∙My sincere condolences to Councilmember Lorrie Brown whose 22-year-old son Jeremiah Brown recently died from gunshot wounds while in Florida.

∙The Ventura County Fair returns on August 3 for its 147th year, following a two year pause because of the pandemic. The only other times the fair was closed was because of World War 1, the Great Depression and World War 2. A great opportunity to get out to enjoy the food, the outdoors, the music, the livestock, and the rides, including the Ferris wheel.

Ever wonder why Ferris wheel is capitalized? The original Ferris wheel, sometimes also referred to as the Chicago Wheel, was designed and built by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. as the centerpiece of the Midway at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.

∙Nine business hopefuls vied for the city of Ventura’s approval for cannabis retail and distribution permits. They were allotted about 10 minutes each to make presentations to city staff and to the citizens who attended.

In November 2020, Ventura voters approved a ballot measure for the taxation of cannabis in the city. In February 2021, the City Council adopted ordinances to allow for commercial cannabis businesses in Ventura.

Yesania Anderson from community development ran the meeting. Ventura City Manager Alex McIntyre will make a decision on awarding permits in August or September,

The city can award up to three retail permits and up to 10 distribution permits. The nine finalists were selected by an outside consulting group using combined criteria of business ownership, neighborhood compatibility, community benefits, investment plans and proposed locations in the city.

Some residents expressed concerns that the cannabis businesses would open near schools and parks. I certainly understand their concerns, but if they visited locations in other cities they would not see “potheads” in or outside of the stores. The establishments are more like high-end drug stores (no pun intended).

While these stores will bring additional tax dollars to Ventura, my concern is that there are so many cannabis stores now open in adjacent cities that there may not be need for so many new outlets here.

∙After serving 29 years on the Ventura Unified School District Board of Education, Ms. Velma Lomax has decided not to seek re-election for Trustee Area 1 in November. She will be missed has been a wonderful member of the board making many great contributions.

VUSD Board of Education Trustee Areas 1, 4 & 5 are eligible for the November 8, 2022, Statewide General Election. For additional information visit; https://recorder.countyofventura.org/elections/elections/.

∙ The downtown Ventura farmer’s market is set to leave its Palm and Santa Clara location for a larger, linear layout on Main St. The Ventura City Council unanimously approved a multi-year license agreement for the Ventura County Certified Farmer’s Market to move to 200 E. Main St., between Palm Street and Ventura Avenue, starting Aug. 27. The farmer’s market will pay a total of $5,000 per year in four quarterly payments for use of the city street and operate from 6am to 2pm on Saturdays.

The Farmer’s market will also pay $4,800 annually for a Mission Basilica San Buenaventura parking lot that will be used as a food court and pay an additional $19,200 annually for supplying restrooms.

I like a more casual layout like the one they have had for many years as compared to a linear one. Like all businesses, COVID has negatively affected attendance, so hopefully this will bring back old customers.

Guns in the News:

∙Three individuals are in the hospital after being shot at a funeral at a Chicago church. Police said the shooting took place when a grey colored sedan drove by and a person in the vehicle opened fire on the victims, who were standing outside of the church.

A 5-year-old Arkansas boy fatally shot his 8-year-old brother in what investigators believe was an accidental shooting with an unsecured gun. The 8-year-old was found unresponsive Thursday afternoon at a home.

“This is a tragic incident that could have been avoided. I can’t emphasize strongly enough that guns need to be well secured and kept out of the hands and away from children at all times,” Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr. said. “Gun owners that do not properly secure their firearms are just one split second away from one of these tragedies happening in their home.”

According to American Academy of Pediatrics California, “Gun violence is among the greatest public health crises facing children and youth. Nearly 7,000 children younger than 18 are killed or wounded by gunshots each year.” Firearm related deaths are now the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 19.

One person has died, and two others were injured after a shooting at a bowling alley in Livermore Saturday evening. Police say a fight broke out at Granada Bowl, which led to a shooting inside the business. One of the individuals involved in the fight pulled out a gun and fired several rounds that hit three adult victims. Oh, for the good old says of just fist fights.

Assemblymember Steve Bennett (D-Ventura) and Senator Monique Limon announced that Legislation to restrict gun sales at the Ventura County Fairground has been signed by the Governor.

According to a report published by UC Davis, gun shows are a source of illegally trafficked firearms. The Center for American Progress noted that gun shows have received criticism as being “the critical moment in the chain of custody for many guns, the point at which they move from the somewhat-regulated legal market to the shadowy, no-questions-asked illegal market.”

“Unfortunately, the United States experiences far more gun violence per person than virtually every other modern industrialized country in the world,” Said Bennett, “and what accounts for this? The United States has one of the most pervasive gun cultures in the world supported by a powerful gun lobby. Gun shows at the Fairgrounds enhance this and it is time for each of us to play a role in changing this culture.”

“State property does not need to be in the business of facilitating the sale of firearms,” said Senator Limón. “This legislation is an important step forward to enhance gun safety and reflects the direction that our local communities have asked the state to take on.”

This bill is similar to efforts in other counties to restrict gun sales. In 2021, SB 264 (Min) was signed into law to prohibit gun sales at Orange County Fairground. And in 2018, Governor Newsom signed into law AB 893 (Gloria) which ended gun shows at the Del Mar State Fairground.

