Author: Community Contributor

Bilingual report — City Manager Alexander Nguyen Announces Appointment of Vytautas “Vyto” Adomaitis as Oxnard’s Community Development Director

by Community Contributor • February 1, 2021 • Comments Off

The City of Oxnard has announced the appointment of Vytautas “Vyto” Adomaitis as its new Community Development Director.

Adomaitis has served the City of Goleta for nearly 19 years, arriving just after the City’s incorporation in 2002. As Goleta’s Director of Neighborhood Services and Public Safety, he led an award-winning department known for its leadership and collaborative approach to addressing community needs in Goleta and the Santa Barbara County region.

“I am extremely pleased and excited to have been chosen to be the City of Oxnard’s new Community Development Director,” said Adomaitis. “I’m looking forward to joining a very dedicated group of professionals at the City who are seeking to provide the highest level of public services to the residents of Oxnard.”

Bilingual report — County of Ventura COVID-19 Update

by Community Contributor • January 29, 2021 • Comments Off

The County of Ventura is in Phase 1A. This phase includes those in the health care sector and 75 and older.

The State provides vaccines to the County on a weekly basis. The supply is not enough for the amount of people needing vaccines. The County is advocating for more vaccines and is prepared to administer once the shipment arrives.

Community members who are eligible to be vaccinated may

1) Register online www.venturacountyrecovers.org/vaccine-information/portal/.
2) Those with limited computer/internet access may call the phone registration line at 805-477-7161. The phone line is open Monday through Friday 8:30-5:00.

Family Law Attorney Natalia Duque Joins Law Office of Renee M. Fairbanks

by Community Contributor • January 29, 2021 • Comments Off

The Law Office of Renee M. Fairbanks is delighted to welcome Natalia Duque to its team of exceptional family law attorneys.

A graduate of Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia, Duque is an experienced and dedicated family lawyer with a passion for helping clients navigate the legal hurdles associated with divorce and custody matters. Prior to joining the Law Office of Renee M. Fairbanks, she practiced family law in Texas. She’s worked on a wide variety of complex family law cases and is adept at assisting clients from a range of backgrounds.

Duque is bilingual in Spanish and English, and grew up in Colombia. She is uniquely equipped to help expatriate clients facing divorce as she understands the intricacies of these cases.

COVID-19 Punishes Latinos for Hard Work and Larger Families

by Community Contributor • January 29, 2021 • Comments Off

Latinos in the U.S. have created the world’s eighth-largest economy. How did they do it? Essentially, through hard work and larger families. Yet these very elements that enabled them to build the world’s eighth-largest economy also make Latinos a special target of COVID-19.

Latinos’ strong work ethic means that Latino households have more wage earners per household than non-Hispanic white households. Nationally, Latinos have an average of 1.6 wage earners per household, compared to 1.2 for non-Hispanic white households. This means that Latino households have more adults leaving the house every day, who are then often exposed to coronavirus-positive clients and co-workers during work hours.

Bilingual commentary — Surviving the Belly of the Beast

by Community Contributor • January 29, 2021 • Comments Off

Amanda Gorman, our country’s first Youth Poet Laureate, stood proudly, if not nervously, before the country and the world during President Biden’s inauguration as she delivered her poem, aptly entitled “The Hill We Climb.” It was a formidable image, reminiscent of watching Barack Obama delivering his inaugural address to the nation as our first African American president.

Santa Barbara First District Supervisor Das Williams — More on Vaccines

by Community Contributor • January 29, 2021 • Comments Off

At this week’s Board of Supervisors hearing, we received an update from the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department on COVID-19.

The good news is that from January 11th to January 25th, we’ve seen a 23% decrease in active cases and a 42% decrease in hospitalized cases. We’ve experienced decreases in most of our County areas, with the exception of the City of Santa Barbara and in Isla Vista.

We are administering almost double the state median for daily COVID-19 tests.

Oxnard College’s Fire Academy Receives National Recognition for Reinventing California’s Fire Instruction

by Community Contributor • January 29, 2021 • Comments Off

Oxnard College’s Fire Academy won the prestigious 2021 Bellwether Award on Tuesday, Jan. 26, for its Project RECOVER, which established the state’s first-ever hybrid format for firefighting instruction and helped sustain the state’s much-needed pipeline of firefighters. The Fire Academy received the highly competitive, national recognition after beating out nine other finalists in the award’s Workforce Development category.

Each year, the Bellwether College Consortium of award-winning colleges recognizes cutting-edge and trendsetting programs at institutions throughout the nation. Finalists participated in a rigorous two-round competitive process by peers that culminated at the virtual Community College Futures Assembly.