Camarillo Ca

On a coastal plain near Camarillo not far from a U.S. Navy base and an outlet mall, the future of California farming is taking shape. Rising out of verdant acres of strawberries and artichokes between Highway 101 and the Pacific Ocean in Ventura County are two mammoth, high-tech greenhouses. Climate change is a serious threat to California's $36-billion agricultural economy.

Ventura County's elected leaders were divided Friday over a state proposal to replace female teens incarcerated at a youth correctional facility in Camarillo, possibly with boys or low-risk adult male prisoners. Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) last week amended her bill, which seeks to move female offenders in the juvenile justice system to less expensive community programs where they can receive education and rehabilitation programs.

Two Ventura County Seabees were arrested and charged this week in connection with the fatal shooting of the ex-husband of one of the sailors, authorities said Thursday. Rebecca Braswell, 26, former spouse of the victim and a Navy mechanic, is accused of taking part in the Dec. 1 shooting of John Marmo Jr. outside his Camarillo condominium, investigators said. The two were engaged in a contentious, two-year child custody dispute and had a hearing scheduled next month, according to court records.

The Red Cross said thieves have stolen gas out of its vans at least seven times in six months. Most cases involved siphoning the fuel, but on Tuesday someone cut the fuel line of a Red Cross van, spokeswoman Debra Creadick said. Repairs will cost about $150, she said. No arrests have been made. Local Red Cross officials are considering security options, including installing surveillance cameras to keep watch on the parked vans, Creadick said.

A motorist fleeing police drove through three red lights and then slammed into a car at an intersection, killing a father of six, investigators said. David Inder Bagai, 31, allegedly was driving about 80 mph Sunday and refused to stop for deputies, officials said. Bagai allegedly broadsided a vehicle driven by Stephen Aguirre, 39, of Camarillo, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ventura County sheriff's officials are investigating the details of a high-speed pursuit over the weekend that resulted in the death of a Camarillo father of six. Stephen Paul Aguirre, 39, was on his way to the driving range at Camarillo Springs Golf Course on Sunday morning when he was broadsided by a Nissan Maxima traveling up to 80 mph. A Ventura County sheriff's deputy had spotted motorist David Inder Bagai, 30, driving erratically and was in pursuit at the time.

Agriculture, retail stores, a new university and planned communities all appear to be thriving in the Ventura County city of Camarillo. Rolling green hills, a mild inland climate cooled by Point Mugu ocean breezes and a population largely made up of families and seniors contribute to its quiet, home-life reputation. How it grew The 60,000 residents of Camarillo live on one of the last Mexican land grants, owned by Adolpho Camarillo from 1864 to 1958.

It has been a tough year for Everett Miller. He lost two jobs and two homes and struggled unsuccessfully to extricate two of his children from foster care, the result of a nasty split with his wife. He lived in his car at one point, until the vehicle was impounded. Since early December, Miller and his two other children have been sleeping on friends' couches and living in motels, certain they would be homeless for the holidays.

An 18-year-old Camarillo man was presumed drowned after members of a search and rescue team were unable to find him in the ocean Saturday in the area where the boat he was in capsized a day earlier, authorities said. The search is to resume today. William Schneider was in a boat with his father and two siblings when the vessel capsized in 10-foot seas about 1 p.m. Friday near the mouth of the Santa Clara River, according to Ventura County sheriff's officials.

Sheriff's search and rescue teams continued to scour a choppy patch of the Pacific Ocean on Sunday in hopes of finding the last missing person from a boat that capsized days before. Heavy fog and 10-foot-high waves overwhelmed the skiff carrying four members of the Schneider family of Camarillo about 12:30 p.m. Friday. They were stranded about 100 yards off Ventura, authorities said. Steve Schneider, the 45-year-old father; one of his sons; and a daughter managed to make it to shore.