Ventura County property owners are paying their property taxes at a faster pace this year, suggesting that the local economy still has some strength. With the April 12, 2010, deadline drawing near, Tax Collector Larry Matheney announced that his staff has already received and processed more than 70% of the year’s tax roll. This represents an increased portion of the total to be collected by almost 2 percentage points over the previous year.

Matheney predicted that by the time the 2009/2010 tax year ends on June 30, the delinquency rate will be the same or lower than last year’s figure of only 3.5%. “Ventura County has consistently had one of the lowest delinquency rates in the state, borne out by the fact that we have not had to hold a public auction for tax-defaulted property for 3-years. Part of the credit goes to the priority given by the Assessor’s office to promptly reduce the taxable real property values when indicated by the recent market correction. This keeps a strong sense of fairness in the system. But the other important piece in this success story is the high level of responsibility shown by the people who live in this county.”

Matheney noted that the numbers of taxpayers using the Internet to pay their property taxes continues to increase. The service allows taxpayers to make their payments after hours, from the convenience of any computer having access to the Internet and gaining the benefit of having a printable receipt. At present rates, the cost is only $2 to pay by electronic check from the website: www.venturapropertytax.org. Major credit cards are also accepted with a convenience fee of 2.35% added to the transaction.

The total tax roll in the current 2009/2010 tax year is $1.175 Billion, a drop from the previous year’s roll of $1.2 Billion. Work is still underway to develop the tax roll for 2010/2011.

Does anyone know the story on Alfred and Nate Stone who were early Fillmore area residents? I am working on their story and would love any details that you might have. They were both hunters and Kennie Fine has a story about them in his book. Recently we found 4 Stone children buried at Bardsdale Cemetery in 1878. These 4 kids died within a week of each other, so they probably had diphtheria, but I am not sure. Perhaps they were buried on family property that later became Bardsdale Cemetery. Bardsdale Cemetery was not formed until 1895, and the little graves date from 1878. If anyone has information about this family, please give me a call, Marie Wren, 524-4044.

The "S" Club of Fillmore High School and Soroptimist International of Fillmore is organizing a Community Service Festival. The purpose of the festival is to: *Join hands with service clubs/non-profit organizations in Fillmore and all F.U.S.D. school clubs and work together to showcase our individual club, our non-profit organization and our school clubs. *Raise funds for our club/organization/school. *Provide affordable family entertainment.

We need your support and participation to help us have a good old fashioned festival. The festival will be Saturday, April 17 2010 at Sespe School. All clubs are encouraged to sell three items (ie, food, school spirit clothing, something unique to your club)...All proceeds go to the particular organization/club selling the items. For each item sold the club must also provide a FREE game/event. Such as bingo, craft center, balloon toss...each club decides what they want to sell and which games to provide free of charge.

Advanced registration is required. Please stop at Fillmore Mail Stop, 330 Central Avenue to register and secure your spot.

We will have a final meeting on Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 7:00 pm, in Room # 49 at Fillmore High School. Come find out how you can participate and benefit from this festival. Come to the meeting and share your idea or ask your question and to register.

For more information please contact:
Oralia: 524-4326 / magnoliares@sbcglobal.net or
Kathy: kittyvargas@gmail.com

The Outstanding Professionals Employment Network (OPEN), a chapter of Experience Unlimited (EU), is a professional-level job seeking organization promoting self-help and is sponsored by the State of California Employment Development Department (EDD). The mission of OPEN is to shorten the job seeker's period of unemployment. OPEN is presenting a no fee, 5-day interactive workshop on April 26th through April 30, 2010 from 8:30 AM to 1:00 PM. The workshop is entitled: "Strategies for a Successful Job Search" and includes sessions on Career Evaluation, Resume Writing, Networking, Salary Negotiation, Self-Marketing and Interviewing. The workshop will be held at the East County Job and Career Center, 980 Enchanted Way, Suite 105, Simi Valley. Participants are asked to register by April 23rd online at www.EU-OPEN.org. If you have questions please leave a message at 805-526-6349.

