On February 27, 2019 at approximately 5:00 AM, investigators from the Oxnard Police Department Violent Crimes Unit, with the assistance of SWAT teams from the Oxnard Police Department and Ventura County Sheriff’s Office as well as the Oxnard Police Department K-9 Unit, served search warrants in the 3000 block of South “L” Street in the City of Oxnard, the 2000 block of Blackberry Circle in the City of Oxnard, and the 6300 block of McBean Road in the City of Somis. The search warrants were related to two separate shooting incidents in the City of Oxnard, the first of which occurred on January 19th in the 2000 block of Kepler Drive and the second which occurred during the early morning hours of January 21st in the 100 block of North Oxnard Boulevard.
During the service of the warrant in the 3000 block of “L” Street, a 17 year old juvenile, who is a documented criminal street gang member, was taken into custody and later arrested for attempted murder, a gang enhancement, and firearms related charges. In addition, a large caliber revolver and ammunition was located and seized. The juvenile was later lodged at juvenile hall.
After the service of the search warrants, a second suspect, 20 year old Oxnard resident Emilio Torres, was contacted at the Oxnard Police Department. Torres, was arrested for brandishing a firearm as well as a gang enhancement. He was later booked into the Ventura County Jail for those charges. The investigation is ongoing.
The Oxnard Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit is committed to reducing gang crimes and gun violence in the City of Oxnard through the strict enforcement of laws specifically targeting known, active gang members residing in the city. Anyone with information regarding criminal activity is encouraged to contact the Oxnard Police Department at (805) 385-7600, or you can remain anonymous by calling the Ventura County Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477. You can also visit this site: www.venturacountycrimestoppers.org to submit a tip via text or email.
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Ventura County residents have an opportunity to meet the 2018-2019 Ventura County Grand Jurors and tour the Grand Jury Chambers on March 13, 2019. The public may meet the Grand Jurors between 1 PM and 3 PM, review Grand Jury reports and ask questions about Grand Jury service.
The Grand Jury is a civil investigative panel of 19 volunteers. This oversight group investigates issues and citizen complaints and makes recommendations to improve the operations of local government in a published final report.
The Grand Jury may examine all aspects of Ventura County government and the 10 city governments, as well as special districts.
Applications to serve on the Grand Jury will be available. Officials from Ventura County government and Ventura County Superior Court will also be in attendance. Light refreshments will be served.
To become a Grand Juror, you must be 18 years or older, a U.S. citizen and a Ventura County resident for at least a year. A complete list of requirements and the application form can be found at: https://www.ventura.org/grand-jury/become-a-grand-juror.
Applications may also be requested by calling Jury Services at (805) 289-8661. Applications will be accepted until April 12, 2019.
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UPDATE: On February 27, 2019 at approximately 3:30 p.m., medical personnel from St. John’s Hospital informed the Oxnard Police Department that the victim succumbed to her injuries.
Detectives with the Oxnard Police Department’s Investigative Services Bureau are investigating the incident. Anyone who has information about this incident is urged to contact Detective Jacob Jundef at (805) 385-7680.
On February 25, 2019, at approximately 6:50 p.m., the Oxnard Police Department responded to the 100 block of Mallard Way, regarding a female suffering from suspicious injuries. Officers located the injured female and contacted EMS. EMS arrived on scene and immediately transported the victim to St. John’s Hospital.
The female victim is listed in critical condition according to medical personnel.
The incident is being investigated by Oxnard Police Department Investigative Services Bureau. The victim’s name is being withheld pending notification of her next of kin.
Detectives are requesting anyone who might have witnessed the incident to contact Detective Jacob Jundef (805) 385-7680. You can also provide valuable information and remain anonymous by calling the Violent Crimes Hotline at (805) 982-7070 or Ventura County Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477. You can also visit this site http://www.venturacountycrimestoppers.org to submit a tip via text or email.
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The eight high school teams that will advance to the semifinals of the 2019 Ventura County Mock Trial were announced today by the Ventura County Office of Education. The semifinalists received the eight highest scores of the 30 teams participating in this year’s Mock Trial. Listed in order of their scores, the final eight teams are:
Saint Bonaventure
Trinity Pacific Silver
Oaks Christian Gold
Santa Susana Locke
Westlake
Oak Park Black
Adolfo Camarillo Scorpions
La Reina
The public is invited to watch the semifinals tonight, February 27, at 5:00 pm at the Ventura County Superior Court at 800 South Victoria Ave. in Ventura. The final four teams will face off Thursday evening at 5:00 pm at the courthouse.
