Ventura County Star

Anthem Blue Cross has been telling many of its customers who buy individual coverage that prices will go up ... and go up substantially by 30 to 39 percent ... as of March 1.

We are following up on the Anthem announcement and are interested in talking to people who would be affected. If you are in this group and would be willing to talk to a reporter about this, send an email to Staff Writer Tom Kisken at tkisken@vcstar.com.

There were some interesting stories in the Sunday paper that you might have missed but are still available here on the website:

We had a profile of Dr. Karl Hill, a veterinarian from Ventura, who has a unique clientle: the animals of the Santa Barbara Zoo.

We took a look at rental properties in the county, comparing the price in the fourth quarter of last year to 2008 and talking to people who have found themselves in the rental market and what that means.

And we introduced you to Alex Nester. The Simi Valley soul singer has made it through to the next round of "American Idol" and we'll be following her progress on the weekly show.

If you haven't had a chance to dig into the Deadly Roads package we published over the weekend, I would encourage you to poke around at some of the interesting information that's available.

In addition to the stories and information we wrote, we have additional charts online and a map that shows each fatal accident in the count. If you hold your cursor over the accident icon on the map, details of the accident will pop up.

We also have made available to you the raw database that you can go to on our website here. You can sort the data in hundreds of different ways by types of accidents, dates, locations ... however you want. Spend some with it. It's very interesting to explore this data in more detail.

Look for a story later today on why the county is pursuing a housing project for mentally ill in Thousand Oaks even though the need is greater elsewhere in the county. It's all a matter of money. The county portion comes from the millionaires' tax which must be matched -- and the matching money is in T.O.

The county Academic Decathlon banquet is tonight and the county winner will be announced. We'll be there and let you know who's moving on to represent us in the state competition.

There's more rain coming later this week. We'll have a story up later today and in tomorrow's Star talking about the upcoming storms and if there is any hint of danger from them.

In addition to our package on traffic fatalities, look for these stories this weekend ...

Coverage of the county Academic Decathlon competition. The Super Quiz will be Saturday and we'll have coverage in Sunday's paper.

Coverage of the Saturday's celebration of the 99th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth. It will be at the Reagan library in Simi Valley and feature a talk by former Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

An interesting look at the rental housing market in Ventura County, in our Sunday Business section.

An profile of a Simi Valley woman who has made it to the next round in "American Idol," in Sunday's Life section.

And, of course, all you ever wanted to get yourself ready for Sunday's Super Bowl game, ranging from a local at the commercials in tomorrow's Business section to a detailed advance of the game in Sunday's Sports.

This weekend we'll publish online and in print a package of stories looking at traffic fatalities, both in Ventura County and in the country.

The effort is one in which we paired with Scripps Howard News Service to take a look at data on where traffic fatalities occur and the cause. There is some fascinating data available on the causal factors of speed and alcohol related to fatalities as well as a surprising (or not so surprising) look at seatbelt usage in fatal accidents.

Our stories in Sunday's paper will include moving interviews with family members who have lost loved ones in a traffic fatality in Ventura County, as well as local law enforcement and traffic officials on what it will take to further reduce the number of deaths on our roads.

Also, be sure and check out our interactive online database connected with the series. There's lots of fascinating information and you will be able to spend time in the database doing searches for the information that you want.

That will be available online this weekend.

So far, this has been a relatively "quiet" storm, with no major problems that we have found.

If you hear of anything going on, or know of something we should be looking at related to the storm, drop me a note at jmoore@vcstar.com and we'll check it out.

It's raining (if you don't mind me stating the obvious) and we're talking to folks all over the county to see what -- if any -- impact we'll have from this storm. Look for coverage on the website and on Twitter (@vcstar) throughout the day.

Also today, Assemblywoman Audra Strickland is expected to announce she's running for county supervisor from the 2nd district, opposing fellow Republican Linda Parks, who is the incumbent. We'll be twittering from her news conference and posting on the site as soon as it's confirmed.

Later today we'll let you know about an interesting package of news stories we're planning for Sunday. Look for information on that by midday.

