As part of Pedestrian Safety Month, the Ventura Police Department will have additional officers on patrol throughout September specifically looking for California Vehicle Code violations pertaining to drivers and pedestrians.
These violations include right-of-way at crosswalks, illegal turns, and not properly stopping for signs or signals, and speeding.
“A simple safety step can make a big difference. Look out for one another by slowing down when driving and stopping for pedestrians,” said Ventura Police Traffic Sergeant Mike Brown. “If you’re walking, be mindful of vehicle traffic, be predictable, and do not leave a curb or place of safety carelessly.”
Based on data from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), 2020 had the largest ever annual increase, 21 percent, in the rate at which drivers struck and killed pedestrians. In California, pedestrian deaths accounted for 27 percent of all traffic-related deaths in 2019.
The Ventura Police Department offers steps community members can take to reduce the risk of vehicle-pedestrian collisions:
Pedestrians
Be predictable and use crosswalks.
Do not walk or run into the path of a vehicle. No vehicle can stop instantly. At 30 m.p.h., a driver needs at least 108 feet to make a complete stop.
Be visible. Make it easy for drivers to see you by wearing light colors and reflective material, and using flashlights for added visibility at dawn, dusk, or night.
Be extra careful crossing streets or entering crosswalks at night when it is harder to see, or when crossing busier streets with higher speed limits.
Always use the sidewalk when available and avoid walking in the street alongside traffic, especially during morning and evening hours.
Drivers
Do not drive distracted and never drive impaired.
Drive defensively, follow the speed limit, and slow down at intersections.
Avoid blocking crosswalks while waiting to make a right-hand turn.
Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. To learn more about the Office of Traffic Safety grant at ots.ca.gov.
Marlyss Auster Visit Ventura CEO & President and Cheryl Shallanberger Vice President of Sales & Marketing accepting the National Award.
Visit Ventura was chosen as a finalist for a prestigious ESTO Award, finishing in the top three in a nationwide competition between destination marketing organizations across the country in a contest sponsored by the United States Travel Association.
“We are beyond thrilled and so very proud of our Visit Ventura team,” said Marlyss Auster, Visit Ventura President & CEO. “Finishing in the top three in a contest of this scope is a first for us, and that makes us proud. But we’re proudest of the program itself, which helped support our local Ventura businesses during a very difficult time. Our aim has always been to do the next right thing to help our community, in both good times and harder times. ”
Winners were announced at ESTO’s Awards Dinner on Tuesday, August 17 in Los Angeles, California. Ventura placed in the top three for their entry “Love, via Beer, in the Time of Covid” in the Virtual Programming category. The entry showcased Visit Ventura’s “Thirsty Thursday” program, an innovative virtual program that, among other things, helped boost both business and morale in the Ventura community during the pandemic.
The U.S. Travel Association is a national, non-profit organization representing all components of the travel industry. As the united voice of the industry, U.S. Travel prioritizes high-impact issues that matter most, identifying both the travel industry’s biggest opportunities and challenges. ESTO is an acronym for “Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations.”
Of late, of course, the biggest challenge has been the pandemic, and Visit Ventura’s “Thirsty Thursday” program addressed those challenges head-on. The program worked with happy simplicity. Each Thursday, a Ventura winery or brewery stepped up to the virtual counter to do a live virtual tasting on Facebook, the Visit Ventura team broadcasting the tasting to its 200,000-plus viewers and beyond. Viewers bought the beer and wine beforehand. During the tasting, the brewers and vintners explained the science-cum-magic behind the tastes while viewers happily sipped and asked questions via chat. The tastings strayed beyond beer and wine, into locally made chocolates and ice cream.
The program didn’t snowball; it galloped out of the gates. The total individual reaches of the live broadcasts ranged from 10,000 to 12,000 viewers. Brewers sold out of beer. The chocolatier sold 200 boxes of chocolates, earning roughly $10,000 at a time when sales were not quite, but very close to, hopeless.
“We knew we wanted to help our community in the best way we could,” said Auster, who attended the Los Angeles awards ceremony with Visit Ventura Vice President of Sales & Marketing Cheryl Shallanberger. “Without visitors, our local businesses needed help. While we’re proud to be a finalist, what we’re truly proudest of is how the Ventura community stepped up to help keep our businesses in business.”
