Conejo Grade from Green in March to Golden in October 2019

The Conejo Grade is the section of Highway 101 that connects the Conejo Valley with Camarillo.

It is a four mile stretch of freeway with a significant 7% grade. The original Conejo Grade was constructed by the California Highway Commission in 1914-1915 - a route that had 49 twists and turns, making it somewhat hazardous to drive. It has been widened and realigned several times since the 1930s to remove most of those twists and turns.

Today the main change we see along the grade is the color of the surrounding hills; from green in the spring to gold in the fall. Here’s a view of that change in color in March 2019 to October 2019 as seen from the Western Plateau Trail in Thousand Oaks.

EVOLUTION OF THE CONEJO GRADE OVER THE YEARS

Sick With the Flu? Know What To Do!

Influenza (or flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by flu viruses. Most people with flu have mild illness and do not need medical care or antiviral drugs. If you get flu symptoms, in most cases, you should stay home and avoid contact with others except to get medical care.

Know the symptoms of Flu

Flu viruses can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. The flu is different from a cold. The flu usually comes on suddenly. People who have flu often feel some or all of these symptoms: Fever* or feeling feverish/chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue (tiredness). Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea. This is more common in children.

* It’s important to note that not everyone with flu will have a fever.

Take Antiviral Drugs if your doctor prescribes them!

Antiviral drugs can be used to treat flu illness. Antiviral drugs can make illness milder and shorten the time you are sick. They also can prevent serious flu complications.

CDC recommends that antiviral drugs be used early to treat people who are very sick with the flu and people who get flu symptoms who are at high risk of serious flu complications, either because of their age or because they have a high risk medical condition.

Stay Home When Sick

When you are sick, limit contact with others as much as possible. Remember to cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, and throw tissues in the trash after you use them. Stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities.

*Your fever should be gone for 24 hours without the use of a fever-reducing medicine before resuming normal activities.

Treating the flu: www.cdc.gov/flu/treatment/index.html

No Sales Tax on Diapers and Menstrual Hygiene Products in California in 2020-2021

Sleep tight! No sales tax on your diaper in 2020 and 2021, babeeee!

Here’s something to factor into your budgets beginning January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021. California Senate Bill 92 signed by Governor Newsom eliminates sales and use taxes on diapers for infants, toddler and children, as well as on menstrual hygiene products, including tampons, specified sanitary napkins, menstrual sponges and menstrual cups.

But the taxes only go away for two years, unless the law is extended.

This is good news, or at least temporarily good news, for women and families of diaper-wearing kids.

I didn’t keep tabs on how many diapers we went through when the kids were of diaper-wearing age, but It seems to me every few hours was about par for the course. Perhaps 8 diapers a day. At an average of say 25 cents per diaper, that could add up to over $700/year in diapers.

As of today, one would pay $54.25 in sales taxes on $700 worth of diapers in Ventura County (7.75%). That creeps up to $66.50 in Los Angeles County (9.5%).

Why was this put into place? SB 92, published June 28, 2019, indicates “the specific goals, purposes and objectives of this act are to promote public health by increasing the affordability of, and expanding access to, diaper and menstrual hygiene products.”

Logical questions I have no answers for:

1. Why did they not eliminate the sales taxes on adult diapers? (Asking for a friend.)

2. Why did they eliminate the sales taxes for only two years?

3. Was there not a men’s product to apply the sales tax break to? How about a tax break on beer for a couple years!? That would be cool!

Wendy Fire in Newbury Park Burned 91 Acres in Rancho Sierra Vista on October 10th

The “Wendy Fire” started at 7:11 p.m. on Thursday, October 10th in the Rancho Sierra Vista open space in Newbury Park, within the Santa Monica Mountains. The fire was seen quite clearly from Potrero Road, near the intersection of Wendy Drive.

