2019-02-07
Deluge keeps emergency crews busy
Giant oak falls, but city weathers storm with minimal damageBig storms often bring big damage, but Thousand Oaks rode out this week’s heavy rains fairly well, city officials tell the Acorn. Though a few trees toppled—including a gargantuan ancient oak near Thousand Oaks Boulevard—damage throughout the city was minimal, said John Smallis, deputy director of public works. “Mostly we just had mud to clear,” Smallis said. “That’s pretty good […]
Rain a factor in crash that killed sheriff’s volunteer
Search and rescue member lived in Thousand OaksThe Ventura County Sheriff’s Office has lost another member of its family. On Saturday, VCSO Search and Rescue team member Jef Dye, 50, was killed in a car accident on the Grapevine while he and other SAR members were trying to help an injured driver who’d crashed moments earlier. A Thousand Oaks resident, Dye was a member of the search […]
Survivors haunted by prior encounter with shooter
FREE BORDERLINE MASSACREHannah Michalak had just returned with a fresh Corona and lime and was standing at a booth near the front of Borderline Bar and Grill around 11:16 p.m. Nov. 7 when the black-clad killer walked in. The 23-year-old recognized his face immediately. That’s because she met Ian David Long at Borderline’s Halloween celebration the week before, Michalak said. Michalak, who […]
Thousand Oaks leads in clean-power opt-outs
Despite some strong criticism on social media, most eligible households are sticking with Clean Power Alliance, according to figures released this week by the state’s newest electricity provider. On Friday, CPA included the residential opt-out rates for all 31 participating agencies—29 cities and Los Angeles and Ventura counties—in the online agenda for its Feb. 7 board of directors meeting in […]
Huntington Beach suit has major ramifications
Attorney general suing coastal city for not meeting housing goalsCould Thousand Oaks be sued by the state of California for not allowing for enough new housing? It’s happening to Huntington Beach. On Jan. 25, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state attorney general’s office was taking action against the coastal Orange County city for refusing to meet regional housing needs and standing in the way of affordable housing production; […]
Heads are still high despite big game loss
EDITORIALWith only minutes to go in Sunday’s Super Bowl and rain falling in the Southland, one city’s hopes and dreams circled the drain. In their place came a new reality: Maybe those other guys really were better than us. The final score would indicate so. As the clock ticked down and Julian Edelman caught his umpteenth pass, hopes that our […]
Why were maps discussed out of public’s view?
As a 25-year resident of Westlake Village and the North Ranch community, I’m very concerned about the lack of transparency in this process of transition from the at-large school board elections system to the by-trustee area elections system. During the Jan. 22 school board meeting, in response to the question, “Has the board had the opportunity to see any other […]
Let’s stick to paper ballots
Mark Lunn’s announcement that he intends to squander $4 million on Dominion’s computerized ballot-marking device system represents nothing less than a clear and present danger to election integrity in Ventura County. Currently, most Ventura County voters utilize an inexpensive system in which votes are cast on hand-marked paper ballots. While the results are recorded at each precinct by optical scanners […]
SCE alternative might not be up to the task
First, for those customers who are satisfied with the service they’ve received from Edison, which has served Southern California for the last 120 years, now is the time to opt out from the Clean Power Alliance. Here a few reasons why: At a recent public meeting the representative from CPA denigrated Edison because “it’s a monopoly,” without mentioning it is […]