Robinsons-May closes as consolidation of department stores begins
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com
     The two Robinsons-May department stores at The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks closed their doors for good on Sunday.
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Donkey rescued from septic tank
     The Ventura County Fire Department was called to a home in the 200 block of Rosa Lane in Newbury Park to rescue a donkey that had fallen into a septic tank on March 13.
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Thousand Oaks Police Department offers Business Watch
     The Thousand Oaks Police Department Crime Prevention Bureau offers the Business Watch program.
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T.O. Business Roundtable seeks applicants
     Thousand Oaks is seeking to fill four vacancies currently open on the business roundtable committee. The terms last until April 2008.
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Lifeguard training offered by CRPD
     Conejo Recreation and Park District (CRPD) will offer a course in lifeguard training.
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Ventura County grand jury seeks new jurors
By Avi Rutschman avi@theacorn.com
     Some residents in Ventura County want to do more to fulfill their civic obligation than simply pay their taxes. To find more altruistic citizen volunteers, the Ventura County grand jury recently hosted a public open house to recruit new members.
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Shooting incident looks to be road rage over honked horn
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com
     A road rage shooting incident took place in Thousand Oaks on March 4 and resulted in two arrests.
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Woman of the Year: Schlessinger
     Radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger was recently named "Woman of the Year" for California%27s 19th state Senate District by Sen. Tom McClintock (RThousand Oaks). The award is presented annually to a woman from each district who has significantly contributed to her area.
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Advisory committee to have fewer members
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com
     A Thousand Oaks citizen advisory committee will lose 14 members over the next year, beginning this spring.
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Water system to get improvements
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com
     To keep water flowing reliably and safely to residents%27 homes and local businesses, the city of Thousand Oaks will have to make some improvements over the next five years.
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Popular swimming coach to retire
     BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers SALUTE TO SWIMMING COACH-Peter Daland, center, will be 85 in April and is retiring. He's flanked by champions and record holders whom he coached. Daland was recently honored at the Daland Swim School on Wilbur Road. From left to right are Nancy Kirkpatrick-Reno, Jim McConica, Edward Lapporte, Daland, Doug Green, Heidi Christensen and Mike Shaffer.
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Mark your calendar for Spring Expo
     The Thousand OaksWestlake Village Regional Chamber of Commerce will host its Spring Expo from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thurs., March 30 at Hyatt Westlake Plaza, 880 S. Westlake Blvd., Westlake Village. The event has the theme "Fifties Rock %27N%27 Roll into Business Expo and Trade Show."
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Calabasas family stays strong despite tragic loss
By Michael Picarella pic@theacorn.com
     The Buelow family of Calabasas has been tested in ways that no family should have to be.
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Future Oscar winners?
     YOUNG AND TALENTED- Last year's winners from the 2005 eighth annual Conejo Teen Video Festival were interviewed at the Adelphia studios in Westlake Village last Sunday. They told how they made their films. Front row, left to right: Gracie Canaan and Allie Woerner. Second row: Aaron Blum, Thomas B. Reiten, hostess Krissy MacQueen and Kellen Moore. Back row: Ethan Kuperberg, Max Miletich, T.O. Mayor Dennis Gillette and Chase Burton. For this year's participants, the deadline for entries is June 2. Please call Pete Martinez for details at (805) 381-2793.
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Students hold recycling drive
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com
     Helping to preserve Earth%27s resources is contributing to the self-esteem of special education students at Acacia Elementary School and teaching them practical skills as well.
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Winemaker dining event a success at Hyat
     A good meal accompanied by fine wine makes the soul happy. Just ask the many smiling faces who attended the March 17 winemaker dinner hosted by the Hyatt Westlake Plaza.
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Tea bar to open in T.O.
     The Healing Tree is a new apothecary and tea bar that will celebrate its grand opening with a tea party at 4 p.m. Sun., March 26 at 2711 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks.
