Ventura County

Most voters have by now received their sample ballots, and those who plan to vote by mail are sending in their applications. The June 5 election is underway right now. It is noteworthy for several reasons. Los Angeles County voters will be selecting a new district attorney, and this is the first time since 1964 that there is no incumbent trying to hold onto the seat. The field is wide open. To win outright in this nonpartisan race, a candidate must get more than 50% of the vote.

A two-year corruption investigation in Oxnard uncovered "a clear pattern of fiscal waste by a small number of city officials" but produced no criminal charges, the Ventura County district attorney's office said Wednesday. The probe began in July 2010 when local investigators and FBI agents raided city offices, and later searched the homes of numerous officials. It yielded more than 100,000 pages of evidence, according to a lengthy report issued by prosecutors. Investigators found city officials had failed to disclose gifts from contractors, tried to delay the D.A.'s investigation, used public funds for expensive meals and submitted skimpy, often unsigned financial records that made it impossible to prosecute possible violations.

The cherimoya, a little-known fruit that looks like a green grapefruit and tastes like ice cream, is opening doors to the lucrative specialty fruit market for Ventura County growers. The fruit provides a good return, with an average 12-ounce piece selling for $3 to $5 in local markets and three to four times that in Japan. A very large, three-pound fruit--about the size of a large cantaloupe--can sell in Japan for $45.

A Ventura County commission is trying to keep secret the details of a state-ordered investigation into the management and claims procedures of a healthcare plan designed to serve the county's neediest residents. Complaints about alleged late payments and poor management prompted the Department of Health Care Services to request that auditors step in and examine the plan's financial condition and claims practices. Gold Coast Health Plan was launched last year to switch an estimated 110,000 Ventura County Medi-Cal beneficiaries into an HMO-style healthcare plan.  Previously, doctors and hospitals were free to charge Medi-Cal directly on a fee-for-service basis.

Ashley Nacole Webb of Oxnard wanted to spend her summer earning money. Instead, the 17-year-old spent more than half her vacation just looking for work. "It has been frustrating," said Ashley, who may have finally landed a job at a Boys & Girls Club that could start in two weeks. "Summer is almost over." It's been a tough summer for job-seeking teenagers.

Sure, getting married in the bowels of the Ventura County Government Center might be viewed by some as tawdry, even downright cheap. But spend a morning with Carolina Mendoza, a clerk at the county's marriage license counter, and the allure of bare-bones nuptials becomes more apparent. There is the bargain price -- for $122, couples get the requisite license and a brief ceremony performed by Mendoza or another clerk.

Three passengers were killed in a rollover crash near Santa Paula early Thanksgiving Day and their driver, fighting for his life, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving. The dead were identified as Timothy R. Coultas, 23, of Santa Paula; his cousin, Michael Frick, 23, of Ventura; and Rebecca Singer-Beilin, 22, of Ventura. The driver of the 1997 Ford pickup was identified as Tomas E. Mercer Jr., 22, of Santa Paula.

On the road to turning his life around, Raymond is hugging a hairpin curve. * Starting around junior high, the 17-year-old Oxnard youth has been in and out of trouble with the law. He has been in a gang and out of school. By his own admission, he had been hurtling down a dead-end road. But because of a week in the wilderness, he now has a new direction.

Lounging on a lush, rolling lawn at a Conejo Valley music camp, 13-year-old Joel Mankey describes Ventura County as a veritable paradise of leisure, with sports, culture and fun at every turn. "I've lived here all my life, and there has never been a shortage of things to do," said the Thousand Oaks youth, taking a break from flute practice. "Some people just don't want to do them."

An Oxnard man beaten severely with a baseball bat a week ago died Monday. Kelly David Doria, 41, was pronounced dead at 1:32 p.m. at Ventura County Medical Center, coroner's officials said. An autopsy was scheduled for today.

Large, powerful waves pounded the Southern California coastline Friday, causing one pier to close as officials warned beachgoers to exercise caution. A high-surf advisory through Saturday, issued by the National Weather Service, forecasts swells of up to 10 feet, high tides and possible flooding in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The monstrous waves drew thrill-seeking surfers into the ocean and observers to the beaches. But officials advised those in and near the sea to be aware of waves powerful enough to topple unsuspecting people walking on the beach.

