We're out covering the Road Ahead 2005 conference this morning on the Cal State Channel Islands campus. The Star is hosting this sold-out event. Discussions will be held through the morning on ideas to address growth and sustainability in Ventura County. Staff writer Zeke Barlow (zbarlow@VenturaCountyStar.com) is covering the conference. He will also write a profile on the keynote speaker, Joel Kotkin. And we'll have video of the conference available on the website tomorrow morning.

We're also working on another story spinning out of the ongoing Terri Schiavo case. We noticed that the protests in Florida included a number of children, three of whom were arrested for trying to intervene in Schiavo's feeding. There's a long history of parents involving their children in social and political protests. But we wondered about the impact. So Stephanie Hoops (shoops@VenturaCountyStar.com) is talking with people today who look at both sides of this issue. Depending on whom she reaches, this could be a Page One story for tomorrow.

And we're looking at a story based on a study that ranked Thousand Oaks as one of the least economically stressed out cities in the nation. We want to explore the study a bit to find out how it was conducted before we commit to what section we want to run the story. It could be a good local news section rather than a Page One offering.

Off the wires, the big story remains the Schiavo case.