
The League of Women Voters of Ventura County (LWVVC) will host multiple candidate forums using the Zoom Webinar platform. Forums are free and open to the public. Registration is required using an email address. Two forums will be in-person events.

Learn How Selling to Latin America’s Online Consumers Could Be Your Next Big Growth Opportunity!
Grow Big Initiative (GBI) is back with their MASSIVE Latin America Market Entry through eCommerce Direct Sales workshop. Gain immediate access to the 330mm people online across the region without writing any customs clearance paperwork, setting up bank accounts or creating any in-region marketing, payments or fulfillment infrastructure.
September 22 at 10:00 am PST

California Lutheran University has received $2.5 million to provide scholarships to accomplished students from low- and middle-income families.
The donation from the Camarillo-based TOLD Foundation is the largest that Cal Lutheran has ever received for scholarships outside of an estate gift.
The Rod Gilbert Achievement Scholarship is designed to address the fact that a growing number of students with financial need are attending Cal Lutheran. The share of the university’s undergraduate students who are eligible for federal Pell Grants, which are awarded to those with exceptional financial need, increased from 16% to 30% during the last 15 years. In the 2021-2022 academic year, 60% of undergraduates received state or federal need-based financial aid. These trends align with the Hispanic-Serving Institution’s successful efforts to enroll and graduate students from diverse racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal program – known as CalAIM – is the far-reaching, multi-year plan to transform Medi-Cal. The long-term mission of CalAIM is to offer 14+ million Californians a more equitable, coordinated, and person-centered approach to maximizing their health and life trajectory. The comprehensive program was developed by the State of California’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). In Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, the local health plan CenCal Health is responsible for managing the implementation of CalAIM with its community partners.
CalAIM will provide expanded services that go beyond traditional medical care, addressing social factors that affect human health from birth to end of life, including homelessness, behavioral health, care of older adults, services for individuals transitioning from incarceration, and beyond. CalAIM is the State’s largest overhaul of how Medi-Cal services are delivered and paid since the implementation of managed care in the late 1970’s.

Latinos in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan region are making significant and rapidly growing contributions to the economy, according to a first-of-its-kind report by researchers from California Lutheran University and UCLA. The region’s Latino gross domestic product, or economic output, was $284.5 billion in 2018, the researchers found, larger than the entire economy of states like Oregon or Louisiana.
The full 2022 Los Angeles Metro Latino GDP Report will be officially revealed on Thursday, Sept. 8, during the L’Attitude Los Angeles Business Summit at The Belasco Theater in L.A.
The study, which covers the Los Angeles, Long Beach and Anaheim metropolitan statistical area (MSA), is co-authored by the Center for Economic Research and Forecasting (CERF) at Cal Lutheran and the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture (CESLAC) at UCLA, and funded by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. In 2018, the Los Angeles metro area had a Latino population of 6 million, making L.A. the single largest MSA in the U.S. by Latino population.

Jest Improv, a local LGBTQIA+ (and ally) comedy improv school, that meets out of the Diversity Collective in Ventura, has announced its Jest Improv’s Diversity Scholarship now available.
We want to do our part in reaching out to our community to help give financial assistance to those who want to pursue their comedy aspirations but don’t normally get the chance to.
If you have wanted to try comedy but feel that opportunity has been out of reach, we encourage you to apply.
Click the link down below to apply now!

As cyber threats continue to increase across the nation, the Port of Hueneme organized a cyber security seminar to gather experts in the field who shared their knowledge and best practices. Today’s event hosted over thirty people with a panel of experts from the U.S. Coast Guard, Naval Base Ventura County, IT companies, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

The Teacher’s Fund has kicked off its 2022 Back-to-School Supplies Drive with the goal of ensuring students have all they need to thrive throughout the upcoming school year.
Twenty years ago, the owners of Village Properties launched the Teacher’s Fund as a way of helping make school learnings even richer. Since then, the Teacher’s Fund has raised over $1.9 million for the communities’ schools and hopes to pass the $2-million-dollar mark this 20th year through the Supplies Drive. The drive runs from Sept. 1 – Oct. 13 and offers the community the ability to sponsor teachers’ classroom requests.
“The community has been so giving over the years. We know they’ll step up for our hard-working teachers who play such important roles in the lives of our children,” said Village Properties Realtor Brianna Johnson, who came up with the idea of the supplies drive in 2019.

Mary Beth Larkin is a self-proclaimed dreamer, doer and creator. And her latest creation will have visitors and locals of Santa Ynez thinking of more than wine when they visit downtown.
Larkin, a contemporary fashion designer and entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience in the industry, has opened (IN)LARKIN at 3568 Sagunto St., Suite D, in Santa Ynez as an extension of her exclusive e-commerce site inlarkin.com.