On a national scale, Los Angeles is considered a rather nascent beer city. Yet drive 57 miles north, and the brew landscape gets far more barren. Bill Riegler, however, saw opportunity. His two years in the making Surf Brewery has wasted little time since opening doors five months ago, boasting now 12 original beers in its Ventura County taproom. His 6,000 square foot operation, located less than 1 mill off US-101 at 4561 Market St., hasn't had much trouble attracting interest. One problem: Most of those wanting to stock Surf beer hail from Santa Barbara or Los Angeles, and the self-distributed brewery isn't yet interested in travelling further south than Santa Monica.

Ending months of speculation, Steve Bennett, a Ventura County supervisor best known for a set of tough development restrictions, on Wednesday announced his bid for a congressional seat created by last summer's redistricting. Bennett, a Democrat, hopes to represent the new 26th Congressional District, which spans almost all of Ventura County outside Simi Valley. Much of the area has been represented for 25 years by Rep. Elton Gallegy, a Simi Valley Republican who has not yet announced whether he plans to run again.

As president of Bank of A. Levy, then the largest independent bank in Ventura County, A.A. "Bud" Milligan warned customers in 1977 of the perils of casual credit, famously announcing: "One card is enough. " To those who already held two bank-issued cards, he offered a counterintuitive solution, for the leader of a financial institution — destroy one, even if it meant tossing the one from his bank. He was the grandson of Achille Levy, who founded the bank in the early 1880s, and Milligan thrived in the small-town environment that allowed him to be a "town banker," which meant that he cast himself as both a community leader and a problem solver, his family said.

The bust had all the makings of a major criminal investigation. Ten law enforcement and regulatory agencies dedicated hundreds of hours of personnel to track the suspects. They used high-tech video equipment hidden on a utility pole for round-the-clock surveillance and undercover agents to make covert buys. This wasn't a major narcotics trafficking investigation or an attempt to take out a violent street gang — it was a crackdown on what authorities allege was illegal trafficking of raw goat milk, cheese and yogurt.

Ventura County prosecutors, trying for a second time to convict a former middle school student of fatally shooting a gay classmate, will drop the key allegation that the crime was motivated by a hatred of homosexuals. The announcement came Tuesday as several jurors from the original trial, which ended last month in a hung jury, expressed strong misgivings about the prosecution's case. They said they didn't believe Brandon McInerney killed Larry King because the boy was gay and urged that he be tried in Juvenile Court instead of as an adult.

Being French, I am always on the lookout for a good bakery, and around the holidays my search intensifies. I have lived in California for 11 years now, and I love it. But I still miss French bakeries. Bread is so central to French life that in my hometown of about 100,000 people, there are more than 40 bakeries--all doing very well. In France, specific breads and pastries are associated with each holiday.

From the rock layer beneath the Los Padres National Forest, several hot springs bubble to the surface. But the Sespe Hot Springs, in the heart of the Sespe Wilderness, have a reputation among hikers as the hottest in Southern California. No one, it seems, keeps an official ranking of hot springs, but having soaked in a few natural hot springs over the years, I wanted to answer the question: Is Sespe Hot Springs tepid, like dishwater, or "¡Ay, caramba!" hot?

For decades, pigeons have cooed and warblers warbled in a rambling, county-owned aviary near Santa Paula. But these are hard times for government-subsidized housing, particularly for birds. Lacking the money for badly needed improvements, Ventura County officials are not swayed by the call of the cockatoos, conures, parrots, parakeets, peacocks — or those who love them. They have placed 29 of their feathered friends in adoptive homes and two sick birds at rescue centers. Over the next few months, they'll seek homes for the 100 or so that remain.

Court closed dramatically in the Brandon McInerney homicide trial Thursday after the youth's defense attorneys sought to have Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles Campbell thrown off the case for alleged pro-prosecution bias. The motion was filed as the lengthy trial lumbers toward an end. Campbell halted the proceedings in a Chatsworth courtroom until Friday so defense attorneys Robyn Bramson and Scott Wippert can recover from illnesses. Under California law, judges must submit written answers to such motions within 10 days.