“It was a really fun program, but, on a serious note, it was something more,” added Shallanberger. “It may have just been beer and wine, but it was also a reminder of the things that matter. A positive attitude and caring. Invincible spirit. How good things always outlast the dark.”
Visit visitventuraca.com/contact/staff to learn more about the Visit Ventura team and how they contribute to driving Ventura’s economy through tourism.
Deborah Jordan Ph.D. EPA Deputy Regional Administrator, City Manager Alex McIntyre, Councilman Joe Schroeder, Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-26th District), EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Ventura Mayor Sofia Rubalcava, and were part of the treatment facility presentation
by Sheli Ellsworth
The Sons of the Pioneers recorded the melodic song “Cool Water” in 1962: All day I face the barren waste without the taste of water, cool water . . . . Seventy-five years later, Ventura will face the same challenge. With the current system, demand will outpace the city’s water supply by 30% as early as 2035.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-26th District) answered many questions about the future of water.
A recent press conference and tour of the Ventura Water Treatment Facility with Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-26th District) and EPA Administrator Michael Regan introduced Ventura Water’s plan for avoiding the upcoming water shortage. “It’s important to get out from behind the desk in Washington, D.C., and see what’s happening on the ground,” Regan said. “And looking at the innovation and the creativity it takes to develop these aged facilities in a way that can withstand some of the pressures we’re facing today.” Ventura Mayor Sofia Rubalcava, City Councilman Joe Schroeder and City Manager Alex McIntyre also attended the event.
The two-part plan includes: tapping into state water and recovering, treating and reusing water that is currently discharged into the Santa Clara River Estuary.
Sound simple? Ventura Water has been planning and researching for over a decade to make the city’s future water usage sustainable, environmentally friendly and regulatory compliant. They have met with over 25 legislators and lobbyist looking for funding. They have operated a demonstration facility for nine months and have made four annual trips to Washington, DC to meet with Congress members and Senators. They have reached out to the community through facility tours, open house events and received national EPA recognition for their efforts.
Climate change and the worsening drought bode poorly for the future of Ventura County. Ventura County is the “fastest-warming county” in the lower 48 states, Brownley said, referring to a 2019 survey by the Washington Post. August 19 maps from the U.S. Drought Monitor show most of Ventura County in exceptional drought—the most severe category.
Since 1971, the city of Ventura has owned the rights to a 10,000 acre foot a year of water (3.259 x109 gallons) via the California State Water Project. The proposed State Water Interconnection Project would improve the movement water from rainfall-rich Northern California to drier local areas. The seven-mile pipeline to deliver water from Calleguas Municipal Water District systems in Camarillo to the City of Ventura will cost approximately $50 million.
Judge water by its quality, not by its history—Ventura Water
he process of recovery, treatment and reusing water is a complex series of filtration. From sewage to potable water is forward-thinking leap of technology known as VenturaWaterPure. The proposed advanced water purification facility (AWPF) would: biofiltrate, ultrafiltrate, reverse osmose, UV and oxidate treat our wastewater then inject it into groundwater basins like the Oxnard Basin. Extractions would occur as needed and extracted water is “conditioned” before being released to the community at drinking water quality standards. Reuse at its best. The advanced water purification facility needs to be implemented in the next six years to meet water supply needs.
The current plant on Spinnaker Drive in the Ventura Harbor, which treats eight to nine million gallons of wastewater per day, was built in 1955 and had has undergone several improvements through the decades. Ventura Water General Manager Susan Rungren said construction on the new facility will begin in November 2023 at a price tag of about $260 million. The Senate-approved trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, which includes funding for water projects, may help fund the project if the House of Representatives passes the legislation.
According to a CNN article by Kieron Monks in 2015, toilet-to-tap is not new although the thought might disgust some. Orange County Water District (OCWD) recycles used water and returns it to the drinking supply and is expanding production to 100 million gallons per day, enough for a third of the population or 850,000 people.
The website southeastasiaglobe.com wrote in 2014 that Singapore began working on recycling water in 2003 and now a third of the waste water produced by its 5.7 million inhabitants is treated. Thirty miles of tunnels transports the sewage from residential areas to huge treatment facilities where about 72,345,000 gallons of “new water” is produced each day.
