Ventura County Residents Treated to Prominent Display of Snow After the Christmas Holiday

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The snow seen in the Los Padres National Forest from the cities in Ventura County was very prominent in the days following Christmas this year as you can see in this footage. A beautiful site. Must of it has melted as of the 29th but I think we will see more soon.

Footage taken from section of the Los Robles Trail in Thousand Oaks.

Photo credit: L. David Irete

Photo credit: L. David Irete

Restaurants New and Adieu in Ventura County During 2019

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Here's a compilation of restaurants throughout the Conejo Valley and Greater Ventura County that opened, announced plans to open or closed in 2019.

Restaurants That Opened in 2019

Restaurants That Closed in 2019

Restaurants That Plan to Open Soon

This is not a 100% comprehensive list, so feel free to report notable additions to us at THIS LINK.

Would You Like Slides with That? Fast Food Places in Ventura County with Play Areas!

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McD_PlayArea.jpg

Sometimes it's fun to take the kids out where you know they'll be able to burn off some steam after their chicken nuggets and fries. Mind you, my kids much prefer going to a park to play, but sometimes it’s nice to eat and play at these (mostly) indoor play areas.

Here are places to eat that have play areas.  Know of other places?  Well then, give me the scoop (the news, not the fries).

McDonalds Locations with Play Areas

Carl's Jr Locations with Play Areas

Chick-fil-A Locations with Play Areas

Other Places with Play Areas

The Highly Interactive MOXI Museum in Santa Barbara

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The MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation opened in a beautiful building adjacent to the Santa Barbara Amtrak Station on State Street in February 2017.

I took several pre-teen kids to the museum and the key word of this museum is --- INTERACTIVE! Every exhibit is made to be touched and experimented with. If you have kids, this is a local area must-do.

The moment you walk into the first floor of MOXI you are drawn to a gigantic handprint globe, gigantic guitar, magnet exhibit, sound studio and more.

The handprint globe exhibit near the entrance to the Museum.

The handprint globe exhibit near the entrance to the Museum.

Then outside in the first floor courtyard are some really fun activities involving wind propulsion, spinning devices, magnetic fields and a massive collection of see-through tunnels. Very fun!

But the fun just gets started on the first floor as the second floor of MOXI immediately brings back memories of Pinewood Derby - build a car and race it down a high tech track. Or do a jump shot, build a marble roller coaster, use your mind and compete in a game of Mindball and more.

You'll find light-driven exhibits on the other side of the second floor, with a gigantic "Lite Bright" type exhibit, a color mixing machine, light waves and more.

On the top of the building after picking up your jaw that just dropped at the panoramic views towards the ocean, State Street, adjacent Amtrak Station and mountains, there's even more to experience.  The "Whitewater" exhibit allows everyone to help move water down the line. Make music with the Weather Orchestra. Try the five observation scopes. And more!

Tickets can be purchased online for $16 (ages 13+) and $12 (ages 3-12); 2 and under are free. Or if you plan to visit several times a year, consider a family membership. More information at moxi.org.

To get there from Ventura County, take the 101 to the Garden Street exit (96B) and turn left. Take a right on Yanonali Street to State Street and you'll see MOXI. You can park in the train station parking lot or any local lot. 

Another idea to consider to make your visit more of an adventure is to take the Pacific Surfliner Amtrak train from Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura, Moorpark or Simi Valley to the Santa Barbara Station adjacent to MOXI and the Reagan Ranch Center Exhibit Galleries. Fun!

No Party Preference Voters May Still Participate in Presidential Primary for 3 of 6 Political Parties in 2020

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Postcard received by NPP registered voters.

A record number of California voters are registered as No Party Preference. As of October 1, 2019, 26.7% of all registered voters in California selected No Party Preference (NPP), up from 24% in January 2016 and 16% in 2003.

But in the Presidential Primary on March 3, 2020, if you are NPP, you have no one to vote for. You will receive a primary election ballot without any candidates listed.

However, three parties have notified the Secretary of State that they will allow for “crossover” voting in the primary. What this means is that NPP voters may request a ballot for one of the three parties and vote for a presidential candidate for that party.

The parties that allow NPPers to vote in their primary are the American Independent Party, Democratic Party and Libertarian Party.

The parties that do not allow crossover voting in the primary are the Green, Peace and Freedom and Republican parties.

The Green, Peace and Freedom, and Republican presidential primaries are open only to voters registered with their respective parties.

You can verify your voter registration at VoterStatus.sos.ca.gov. If you’d like to change your political party, you may re-register at RegisterToVote.ca.gov.

NPP voters who vote in person may simply request their desired crossover ballot when checking in at the polls. NPP voters who vote-by-mail will receive a postcard from their county elections official in advance that will allow them to select a crossover ballot. If they don’t respond to the postcard, they may still request a crossover ballot up until election day at their polling place.

As of October 1, 2019, 80.65% of the 25,205,690 eligible voters in California, or 20,328,636, were registered to vote. 44.1% are Democrat, 26.7% are NPP, 23.6% are Republican and 5.6% is the other parties. The number of registered voters in California has increased over 3 million, from 17.3 million in January 2016 to 20.3 million today. www.sos.ca.gov

Led By Overall Winner Nico Young, Newbury Park Boys Cross Country Team Wins National Championship at Nike Cross Nationals (NXN)

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Yesterday, the boys cross country team from Newbury Park High School won the Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) title at Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, Oregon.

Led by NPHS Senior, Nico Young, who handily won the race in the 5K course record time of 14 minutes, 52 seconds, the team edged out two other outstanding teams from Temecula, California (Great Oak High School) and Draper, Utah (Corner Canyon High School) by just 4 points and 14 points, respectively.

NXN is an invitational cross country meet that serves as the “unofficial” (unsanctioned) team national championship for U.S. high school cross country. Nike invites the top 22 teams in the country and the top 50 individuals not included on those teams in this prestigious event. This was the 2nd time the NPHS boys team was invited to the event, following a 6th place showing in their initial 2018 appearance.

The NPHS girls team, which also was invited to NXN after winning the California State Championship last Saturday, finished 17th in the country yesterday.

Course conditions for both races were wet, rainy, muddy and slippery.

Congratulations also go out to the girls team in the first time invitation to this prestigious event, finishing 17th in the country!

Newbury Park Head Coach Sean Brosnan led the teams with the help of assistant coaches Tanya Brosnan and Steve Hawkins.

NP boys team in scoring order: Nico Young (senior), Jace Aschbrenner (senior), Colin Sahlman (sophomore), Nick Goldstein (junior), Daniel Appleford (sophomore), Leo Young (freshman), Thomas McDonnell (junior).

NP girls team in scoring order: Hailey Golmon (senior), Sam McDonnell (sophomore), Fiona Hawkins (junior), Archana Mohandas (senior), Ailish Hawkins (freshman), Hannah Rounds (freshman), Gretchen Slattum (senior).

Additionally, Thousand Oaks High School Senior Michael Mireles was invited to run at the event as an individual and finished 25th overall. Jace Aschbrenner of NP was 18th. Way to go guys!