Purple Heart Trail Signs on U.S. Highway 101 in Ventura County Commemorate Veterans

In November 2014, Caltrans District 7 installed two signs designating a segment of U.S. Highway 101 as part of the National Purple Heart Trail — a system of signed highways, bridges and other monuments that honor soldiers who have received the Purple Heart medal.

One of these signs can be seen on the northbound 101 in Thousand Oaks, right before the Westlake Boulevard offramp. The other sign is near the Bates Road offramp of the southbound 101.

These two signs complete 240 continuous miles of Purple Heart trail in California, from Ventura County to Monterey.

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 27 established specified portions of US Highway 101 in the counties of Santa Barbara and Ventura for inclusion in the National Purple Heart Trail.

The U.S. 101 in Ventura County is also dedicated to the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division as commemorated by "The Screaming Eagles Hwy - 101st Airborne Division" placed nearby.

The Truck Escape Ramp on Kanan Dume Road at the Intersection of Pacific Coast Highway

From time to time we take Kanan Road in Agoura Hills to Malibu for quick access to Zuma Beach, Westward Beach and Point Dume State Beach as well as Escondido Canyon Park, Paradise Cove and other great outdoor spots in Malibu.

From the 101, Kanan Road is about 12 miles from Pacific Coast Highway and takes roughly 15 minutes without traffic. Something that has always puzzled me is why it is called Kanan Road all the way from its juncture with North Westlake Boulevard in Thousand Oaks to the 101, through Oak Park and Agoura Hills, down to its intersection with Mulholland Highway in Malibu and then becomes Kanan Dume Road.

Runaway Truck Escape Ramp

The southernmost section of Kanan Dume Road is particularly steep, with an 8% grade over three miles.  My kids always ask about the "Escape Ramp" at the bottom of Kanan Dume Road at its intersection with PCH.

The Truck Escape Ramp was built in 1987 after a series of crashes and resulting deaths due to runaway trucks. The escape ramp, or arrester bed, is an 800 foot long, pit in the middle lane of the road filled 2 1/2 feet deep with gravel. The allowable weight limit for trucks on Kanan Dume was also dropped in 1987 from 14,000 to 8,000 lbs.

The arrester bed was renovated in 2014 to make it wider and improve signage. Thankfully we have never seen the escape ramp used, but it is there if it is ever needed.

Tunnel Vision

There are three tunnels on Kanan Dume Road between Latigo Canyon Road and PCH built in the late 1960s to early 1980s. They are affectionately referred to as T-1, T-2 and T-3. T-3 is two-lane tunnel located at approximately 1142-1208 Kanan Road in Agoura Hills, roughly five miles from Highway 101. A short distance later, you will drive through T-2, located just northeast of Rocky Oaks Park. About 2 1/2 miles from T-2 is the T-1 tunnel, just south of the Newton Canyon Backbone Trail trailhead.

One of three tunnels on Kanan Dume Road in Malibu. This one is called T-3. (Clever, eh?)

Signage indicating approach of the truck escape ramp on Kanan Dume Road.

A closer view of the escape ramp gravel pit. My son asked if we could drive in it (in my minivan). I said, "um, no" although if our brakes gave out, sure, I would use it.

Two Ventura County Cities Were Born on September 29, 1964!

You wouldn't immediately know it looking at the headline of this September 30, 1964 issue of The Daily News, but the day before, residents in BOTH Camarillo and Thousand Oaks voted to incorporate their respective cities.

The article indicates that voters in Camarillo voted in favor of incorporation by a 5 to 1 margin, with 64% of the 3,745 registered voters turning in ballots. In the far right column, you'll see that with 10 of 18 precincts counted, 61% of 2,428 votes cast in Thousand Oaks were for incorporation. In Thousand Oaks they also voted on the name of the city...over 87% of votes cast said "yes" to the name Thousand Oaks.

Thanks to the Pleasant Valley Historical Society Museum in Camarillo for maintaining this and other local Ventura County history!

