Business, Health, Local, News

No-Cost Healthcare for Front Line Agriculture Workers in the Age of COVID-19

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While California battles the second wave of COVID-19 cases, local agriculture workers are putting themselves in harm’s way to produce product for consumers and businesses. Latinos represent the majority of California’s essential workforce and make up around 55% of the state’s confirmed COVID-19 cases to date. With their lives on the line to provide for others, these workers not only face the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19, but many do not have health insurance should they need medical care to treat the virus.

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Cultural, Education, Family, Local, News, Youth

CARES Summer Grant Program helps more than 500 CSUCI students stay on track

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A total of 539 students were able to stay on track with their studies, thanks to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Summer Grant program at CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI).

Transfer Student Success Activity Director Veronica Montoya, who headed the grant program, was thrilled to see so many lives impacted by the$586,350 worth of funding that went toward the students’ education. Montoya said the value was not only in the class and what that student will eventually contribute to society, but also the psychological boost of staying on track, even after the global crisis had disrupted their lives. 

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Business, Government, Local, News

EDC News Alert – PPE Distributed Across Local Business Community

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The Economic Development Collaborative’s Small Business Development Center, the Solvang Chamber of Commerce, and the Downtown Santa Barbara Organization has proudly distributed one million units of personal protective equipment free of charge to businesses across Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.

Thanks to the hard work of our staff and partners, we have distributed 30-day supply packages of hand sanitizer, masks, and face shields for up to 10 employees for 1,500 businesses and 17,000 employees.

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Business, Government, Local, News

Ventura Harbor Increases Sustainability and Ventures into New EV Charging Stations from SemaConnect Five new electric vehicle charging stations support EV drivers at Harbor Cove Beach and Ventura Harbor Village

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The Ventura Port District has installed five new SemaConnect charging stations for Ventura Harbor visitors. The new Series 6 charging stations replace a pair of charging stations previously installed at Island Packers and are open to all plug-in EV drivers that visit the harbor.

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Cultural, Education, Local, News, Youth

Pioneer Valley High School ‘Link Crew’ Helps Out New Students

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The masked and physically distanced PVHS “Link Crew” projected school spirit to create a temporary break from COVID-19, helping freshman receive their schedules, ID cards, tablets and textbooks Thursday and Friday.

The “Link Crew”, junior and senior leaders, greeted the majority of the more than 800 incoming freshmen offering an early welcome in an environment designed to alleviate the stress of starting a new school. The student’s leaders also gave each freshman a goodie bag with tablet trouble-shooting tips, zoom information, distance learning guidance, a pencil, other school information and a lollipop.

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Education

Laura Lizaola Barroso Selected as VCCCD Vice Chancellor of Human Resources

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Ventura County Community College District (VCCCD) Chancellor Greg Gillespie has announced the appointment of Laura Lizaola Barroso as Vice Chancellor of Human Resources. Barroso has more than 28 years of experience in California within higher education and public agency. Since joining VCCCD in 2018, she has served as the Director of Human Resources Operations and as Associate Vice Chancellor of Human Resources.

In her new role, Barroso will provide collaborative senior administrative leadership across all functional areas within the District Office and Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges. She will have direct oversight of District recruitment, human resources operations, benefits, employee professional development and labor negotiations.

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Business, Education, Local, News

CSUCI Associate Professor of Mathematics Selenne Bañuelos wins national award for extraordinary teaching practices

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California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) Associate Professor of Mathematics Selenne Bañuelos, Ph.D., remembers walking into her college math classes as an undergraduate and seeing no other women of color as tenure track faculty nor  Latinx women born in the U.S.

“The STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) world can be very lonely for women, especially for a woman of color,” Bañuelos said. “You can feel like you don’t fit in. At that moment, I had not met a female in academia — especially a woman with children.”

But a love for the complexity and possibilities of mathematics compelled her to keep going, and in late July, the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) awarded Bañuelos one of the top awards in the nation for a university math professor.

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Business, Education, Family, Local, News, Youth

Key Santa Barbara County Youth Mentoring Programs Merge

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The Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (CADA) and Family Service Agency (FSA) announced that FSA’s Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program has closed and South County mentoring matches have joined the School Based Mentoring Program at CADA as of July 2020.

