Congressman Elton Gallegly

Ventura County has been struggling for years to find solutions to our air pollution problem. The county is designated as an area with a severe air quality problem, and residents are forced to endure the adverse health effects of polluted air. Recently, under court order, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a plan (known as the FIP, for federal implementation plan) that sets precise timelines to bring the county into compliance with the Clean Air Act and its health-based standards for air quality.

Millions of dollars in federal aid for water projects and public safety initiatives may be heading for Ventura County, Congressman Elton Gallegly said Wednesday. The House of Representatives has approved more than $15 million in local water projects, including $5.5 million for the Casitas Dam Safety Project and $1.2 million to repair a breakwater at the entrance to Ventura Harbor. Still needed are Senate approval of the funds and President Clinton's signing of the bill.

The FDA is planning to restrict health claims of nutritional supplements such as we find in health food stores and pharmacies. Currently, a vitamin or food supplement can (and frequently does) make healing claims that have absolutely no scientific evidence to support them. Remarkably, the FDA has been able to do nothing to stop this. Why? Because our congressman, Elton Gallegly, authored and pushed successfully a bill to prohibit the FDA from doing the job it should do. He authored a bill that prohibited the FDA from taking stronger steps to protect the public for a one-year period.

Small-business owners are being ripped off, and the federal government knows it because they are doing it! I am tired of the federal government taking advantage of small-business owners like myself. Every year when it comes tax time, we are required to pay much more "self-employment" tax. Since 1985, this tax has doubled! If you operate out of your home, you are penalized even more! While General Motors can deduct 100% of the cost of employee health-insurance premiums from its taxes, small-business owners can deduct only 40%. Another disadvantage of being in business for yourself is not being allowed to deduct home-office expenses.

In the questionnaire sent out by Congressman Elton Gallegly, he makes use of several response bias questions to assure your "no" reply. As a healthcare activist, question 10 was the one that really got my attention. The question reads as follows: "Do you support a national health care system like Canada's, in which the government would decide which doctor you could go to and what medical services you could receive--and which would require hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes?"

With a Goliath-sized pair of scissors gripped in their hands, six school officials snipped a ceremonial red ribbon to mark the dedication of the new Oxnard High School on Saturday. But the formal ribbon-cutting and speeches soon gave way to the event's highlight: the inaugural open house and tour.

Simi Valley Councilwoman Barbra Williamson said a sizable amount of money may be on the way to help restore the city's quirky testament to folk art, Bottle Village. Williamson told the council this week that some "very serious money" may be on the way to help restore Bottle Village, which was damaged during the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

What a unique presentation the Ventura County Edition of The Times gave its readers a couple of Sundays ago. An entire page was devoted to a word-by-word discussion between two adroit congressman, namely Elton Gallegly and Anthony Beilenson. Their discussion was not fraught with recriminations of which party was responsible for the financial mess we are in, but rather a presentation of possible solutions. Now we are getting somewhere when two politicians sit down and honestly try to find remedies.

Point Mugu Navy base is again in danger of closure unless quick action is taken locally to persuade federal officials and the Pentagon of the base's strategic importance, local boosters said Friday. After a briefing on developments in Washington, county officials said the next round of base closures is expected in 1999 or 2001.

Ongoing cleanup operations at Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Laboratory are inconsistent with federal environmental regulations, and leave too much radioactivity behind to allow future development at the site or even unrestricted recreational uses, according to Environmental Protection Agency officials.