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     Spring has just arrived. It%27s a great time to plant a new garden and to spring into something new, like volunteering your time-perhaps to teach schoolchildren about the beauty of wildflowers or to bring a bouquet brimming with the season%27s vibrant colors to a frail elderly per
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Join the CVD Grand Marshal race
     Although the Conejo Valley Days Grand Marshal Race has begun, there%27s still time to join in, according to Scott Wolfe, Conejo Valley Days Grand Marshal Race chairperson.
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Singles group meets weekly
     One Again Inc., Thousand Oaks chapter, is a singles support and social organization for divorced, widowed or separated men and women. Meetings are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays at United Methodist Church, 1049 Westlake Blvd., Westlake Village.
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TOHS grad flying high
     NOW A PILOT-Tandy Westmiller, a 2000 graduate of Thousand Oaks High School, is now a first officer commercial airline pilot with Expressjet, an affiliate of Continental. After graduating from Spartan College of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Okla. in 2005, Westmiller worked as a flight instructor at Spartan College. She first became interested in flying in sixth grade at University Elementary School in Thousand Oaks when she job-shadowed a female flight instructor in Camarillo. And now she flies for a living.
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Cat foster homes needed
     The Southern California Siamese Rescue is a nonprofit devoted to finding homes for Siamese cats. The organization doesn%27t have a shelter but places the cats in private homes until adoption. Lack of foster homes is the single greatest impediment to taking in cats-a problem greater
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Temple members try to save their home
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com
     Good things come from adversity. It%27s a tough but productive lesson that members of Temple Beth Haverim in Agoura Hills are learning.
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Know their globe
     JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers THEY'RE NO. 1-Lang Ranch Elementary School Geography Bee winners Emily Demsetz and David Huang celebrate after the recent geography challenge. The kids are second-graders and they competed with third-graders. Nice job, David and Emily!
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Sponsors sought for AAUW event
     The American Association of University Women-Thousand Oaks branch will be celebrating its 40th anniversary since being chartered in 1966 with a luncheon on June 3 at North Ranch Country Club, Westlake Village.
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Child spots photographer
     JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers 'HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU, KID'-Lang Ranch Mom's Club members Sara Keenan, left, and Stacey Hamlet-Griffith take their focus away from Miranda Hamlet-Griffith, 1, while attending an open house meeting at Conejo Creek Park on Monday. The overcast, cold weather wasn't typical of Southern California--especially since it was the first day of spring.
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     Navy Seaman Recruit Jeffrey Q. Jennings recently completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill. He%27s the son of Brenda Jennings of Thousand Oaks.
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Club to host two dances
     The Thousand Oaks Dance Club will host two dances in April at Goebel Senior Adult Center%27s ballroom, 1385 E. Janss Road, Thousand Oaks. Light refreshments are served.
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Fundraising walk coming for special needs kids
     The Conejo Valley Friendship Circle, a local nonprofit organization that pairs teenage volunteers with special needs children, will host a Walk-A-Thon from 1 to 4 p.m. Sun., March 26 at the Agoura High School track, 28545 W. Driver Ave., Agoura Hills.
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New owners take over Serendipity in Newbury Park
     Joseph and Jules Walters of Westlake Village are the new owners of Serendipity Cheesecakes Bakery in Newbury Park. Joseph Walters had a career in corporate event production and Jules Walters, a graduate of Westlake Culinary Institute, had a catering business. Along with their t
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Right in style
     FASHIONABLE LADY- Newbury Park resident Madeline Bentley struts her stuff on the Wood Ranch Country Club runway during the recent Thousand Oaks Women's Club Fashion Show. Proceeds were to aid the Conejo Free Clinic, which helps women in need. The show raised $9,000. JANN HENDRY Acorn Newspapers
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Teen center to host band concert
     The T.O. Teen Center will host a concert for high school kids from 7 to 11 p.m. Sat., April 1 at 1375 E. Janss Road in T.O. Admission is $10; students must bring a school photo ID. For information, call (805) 494-5156. The Strays, Skywalker, Ferona Vei and Sound the Alarm will play. Concert he
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