Mitchell D. Rosenberg, CLU®, ChFC®, CFP®, MSFS, AEP® has been named a member of the 2022 Chairman’s Cabinet of New York Life Insurance Company. Members of the elite Chairman’s Cabinet are the Top Fifty highest producing agents among New York Life’s elite sales force of more than 12,000 licensed agents. Mr. Rosenberg has been a New York Life agent since 1986, and is associated with New York Life’s San Fernando Valley General Office in Westlake Village.

Following a nationwide recruitment, the County of Ventura’s Executive Office has selected Dani Anderson as the County’s first-ever Disability Access Manager to expand community engagement efforts and improve service delivery for individuals with disability access and functional needs.
“We are thrilled to have Dani Anderson join our team. She brings extensive professional and lived experience that will help us build upon efforts to ensure county services are accessible and inclusive of people with disabilities and other functional needs, particularly in emergency response,” said Interim County Executive Officer Dr. Sevet Johnson. “Ensuring that our services align with the needs of our community members is critical, and we believe Dani is the perfect person for this new role.”

The Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) announced today that it has received an Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant fromFHLBank San Francisco. The $730K grant will help fund Village Senior Apartments in Buellton, CA, and contribute to the development of 50 homes for low-income seniors ages 55 and older, including 13 affordable homes for previously unhoused seniors and 11 for seniors in need of home-based healthcare. The gated community will offer residents a social services delivery area, recreation room, a central courtyard for outdoor activities, and a community garden.
“CEDC has a bright future ahead of itself. We are leading the way in affordable housing for Ventura and Santa Barbara counties,”said Aiza Galdo, CEDC Board of Directors President. “Quality, safe, affordable housing and the way it transforms lives is what drives us here at Cabrillo to ensure we are constantly working towards providing more housing options in our community. We have two great projects that are currently in the pre-development stages. One of those is Village Senior Apartments located in Buellton’s beautiful wine country, providing senior housing mixed with veteran homeless housing.”

Summer may be coming to an end, but The Collection at RiverPark is keeping the fun going right into fall. In the coming months, The Collection at RiverPark is offering tons of excitement for visitors with two free concerts, several grand openings, a 5K walk and more.
“Fall is full of big plans here at The Collection,” said Marketing Director Jill Almonia. “In addition to all of the amazing shopping, dining and entertainment experiences we offer year-round, we’ve got lots of excellent events coming up this season — plus several incredible new businesses getting ready to open their doors.”
The Collection’s popular concert series, Rock the Collection, continues this fall with two more free events for all ages. On Sept. 28, The Long Run, an Eagles tribute band, will get everyone singing along to classic favorites. And on Oct. 19, Bruno and the Hooligans, a Bruno Mars tribute band, will be playing crowd pleasers all evening. Grab some lawn chairs and takeout, and head over to the grass at Collection Park to join the party. The music starts at 6:30 p.m.

The 8th Annual Labor Day Vintage Tractor Fair
Monday, September 5th from 11am-2pm
The 8th Annual Labor Day Vintage Tractor Fair was a major (and sizzling hot) success with over a thousand attendees. Thank you for coming to your Museum to celebrate our agricultural heritage, our community, and this important holiday for all. We hope to see you next year.

FATHOMWERX Summit, with participation from Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) Coastal Trident Open House and Agility Summit, has the goal of exploring the intersections between industry and the Department of the Navy. This inclusive event will be filled with tested technologies, demonstrations, tours, networking, keynote speakers, panels and the Department of the Navy program representatives and stakeholders.
September 14-15, 2022
FATHOMWERX LAB, 319 Ponoma Street, Port of Hueneme,

A group of 12 local girls from Girls Inc. of Carpinteria’s Eureka! Program recently returned from an inspiring five-day trip to Washington D.C.
The visit focused on three overarching themes: college and career; museums and monuments; and Capitol Hill. One of the highlights including meeting with Congressman Salud Carbajal to advocate for issues that are important to them, including climate change and LGBTQ+ rights.
The teenage girls – who just entered their senior year in high school – had the opportunity to tour the Girlhood Exhibit at the Museum of American History, the Holocaust Museum, Museum of African American History, Museum of Natural History and the United States Botanical Gardens. Additionally, they took part in visits to Georgetown and George Washington University, where the young women networked with students and faculty.
During the five days, the students also toured Capitol Hill, enjoyed a private tour of the Library of Congress and explored the historical monuments on a moonlit trolley ride.

Today, Tuesday, September 6, we face another Flex Alert. Be sure to reduce electricity use from 4 pm – 9 pm. The extreme heat over the weekend has contributed to several smaller power outages in our area. That is why it is so important to conserve tonight! We at the County will be participating in the Flex Alert by shutting off our major appliances(i.e. our AC).