Interested attendees are asked to enter their resume in CalJOBS (California Job Openings Browse System) before attending the workshop. You may also register at any EDD Job Service office, or access www.caljobs.ca.gov.

Youths, ages 11 to 17, can start preparing for summer jobs now by signing up for Babysitting Training classes offered by the American Red Cross of Ventura County. The first session is offered April 9-10 at the Ventura office located at 2355 Portola Road. The second session is scheduled June 25-26 at the Camarillo headquarters located at the Betty R. Plotkin Center, 836 Calle Plano.

The Friday session will take place from 4 to 9 p.m. and will cover basic child care such as diaper changing, tips on feeding and supervising children, instruction on handling bedtime and discipline issues in addition to resume writing. The Saturday class will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will mainly cover CPR and First Aid.

The cost is $85 for both the babysitting training and CPR/First Aid instruction, and $50 for the Babysitting training only. Registration is offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Participants will receive a Babysitters Certificate as well as an Emergency Training Reference Guide, CD-Rom and a Training Handbook. A Babysitter’s Essential Kit containing a first aid flashlight will also be available for purchase for $12.

Individuals can register by calling Rachele Ford at 805-339-2234, ext. 281, or online at www.arcventura.org.

Since 1917, the American Red Cross of Ventura County has been meeting needs throughout the communities it serves. Each year, more than 1,200 local volunteers respond to more than 50 local disasters, teach tens of thousands of individual’s vital lifesaving skills, and support the men and women in the U.S. Armed Forces. The American Red Cross is not a government agency.

Youths, ages 11 to 17, can start preparing for summer jobs now by signing up for Babysitting Training classes offered by the American Red Cross of Ventura County. The first session is offered April 9-10 at the Ventura office located at 2355 Portola Road. The second session is scheduled June 25-26 at the Camarillo headquarters located at the Betty R. Plotkin Center, 836 Calle Plano.

The Friday session will take place from 4 to 9 p.m. and will cover basic child care such as diaper changing, tips on feeding and supervising children, instruction on handling bedtime and discipline issues in addition to resume writing. The Saturday class will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will mainly cover CPR and First Aid.

The cost is $85 for both the babysitting training and CPR/First Aid instruction, and $50 for the Babysitting training only. Registration is offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Participants will receive a Babysitters Certificate as well as an Emergency Training Reference Guide, CD-Rom and a Training Handbook. A Babysitter’s Essential Kit containing a first aid flashlight will also be available for purchase for $12.

Individuals can register by calling Rachele Ford at 805-339-2234, ext. 281, or online at www.arcventura.org.

Since 1917, the American Red Cross of Ventura County has been meeting needs throughout the communities it serves. Each year, more than 1,200 local volunteers respond to more than 50 local disasters, teach tens of thousands of individual’s vital lifesaving skills, and support the men and women in the U.S. Armed Forces. The American Red Cross is not a government agency.

Joanne King presented a flower arrangement workshop at Fillmore High. There’s still time to pick up tips and tricks for creating arrangements and bouquets.

Enlarge Photo

Vision 2020, Civic Pride Committee, is sponsoring the Fillmore Flower Show on April 10-11, 2010. It will be held at the Fillmore Senior Center at 533 Santa Clara Street, Fillmore, California, 93015. The event is open to the public both days from 1:00pm-4:00pm and it is FREE.

There are still TWO opportunities for those with Flower Show entries in mind, to pick up tips on making bouquets & arrangements at coming events where the public is invited.

On March 31, Wednesday, 2010, “Flower Show Entry Preparation” will be presented by Joanne King at a 4 H & Scouts meeting held at 233 4th Street Fillmore, CA. 93015, from 4-5:30 PM. No reservations are required and parents & interested community are invited.

