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June 21, 2005
Win the big one
The big one is getting bigger in California. For the first time, the state is joining a multi-state lottery. That means more people buying tickets which means bigger pots of money for the winner. Sacramento bureau chief Timm Herdt (therdt@VenturaCountyStar.com) is planning a Page One story tomorrow on the Mega Millions lottery, why the state is doing it, and what will happen when tickets go on sale tomorrow. We'll also talk to some lottery sellers and to you ... the folks plunking down their bucks to try to win millions.
Looks like we might run the story on Page One tomorrow about the independent high school counselors ... the ones parents are hiring to help their kids through the college admissions process.
We'll also take a look at a story that staff writer Sue Davis (sdavis@VenturaCountyStar.com) is putting together on the move this summer by the city of Thousand Oaks and the Calleguas water district to prove they've got great tap water. They're bottling it to show it's as good as anything you spend money on in the store.
County reporter Charles Levin (clevin@VenturaCountyStar.com) is following on reports the county is demanding the state guarantee reimbursement for this fall's special election.
Off the wires, we will look at the guilty verdict out of Mississippi this morning in the 40-year-old civil rights case; the follow on the Senate's rejection again of U.N. ambassador-nominee John Bolton; and President Bush's meeting today with the Vietnamese prime minister.
Posted by John Moore at 10:33 AM
June 20, 2005
Hold that thought
The Comments on our news stories have disappeared. Poof. Gone. And, this time, we didn't pull the plug on them for bad behavior by our commenters. In fact, we didn't pull the plug on them at all.
They just up and went away.
We utilize a third-party provider, HaloScan, to host the comments that we attach daily to the stories on our website.
Over the weekend, HaloScan updated its site to add a new anti-spam filter that would help all its customers block the garbage that plagues almost everyone in the online open source community. Unfortunately, HaloScan's block conflicted somehow with the script we instituted about a month ago to drive our comments through our site registration.
To make a long story short (primarily because I don't understand it enough to be able to tell you the longer story), HaloScan's filter believed all the Comments from our site were spam and blocked them.
We just got them to figure out the problem late this afternoon. They are building a list of sites that they will allow to pass through their new filter. We're on the list. But it may be a day or so before they implement it.
In the meantime, hold that thought.
Posted by John Moore at 03:55 PM
It's budget time
Ventura County supervisors are holding budget hearings today. Staff writer Charles Levin (clevin@VenturaCountyStar.com) will cover the afternoon hearings with county department heads and the evening hearings with the public. The board may adopt the budget before the day's over. Charles will stay with it to the end.
Also for Page One tomorrow, sports writer Loren Ledin (lledin@VenturaCountyStar.com) brings us the story of the Bednar family. Tim Bednar is the longtime boys' basketball coach at Moorpark High School. This week, though, his thoughts are far from basketball. He is donating one of his kidneys to his 14-year-old son, Steve. Loren tells us the story of the family.
We also have available the story we've been holding from staff writer Jean Moore (jcmoore@VenturaCountyStar.com) on families who hire counselors to help their kids apply to college.
Off the wires today, there are a number of stories out of Baghdad and the Middle East that we're watching as possible Page One offerings.
Posted by John Moore at 09:52 AM
June 17, 2005
The Moorpark mammoth
Staff writer Jean Ortiz (jortiz@VenturaCountyStar.com) takes us on a visit to the Moorpark mammoth at its new home in the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. The mammoth was uncovered at a housing project near downtown Moorpark. For a Page One story, Jean updates on the restoration and the city of Moorpark's plans to retain a piece of the find. We'll also have some video of the restoration work on our website.
Also for Page One tomorrow, Sacaramento bureau chief Timm Herdt (therdt@VenturaCountyStar.com) reports on a bill that would allow the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to ask county property owners to approve an annual fee to help reduce pollution from stormwater runoff.
Although they won't be on Page One, we're continuing our local high school graduation coverage in tomorrow's various editions. There are six graduations for the Oxnard edition, three in Camarillo and a pair in the Conejo Valley.
Off the wires we're looking at the report today that the U.S. budget deficit rose to an all-time high and a story out of Baghdad on launch of a U.S. major combat operation. And then there's Tom Cruise's marriage proposal this morning on the Eiffel Tower to Katie Holmes. However, there are some on our staff who think (unlike today's TV news) that this may not be the most important story of the day. So there's an outside chance it may not make our Page One.
Posted by John Moore at 09:56 AM
June 16, 2005
Praising the king
The King Tut exhibit opens today in Los Angeles. And we'll have the story for Page One tomorrow. We have a photographer and reporter on the scene to talk to folks who are first to view this exhibit. And we'll talk to them, and others, about why we are all so interested in King Tut.