The Simi Valley and Yarrow Family YMCAs are taking registrations for their fall swim classes. Group lessons begin September 12 at the Yarrow YMCA in Westlake Village and September 15 at the Simi YMCA. Private lessons are also available. The six-week sessions are held on Mondays/Wednesdays, Tuesdays/Thursdays and Saturdays.

VENTURA COUNTY SCORE: DOUBLE YOUR SALES WITH 5 EASY STEPS
September 7 @ 10:30 am
Are you working too hard to find enough profitable customers and clients for your business? Bring your pen and paper. This hands-on webinar will take you through five specific ways people are doubling and tripling their sales with low-cost and no-cost techniques you can start using almost instantly. Whether you market traditionally or through the Internet, this is one of the most important workshops you will attend this year.

OXNARD — The City of Oxnard will open two emergency cooling centers on Sunday, September 4, and Monday, September 5, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in response to the National Weather Service’s excessive heat warning for coastal areas of Ventura County this holiday weekend.
CITY OF OXNARD COOLING CENTER LOCATIONS
Wilson Senior Center: 350 North C St., Oxnard, CA 93030
South Oxnard Center: 200 E Bard Rd., Oxnard, CA 93033
Residents should not bring large packages/items and pets as they will not be permitted inside the buildings.
Additional cooling centers are available throughout Ventura County. Visit www.vcemergency.com for locations and hours of operation.
HEAT SAFETY TIPS
Stay hydrated and drink plenty of water.
Wear loose, light-colored clothing that will keep you cool.
Check on neighbors who might be vulnerable to the heat, especially those without air conditioning.
Never leave children or pets in a vehicle!
If you work or play outside, take frequent breaks to hydrate and cool off in the shade.
Keep pets indoors if possible. Provide water and a shady area to rest.

Many Americans who are “done” with the pandemic and its devastation are ready to “move on” and “get back to a normal life.” Would that we could actually do this.
The pandemic may in fact be in the rear-view mirror. The problem is that we just don’t know if it is in retreat as we go on with our lives. We don’t want to think about it anymore. Unfortunately, it may be in that rear-view mirror because it is catching up to us, once again, from behind. This is the kind of thing that happened in the Middle Ages in Europe starting in the 14th century.
The Bubonic Plague, also known as the “Black Death,” caused massive devastation in Western Europe and surrounding regions. We in the modern age, armed with vaccines and highly effective treatments, do not expect to ever face such horrors. Still, we have lost over a million Americans to COVID-19 and continue to lose several hundred American lives each day.

The murky blinding white lights of eternity:
It was touch and go for a couple weeks with me and my recent bout of Covid. In my worst feverish bouts of acute pain, hallucination and delirium a couple of times I swear I saw those murky blinding white lights of eternity. In the past three years we had been one of the real lucky families in this country. We had been dodging and miraculously avoided get infected with Covid. We had done everything scientifically and deliberately possible to stay away from the deadly disease. I have a chronic, pervasive, and serious auto immune defect in my nervous system that seems to have been passed on to all my children. We are a super high risk family, so we made a very conscience decision to isolate from everyone and everything.

The Community Environmental Council applauds the California Legislature for passing a range of impressive climate bills last night. These bills and the federal government’s recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act provide the strongest tailwinds for climate progress that the United States has ever experienced. We urge the governor to sign these important measures to continue California’s climate and environmental leadership. Where California innovates, other states and nations follow, and 2022 is rapidly becoming the most momentous year for progress toward solving the climate crisis.

Central Coast Community Energy is asking customers to reduce electricity use on Thursday, September 1, from 4-9 p.m. after the California Independent System Operator extended a statewide Flex Alert. CCCE is providing information to customers via email and social media on the Flex Alert and the need to conserve electricity use. It is also important to remember if you are a solar customer, even though you generate energy unless you also store it, it is still necessary to conserve during this time. Additional Flex Alerts could be issued through the Labor Day weekend as triple-digit temperatures are forecasted across much of California and the West.
For information on Flex Alerts, and to find more electricity conservation tips, visit FlexAlert.org.
Starting on Tuesday, September 20th at 5:30 pm, Livingston’s Grief & Bereavement Program will be offering a weekly Good Grief Club to children from 7-11 years old who have lost a loved one. The club will be focused on the themes of acknowledging death and remembering the loss of the person that passed. The club will run for 8 weeks. Contact us at (805) 389-6870 for more information.

IT’S GONNA BE BANANAS ON SEPTEMBER 24, 10am-6pm!
Get ready for the tastes and sounds of Ports near and far. We’ve also added an Oldies By the Sea Car Show as you enter on Market Street. Keep an eye on performer lineup and other announcements through the Banana Festival website and social media.
Follow the Port Banana Festival social media:
Instagram | Facebook