Category Archives: Web Exclusive

Channel Islands National Park Comes “Ashore” to the Museum of Ventura County To celebrate National Park Service’s 100th Anniversary

On Sunday, February 28, from 11 am to 5 pm, the Museum of Ventura County, in partnership with the Channel Islands National Park, hosts a fun-filled day for families with the theme of “Island Chumash Traditions.”  This is one of four Sundays that the two organizations will jointly host in celebration of the Channel Islands National Park’s 36th anniversary, amid thousands of nation-wide commemorations of the National Park Service’s 100th Anniversary.

Essentially ‘kicked-off’ by Grand Marshall Ken Burns at the Rose Parade in Pasadena, the 2016 centennial brings special attention and education to Americans about its National Park System.

And Ventura boasts one of the most beautiful —the Channel Islands National Park.  The wonders, traditions and lore of the Channel Islands National Park can be experienced at the Museum of Ventura County on Sunday, February 28th at the museum.

Activities include:

  • Learning about the Chumash culture through traditional demonstrations and ceremonies, led by Chumash elder Julie Tumamait
  • Cave painting and an archeological dig in the museum’s Chumash Garden
  • Group readings of the beloved children’s novel “Island of the Blue Dolphins” which is set in the Channel Islands
  • Traditional craftmaking, such as necklaces made with shells and beads, and crafting dolphin masks and tomols (small canoes)
  • Learning about the Junior Park Ranger Program
  • You can even dress up as a sea otter!

Park Rangers will be on hand with museum volunteers to teach children about the islands.  Refreshments will be available for sale from Aaron’s Tacos food truck and Kona Ice.  Adult admission is $5 each; kids under 18 are admitted free.

The Museum of Ventura County is located in downtown Ventura. Hours are 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Paid events include free admission to the galleries, and the first Sundays of every month are free general admission for the public.

The Beach Cities Neighbors and Newcomers Club meeting Mar. 2nd

The Beach Cities Neighbors and Newcomers Club, (BCNN ) is a group of active women of all ages who live in Ventura, Oxnard, or Port Hueneme and enjoy activities such as hiking, bridge, dining, wine outings, reading, mah jong, cooking etc.For more information, please come to our monthly meeting on March 2, 2016 from 9:30 AM to 11AM…    Meeting will be held at the Ventura Museum Pavilion located at 100 E. Main Street, in historic downtown Ventura   No charge for meeting and no reservation is required.     Diane Sansen -Subject:Aging Gracefully
For additional information, please visitbcnnwomensclub.org . Or call:  805-988-0795

Trailer side swipes hydrant causing geyer and flooding

Pictures from , Tuesday, February 16, , near the Servants of the Father of Mercy, 1544 Morse Ave.
At about 2:30pm a trailer side swiped a fire hydrant near the corner of Callens and Market Street.  It set off a huge water geyser about two and a half stories high and flooding the street down Callens into the field at the Amtrak rail tracks.  Police arrived at 2:40 and Fire Department arrived at 2:45.
Photo and info courtesy
bro. gary joseph
Servants of the Father of Mercy

Local Entrepreneurs Join Forces to Host Free Community Event

Three recent graduates of WEV’s Self-Employment Training (SET) Program will join forces in a free yoga and coffee event for the community.

For those with a love for both yoga and coffee, three local entrepreneurs are hosting the perfect event. On Saturday, February 27th, WEV Self-Employment Training graduates Michelle Nouraei, Marilyn Hefferen, and Ashley Tindall will combine their passions to provide the community with a leisurely afternoon of yoga and coffee.

The event will kick off with a relaxing yoga class taught by Hefferen, an instructor at Yoga Rhythms. After the session, attendees can enjoy a delicious cup of hot coffee made from Tindall’s coffee and yoga business, Soul Bean, while shopping the latest trends in yoga apparel from Nouraei’s online yoga clothing store, Funk Zone Fashions.

Date: Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: 1593 Santa Ynez Street, Ventura, CA
Cost: Free admission, RSVP encouraged but not required

For more information or to RSVP, contact Ashley Tindall at (303) 815-6265 or ashleytindall77@gmail.com.

About Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV)
Women’s Economic Ventures is dedicated to creating an equitable and just society through the economic empowerment of women. WEV provides training, consulting and loans to help entrepreneurs start, grow and thrive in business. WEV serves all of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties from offices in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Santa Maria. While WEV targets its services toward women, it serves men as well, and provides many services in English and Spanish.

Since 1991, WEV has provided business training and consulting to over 14,000 women and men throughout Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and made more than $4 million in loans, assisting over 4,000 local businesses. WEV is a U.S. Small Business Administration’s Women’s Business Center, and a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).

A pioneer in the field, WEV was founded by Marsha Bailey, a nationally recognized advocate for women business owners. Marsha is the board president of the national Association of Women’s Business Centers, and sits on the National Women’s Business Council.

