Ventura County

Cindy Harris and Doug Fieg run what they believe is the largest alpaca ranch in California. With 400 animals -- each valued at between $10,000 and $50,000 -- they decided years ago that evacuation was not an option in a brush fire. "It would take so long to evacuate them, and they get really stressed," Harris said. So when flames reached their street in Somis late Tuesday, the couple tried another strategy. They herded all 400 animals into the ranch's central pastures, turned on the irrigation system and prepared to ride out the fire as best they could.

The intruder climbed a stairway tucked amid the rocks, walked through an open patio door into the beach house and, with repeated knife slashes, thrust a family into a nightmare. Authorities said Thursday they had no suspect or motive in the slayings at the upscale Faria Beach Colony, a gated community about six miles up the coast from Ventura. The killer stabbed to death a pregnant woman and her husband about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday as their horrified 9-year-old son looked on.

Distraught over his divorce and the loss of his job, James Mulvaney did the unthinkable, Ventura County authorities say. Sometime after his ex-wife dropped their two children off at his Thousand Oaks apartment Tuesday, Mulvaney stabbed 12-year-old Jason and 7-year-old Jennifer to death in their bedrooms. The 52-year-old father then took his own life by overdosing on prescription pills, a preliminary review Thursday by the county medical examiner's office indicates. Pending toxicology tests are needed to confirm the finding, but Mulvaney's body had no visible trauma and prescription medicines were found in the residence, Deputy Medical Examiner Michael Tellez said.

Granted millions of dollars in state transportation money, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties are set to become the latest counties to join an agricultural ride-share program for unlicensed and uninsured farmworkers. Each county was recently granted $3 million to purchase vans and cover the expense of operating the transportation program for three years. "From a transportation policy standpoint, this is a good program," said Keith Millhouse, a Ventura County transportation commissioner.

A 17-year-old boy fishing from Mugu Rock in Ventura County was washed off the rock by high waves Saturday and presumed drowned, authorities said. The victim, from Oxnard, who was with several of his relatives on the rock, apparently could not swim and sank before rescuers arrived, Ventura County Fire Capt. Tom Law said. The area, which is exposed to the western ocean swell, has been the site of other drownings, Law said. The victim's name was not released.

Seeking more efficient delivery of social services, Ventura County homeless advocates this week released the results of a survey that identifies the typical homeless person in the county as a white male, over 40, with a history of mental illness or substance abuse. "This profile is really not the stereotypical homeless person in the minds of most people," said Karol Schullkin, a program director with the county's Human Services Agency.

Property crime in areas patrolled by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department rose slightly in 2007, while violent crime dropped to its lowest level in years, authorities said Wednesday. Homicides, rapes and robberies per capita were down 17% in the county's unincorporated areas and the department's five contract cities -- Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai and Thousand Oaks -- according to crime statistics released by sheriff's officials this week.

Emergency? Call 911 -- for a small fee. Strapped for money to hire additional police officers and firefighters, Ventura will soon charge a monthly fee for emergency calls to help pay for services. Residents in the seaside community will pay $1.49 a month for emergency service access beginning May 1. If they choose to opt out of the plan, they will be charged $50 for each 911 call. City officials stressed that the action is vital to improving public safety services.

A proposed Thousand Oaks traffic initiative aimed at thwarting plans for a second Home Depot and other development could cost the city millions of dollars annually in lost revenue if approved by voters in June, according to an independent analyst's report. The city could lose at least $3 million a year, while Ventura County and the school, fire and parks districts could forfeit $6 million more in annual taxes, the 97-page report by Sacramento-based Economic & Planning Systems found.

Despite a sinking real estate market and job losses at two major employers, Ventura County could still dodge a much feared recession if interest rates continue to fall and Congress passes an emergency stimulus package, a local economist said Thursday. "Recession is likely to be avoided in Southern California, but we'll be close," said Mark Schniepp, director of the California Economic Forecast, which released its county projections for 2008. "It's a slowdown, not a recession."