The gun shows have been held for more than a decade at the Ventura County Fairgrounds and will be banned Jan. 1 if the bill is signed into law. There will certainly be court challenges to this law. Gun rights advocates said the laws will be challenged here. There are ongoing cases against bans at fairgrounds in San Diego and Orange counties.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he will sign a controversial, first-in-the-nation gun control law patterned after a Texas anti-abortion law. His action comes one month after conservative justices overturned a woman’s constitutional right to abortions and undermined gun control laws in states including California.

Newsom combined the two topics in approving a law allowing people to sue anyone who distributes illegal assault weapons, parts that can be used to build weapons, guns without serial numbers, or .50 caliber rifles. They would be awarded at least $10,000 in civil damages for each weapon.

“While the Supreme Court rolls back reasonable gun safety measures, California continues adding new ways to protect the lives of our kids,” Newsom said in a statement released before he signed the bill. “California will use every tool at its disposal to save lives, especially in the face of an increasingly extreme Supreme Court.”

∙ In this issue, we have included a new Real Estate/Development column on page 12. This is to inform our readers about trends, new and proposed projects, and other related items impacting Ventura. I hope you find it informative.

∙ Spencer Noren, a Ventura parks and recreation commissioner, was removed by the City Council following an investigation into alleged harassment of city employees. The City Council unanimously voted to oust the commissioner for acting in an intimidating and threatening manner.

The city hired Fresno-based law firm Lozano Smith to conduct a six-month investigation into Noren’s actions. The probe, which included more than 10 interviews and a review of 30 documents, cost the city about $50,000, said Ventura City Attorney Andy Heglund. I’m not sure why the city needs to hire outside attorneys when we have our own legal department.

Perhaps this explains it: “It was important to the city that we retain an independent third party who would have experience in being able to conduct a fair process,” Heglund said Tuesday. “It was an expensive process but one well worth it given the circumstances.”

In November, the city received a formal employee complaint alleging that Noren acted in an intimidating and threatening manner toward city employees, according to a city staff report.

∙ The Ventura Land Trust has been awarded $7.2 million by the State of California to complete the acquisition and conservation of 1,645 acres of Ventura’s iconic hillsides, now called Mariano Rancho Preserve.

Mariano Rancho Preserve is situated in the hills north of Ventura. The eastern edge of the preserve includes the famous “Two Trees;” the preserve extends west to Ventura’s Grant Park and the Ventura Botanical Gardens. It provides views of the ocean and Channel Islands National Park, the mountains of Ojai and the Los Padres National Forest.

If you haven’t walked (hiked) the Harmon Canyon, also part of our treasured hillsides, you certainly should. Two minutes off of Foothill and you are in another beautiful world.

∙ The Supreme Court has agreed with a former high school football coach who prays at the 50-yard line after games ruling that his public prayers is free speech and free exercise of religion. Is this the beginning of the Supreme Court allowing a larger role for prayer and religion in public schools? I certainly hope not. This is happening even though the constitution mandates a strict separation of church and state.

The thought is that even if a coach has a team praying it is not mandated but a choice the athletes can independently make, as athletes do not have to kneel and pray. This is nonsense, as it would take a very brave high school, or even college or professional athlete to stand while the whole team prays, so I consider this to be mandatory and not arbitrary.

I know a constitution is important but also certainly needs an occasional re-writing or amending. It was written by only men over 200 years ago.

For instance, the Seventh Amendment from the Bill of Rights reads;

“In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of common law.”

∙ Congresswoman Julia Brownley recently wrote:

“The Supreme Court has ruled in an irrational, unprecedented, and dangerous manner. The Supreme Court made yet another alarming and harmful ruling for our health, our communities, our planet, and our future.

This ruling undermines the Clean Air Act and restricts the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate carbon dioxide emissions – a known threat to our planet and a primary driver of the climate crisis. As a member of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, I have worked to reduce carbon dioxide pollution, create clean energy jobs to grow our economy, tackle systemic environmental injustices, and protect our planet from the catastrophic consequences of human-caused climate change. Today’s ruling not only jeopardizes our nation’s goals and our international goals to combat the climate crisis, but it puts the health of every American at risk. It will also compound the devastating economic consequences of the greenhouse gas-induced climate crisis, which has already led to increasingly common wildfires, floods, coastal erosion, and other weather-related disasters. Something we’ve been impacted by, repeatedly, in my district.

After years of trying and failing to gut the Clean Air Act, Republicans – and the polluting industries that bankroll them – have convinced the Supreme Court’s radical majority to gut the law for them. This decision undermines a bedrock environmental law that has significantly reduced harmful pollutants in the air we breathe for over half a century. The conservative majority of the Supreme Court is pandering to Republicans who prioritize large, polluting corporations and their profits over the health and well-being of the American people and the long-term sustainability of our planet – which is appalling and shameful.

The climate crisis is real, and our planet is in immediate danger, and I will continue to fight in Congress for the health and safety of our people and our planet.”

∙ And regarding the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden delivered impassioned remarks condemning the “extreme” Supreme Court majority that ended a constitutional right to abortion and pleading with Americans upset by the decision to “vote, vote, vote, vote” in November. He signed an executive order to try to protect access to the procedure under mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to be even more forceful in response to the ruling.

∙ Inflation in Turkey has reached 78.6% annually in June – the highest in almost 25 years, according to official data provided by the Turkish Statistics Institute. But many Turks no longer trust official figures and believe inflation to be much higher. Independent experts say the real inflation rate could be more than 175%. So, we can’t just blame Biden for our inflation – we live in a connected one-world economy.