CADA and FSA share similar goals of making a positive difference in the lives of young people and have been collaborating since April to facilitate a smooth transition for the youth, their parents, and their mentors.

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Commentary, Cultural, Food, Health, Local, News

Bilingual commentary — Time to Reflect on the American Diet

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The apparently never-ending coronavirus pandemic has punched a hole in the panorama that was our American diet up to now.  Suddenly, beginning earlier this year, meat became scarce.  Delicately balanced supply chains were knocked off-balance, partly due to meat production workers “dropping like flies” as the virus surged through factories and warehouses. Meat counters in grocery stores became sparse and the cost of the meat that was available started to rise due to demand for the limited supply. Major grocery outlets started rationing quantities of meat to its customers to avoid the toilet-paper-hoarding fiasco that occurred at the beginning of the pandemic.

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Commentary, Cultural, Local, Opinion

Guest commentary — 2nd Open letter to Scott Whitney, Police Chief of Oxnard

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Now that the people have defeated the unconstitutional Oxnard Civil “Gang” Injunction (OCGI) what is the next move for the OPD? You, Scott, and all your current staff of Assistant Police Chiefs were with you back in 2003, all as aspiring “by the book” future police chiefs, you guys then were just following orders; when Greg Totten, the Ventura County District Attorney, your boss at the time Police Chief Art Lopez and the Oxnard City Council secretly conspired to create the Oxnard Civil “Gang” Injunction (OCGI) that the people of Oxnard just slayed after 17 years of community and court room fights.

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Business, Family, Government, Local

Santa Barbara First District Supervisor Das Williams — ¡Viva La Fiesta…Safely!

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Last week I was talking with a constituent who was worried about the mask wearing habits of tourists while walking outside. I acknowledged it is important to promote people planning on wearing a mask even as part of an outdoor excursion (such as where there are bottlenecks and the inability to keep physical distance from others) even if there are times when it is not necessary (certain types of exercise do not require a mask, especially outdoors and if there are no other people around). Then I pointed out the vented mask she had been wearing around town for the past two months does not work to protect anyone around you and has been banned in some jurisdictions, such as our County, because it only filters air coming in and not the air you breathe out.

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

Museum of Ventura County — Archival Exquisite Corpse Project + “Hard Day’s Night” discussion with Ivor Davis

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The Museum partnered with Ventura College photography professors Brian Paumier and Jessie Groves for a new take on the exquisite corpse concept. Students were asked to use the Museum’s online photograph archive to find inspiration for a final project.
Presented are the original photograph screenshots the students selected and the images they created based on those selections.

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Family, Government, Health, Local, News, Youth

County of Ventura COVID-19 Update for Aug. 6

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The California Department of Public Health has issued Youth Sports Guidance. Youth sports training, conditioning and physical education is now permitted in Ventura County when those activities include continuous physical distancing of at least six feet and a stable cohort, i.e. the same children at each meeting. Teams, classes, and other youth sports activities that involve contact, competitive or team play are not permitted. The State guidance document may be found at COVID-19 Industry Guidance: Youth Sports.

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Business, Education, Local, News

Campus and community welcome to audition for CSUCI’s first Virtual Choir

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Few can forget the Italians perched on windowsills serenading one another while quarantined with the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is with that same spirit of resilience that the CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) Chorus is inviting the campus and the community to audition for its first ever virtual chorus. 

“Our voices must sing and the song must endure and no pandemic can stop that,” said Dean Butler, CSUCI alumnus, choir member and Channel Islands Choral Association (CICA) president. “Music throughout history has been the universal expression of healing, love, hope and peace.”

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Business, Cultural, Education, Government, Health, Local, News

County of Ventura COVID-19 Update for Aug. 5

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There are 76 new cases today (46 (60.5%) of which have a lab collection from July 29th or earlier), 872 additional people tested, and 2 additional deaths (68 year old female and 96 year old male, both with comorbidities).

Current doubling time is 52.3 days.

The California Department of Public Health is experiencing delays in laboratory reporting. The information for August 5 is preliminary until the data system issue is resolved. Learn more by clicking here.

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Family, Finance, Local, News, Youth

6th Annual Back to School Bash Supports over 500 Foster Youth with over $100K in Donations

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On Saturday, August 1st, James Storehouse hosted their largest 6th annual back-to-school event in collaboration with Homes with Heart VC. Due to Covid-19, the event was transformed into a full service drive through experience complete with socially distanced superheroes, princesses and a Mister Softee treat to round out the day. 

