100 Year Old Joyce From Newbury Park Fulfills Her Dream of Meeting Alex Trebek

"We're going to be all over social media" says Alex Trebek as he slowly walks 100 year old Joyce Pesner of Newbury Park back to the audience.

The Dream Foundation grants wishes for terminally ill adults, and Joyce's wish was to meet Alex. She has watched Jeopardy! every night before bed since the show has been on the air.

(Fellow Conejo Valley inhabitant and friend L David Irete was the lucky person who shot this video.)

More: www.jeopardy.com/jbuzz/features/dream-foundation-100-year-old-fan

Breaking News: Volcano Erupts on Conejo Grade in Thousand Oaks Easter Sunday

Hill north of the 101 on the Conejo Grade seen erupting as an active volcano this morning after millions of years in dormancy.

Thousand Oaks residents were startled this morning when a dormant volcano north of Highway 101 erupted.

Newbury Park resident Marvin Molten and his family were halfway up the Conejo Grade when the smoke started spewing out and the lava started flowing down the sides of the prominent hill north of the 101.

"We were on our way to grandma's house for Easter ham when we see this orange lava coming down the hill to the right," said Marvin's wife, Marcy. "We  stopped for a family selfie on the right shoulder, when the heat from the lava literally melted the See's Chocolate Easter Bunny in my daughter's lap. The melted chocolate made a huge mess all over the car!"

This Easter surprise lasted only about 10 minutes. Terry Tectonic of the National Weather Service in Oxnard indicated "the morning fog rolled in from Camarillo and put a damper on the lava flow;  thankfully now I can get back to my family's backyard Easter egg hunt."

Mandy Mantle was hiking on a nearby trail in the Conejo Open Space when she heard an explosion. She looked up and saw ashes flying everywhere. "For a second I thought it was Ash Wednesday," said Mantle.

APRIL FOOLS'!

Happy April Fools' Day!

April Fools' fun in prior years

Now go take a hike at one of over 50 local area trails and hikes around Ventura County.

Spectacular Sunset From the Conejo Valley Towards the Channel Islands on November 25, 2017

After several days of heatwave weather through Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday 2017, the temperatures are gradually cooling off and tonight we're seeing the cloud cover creeping up the Potrero Grade. I had the good fortune of witnessing tonight's beautiful sunset from Newbury Park, looking towards the Channel Islands. These images are captured in this video.

U.S. Adults with College Degrees More Likely to Be Married Than Non-Degreed Adults

The Pew Research Center recently published an report of the education gap in marital status in the United States. Here are some highlights of the study:

• Overall, approximately 50% of adults are married today, down from 59% 25 years ago and 72% in 1960. That said, the rate has been fairly stable at 50% in recent years.
• Marriage rates are down because the median age for first marriage has increased by 7 years since 1960 and there's a higher proportion of never married Americans as well adults living with a partner instead of a spouse.
• Marriage rates vary quite a bit based on level of education. In 2015, 65% of adults 25+ with a four year college degree were married, compared to 55% with some college and 50% who did not attend any college.
• Marriage rates have always varied by race and ethnicity. As of 2015, marriage rates for 18+ adults were 54% of whites, 61% of Asians, 46% of Hispanics and 30% of blacks. Pew noted that this marriage gap has been existed for many years.

So bottom line is, you're more likely to be married if you have a college degree. Read more at this link.

And if you ARE looking to tie the knot for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or beyond time, there's a compilation of over 170 local venues throughout Ventura County, stretching to Santa Barbara and Malibu at THIS LINK.

Beautiful Rainbow Brightens This 1st Day of August 2017 in the Conejo Valley

It was cloudy and relatively cool this morning and then we saw hot and humid monsoonal weather the rest of the day, this first day of August 2017 in the Conejo Valley.

The temperatures gradually cooled as the clouds built up again in the late afternoon to early evening, when we were greeted by this beautiful rainbow around 7pm tonight.

Rattlesnake Combat Dance in Rancho Sierra Vista in Newbury Park on August 1, 2017

What a way to start out the month of August! Avid local runner and prolific age group top placer Susan Kielsmeier caught this rare sight this morning on a trail in Rancho Sierra Vista in Newbury Park.

Although the initial thought was that this was a mating dance, I believe this is actually a "combat dance" between two males to win the heart of a nearby female.

HIKES AND TRAILS IN AND AROUND VENTURA COUNTY