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Ventura County Student Logo Design Contest Winners Announced

The Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE) is pleased to announce the following winners of logo design contests for the 2025 Academic Decathlon, Science Fair, Battle of the Books, and Mock Trial. Approximately 180 entries were submitted by students from throughout Ventura County.

The winning logos were chosen by a committee of VCOE staff members. The artwork will be prominently displayed on promotional and informational materials for these high-profile competitions and will be featured on commemorative pins for each event.

X Games Ventura was EPIC. What’s Next?

Skateboarder catches big air at the thrilling 2024 Ventura X Games

by VisitVentura

X Games Ventura – it brings a smile to our faces every time we hear it. Our hometown next to an international brand. On t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, skateboards, and gold medals broadcasted on live TV repeatedly.

X Games brought so many memories, jaw-dropping action, and smiles. And there’s so much to be proud of. Our efforts brought X Games back to California, where skateboarding has its roots. X Games California 2023 turned into X Games Ventura because of OUR community and how we came together to celebrate the X Games – we heard so many times from X Games staff that “No other destination has ever done this for us!” Amid California’s exciting sporting events line up in the coming years, it is amazing that Los Angeles has hosted the Olympics TWICE since 1932. In many ways, the X Games was our Olympics, and we hosted it twice back to back! That’s sure something to be proud about!

Ventura was launched worldwide and earned media impressions grew from 5 billion to 9.3 billion in 2024 — yep, that is BILLIONS with a B! Seeing X Games Ventura replays on ESPN always captures our attention to watch again and say, “We all did that! That’s our home!”

So…now what? What is next? We get this question daily.

What is next for the X Game brand is the X Games League (XGL), a new global, team-based format. The X Games competition is changing as a result of the XGL. This means no future X Games event will look like what we hosted in Ventura in 2023 or 2024.

XGL is a team-based format set to launch in 2026. X Games leadership is starting to build out their new path next year, 2025.

This means there will not be an X Games Ventura 2025. While we have made great friends with the X Games leadership, athletes, and sponsors, difficult decisions were made. XGL is taking X Games down a different path and we wholeheartedly cheer on their future business endeavors — and you never know what the future will hold! After all, we’re stoked about the construction of the new Westpark skate park; we have been discussing this project with them since the City started the grant writing process.

As our partners, you are among the first to know. Our public announcement will be this Thursday, 10/10, through ads in our local publications, thanking our community at large for welcoming the X Games to our hometown and celebrating the history we made together. Our team has worked hard on the communication strategy to celebrate our community’s accomplishments. We ask that you limit sharing this news so we can once again work on the plan. We appreciate your patience and support!

There are exciting times ahead for OUR Ventura! And we know what our community is capable of. We can own our own space on the global platform and collaborate to make incredible things happen, setting us apart from any other destination. We’re capable of celebrating our community and embracing a variety of awesome ideas brought to the table.

X Games has changed the landscape of our business community and city for many years to come. We’re proud of making history in our hometown. We did this TOGETHER as partners and as a community… and that’s how the magic happens.  And that’s what Ventura is all about.

City of Ventura Begins Next Phase of Surfers Point Restoration and Coastal Protection

by Patricia Schallert

The City of Ventura invited the media to commemorate the groundbreaking for the second phase of the Surfers Point Managed Retreat Project on Friday, October 11, 2024, at the end of Shoreline Drive, near the dunes at Surfers Point.

The morning event included a ceremony featuring remarks from Ventura Mayor Joe Schroeder, alongside local officials, key stakeholders, and community representatives.

Surfers Point, a beloved destination for swimming, surfing, windsurfing, and kayaking, boasts vital walking, running, and biking paths that benefit all Ventura residents. This $16.2 million project, funded by the California State Coastal Conservancy, aims to enhance beachgoer safety and protect the shoreline from erosion, rising sea levels, and climate change. Planned improvements involve a new multi-use path, redesigned parking with an attendant station, public art, enhanced lighting, upgraded drainage, improved landscaping, and electric vehicle charging stations, creating a safer and more enjoyable experience for all visitors.

