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Hundreds of Ventura County residents will attend ceremony honoring local service members

Cypress Place Senior Living, a Ventura County retirement community, is hosting its 10th annual “Salute Our Veterans” event. Captain Douglas W. King, Chief Staff Officer for Naval Base Ventura County, will be the keynote speaker. Other headliners include County Veteran Services Officer Mike McManus, Ventura City Fire Chief David Endaya, Ventura Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Stephanie Caldwell, and nationally renowned Pipe Major Bill Boetticher.

Cypress Place is celebrating and honoring veterans – both residents of the community and members of the public – for their service and sacrifice for our country. Hundreds of Ventura County residents are expected to attend the recognition ceremony. A retired Bell UH-1 “Huey” MEDEVAC Army helicopter used in the Vietnam War, courtesy of Bryan Scofield Catering, will be on display, in addition to “Touching History,” a private war memorabilia collection by Tom Weaver. Cypress Place residents will also have their personal service memorabilia on display. The event is free and open to the public. A complimentary barbecue lunch will be provided, courtesy of the community.

Wednesday, June 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Cypress Place Senior Living 1200/1220 Cypress Point Lane

Living with diabetes

Learn about living with diabetes in a special seminar presented by the Ventura Council for Seniors in collaboration with the Lexington Senior Living. Speakers include Dr. Wallace Baker, Medical Director of Academic Family Medicine Clinic and Family Medicine Residency at Ventura County Medical Center, Andrea Ricketts, RN, CDE, PHN, MSN, ACNP-BC, Manager of Healthaware and Wellness, a program of Community Memorial Health Systems, and Heather Gilliam, RD, Community Memorial Health Systems.

The event will take place on Tuesday, June 19th from 10:00 to 11:30 am at The Lexington, 5440 Ralston Street, Ventura. Topics to be covered are “Diabetes and Your Body”, “Pre-diabetes—what is it? Is it reversible?” and “Diabetic Nutrition”.

A healthy lunch, compliments of The Lexington will be served immediately following the presentation to those who RSVP to 901-4886.

What you can do to minimize the cognitive effects of aging, Parkinson’s dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease?

by Patty Jenkins

The Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group is pleased to welcome the Alzheimer’s Association as our guests to our monthly meeting on Wednesday, June 13, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm at The Lexington Assisted Living, 5440 Ralston St, Ventura.

Phil Chandler, Community Voices Speaker for the Alzheimer’s Association, California Central Chapter at the Ventura County Regional Office, will present the educational program by the Alzheimer’s Association: “Healthy Living for your Brain and Body”. Phil is the owner of Right at Home of Ventura County, which provides in home care, helping seniors live independently at home. He also facilitates two support groups for the Alzheimer’s Association.

We will define dementia and discuss the similarities and differences between Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Dementia and Lewy Body Dementia. In addition, Phil will inform us about programs available through the Alzheimer’s Association that can help everyone challenged with all forms of dementia and their caregivers such as the “Safe Return” program, a 24 hour Helpline, and support groups for those affected by dementia in Ventura County.

The Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group welcomes our members and care-partners, visitors and new friends who find themselves navigating the challenging cognitive changes associated with ageing, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease. Please feel free to join us.

For those interested in attending this meeting, there is a drop-off/loading and unloading driveway in the front of the Lexington Assisted entrance. Extra parking is graciously available across the street in the Baptist Church parking lot. Reservations are not required. Attendees are invited to check in at the front desk for directions to the 3rd floor and sign-in at the meeting so we can keep in touch with you. For more information, call Patty at 766-6070.

The Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group is an independent and volunteer-organized group, not affiliated with or a part of any other organization or group. Thanks to the generosity of the Lexington Assisted Living, we host our meetings every second Wednesday of the month from 1 to 3pm.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

by Jackie Zaragoza Social Security Public Affairs Specialist in Sierra West Area

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is June 15. This is an opportunity for everyone, all over the world, to voice their opposition to abuses inflicted on some of the most vulnerable members of our society. For more than 80 years, Social Security has provided for the elderly as part of our everyday mission. With this being said, if you think a relative of yours has been a victim of elderly abuse in a place where you thought they were being looked after, the idea of getting legal advice from a neglect attorney could come in handy, especially as the safety of your loved one is important.

Sometimes a family member is incapable of representing themselves due to health reasons. Generally, we look for family or friends to serve as representative payees. Social Security’s Representative Payment Program helps our beneficiaries who are incapable of managing their Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. You can read more about the program at www.socialsecurity.gov/payee.