What about the taste? Researchers at the University of California, Riverside published a study of recycled wastewater in 2018 that focused on the taste. The UCR study asked 143 people to compare treated tap water (IDR) with conventional tap water and commercially bottled water. The waters were presented in similar cups and were unlabeled. After tasting the water, participants ranked the taste, texture, temperature and smell. Mary Gauvain, a professor of psychology at UC Riverside and co-author of the study reported that groundwater-based water was not as well liked as the indirect potable reuse (IDR) or bottled water. “We think that happened because IDR and bottled water go through remarkably similar treatment processes, so they have low levels of the types of tastes people tend to dislike.”
Water is essential for life on earth. Whether or not Ventura is blessed by rain, a sustainable, environmentally friendly way of reclaiming quality water is imperative for each and every citizen.
Community Memorial Health System is hosting a free online seminar that can help you assess your risk for developing cancer. The free seminar, titled, “Genetic Testing: What it Can Tell You About Your Risk & Prevention of Cancer,” will take place at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 26.
While there is no sure way to prevent cancer, there are things everyone can do to help identify and decrease the risk of developing cancer. In some cases, evaluating your genetic makeup can provide valuable information to help estimate or predict your chance of getting cancer at some point in your lifetime.
To attend, please RSVP at www.cmhshealth.org/RSVP. This event is hosted by Community Memorial Health System as part of its 2021 Speaker Series Online. Leading this seminar are family medicine physician Dr. Allan Wagner and Ember Layton, a licensed and certified genetic counselor.
Kayli Bates, Kylee Brown and Tiler de Long pitched in to help assemble and fill backpacks during Stuff the Bus.
by Amy Nielsen
A group of volunteers that included teens and family members from Aera Energy worked together recently with the United Way of Ventura County to assemble backpacks full of school supplies for homeless and underprivileged youth. The program, which began in 2010, is called Stuff the Bus, and received support in funding from Aera and community individuals for the purchase and donations of backpacks and supplies for K-12 students. The volunteers worked in shifts in assembly lines to put together hundreds of backpacks filled with pens, pencils, binders and other important school supplies for the coming fall session.
Kylee Brown, a local 18-year-old who is about to head to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo for her freshman year, volunteered with her father, Kevin, and some of her friends. “Contributing to an effort that would help kids that either don’t have a home, or don’t have money for school supplies felt good. I was really shocked when I heard that there are 6,000 homeless children in Ventura County. That’s a big number, and it shocked everyone working in the room,” she said. “You don’t really think about children being homeless, you think about what you see every day, usually adults. It gave us all a better purpose of being there, and made the work even more inspirational.”
The donated items are to be distributed from the Ventura County Office of Education to local school districts. More than 1,200 students are expected to receive these backpacks and supplies. “Every day I see what I have, versus what some others do, and it makes me more inclined to give back, because I know that not everyone has it as easy as some of us,” said Brown.
Her father Kevin has been with Aera for 13 years and serves as a Process Specialist. He shared that it was especially meaningful to participate in this effort with his daughter and her friends. “The kids did a really great job, and it helped provide us all with a real sense of community, and a chance to help other people out that are less fortunate than they are. You never know if you or someone you love might be in the same situation,” said Brown. “It’s really cool, we provide a lot of support for the community, we’re not a big company like Chevron or Shell, but Aera is a huge leader in supporting the area; we’re always doing community events, like the Day of Caring, supporting schools, and homeless facilities, and food drives every year.”
“It’s always so great to have young people volunteer, and Aera’s support has been phenomenal, and really made the entire project possible.” said Susan Englund, Vice President, Community Impact for the United Way of Ventura County.
Kayli Bates is also heading off for her first year of college, to Cal State San Marcos. She had an even more personal connection to the volunteer work, as she’d been temporarily classified as a homeless youth when her family’s home burned down in the Thomas Fire. “It felt good to be helping young people who were in that same kind of category,” she said. “The community was definitely there to support our family back then, and it felt wonderful to give back and help others in the community with this, and especially with my friends.” She said it was the first time she’d volunteered for anything like that. “It felt good in my soul to do this,” said Bates.
The 2021 film festival will feature two hours of films. Photo by Dan Holmes
Ventura Land Trust is pleased to bring back a live experience for its 12th annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour on Saturday, August 28th on the campus of Ventura County Credit Union headquarters from 5:00 to 10:00 pm.
This signature fundraising event raises $50,000 each year to support Ventura Land Trust’s mission to permanently protect the land, water, wildlife and scenic beauty of the Ventura region for current and future generations.
