Time is running out to advertise in our Amigos805 special Hispanic Heritage Month print edition. The edition will include an update on all activities and events celebrating this special time of year for the Latino community, including upcoming Fiestas Patrias…
Foundation for SBCC receives $10,000 grant from Wells Fargo for Plaza Comunitaria and Wells Fargo Annual Vocational Scholarship students
SANTA BARBARA — The Foundation for Santa Barbara City College recently received a $10,000 grant from Wells Fargo to assist two vocational students through the Wells Fargo Annual Vocational Scholarship and to support the education of Latino emigrants through the…
Bilingual commentary: Why college is still important
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor It makes me laugh when I think about how a cousin, many years ago, expressed his disdain for my other, closer cousins — as well as for me — in a collegially offensive manner:…
Bilingual report: Fiestas Patrias Gala Dinner-Dance to be held Sept. 1 in Ventura
The Comité Cultural Mexicano (Mexican Cultural Committee) and La “M” 103.7 FM Radio Station will present the 15th Annual “Fiestas Patrias” (Mexican Independence Day Celebration) “Gala Dinner-Dance” to elect and crown the queen of the “Fiestas Patrias” 2012-2013 from 5:30 p.m. to…
‘Social Resurrection: Ceramics by Richard Flores’ opens Sept. 1 at Museum of Ventura County
Ritual Vessels of the Maya Brought Into the Present Day VENTURA — The Maya culture of yesterday enlightens us today in Richard Flores’ exhibition of contemporary ceramic vessels at the Museum of Ventura County. Social Resurrection: Ceramics by Richard Flores…
Bilingual commentary: Is it worth it to go to college?
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor In the newspaper from today, Sunday (I continue to be one of those dinosaurs that still reads the newspaper), a political cartoon with a disturbing message by cartoonist Steve Breen caught my eye. I…
Foundation for SBCC receives $5,000 grant from Southern California Edison to support the Guardian Scholars Foster Youth Program
Program assists Santa Barbara’s growing population of foster children SANTA BABARA — The Foundation for Santa Barbara City College recently received a $5,000 grant from Southern California Edison for the Guardian Scholars Foster Youth Program. The comprehensive program supports former…
Cerca de 400 personas en el ‘Foro de Acción Diferida’ en Pacifica High School, Oxnard
OXNARD — El Consulado de México informa a la comunidad en general que con el apoyo de cinco Abogados Consultores de esta oficina consular y un asesor de La Hermandad Hank Lacayo & Family Center, (también Plaza Comunitaria), el jueves…
“Tools for School” initiative provides backpacks and supplies to 300 Santa Barbara area children
SANTA BARBARA — The Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara hosted the “Tools for School” kick-off event on Aug. 18 at the Presidio Springs Community Room. The event served as a resource for Housing Authority residents and the…
Oxnard Boys & Girls Club receives positive feedback of its after school program
OXNARD — The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme’s After School Program is a vital effort in bringing schools, community-based organizations, business partners and hundreds of families together to provide academic support and a safe environment for…
UCSB ranks among the nation’s top 25 colleges, universities in degrees awarded to Latinos in STEM fields
SANTA BARBARA — In the third in a series of reports linking college completion with U.S. workforce needs, the nonprofit organization Excelencia in Education has included UC Santa Barbara on its lists of the top 25 colleges and universities in…
MICOP seeks volunteers at Harrington Elementary School in Oxnard on Aug. 24 to fill backpacks
Volunteers are needed at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24 to help pack about 500 backpacks with school supplies, to be distributed at the monthly Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project community meeting from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24 at Harrington Elementary School,…
Bilingual commentary: My Path to Digital Citizenship
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor Just as with obtaining national citizenship, to achieve digital citizenship, an “outsider” — a digital immigrant — like me needs to be willing to accept a long, hard, difficult journey replete with frustrations. A large…
2013 Rebozo Festival Awards applications now available
OXNARD — Organization/institutions are encouraged to participate in the “Nomination for Appropriations” 2013 Rebozo Festival Awards, the organization reported in a media release. The awards are presented annually by Las Madrinas del Rebozo Festival of Ventura County. The next event…
Bilingual report: Deferred Action Information for Dreamers Forum to be held Aug. 23 in Oxnard