SKA-teen Roller Rink in Thousand Oaks From 1967 to 1983

Back in the day, there was a roller rink at 300 Hampshire Road in Thousand Oaks, across the street from the former K-Mart. It was called the SKA-teen Roller Rink. It opened in 1967 and closed in 1983.

Twelve years later, Roller Dome opened at 950 Avenida de Los Arboles in Thousand Oaks in 1995, where it operated until October 2010.

Now the only remaining roller rink in Ventura County is Skating Plus in Ventura.

ICE SKATING, ROLLER SKATING AND SKATEBOARDING OPTIONS IN VENTURA COUNTY

U.S. Olympic Medalists Can Be Taxed on the Value of Medals and USOC Prize Money if Their Income is Over $1 Million

Are you a United States Olympic or Paralympic Gold, Silver or Bronze medalist wondering if you will need to pay taxes on the value of your medals or U.S. Olympic Committee prize money you receive for winning said medals? Me neither.

BUT, if you ARE an Olympic or Paralympic Medalist and just so happen to be reading this, the answer as of 2021 is, only if the Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) on your tax return the year you received your medal and prize money is greater than $1 million ($500,000 if you use the Married Filing Separately filing status).

The Internal Revenue Code was amended by the United States Appreciation for Olympians and Paralympians Act of 2016. (H.R. 5946) to effect the above tax treatment. This law exempts the value of any medal awarded in, or prize money received from the United States Olympic Committee on account of competition in the Olympic Games or Paralympic Games, for prizes and awards received after December 31, 2015.

Even if your AGI is below $1 million, you still have to show the value of these awards and prizes on your tax return, then show an offsetting adjustment to reduce the taxable amount to zero.

Excerpt from Draft Schedule 1 (Form 1040), 2021 (Part I Additional Income)

Excerpt from Draft Schedule 1 (Form 1040), 2021 (Part II Adjustments to Income)

So how much does the USOC pay Team USA athletes for their medals? $47,500 for each gold medal, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze. Paralympic Games athletes are paid $7,500 for gold, 45,250 for silver and $3,750 for bronze medals.

Shakey's Pizza Parlor on Thousand Oaks Boulevard in the 1960s

Shakey's Pizza Parlor in the background at the 1966 Conejo Valley Days Parade

Back in the day, there were only a few pizza places in Thousand Oaks, including this Shakey's Pizza Parlor on the north side of Thousand Oaks Boulevard, located across the street from Jungleland (where the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza now resides). 

The exact address of Shakey's was 2361 Thousand Oaks Blvd., where Toyota of Thousand Oaks resides today.

Today we have more pizza choices than ever imagined in the Conejo Valley. Over the last several years, newcomers to the Conejo Valley pizza scene include:

• Pitfire Artisan Pizza in Westlake Village (now closed)

• Barone's in Westlake Village (now in Thousand Oaks)

• Urban Pizza in Westlake Village (now closed)

• Pieology in Westlake Village (now closed)

• MOD Pizza in Newbury Park (now closed)

• Pieology in Thousand Oaks (now closed…but coming back to the Janss Marketplace)

To name a few...not to mention Toppers Pizza, Winner’s Pizza, D’Amore’s Pizza, Butler's Pizza, California Pizza Kitchen, Pizzeria La Piccola (now closed), Tony's Pizza, Greco's Pizzeria, Parma Pizza and many others.

Shakey's Pizza was founded in Sacramento on April 30, 1954, by Sherwood "Shakey" Johnson and Ed Plummer. Johnson's nickname resulted from nerve damage following a bout of malaria suffered during World War II.  In the 1970s, there were approximately 500 Shakey's locations in the U.S. Today there are 54, the majority of which are still here in Southern California. The closest Shakey's to Thousand Oaks is 30 miles away, in Northridge.

Another scene from the 1966 Conejo Valley Days Parade. Miss Shakey's is absent! But Miss Sizzler is present!