One of the largest environmental film festivals in North America, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival shares an urgent call to action, encouraging festival-goers to learn more about what they can do to save our threatened planet.
For Ventura Land Trust, the festival fosters a deeper understanding of the connection we share with the planet and our role as stewards to keep it healthy.
The 2021 film festival will feature two hours of films, food from local food trucks, and a raffle. Beer from Topa Topa Brewing Company, Rincon Brewery, and Leashless Brewing will be available for sale, as well as wine from Riboli Family Wines. Live music will be played by the band Nautical Thrust. In the Ventura Vibe VIP Lounge, small bites from Himalaya Cuisine, Peirano’s, Aloha Steakhouse, and others will be complemented by a custom cocktail by Ventura Spirits.
A general admission film festival ticket is $35, with children’s tickets available for $5. VIP tickets, which include special gift items and admission to the Ventura Vibe VIP Lounge, are $125.
“Protecting and preserving our open spaces is more important than ever,” says Ventura Land Trust Executive Director Melissa Baffa. “We saw how important they were to our wellbeing during the past year’s pandemic shutdowns. Place like Harmon Canyon Preserve and Big Rock Preserve have become part of the fabric of Ventura, and they are part of our story of resilience. The Wild & Scenic Film Festival is an opportunity to see how Ventura Land Trust fits into the work individuals and organizations around the world are doing to protect the earth.”
Visitors to Ventura Land Trust’s preserves can explore and learn on 4,000 acres of permanently conserved land in Ventura County. Preserves are open to the public daily, for free.
Visit www.venturalandtrust.org/wsff2021 for tickets. Sponsorship opportunities are available. Contact Development Director Leslie Velez at [email protected] for more information.
Fire season is here and if you have not yet completed your brush clearance do it now.
During its regular meeting on May 24, 2021, the Ventura City Council approved the City’s adopted fee schedule and authorized the Ventura Fire Department to begin billing for defensible space and other fire inspections.
Earlier this year Ventura Fire mailed 6,500 notices to city property owners reminding community members to perform fire hazard reduction clearance by May 18, 2021. Beginning August 23, 2021, defensible space inspections and associated activities will be billable according to the City’s adopted fee schedule, effective July 23, 2021.
“Fire season is here and if you have not yet completed your brush clearance to create 100 feet of defensible space, act now for the safety of your community,” said Ventura Fire Marshal Joe Morelli. “Properties with good defensible space stand a better chance of survival during a wildfire.”
Defensible space is the area around a structure, free of flammable plants and objects, that creates a zone in which firefighters can operate safely in order to help protect a home during a wildfire. This space is wide enough to prevent direct flame impingement and reduce the amount of radiant heat reaching the structure. The defensible space for each structure varies and depends on the type of vegetation and topography. Maintaining this defensible space is critical.
In 2021, Ventura Fire’s goal is to inspect 6,500 properties in very high, high, and moderate fire hazard areas of the City of Ventura. This is a 900% increase from the 580 annual inspections previously performed.
The City of Ventura has contracted with Fire Recovery USA, LLC, a third party billing service, to administer billing on behalf of the Ventura Fire Department.
First inspections are billable at $21.00 per inspection, plus associated fees totaling $38.97, per the City’s fee schedule. To avoid additional inspections and subsequent fees, residents can correct violations and email pictures showing compliance to [email protected] before re-inspection.
To find out if a parcel has been approved, please call (805) 658-4709, or send an email to [email protected]. For questions regarding a bill or the billing process, please call (888)-650-5320, or send an email to [email protected].
For additional information on the Fire Hazard Reduction Program, visit www.cityofventura.ca.gov/FHRP.
Due to the current surge, Ventura County Public Health (VCPH) is urging all Ventura County residents that are eligible but have not yet been fully vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible. In alignment with state and federal health authorities, VCPH officials also continue to strongly recommend mask wearing indoors in public places regardless of vaccination status. While Ventura County continues to be aligned with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance on masking, which recommends that everyone regardless of vaccination status wear masks indoors, and that requires those that are not fully vaccinated to mask indoors, officials are closely monitoring the current surge in case additional mitigation measures are needed.