It was a nerve wracking moment for local residents, as the flames were clearly visible and the Santa Ana winds were unpredictable. It was just six years ago that the Springs Fire burned near this area, down to PCH, and then back up towards the Conejo Valley when the winds shifted.

But our local fire responders, armed with a helicopter doing constant water drops and a bulldozer going up to and nearly into the flames to create a fireline, along with winds that were pushing towards the ocean, we managed to survive unscathed.

Thankfully, no structures were lost. We were quite concerned that the flames might impact the Satwiwa Native American Culture Center. The National Park Service announced on Friday that it was not impacted.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown.

It was last reported that the blaze was 91 acres.

The park and surrounding trails are expected to reopen on Sunday, October 13 at 6 a.m. Saturday events at this site have been cancelled.

The site will remain closed through Saturday, October 12th. The park and surrounding trails will reopen at 6am on Sunday, Odtober 13th.

Firefighter engines and personnel from Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Yosemite National Park, Redwood National Park, California State Parks, Ventura County Fire, Los Angeles County Fire, Los Angeles City Fire, Ventura City and Oxnard City and Ventura County Sheriffs (Thousand Oaks) assisted in fighting the fire.

Southern California Edison Has Announced Possible Public Safety Power Shutoffs

Southern California Edison (SCE) and other energy companies in California have announced the possibility of preventative power shutoffs in areas where there are elevated wildfire risks.

Much of the Conejo Valley and greater Ventura County are considered to be of extreme risk, according to a the California Public Utilities Commission. A map showing high fire threat areas is at https://ia.cpuc.ca.gov/firemap/.

This is how Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) works, according to SCE:

• When elevated fire conditions (e.g. strong winds) present a clear danger, SCE may shut off power temporarily on specific power lines for public safety.

• SCE intends to notify customers of potential shutoffs 2 days in advance via email, text or phone call. They may also send another notice to customers a day in advance.

• SCE will also notify local governments, the emergency management community and first responders.

• SCE will update customers regularly via its website and social media.

SCE can sign up for alerts at www.sce.com/outagealerts.

Additional information and updates will be posted at www.vcemergency.com.

Additional safety tips during an outage from SCE:

• Disconnect all sensitive electronics to prevent damage or loss of data.

• If you use a portable gas generator, use it outdoors only.

• Don’t connect a generator to your home’s circuit breaker panel.

• Consider obtaining extra fuel for your generator for extended outages and keep the fuel in approved containers in a safe location away from ignition sources.

Scenes from the 12th Annual Sounds of Conejo Marching Band Field Show Exhibition at Thousand Oaks High School on Saturday, September 28, 2019

The 12th Annual Sounds of Conejo marching band field show exhibition took place the night of Saturday, September 28, 2019 at Thousand Oaks High School Lancer Stadum.

There were 10 local area bands showing off their outstanding performances this year, including, Buena, Camarillo, Moorpark, Newbury Park, Oak Park, Oxnard, Oxnard, Royal, Saugus, Westlake and Thousand Oaks high schools.

This footage captures snippets of some of the bands’ performances. Every single band, large or small, did a fantastic job! Kudos to the Thousand Oaks High School Instrumental Music Department and supporting team of parents to pull off such a great event every year.

The grand finale included all 10 bands on the field at the same time, along with fantastic color guards (flag and dance sections) of the respective bands. What a fun evening on this beautiful, crisp early fall night in the Conejo Valley.

Nice job, Oxnard HS Marching Band!

Missed you in the video footage, Oak Park, but you were great!

All 10 bands congregating together for the grand finale!

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That’s a lot of band members together on the field at Thousand Oaks High School!

Thousand Oaks High School Band and Color Guard putting on a great show.

Newbury Park High School Boys Cross Country Team Wins Woodbridge Classic in Record Time, Led by Record-Shattering Nico Young

Record-setting Newbury Park High School Boys Cross Country Team receiving post-race accolades.