The Deferred Action Information Forum for Dreamers will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 23 at Pacifica High School, Pacifica Art Center, 600 E. Gonzales Road, Oxnard. Consulting lawyers from the Legal Affairs Department of the Consulate of…
Bilingual report: Inaugural ‘Oxnard Show ‘N Shine Car Show’ to be held on Aug. 26
Alfarero Christian Community presents the inaugural “Oxnard Show ‘N Shine Car Show,” from 10 am. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 26 in the Alfarero Christian Community parking area, 375 So. “K” St., Oxnard. The event is a benefit fundraiser for…
Bilingual report: Exhibit of traditional Mexican costumes set for Aug. 26
OXNARD — An exhibit of traditional Mexican costumes worn by the participants of the “Senorita Fiestas Patrias” cultural pageant will be presented at 4:30 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 26 at Pacifica High School, 600 E. Gonzalez Road, Oxnard. There is a…
Final performance for ‘Divorciadas, Evangélicas, y Vegetarianas’ set for Aug. 26 in Carpinteria
The final performance for Teatro de las Américas’ “Divorciadas, Evangélicas, y Vegetarianas” (“Divorcees, Evangelicas , and Vegetarians”) will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 26 at the Plaza Playhouse Teatre, 4916 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria. Written by Gustavo Ott, the play is performed in…
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County receives Darden Restaurant Community Grant
Big Brother Big Sister has received a $3,000 grant as part of the inaugural Restaurant Community Grant Program from the Darden Foundation, the charitable arm of Darden Restaurants Inc., the organization reported recently in a media release. The Restaurant Community…
United Way of Santa Barbara County receives Summer Learning Award
The United Way of Santa Barbara County has received a prestigious 2012 National Excellence in Summer Learning Award for its Fun in the Sun program, the organization reported this week in a media release. The National Summer Learning Association (NSLA)…
805 region students participate in Just Communities’ ‘Community Leadership Institute’
Students from Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Santa Ynez Valley, Carpinteria, and Fillmore/Piru schools recently participated in Community Leadership Institute, an eight-day residential summer program in Ojai that trains youth from the Central Coast to be leaders in issues of diversity…
Cuarta generación de graduados en la Plaza Bicentenario del Centro Comunitario del Colegio de Santa Barbara
El Consulado de México informa a la comunidad en general que el pasado 10 de agosto se llevó a cabo la cuarta ceremonia de graduación y entrega de Reconocimientos a 51 estudiantes de la “Plaza Comunitaria Bicentenario” del Centro Comunitario…
Organizacíon de Clubes Zacatecanos celebrar su 14th aniversario 18 de agosto
Pre-K photographers focus on portraits in SBMA’s ‘Art in Motion’ program
This summer, 25 pre-school students from Storyteller Children’s Center worked with Tina Villadolid, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art teaching artist, creating photographic portraits inspired by the current exhibition, Portrayal/Betrayal, through the Museum’s Art in Motion (AIM) program, the museum reported this…
Ventura County together tackle hunger, homelessness with ‘Potluck and Sleepover’ on Aug. 18
CAMARILLO — Ventura County residents can get a feel for the obstacles faced by families struck by job loss or underemployment at the Ventura County Together’s first Potluck and Sleepover at 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, at FOOD Share in Oxnard,…
Bilingual commentary: Digital Natives and Immigrants
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor I am an immigrant. This world in which I find myself seems so strange sometimes. It’s nothing like the land from which I hail, where I grew up, and where I used to feel so…
Ros, Reagan join Lamia Financial Group LLC in Thousand Oaks
THOUSAND OAKS — Lamia Financial Group LLC, a full-service financial planning and wealth management company in Thousand Oaks, has expanded its financial planning advisory staff with the addition of Juan C. Ros, CFP®, and Jill Reagan, CPA, the company reported this…
Cabrillo’s ASPIRA Program to hold fundraiser on Aug. 14 in Oxnard
A fundraiser to support Cabrillo Economic Development Corp.’s ASPIRA Program will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 14 at Sugarbeets Restaurant and Bar, 455 So. A St., Oxnard. Ticket sales benefit CEDC’s ASPIRA Program, which encourages local youth to develop personal finance…
Commentary: Oxnard College deserves equal representation
By Frank P. Barajas / Guest contributor For my study of the Chicano Movement in Ventura County, I learned that before Oxnard College’s opening in 1975, Vietnam veterans and newly minted high school graduates from the Oxnard Plain rode buses…
More than 800 Santa Barbara fiesta attendees trained in hands-only CPR
SANTA BARBARA — As fiesta crowds recently celebrated Santa Barbara’s rich culture and heritage, dance performances and food during “Old Spanish Days,” more than 800 took the time to stop by the Hands Helping Hearts booth to learn Hands-Only CPR. A total…
