Residential Holiday Light Show in Newbury Park Featuring Over 50,000 Lights

For the 4th year, the Fuchs residence on Via Patricia in the Dos Vientos section of Newbury Park presents a synchronized light display of epic proportions. The show will take place most nights from 5 pm to 10 pm through the new year.**

Brian Fuchs hand crafts the entire amazing display himself, welding together trees, wreaths and other decorations. It takes Brian over 400 hours to put this display together.

There are no "physically" moving parts to this display...but there are moving, flashing, blinking light displays that will mesmerize you.  The display is synchronized with fun holiday music played on FM 99.1 (listen in car or bring a small radio).

**Display will be closed on rainy nights...in fact, last year there was so much rain that display had to be closed down due to technical difficulties resulting from the storms. Please be mindful of the neighbors.

Here is a video from last year's display. I stopped by after 10 PM tonight so I didn't get a chance to see the action yet but expect a comparable show!

Scenes from the 2010 light show.

Nearly 1,900 are Homeless in Ventura County According to a February 2011 Survey

The Ventura County Homeless and Housing Coalition (www.vchhc.org) coordinated a count of homeless individuals in Ventura County in February 2011.

A person was considered homeless in the survey if he/she fell within the Department of Housing and Urban Development definition, residing in 1) places not meant for human habitation, such as cars, parks, sidewalks and abandoned buildings, 2) in an emergency shelter or 3) in transitional housing for homeless persons.

In its April 2011 report, the Coalition counted 1,872 homeless individuals, keeping in mind that the count understated the actual number due to the complexities involved. This was 3% higher than the prior year tally of 1,815. In 2009 the count was 2,193. Here are some details from the latest count:

• 88% were adults and 12% were children
• 6% of the adults counted were 62 or older
• 68% of the adults were men and 32% were women
• 157 families were counted, consisting of 396 people

Of the 1,872 reported homeless, 1427 answered the question of what city they slept in last night; 528 were in Oxnard, 445 were in Ventura, 178 in Simi Valley, 69 in unincorporated areas, 65 in Thousand Oaks, 45 in Santa Paula, 30 in Camarillo, 26 in Ojai, 15 in Port Hueneme, 9 in Fillmore, 6 in Moorpark and 11 in other cities.

The Coalition noted this count does not include people at risk of becoming homeless. In 2000, there were 42,000 households, consisting of about 130,000 people (20% of Ventura County at that time) whose households earned less than $25,000 per year. Additionally, 8%, or close to 64,000 Ventura County residents, were living below the poverty level*.

If you encounter someone in need, refer them to this list of Ventura County homeless shelters and hot meal providers.

* 2011 Poverty Guidelines issued by the Department of Health and Human Services is $10,890 for a 1 person family, $14,710 for 2, $18,530 for 3, $22,350 for 4 and so on.

Ventura County Sheriff Warns Local Residents About a New Scam

From the Ventura County Sheriff's Department as a warning for citizens to avoid being victimized by scams

Criminals are constantly looking for new methods to steal goods and money from citizens of Ventura County, and scams are part of this evolving criminal activity.

In some scams, criminals will prey upon elderly or susceptible victims by calling and telling them that a family member is in jail in another country. The criminals focus on the need for the victim to act quickly or the family member’s safety may be in jeopardy. Money is frequently sent (wired) to locations outside of the United States by the victims and is virtually untraceable once transferred.

Other scams include victims being contacted by a subject claiming the victim has won an international lottery and the victim needs to send money, again to a location outside of the United States, to cover taxes and tariffs. Victims will frequently wire the requested money, which is untraceable once transferred.

Recently, a new scam has surfaced locally where suspects are calling victims and claiming to be members of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. One suspect even claimed to be the Sheriff himself. In these cases the callers are telling the victims they need to provide money for a family member who is in jail, or that the FBI is conducting an operation and the victim needs to provide money. The criminals in this most recent scam are attempting to make their requests sound legitimate by using genuine identities. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office wants to ensure the citizens of Ventura County, that members of this Department will not call citizens requesting money on behalf of someone in custody nor do we favor or recommend one bail bond company over another.

If anyone is contacted by someone claiming to be a member of the Sheriff’s Office requesting money for someone in custody, you may call Sheriff’s Public Reception at 805-654-3335, or visit our website www.vcsd.org to help determine if the person is in custody.

Additionally, if someone is contacted and requested to donate or provide money to the Sheriff’s Office, we urge them to contact their local police agency before parting with any money or information.