Find out how at the next CASA(Court Appointed Special Advocates) Informational Session: Monday, March 19 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm .
Today, there are nearly 1,000 children in the Ventura County Dependency Court System who are victims of abuse and neglect. With a string of people, often including their own parents, in and out of their lives, these children are in desperate need of a consistent adult. A CASA Volunteer becomes the one adult who stands up for a child and commits to advocating for the child until he/she is placed in a safe, permanent home.
CASA needs more volunteers! Please consider attending the next CASA Informational Session to learn how you can make a difference in the life of a child in our community.
For more information or to reserve your seat, contact Ken at 389-3120 or [email protected]. Location will be furnished upon registration.
The wonderful art of Mrs. Winchester’s 7th class at Balboa Middle School is on display at Foster Library. It is dedicated to the heroes of the Thomas Fire.
Buenaventura Art Association will honor the three winners of the 2017 Collegiate Student Art Competition with a reception 5-8 p.m. March 17.
A body of their work will be on display in the Student Winners exhibition March 14-April 14. Christopher Borel was first-place winner, Omar Soto took second place, and Jasmine O’Campo was third.
Photographer Borel, a Ventura College student, won for a piece entitled “Lemon Shark Sunset.” Soto, also attending Ventura College, won his prize with a pencil drawing called “Lost in Thought.” Moorpark College student O’Campo took third with marker and crayon drawn, anatomical overlays entitled “Anatomy of Her.”
First place came with an $800 scholarship; second place, $600; and third, $350. The winners also received a free one-year BAA membership with free entry fees.
Also showing is an open competition called “Stories.” Artists who submitted artwork to this show also had to submit a written paragraph describing what inspired the piece.
A duo show by BAA members Helle Scharling-Todd and Mary Westheimer will also be on exhibit.
Buenaventura Gallery is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. For more information about the Collegiate Competition, these exhibitions or the nonprofit Buenaventura Art Association, call 648-1235 or visit www.buenaventuragallery.org.
Karen Carson, a major figure in the Los Angeles feminist art movement, has employed varied techniques and materials to reflect and comment on the turbulence of everyday life. She is concerned with both what can be a dangerous natural world and an equally disturbing world of politics and world events. Donna Granata’s conversation with Karen Carson will trace the development of an artist whose oeuvre takes us from abstract zippered canvases, tableaux with feminist themes, the muscular tractor series, and to her current exploration of form and color on bas relief wood.
The Artist Spotlight and panel discussion is open to students attending as a class assignment free of charge. FOTM is happy to assist with tracking attendance and sign-in sheets. Reservations required.
Join us for a celebratory dinner at the Vita Art Center hosted by Ginny Furmanski and The Old Broads Catering Company immediately following the Artist Spotlight Interview. Paid reservations are essential and required prior to March 20. We expect this AfterGLOW to sell out.
$30 FOTM members, $40 Non-members.
Maps will be given to paid guests at the interview.
• It’s nice that the green pig (see article) will be back in the St. Pat’s Parade because people like the pig. I’m not sure what a green pig has to do with St. Pat’s day, but what does a red-nosed reindeer have to do with Xmas?
• A Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge has ordered SoCal Edison to maintain any evidence related to the possible cause of the Thomas Fire.
The motion for a temporary restraining order against the utility was filed on behalf of people who lost their homes in the Montecito mudslides.
There will be many lawsuits filed against Edison (fire and mudslides) based upon witnesses that state they saw the fire start on Anlauf Canyon Road near Steckel Park from an Edison power line.
Edison must preserve power poles and any related equipment/items that were removed. An inspection of the removed equipment at Edison’s warehouse was also ordered.
“Are you sure that we belong in here without a librarian?
• The newly opened library on Hill Road has implemented “express hours” that allows readers to use the library without staff present (like driverless cars). It becomes one of just a few in the nation to offer this service. The purpose is to provide 12 additional operating hours at low cost (just utilities).
Librarian Molly Krill will help train people to use a new card that allows them access the library from 8 to 10 a.m. every day except Thursday. Cameras will keep you honest, we hope.
Next we will have robots that open the door for you and say, “may I help you find a book or the Ventura Breeze?”
• Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, seeking to stop women removing their head scarves in public, defended the garments, saying wearing them protected against “a deviant lifestyle.”
The comments were the first from Iran’s most powerful figure since the spread of a movement in which women remove their head scarves, or hijabs, in the streets. Is this his way of saying that men are a bunch of dogs that can’t be trusted? Has he been following our politics?
•Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and wife have donated $33 million to fund 1,000 scholarships for “Dreamers” immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children. It’s wonderful that people with huge amounts of money help causes that they believe in. I wonder what he thinks of community newspapers (hint hint)?
• Researchers have reported smoking e-cigarettes deliver cancer-causing chemicals — and popular fruity flavors appear to be the worst. Those who vape have higher levels of the cancer-causing chemicals than nonsmokers, a team at the University of California, San Francisco, found.
They said teenagers who try vaping are poisoning themselves with many of the same chemicals that make traditional cigarettes so deadly. And it is no coincidence that e-cigarettes come in fruit flavors, chocolate, candy and other flavors that appeal to young people.
Public health groups, the Surgeon General’s office, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worry about evidence that vaping can get teens addicted to nicotine, and will lead them to smoking cigarettes.
Apparently, the “flavor” of the e-cigarette matters. The levels of acrylonitrile were higher in those who preferred fruit flavors compared to candy, tobacco or menthol flavors.
This is significant because 67% of those who use e-cigs preferred fruit flavors.
• In keeping with the decision to move to City Council district elections, the Ventura Unified School District (VUSD)board of trustees voted unanimously to move to district-based elections in 2018. They selected a map to divide up Ventura into five trustee districts. They didn’t agree on the map (the board voted 3-2 to adopt the particular map).
The district currently has an at-large system for electing board trustees, as do most school districts in Ventura County.
This is similar to the reason that the council went to district voting. The VUSD would be facing lawsuits that other districts have had to face to provide districts that reflect the racial make-up of the community.
I am opposed to district voting, so I am eager to see how it works. What if only one completely unqualified person runs in one of the districts? Or, if there are two highly qualified candidates living in the same district, only one can be elected. I know some of you think our politicians are unqualified now.
• I think that the City is trying hard to make it as easy for fire victims to re-build. A recent Ventura City Council action directed city staff to return with a plan that allows anyone who is rebuilding to qualify for the streamlined process set aside for fire victims, even if the new house has a completely different footprint and design.
The city already hired outside help and set up an extra office to deal exclusively with people impacted by the fire.
Mayor Neal Andrews and Council Member Mike Tracy voted no because of the anticipated increase in staff time and finances.
“Everyone on this City Council would love to be able to write a check to all of you to help you complete your projects,” Tracy said. “However, we have a responsibility to everyone else in the community legally and ethically to make sure that we don’t give away the barn.”
Andrews stated, “Every subsidy that we offer here comes out of something else that the city would do and therein lies the rub for me.”
The council voted to allow recreational vehicles on properties during the rebuilding process and up to two units of on-site storage facilities per lot.
Arts & Eats will be held in downtown Ventura on Saturday, March 17 from 6 – 8pm. Fifteen galleries, restaurants and shops open their doors for art receptions and complimentary tastes. The event is free to the public.
Christine Leong and Andrea Vargas will display their art at Fox Fine Jewelry from March 15 – May 13, with an Art Reception on March 17 from 6 – 8:00pm. Musician Corinn Conant will sing and play guitar during the reception.
“A Line In the Sand” is a collaboration between Christine Leong and Andrea Vargas. Their friendship is unique in that they work on pieces of art together, combining different mediums and techniques. Usually, one will work on the background before giving the piece to the other to complete the artwork. In “A Line in the Sand,” they again co-create, showing us just what makes Ventura home.
Christine Leong, from Hong Kong, has a special talent for painting Koi fish and florals on rice paper. She has been using rice paper for 30 years, and recently has explored and started painting wearable art on raw silk.
Family Caregiver Resource Center Catholic Charities/OASIS
by Connie Perez
Those who are thinking about suicide will often invite help whether it is directly or indirectly. SafeTalk is “Suicide alertness for everyone” which brings awareness in recognizing someone with such thoughts to be open, direct and have an honest talk about suicide.