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are rising due to the increased circulation of the highly transmissible Delta variant. The latest local case rate has reached 15.5 cases per 100,000 residents and a positivity rate of 6%. With these metrics, Ventura County would be in the purple tier in the now retired color tiered framework.
Vaccines remain the most powerful tool against COVID-19 and its variants, including the Delta variant. Nonetheless, the Delta variant is infecting a small percentage of vaccinated people in Ventura County but such vaccinated people remain strongly protected against severe illness, hospitalization, and death. State data reported on August 4, 2021 shows that there have been 688 total cases among fully vaccinated people, a “breakthrough” or infection rate of 0.14%.
Cases in the past month have trended younger with persons 18-29 years of age making up the majority of cases. It is important for all eligible people to get vaccinated especially as school resumes in person and youth under 12 years of age are not eligible to receive the vaccines.
Mask wearing prevents transmission of the virus especially to those most at risk and people who cannot get vaccinated yet for eligibility and other health reasons. People are strongly recommended to wear masks indoors in settings like grocery or retail stores, theaters, and family entertainment centers, even if they are fully vaccinated as an added layer of protection for both themselves and unvaccinated residents. Businesses are asked to expect masking for customers entering indoor areas of their businesses to provide better protection to their employees and customers. Workplaces must comply with Cal/OSHA requirements and fully vaccinated employees are encouraged to wear masks indoors even though no longer required for fully vaccinated employees by the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards. For masks to work properly, they need to completely cover your nose and mouth and fit snugly against the sides of your face and around your nose.
People with only one vaccine dose of Pfizer or Moderna are not fully protected. Completion of the vaccine series is necessary to provide full protection. People are considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or 2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Public Health continues to monitor transmission rates, hospitalizations, deaths and increasing vaccination rates throughout the County and will reevaluate the recommendation as needed in the coming weeks. COVID-19 data can be monitored at www.vcrecovers.org.
COVID-19 vaccines are free for all community members 12 or older.
Vaccination locations can be found at www.vaccines.gov or by calling 800-232-0233.
Appointments can be made at MyTurn.CA.gov or by calling 833-422-4255.
With cases of COVID-19 rising locally and increased circulation of the highly transmissible Delta variant, the County of Ventura Public Health Department strongly recommends that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks indoors in public places. This serves as an extra precautionary measure for those who are fully vaccinated and will further limit spread of the Delta variant in the community at large.
“The Delta variant is spreading quickly in our State. All community members should take action to protect themselves and others against this potentially deadly virus,” said County of Ventura Health Officer Doctor Robert Levin. “While vaccines remain our best tool against COVID-19, masking in indoor and crowded outdoor settings will help us curb the spread of this latest wave of infection. Ventura County data have recently shown that unvaccinated people are 22 times more likely to become infected and hospitalized than vaccinated residents. Several of our hospitalized people have been vaccinated and that is several too many.”
In June, the Delta variants comprised 43 percent of all specimens sequenced in California. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted that Delta variants are now responsible for 58 percent of new infections across the country. Fully vaccinated people are well-protected from infections and serious illness due to known COVID-19 variants including Delta variants, and vaccinating as many people as possible, as soon as possible, continues to be our best defense against severe COVID-19 infection, and the harm it can do to our region. Vaccines are safe, effective, free, and widely available to everyone 12 and older. “For the most part this is a surge of cases among our unvaccinated and it is preventable. Get vaccinated,” said Doctor Levin.
Out of an abundance of caution, people are strongly recommended to wear masks indoors in settings like grocery or retail stores, theaters, and family entertainment centers, even if they are fully vaccinated as an added layer of protection for both themselves and unvaccinated residents. Businesses are asked to expect universal masking for customers entering indoor areas of their businesses to provide better protection to their employees and customers. Workplaces must comply with Cal/OSHA requirements and fully vaccinated employees are encouraged to wear masks indoors if their employer has not confirmed the vaccination status of those around them. For masks to work properly, they need to completely cover your nose and mouth and fit snugly against the sides of your face and around your nose.
Public Health will continue to monitor transmission rates, hospitalizations, deaths and increasing vaccination rates throughout the County and will reevaluate the recommendation in the coming weeks. COVID-19 information can be monitored at www.vcrecovers.org.
COVID-19 vaccines are available at multiple locations throughout the County of Ventura for all community members 12 or older. Information about locations can be found at www.myturn.ca.gov or by calling 833-422-4255.
