Cultural, Family, Finance, Local, News, Youth

Santa Barbara Latino Philanthropic Leaders Raise Over $15K to Support Board Leadership Development and Invite New Members to join the 2022 Giving Cycle

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The Santa Barbara Latino Giving Circle (SBLGC) announced that it will invest over $15,500 in three nonprofits in the greater Santa Barbara region. The SBLGC is part of the Latino Community Foundation’s (LCF) Latino Giving Circle Network™, a philanthropic group harnessing the collective power of paying it forward and civic engagement.

The three organizations selected for funding fall into the group’s priorities of board leadership development and mental health: 

Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (Santa Barbara) – CAUSE is a base-building organization for social, economic and environmental justice with Central Coast working class and immigrant communities.

Future Leaders of America (Santa Maria) – develops youth resiliency and leadership to create long-lasting systemic change by empowering and mobilizing youth leaders to advocate for policies that improve their lives and the lives of their peers and their communities.

Leading from Within (Santa Barbara) – Leading From Within invests in leaders who drive and create change.

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Business, Cultural, Events, familia, Family, Health, Local, Locales, News, Noticias

Clinicas del Camino Real Inc. celebrates Annual Toy Distribution 2021

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As 2021 comes to a close, we look back at the immense challenges we’ve all faced this year. This year has without a doubt been difficult and a little different for everyone. Keeping in mind the patients and their families who put their trust in Clinicas; we recognize that creating joy during the holiday season is just as important as providing quality health care to our community.

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Business, Entertainment, Events, Family, Health, Local, News, Youth

Kaiser Permanente makes changes to ‘A Healthier Future’ Rose Parade float participation due to rising COVID-19 positivity rate

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Taking into consideration that our Southern California region is experiencing a 26% COVID-19 positivity rate, and Los Angeles County currently has a 17.6% positivity rate and in consultation with our infectious disease experts, we have decided to continue to have our “A Healthier Future” float participate in the Tournament of Roses Parade.?Unfortunately, we will not feature our 20 front-line medical heroes as float riders and “out-walkers.” We must prioritize the health and safety of our front-line medical staff and ensure we are able to treat patients during this recent surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the omicron variant.  

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Cultural, En español, Government, Local, News, Noticias, Politics

Bilingual report — Ventura County Clerk-Recorder, Registrar of Voters Lunn Announces Signatures-In-Lieu Period for June 7, 2022 Statewide Direct Primary Election

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County Clerk-Recorder, Registrar of Voters Mark Lunn announced (Dec. 30) that signatures-in-lieu of the filing fee petitions for the June 7, 2022 Statewide Direct Primary Election may be obtained from the Ventura County Elections Division beginning Monday, January 3, 2022, for the following offices:

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Family, Finance, Government, Health, Home, Local, News

End-of-year message from Ventura County Animal Services

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What a year this has been for all of us! Despite the many challenges that 2021 brought, we are happy to report that our agency remained committed to our life-saving mission, having reunited thousands of lost animals with their families, and found new, loving homes for thousands more. Innovative programs we have created over the years continue to grow and evolve as the needs of our community change. But none of our many accomplishments would have been possible without the passionate dedication of our staff and volunteers who give their heart and soul to each and every animal, every day.

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Business, Family, Finance, Local, News

Ventura County Community Development Corporation Receives $50,000 Bank of America Grant Award

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The Ventura County Community Development Corporation (VCCDC) received a $50,000 grant from Bank of America to help continue the organization’s mission to increase homeownership and economic stability to low- and moderate-income families and individuals in Ventura, Santa Barbara, Kern, and Los Angeles Counties. This is the largest support received to-date by Bank of America Charitable Foundation, which underscores VCCDC service and outreach to an underserved market.

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Commentary, Cultural, Family, Local, Opinion

Guest commentary — Lady Whiskers and the Miracle of Christmas

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Roughly four Christmas ago Debbie and I where unceremoniously run out of Oxnard. We had lost our lease at the Café on A location that we had occupied and provided programs and services to at-promise youth and their families for three decades. No matter how much we “negotiated” with the landlords and the Oxnard City Manager at the time, they were determined to kick us out. They told us impatiently and obliquely that they had other plans. Yesterday, I returned to Oxnard, the pain of the eviction, almost gone. I bravely drove down the old part of downtown Oxnard, on to A Street. What has replaced our beloved Café on A is a smoke shop, soon I suspected they will sell cannabis products out the location. The irony of this building tenant change makes me both want to laugh and cry, all at the same time!