Building upon a successful first phase completed in 2013, recognized globally for its innovative coastal resilience strategy, this second phase will also remove damaged infrastructure and introduce dunes, native plants, and a cobble berm to protect both City and Fairgrounds infrastructure.

Mayor Schroeder noted, “When agencies collaborate effectively, remarkable achievements occur,” emphasizing that Ventura has become an international model for coastal preservation. Supervisor Matt LaVere of District 1 expressed gratitude for the Phase 2 project, which aims to “safeguard the coastline from erosion, restore habitats, and address rising sea levels.”

Dan Long, president of the Ventura County Fairgrounds, highlighted the project’s community-focused vision, while Paul Jenkins, President of the Surfrider Foundation and Ventura Campaign Coordinator, acknowledged the earlier phase’s recognition as a successful green infrastructure solution against climate change’s challenges.

Chairman Matt Vestuto, a Cultural Specialist Consultant from the Band of Mission Indians, believes this project will help preserve the Ventura coastline as a sacred space for future generations and appreciates the collaboration of all involved agencies as they embark on this next chapter for Surfers Point.

Volunteers Revive Ropersmith Trail as VLT Seeks Long-Term Solutions

by Ventura Land Trust

The last few wet seasons were quite challenging for Harmon Canyon Preserve. The Preserve weather station recorded over 35 inches of rain during the 2023/2024 wet season, more than double the typical amount for a season. This rainfall resulted in the remarkable recruitment of native species, lush growth of coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia), and significant damage to the beloved roads and trails. After the wet season ended, Ventura Land Trust (VLT) conducted a thorough survey of the roads and trails, finding the most severe impacts in the upper canyon, north of the 1.5-mile gate.

Repairing the roads is complicated by their location within Southern California Edison’s (SCE) easement area, which allows SCE access to high-tension power lines and requires them to maintain the roads to a certain standard. If VLT were to perform maintenance on the roads, and they subsequently failed, VLT would be held liable for any damages which poses great financial risk for VLT. As a result, VLT has refrained from maintaining the damaged roads in Upper Harmon Canyon.

With this in mind, VLT staff worked closely with SCE to expedite repairs to the roads in Harmon Canyon during 2024. Simultaneously a group of cycling enthusiasts approached VLT and volunteered to rebuild Ropersmith by hand. VLT agreed to support this volunteer initiative by providing supplies, hoping it would coincide with SCE’s road repairs, leading to the reopening of Long Canyon Road and Ropersmith Family Trail at the same time. However, things rarely go as planned.

In early September VLT received news from SCE. They were reclassifying the Long Canyon Road “maintenance” project as an “improvement” project, placing it under the oversight of SCE’s civil engineering department, which means there is no set completion date in sight. This sent VLT on the hunt for a new solution to opening trails in the Upper Canyon.

With Long Canyon Road remaining off-limits, VLT had to either pause volunteer efforts on Ropersmith or make the trail bi-directional. Given the nearly 300 hours of volunteer labor already invested, VLT decided to honor these volunteers’ hard work and open Ropersmith Family Trail as a bi-directional trail on October 11, 2024.

The reopening is on a trial basis. If reports of user conflicts increase or if injuries strain Ventura’s first responders, VLT will close the trail. To mitigate these issues, VLT encourages users to remember essential trail etiquette: go slow, be respectful, and keep in mind that Harmon Canyon is a nature preserve. We understand that Ropersmith Family Trail is important to many in the community, and we are excited to reopen it, but not at the expense of the plants, animals, and other visitors who deserve a safe, welcoming environment. We appreciate your help in making nature accessible for everyone!

If you have questions about the Ropersmith Family Trail or would like to learn more about VLT’s work in Harmon Canyon, please reach out to [email protected]. To stay up to date on what’s happening in our preserves, check the Preserves Update section of www.venturalandtrust.org.

City Council Candidates

On November 5, 2024, voters in Ventura’s Districts 2, 3, and 7 will cast their ballots to elect three City Council members for four-year terms. Visit the candidates’ websites for more information. You can also watch the candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Midtown Ventura Community Council, and the College Area Community Council: www.capsmedia.org.