Awards Ceremony
The Mock Trial awards ceremony will be held on Monday, March 4 at 6:00 pm at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center at 800 Hobson Way. The public is invited to attend and media coverage is welcomed.
About the 2019 Ventura County Mock Trial
Mock Trial brings courtroom drama to life as students take on the major roles of a criminal case, including attorneys, witnesses and even bailiffs. The students present their cases before actual local judges who volunteer for the competition. Local attorneys volunteer as coaches and scorers. The competition is coordinated annually by the Ventura County Office of Education. This year’s fictitious case is People v. Klein, which involves a defendant accused of making threats on social media and making a false report of an emergency to police.
High schools participating this year are: Adolfo Camarillo High School, Agoura High School, Buena High School, Calabasas High School, Channel Islands High School, Fillmore High School, Grace Brethren Jr/Sr High School, La Reina High School, Newbury Park High School, Nordhoff High School, Oak Park High School, Oaks Christian School, Oxnard High School, Rio Mesa, Royal High School, Saint Bonaventure High School, Santa Paula High School, Santa Susana High School, Simi Valley High School, St. Augustine Academy, Thousand Oaks High School, Trinity Pacific Christian School, Ventura High School, Villanova Preparatory School and Westlake High School.
The winner of the county competition will go on to the state mock trial contest March 22-24 in Sacramento. Ventura County has taken first place at the state level in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
This year’s Ventura County Mock Trial logo artwork was created by Alexandra Clark from La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks.
Additional information about the 2019 Ventura County Mock Trial is available at vcoe.org/mocktrial.
About the Ventura County Office of Education
The Ventura County Office of Education provides a broad array of fiscal, training and technology support services to local school districts, helping to maintain and improve lifelong educational opportunities for children, educators and community members. VCOE also operates schools that serve students with severe disabilities and behavioral issues, provides career education courses, and coordinates countywide academic competitions including Mock Trial and the Ventura County Science Fair. Learn more at: www.vcoe.org.
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Last year the Ventura County Taxpayers Association (VCTA) noticed the Santa Paula City Council approved a budget that included an unusual revenue source. The city of Santa Paula appeared to be diverting money set aside specifically for future water projects in order to pay bills and balance its books. This budget gimmick not only shortchanged future infrastructure investments, but it appeared to be a violation of both state statute and the city’s own ordinance.
The money in question originated from water in-lieu fees that Santa Paula and other municipalities collect when a project comes in without the water to support it. Those fees are retained in a separate account and are supposed to be used for capital projects that will generate additional water resources for the city.
However, in June 2018 Santa Paula’s City Manager proposed and City Council approved, diverting $500,000 of these water in-lieu fee reserves to pay the city groundwater bill and balance its FY 2018-19 operating budget.
Unfortunately, that move appeared to put the city on the wrong side of state law. VCTA believes state law places limits on what fees a city may charge as a condition of development, and what the city may do with that revenue.
Government Code section 66001 provides that, if a city is going to collect a fee as a condition of development, it must “identify the purpose of the fee,” and “identify the use to which the fee is to be put.”
Paying the city’s annual groundwater bill and balancing their books served none of the purposes listed in the city’s ordinance.
On September 16, 2018 VCTA sent an email (read more) to the City Manager and each Council Member expressing our concerns that using water in-lieu fees to pay annual groundwater bills is likely a violation of both state statute and the city’s own ordinance.
On January 22, 2019, four months after our original request, the City Manager, City Attorney and Mayor agreed to meet with representatives of VCTA.
At the meeting, both the City Manager and City Attorney agreed with VCTA that it was a violation of Santa Paula’s ordinance and the Government Code to use water in-lieu fees to pay city water bills, or for any general operating expense.
The City Manager said the FY 2018-19 budget approved by City Council included spending $500,000 of water in-lieu fee reserves to pay water bills, but that money had not been spent. However, he was unclear where or how the city will reduce department expenses to make up for this loss of revenue.