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Local

Jan. 21 — UCSB Arts & Lecture to present Ballet Hispánico Noche de Oro: A Celebration of 50 Years Eduardo Vilaro, Artistic Director (Rescheduled to April 29)

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Join UCSB Arts & Lectures as they present Ballet Hispánico, Noche de Oro: A Celebration of 50 Years and Eduardo Vilaro, Artistic Director on Friday, April 29 at 8:00 p.m. at The Granada Theatre.

Named one of America’s Cultural Treasures by the Ford Foundation, Ballet Hispánico celebrates Latinx cultures through innovative performances that elevate diverse artists and ignite cultural pride. This 50th anniversary program from the pioneering, New York-based company features Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s biting, West Side Story-inspiredTiburones. The award-winning Lopez Ochoa, a sought-after choreographer who excels at narrative ballet, has created works for 68 dance companies worldwide. Noche de Oro also includes Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s “fairly irresistible” (The Boston Globe) 18+1 and Vicente Nebrada’s Arabesque.

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Cultural, Education, Entertainment, Events, Health, Local, News

Jan. 26 — ‘Coffee With A Black Guy’ presents ‘Processing Loss: A conversation on mental health and the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 deaths on BIPOC communities’

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“Coffee With A Black Guy” presents “Processing Loss: A conversation on mental health and the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 deaths on BIPOC communities” via Zoom at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26.

CWABG founder James Joyce III, will be joined in conversation by Michael Cruse, Bereavement Services Manager for Hospice of Santa Barbara who will offer a “Human” perspective and the role of “Culture” on the subject of bereavement and mourning.  That couple with the impacts of several highly visible cultural losses and the processing of loss throughout our history – think Strange Fruit, provides context for an engaging and enlightening conversation about processing loss and grief. 

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Business, Cultural, Education, Local, News

Jan. 26 — CLU School Management to present ‘Being a Successful Latina in a German Company in the U.S.’ and more events

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We are excited to invite Judith Sanchez Lopez, SVP General Manager at Jafra USA to be our next speaker in our Forward Together webinar series. Judith is an international leader with more than 28 years in the beauty and cosmetics industry. She is a visionary with a strategic mindset and a focus on developing high-potential teams to achieve results and ensure business profit and growth. She has deep experience in launching and driving business growth in a variety of LATAM countries, South America, the USA, and Asia.

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Entertainment, Local, News

March 6 — Wildling Museum to host conversation with author Florencia Ramirez and biodynamic wine tasting with Beckmen Vineyards

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The Wildling is thrilled to host Florencia Ramirez, author of Eat Less Water, for a special presentation and conversation with Steve Beckmen, the winemaker behind Beckmen Vineyards, at the Museum on Sunday, March 6, 2022, 3 p.m. as the Wildling Museum kicks off a year of climate-focused exhibitions and programming.

By 2030, experts predict two-thirds of people living on this planet will not have enough water, a situation expected to result in the deaths of millions and an unprecedented rise in military conflicts. Can we as individuals hope to reverse these dire predictions? Award-winning author and water activist, Florencia Ramirez, believes we can if our conservation efforts focus on the 70 percent of freshwater flowing to the fields and ranches that grow our food. Eat Less Water takes the reader on a journey to meet America’s food producers growing food with less water. Florencia exposes the seldom- seen connection between dwindling water resources and the choices we make when shopping for groceries for our families and offers us the solution that begins in the kitchen.

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Cultural, Education, Local, News, Youth

March 24 — CSUCI to host ‘An American Journey,’ a raw and honest look at the African American experience in America

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With shackles and bullet holes, a child’s Ku Klux Klan outfit, and signs reading “Colored only,” the collection called “Forgotten Images” is raw, unblinking and authentic.

“You look at these images and you can’t help but have some kind of emotion evoked,” said CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) Outreach and Engagement Librarian Lydia Collins. “I hope it will create opportunities for authentic dialogue and disruptive discourse that leads to positive changes and helps us learn about one another.”