District 2 Candidates:

Doug Halter
www.DougHalter.com		 Naz Madaen
www.NazforVentura.com


District 3 Candidates:

Heather May Ellinger
www.heathermayforventura.com		 Clint Garman
www.electclintgarmanventura.com
Maricela Reyes
www.MaricelaReyesForVentura.com		 Ryyn Schumacher
www.ryynforventura.com
Correction: In our last issue, we mistakenly listed Ryyn Schumacher as a candidate for Ventura City Council in District 7. He is, in fact, running for the District 3 seat. The correct web site for his campaign is www.ryynforventura.com.

​
District 7 Candidates:

Mario “Alex” Mangone
www.alexforventuracouncil.com		 Brian Brennan
www.brennan4ventura.com

 

‘Tis the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! 13th Annual Festive CAN-tree Food Drive.

Ventura County comes together for the CAN-tree Food Drive – now in its 13th year. Figueroa Street transforms into a magical forest of creative CAN-trees – a fairyland of food! Gather your colleagues and friends, get creative, and help spread holiday cheer while fighting hunger in our community!

Thursday, December 5th

  • 9 AM – 2 PM: Large tree building
  • 2 PM – 4 PM: Community tree building
  • 4 PM – 6 PM: Community tree building

Friday, December 6th

  • 10 AM – 12 PM: Cumulus will be broadcasting LIVE from the event
  • 10 AM – 6 PM: Tree building.
  • 6 PM: Tree Lighting event at Figueroa Plaza

Saturday, December 7th

  • 9 AM – 1 PM: Tree building
  • 8:30AM – 12PM: Farmers Market
  • 12 PM – 8PM: Holiday Street Fair on Main St.
  • 4 PM – 8 PM: Winter Wine Walk

Sunday, December 8th
Trees will then be broken down and cans collected to feed our community.

www.foodshare.com/cantree

Second annual Art Show, Sale and Gift Boutique – Marina Mobile Home Park

Ocean painting by Patricia Schallert

On November 3rd from 12:00 to 5 pm, the Marina Mobile Home Park will host the second annual Art Show, Sale and Gift Boutique, celebrating the incredible talent of local artists from across Ventura. Explore a beautiful array of stunning paintings, photography, captivating sculptures, jewelry and unique gifts and crafts showcased by Ventura’s talented artists. In the lobby of the art venue, you’ll find an exhibition featuring works from many local artists, ranging from watercolor to acrylic paintings, and photography with several artists on hand to discuss their creative process and inspirations. The setting will be enhanced by ambient music, creative lighting, and a selection of refreshments for your enjoyment. Additionally, various vendors from the Ventura community have generously donated gifts that will be auctioned off during the event. Free event.

1215 Anchors Way Dr. – Club House.

Compost and Mulch Featured on Farm Day Tours

2023 visitors enjoy a tractor ride at Prancers Farm.

by David Goldstein, PWA, IWMD

Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture, SEEAG, a nonprofit organization primarily serving schools in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, are partnering with agriculturally related businesses for the upcoming Ventura County Farm Day on November 2, from 10 AM to 3 PM. The public is invited to register for tours at more than 15 sites. Not all events will take place on farms, and not all the focus will be on crops. In fact, some long-deserved attention will be focused on the compost and mulch that have long been an important input for productive farming in Ventura County.

In fact, one of the optional tour sites is the Agromin compost facility on Arnold Road. Owned by USA Petroleum, this site was a mushroom farm until 2002, when two recently graduated UC Santa Barbara Environmental Studies majors, one son of a USA Petroleum executive, decided to turn it into a compost facility called Shoreline Organics. By 2004, the two had begun compost operations, but they struggled with permitting, regulatory, and financial challenges.

