3m Camarillo

'I'd rather spend six months in court defending this program than explaining in court how somebody got hurt in this plant.' Richard J. Buska 3M site manager An ambitious anti-drug program that includes mandatory annual urine tests of employees at 3M's Camarillo factory has touched off a debate over how far private industry may legally go to rid the workplace of illicit drugs. Workers who refuse the tests will be fired, say officials of the industrial giant based in St. Paul, Minn.

Attendance at Conejo Valley Days is soaring, and so are organizers' hopes of topping last year's earnings from this city's annual spring bash. So far, more than 11,800 people have streamed through the fairground gates, up 30% over the same period last year. "We are looking for a banner year," said Tom Hartin, general chairman of Conejo Valley Days. "We hope to surpass last year, which was one of the most successful [events] ever."

A state-mandated program to warn people of cancer risks from nearby industrial pollution has fallen a year behind schedule because of a shortage of staff and money and complicated paperwork, state and Ventura County officials said.

In this season of hope, the harsh reality for thousands of Ventura County workers is Christmas without a job and a new year of uncertainty. For an increasing number of the county's 28,000 jobless workers, this will be the first time they have faced the holidays without a paycheck.

The 40th annual Conejo Valley Days opened Wednesday night with residents rushing to be the first in line to be spun, twirled, dunked, turned upside down and otherwise discombobulated in giant carnival contraptions. And they were. First in line for one of the carnival's most adventurous rides, the Zipper, were 14-year-old David Mirabilio and 13-year-old Mike Hager. "We are only here for the extreme," David said. "We don't go on any pansy rides."