∙ There is so much to write about I don’t know where to start. Like lots of Americans (certainly not all), I am very depressed by the recent decisions of the Supreme Court. And on a more local issue, by the situation of Ashley Bautista.

∙ From a previous issue of the Breeze; “The County of Ventura has selected Ashley Bautista as their new Public Information Officer following the retirement of Bill Nash. The position reports to County Executive Officer Mike Powers.”

She spent the previous five years as a public information officer for the city of Ventura and the Ventura Police Department and has won several awards for her work.

Ashley Bautista was arrested in Ventura in a suspected misdemeanor DUI hit-and-run crash. The accident was at the intersection of Paseo de Playa and Harbor Blvd. near the Ventura Promenade.

While at a stop sign, a car was rear-ended by Bautista’s and she continued driving away after the collision. When she was pulled over Ashley was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor DUI involving alcohol and misdemeanor hit-and-run.

She has since resigned from her position with the county. Even though our relationship has been on a professional level I have always considered her to be a friend and am very upset that this has happened to her. I hope this was an isolated incidence and she can put her life back on track.

∙ In a major expansion of gun rights after a series of mass shootings, the Supreme Court determined that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, a ruling likely to lead to more people legally armed. The decision came out as Congress and states debate gun-control legislation. The high court’s first major gun decision in more than a decade split the court 6-3, with the court’s conservatives in the majority and liberals in dissent.

From New York Daily News

“Using a garbled reading of history as a crutch, the U.S. Supreme Court’s supposed textualist conservatives have just managed to codify a cartoon cutout version of the Second Amendment, obliterating New York State’s concealed carry firearm permitting system. We will mince no words: This will cost the lives of civilians and police officers, as almost anyone in New York City will now be free to carry a gun. At a time when the proliferation of weapons is already killing record numbers of Americans, the nearly absolutist right of self-defense the majority canonizes will become a right to societal suicide.”

“It’s just 27 simple words written in 1789: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the six-member majority, brazenly ignores that first clause and renders the second in the most expansive terms imaginable.”

Ohio’s permit-less gun carry law for “qualifying” adults is a measure that would lift restrictions on school teachers, custodians and bus drivers from carrying firearms at work. Is a “qualifying” adult” one that signs a promise that they won’t kill a spouse, themselves, or students?

So, the solution to gun deaths is to arm more people with guns, right?

This might help, though, President Joe Biden has signed the most sweeping gun violence bill in decades, a bipartisan compromise that seemed unimaginable until a recent series of mass shootings, including the massacre of 19 students and two teachers at a Texas elementary school.

“Time is of the essence. Lives will be saved,” he said in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Citing the families of shooting victims he has met, the President said, “Their message to us was, ‘Do something.’ How many times did we hear that? ‘Just do something. For God’s sake, just do something.’ Today we did.”

Even though the majority of American’s support Roe vs. Wade in the other depressing Supreme Court decision is the overturning of this long-running statute. Even though objections to abortions are supposedly based on religious beliefs I still have not seen, or have been sent the passages from the Bible that support this position.

∙ Writing in the LA Times Robin Abcarian stated:
“Goodbye, legal right to abortion.
Goodbye, separation of church and state.
Goodbye, common-sense gun laws.
Goodbye, Miranda rights.
And that’s just the beginning.”

∙ For some good news, with the debut of macOS Ventura (likely later this year) Ventura images will be seen throughout the day on the screens of almost every Mac computer in the world. The tech giant Apple has chosen the name “Ventura” for the company’s new Mac operating system.

Visit Ventura’s Digital Marketing Manager Mike Laan stated, “Literally every creative person in the world is going to be using this operating system, and Ventura photos will be on the desktop by default. I think it will bring more exposure to Ventura.”

∙ For now, single-family residential properties in the City of Ventura are encouraged to voluntarily reduce water use by 20%. Stricter measures, including implementing water shortage rates and mandatory outdoor watering restrictions, could go into effect if demand reductions are not achieved through voluntary efforts.

∙ Most of California beaches (including Ventura’s) are much cleaner than in past decades. In its annual report Heal the Bay graded more than 700 beaches and concluded that 94% logged clean water quality.

∙ Amazon plans to begin delivering some packages by drone to homes in a select few Northern California homes this year. My question is how much do you tip a drone when it delivers a pizza? And if it accidently delivers it to your next-door neighbor can your neighbor legally eat it by saying they thought it was a birthday present?

∙Ventura Unified School District trustees unanimously selected Calvin Peterson, a retired retail manager and father of two, to replace former trustee and board President Matt Almaraz. “It’s really exciting,” said Sabrena Rodriguez, the board’s new president. “He has a lot of interesting things to bring to the conversation.”

Peterson, 47, was sworn into the five-member board’s Area 5 seat during a special meeting. He is the first African American trustee in the history of the 56-year-old district and one of two current trustees with children in the district’s schools.

His son, Carson, is a 16-year-old Ventura High junior and his 8-year-old daughter is a second-grade student.

∙ Sorry to hear that the Ventura Bank of Books will be closing in the near future. Always amazed me that Clarey Rudd has been able to stay in business there with the declining amount of book readers these days. The building (located at 748 E. Main) has been sold. The new owners want to charge much higher rents than Rudd can afford.

