Filing Date

Oxnard's Colonia Chiques have forfeited their right to challenge an injunction restricting their activities because they failed to formally respond to the civil lawsuit filed by the Ventura County district attorney's office, a prosecutor said Wednesday. Deputy Dist. Atty. Karen Wold said for the street gang to have proceeded with a challenge, it should have hired a lawyer and filed a written answer to the Superior Court lawsuit by last Friday.

A federal judge Thursday denied a request by Proposition 8 supporters to withhold disclosing any more names and addresses of donors who supported the campaign for the state's ban on same-sex marriage. Yes on 8 campaign officials had challenged the constitutionality of the state's Political Reform Act, saying that people who gave money were being harassed and that some received death threats. The act, passed in 1974, requires campaigns to reveal personal information of people who give more than $100 to campaigns.

Any time a candidate for office receives endorsements from public employees before the filing date, voters can automatically assume that a deal has been made between the employees union officials and the candidates to support higher wages and perks for the employees in exchange for a voting block of city employees. Employee perks can include city-paid expense accounts of public officials such as bar bills and expensive dining clubs and restaurants, or deluxe health care benefits paid by the city long after the officials have left office.

Question: I filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Aug. 7, 2007, and was discharged Nov. 20, 2007. My town home was included in the bankruptcy filing and was foreclosed on this March and sold in May. Since then, a collection agency has been harassing me for unpaid homeowners association dues it says are owed from September to March, and it has thrown in late fees and other fees totaling almost $4,000. The association filed and recorded a lien against my property Jan. 30; however, the association claimed that it was not paid at the time of the foreclosure because there were no excess funds.

A federal judge Thursday denied a request by Proposition 8 supporters to withhold disclosing any more names and addresses of donors who supported the campaign for the state's ban on same-sex marriage. Yes on 8 campaign officials had challenged the constitutionality of the state's Political Reform Act, saying that people who gave money were being harassed and that some received death threats. The act, passed in 1974, requires campaigns to reveal personal information of people who give more than $100 to campaigns.

My mother and I applied for naturalization in 1983. Now, five years later, we have yet to receive any concrete response from the INS. What was supposed to a six-month process has turned out to be a five-year wait. There is no legitimate explanation for this unreasonable delay. It cannot be attributed to our eligibility for U.S. citizenship nor can it be charged to the recent INS amnesty program. We are eligible for citizenship on two counts: as refugees from Vietnam and as spouses of American citizens; and our filing date (1983)

Question: I filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Aug. 7, 2007, and was discharged Nov. 20, 2007. My town home was included in the bankruptcy filing and was foreclosed on this March and sold in May. Since then, a collection agency has been harassing me for unpaid homeowners association dues it says are owed from September to March, and it has thrown in late fees and other fees totaling almost $4,000. The association filed and recorded a lien against my property Jan. 30; however, the association claimed that it was not paid at the time of the foreclosure because there were no excess funds.

The Internal Revenue Service Tuesday announced its first nationwide program to allow taxpayers to file federal tax returns by telephone. The program will be available in 1996 for 23 million single individuals with no dependents and taxable income of less than $50,000. All that's needed is a touch-tone telephone. In its annual mailing of tax form booklets this month, the IRS is sending special packages with personal two-digit identification numbers to eligible Americans.

Nearly a dozen candidates, including the mayor and two incumbent city councilmen, face fines because they did not file the state-required campaign contribution and spending reports that were due two weeks before the April 18 election. Mayor Walter R. Tucker, who has been forced into a June runoff, filed a late report last week showing that by April 1 he had raised $21,840, with about 75% of it in $500-to $1,000-contributions from developers and firms that do business with the city.

Registered voters 60 years and older who are interested in representing Ventura County's senior community in the California Senior Legislature must file for candidacy by March 20. During the May 5 election, the county's senior voters will select one senior senator and two assembly members to represent them for two-year terms in the statewide senior Legislature. Interested seniors may obtain nomination petitions at the Area Agency on Aging at 77 N. California St. in Ventura.

Oxnard's Colonia Chiques have forfeited their right to challenge an injunction restricting their activities because they failed to formally respond to the civil lawsuit filed by the Ventura County district attorney's office, a prosecutor said Wednesday. Deputy Dist. Atty. Karen Wold said for the street gang to have proceeded with a challenge, it should have hired a lawyer and filed a written answer to the Superior Court lawsuit by last Friday.

Registered voters 60 years and older who are interested in representing Ventura County's senior community in the California Senior Legislature must file for candidacy by March 20. During the May 5 election, the county's senior voters will select one senior senator and two assembly members to represent them for two-year terms in the statewide senior Legislature. Interested seniors may obtain nomination petitions at the Area Agency on Aging at 77 N. California St. in Ventura.

The Internal Revenue Service Tuesday announced its first nationwide program to allow taxpayers to file federal tax returns by telephone. The program will be available in 1996 for 23 million single individuals with no dependents and taxable income of less than $50,000. All that's needed is a touch-tone telephone. In its annual mailing of tax form booklets this month, the IRS is sending special packages with personal two-digit identification numbers to eligible Americans.

It comes once every seven years, and taxpayers love it. Tax Day, April 15, falls on a Saturday this year, bumping the deadline for returns to the following business day, Monday, April 17. Robert Bope, like other 11th-hour payers, is taking advantage of the delayed deadline. He leisurely strolled into the Santa Ana post office Friday morning to pick up his tax forms and said, "Sure, it's nice to have the weekend to do it. I'll probably do it Saturday morning or something."

Any time a candidate for office receives endorsements from public employees before the filing date, voters can automatically assume that a deal has been made between the employees union officials and the candidates to support higher wages and perks for the employees in exchange for a voting block of city employees. Employee perks can include city-paid expense accounts of public officials such as bar bills and expensive dining clubs and restaurants, or deluxe health care benefits paid by the city long after the officials have left office.

The filing deadline will be earlier this year for April municipal elections to give officials more time to print multilingual ballots. Under a state law signed by Gov. Pete Wilson in July, candidates may begin filing nomination papers Dec. 20; all required paperwork must be complete by Jan. 14. If an incumbent does not file, the deadline is extended to Jan. 19. Previously, nominations opened in mid-January and closed four weeks later. June D.

A group of Santa Ana residents trying to pressure the City Council to call a special election in June suffered a major setback on Thursday when they missed a deadline for filing papers with City Hall. The group called SAMSON (Santa Ana Merged Society of Neighbors) filed a notice of intent to circulate petitions on Jan. 10 and published a legal notice the next day, according to City Clerk Janice Guy.

The filing deadline will be earlier this year for April municipal elections to give officials more time to print multilingual ballots. Under a state law signed by Gov. Pete Wilson in July, candidates may begin filing nomination papers Dec. 20; all required paperwork must be complete by Jan. 14. If an incumbent does not file, the deadline is extended to Jan. 19. Previously, nominations opened in mid-January and closed four weeks later. June D.

With less than three weeks remaining until the deadline to file nomination papers for four open seats on the Ventura City Council, only two candidates have taken out the required forms, officials said Monday. Nancy Cloutier, publisher of the Ventura County & Coast Reporter, was the first to submit candidacy papers to join the seven-member council, City Clerk Barbara Kam said.

New on video: July wasn't a bad month, what with "Misery," "Sleeping with the Enemy" and "The Russia House" jumping off the shelves. August looks like it should at least hold its own in comparison. Here are some new videos to look for at local outlets, in expected order of release: Leading off the month, about Aug. 7, will be "Awakenings," starring Robert De Niro and Robin Williams, and "New Jack City," with Wesley Snipes and Mario Van Peebles. Then Aug.