OXNARD — Eleven-year-old engineering wiz Gio Basile created the winning poster design for the 38th Annual California Strawberry Festival. Gio’s winning entry was revealed today to a group of dignitaries and festival sponsors gathered at Yolanda’s Mexican Café in Oxnard. The luncheon officially kicks off activities for the 2024 festival celebration taking place May 18 and 19 at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.
Homebuyer Workshop
Saturday, March 9, in-person @ Thousand Oaks
Saturday, March 16, in-person @ Bakersfield
Saturday, March 23, online
VENTURA COUNTY — Housing Trust Fund Ventura County (Housing Trust Fund VC) welcomed community leaders to its Annual Meeting and “A Home for Education” symposium February 29th at the CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) campus. The symposium was presented in collaboration with the County of Ventura, CSUCI, Ventura County Office of Education, Ventura County P-20 Council, and Housing Trust Fund VC to an audience of key decision makers in education, government, land use planning, and affordable housing development.
Rebecca Varney of the Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology helps to reveal the surprising origins behind mollusk eyes, shedding light on evolutionary processes.
VENTURA — There is a “fin-tastic” tale to be told this Spring at Ventura Harbor Village, a seaside attraction, where visitors across all oceans come together to “shell-abrate” good times at the 9th Annual March is Mermaid Month. Lovers of the sea and landlubbers alike are invited to celebrate mystical sirens of the sea with free ocean-inspired festivities for the entire family all month long, as well as on select dates on Saturdays, March 16 and 23, 2024 from noon – 3 PM. Complimentary parking is available.
Whether you’re a seasoned sea enthusiast or just dipping your toes into mermaid lore, there’s something for everyone to enjoy with the return of this month-long event. Here’s a glistening lineup of what’s on tap:
The grants available are designed to revitalize and encourage the arts community in Ventura County. They aim to foster creativity, cooperation, and a greater involvement in the arts throughout the county. Whether you are an independent artist or part of an organization, you may be eligible to apply for these grants. The grants can be used to cover general expenses and to support new or existing projects.
SANTA BARBARA — Cottage Health invita a los miembros de la comunidad a ayudar a moldear el futuro de la atención a salud en el condado de Santa Barbara al participar en el Consejo Asesor para Pacientes y Familias, en español.
SBA: HOW TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE US DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES (HHS)
March 5 @ 12:00 pm
Hear directly from the Executive Director of OSDBU at HHS about their procurement process and priorities for 2024. Join BSA as they discuss Federal Contracting Set-aside with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
California is currently experiencing an unusually high?number?of invasive fruit fly?detections, resulting in quarantines being established across numerous California counties, including Ventura County. These invasive fruit fly species – including Mediterranean fruit fly, Oriental fruit fly, Queensland fruit fly and tau fruit fly – are considered not established in California. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and various County Agricultural Commissioners, has initiated local regulatory measures to eradicate and prevent the further spread of these fruit fly species statewide.
(March 1) we took a significant step forward towards avoiding the worst effects of climate change, opening the new Strauss Wind Project. These 27 wind turbines will generate enough power for 36,000 homes – helping us move towards a more clean and reliable electric grid.
What’s most important isn’t just the impact of this one project, but what it means for the potential of clean energy in other parts of coastal California. 21 years in the making, this project was able to navigate the process and get the permits and approvals it needed to open.
SANTA BARBARA — Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital is excited to introduce Ezra Kai Avila, the hospital’s first Leap Year baby.
Born on February 29, 2024, at 2:19 a.m., weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces, and measuring 19.5 inches in length. Ezra’s birth is unique as this date only occurs every four years.
Ezra’s proud parents, Veronica Ortega and Miguel Angel Avila of Goleta were overjoyed by his arrival. As first- time parents, they found Ezra’s Leap Day birth exciting and unique.
OXNARD — We are pleased to announce that we have selected three (3) finalists for the next President of Oxnard College. We would like to thank the entire College community for your continued interest and support in the process to identify our next President. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank each member of the Presidential Search Committee for their exceptional insight, dedication, and effort.
As I was filling out my ballot for the coming election here in California, most of the items were fairly easy choices for me (one of them at the top of the ticket was very easy). But then I came to the choices for judge for the Ventura County Superior Court. We are directed to vote for only one.
I stared at the names. One of them was immediately recognizable because I had seen his name in news items about some of our local civil and criminal trials. His credentials seem impeccable.
But then I realized that I knew essentially nothing about the other three candidates.
So why is it so important to vote for judges and not just skip over this section of the ballot?
VENTURA COUNTY — With March 5, 2024, Election Day less than a week away, Michelle Ascencion, Registrar of Voters, and her Elections team are not only planning for the busy voting days that remain ahead, they are also preparing for the long night of election results reporting that follows. The 8:00 p.m. official close of the Election starts the clock when candidates, voters and the media all start looking for the first ballot count results to be reported.
CAMARILLO — The Camarillo Sunrise Rotary Club, a local service organization comprised of local business leaders and committed to a wide range of local and global causes, has been a long-time supporter of kidSTREAM, Ventura County’s only children’s museum. The Rotary Club is hosting the Fourth Annual kidSTREAM Charity Golf Tournament at Las Posas Country Club Golf Course on Monday, April 29.
There are a few spots for golfers remaining through sponsorship of the tournament, and they can be found by going to kidSTREAM’s website at kidSTREAM.org, under “Upcoming Events”. In addition to the golf tournament a 3-day silent online auction will open to the public on tournament day.