Finding $500,000 of unspecified department expense reductions within a $13.3 million FY 2018-19 General Fund budget is not an insignificant task. We are curious how or if that will be accomplished.
The City Manager recognizes this was a serious error in budgeting that needs correction. VCTA expects the City Council will make appropriate corrections and approve a revised FY 2018-19 budget.
We applaud the city for being willing to sit down with taxpayer representatives like VCTA and begin to work to fix problems with the city’s use of government funds.
As always, our mission is to inform taxpayers, promote the wise use of public funds, oppose waste and advise public officials regarding issues of concern to taxpayers and recommend positions that will best serve the taxpayers’ interests.
About the Ventura County Taxpayers Association (VCTA)
The Ventura County Taxpayer’s Association (VCTA) is a non-partisan 501(C)(4) organization emphasizing issues that affect Ventura County. We inform taxpayers, promote the wise use of public funds, oppose waste, advise public officials regarding issues of concern to taxpayers and recommend positions that will best serve the taxpayers’ interests. VCTA has been looking out for the interests of taxpayers in Ventura County since 1954 – over 60 years. VCTA believes in efficient, effective and transparent government.
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“She has gone to the Lord,” her sister Diana told me a few days ago. And with Fiona Kobusingye’s passing, after a courageous battle with cancer, the Congress of Racial Equality Uganda lost another leader.
However, their legacy remains, the battles they began rage on – and Uganda and Africa are clearly and consistently demonstrating their determination to achieve energy, health, human rights and living standards equality with Europe, America and other industrialized economies. They are determined do so using the same fossil fuel and other technologies that those already wealthy nations used in their ascent out of the nasty, brutish, short lives that were all of humanity’s lot just a few short centuries ago.
I met Fiona 15 years ago at a Congress of Racial Equality Martin Luther King dinner organized by her late husband and my close friend, CORE international affairs director Cyril Boynes, Jr. They got married, Cyril moved to Uganda, and together they launched the human rights and economic development group CORE Uganda. She served as co-chair and with Cyril mentored young people, co-hosted conferences, and fought tirelessly for disease control, energy development, modern agriculture and clean water.
Like Cyril, she was passionate about these issues, including using DDT and other insecticides – what she called “the African equivalent of chemotherapy drugs” – to prevent malaria and other devastating insect-borne diseases. She wrote in a 2006 Washington Times article:
“I have had malaria more than a dozen times. I lost my son, two sisters and three nephews to it. My nephew Noel got malaria at age two and is still four years behind high school boys his age in reading and writing skills, because it affected his mental powers so horribly. My brother Joseph used to help in an office and with complex farming tasks, but his mind no longer works well because of cerebral malaria.
“We need to calculate the value of those lives affected by being sick with malaria for weeks every year … of mental capacity lost due to malaria … of 1.5 million African lives lost every year. Even at $1,000 to $10,000 per life, the impact of malaria – and the value of DDT – is monumental.
“This month, another malaria outbreak hit the Kabale district in southern Uganda. More than 6,000 people were admitted to clinics in just one week. A spraying program with Icon (a pyrethroid also used in agriculture, and which thus can quickly breed mosquito resistance) resulted in the deaths of two students. That is terrible, but last year 70,000 Ugandans died from malaria. In 65 years, DDT never killed anyone.
“Should we stop spraying, to prevent more deaths from Icon or possible learning delays from using DDT – and sacrifice another 70,000 Ugandans again this year?
“Yes, there are risks in using DDT – or other anti-malaria weapons. But the risk of not using them is infinitely greater. One-sided studies and news stories frighten people into not using the most effective weapons in our arsenal – and millions pay the ultimate price. That is unconscionable.”
After Cyril died in 2015, Fiona moved to New York City to help care for Diana’s autistic son and earn money to provide for her adopted children in Uganda. Even after being diagnosed with incurable cancer, Fiona retained her humor, indomitable spirit and deep belief in God throughout her difficult illness and treatment, right up until she passed away.
She is survived by a daughter, five sisters, eleven brothers, two grandchildren, five adopted children, and many nieces, nephews and other relatives. She remains beloved by all who knew her. Readers wishing to honor her legacy, bury her in Uganda and help support her family can go to her GoFundMe page.