State Assemblywoman Audra Strickland has sent out a press release saying she's going to have a press conference Friday regarding her candidacy for 2nd District supervisor in Ventura County.

County Republicans have urged Strickland to run against incumbent Linda Parks (who is also a Republican) even though Strickland doesn't live in the district.

We have the press release and are chasing to confirm whether or not she'll announce she is running.

Local economist Mark Schneipp holds his annual economic forecast meeting and we will be there today to tell you what he sees in his crystal ball for the coming year for our economy.

We'll also be checking in on a meeting by a federal group in Manhattan Beach that is considering a petition to allow workers at the former Santa Susana lab in Simi Valley to be covered under a federal health radiation program.

Many of you are aware of the story out of Florida of the shark attack that killed a kite surfer. If you want to check out the coverage of the tragedy by the local newspaper, go to our sister Scripps paper, TCPalm.

About 10 percent of the inmates at the Ventura County Jail -- all non-violent offenders -- won early release because of a new state law intended to save money.

We're reporting the story right now. Look for details on the release in Ventura -- as well as other jails in California -- and reaction to it, later today on our website and tomorrow in The Star.

Today's the big day for prep football players headed to college ... they sign their letters of intent to the school of their choice.

Most of the top high school players in Ventura County had already made their choices know. The exception was St. Bonaventure High lineman Giovanni DiPoalo. He has picked USC. The story is on the website and will be expanded this afternoon.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the blog from our staff writer, Kevin Clerici, on his Bangladesh trip, I would encourage you to do so. He has a new entry posted today.

Kevin, who normally covers the city of Ventura for us, went to Bangladesh last month on an exchange and is due back in the county in mid-February. HIs blog has given us a fascinating look at this country as he explores it.

The Secretary of Transportation advised all owners of the recalled Toyotas to stop driving their cars until they get them fixed. We'll be following this story all day, talking to local Toyota owners and dealers about the situation.

A number of you who own Toyotas contacted us earlier this week when we put out a call for your stories. If anyone else would be interested in talking to our reporter about this story, let me know at: jmoore@vcstar.com. Thanks.

Also today, look for a story on how medical providers, and insurance companies, are adjusting to the new state law that mandates the amount of time you have to wait for a medical appointment.

Justice Anthony Kennedy is speaking this afternoon at Pepperdine University. We'll have coverage late today and in tomorrow's Star.

And later today look for our story on the season premiere of the TV show "Lost" as seen on the big screen -- and we mean big screen -- in Ojai.

It's the last afternoon for the Top Hat restaurant in downtown Ventura to be slinging and selling burgers. We're there to talk to folks waiting in line to see if they can grab a meal before the food runs out.

We have a story on the website and we'll have some video later this afternoon.

Some of you -- with long memories -- remember when Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt came to town and, with help of a crane, removed part of Matilija Dam. It was the first step in the process to remove the dam and restore the watershed.

Bruce Babbitt was secretary of Interior for President Clinton. That was nearly 10 years ago. And officials are still trying to figure out how to get the job done.

The hang-up has been the very fine sediment built up behind the dam. It's the reason why the dam needs to come down but finding a place to put all that silt -- like 2 million cubic feet -- is the problem.

The Army Corps of Engineers has a new idea. It proposes taking the silt upstream and covering it permanently with concrete-like material so it won't flow down the watershed. We'll take a look at this proposal in detail in a story for tomorrow's Star. The story will be up on the website later today.

It's Oscar nomination morning. The list is out so you can check out whether your favorite films made the cut. For those who want to see the stars up close, we'll also tell you which Oscar nominees can be seen at the upcoming Santa Barbara film festival, which starts this weekend.
Some residents of Moorpark, Somis, Bell Canyon and Lake Sherwood are facing an additional 15 percent reduction in water consumption. If you don't, you face fines or reductions. We'll give you the details later today and in tomorrow's Star.
Today's it for the Top Hat in downtown Ventura. We'll be there when the last burger is fried.
And we're following a county supervisors' meeting today where they are talking about a change in the county grading ordinance -- usually not a high interest item except this time it could end up costing developers an additional 3% in fees.