Family members and caregivers can protect the older people they love with help from the Representative Payee Interdisciplinary Training series. The training was developed in partnership with the Administration on Aging within the Administration for Community Living and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

It educates people and organizations about the roles and responsibilities of serving as a representative payee, elder abuse and financial exploitation, and effective ways to monitor and safely conduct business with the banking community. It also teaches ways to recognize the changes in an adult or senior’s ability to make sound financial decisions.

You can view our series of videos about this training at www.socialsecurity.gov/payee.

Protecting the ones you love is part of securing today and tomorrow. And we’re here for you. You can always access our website and online services at www.socialsecurity.gov.

West Coast Board Riders

When you put the city club aspect together it supports the community.

The West Coast Board Riders are a community united through city surf clubs and competition.

The top two teams from the Northern Division earn a spot to compete against the top two teams from the Southern Division for the West Coast Board Riders 2018 Finals which will be held in November in Huntington Beach. As it stands Ventura Board Riders Club sits in first place with the highest overall total points for both divisions. Ventura is on fire being lead by Team Captain Sean Hayes, Brett Jordan and Sean O’toole.

They could not have asked for a better day at the Pipe. The Ventura community was out in force to support their club and the level of surfing that was on display was second to none. The waves progressively got better and better as the day went on, with the sky’s opening up to the sun setting the stage for one of the absolute best finals the WCBR has ever seen. It was epic! The Northern clubs competing were Santa Cruz Board Riders Club, San Louis Obispo “SLO Board Riders”, Ventura, South Bay, Seal Beach and Huntington Beach Board Riders Club. The third and final qualifying event for the Northern Division is scheduled for July 7th in Santa Cruz at Steamer Lane.

The West Coast Board Riders events are the most fun and exciting surfing competition around. Surfing is in an individual sport, but when you put the city club aspect together, it naturally promotes the community bringing brothers and sisters together in the water and along the coast.

 

Volunteers plant 21 trees along Ventura Avenue

On Sunday April 29th a group of volunteers gathered at Restore Ventura for a quick meeting and then out into the community to plant a total of 21 trees along Ventura Avenue.

After a few months of planning and meetings with the city of Ventura, Restore Ventura was able to fundraise all the money needed to purchase the trees.

The Westside Community Council played a big role in helping facilitate the project.

Gerardo Gallegos was the project coordinator.

Ventura Water’s General Manager Kevin Brown

Brown had been on the job only 2 months when the Thomas Fires erupted.

by Jennifer Tipton

Before becoming Ventura Water’s General Manager, Kevin Brown, now a retired Navy Captain, worked in the Pentagon as chairman of the Strategic Laydown Assessment for the Chief of Naval Operations, a nine-billion-dollar annual program.

With an annual revenue of around $94 miilion, Ventura Water brought in Brown specifically for his strategic planning experience for infrastructure. He had been on the job only 2 short months when the Thomas Fires erupted.

On that fateful night, December 4th, 2017, Brown was at City Hall with most of the city staff for the initiation of Mayor Neal Andrews. “We were getting ready to celebrate our new mayor when phones started blowing up”, said Brown. Grabbed to the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) he was still so new to the job, he was just happy to be told we had one! In the Navy, they would routinely practice drills, but according to Brown, “for a city that had not had to do this for a very long time, the response was tremendous, all of the city came together quickly and that was impressive!”.

I asked, “are you aware some have asked where was the water when we needed it most? Do you feel we had enough water to combat the Thomas Fires?”

Brown assured me that there was ample water supply, “more than enough with what was brought in from Lake Casitas”. I then asked if there was a problem with the fire hydrants and he responded, “no, however, there were large water tanks we just couldn’t get to because they were surrounded by fire”.

He spoke of drought and disaster resiliency, “we’re constantly analyzing the system to see where it can be improved, such as, how homes are built and the utility systems – do they need to be changed? The Oxnard City Water Services has over 400,000 customers, they are worried about being cut off by a seismic event, we’re all looking at that”.

There are four water basins we draw from here in Ventura and four different organizations that oversee those basins, “it’s complicated”, said Brown.

According to Craig Jones with Ventura Water, the basins and the organizations that oversee them are:

  • Mound Basin – Mound Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency
  • Oxnard Plain – Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency
  • Upper Ventura River – Upper Ventura River Groundwater Sustainability Agency
  • Santa Paula – Santa Paula Basin Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)

“Since 1971, Ventura has been paying for state water but never got it, because there’s no connecting pipeline”, said Brown, “this should be completed by 2022 – 2023”.

I discovered that what we’ve been paying for is the right to state water and we pay roughly $1 million per year; water delivery fees will be an extra cost once the pipeline is complete.

In Fall 2018 – Fall 2021, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) will be in place. Ventura Water will be replacing all manually read meters with automatic meters that relay readings remotely. The expected results are improved accuracy in readings and customer service, advanced leak detection and notification capabilities, the ability for customers to actively manage their water usage and enhanced water quality protection and conservation. Ventura Water is excited to implement this new technology.