The event drew in over 700 pre-registered families along with over 500 youth in care to select from a variety of brand new backpacks, name brand tennis shoes, and other essential school supplies all passed out by masked community volunteers.

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Business, Cultural, Government, Local, News

Port of Hueneme Dock Talk eNews – August 2020

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Port Lands $1.68M Grant for State-of-the-Art Technology
FEMA announced that the Port of Hueneme has been awarded $1.68 million in the Port Security Grant Program. Aimed to achieve the goal of a secure and resilient nation, the funding will aid the Port in modernizing their security, including improvements to the main gate entrance, and upgrading the Port’s CCTV surveillance system with cutting-edge technology. 

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Cultural, Health, Local, News, Seniors, Women, Youth

Bilingual report — Mi Vida, Mi Voz Community Collaboration Provides Critical Resource Information for Spanish Speaking Community 

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Due to the current coronavirus pandemic and economic crisis, many people in the Spanish-speaking Latino community are not getting the important information they may need for themselves and their families. For years, the Spanish-speaking community has struggled to receive timely, culturally-appropriate information related to emerging needs. In April, Mi Vida, Mi Voz (MVMV), a collaboration of local Latino-serving organizations, pivoted to address this critical need. With the pandemic’s disproportionate health and economic impact in the Latino community, this critical information is more relevant than ever.  

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

Outdoor Art Classes at the Santa Paula Art Museum

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While the Santa Paula Art Museum’s indoor galleries remain closed, its art classes have moved outside! All classes are being taught within the Museum’s outdoor courtyard to allow for art making while social distancing. Space is extremely limited as class sizes are being kept small, and preregistration is required. Register for class and read more about the Museum’s new policies for maintaining a safe learning environment on our website: www.santapaulaartmuseum.org/creativity.

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Business, Education, Government, Health, Local, News, Youth

County of Ventura COVID-19 Update for Aug. 4 — Community Forum on Aug. 5

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On Wednesday, August 5, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the County of Ventura will host a virtual Community Forum open to all members of the public online via Zoom to discuss the intersection of race and law enforcement in our community. The Community Forum will consist of a panel of County leaders and community representatives who will participate in a roundtable discussion, followed by questions from the public.

Click here for more information about the forum.

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Cultural, Entertainment, Local, News

Old Boney Mountain Hot Summer Night Festival Brings Community Together in Celebration

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The third annual Old Boney Mountain Hot Summer Night festival had an added mission this year—to encourage the community to support the almost 20 participating local businesses including restaurants and breweries that continue to operate while following social distancing rules. In addition, the July 11 virtual festival raised money for Rotary charities, first responders and the Grossman Burn Foundation for its care of burn survivors. Presented by Old Boney Mountain Hot Sauce Corp. and the Rotary Club of Newbury Park, the premiere sponsor was Farmers Insurance.

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Family, Health, Local, News, Youth

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County (BBSVC) looking for volunteers to serve as mentors

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Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County (BBSVC) is celebrating 50 years of service through youth mentoring in 2020! The organization serves all of Ventura County and because of that there are nearly 100 youth waiting for a mentor. BBSVC is asking the community to imagine the impact they can make as a friend and role model.

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Business, Cultural, Education, Family, Food, Government, Health, Local, News

County of Ventura COVID-19 Update for Aug. 3

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Here’s your COVID-19 update from the County of Ventura from Friday-Sunday. There are 533 new cases today (231 (43.3%) of which have a lab collection from July 27th or earlier), 4,217 additional people tested, and 0 additional deaths; this includes reports from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Current doubling time is 43.8 days.

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Business, Government, Health, Home, Local, News

Bilingual report — County residents asked to turn in seed shipments from China to Agricultural Commissioner’s Office

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Residents across the country have been receiving unsolicited and mysterious seeds shipped from China. The seeds are arriving in small mailer envelopes labeled with descriptions such as “stud earrings”, “jewelry”, “handmade flowers”, and “wire connectors”. Since it is illegal to ship seeds unless they meet the import requirements of the United States – including proper labeling with the name of the shipper, the type of seed, and certification where required – the small packets are sent mislabeled in order to pass through Customs undetected.

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