PORT OF HUENEME — In a strong spirit of partnership and heart for the community, the City of Port Hueneme, and the Port of Hueneme celebrated Heart Health Awareness Month by hosting a “Run for Your Heart” 5K Race on Sunday, February 24, 2024. The event is a result of the Port of Hueneme and City of Port Hueneme’s Community Benefit Fund partnership. To help celebrate, Del Monte Fresh Fruit and Produce provided a nutritious banana for runners after they crossed the finish line.
VENTURA — Each year, elementary school students travel by bus to Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture’s (SEEAG) free Farm Lab program at Petty Ranch in Ventura and Allan Hancock College’s Demonstration Orchard in Santa Maria. While at the farms, students learn about the farm origins of their food. Funds raised through SEEAG’s current “Bus Bucks” fundraiser will help offset school bus expenses so that field trips remain entirely cost-free to students, teachers and schools.
For each Farm Lab field trip, SEEAG gives schools $300 for bus expenses. Currently, SEEAG is scheduled to host 70 field trips in 2024. To ensure there are enough funds to pay for transportation, the Bus Bucks’ goal is to raise $20,000.
The California Competes Tax Credit (CCTC) is an income tax credit available to businesses that want to locate in California or stay and grow in California. Businesses of any industry, size or location compete for over $180 million available in tax credits by applying in one of the three application periods each year. Applicants will be analyzed based on twelve different factors of evaluation, including number of full-time jobs being created, amount of investment, and strategic importance to the state or region.
VENTURA — On Tuesday, Feb. 27, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors adopted significant measures to combat homelessness with a proactive approach aimed at reducing the number of individuals facing housing instability. The actions taken by the Board reflect a comprehensive strategy outlined in the Updated Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, as presented by LeSar Development Consultants on December 19, 2023, and align with the Board’s adopted Strategic Plan Priority to Address Homelessness and Lift Up the Most Vulnerable.
Recognizing the urgency of the issue, the Board has adopted recommendations to address homelessness from multiple angles, including homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing, housing prioritization, regional coordination, outreach, service delivery, data-driven decision making, and representation.
Assistant teaching professor Michelle Petty-Grue explores her life and profession in the arts in this long-form interview that ranges from her upbringing in England to raising a Black son in America.
VENTURA — Shipping companies received awards for reducing speeds in the 2023 “Protecting Blue Whales & Blue Skies” program. The voluntary incentive program ran May 1 through Dec. 15, 2023, to reduce fatal ship strikes to endangered whales, air pollution, regional greenhouse gas emissions and underwater noise.
Thirty-three shipping companies participated, transiting at 10 knots or less in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay and Southern California regions, including Ventura County. Cooperation levels continue to improve in both regions with an overall 81% cooperation rate from participants during the 2023 season, up from 78% in the 2022 season.The number of participants was also greater than any previous year, increasing from 23 shipping companies in 2022.
SANTA BARBARA — Santa Barbara City College invites all college students to the Financial Aid Fest on Wednesday, February 28, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on SBCC’s Cliff Campus in the Eastern courtyard of the Student Services Building (East Campus).
Expert specialists will be available to assist students in completing FAFSA and Dream Act Applications. This event is open to ALL college students including AB-540 students and students from other colleges and universities like UCSB, Westmont, and Antioch are welcome to receive support.
If you received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (COVID-19 EIDL) loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for under $100,000 and are in default, the SBA recommends you take action before March 3, 2024.
The U.S. Small Business Administration will begin referring defaulted PPP and COVID-19 EIDL borrowers with loans under $100,000 to the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service for collection beginning March 4, 2024.
CAMARILLO — After years of transformation, the CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) Science Carnival is back, bigger and better, as the CSUCI School of Arts and Sciences STEAM Carnival. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.
“It took a while to make this happen again, but I am so, so, so excited,” said Acting Dean of Arts & Sciences Phil Hampton, who started the carnival. “COVID nearly eliminated the event but now it has grown up into the Arts and Sciences (A&S) STEAM Carnival. We’ve added the arts, but it’s a very long bar over the ‘A’ to make it include art, social science and humanities.”
VENTURA COUNTY — Trinity Pacific Christian School is the winner of the middle school division of the 2024 Ventura County Mock Trial competition after earning the highest score in the final round this afternoon. Valley View Middle School in the Simi Valley Unified School District came in second place and Mesa Union School took third. The winners were announced at an awards ceremony this evening at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center.
OXNARD — The City of Oxnard has started its phased project to repair the pavement on Gonzales Rd. between Victoria Ave. to Rice Ave. Major activities began in mid-February and are expected to continue through the fall of 2024.
LOMPOC — Reconnect with your besties and embark on the ultimate Girls’ getaway to Lompoc, California. From a leisurely breakfast to heart-pounding adventures and serene spa sessions, this itinerary promises a day of joy, laughter, and unforgettable moments.
Members of a single Colombian family each carry a mutation linked to accelerated development of the sticky plaques that, in addition to tangles of a misfolded structural protein called tau, are the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.
VENTURA COUNTY — Trinity Pacific Christian School and Royal High School took the top two spots in the high school division of the 2024 Ventura County Mock Trial competition, which was held over two weekends at the Ventura County Hall of Justice. Twenty-one high schools from throughout Ventura County participated in Mock Trial this year. The winning teams were announced at an awards ceremony this evening at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center. Here’s how the eight highest-scoring high school teams ranked:
