The California Gold Coast chapter of the Public Relations Society of America is offering two scholarships to recognize outstanding individual college students who are committed to studying communication or public relations in the Tri-Counties area. The group will award two $500 scholarships in mid 2020.

“We believe that academic endeavors are essential for individuals to reach their full potential. For that reason, our chapter is encouraging students to attend a four-year institution and reach higher educational achievement,” said PRSA California Gold Coast Chapter Scholarship Committee Chair Nancy Mayerson.

The chapter raised funds for the scholarships through program meeting fees and sponsorships and hopes to grow the scholarship fund as the chapter grows.

“We believe that the heart of a successful PR career is service to one’s community, so we’re seeking students who have both high academic achievement and a solid commitment to community service. So many worthy organizations rely on public relations and community outreach to fulfill their mission, and we want to see our young professionals helping to make a difference,” Mayerson said.

Applications are being accepted through April 30, 2020. Winners will be announced in July of 2020. To be eligible for the scholarships, students must:

• Be a student currently enrolled in a four-year institution of higher education accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) located in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo or Ventura county.
• Have a 3.0 GPA minimum.
• Have a declared major in public relations or communication.
• Be in good academic standing with his or her educational institution.
• Have not received a PRSA scholarship in the past.

Find more information and an application online at www.prsagoldcoast.org, on the menu bar. Contact Nancy Mayerson, scholarship committee chair at [email protected] with additional questions.

PRSA is a nonprofit organization chartered in 1947 and the world’s largest organization of public relations professionals with more than 21,000 public relations and communications professionals across the United States. The California Gold Coast Chapter was founded in 2014 and serves Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. For more information, visit www.prsagoldcoast.org.

Channel Islands National Park is announcing modifications in operations to implement the latest guidance from the White House, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), and local and state authorities to promote social distancing.

As of March 16, 2020, the park’s mainland visitor center in the Ventura Harbor is closed until further notice. The five remote islands that comprise Channel Islands National Park remain open to public visitation. However, current access will only be via private vessel.

The park’s boat transportation concessioner Island Packers announced a two-week halt to their public transportation services as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The cancellation in boat services includes all landing and non-landing trips.

Virtual visits to the park and are popular via webcam at Channel Islands Live where you can experience the kelp forest, one of the richest marine environments in the world. These and many more wildlife webcams are provided by our partner explore.org.

The health and safety of our visitors, employees, volunteers, and partners at Channel Islands National Park is our number one priority. The National Park Service (NPS) is working with the federal, state, and local authorities to closely monitor the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. We will notify the public when we resume full operations and provide updates on our website and social media channels.

The NPS urges visitors to do their part when visiting a park and to follow CDC guidance to prevent the spread of infectious diseases by maintaining a safe distance between yourself and other groups; washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds; avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth; covering your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze; and most importantly, staying home if you feel sick.

Updates about NPS operations will be posted on www.nps.gov/coronavirus. Please check with individual parks for specific details about park operations. Campers can contact recreation.govto request refunds for any trips affected by the boat concession cancellations.

The Coalition for Family Harmony, which provides victims of family violence in Ventura County with the means to help escape from abuse, will continue to offer services to the community using modified communication and counseling techniques during the coronavirus crisis.

“We our following the guidelines outlined by Ventura County Public Health and the CDC,” says Dr. Caroline Prijatel-Sutton, Coalition For Family Harmony executive director. “For individual and most group counseling sessions, we will be using HIPAA-compliant web-based models and tele-counseling. If clients don’t have Internet or telephone access, we’ll work with them directly to meet their needs. It will be on a case-by-case basis.”

The Coalition runs the only Rape Crisis Center and 24-hour rape crisis hotline in Ventura County. The hotline will remain open with trained bilingual operators. The Rape Crisis Center will conduct emergency response through tele-counseling or in person. Emergency shelter services for survivors of domestic violence are available with consideration to room space availability. Transitional housing services remain fully operational.

The new communication procedures went into effect March 17 and will remain in place until further notice. “We want the public to know that we are still here in times of family crisis,” says Prijatel-Sutton. “Through these new procedures, our goal is to continue to provide services without compromising the health and safety of our staff and clients.”