Rudd still owns another Bank of Books store in Santa Paula and the Midtown Ventura bookstore Abednego Book Shoppe. Hopefully there are still enough readers to keep these stores going. Even with these stores, there is hardly enough space to absorb what could be over 100,000 books.

∙ The City of Ventura has closed three parking levels and a stairwell in the Harbor Boulevard parking structure in advance of repairs. The structure is located at Harbor Blvd. and California St. at the Ventura Pier.

“Public safety is at the forefront of our decision making,” said Public Works facilities manager Barbara McCormack. “Out of an abundance of caution, we will close the stairwell and parking levels 3, 4, and 5 as a proactive measure until repairs can be done to the stairwell.”

The closure comes after a structural analysis indicated corrosion of steel and concrete in the southwest stairwell closest to the pier. Access to the stairwell will be closed off starting on the second level of the parking structure.

It is about time something was done to this parking structure. Beyond just structural repairs, it needs painting and cleaning up (it’s pretty filthy). Many tourists park there. It would also be nice if the walkway to the pier (see photo) could also be cleaned up (painted and repaired). I am told it is the responsibility of Caltrans to make these improvements. I’m trying to obtain a Caltrans contact to find out whom to bug.

∙ Golden State Warriors (a basketball team) head coach Steve Kerr made an impassioned plea to take stronger action against gun violence in the United States. He refused to speak about basketball ahead of Game 4 of the Warriors’ series against the Dallas Mavericks, instead he spoke against gun deaths.

∙ Some readers have accused the Ventura Breeze of being a liberal newspaper. The Breeze has no political agenda at all. In my articles, I add some thoughts that might be considered liberal, but the paper has none, it just reports newsworthy items.

I don’t like guns. I’m sure some liberals might not feel that way and some conservatives might not as well. I don’t think this is a big liberal item. Most politicians vote on the issue the way they think it will get them re-elected.

I don’t like Donald trump. Not because he is a conservative Republican (I didn’t dislike Ronald Reagan or Abraham Lincoln). I dislike Trump because he is a womanizer (which he has bragged about), immoral, vindictive and a liar. He has tried to destroy our constitution and the most important part of a democracy by trying to change (by illegal means) the honest results of a fair and free election.

The Jan. 6 select committee has heard testimony indicating that then-President Donald Trump, after rioters who swarmed the Capitol began chanting “hang Mike Pence”, expressed support for hanging his vice president. This is according to three people familiar with the matter, including the White House chief of staff at the time, Mark Meadows.

I don’t like people like this, regardless of whether they are the President of the United States or my next-door neighbor. You might be happy to hear I’m done writing about Trump unless something really important happens regarding him.

Regarding abortion, my thoughts are certainly liberal, but I have not found anything in the Bible that even mentions abortion. I am certainly not a Bible scholar, so if any readers can send me an excerpt from the Bible that deals with abortion, I would appreciate it. “Thou shall not kill” doesn’t really cover that for me.

Also, some who are opposed to abortion also oppose any type of birth control. Why is that? Birth control doesn’t “kill an unborn”, it just prevents pregnancy.

∙ Guns In the News

New York’s legislature voted to ban anyone under age 21 from buying or possessing a semi-automatic rifle – a major change to state firearm laws.

Other new legislation will restrict civilian purchases of bullet-resistant armor, which was worn by the killer in Buffalo, and require new guns to be equipped with microstamping technology that can help law enforcement investigators trace bullets to particular firearms.

The age limit bill passed the Senate along party lines, 43-20, and in the Assembly 102-47.

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in hundreds of protests across the country recently to push lawmakers to take action on gun violence in the wake of recent mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York.

Protesters turned out to more than 450 rallies nationwide, with the largest gathering taking place in Washington D.C.

A bipartisan group of senators announced an agreement on principle for gun safety legislation, which includes “needed mental health resources, improves school safety and support for students, and helps ensure dangerous criminals and those who are adjudicated as mentally ill can’t purchase weapons.”

The announcement included the support of 10 Republican senators, which would give the proposal enough support to overcome the Senate filibuster.

Three people were killed and another was wounded when someone opened fire in a manufacturing facility in western Maryland, and a state trooper was injured in a shootout. We have become so accustomed to mass killing when “only” 3 are killed we are relieved.

There is an amateur cartoon in this issue that got me to thinking. Movies have banned actors from smoking because we don’t want kids to smoke because it is un-healthy, but movies (and video games) that show thousands of people shot to death are okay.

∙ NASA has announced that it will have a new study of unidentified aerial phenomena UAP (AKA UFO’s). They have admitted there are things flying around our skies that are unknown. This is probably what is being said in these UAP’s. “This is earth, we don’t ever want to become as uncivilized as these people, so remember what you are seeing today.”

Ventura City Manager Alex McIntyre has taken responsibility for a Brown Act violation committed by five members of the City Council during a March conference in Washington, D.C.

McIntyre said he was unaware that the council was not allowed to have what he deemed ‘social meetings’. “It was my fault for failing to understand this.” Five elected officials, McIntyre, and Deputy City Manager Barry Fisher, traveled to the nation’s capital as part of the National League of Cities Conference.
The Brown Act is the state’s open meeting law, it dictates how public meetings are conducted and notified to the public. It prohibits a majority of members of a legislative body from communicating or taking action on an item outside of an open meeting that has been notified to the public.

