Ventura, CA - The Ventura County Fair is having a poster contest for the 2012 Ventura County Fair. The contest is open to young artists in grades 5 - 12 who reside in Ventura County.

The theme of the 2012 Fair is "Rides, Ribbons & Rodeos" and will serve as the only guideline to the imagery. Artwork may be created in any style and medium, but may not be 3 dimensional or include glitter.

Winning images will be used for the official 2012 Ventura County Fair collectable art poster and for the 2012 Ventura County Fair marketing poster as well as in other marketing materials.

Prizes in the amount of $500 (1st Prize), $250 (2nd Prize), and $100 (3rd
Prize) will be awarded. Two Fair admission tickets will be awarded for every valid entry. All contest participants will be invited to ride on the Junior Fair Board float in the Ventura County Fair Parade on Saturday, August 4.

Deadline for entry submission is Saturday, March 31. Entries should be delivered to the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

"Rides, Ribbons & Rodeos", the Ventura County Fair begins on Wednesday August 1. The Fair continues through Sunday, August 12.

For more information about the poster contest, please call the Ventura County Fairgrounds at 648-3376 or visit www.venturacountyfair.org. For regular updates, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

725 E. Main Street, Santa Paula
Santa Clara Valley Job & Career Center
805-933-8452

Monday, March 19 - Power of VOS (Virtual OneStop), 9:00 am – 12 noon – Learn about the Virtual OneStop website and how you can use the various tools in the system to build your resume and customize your job search to a specific location and occupation. Must have basic computer skills. Career Shops are offered at no cost to Job Seekers. Space is limited. Prior registration required by calling the Santa Clara Valley Job & Career Center at 805-933-8452 to enroll.

Wednesday, March 21 - Resumes that Sell, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm - Hands-on workshop providing assistance in completing a resume, cover and thank-you letters. Walk away with a portfolio that shows off professional skills and experience. Career Shops are offered at no cost to Job Seekers. Space is limited. Prior registration required by calling the Santa Clara Valley Job & Career Center at 805-933-8452 to enroll.

Tuesday, March 27 - Winning Interviews, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm - Supplies the tools to make a lasting first impression when interviewing. Career Shops are offered at no cost to Job Seekers. Space is limited. Prior registration required by calling the Santa Clara Valley Job & Career Center at 805-933-8452 to enroll.

Spanish language workshops:

Monday, March 12 - Tecnicas para la Busqueda de Trabajo (Job Search Techniques), 9:00 am – 4 pm - Presentado por Los Centros de Empleos y Carreras Esta sección de 3 a 4 horas está diseñada para personas que están buscando empleo. Los temas incluyen donde y como buscar empleo, como crear una red de comunicación, técnicas de cómo usar el teléfono apropiadamente para buscar empleo y como usar la red del Internet para buscar empleo. También aprenderá técnicas apropiadas para hacer una entrevista. 805-933-8452

Career Shops are presented in partnership with Ventura County Job & Career Centers and are sponsored by the Human Services Agency and the Workforce Investment Board. Equal opportunity Employer/Program/Service – TDD/TT Inquiries call 1 (800) 735-2922. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individual with disabilities.

Applications for the Miss Fillmore/Miss Teen Fillmore Pageant are available. The Mother/Daughter Tea will take place at the Memorial Building on Wednesday, February 22nd beginning at 6:30PM. Points will begin that evening. Refreshments will be provided. Questions and answers will also be addressed at that time. The first practice begins Wednesday, February 29th. Miss Contestants must be a Junior or Senior girl in good standing. Teen Contestants must be a girl between the ages of 13 (by January 1st) and 17 in good standing, but not a Junior or Senior. All contestants must reside within the Fillmore Unified School District boundaries. Applications are available at Fillmore High School, Fillmore Middle School and at Fillmore Chamber of Commerce or by contacting Pageant Director Lori McLain at #524-4432.

The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation has joined forces with the Love / Avon Army of Women to be a part of the battle to find a cure and prevent breast cancer. More than 360,000 women have stepped up to fight this disease. AND YOU CAN, TOO!

Soroptimist International of Fillmore would like to invite you to join us for a special evening program on Wednesday, February 15th at 6:00 P.M. at El Pescador Restaurant in Fillmore (1305 W. Ventura Street) across the breeze way in the over flow room. If you wish to eat, the cost for dinner is $10.00 and may be paid at the door.

Soroptimist International of Fillmore is a woman’s group that works to improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and throughout the world. We also raise money to give scholarships to students in our area.

