It's Good Friday and staff writer Marjorie Hernandez (mhernandez@VenturaCountyStar.com) will talk with local Christian churches about the busiest week of the year for them, and how they prepare and cope with the increased services and attendance that Easter Week always brings. In addition, we are covering the annual Passion Play in Oxnard and will have a story in the Arts & Living section on the Hispanic traditions for Easter. We also will be running the listing of Easter services.

The other local Page One story in the works right now is a piece on West Nile virus. Health officials are concerned that our wet winter has left behind stagnant pools of water that are breeding grounds for mosquitoes that can pass along West Nile through bites. Staff writer Kevin Clerici (kclerici@VenturaCountyStar.com) is writing about the issue for tomorrow's Page One and will also have some tips to how to take away homes from them pesky skeeters.

Obviously the Terri Schiavo case remains in the forefront of the news and we'll continue watching that story all day. The other wire story that interested us at the morning news budget meeting was the ongoing crisis in Krgyzstan where the nation's capital of Bishkek is described as "gone mad" with looting.

And we welcome another staff blogger today. Tom Kisken is sending us missives from his mission to Sri Lanka, where he and photographer Matt McClain are following some East County residents as they spend two weeks helping reconstruct a village destroyed by the tsunami of three months ago. Check out his first blog entry.