Also for Page One, we'll run the advance on Friday's childhood obesity conference that we held from yesterday.
Off the wire, we'll be following the attack on an international school in Cambodia and the death of six U.S. troops in Iraq in a series of bombings and shootings.
Posted by John Moore at 10:07 AM
June 15, 2005
A moving story
Our coverage of high school graduation (we write about each graduation in the county every year) continues tomorrow with a moving piece by columnist Colleen Cason (ccason@VenturaCountyStar.com) about Barbara Meza, who is graduating from Community High in Moorpark. Barbara has had setbacks in her life that would make most of us just give up. She didn't. Look for the story on Page One tomorrow.
We will probably also run on Page One the vacation home story that we held from yesterday. Business writer Gretchen Macchiarella (gmacchiarella@VenturaCountyStar.com) tells us how Oxnard ended up No. 4 on the list of "hot spots" for vacation homes in the nation.
Ventura will be hosting a summit on childhood obesity on Friday. Staff writer Marjorie Hernandez (mhernandez@VenturaCountyStar.com) advances the conference and its goals.
Sacramento bureau chief Timm Herdt (therdt@VenturaCountyStar.com) is covering the budget talks in the Legislature today. This is the constitutional deadline for adopting the budget. But it won't happen. Again. And Timm will tell us why.
Off the wires, we're looking at follows to last night's tsunami warning in California, the hostage rescue today in Iraq, the decision by flu-vaccine manufacturer Chiron to cutback on next year's supply and NBC's hiring of football announcer John Madden from ABC.
Posted by John Moore at 10:01 AM
June 14, 2005
Getting across the bridge
So, I took a day off from the blog Monday ... and, luckily, there was no real news to worry about. Except for that little Michael Jackson verdict. Oh, well. We decided to put it on Page One for this morning ... in case you were wondering how we thought we might play the story.
As for tomorrow, we're reporting an update on the Santa Clara River bridge construction project. Staff writer Kevin Clerici (kclerici@VenturaCountyStar.com) is doing the update and it looks like there may be some good news for commuters and for businesses along the freeway whose access has been blocked for months.
Also for Page One tomorrow, we're following on a report in the Wall Street Journal that examined the boom in purchase of second homes or vacation homes. The study found that No. 4 on the list of "hot spots" for vacation homes is Oxnard. Many would be surprised ... unless you had visited some of the places located along the beach in Oxnard.
Also for tomorrow, we're reporting on a Pew Hispanic Center report out today on "Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics." We'll see what's new in the report and how it applies to us.
The Oxnard City Council has the Big League Dreams project on its agenda again tonight. We'll be there and see what happens.
Posted by John Moore at 10:12 AM
June 10, 2005
Textbook controversy
A Conejo Valley school board member is stirring a controversy there over a 9th-grade health textbook. Mike Dunn, a conservative member of the board, wants to use a text that defines marriage specifically s a union between a man and woman. Education writer Jean Moore (jcmoore@VenturaCountyStar.com) looks at the issue, the law, the views of other board members and the similar fight last year in Texas for a Page One story for tomorrow.
Also for Page One, staff writer Marjorie Hernandez (mhernandez@VenturaContyStar.com) will explore the contributions the Filipino community has made in Ventura County to advance this weekend's annual Fiestas Filipinas festival in Oxnard.
And we are on verdict watch ... both for the Michael Jackson verdict up in Santa Maria and the Ziesmer sentencing jury here in the county.
Beyond that, it's a slim day off the news wires.
Posted by John Moore at 11:16 AM
June 09, 2005
A soldier's story
Staff writer Cheri Charlson (ccarlson@VenturaCountyStar.com) has the fascinating story tomorrow of Spc. Jennifer Lee, a 22-year-old soldier from Camarillo who was injured in Mosul, Iraq, in a mortar attack in April. This is a great soldier's story about an impressive young woman.
Also for Page One tomorrow, we're looking at the announcement out of Washington by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., on introduction of her bill to protect and restore the ocean's natural habitat, ensure healthy fisheries and strengthen oceans' management.
One of the interesting wire stories that got our attention at the 9 a.m. budget meeting was the decision today by the FCC to speed up deadlines for producing mid-sized TV sets capable of receiving digital signals. That led to a whole conversation about the changeover to digital TV, when it will happen and what it means to me.
Look for some of that in our coverage of the decision tomorrow.
And, as Managing Editor Rich Luna said this morning, there is "a bunch of other stuff" that might make it to page one. But nothing that really excites him at the moment. So we're out on the hunt for news.