If you have any questions please call: Jane David / Vice President of Soroptimist International of Fillmore at (805) 727-1145 or E-Mail Jane.David@ventura.org

District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office was awarded a new grant for “The Vertical Prosecution of Drug and Alcohol DUI Offenders and Repeat Offenders.” This California Office of Traffic Safety grant totaling $359,736 funded the newly created Drug and Alcohol DUI Vertical Prosecution Team, comprised of two full-time Deputy District Attorneys devoted solely to drug and alcohol DUI prevention and prosecution.

The DUI Vertical Prosecution Team is designed to aggressively prosecute impaired drivers within Ventura County, while simultaneously raising public awareness of the fatal consequences caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol and drugs, both illegal and prescription. Driving under the influence laws prohibit driving while impaired by alcohol, or a drug, or the combined influence of both, by any person, when their mental or physical abilities are so impaired they can no longer drive with the caution of a sober person. Legal entitlement to use a prescription drug is not a defense, nor is there any requirement of proving a .08 percent blood alcohol concentration (BAC). In California, 23 percent of drivers in fatal crashes have tested positive for drug involvement.

The DUI Vertical Prosecution Team will review, file and prosecute DUI cases from beginning to end. These cases range from misdemeanor DUI through felony DUI vehicular homicide. The DUI Prosecution Team targets repeat offenders, those in violation of probation, and is structuring an approach to assist law enforcement with the identification and apprehension of defendants with bench warrants for failing to appear in court on open DUI cases.

The DUI Vertical Prosecution Team is committed to seeking restitution for the victims of DUI, including agencies that provide law enforcement and emergency personnel in response to traffic collisions. Funding for the grant is provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Traffic Safety Administration.

Celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer.
Remember loved ones lost to the disease.
Fight Back against a disease that takes too much.

Interested Party Meeting! Relay for Life of Fillmore-Piru
Monday, Feb. 13, 2012 6:30pm @ the Senior Center
(533 Santa Clara St. Fillmore)
Find out how you can make a diffeence!
Call Josie Real
805.524.0149

Santa Clara Valley Disposal will maintain its regular Friday trash and green waste collection schedule in Fillmore on Feb. 24, during the week of Presidents’ Day.

For more information, call 647-1414.

Doors will open Monday Feb. 6, 2012 for lap swimmers.
Hours will be: Mon. through Fri. mornings from 6:30 am. to 8:00 am.
Sat.’s from 8:30 am to 10:00 am.
Evening hours will be Mon. through Thur. from 5:45 pm to 7:30 pm.
Pool fee for lap swim is $4.00 per visit.

Ventura, CA - Age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in older Americans, will be the focus of a free seminar the Community Memorial Health System is holding on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

JillAnne McCarty, M.D., a specialist in diseases and surgeries of the eye, will lead the seminar from 6 to 8 p.m. in the eighth-floor Nichols Auditorium at Community Memorial Hospital, located at 147 Brent St. in Ventura.

Nearly 2 million Americans are affected with the advanced form of advanced macular degeneration, and Dr. McCarty will discuss the causes of AMD and lifestyle strategies to minimize the risk of developing it. She also will cover current AMD treatment as well as the current research and methods for coping with the disease.

Dr. McCarty, who has been on staff at Community Memorial Hospital since 1992, received her PhD degree in pharmacology from the University of Iowa College of Medicine. She trained in ophthalmology at the Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA. Dr. McCarty is certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and is a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons.

Admission is free but space is limited, and reservations are required. Call 652-5436, or visit www.cmhshealth.org.

Community Memorial Health System is a not-for-profit health system, which is comprised of Community Memorial Hospital, Ojai Valley Community Hospital, and eleven family-practice health centers entitled Centers for Family Health. The health system is located in Ventura County, California.

The Internal Revenue Service and community partners nationwide today launched their annual outreach campaign aimed at helping millions of Americans who earned $49,078 or less take advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

"The EITC provides a financial boost for millions of hard-working Americans. But people can easily overlook this important credit, especially if their financial situation has changed. The IRS reminds taxpayers to look into this valuable credit to see if they qualify,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman.

The EITC varies by income, family size and filing status. People can see if they qualify by visiting IRS.gov and answering a few questions using the EITC Assistant. In tax year 2010, over 50,500 eligible workers and families in Ventura County received over $105 million in total in EITC. The average EITC amount last year was around $2,083.

Workers who earned $49,078 or less from wages, self-employment or farm income last year could receive larger refunds if they qualify for the EITC. That could mean up to $464 in EITC for people without children, and a maximum credit of up to $5,751 for those with three or more qualifying children. Unlike most deductions and credits, the EITC is refundable. In other words, eligible people may get a refund from the IRS even if they owe no tax.