Fiona got emotional when she wrote about environmentalist groups and US, EU, World Bank, WHO and other rich country bureaucrats who she believed were using Africans as test subjects in “energy, malaria and agricultural experiments that perpetuate poverty, disease, malnutrition and death in the name of protecting the environment.”
“China and India put up with this immoral eco-colonialism for decades,” she wrote. “Finally, they had enough. They refused to be the environmentalists’ experimental pawns any longer. They took charge of their own destinies, charted their own future, financed their own projects, and refused to be stopped again by anti-development green policies, politicians and pressure groups.
“Uganda, the Great Lakes Region [around Lake Victoria] and all of Africa need to do the same thing. We have the land and natural resources, the bright and hard-working people.
“Let us be brave and bold!” Fiona exhorted. “Let us become prosperous and healthy together.”
Her beloved Cyril shared and stoked her passions. He too wrote articles and spoke to Ugandan officials, journalists and students on these topics. A biotechnology conference he organized at the United Nations featured experts like Norman Borlaug, father of the first Green Revolution. The audience included scores of high school students, many UN staffers and people from all over New York City.
Cyril also served as executive producer for a documentary film about the ways modern genetically modified crops dramatically reduce the need for poor African farmers to hand-spray crops with pesticides, while preventing pest damage, increasing crop yields many times over, and bringing hope and much improved living standards to African farm families.
He too dreamed of a prosperous modern Africa and described how he, a devout Christian, was deeply inspired by a Jew (business professor, economist and author Julian Simon) and a Muslim (banker-economist Muhammad Yunus). He pilloried the Rainforest Action Network for its incessant human rights violations: its campaigns to prevent Africa from using DDT or other insecticides, fossil fuels or even expanded hydroelectric power.
Cyril brought me to Uganda, to see firsthand what they were accomplishing. The three of us spent tow frenzied weeks speaking to government, radio, television, high school and university audiences on these subjects. Thanks to George Mason University, we were able to give soccer balls, shoes, shin guards and uniforms to grade school boys who previously had to play barefoot with rags rolled and tied into a ball.
Fiona and Cyril aided her extended family and mentored scores of promising young people. One of them, Steven Lyazi, steadily improved his writing skills and published many articles online, before he was tragically killed in a horrific bus accident in 2017.
“Calls for us to live ‘sustainably,’ use wind and solar and biofuel power, and never use fossil fuels, are a demand that we accept prolonged starvation and death in our poor countries,” Steven wrote in one article. “They mean desperate people will do horrible things to survive, even just another day.”
In another column, he pointed out that wind and solar power are far better than wood and animal dung fires. But in reality they are nothing more than “short-term solutions to serious, immediate problems. They do not equal real economic development or really improved living standards. Our cities need abundant, reliable electricity, and for faraway villages wind and solar must be only temporary, to meet basic needs until they can be connected to transmission lines and a grid.”
When will the day come, Steven wondered – echoing what Fiona and Cyril had been saying for over a decade – when politicians and activists, who say their care about the world’s poor, “stop worrying about global warming, pesticides and GMO crops – and start helping us get the energy, food, medical facilities, technologies, jobs and economic growth we need to improve our lives?”
Fiona, Cyril and Steven live on in their eloquent, passionate articles. Their long battle for equality and human rights, through access to modern technologies, will continue – bringing their dream of a free, prosperous, healthy, vibrant Uganda and Africa ever closer to reality.
Paul Driessen is senior policy analyst for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org), and author of Eco-Imperialism: Green power – Black death and other books on the environment.
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Thousand Oaks, Calif. –Thousand Oaks Police Department made 1 arrest for DUI while conducting a DUI/Driver’s License checkpoint on February 23, 2019. The checkpoint locations were west bound Lynn Road at Capitan Street from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm and east bound Olsen Road at the city limits from 11:00 pm to 2:30 am.
In addition, 13 drivers were cited/ arrested for operating a vehicle unlicensed or with a suspended/revoked license.
Drivers caught driving impaired and charged with DUI can expect the impact of a DUI arrest to be approximately $13,500. This includes fines, fees, DUI classes, license suspension and other expenses not to mention possible jail time.