Andrea Vargas-Mendoza is the featured artist during August at Gallery 28 in Oxnard
Andrea Vargas-Mendoza is the featured artist during August at Gallery 28, 1901 So. Victoria Ave., Suite 109, beside Channel Islands Harbor. This show titled, “Along the Water,” features her most recent California landscape paintings done a la “plein air” which means done in…
New book by CLU’s José Marichal explores ‘Facebook Democracy’
THOUSAND OAKS — A California LutheranUniversity professor is the author of a new book that examines the impact of Facebook on democracy. London-based Ashgate Press is scheduled to release “Facebook Democracy: The Architecture of Disclosure and the Threat to Public…
Big Brothers Big Sisters receives $20,000 Monsanto Fund grant
CAMARILLO – Studies have shown youth in Big Brothers Big Sisters programs show improvements in academic, behavioral and socio-emotional outcomes. 83 percent of children involved in the program agree that having a Big Brother or Big Sister mentor instilled in…
Free, low cost Tdap vaccine clinics offered through Aug. 28
Ventura County Health Care Agency Las Islas Mobile Medical Clinic and the Ventura County Public Health Immunization Program have partnered to offer low cost or no cost Tdap vaccine for students entering 7th through 12th grade this year. Clinics will…
Concert on Aug. 10 in Hollywood to celebrate contributions of Fermin Herrera, others
NORTHRIGE — Hundreds of people are expected to gather at Los Angeles’ Ford Theatres on Aug. 10 to celebrate the contributions of Mexican-American and Chicano performing artists to California’s richly diverse culture. Among those being singled out for his tireless…
Free dental services for in-need community members set for Aug. 11
Main Street Dental Group is partnering with Smile Generation to provide a “We Serve Day” free day of dentistry for in-need community members from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 11 at 4360-C E. Main St., Ventura, the Mexican…
Bilingual commentary: A powerful weapon in our hands
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor If we were to commit the idiocy of handing a gun to a child, we shouldn’t be surprised if said child, in all innocence, were to hurt (or something worse, which we don’t even want…
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County receives $80,000
Gifts from Martin V. & Martha K. Smith Foundation, Meadowlark Service League, and the United Women’s Leadership Council support the foster youth mentoring program CAMARILLO – The Martin V. & Martha K. Smith Foundation, Meadowlark Service League, and the United Women’s Leadership…
Future Leaders of America holding Youth Leadership Conference
VENTURA — High school students from Ventura and Santa Barbara County will be attending Future Leaders of America’s week long annual “Youth Leadership Conferenc starting Monday, Aug. 6 at the University of California Santa Barbara, the organization reported in a media…
Girl power comes to Oxnard College with Teatro’s play starting Aug. 3
Teatro de las Américas presents“Divorciadas, Evangélicas, y Vegetarianas” By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805 One has guy problems, which is usual when dating a married man. Another is twice-divorced is a ready to end it all. Another puts her faith…
‘Old Spanish Days’ continues through Aug. 5 in Santa Barbara
Strolling mariachis, food of every conceivable variety and arts and crafts booths and music on the main stage — all this can be found at “Old Spanish Days” in Santa Barbara through Aug. 5. Festivities officially began the evening of…
Bilingual report: With schools in crisis, two propositions compete to raise funds
Activists plan to go door to door to spur potential voters to go to the polls, support initiatives By Cesar Arredondo / Amigos805 Just as students go back to classes this month, Maricela Morales is planning to start knocking on Ventura County…
Bilingual report: CSU Channel Islands celebrates 10th anniversary
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805 Students returning to classes this month will find a number of changes awaiting them at California State University, Channel Islands. Instead of the long leisurely drive through farmland from Lewis Road, the students will…
Bilingual report: Bariatric weight-loss center seeks to reach out to Latino community
From Amigos805 staff reports Being overweight can have a devastating impact on a person’s lifestyle. Diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep apnea and a number of other ailments can be traced back to the amount and kind of food…
Bilingual commentary: Time to stuff the bus, fill backpacks
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805 Like most children, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the decision by my mother to take me by the hand and walk from our home on Cedar Street in Oxnard, down the long block…
Bilingual commentary: Keeping calm … But how?