How to Claim the EITC
To get the EITC, workers must file a tax return, even if they are not required to file, and specifically claim the credit. Those eligible for the EITC have free options to file a tax return to claim the credit:
• Free File on IRS.gov Free brand-name tax software walks people through a question and answer format to help them prepare their returns and claim every credit and deduction for which they are eligible. The program also allows people to file electronically for free, giving them access to all their money often in as little as ten days.
• Free tax preparation sites EITC-eligible workers can seek free tax preparation at more than 12,000 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) sites. To locate the nearest VITA site, people can call the IRS at 800-906-9887. Taxpayers can also find VITA/TCE sites by calling their community’s 211 or 311 line for local services.
• IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers EITC-eligible workers can seek free assistance in IRS locations across the country. Locations are listed online at www.IRS.gov. Hours and services offered vary by location and should be checked before visiting.

More information on EITC and detailed eligibility rules are available at www.irs.gov/eitc.

Starting Monday, January 30th, Fillmore High joins 25,000 schools nationwide in the Pennies for Patients program. For the next few weeks, we will help people who are sick with blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. All you have to do is collect coins and other donations and submit them. Our school goal is to raise $850. If you or your business would like to contribute to the cause, please contact Sammy Martinez at 805-524-6100.

Robert T. Parry

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - California Lutheran University will present a discussion of the eurozone crisis and its implications for the United States on Monday, Feb. 13.

The free event will be held in the Lundring Events Center on the Thousand Oaks campus. It is the last in the Silver Anniversary Distinguished Speaker Series celebrating the formation of CLU’s Graduate School of Education and School of Management.

Networking will begin at 6 p.m. and the discussion will follow at 6:30 p.m.

The speakers will be Robert T. Parry, former president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and Henning Bohn, an economics professor at University of California, Santa Barbara. Bill Watkins, executive director of the CLU Center for Economic Research and Forecasting, will moderate.

Parry retired from the Federal Reserve in 2004 after more than 18 years at the helm in San Francisco. He is a board member of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private, nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works. He is also on the board of directors of PACCAR Inc. and Janus Capital Group Inc. He holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Bohn’s research and teaching focus on macroeconomics, public economics and international finance. He has published scholarly articles on topics including government debt, public debt management and international capital flows. He received a doctorate in economics from Stanford University in 1986 under the guidance of Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Watkins helped launch CLU CERF in 2009. He has provided unflinching forecasts for more than a decade and has been widely published and quoted in academic journals and the media. He formerly served as the executive director of UCSB’s Economic Forecast Project and an economist with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C. He has a doctorate in economics from UCSB.

Lundring Events Center is located in the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center, which is north of Olsen Road near Mounclef Boulevard on the Thousand Oaks campus.

Reservations are requested by Feb. 11 to Lauren Amundson at lamundso@callutheran.edu or 805-493-3445.

SACRAMENTO, CA – California recorded no deaths from pertussis (whooping cough) during 2011, a first since 1991, announced Dr. Ron Chapman, director of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the state public health officer.

“Greater awareness of the disease, more rapid diagnosis and treatment, and increased vaccination rates contributed to saving the lives of infants,” said Chapman. “I thank our public health and medical communities for working together and being especially vigilant following the 2010 epidemic.”

In 2010, 9,000 Californians were diagnosed with pertussis and ten infants died from the disease. In response, CDPH partnered with local health departments and health care providers across the state implementing disease control strategies and informational alerts. The state also offered free vaccines to hospitals, allowing convenient vaccination for new parents to prevent transmission of the disease to newborns. Last fall, a new state law required students in 7th -12th grades for the first time to get a Tdap booster shot. The new school law will apply to all students entering 7th grade in 2012 and beyond.

While whooping cough remained high at more than 3,000 cases in 2011, there have been no deaths since October 13th, 2010. The last time California had 3,000 cases of whooping cough was 2005. That year, eight infants died. In 1991, there were only 249 reported pertussis cases in California.

Young infants are the most vulnerable to serious whooping cough complications. Of 575 whooping cough cases among infants 3 months of age or younger reported during 2011, 244 (42 percent) were hospitalized. That’s a significant drop since 2010 when 59 percent of infected infants in that age group were hospitalized.

Immunity gained from pertussis vaccine wanes over time, so a booster shot is needed. The new school immunization law is intended to further protect communities by ensuring that adolescents, who may no longer be immune to whooping cough, are vaccinated. CDPH produced public service announcements in English and Spanish and partnered with the California Broadcasters Association to encourage media outlets to air the ads aimed at raising awareness about pertussis and the new California law. Adults, especially those who live or work with infants, are also strongly encouraged to get a Tdap shot.