Agromin bought the business, took over the lease, and turned the site into Ventura County’s major composting facility. Although the facility has been successful for two decades, it likely has only a short future as a compost making operation. Competing land uses, including bird preservation related to the nearby Ormond Beach Wetland, have limited options and posed challenges for compost operations. Anticipated as an alternative, Agromin is currently expanding a compost facility on the Limoneira Farm, near Santa Paula. Agromin also operates a mulch-making and food-waste transferring facility at the Simi Valley Landfill and Recycling Center and expects an early 2025 opening for an in-vessel composting and food-waste-to-animal-feed facility on Mountain View Street in Oxnard.

One of the two entrepreneurs who started Shoreline Organics at Agromin’s Ormond Beach site is now in a different role with another company that is also on the Farm Day tour list. Greg Lewis is now Vice President of Duda Farms Fresh Foods. The farm, near the ocean on the outskirts of Ventura, is a major national producer of celery. Unsurprisingly, the farm uses a lot of compost, as Lewis is familiar with the benefits of the product.

The McGrath Farm is another site where SEEAG’s agricultural education program will intersect with compost education. “I’m going to tell people there shouldn’t be anything called ‘waste,’” said Phil McGrath, an owner of the farm. “We feed what we can to people; anything left, we feed to animals; and after that, anything left we turn into compost.”

McGrath recalled that his late father and grandfather, William and Joseph McGrath, relied heavily on compost, not just as a good agricultural practice for crop production, but also as an environmentally smart method of waste management. Until 1948, the McGrath Dairy on the site and at two other locations was the third largest milk producer in California. Dairy manure was an important input for composting.

Changing regulatory conditions and other factors led to the demise of the dairy, but Phil McGrath dreams of bringing it back with clever measures, including advanced composting, that could make it work again in Ventura County. In the meantime, the McGrath farm hosts the Rodale Institute California Organics Center, which helps farmers solve challenges, conducts research, and provides educational programs related to compost.

Petty Ranch, a fifth-generation farm in Saticoy, is an additional Farm Day site with significant compost connections. Serving as the Farm Day hub, this is the site where SEEAG hosts thousands of children each year for its Farm Lab program. It has an eight-foot-long worm box, where red worms eat food scraps, producing high quality soil amendment.

Sign up for free Farm Day tours at www.venturacountyfarmday.com, and use the farm day trail map to plan your day. “You can build your own farm and food adventure and also learn about compost,” said Catilin Paulus-Case, Executive Director of SEEAG.

David Goldstein, an Environmental Resource Analyst with the Ventura County Public Works Agency, may be reached at [email protected] or (805) 658-4312

 

How can we make Halloween safer for pets?

From the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)

Image by Freepik

Costumes and masks, lights and decorations, and a constant parade of strangers coming to your door— Halloween can be a downright spooky experience for pets. You can protect your pets by taking these steps to reduce the risk of them being hurt, poisoned, or lost.

  • Don’t feed pets Halloween treats. Raisins can cause your pet’s kidneys to fail, and candy may contain substances toxic to pets, such as chocolate or xylitol (a common sugar substitute found in sugar-free candies and gum). Often, you won’t be able to tell what a treat or piece of candy contains just by looking at it.
  • Make sure your pets have identification (microchip, collar, and ID tag) that will make it easy for someone to contact you and return them home in case they escape through an open door while you’re distracted with trick-or-treaters.
  • Keep lit candles, jack-o-lanterns, and other Halloween decorations out of reach of pets.
  • Keep all human costume pieces away from pets, along with glow sticks, decorations, batteries, and other holiday items. When chewed, glow stick items can release liquid that tastes really bad and can make pets drool excessively or act strangely (though it isn’t likely to be harmful). Other costume parts and decorations might cause choking, internal injury, or illness.
  • If you plan to put a costume on your pet, make sure it follows these guidelines:
    • Fits properly and is comfortable
    • Doesn’t have any pieces that easily can be chewed off or cause choking
    • Doesn’t block your pet’s sight, hearing, breathing, mouth, or movement
  • Take time before Halloween to get your pet accustomed to the costume, and never leave a costumed pet unsupervised.
  • If your pet is wary of strangers or has a tendency to bite, put them in a room away from the front door during trick-or-treating hours, or provide them with a safe hiding place.
  • Keep your pet indoors.