December 8, 2006 RSS feed / Front Page

Is Prop. 36 hindering city's fight against meth?

Part I in a two-part series

In Simi Valley's fight against methamphetamine use, officials have stumbled upon an unlikely obstacle: a voter-approved proposition that they argue is preventing them from effectively combating abuse of the drug. More...

Health & Wellness

Coping with those holiday blues

Although the holidays are traditionally full of cheer, for some the holidays are a source of sadness, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. More...

Simi home health care provider honored by independent agency

Adventist Health/Home Care Services of Simi Valley Hospital has been recognized by Outcome Concept Systems as a 2006 Top Tier HomeCare Elite agency, ranking in the top 25 percent among nearly 7,000 home health agencies in the United States. More...

Type O blood needed

Blood donations for United Blood Services Central Coast improved last week, but were not sufficient to avoid a critical appeal for Type O negative blood. More...

Schools

Just a tuneup

HEAVENLY- Simi resident Danielle Drake, 12, a seventhgrader at Trinity Pacific Christian School, tunes her harp before the start of a Youth Harp Ensemble rehearsal at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Westlake Village last week. More...

Community colleges collaborate on spring enrollment advertising

Cohesive outreach campaign also saves money

To better use limited marketing dollars, the three Ventura County Community colleges- Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura-have coordinated an advertising campaign targeted to the spring 2007 semester registration period. More...

Royal offers temporary shelter for families affected by Moorpark fire

Royal High School opened its doors earlier this week to assist those affected by the devastating Moorpark fires. More...

Police

A vehicle was burglarized and $1,540 worth of property taken Dec. 1 on the 3600 block of Delilah Street. A 26-year-old male was arrested Dec. 1 on suspicion of domestic battery on the 500 block of Cochran Street. More...

Faith

Live Ride Church: A place of worship for those on the road to salvation

Harleys in the parking lot, leather in the aisles

You can almost always find a Harley-Davidson parked outside the Live Ride Church in Simi Valley. Even the congregation's pastor, the Rev. Rick Fish, 43, rides one of the ironclad, Americanmade motorcycles. More...

On The Town

For sheer drama addicts (and particularly Anglophiles who love the likes of "Vera Drake" and "Mrs. Brown"), "The Queen" may be a character study that's hard to beat. More...

Moorpark Civic Ballet presents three days of 'The Nutcracker'

The Moorpark Civic Ballet will present its 11th annual production of the family friendly holiday classic "The Nutcracker" at 7 p.m. today and Saturday, Dec. 8 and 9, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. More...

See the Grinch ice skate, meet Cindy Lou Who

The fourth annual Tri-County Youth Productions Corporation holiday skating show, "The Grinch on Ice!," and food drive will be Friday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 16 at 2 and 7 p.m. at the Easy Street Ice Arena, located at 131 W. More...

Neighbors

Home for Christmas

How the human spirit helped raise a man's house from the ashes

Standing and smiling in the freshly painted living room of his Apricot Road home-which six months ago was gutted by fire- Chris Palomarez took a good look around. More...

Kuehner Homes development to hold grand opening this weekend

For Debbie Benedict, the dream of owning her own home recently became a reality with a little help from the Cabrillo Economic Development Corp. More...

Real Estate

Sigi Ulbrich and Pam Moran

Sigi Ulbrich and Pam Moran of Prudential California Realty's North Ranch/Westlake Village office won the award for top producer for September 2006. More...

George Hoybjerg

The award for top producer from Prudential California Realty's Camarillo office for September 2006 was won by George Hoybjerg, who was also top producer in August and top selling agent in June. More...

Police keep a close watch over holiday shoppers

It's Christmas for criminals, too, warns crime prevention chief

To provide shoppers an extra measure of safety and security during the holidays, the Simi Val ley Police Department is once again increasing its patrols of retail centers and malls. More...

Foy win finally made official

Peter Foy has officially won the race to represent the 4th District on the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. He finished with 20,833 votes-895 votes more than his opponent, Jim Dantona, who got a total of 19,938 votes. More...

Sobriety checkpoint is coming

Holiday partygoers beware. The Simi Valley Police Department will set up a license and sobriety checkpoint at an undisclosed location in the city within the next two weeks. More...

Community

County seeking volunteers for air pollution board

The Ventura County Air Pollution Control District is seeking two people interested in serving on its hearing board. Candidates for the position must be Ventura County residents. More...

Second suspect arrested in gang torture case

Documented gang member Walter Escamilla, 32, of Simi Valley was arrested Dec. 2 in the wash area near Erringer Road and Heywood Street. He is suspected of a number of crimes allegedly committed in concert with Delfino Vasquez. More...

Blaze in Moorpark

Downed power lines blamed in fire that destroyed five homes

The potent smell of smoke was still blowing in the air at the BonnFyre Ranch above Moorpark on Monday as Dorann LaPerch hurried about caring for her horses and her pets. More...

Business

Simi Valley Ford provides a tasty spread

SPIRIT OF GIVING- From right, Larry Hibbler, Virginia Nelson, Francine Fleishman, Debbie Tyler and Steve Reder dish up a meal catered by Maverick's restaurant owner Reder for clients of the Samaritan Center. More...

Women's info network honors Black Star owner

Debi Aquino, owner of Black Star Graphics, is the Women's Information Network of Simi Valley's 2006 Woman of the Year. She was honored by the group at its installation luncheon in November. More...

Local print shop offers discounts to nonprofits

Kopy King, a Simi Valley quick print shop, has launced a nonprofit discount program in response to requests of donations for printing services. More...

Sports

Highlanders looking to rebound after disappointing season

Royal High boys' basketball team returns four starters this year

Following a disappointing campaign last year, the Royal boys' basketball team is back and ready to improve this season. The team will be working from the ground up, as the Highlanders finished last season without a win in the Marmonte League. More...

Simi's De Fazio signs with UCSD

Jennifer De Fazio, a senior at Simi Valley High, has signed a letter of intent to play softball for the University of California San Diego. Last season as a junior, De Fazio batted .338 with nine RBI, one home run and 13 runs scored. More...

Madsen returns to lead the Pioneers

After taking the past two years off from coaching due to the birth of her two children, Shannon Madsen is back at Simi Valley to help guide the Pioneer girls' basketball team. More...

Family

Festival of Trees brings hope to the lives of abused children

A child is abused every 10 seconds in the United States. Four children die every day from abuse. More...

Channel Islands' Parade of Lights a family pleaser

Children can slip and slide in 25 tons of snow

Channel Islands Harbor will celebrate the 41st annual Parade of Lights on Saturday, Dec. 9 with the theme Winter Fantasy. Daytime activities will run from noon to 7 p.m. More...

Editorials

Try to be patient during the holiday season

Imagine, if you will, a hypothetical day in the life of a local resident during holiday season: •Running behind schedule because of a worse-than-usual traffic jam at your daughter's school, you remain stopped at a green light wh More...

Political Cartoon

Full Story

Guest opinion

Solving the immigration puzzle

While visiting my family for Thanksgiving, a large portion of our dinner discussion centered around the dramatic support that Gov. More...