Photo by Michael Gordon
On April 24 the newly renovated Ventura Beach Marriott held a grand opening ribbon cutting. The Ventura Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting featured food by the hotel staff, music and tours of four of the renovated rooms. The multi-million-dollar remodel also included the entire lobby and restaurant area.
2055 Harbor Blvd.
Buena High School has made school history by hiring Cynthia Hernandez to serve as the Varsity Girls’ Basketball Coach. Coach Hernandez is the first female to fill this role for Buena since the 1970s. Hernandez is highly qualified with an extensive playing record in the area of women’s basketball at the collegiate level in NCAA tournaments and the Big Ten Conference representing Rutgers University.
Hernandez led the state in three-point shots during her collegiate playing time (shooting at 46.5%), at the national level, and was prolific during her time as a Buena High School athlete earning herself prestigious CIF championships and leadership roles. Buena held state titles in 1983 and 1984 as well as six CIF championships in 1979, 1984, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1997. Coach Hernandez will be tasked with bringing the girls’ basketball program back to its former glory.
“As we continue to build Buena’s athletics program, we are proud to add Cynthia Hernandez as our Girls’ Basketball Coach. Cynthia brings with her a college level perspective that the girls’ basketball program has not seen before. Additionally, she will be a strong and positive role model, and emphasize the importance of being winners and models of integrity both on and off the court of play,” stated Principal Bobbi Powers.
Coach Hernandez brings with her a wealth of knowledge about student success and college readiness. Her coaching experience includes the Ventura College Women’s Basketball team, and she was a founding member of the VC Pirates Cove, connecting students to academic supports and connectedness to athletics. In this role, Cynthia gained an understanding of the critical importance of educational pursuits in partnership with athletic accomplishments.
For more information on Buena High School and their outstanding Athletics Program visit their website at https://www.venturausd.org/buena or contact Assistant Principal of Athletics, Mike Wise at 805-289-1826 [email protected].
by Maryssa Rillo
According to a press release by Ventura Unified School District, the sixth-grade bicycle education program is teaching approximately 900 sixth-grade students from Anacapa, Balboa and Cabrillo middle school about road safety on and off the bike.
The sixth-grade bicycle education program is grant-funded and is ran by the City of Ventura, VUSD, Channel Islands Bike Club, BikeVentura, REI and CycleCalCoast.
As stated in the press release, the education program is about one to two weeks and is conducted during the students’ Physical Education Course. The program is held from April through June and is instructed by The Local League of American Bicyclist Certified Instructors from Bike Ventura and the PE teachers.
Roberta Schlegel is one of the PE instructors at Cabrillo Middle School and assists with teaching the students about road safety.
“The kids are having a blast,” said Schlegel. “They’ve had such a fun week.”
The Bicycle Education Grant was awarded in 2011, so this is the eighth year Ventura has been doing this.
“The city brought it in to do some bike education for the children focusing a lot on safety, teaching them the parts of the bike, showing them how to fix the bike if the chain were to fall off etc. Then, once they have their safety, they get a practice run on the blacktop where they set up cones and they’re expected to use their hand signals since that is one of the things they learned,” Schlegel said.
On Friday, May 3rd, students from Cabrillo Middle School went on their community bike ride. The ride was about a mile long and went from Cabrillo Middle School, down Thompson to Main Street and back.
Henry Hottinger is a sixth-grade student at Cabrillo Middle School who took the course and participated in the bike ride on May 3rd.
“It wasn’t difficult but there was a little bit of a challenge to it,” Hottinger said. “I just enjoyed being on the bike. It was really fun.”
Discounted REI bikes and helmets were purchased through grants from the Channel Islands Bike Club and the Ventura County Transportation Commission.
“300 members donated the $16,000 it took to buy all the bikes from REI. Derek Towers put in the grant request and the BikeVentura partnered with us and together we just made all this happen,” said Bill Faulkner who oversees grants for the Channel Islands Bike Club.
Jeff Hereford, City of Ventura Principal Transportation Engineer also helps with facilitating this program. He said this program is important so students can know how to properly ride their bike and feel safe on the roads.
“I think it’s important because its planting a seed for the kids, future bicycle riders that maybe can’t get in their car later on, and they can ride their bike instead,” Hereford said. “It also gets them enthusiastic about bike riding.”