Ask Event benefitting Step Up Ventura Feb. 19th

Come enjoy a little wine, a little cheese, a little chocolate,
And do a whole lot of good….
It’s an Ask Event benefiting Step Up Ventura

Take this opportunity to learn about an exciting new organization that provides homeless children and their families with much needed preschool and child care.

This is a fundraising event and your support is appreciated at any level you choose It’s being held on Friday, February 19th from 5:30 to 6:30 pm at 499 Arnett Ave in Ventura.

Ventura City emergency personnel respond to mini-van with 5 victims into a building

On Feb. 9 Ventura City Fire Personnel responded to a reported vehicle into a building in the 300 block of Ferro Dr. The first arriving engine company found a mini-van that had left a hillside roadway, collided with exterior portions of a residence and a concrete pillar, coming to rest with the front left portion of the vehicle hanging over a steep embankment with other residences below, damaged electrical wires tangled in the undercarriage. A total of 5 victims were located and quickly triaged, three of which were children, one with facial trauma and one still inside the vehicle with a femur fracture. Utilities were controlled, the vehicle was stabilized and secured by the arriving truck company using heavy rescue rigging equipment. The severely injured child was stabilized and successfully extricated from the vehicle, all 5 patients were then transported to local area hospitals, requiring the use of 3 total ambulances.

Ventura firefighters respond to vagrant encampment fire below Union Pacific Train Trestle

A vagrant encampment fire that started in a confined space below the Union Pacific Train Trestle Sunday afternoon extended approximately 40 feet and significantly damaged a portion of the rail line on the bridge. Firefighters requested Union Pacific to stop all rail activities in order to make access to bridge. Ventura Police assisted by placing spotters up and down the rail line to warn firefighters if any trains were to about to cross the bridge.

Ventura Police located a subject, Joseph Duran (37 years-old), nearby who had been seen fleeing from the scene of the fire. Upon further investigation, it was learned that Duran is a vagrant who had set up camp in the river bottom.  He lit an illegal warming fire that quickly got out of control when the winds picked up.

The fire severely damaged nearly 20 wooden supports and engulfed an area under the trestle. The fire was deeply seated in the creosote lumber and was extinguished within 80 minutes. Union Pacific representatives estimate that structural damage would exceed $10,000– and fiber optic communications lines, housed in the under portion of the bridge, were being evaluated for damage. At the time of this press release it is unknown the extent of damages of the communication network and if train activity could safely resume, engineers are currently assessing the damage.

A makeshift living area in the catwalk under the bridge was consumed by fire. Union Pacific Rail officials had contacted the occupant numerous times over the past few months but had failed attempts to permanently remove the individual who eventually started this fire.  Joseph Duran was arrested and booked at the Ventura County Jail for 452(c) PC – recklessly starting a fire.

 

 

Applications now being accepted for City of Ventura Planning Commission position

City of Ventura residents are encouraged to apply for a vacancy on the Planning Commission that advises the City Council on issues related to planning, development, and beautification of the City.  The special recruitment process is now open and applications are available online at www.cityofventura.net/involved/advisory or from the City Clerk’s Office, Ventura City Hall, 501 Poli Street, Room 204. The application deadline is 5:30 p.m. on Monday, February 8.

Qualified applicants will undergo interviews with the City Council Appointments Recommendation Committee in February. The recommended appointee will be considered by the City Council and confirmed in late February. Volunteers must be willing to serve a four-year term.

Applications may be submitted by e-mail to [email protected], by fax to the City Clerk’s Office at 641-1046, by mail to the City Clerk’s Office P.O. Box 99, Ventura, CA 93002, or hand-delivered to the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall.

For more information call the City Clerk’s Office at  658-4787.

Harbor entrance may open soon

According to Harbormaster John Higgins the Ventura Harbor entrance (closed because of high sand build –up) could reopen shortly if dredging can be performed to remove the sand build-up. The Harbor entrance was closed Jan.22 which meant that the tall ships had to be moved to the Channel Islands Harbor. Dredging equipment will hopefully be arriving in the next few days and if weather permits will start dredging work.

Both the fishing industry and merchants were hurt financially by the closure. Fishing boats couldn’t go out to fish and the Harbor merchants were hurt when the tall ships had to leave. The ships  bring a large amount of people to the Harbor visit the ships.

Financial assistance might become available for the losses suffered.

Suicide averted on Seaward Bridge

On Feb.3, at 10:50pm, the Ventura Police Department Command Center received a 911 call from a citizen reporting a subject standing on Seaward Bridge over the 101 freeway.  Officers arrived on scene and confirmed a male subject was standing on the ledge of the bridge, and he was threatening to jump.

The Ventura City Fire Department, AMR, and a response team from the Ventura County Crisis Unit all arrived on scene to assist with this incident.  The CHP assisted with the freeway closure and diverting traffic onto surface streets.

Police and Fire personnel worked in conjunction with the Crisis Team to calmly resolve the situation peacefully.  Eventually, they were able to convince the subject to come off the ledge and return to safety after four hours of negotiating.  The subject was unharmed as a result of this incident, and was taken into custody for his own safety.  He was transported by AMR to VCMC for an assessment.