I had the good fortune to witness first-hand last night’s record shattering performance by the Newbury Park High School Boys Cross Country Team at the 39th Annual Woodbridge Cross Country Classic at the Silverlakes Sports Complex in Corona.

Newbury Park, along with several other local area teams, was invited to participate in the Sweepstakes finale, featuring 32 top teams.

(Truth be told, I wouldn’t miss this event as I have a son that runs on this fantastic team!).

Nico’s Performance

Senior Nico Young obliterated the previous course record time of 13:58 with a time of 13:39.70, a time that MileSplit notes is the nation’s fastest high school 3 mile cross country effort of ALL TIME. Yes, you heard it right. He didn’t just break the record. He stomped all over it by over 15 seconds!

Nico is a certified rock star! I can certify that as I was witness to numerous fans requesting photos with this standout who also won the Woodbridge Invitational last year along with the California Division II cross country and 3200 meter track championships.

The Team’s Performance

The rest of the team last night included senior Jace Aschbrenner (2nd overall in 14:04.8), junior Nick Goldstein (7th in 14:25.6), sophomore Colin Sahlman (10th in 14:26.9), junior Daniel Appleford (24th in 14:36.7), freshman Lex Young (25th in 14:37.4) and junior Thomas McDonnell (33rd in 14:44.9). There were 240 participants in the race.

The top 5 scoring members of the team set a course record of 1:11:10.0, or an average of 14:14 per runner. This was not just the course record. It is the fastest high school 3 mile team time ever run on California soil!

This group of Newbury Park athletes has been training diligently all summer long for this season. And it shows. A second team of outstanding runners competed in the Rated race and finished in 4th place.

And let’s not forget the up and coming girls team, which competed in the 3 Mile Girls Sweepstakes event immediately preceding the boys event Saturday night. A fantastic showing by the girls resulted in 5th place, just 38 points away from the 1st place team. The top 5 scoring members of the girls team included junior Fiona Hawkins (18th overall in 16:53.7), senior Archana Mohandas (31st in 17:08.5), sophomore Sam McDonnell (35th in 17:12.3), freshman Ailish Hawkins (63rd in 17:39.8) and senior Gretchen Slattum (64th in 17:40.6).

Kudos to Coach Sean Brosnan, who is in his 4th year coaching at NPHS. He correctly predicted the strong team showing the day before the race in this runnerspace.com interview.

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Record-setting Nico Young joyful immediately after the race with Coach Sean Brosnan.

Other local top 25 showings in the Sweepstakes races included Thousand Oaks High School senior Michael Mireles (4th place overall in 14:17.6) and Moorpark High School senior Keith Murray (23rd in 14:35.9). Junior Jill Walker from Simi Valley High School finished 13th overall in 16:49.6.

Rankings

On August 23rd, DyeStat/RunnerSpace published pre-season national high school cross country team rankings. Newbury Park was ranked 4th on this list, behind Great Oak, CA (#1), Corner Canyon, UT (#2) and Loudoun Valley, VA (#3).

Well guess what…Newbury Park beat the #1 ranked Great Oak last night by a score of 36 to 69. Great Oak is a fantastic program and last year’s winner at this event as well as reigning 2018 Division 1 state champions.

This could be interesting.

Cross Country Scoring

For those unfamiliar with how cross country scoring works, teams are allowed up to 7 runners in the race, but only the top 5 are included in the scoring. First place receives 1 point, 55th place receives 55 points, and so on. The fastest 5 runners on each team are added together for the score.

So no matter how fast an individual runs, for the team, what counts the most is the placing. The lowest possible point total is 1+2+3+4+5 for 15 points. Newbury Park scored 38 last night.

The Future

Aside from setting personal records, Nico and his team are focused on winning the California Division 2 state championship for the 2nd year in a row. Then they want to compete in the Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) and win the national title. Newbury Park finished 6th in last year’s NXN in its first appearance at that invitation-only event.

Congratulations, team! For updates, visit www.newburyparkcrosscountry.com.