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Cultural, Family, Health, Local, News

March 25 — Dignity Campaign Launches Educational Webinar Series: ‘Legalized Slavery Then and Now: The Bracero Program and H2A’

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Rural California — The history of racism and slavery runs deep in the veins of agribusiness rooted in the United States. It keeps shifting names and rebranding as Big Ag finds sources of cheaper labor. Join us in a three part webinar series (March 25) where you will have the opportunity to hear from advocates, organizers, elders and community who have been intergenerationally impacted by exploitation in the fields of the United States. This series will be presented in Spanish with interpretation into English and Mixteco. We hope you can join us.

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Cultural, Education, Entertainment, Events, Local, News

March 31 — Santa Barbara Museum of Art to present Parallel Stories ‘On Freedom: A Conversation with Author Maggie Nelson’

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The Santa Barbara Museum of Art will present Parallel Stories “On Freedom: A Conversation with Author Maggie Nelson” at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 31.

Author Maggie Nelson returns to SBMA’s Parallel Stories with a reading and discussion of On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint, a boundary-pushing, provocative work that explores the notion of freedom through four lenses: art, sex, drugs, and the climate. In this highly anticipated follow-up to the award-winning The Argonauts, Nelson continues to astound as “one of the most electrifying writers at work in America today, among the sharpest and most supple thinkers of her generation” (The Guardian).

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Cultural, Education, Events, Family, Local, News, Youth

March 31 — Historical Spotlight: Cesar Chavez & Local Farming at Camarillo Public Library

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Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture (SEEAG) will join the Camarillo Public Library in commemorating Cesar Chavez and his contribution to agriculture, labor rights, and environmental justice. Following a reading of Kathleen Krull’s “Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez,” SEEAG will provide children and their families with a look into the importance of our agricultural workers, the crops grown in Ventura County and how these crops contribute to our nutritional well-being.

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Cultural, Entertainment, Events, Local, News, Youth

March 31 — Annual Cesar Chavez Memorial March Committee to present ‘The Legacy of Cesar Chavez the Farm workers and Dolores Huerta’ online and in Oxnard

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The Annual Cesar Chavez Memorial March Committee will present “The Legacy of Cesar Chavez the Farm workers and Dolores Huerta” celebration online and from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 31 at the Open Door Art Studio, 329 N. 5th St., Oxnard.

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Cultural, Educación, Education, En español, Family, Local, Locales, News

April 9 — Museum of Ventura County to present Mariposas del Campo Documentary Screening

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The Museum of Ventura County will present Mariposas del Campo Documentary Screening from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 9 at 100 E. Main St., Ventura.

FREE EVENT!

RSVP: https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E342153&id=113

Pre-event music with Juan Mendoza and bar will start at 2 pm. Event formally starts at 3 pm.

Mariposas del Campo, an award-winning film by Bill Yahraus and Robin Rosenthal, shares the stories of indigenous Mixtec, Zapotec, and Purépecha teenagers from Mexico striving to change their families’ destinies in the strawberry fields of Oxnard, California. The documentary captures their journeys—with help from the characters’ own intimate videos—as they navigate cultural identity, parental expectations, economic challenges, and the justice needs of their migrant farmworker community. For young people whose lives have always been steeped in uncertainty, it takes a leap of faith to chase a dream.

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Cultural, Education, Events, Family, Local, News

April 10 — Museum of Ventura County to present Monoprint Workshop with Margaret Garcia

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The Museum of Ventura County will present Monoprint Workshop with Margaret Garcia from 11 a.m.to 2 p.m. Sunday, April 10 at 100 E. Main St., Ventura.

RSVP: https://venturamuseum.org/event/monoprint-workshop-with-margaret-garcia/

This fundamental monoprint workshop provides the opportunity to be taught by the prolific artists Margaret Garcia and Bonnie Lambert. Students will walk away with the basic knowledge needed to learn how to create their very own monoprints. Students will also be able to walk away with their very own monoprint in hand. Supplies will be provided for the workshop, but it is recommended that students arrive with their own paintbrushes. This class is for anyone 16 years of age and over.

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Cultural, Education, Local, News, Youth

April 18 — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents the founder of Homeboy Industries Father Gregory Boyle on ‘The Power of Extravagant Tenderness’

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UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Founder of Homeboy Industries Father Gregory Boyle  The Power of Extravagant Tenderness on Monday, April 18th at 7:30 p.m. Pacific at Campbell Hall. This presentation is part of the 2021-2022 CREATING HOPE programming initiative and Justice For All series.