Ashlyn Rifley and Noah Maass, two sixth-grade students from Cabrillo Middle School both said that signaling was the most important skill they learned. Another skill this program taught them was the ABC check. According to Rifley and Maass the ABC check means to check for air, breaks and other things such as baggy clothing to avoid any items getting caught in the chain.
“It is an important skill in life if you don’t have a car and other uses and it’s good for the environment,” Maass said.
According to Faulkner, this program is done in efforts to make the city Ventura more cycling friendly.
“Teaching the young people early on is part of strengthening that culture of cycling in Ventura,” Faulkner said.
The Villagers of PMC are already busy preparing for their Lilac Festival.
by Mark Bailey President, PMCCPOA
One of the best kept secrets in California, remains the quaint “Aspen like” village of Pine Mountain Club (PMC). Located in the Los Padres National Forest at a little over one mile above sea level and nestled between Mt. Pinos and San Emigdio Mountain, PMC is remarkably easy to get to. Just a comfortable and scenic 90-minute drive from Ventura, about 50 minutes north of Magic Mountain. Those in the know often refer to PMC as “the nearby faraway place”.
The Villagers of PMC are already busy preparing for their 37th annual Lilac Festival set for the weekend of May 18th and 19th. It has been estimated that around five thousand visitors join the approximately three thousand locals for a weekend of arts, music, food, fun and family play. About 100 artisan vendors will begin displaying their unique works of art, fashion, jewelry and other creations both days starting at 10am. This is followed at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, by the signing of our National Anthem, which kicks off our yearly parade through the village center.
Throughout the weekend there will be entertainment for all ages including helicopter rides, live music, pony rides, kiddie shows, a small petting zoo, golf, horseshoes, miniature train rides, great food, and a large children’s play area with state of the art slides, inflatable bouncy houses and wall climbing etc. Most village restaurants will be featuring live music on their outdoor patios.
Climatology wise, as with any place, the weather in PMC can vary. Typically, in late spring, we can expect blue sunny skies during the day with temperatures in the mid 70’s and crisp clear star filled nights with temperatures in the 40’s.
To get to PMC, take the 126 East to Interstate 5 north and exit at Frazier Park. Go west 18 miles following the signs to the Pine Mountain Club Village. For further information, including vendor applications, please go to our website at www.pmclilacfestival.com. We hope to see many of you at our mountain paradise.
While appearing at the Rubicon Noel Paul Stookey told his friend Tony Jankowski that he is now even more famous because he has been on the cover of the Ventura Breeze.
Breeze:
Now the USA isn’t the only country being led by a comedian. Ukrainians overwhelmingly voted to make a comedian their next president — ushering in a new era of politics in the struggling country.
Volodymyr Zelensky, a famous comedian who portrayed Ukraine’s head of state for years on a popular comedy show, defeated the incumbent president, Petro Poroshenko, who had been in power since 2014.
Zelensky won a staggering 73 percent of the vote. Poroshenko conceded the race not long after polls closed.
William Green Ventura
Breeze
I have been going to VCMC since I retired. I get a yearly check-up and report that I am very healthy, physically and mentally. My one complaint is when I go to get blood drawn the waiting room’s TV has Fox News on!!!!!
Considering that VCMC is a ‘teaching hospital’ and for them to ‘advertise’ falsehood and lies on the TV viewing is abhorrent.
I would assume that VCMC is a non-partisan organization. Maybe they should be showing a nature show or something of educational value. I wonder who in VCMC would be the contact person that would take my request seriously?
Diane Garber
Diane:
If you keep watching Fox News you may not stay healthy.
Venturans:
I am writing this and sharing it as widely as I can. My hope is to inform as many people about the false claims and faulty planning by the City of Ventura Water Dept staff.
The first claim: there is a water shortage
There is not a water shortage. The city has multiple sources that are and can meet the city demand. The fact is the City Water Dept staff have and are acting in manners that reduces the water availability to our users in a manner that allows them to falsely claim a shortage.
Currently there is a surface flow in the Ventura River, going by within 15 feet of the abandoned surface diversion facility. That is nearly 20 times the current amount of water the city is using daily. This river water is the cheapest and highest quality water available to our users. If it was being produced into the system the use of the much lower quality deep well water that is in distress as a supply could be reduced and everyone would be better off.