The Ventura Police Department Traffic Unit conducted a DUI checkpoint on Main Street, east of Callens Road on Friday, May 13, 2022, from 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.

DUI checkpoint locations are chosen based on a history of DUI collision statistics and arrests, with the primary purpose not to make arrests, but to promote public safety by deterring residents from driving impaired.

The following is a list of the enforcement activities that took place at, or as a result of the checkpoint:

876 cars passed through the checkpoint
489 drivers were contacted and screened through the checkpoint
7 SFST’s (sobriety test) were conducted
6 drivers cited for VC12500(a), Unlicensed Driver

Funding for this checkpoint was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

On May 6 (I couldn’t attend because of a birthday party) Art City Studios hosted a reception for artist Ramon Bryne entitled “Composed in Stone”. At the event art lovers learned that the future of the art space is uncertain because after 37 years the property owner is trying to sell it so it could be developed. The selling price is $1.7 mill.

Founder Paul Lindhard is trying to stay optimistic hoping a way could be found to keep it the wonderful gallery that it is. The space, at 197 Dubbers St. has been home to dozens of sculptors and other artists for decades and is a great way to spend hours walking the space and appreciating the sculptures and other art objects there.

Supporters hope people will send letters to city leaders about saving this cultural resource. Or, perhaps a wealthy art lover could buy it. Depending on its zoning it might be impossible for the city to stop its sale and development. For more information visit www.artcitystudios.com.

What is the most important issue facing America?
A Inflation
B Ukraine war
C Baby formula shortage
D Lack of water
E Climate change
F COVID
G None of the above
If you selected G you are correct the most important issue seems to be abortion.

Even Columbia allows the procedure until the 24th week of pregnancy. It is also widely available in Cuba and Uruguay but not in our enlightened country. There is even some question if abortion is even mentioned in the bible which is the basis for preventing abortians

Margaret Kamitsuka, an emeritus professor of religion at Oberlin College, argues there’s significant ambiguity about abortion in the Christian tradition. She notes it’s never mentioned in the Bible. “Which is quite stunning,” she said, “because pretty much every other moral issue is talked about – from divorce to gluttony and robbery and so on.”

Read Representative’s Brownley’s article on page X regarding this that I certainly agree with.

The Supreme Court has become so political (forget the constitution) it is time to impose a term limit on justices. This idea (like abortion) is favored by a majority of Americans.

Guns In the News
A report from Johns Hopkins University found the number of people dying from gun violence in the United States reached a record high in 2020: an average of 124 people dead every day,

The analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions showed there were 45,222 gun deaths in 2020, a 15% increase from 2019. Gun homicides rose by 35%.

Suicides accounted for more than half of all U.S. gun deaths in 2020 – 24,292. How sad is that? I doubt if anny of those killing themselves purchased a gun for that purpose.

Authorities say the white 18-year-old male who fatally shot 10 people and injured three others Saturday at a Buffalo supermarket in the heart of the city’s Black community traveled from another New York county hours away.

Thirteen people — 11 of whom were African American — were shot, with three suffering non-life-threatening injuries.

The white male was actually live-streaming it online and had posted racists comments on social media. Good grief, what is happening in this country? So very sad and pathetic.

Seventeen people were shot Friday night in downtown Milwaukee just hours after three were shot a few blocks away, near the arena where the Milwaukee Bucks were playing in the NBA Playoffs.

Ten people were taken into custody in the shooting downtown, and nine firearms were recovered, according to Milwaukee Police Capt. Warren Allen.

A 16-year-old boy was fatally shot near “The Bean” sculpture in downtown Chicago’s Millennium Park, authorities said. Police said the teen was shot in the chest at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday near the popular tourist attraction.

A mother was charged with shooting and critically wounding her two sons while they lay in their beds early Monday morning, one day before the family was set to be evicted from their home.

A father and daughter were allegedly shot with a rifle by the daughter’s boyfriend at their Oxnard home late Saturday morning. The incident was reported as a family disturbance shortly before 11:40 a.m. in the 100 block of James Avenue, said Oxnard Police Department Cmdr. Luis McArthur.

Officers found the daughter, 27, and her 61-year-old father with gunshot wounds. The woman’s 23-year-old boyfriend was arrested and a gun recovered, McArthur said.

Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said at a news conference Monday afternoon that 38-year-old Trinh Nguyen shot her two sons and tried to shoot a neighbor ― her ex-husband’s nephew ― as he left for work around 7 a.m.

Six people were shot, killing three, at a DeKalb County condominium complex Sunday night, according to police.

Liberal Ventura Breeze

∙ On May 6 there will be a celebration at the Art City Studios (see ad in this issue). If you haven’t been to Art City, it is an amazing experience where you can spend hours walking around looking at the wonderful art and sculptures. The property has been sold, so if you haven’t been there this would a great time to visit. Hope to see you there.

∙I want to thank Councilmember Mike Johnson who is personally helping to clean up Ventura by inviting the community to come to clean up events with him. See page 5 for how to participate.

∙I have heard some Venturans say that there is a new water-usage mandate, stating that they can only water their lawns one day a week. This mandate, from the MWD, applies to communities dependent on the state water project, and does not apply to Ventura. Our water comes from local resources. In a future issue we will have an article explaining our water sources and what condition they are in.