Father Gregory Boyle has transformed thousands of lives as the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest and most successful gang intervention and rehabilitation program in the world.

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Local

April 27 — From Local to Global: Celebrating Diversity

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In celebration of National Arab American Heritage Month, join us for the third session of our “From Local to Global: Celebrating Diversity” event series, as we feature a dynamic panel of Arab & Middle Eastern American founders and leaders from Southern California based companies, who will share how they have successfully grown their businesses internationally.

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Cultural, Education, Entertainment, Events, Local, News

April 29 — UCSB Arts & Lectures to present Ballet Hispánico Noche de Oro: A Celebration of 50 Years

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UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) presents Ballet Hispánico Noche de Oro: A Celebration of 50 Years, Friday, Friday, April 29th at 8:00 p.m. at The Granada Theatre.

Named one of America’s Cultural Treasures by the Ford Foundation, Ballet Hispánico celebrates Latinx cultures through innovative performances that elevate diverse artists and ignite cultural pride. This 50th anniversary program from the pioneering, New York-based company features Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s biting, West Side Story-inspired Tiburones. The award-winning Lopez Ochoa, a sought-after choreographer who excels at narrative ballet, has created works for 68 dance companies worldwide. Noche de Oro also includes Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s 18+1 and Vicente Nebrada’s Arabesque.

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Cultural, En español, Entertainment, Events, Local, News

Through May 8 — Bilingual report — Teatro de las Américas to present ‘Obras de un Acto’ (One Acts)

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Esta obra reflexiona sobre la interacción entre las relaciones humanas, la burocracia y el significado de la vida y la muerte. Un hombre se embarca en el último viaje de su vida, solo para ser confrontado por una enfermera que desafía su existencia y cómo tener equipaje nunca ha sido más importante.

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Business, Cultural, Education, Family, Government, Home, Local, News

May 12 — Housing Trust Fund Ventura County announces California Department of Housing and Community Development Director Gustavo Velasquez to speak at immersive event

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Housing Trust Fund Ventura County (Housing Trust Fund VC) announced (on April 7) that Housing and Community Development (HCD) Director Gustavo Velasquez will keynote the nonprofit’s signature event – Compassion Campaign 2022 on Thursday, May 12th at Maravilla Gardens in Camarillo.

“We are honored that Director Velasquez sees the work we are doing here in Ventura County to provide safe, equitable homes for all and will be sharing his perspective on the state of affordable housing in California,” said Linda Braunschweiger, CEO, Housing Trust Fund Ventura County.

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Cultural, Education, Entertainment, Events, Family, Local, News, Youth

Aug. 4 — MICOP celebrates Night in Oaxaca 2022

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On Thursday, August 4th, the Mixteco/Indígena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) will hold its eleventh annual Night in Oaxaca. Night in Oaxaca is a celebration of the indigenous migrant community of California’s Central Coast and MICOP’s largest and most-sought after fundraiser. After two years of virtual programming, we are proud to bring our supporters a hybrid experience, in-person at Olivas Adobe in Ventura and online.

This year we are gathering around the theme of “Fortaleciendo Nuestras Raíces” or “Strengthening our Roots.” Reflecting on the pandemic and our recent growth, Night in Oaxaca will celebrate our indigenous community’s resiliency and rooted connection to our organization. The evening welcomes a diverse crowd of supporters and leaders from across Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. All proceeds fund MICOP’s work of supporting, organizing and empowering indigenous migrant communities of the Central Coast.

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Commentary, Cultural, Entertainment, Events, Local, News

Aug. 27 — Oxnard’s Los Mixos to Live Stream Concert

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Los Mixos, one of Oxnard’s newest music bands, in collaboration with Red Sky Productions and HOPE Social Skills for Teens with Autism, will be performing live for a multi-camera, internet-streamed studio concert called Downtown Window (DTW), to promote their original 5-song music EP.  The concert will be performed and streamed on the internet at www.DowntownWindow.com on Saturday, August 27th at 4pm at the Red Sky Productions studio in downtown Oxnard.  Through the livestream, fans will see and hear Los Mixos’ newly released songs filmed in a music video type set with lighting, set design and props with the help of a crew of camera operators, sound engineers, a cinematographer and television director.   

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