Lastly, I asked Brown, “if you knew what was coming (Thomas Fires) would you have taken the position as General Manager with Ventura Water?” He sat back and chuckled, “oh boy… knowing then what I know today … yes, I would. It’s in my heart as an engineer and there’s so much going on here from water allocations to all the innovations, it’s just exciting each day to come to work!”

Ventura Water will be looking at revenue and rate structure changes starting winter 2018.

Rotary Club Of Ventura South holds First Annual Speech Contest for Ventura high schools

The senior winners are Jonathon Saldana, Alaina Hooks and Aspen Levitt.

The Rotary Club of Ventura South conducted its first annual speech contest for Ventura high school students with the finals held on Thursday, May 17, at the Tower Club in Oxnard. At the event, the Club awarded more than $4,000 in scholarships for first place, second place, and honorable mention to students from Buena, Foothill, and Ventura High Schools. First Bank in Ventura contributed $2,000 to the project.

Bob Davis, 2017-18 President of Rotary Ventura South, commented, “We’re excited to sponsor this first annual event as a means of supporting education in our community and encouraging students to develop their public speaking skills. We look forward to welcoming even more contestants in the coming years.”

Invitations to participate went out to all Ventura High Schools in March, and the initial round of competition was conducted on campus for students at the responding schools. The entrants were asked to prepare a four-minute speech on the American civil rights movement of the 1950s-60s.

The presentations were judged by panels of Rotary Ventura South club members using delivery, content, and their own discretion as criteria. They were John Weiss, Rosanna Colin, Bob Braitman, Mary Davis and Dante Honorico.

The winners are:

  • Kaitlyn Saldana – Freshman, Buena High School. First Place (Freshmen) – $1,500.
  • Angela Tang – Freshman, Buena High School. Second Place (Freshmen) – $750.
  • Joshua Cenzano – Sophomore, Buena High School. First Place (Sophomores) – $1,500.
  • Alaina Hooks – Senior, Foothill Technology High School. First Place (Seniors) – $1,500.
  • Aspen Levitt – Senior, Ventura High School. Second Place (Seniors) – $750.
  • Jonathon Saldana – Senior, Buena High School. Third Place (Seniors) – $300.

The Rotary Club of Ventura South is one of more than 35,000 Rotary clubs with 1.2 million members around the world. The clubs work together to promote peace; fight disease; provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene; save mothers and children; support education; and grow local economies. Rotary Ventura South meets at noon every Monday at the Tower Club in Oxnard. Visitors are always welcome. For more information, visit venturasouthrotary.org.

The Ventura Police Department, partnering with allied agencies, conducted enhanced patrols

As part of the City of Ventura’s ongoing efforts to respond to concerns from the community as well as business merchants regarding illegal behaviors in the parks and surrounding areas of the downtown corridor, 4000 block of E. Main St, and the Victoria corridor, the Ventura Police Department, partnering with allied agencies, conducted enhanced patrols in the those areas on May 9. The officers involved included Ventura PD Motor Unit, Ventura PD Patrol Task Force, VCSO Mounted Enforcement Unit, Ventura County Probation and Ventura County Behavioral Health

The goal of the City of Ventura’s Safe and Clean Initiative is to ensure safe and clean public places for the entire community to enjoy. One of the core elements of this effort is to direct and leverage limited resources to better address illegal activity and quality of life behaviors in public spaces.

As a result of this effort a total of 13 arrests were made in the focus areas:

  • 4 arrests for being under the influence of a controlled substance (misdemeanor)
  • 1 arrest for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia (misdemeanor)
  • 1 arrests for possession of a controlled substance and possession of a dangerous weapon (Felony)
  • 6 arrests for violation of probation
  • 1 arrest for a possession of a stolen vehicle warrant (Felony)

The locations of these arrests included:

  • 1 at Plaza Park, 600 E. Santa Clara St.
  • 2 at Mission Park, 190 E. Main St.
  • 4 at Promenade Park, 398 Figueroa St.
  • 6 at various other locations in the downtown corridor

The City of Ventura is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for the community by making a concerted effort to support the Safe and Clean Initiative.

2018 Amgen Tour of California

On Monday morning, May 14, thousands waited anxiously for the start of Stage 2 of the 2018 Amgen Tour of California at the Ventura Pier. According to Amgen, 117 riders representing 30 countries are competing in the race. The field includes seven world champions and two current national champions. The athletes will have gone 645 miles before finishing Saturday in Sacramento. Local elected officials spoke briefly, including Ventura City Council members Matt LaVere and Christy Weir and Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett