Simi Valley

Sarah Baxter was only 11 at the time, but she says she remembers watching Jordan Hasay glide effortlessly over the dirt trail, a cape of long blond hair trailing her in the wind. That fleeting figure left quite an impression, though, and from that moment on Baxter decided she wanted to be just like Hasay, a University of Oregon sophomore who was a four-time state cross-country champion and competed at the 2008 Olympic trials while in high school. Baxter even let her own blond hair grow long.

If they host it, will they come? The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library announced Thursday that it plans to invite "all of the leading contenders" to a spring 2011 debate in Simi Valley, the first Republican presidential primary debate of the 2012 cycle. NBC News and Politico have signed on as media partners. "Ronnie would be thrilled that the road to the White House will begin at his Presidential Library," former first lady Nancy Reagan said in a press release. "I look forward to welcoming and watching the top candidates debate the issues next spring.

Simi Valley Stoneridge Prep, a favorite destination for college basketball recruiters, has fired its coach and athletic director, leaving questions about whether its roster full of foreign and out-of-state players will stick around. Joe Hillock, UCLA's director of basketball operations for three years, took over as Stoneridge Prep's coach on Sept. 1. In a brief telephone interview Wednesday, he said he had been terminated but declined further comment on the advice of his attorney.

Two small brush fires more than 100 miles apart burned dozens of acres Friday. In Ventura County, firefighters were battling a fire in a hilly area on the south side of Simi Valley. Nearly 30 acres of light brush near the intersection of Fitzgerald Road and Sequoia Avenue had burned by late Friday, according to a Ventura County Fire Department dispatcher. A total of 70 firefighters and several hand crews were attempting to encircle the blaze, which was reported at 5:57 p.m., the dispatcher said.

EVENTS Things are looking fairly dire on the Louisiana coast right now, but the Cajun Creole Music Festival should be a reminder of the region's vitality. Two stages of Cajun and blues music complement a wide array of native dishes and a Mardi Gras-style parade. Rancho Santa Susana Community Park, 5005 Los Angeles Ave., Simi Valley. 10:30 a.m. Sat.-Sun. $18. Simicajun.org.

A year ago, future first-round draft pick Tyler Matzek of Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley pitched and hit his team to the Southern Section Division 1 baseball championship. With the playoffs beginning Tuesday, the question is, "Who will be this year's Tyler Matzek?" Orange Lutheran (21-5) was awarded the No. 1 seeding in the pairings released Monday. Simi Valley Royal (22-6) is No. 2, Lakewood (26-5) is No.3 and Huntington Beach Edison (18-8) is No. 4. All have stumbled at times, but Orange Lutheran's success in winning the tough Trinity League propelled the Lancers into the top seeding.

Last year Dave Wilkinson asked God for guidance. He wanted to know what he could do to better fight abortion. Wilkinson, an evangelical pastor, runs three Ventura County pregnancy clinics that encourage women to choose alternatives to the procedure. He believes the prevalence of abortion is the biggest test Christians face. "It's probably one of the things that American Christians are going to have to stand before God and answer for," Wilkinson said. "He will say, 'You, as Americans, what did you do to fight abortion?

When a gunman stormed a Simi Valley dental office last summer and shot Lydia Carranza in the chest, salvation may have come in the shape of her size-D breast implant. That's the theory at least of a Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon who hopes to drum up support to defray the costs of Carranza's reconstructive surgery. "She's just one lucky woman," said Dr. Ashkan Ghavami, who says he will perform the surgery for next to nothing but has urged Carranza to tell her story in hopes of getting implant companies to donate the supplies.

California labor regulators have settled a lawsuit with a bankrupt title insurance company, recovering $4.29 million in back wages for 633 employees who were laid off in 2008. Denver-based Mercury Cos. abruptly closed the doors of affiliates operating in California and failed to pay workers wages, vested vacation benefits, commissions, expenses and notary fees, the state had contended. "In this case, a company closed without providing the proper notification and without paying final wages as required by law and was found to owe over $4 million in back wages," state Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet said.