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor During my time in London last month, I came across one of those useful phrases to which one can go whenever necessary — a phrase that has the power to make our life enormously easier and…
Bilingual commentary: Five ways to prepare for the new school year
By Mona AlvaradoFrazier / Guest contributor It’s true that summer can be just as busy as the school year. Often it’s too short for kids and too long for parents. It is a brief stop between the end of school, day camp,…
Bilingual travel story: Off the Beaten Path – Discovering Tubac
By Stacey Wittig / Vagabonding Chica – Travel Writer Tubac, Arizona was established by the King of Spain as a presidio in 1752, thirty years before the Santa Barbara Royal Presidio. Tubac, the first European settlement in Arizona, is known for outfitting…
Arts program set for July 31 at Café on A in Oxnard
The public is invited to a meet and greet program featuring William Strickland, founder and director of the Manchester Craftsman’s Guild and the Bidwell Training Center, from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 31 at Café on A, 438 So. A…
Clinicas del Camino Real to celebrate National Health Center Week
VENTURA COUNTY — Clinicas del Camino Real Inc. will host events in honor of National Health Center Week (NHCW), the Ventura-based organization reported in a media release. Clinicas invites the Ventura Community to join them for a health fair from…
Bilingual letter to the editor: The importance of the Latino vote
Our community understands the need for jobs. We need a representative from Ventura County that understands our economic challenges. Farms contribute over $2 billion dollars to our local economy sustaining over 31,000 jobs in our community. Under this current administration Latinos…
Guest column: Business leverage and the networking nomad
By Shawn McCarthy / Guest Contributor Leverage is the essence of why leading sales professionals and small business owners invest their valuable time in business networking activities. J. Paul Getty once said, “I’d rather have one percent of the effort of…
Bilingual report: Community organizations call for Friday, Saturday protests to demand support for CA Trust Act from Das Williams
Open letter addressed issued to Das Williams following support for notorious DHS-ICE “Secure Communities” program OXNARD — Oxnard-based Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective has called for a protest to be held in front of Assemblyman Das Williams’ office at the…
Das Williams responds to controversy over California Trust Act: AB 1081
SACRAMENTO — When the Assemblymember last had the first version of AB1081 bill before him for a vote, which was May 2011, there were a number of questions concerning the legislation that could not be answered. Due to that fact, Assemblymember Williams abstained, the…
Tickets still available for MICOP’S Aug. 3 ‘Night in Oaxaca’ fundraiser
Tickets are still available for “Night in Oaxaca,” said Donna Foster, operations manager for the Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project in Oxnard. “If you haven’t bought tickets and you’d still like to, we still have some tickets left so please contact us if you’d…
EDC-VC announces new micro-loan program
CAMARILLO – The Economic Development Collaborative-Ventura County is leading the launch in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties of Kiva Zip, a Kiva.org pilot program that enables small businesses to access peer-funded micro-loans of up to $5,000. The program is built on Kiva’s mission…
English-learners focus of $1.2 million grant to develop health, biology program for preschoolers
SANTA BARBARA — Studies show that many low-income Latino children begin kindergarten at a significant educational disadvantage as compared to their mainstream American classmates. With a $1.2 million Science Education Partnership Award from the National Institutes of Health, researchers at…
Bilingual report: Oxnard Police Department promoting bicycle safety awareness
OXNARD — There has been an increase in the number of bicycle collisions in the city of Oxnard in recent months, the Oxnard Police Department reported this week in a media release. Between January and June in 2011 there were…