Posted by John Moore at 10:26 AM
June 08, 2005
Ojai Music Festival
In tomorrow's Star we'll introduce you to the Ojai Music Festival. Even though it's in its 59th year, the classical music festival may be better known in Europe than it is here in the county. On Page One tomorrow, staff writer Brett Johnson (bjohnson@VenturaCountyStar.com) talks about the festival, its history and background. And, in Arts & Living, writer Lisa McKinnon (lmckinnon@VenturaCountyStar.com) will give us a preview of this year's lineup.
Also for tomorrow's Page One, sports writer Rhiannon Potkey (rpotkey@VenturaCountyStar.com) is telling a fish story that ... well ... I think we're all just going to have to read and see if we believe.
Off the wires, we're looking at the followups on the arrest of the fther and son out of Lodi who are being charged with lying to federal agents about the son's training at an al-Qaida camp in Pakistan.
Posted by John Moore at 09:59 AM
June 07, 2005
GM plans massive job cuts
General Motors announced plans today to eliminate 25,000 of its jobs in the U.S. in the next three years. Although none of those jobs are in Ventura County, the impacts could still be felt here. For tomorrow's Page One we'll be looking at some of the reasons behind the move that are shared by other industries (primarily the rising cost of health care) and talk to some auto designers who can tell us whether GM trailed other automakers in creating vehicles that appeal to car buyers.
Also for Page One tomorrow, education writer Jean Moore (jcmoore@VenturaCountyStar.com) will be introducing us to private education consultants -- the folks who (for a fee) will help you and your kid apply to college in an effort to get accepted at the college of their choice.
We'll also have as report out of Washington on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration press conference talking about the Bush administration's open ocean aquaculture bill which could have an impact on plans for an experimental offshore fish farm at Platform Grace off the Ventura County coast.
In addition to GM, off the wires we're following the latest round of bombings in Iraq, developments out of Aruba in the disappearance of the American high school student and, of course, we're on jury watch in the Michael Jackson trial.
Posted by John Moore at 10:01 AM
June 06, 2005
Hunger in Ventura County
A new study being released tomorrow has the alarming statistic that up to 100,000 people in Ventura County may go hungry each day. Staff writer Marjorie Hernandez (mhernandez@VenturaCountyStar.com) will be writing about that study out of UCLA and the efforts, to be announced tomorrow, by Food Share to enlist the faith community in an all-out effort to reduce hunger and poverty in the county.
Also for tomorrow's Page One, we'll have a report out of Santa Maria and the wait for the Michael Jackson verdict. Staff writer Zeke Barlow (zbarlow@VenturaCountyStar.com) and staff photographer James Glover are in Santa Maria today talking to the Jackson devotees who are waiting outside the courthouse. We'll find out who these people are who are putting their lives on hold to support the pop star.
We are continuing to follow last week's shooting rampage and will report any new developments from that case.
And we are following today's Supreme Court decision which said that federal law can still be applied to individuals in California who use marijuana for medical reasons with a doctor's prescription.
Posted by John Moore at 10:05 AM
June 02, 2005
Strawberries asre ripe
Our story on this year's strawberry crop is ripe ... just like the berries. We've had the story ready to go for a couple of days, but held it while we pursued the shooting spree in the county. It looks like we'll pop the strawberry story tomorrow for Page One. It will show how we got from $25 million in crop damage in January to a record harvest by June ... all from the same storms.
Also tomorrow, we're going along with the National Park Service as rangers release more bald eagle chicks on Santa Cruz Island in the continuing effort to take the part back to its native habitat.
We're continuing to report the shooting spree. Depending on who we talk to and what we find, the story could easily again be on Page One.
It's a light day on the wires, with the suicide bombings in Iraq (34 killed in three attacks) the only story that looks to make it out front at this point.
Posted by John Moore at 09:46 AM
June 01, 2005
Shooting follow
We are continuing to follow the shooting spree story today. There are a number of angles our reporters are chasing today and tomorrow's coverage will depend on what they find. We'll have something on Page One tomorrow ... just don't know what, yet.
Also for tomorrow, we're looking at a new Public Policy Institute of California report "California 2025" that projects what the state -- and Ventura County -- face in the next 20 years. It's not a pretty picture.
We also will be reporting an announcement from Blue Cross of California, which is based in Thousand Oaks. I'd tell you what it is ... but they won't tell us until the 4 p.m. announcement. So I don't know.
The boom in the strawberry crop will be the topic of a Business page story that might find its way to Page One. The winter storms did severe damage to some of the strawberry plants ... but the rains really helped production on the plants that weren't destroyed and it looks like a record harvest.
Off the wires, we're following the landslide in Laguna Beach and any follows on the announcement of Deep Throat.
Posted by John Moore at 11:42 AM