∙Recently Naomi Judd passed away. I normally wouldn’t mention passing celebrities except for her daughter’s statement saying, “We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness.” People do not die from mental illness. They might die by suicide brought on by their mental illness. I hope there can be a clarification to the cause of her death so that people don’t think mental illness is a killer. The clarification has been made. Naomi Judd, iconic country star and one-half of the mother-daughter duo took her own life on Saturday following a longtime battle with mental illness at 76 years old, multiple sources confirm.

∙A fundraising concert, where 100% of donations benefit UNICEF’s coordinated response to the crisis in Ukraine, will feature a diverse selection of classical music, spanning works by the Great Masters to Ukrainian folk songs.

All donations support UNICEF’s humanitarian response efforts directed towards children and families in Ukraine and neighboring countries offering a safe haven to those displaced. Tickets are free to the public and donations are encouraged. The event is Sunday, May 15, 6:00pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 3290 Loma Vista Road, Ventura.

To donate or learn more about the organization, visit www.unicefusa.org.

∙The Ventura County Environmental Health Division (Division), in coordination with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), is issuing a warning about the annual quarantine of mussels taken by recreational shellfish harvesters. This quarantine is due to hazardous levels of toxin causing paralytic shellfish poisoning.

The quarantine applies to all species of mussels taken by the public anywhere on the California coast including all bays, harbors, and estuaries. Commercially harvested shellfish are not included in the quarantine. In addition, consumers are advised not to eat recreationally harvested bivalve shellfish (such as mussels, clams or whole scallops) from Ventura County. Dangerous levels of domoic acid have been detected in mussels sampled from Ventura County, making them unsafe to eat.

∙A report by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service found that while spring 2021 was cooler than average, the summer months were marked by “severe and long-lasting heatwaves” that saw numerous new temperature records, including an unprecedented 119.8 degrees Fahrenheit measured in Sicily last August. Maybe if we call this climate change and not globing warming all people will start believing it.

∙A New York judge is holding Donald Trump in civil contempt after the state’s attorney general’s office said he did not comply with a subpoena for documents as part of its investigation into the former President’s companies.

Judge Arthur Engoron said Trump failed to abide by his order to comply with the subpoena, and that his attorneys failed to show how a search of materials held by Trump was conducted. Engoron said Trump would be fined $10,000 a day until he complies.

The judge stated, “Mr. Trump, I know you take your business seriously and I take mine seriously. I hereby hold you in civil contempt and fine you $10,000 per day until you purge that contempt.”

∙ Guns In the News

Gunfire erupted at the Mississippi Mudbug Festival in Jackson. One person died and five others were hurt. The person who died may have been shot by an officer after “there was an exchange of gunfire between at least 2 to 3 individuals in and around a vehicle.”

The possible suspect in the fatal shooting of the owner and two employees of a Mississippi Gulf Coast motel and subsequent death of a person shot during a carjacking was found dead after a standoff with police.

A man arrested following a South Carolina mall shooting in which nine people were wounded had opened fire in self-defense in a confrontation with other shooters, his lawyer said. Investigators believe a fight between people who knew one another led to the gunfire, and that “at least three suspects displayed firearms inside the mall.”

At least four major shootings broke out across the United States over the Easter weekend, including one at a party in Pittsburgh that left two teenagers dead and several others injured early Sunday.

Two teens were killed, and several other people were injured in a shooting that stemmed from a large party in Pittsburgh according to police. Investigators are searching for multiple suspects in the shooting, which occurred early Sunday in the city’s East Allegheny neighborhood at a property that was rented through short-term rental company Airbnb. The teens who were killed were both 17-year-old males.

Authorities received multiple calls reporting gunshots heard inside the Mall of Victor Valley with a reported juvenile gunshot victim. Police identified that the suspect was the co-owner of Sole Addicts store. Cockrell was reportedly chasing two shoplifters out of his store during the incident. According to police, Cockrell fired multiple shots at the shoplifters, but the shots missed the individuals and instead hit a 9-year-old female victim, luckily it did not kill her.

Gunfire took the life of a 16-year-old girl outside a Bronx high school when she and two other teens were hit by bullets fired in a dispute between “brazen criminals.”

Police in Sacramento say six people are dead and 10 injured after a shooting in the city’s downtown area.

Two people were killed and two injured in a shooting that occurred in broad daylight near a children’s playground in San Francisco’s Crocker Amazon neighborhood.

∙From a Ventura police report about those who continue to commit crimes; “Lindsay has an extensive criminal history and has prior arrests including Burglary, Possession of Burglary Tools, Possession of Stolen Property, Identity Theft, Possession for Sales of Narcotics, Drug and Paraphernalia Possession, Felony Evading, Conspiracy, Domestic Violence, Vandalism, Carrying a Concealed Firearm, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Driving Under the Influence and Providing False Information to a Police Officer. Hartin has prior arrests including Burglary, Conspiracy, Robbery, Criminal Threats, Theft, Forgery, Identity Theft, Domestic Battery, Child Endangerment and Drug Possession. Both suspects were out on bail at the time of their arrest.”

What were these two horrible people doing out on bail so that they could commit more crimes? We hope to get an answer to this in a future issue.

∙ The Ventura City Council has extended the closure of downtown Main Street (and California St.) to vehicles until June, 2024. It is also considering ways to make the Main Street Moves closing program permanent.

Still to be considered the negatively affected businesses and the heavy costs to the city to upgrade the closed streets to make them more pedestrian friendly and attractive. The city will also consider establishing fees for businesses so that the street can be permanently closed after 2024.