To learn more about whooping cough in California, visit www.CDPH.ca.gov. To learn more about California’s school immunization law, visit www.ShotsforSchool.org.

www.cdph.ca.gov

Fillmore Women’s Service Club is looking forward to 2012. The Club finished 2011 year with a special donation to Fillmore meals on wheels for Thanksgiving through the Senior Center. Then at The Fillmore Women’s Service Club annual Christmas party they gathered new toys for the Children’s Auxiliary Annual Toy Collection for the Foster Children’s Program. Club members Valerie Richards, Jeanne Klittich, and Mimi Burns, Club President, took the toys to the Ventura location for distribution. This past year the Club has given continual support to the Senior Center of Fillmore. On the horizon for 2012, Susan Banks, hopes to kick off the new Community Scholarship Program. The Fillmore Women’s Service Club is always open to new members, we met at the Senior Center the second Weds of the month starting at 7pm, come and join us or if you want more information regarding club activities call Mimi Burns 208-4327. Happy and Healthy 2012 to all.

Camarillo, CA — Low to moderate income workers can receive free help with tax preparation and income tax filing at a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site located throughout Ventura County. Tax returns are filed electronically by IRS-trained volunteers and filers may receive as much as $5,751 for families with two or more children – even if they pay no income tax. The Ventura County Financial Empowerment Partnership aims to increase the number of individuals and families who receive no-cost tax preparation assistance and who access the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) program — the nation’s largest and most powerful federal aid program for the working poor.

“The EITC can boost a family’s income, but the rules are somewhat complicated and so not everyone who applies for it will receive it,” said Susan Englund, United Way of Ventura County's Vice President of Community Impact.

The Partnership targets individuals and families with a household income of less than $50,000. Beginning the week of January 30th, trained volunteer tax preparers will prepare federal and state tax returns at sites located at El Concilio in Oxnard, Housing Authorities of Ventura and Oxnard, and in the Job & Career Centers in West Oxnard, Santa Clara Valley, Ventura and East County. The public is encouraged to call 2-1-1 to schedule an appointment at any of the eight Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) locations throughout Ventura County.

Tax filers must bring a social security card for each family member or ITIN number for the working adult(s), W-2 forms for all jobs worked in 2011, all 1099 forms for other income earned, photo identification for each adult filing, child care provider information, and bank routing and account number for direct deposit of refund.

Ventura County Financial Empowerment Partnership members include United Way of Ventura County, the Business and Employment Services Department of the County of Ventura’s Human Services Agency, Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation, and the IRS.

Sacramento, CA - The Franchise Tax Board (FTB) and Board of Equalization (BOE) announced today that collective efforts from the Internet posting of California’s 250 largest unpaid state tax debtors has raised more than $100 million since the program’s inception.

“Collecting these large unpaid tax debts is absolutely crucial, because every dollar collected helps spare schools, public safety, and other public services from severe budget cuts,” said State Controller and FTB Chair John Chiang.

“California's tax cheats should know we are serious about making them follow the law,” said Board of Equalization Chairman Jerome E. Horton. “Those who owe the BOE and FTB the most will continue to be exposed to public scrutiny to encourage them to pay their delinquencies.”

State law (AB 1418, Horton) effective for 2007 established the requirement for FTB and BOE to each post a list of the 250 largest state income tax debtors who owe more than $100,000. Last fall, new state law (AB 1424, Perea), increased the number of posted top tax debtors to 500. It also authorizes the state to suspend the professional and/or drivers’ licenses of the state’s top 500 debtors until they resolve their accounts or enter into payment arrangements. It also authorizes the state to publish the titles and names of principal officers for business entity delinquencies.

Taxpayers on the Top 250 list are removed once the tax is paid or the taxpayer agrees to make payments under an approved installment agreement. Tax liabilities under appeal, in litigation, in bankruptcy proceedings, or under consideration for an offer in compromise are not included on the list.

The first Top 500 list for FTB will debut in April 2012. Also starting this year, FTB’s complete list will be updated bi-annually in April and October on FTB’s website at ftb.ca.gov. The Board of Equalization’s listof the state’s top sales and use tax delinquencies, is updated quarterly at boe.ca.gov.

Individual taxpayers on the list can contact FTB at 866.418.3702 to resolve their accounts. Business taxpayers can call 866.914.5594. Taxpayers on the BOE list can call 916.445.5167 to resolve their accounts.