The Thousand Oaks Police Department reminds drivers that “DUI Doesn’t Just Mean
Booze.” Prescription drugs, particularly those with a driving or operating machinery warning on the label, can impair and result in a DUI. Marijuana can also be impairing, especially in combination with alcohol or other drugs.
The Thousand Oaks Police Department will be conducting another DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoint on Saturday March 16, 2019 in our ongoing commitment to take suspected impaired drivers off our streets and highways, ultimately lowering the risk for deaths and injuries.
Funding for this checkpoint was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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On Saturday, March 2, 2019 at 4 PM, the Santa Paula Police Department will be hosting the 2nd Annual Valor Awards banquet to honor the police officers, professional staff, volunteers, and members of the community that have shown exceptional bravery in the line of duty. Last year was the first time in 95 years that the Santa Paula Police Department held an awards ceremony with nearly 400 guests in attendance. In addition to the Valor Awards, Police Chief Steve McLean will present the Chief Awards to exemplary members of the community that have gone above and beyond the call of duty including local civilians, reserve officers, ecclesiastical leaders, a football coach, and more. Chief McLean will also be honoring two fallen officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, Officer Henry Norman (Died 1913) and James Barmore (Died 1953).
“I am grateful for the officers and local citizens that have shown bravery in the line of duty when they risked their lives to protect their fellow officers and community members,” said Chief McLean. “Acting without regard for their own safety, their sacrifice comes at a great cost, especially for their families.”
The Master of Ceremony will be Pete Demetriou, an award-winning reporter for KFWB News 980, and respected journalist well known within the law enforcement community. The keynote speaker is Leo Stallworth, a veteran reporter for ABC 7, well known for his involvement in community events. Mr.
Stallworth is well known in the law enforcement community and has garnered the respect of law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles and Ventura County.
This event is open to the community with the cost of tickets at $50 per person, which can be purchased online at www.santapaulapoa.com. The banquet begins with social hour at 4 PM to 5PM, and the dinner and awards ceremony starts at 5:30 PM.
Photo Credit: Santa Paula PD
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President Donald Trump kicked off his second summit Wednesday evening local time with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Trump kicked off the summit in similar fashion with a ceremonial handshake between the two leaders. Trump briefly took questions while shaking the North Korean leader’s hand, saying of the summit, “I think it’ll be very successful” and that the two leaders have “a great relationship.”
The president was asked whether he would officially declare an end to the Korean War to which he replied, “we’ll see” and reaffirmed his commitment to making the goal of the summit denuclearization on the Korean peninsula.
Shortly afterwards, the two leaders were seen by reporters again seated across from each other with respective translators, when Kim Jong Un spoke for the first time. The North Korean leader expressed optimism about the summit’s beginning and some regret for “misunderstandings” in the interim 251 days since they last met in Singapore. He added that “a lot of patience was needed.” (RELATED: Here’s What Trump, Kim Jong Un Agreed Upon At Summit)
The president then noted his hope that the second summit would be more successful than the first and emphasized a point that he will likely raise time and time again during the summit; that North Korea has “tremendous economic potential” if it agrees to denuclearize.
Trump and Kim Jong Un were scheduled only for a 20-minute initial 1-on-1 meeting. After they will be joining an expanded bi-lateral working dinner, which is scheduled to last 90 minutes. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Monday that Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will accompany the president.
The summit between the two leaders will then continue Thursday, though the White House has not yet released any other details. Trump mentioned briefly at the end of his second session with Kim Jong Un that a news conference would take place at the end, just as he did in Singapore.
Trump will seek to build upon his June 2018 summit with the North Korean leader where the two countries signed a memorandum agreeing in principle to begin a denuclearization process. The previous summit’s main achievement was securing a cooling period in tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, which ratcheted up early in Trump’s presidential term.
White House officials say the president will now seek to secure some sort of concrete commitment from the North Korean government to begin a denuclearization process. Trump’s pitch to Kim Jong Un is that by agreeing to denuclearization the young leader can usher in a new extraordinary period of economic prosperity.
North Korea’s economy is currently hampered by some of the most strict international sanctions in the world, hindering its ability to trade in international markets and subjecting the country to an effective blockade from the community of nations
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Saint Bonaventure