The few merchants that we have interviewed are very happy with the closures and visitors to downtown seem to be very satisfied as well and like the outside patio dining.

The program started during the pandemic to make downtown more pedestrian-friendly on five blocks of Main St. (from San Buenaventura Mission to Fir St. and one block of S. California St. (between Main and Santa Clara).

The city will also consider establishing fees for businesses so that the street can be permanently closed.

To make upgrades to the streets, such as replacing the pavement with pavers, adding fountains and landscape areas would be extremely expensive but wonderful. Hopefully some grant money will be available to accomplish this.

∙ Every year, the city council considers a five-year capital improvement plan.

The 2023-27 plan outlines 127 projects totaling $929 million. $495 million worth of priority projects have funding allocations while $434 million are unfunded. Improvements to sidewalks, golf courses and the wastewater treatment plant are some of the top priorities approved by the council.

Seven projects, to divert treated wastewater to a new advanced water purification facility are in the plan. The water purification facility will treat the water to ensure it meets drinking water standards, inject it into a local groundwater basin for storage and later deliver the water to Venturans. To me this is a top priority issue. This is a huge amount of water that is now dumped into the ocean. I know that convincing people that drinking water that was once wastewater will take some doing but is well worth the effort.

∙ We have a new city attorney – Andy Heglund – who was unanimously approved by the city council. The council hires (and fires) the city attorney and city manager. He will be paid $237,000 (plus other benefits) in annual salary. He was selected out of 14 candidates considered by the council.

∙ The Village Carousel & Arcade, located in the Ventura Harbor Village, is now gone. Taking over the space will be Aarmark Beer Gardens who will serve food and have more current games for kids (and adults) to enjoy. Their opening will take quite a while to happen.

Tristan Thames, co-owner with his mother Sharon Thames of the Village Carousel & Arcade, said it was not his choice to close the business that has been here since the 1980’s. The space has been rented from the Ventura Port District.

I’m sorry that they couldn’t keep it open but truthfully it was in desperate need of major refurbishing. New paint, flooring, lighting, and more current games that today’s youths are interested in playing.

∙ The Ventura Chamber of Commerce has moved their offices from City Hall to 2478 E. Main St. I think this is a good move. Visiting their offices in city hall was a little intimidating for some people, so stop on by to meet them.

Speaking of the chamber, their Spring Business Expo is back after several years of not happening because of Covid. The event will be on May 12, from 4:00 – 6:30pm at the Four Points Sheraton, 1050 Schooner Dr. The Breeze will have a booth there (right by the food of course) so come say hello. Meet over 70 chamber member business exhibitors, enjoy great food and great company.

∙ The Ventura Police Department issued 21 citations for a variety of violations made by drivers during a bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement operation on April 12, 2022.

“Safety is a shared responsibility, with drivers holding the greatest responsibility to keep other road users safe,” said Officer Chris Wilson. “We hope this education and enforcement operation serves as a reminder to our community to look out for one another on the road.”

Drivers were contacted and cited for violations. Failure to yield to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk was the primary violation.

I know this is important, but I think just as important is ticketing pedestrians who walk across the street when the red “don’t walk” is displayed. In fact, this can be even more dangerous. How many times have you been downtown (especially prior to the closing to vehicles) when you legally make a right turn and there are pedestrians illegally crossing the street that you have almost run into?

∙ In our police reports column there is some information about an arrest on “three counts of attempted murder with a firearm as well as possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.” Glandros was currently out on bail for charges of possession of an unlawful weapon and also for assault with a deadly weapon with a firearm. Whatever happened to “3-strikes your out” and you stay in jail?

∙ Gary Wilde, 66, has announced his retirement as CEO of Community Memorial Hospital. He had been considering retirement but held off because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He felt it was too important for him to leave during COVID. It is a very important, stressful position. He hopes to stay until a new CEO can be hired.

∙ Amazon has opened a major fulfillment center in Oxnard. When fully operational, the 2.3 million-square-foot (good grief) facility will be able to process about 2 million packages a week.

It will employ about 2,500 workers. About 60% of the workforce is made up of Oxnard residents, 10% are Ventura residents and about 5% are from Camarillo so it will help the local economy.

∙ They have been exonerated but when Mayor Sofia Rubalcava, Councilmembers Joe Schroeder, Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios, Lorrie Brown and Doug Halter traveled to the nation’s capital as part of the National League of Cities Conference they broke the Brown Act. Together they made up a majority of council members, which violated the Brown Act by speaking about city issues to other elected officials and their staff without giving public notice. 

The Brown Act prohibits a majority of members of a legislative body from communicating or taking action on an item outside of an open, public meeting with some exceptions. The lack of public notice in Washington constitutes a violation of the state’s open meeting law.

“The City Council members that did attend those meetings were well-intentioned but inadvertently violated the Brown Act by attending in a majority,” City Attorney Heglund said. “However, no decisions were made during those meetings.”

Tony Wold, senior Deputy District Attorney with the public integrity unit in Ventura County, said, “Our office will not be taking any action because no decisions were made. The violation was inadvertent, and the council affirmed their intent to comply with the act going forward as required.”

∙It’s wonderful that most of our entertainment events and music venues will be opening this year. Things would have been almost running back to normal and now Putin sets the world back.