The bilingual hotline number is 800-300-2181 and available for domestic violence and rape crisis advocacy and support. Coalition For Family Harmony business hours remain the same, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Call 805-983-6014 for questions regarding services or visit www.TheCoalition.org.

A leading expert on the Manson Family, Ivor Davis’s latest book, “Manson Exposed: A Reporter’s 50-Year Journey into Madness and Murder,” has been released in an audio version. A bestseller, the book is a gripping eyewitness account from a reporter who was there, and in the trenches through the mayhem that followed the murders and on through the trial. Tantor Media is the publisher of the audiobook.

In the early 60s, London-born investigative journalist Davis came to America. He quickly became the lead American based reporter for the “London Daily Express.” Davis arrived at the Tate-La Bianca murder scene on Cielo Drive before noon on the day of the murders- finding himself surrounded by all of the Los Angeles and foreign press.

Davis tracked every lead, intuitively knowing this story was massive. On the day Manson was arrested, he flew into Inyo County to try for an interview from Manson himself.

Davis spent several days at Spahn Ranch interviewing Manson Family members and ex-members, gathering an intricate picture of the cult and its charismatic leader, Charles Manson.

He co-authored “Five to Die” the first book ever published about the Manson murders and was published in 1970.  Davis found out later that his book was the roadmap that the prosecution used for Manson’s 1970 trial.

Written with the efficiency of a reporter and a master storyteller’s eye, Manson Exposed brings new life and unknown details to this story very few have ever known. Davis was on the front lines of the story and offers vivid, personal accounts, interviews, and hitherto unknown details from the very beginning right up to the death of the blue-collar psycho named Charles Manson.

by Jill Forman

Your intrepid walker/reporter/photographer has found 13 LFL’s in the Lemon Grove neighborhood: Arcade to Mills, Thompson to Channel. One of them is currently serving as a food pantry, and one of them is actually two – one for adults, one for kids. Neighbor giving to neighbor and the community. We are all in this together.

The Ventura County Library Foundation has received a $3,000 grant from the California Library Association in support of this year’s Lunch at the Library program at the Avenue Library in Ventura.  The Avenue Library, one of the twelve library branches of Ventura County Library, began offering the program in summer 2019 in partnership with Ventura Unified School District and Ventura County Public Health Agency.

The program provides free lunches to children and teens on the west side during summer when school is not in session, and helps ensure no child or teen in the west side of Ventura goes hungry during their summer school break. The program is open to all children and teens up to 18 years of age. There is no sign-up or income verification necessary. Children and teens are offered a healthy lunch along with Summer Reading programs and activities.

“The Ventura County Library Foundation is proud to support this impactful program that feeds bodies and minds.  Many children and teens do not have access to nutritious lunches over the summer months, and coming to the library for a nutritious meal also encourages them to keep reading so literacy skills don’t slide over the summer.  It really is a win-win,” says Kathy Long, Chair of the Ventura County Library Foundation.

The Lunch at the Library program is sponsored by a grant from the California Library Association and in partnership with Ventura Unified School District and the Ventura County Public Health Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Program.

For more information about the Library Foundation visit www.vclibraryfoundation.org .

Retired Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long will lead the Ventura County Library Foundation board into 2020 as the newly installed Chair, replacing Sandy Berg who served for two years.

At its January 8th meeting, five new board members joined the Foundation.

Somis School District Superintendent Dr. Colleen Robertson and retired LAUSD Associate Superintendent, Special Education, Beth Kauffman bring decades of experience in literacy to the foundation.  Kate Larsen, a retired middle school teacher and part-time substitute, was appointed by the Board of Supervisors to join the Foundation.

Also joining the board is Diana Cervantes.  She is Vice President at Premier America Credit Union, which was a strong financial supporter for the purchase of the Mobile Library for the County.  Local business owner, former Peace Corps volunteer and physical therapist Susan Hanson will also bring business experience to the Foundation.

The highest priority in 2020 will be to fund STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) programs and equipment across the library system to help prepare the workforce for more highly skilled jobs, and introduce youth to 21st century careers and workplace skills.