet. One of the most important observances of this holiday is hearing the sounding of the shofar in the synagogue.

No work is permitted on Rosh Hashanah. Much of the day is spent in temple, where the regular daily liturgy is somewhat expanded. There is a special prayer book called the machzor used for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur because of the extensive liturgical changes for these holidays.

The common greeting at this time is L’shanah tovah (“for a good year”). This is a shortening of “L’shanah tovah tikatev v’taihatem” which means “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.”

Yom Kippur, on Sept.15, also known as the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Some Jewish people traditionally observe this holy day with an approximate 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services.

Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora’im (“Days of Awe”) that commences with Rosh Hashanah.

Happy New Year to a few famous Jews:

Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky, Harry Houdini, Marx brothers, Steven Spielberg, Sandy Koufax, Irving Berlin (Ironically, his compositions included “White Christmas” and “Easter Parade”) ,Mel Brooks, Dustin Hoffman, Peter Sellers, Al Jolson, Stan Getz, Ruth Ginsburg and Mark Zuckerberg (and Jesus Of Nazareth of course).

TREE TOWN

These striking yellow blossoms adorn Ventura every summer. The Cassia leptophylla (Gold Medallion Tree) is a broad semi-evergreen tree that grows to 25 feet tall and 20 feet wide and is drought tolerant. In early to mid-summer, the clusters of 3- to 5-inch wide deep yellow flowers appear. This is the most common and reliable of the Cassias in southern California – it was first planted in the Los Angeles County Arboretum in 1958, and has been an increasingly popular and very reliable and beautiful canopy tree in Ventura County landscapes. The name Cassia is from the ancient Greek ‘Kassia’, a name for the kassian plants that provided senna leaves and pods for medicinal use.

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