Training is offered for those 15 years of age and older to become more aware of a situation in which a person may be thinking about suicide such as moving beyond common tendencies and recognizing people who may be thinking about suicide. If you are interested in finding out more or attending a workshop about SafeTalk you can go their link www.livingworks.net.
“Scorched Souls” is the upcoming exhibition of the Ojai Studio Artists at the Ojai Valley Museum. The exhibit documents the OSA artists’ reactions to the Thomas Fire, the largest fire in California state history.
The exhibit will run until June 17. A portion of sales from the show will be donated to a local fire relief fund.
Another highlight of the show will be the “Town Talk” at the show’s closing reception on Sunday June 17. OSA artists and OSA art collectors who lost work in the fire will discuss how they’re moving forward after the fire. Artists will also be on hand for a book signing of the “Scorched Souls” catalogue documenting this exhibit.
The Ojai Valley Museum is located at 130 West Ojai Ave. Hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. – Sunday, 12-4 p.m. For more information, please call 640-1390.
You won’t want to miss the return of the Preachers Blues Band when they reunite for Thomas Fire relief show at the Hong Kong Inn on Saturday, March 17. It’s been almost five years and it may not happen again for who knows how long! I’m hearing many musicians who have sat in with the band in the past are on board to perform too including Rick Reeves, Guy Martin, Ashford Gordon, Ray Jaurique, Preston Smith, Kelly Zirbes, Perry Robertson, Glade Rassmussen, John Fincham, Jerry Briener, Ian McFadyan, Jodi Farrell and more!
A popular event every year as a precursor to the Ventura Music Festival is the Student Jazz competition. Judges will award cash prizes to three of Southern California’s best high school jazz musicians and they’ll be invited to perform during the Festival’s run. The competition this year will be held at Squashed Grapes on Sunday, March 18, at 2 pm. While this one is free, donations for the Young Artists Fund will be gratefully appreciated.
Beware the bagpipers throughout the day at different venues on Saturday, March 17, but as St. Patrick’s Day actually falls on a Saturday, there will also be plenty of music during the St. Patrick’s Day parade on Main Street downtown Ventura. Get the entire family there early so you can get a good seat to cheer on the participating entrees. It’s always a hoot!
Quick notes: Opera Santa Barbara is offering a free performance on Friday, March 16 during the lunch hour at EP Foster Library; Donavon Frankenreiter plays Discovery on Friday, March 16; The Galactic Polecats play Sans Souci on Saturday, March 17; Cranberry Sauce debuts at Grapes and Hops on Sunday, March 18, offering music by The Beatles; The Majestic Ventura Theater has Flogging Molly on Monday, March 19, and Ministry on Friday, March 23; The Phantom Pomps CD release party at the Hong Kong Inn is on Saturday, March 24; Tickets for Frost and Fire IV have gone on sale for three nights at the Ventura Theater October 4, 5 and 6th with Cirith Ungol, Gygax, Night Demon, Screamer and more on the bill; the Ventura County Concert band holds one of their annual free shows at the Ventura High School Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, March 18, at 3 pm, this one is called “Simply…the Masters”; and ARC of Ventura is holding their annual “Let’s Go Out” event at Bombay’s on Sunday, March 24, with Fish Fry, the Vonettes and Seth Pettersen and Friends.
And finally, VenturaRocks.com is celebrating their 9th anniversary serving the community. There are a number of changes coming soon including the listing of only live music along with the inclusion of venues from neighboring cities.
Do you have any music-related news or upcoming shows you want help publicizing? Please send all information short or long to [email protected], and for updated music listings daily, go to www.VenturaRocks.com.
Get your game on this spring at Ventura College for the FIRST(For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition. Watch 41 high school teams “Power Up” as they form alliances and do battle in order to secure a place at the National Competition in Texas. In its fourth year, this regional competition has truly become an international event. Three teams from China, one from Turkey and one from Switzerland are on board to test their skills with some of the finest robotics teams Southern California has to offer. Bring the whole family to this free event on March 30th and 31st from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Parking is also free and the enthusiasm is contagious! Cheer on your favorite team, including six new teams from Oxnard Unified School District. Don’t miss it!