I hope this isn’t false hope and premature on the COVID front. In Europe, and many other countries, the cases and hospitalizations from COVID are slowly inching up and public health experts are worried about the consequences. In Britain, cases are rising just a few weeks after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson lifted most mitigation measures. Infections were 48% higher and hospitalizations were up 17%.

Pursuant to this, City Hall, and its facilities opened to the public on Thursday, March 11. “This week’s reopening marks an important milestone as we proudly welcome everyone back for in-person service,” said Ventura City Manager Alex D. McIntyre.

When I was at city hall, Interview sessions were being held for the Cannabis businesses that will be opening in Ventura. I was told three will be approved initially with and five eventually given licenses to operate. Glad this will happen, and that Ventura will keep the tax dollars here.

∙Ventura County’s Executive Officer Mike Powers retired two days after the Board of Supervisors placed him on paid administrative leave for undisclosed reasons. County Counsel Tiffany North confirmed Friday that the board had taken the action in a four-hour closed session devoted to litigation but would not say why.

Powers, 59, of Ventura notified the board Thursday he was immediately quitting the job he has held for 11 years. Powers said he was leaving to spend more time with his wife, Erin, and their two sons, age 10 and 13 but this may not have been the reason. A county employee filed a sexual harassment and discrimination complaint against Powers before he was placed on administrative leave on March 8.

∙The national average price for gas has topped $4 a gallon for the first time in more than a decade as gas costs continue to soar in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Wouldn’t we love to have our gas at only $4? The record high for the national average is $4.11, set on July 17, 2008. And, our summer formula is not here yet, that will add even more costs to gas prices. Of course, paying more for gas is better than being blown up by Russian bombs.

∙ In previous issues, we have published a few articles by Carol Leish regarding how downtown merchants (other than restaurants) felt about the closing of Main and California. They have all stated that they are happy with the closures. It was good to hear this because I just wasn’t sure what affect this has had on downtown businesses.

∙Guns In the News

Once again, a young child under 5 has killed a family member. A three-year-old boy accidentally shot his mother dead as the family sat in their car in a parking lot at a supermarket in a suburb of Chicago. The family were sitting in their car outside a Food for Less store when the boy somehow found the gun and fired it, striking his mother.

“This could have been prevented,” Dolton trustee Andrew Holmes said on Sunday as he visited the supermarket to hand out gun locks and speak to shoppers about the importance of gun safety. All it takes is a second: unlock it, thread it through the barrel, bring it back around, put it in and lock it back,” Holmes told WLS-TV. “If you leave it, secure it.”

Officials are searching for the person responsible for shooting and killing one man and injuring two other people at a party in Oxnard. The party, and shooting, took place at an abandoned business along Saviers Road. When officers arrived, they found 21-year-old Adrian Sandoval unconscious and unresponsive. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him, but he was unfortunately declared dead at the scene. Two others, 19-year-old Diego Mares and 24-year-old Arkangel Childs, were found wounded.

A 16-year-old was killed and three others were seriously injured in a shooting at a Quality Inn hotel in Colorado. Officers found the teen with an apparent gunshot wound, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A shooting outside a pizza shop on Chicago’s South Side has left seven men wounded, authorities said.

One teen is dead and two remain hospitalized after a shooting outside a Des Moines, Iowa, high school. The incident is at least the 13th shooting at an American campus with K-12 students in 2022, according to a CNN tally.

A student shot and wounded an administrator and a school resource officer Friday at a suburban Kansas City high school, and the student also was wounded when the officer returned fire.

∙ Another journalist has been shot to death in Mexico. So far this year it is the eighth killing of a journalist in Mexico. Ten suspects have been detained in connection with last month’s shooting death of a photojournalist in Tijuana.

∙ In a recent poll, two thirds of Asian Americans in Los Angeles County are worried about being a victim of a racial attack. It is unacceptable that any American because of their race, color, sexual orientation or religion should be concerned for the safety of their lives.

∙ I’m not kidding; regarding the Ukraine, Trump called for the U.S. to attack Russia but make it look like it was actually China by flying American planes with a Chinese flag on the side.

“And then we say, ‘China did it. We didn’t do it China did it,’ and then they start fighting with each other and we sit back and watch.”

∙ Retiring Republican Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said that his “biggest regret” during his time in Congress was voting against the first impeachment of former President Trump.

Trump was impeached and later acquitted on two articles, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to a phone call in which he pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the Biden family. Trump’s accusers alleged that he withheld much-needed military aid to force Zelensky’s hand, which Kinzinger said has affected Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia.

“It’s important for political leaders to be transparent and admit regret when needed. The bottom line, Donald Trump withheld lethal aid to Ukraine so he could use it as leverage for his campaign,” Kinzinger tweeted. “This is a shameful and illegal act, directly hurting the Ukraine defense today,” he said.

Republican Rep. Tom Rice (S.C.) slammed former President Trump following the former president’s rally in South Carolina, calling him “a would-be tyrant.”

Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Marc Racicot slammed Trump over his comments on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, writing that the ex-commander in chief is “not fit to lead this nation.”

In an article written for the Independent Record, Racicot analyzed Trump’s commentary on the conflict in Ukraine, determining that the ex-president is not fit to lead the U.S., especially during a moment of crisis.

He said, the “essential qualities of leadership and human character” are decency, honesty, humility, honor and faithfulness. Donald Trump does not possess those essential qualities of character that leave him fit to lead this nation, most especially in a time of crisis.”