The second claim: city is caught up in and forced by legal restraints and settlements
The city allowing and conceding to a legal settlement on the estuary was a total theft of city water resources. The fact is there would not be an estuary if the city didn’t put its’ tertiary treated effluent in there to begin with. Based on the latest costs estimates the City could have easily permitted and built an ocean outfall instead of wasting what will be hundreds of millions of dollars on their WaterPure experiment that has no chance of ever being permitted for potable use.
The amount of water already spent on this boon-doggle could have built multiple reverse osmosis facilities to make currently available groundwater available and of higher quality of any source the city currently is using.
The full story on that issue is being completely hidden from the current population of the city even though those in authority at the City Council and Water Commission are in full knowledge of such legal standing.
Joseph Richardson Production supervisor City of Ventura water 1985-1992
Editor:
As I ride my bike around the City of Ventura, it is a bone-jarring, near rim-busting experience. When I drive my car around the City of Ventura, it is a near axle-breaking and tire-popping experience. Trying to dodge all the potholes and ruts may someday get me pulled over by the Ventura Police Department who will surely think I am drunk due to all the weaving around, but after I explain my actions to the officer he or she will let me go because they have to drive on our crumbling and decaying streets, too.
The bottom line is that our streets are an embarrassment. They look like they belong in a third-world country and not in an ocean side town. I am sure that their total disrepair has caused more than a few accidents and plenty of undercarriage damage. So at least the body and repair shops are benefiting from the city’s neglect.
As I go around, I also see no work being done on the streets outside of an occasional pot-hole filling crew which is like putting a band aid on gunshot wound.
When I fill up my car with overpriced gasoline made more expensive by crushing taxes, I wonder where all that tax money is going? Whose pockets is it lining? Have payoffs have been made? I have no answers.
All I know now is that it is nt going towards street repairs and everyone who lives here and pays their taxes need to be up in arms about this dereliction of duty by the city politicians and bureaucrats who dole out our tax money.
Regards,
John Darling
Ventura Breeze
It’s time to resurrect the GOP mantra; “Let’s make him a one-term president”! However, the “him” has changed! Can the Democrats unite to defeat the current president who only represents and has the support of about 40% of Americans?
There are so many qualified Democratic candidates. In my opinion, Joe Biden is the best person to defeat “Him” and make “Him” a one term president. And, once “He” is out of office, the Justice Departments (federal and state) can finally do their job and make “Him”
accountable for obstruction of justice as president and tax/business irregularities.
Let’s support Biden and whichever strong Vice President is selected. I believe the Dems can finally “drain the swamp”, which has doubled under this administration.
Judith A. Beay
No matter how old you get, if you keep the desire to be creative, you’re keeping the man child alive.
~ John Cassavetes
United Way of Ventura County’s (UWVC) Women United will recognize some unsung local heroes during its 3rd Annual Luncheon May 10, featuring acclaimed social psychologist and author Dr. Aida Hurtado.
Event co-chairs Leanne Neilson and Erin Simqu are busy putting the final touches on the 2019 luncheon, but they aren’t the only women who have been working hard leading up to this special gathering of changemakers.
The 3rd Annual Women United luncheon will recognize Ventura County single mothers who are pursuing their education and supporting their families in the process. Recipients of the Women United Educational Award are single mothers who are completing their associate degree and transferring to a four year university or technical program, and have children under the age of 18 living in the home. The financial award may be used to offset any costs associated with efforts to attain higher education, including tuition, books, childcare, and transportation.
Erin Simqu has been working with Women United since they founded the Ventura County chapter four years ago. This is her third year chairing the luncheon and she has served as an acting member on the board since shortly after the chapter’s inception.
Dr. Neilson is chair of the board for the Thousand Oaks Alliance for the Arts, and chair of United Way’s Women United in Ventura County. She was on the Board of the United Way of Ventura County for 6 years, serving one year as Board Chair.
Women United 3rd Annual Luncheon,11 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, May 10
California Lutheran University, Gilbert Sports & Fitness Center
Luncheon Tickets: $100 each. After May 1, 2019, price increases to $125.
Luncheon Tickets are available online at https://vcunitedway.org.
For sponsorship opportunities contact Mitchel Sloan at [email protected]
For more information , visit https://vcunitedway.org.
by Maryssa Rillo
Ventura College offers a higher education that is accessible to all and paves the way for students to succeed in the future through many ways of support. On Monday, April 29th, I took the Pirate’s Life for Me Campus Tour and had the opportunity to learn what it was like to be a VC Pirate.
Anne Paul King, Executive Director of the Ventura College Foundation, began the tour by informing the attendees how the foundation helps its students.
According to King the foundation gives away 300 scholarships which is about $600,000 to students a year.
“We help provide access to education through our promise programs which is a public private partnership that provides tuition between financial aid and philanthropic gifts to now 1,200 students a year,” King said.
After learning a little about how the foundation provides aid to students, the rest of the attendees and I were taken to the Student Services Center.
During our walk to the Student Services Center, Gerardo Pantoja, Director of Major and Planned Giving, explained how the foundation’s Promise Program works.
“The promise provides that first-year tuition cost to first year students. You’ll see at different schools’ various types of programs, but ours is set up so that way If you’re a first-time student at any point of your career or your life, coming here to Ventura College, you are eligible for that funding,” Pantoja said.
According to Pantoja, 40% of VC students are the first in their family to attend community college and the Promise Program is designed to help those students.
“This program develops a comprehensive education plan because we know how important that is – having that road map for them to know where they have to go and what they are supposed to do,” Pantoja said.
Students can learn about these different programs and speak with someone about an education plan in the Student Services Center. Inside the Student Services Center is the student connect center, career center and the counselor’s office.
According to Pantoja the Career Center provides various types of aid to students, from job fairs to workshops for resume building and interviewing skills.
After visiting the Student Services Center, we walked to the Library and Learning Resource Center. There, we were able to see the computer lab and learn about the resources provided by the library.
The computer lab has many computers for students to work on when they need.
“You know with the 70% of the folks that are served by the foundation that come from families that live under the poverty line, this is vital to close equity gaps. Because, just about every student has a phone but that may be the limit of their technology and that might be the limit of their Wi-Fi,” King said. “This is very important to our students so that everybody has access to a computer.”
The library at VC also has programs to make sure that higher education is as easily accessible to all. According to King, books are more expensive than tuition at VC, so this is important.
The library has a lending library and a reserve collection. According to Pantoja the lending library allows students to check out up to three books a semester for no charge. The reserve collection has every book a student may need available to check out for either two hours or over-night.
Overall, Ventura College has many resources and programs available to students in order to make sure they succeed.
Ventura College offers campus tours the last Monday of each month from 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. with the exception of December and May. To schedule a campus tour contact Jaimee Hanna at [email protected] or at (805)-289-6161.
Crock
Mutts
Tiger
Baby Blues
Hagar the Horrible
Mother Goose and Grimm
The VC Fair has announced the 2019 Grandstand Entertainment Series, Fair visitors can see their favorite musical acts and rodeos free with paid admission to the fair.
Adding a concert on opening night, July 31, the 2019 VC Fair will now present 11 free concerts. This year’s list of Fair entertainers will satisfy Ventura County music lovers with every unique performance:
· Wednesday, July 31 @7:30: Styx
· Thursday, August 1 @7:30: Martina McBride
· Friday, August 2 @7:30: Melissa Etheridge
· Saturday, August 3 @7:30: The Ohio Players with
special guests The Emotions and Evelyn “Champagne” King
· Sunday, August 4 @3:00: Dia de la Familia Concert
· Monday, August 5 @7:30: X Ambassadors
· Tuesday, August 6 @1:00: Tommy James and the Shondells (matinee only)
· Tuesday, August 6 @7:30: Brothers Osborne
· Wednesday, August 7 @7:30: Daughtry
· Thursday, August 8 @7:30: George Thorogood and the Destroyers
“Good to be Bad Tour – 45 Years of Rock”
· Friday, August 9 @7:30 : Collective Soul
· Saturday, August 10 and Sunday, August 11
will bring the fair to an end with Western style Rodeos, free with paid fair admission.
The 144th Ventura County Fair, “A Country Air with Ocean Air”, begins Wednesday, July 31 and runs through to Sunday August 11. For more information please call (805) 648 -3376 or visit www.venturacountyfair.org.