On April 7, Wednesday, 2010, flower arrangements made by Ventura County Garden Club members will be given an informal critique along with suggestions for improvement, when longtime ornamental horticulture judges, Barbara Schneider and Susan Diller present a talk on bouquets and arrangements at the Ventura County Garden Club meeting which is open to the public. No reservations are required for this event held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, located at 117 7th Street, Santa Paula, Ca. 93060 from 1:00-2:30 PM.

The Tuesday, March 16, flower arrangement workshop which was presented by Joanne King at the “S” Club of Fillmore High School and also open to parents & interested people was well attended. Joanne did a clear blackboard “chalk talk” explaining the difference between bouquets & arrangements with diagrams showing traditional, abstract/modern and oriental type arrangements.

Creativity was flowing as all joined in, using vases and large variety of flowers brought for the workshop. After all the beautiful “work” was displayed, Joanne spent time giving suggestions and critiques for the benefit of all.

Piru Charter School petitioners just received news that the California Department of Education (CDE) is recommending their charter petition for approval. That’s right! After reviewing our charter petition the CDE has concluded:

The PCS petition includes all of the elements required under statute and regulation for the establishment of a charter school. The California Department of Education (CDE) finds that granting the PCS charter is sound educational practice for the following reasons: the petition describes an educational program likely to meet the needs of pupils within the community where the school will locate; petitioners are demonstrably likely to implement the program set forth in the petition; the petition includes the required affirmations and signatures; and the petition contains reasonably comprehensive descriptions of the 16 elements pursuant to EC Section 47605(b)(5).

Piru Charter School petitioners feel vindicated after being so wrongly criticized by both the Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) and the Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE). Richard Durborow, one of the PCS petitioners, recently responded to the good news by saying, “We are so happy that finally someone understands charter school law and agrees that our charter school petition not only meets all the legal requirements but describes a quality educational program that will improve student learning now and for generations to come.”

Piru Charter School Petitioners

At the March 9th School Board meeting, the School Board voted to give layoff notices to approximately 67 teachers (out of 196) and other certificated employees, such as nurses, psychologists, and counselors.
The District wants to lay off these teachers so that they can increase class size in Kindergarten through Third Grade from 22 students per class to 32 students per class!

The District wants to lay off the entire staff of the Sierra Continuation High School program, which will shut that program down and shut down independent study.

The District wants to lay off high school teachers, including Math, English, and Science teachers, as well as the Health Instructor - because the District is considering lowering the graduation requirements for Fillmore High School students! If they do this, they will be only the second high school in the state to ever lower their graduation requirements.

The District has announced that it wants to reduce the school year by five days for the next three years.
At Piru School, six of the fifteen classroom teachers, plus the art teacher and the band teacher, already received their layoff notices!

Our children are our greatest resources. Call up your school board members and let them know you don’t want larger classes, lower graduation requirements, C School kids to travel to Oxnard, and five fewer school days. Check and find out the ways FUSD proposes to cut spending.

Meanwhile, The California Department of Education, which oversees all public schools in California, sent out a letter on Friday, March 26, saying: “The California Department of Education (CDE) recommends that the Advisory Commission on Charter Schools (ACCS) recommend that the State Board of Education (SBE) hold a public hearing and approve the petition to establish the Piru Charter School (PCS) under the oversight of the SBE.”

The Piru Charter School petition has received the recommendation of the California Department of Education, while the Fillmore Unified School District plans to layoff teachers, increase class size, shorten the school year, and lower graduation requirements.

Read the entire letter: http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/cc/cs/documents/item4piru.doc

Piru Charter School’s Charter has been appealed to the State Board of Education (SBE) after having been denied by both the Fillmore Unified School District and the Ventura County Board of Education. The Charter’s appeal will be heard first by the SBE’s Advisory Commission on Charter Schools (ACCS). The ACCS will conduct a public hearing on the Piru Charter School appeal on April 6, 2010, in Sacramento at the California Department of Education’s offices. At that time, parents and community members, as well as other stakeholders, will have the opportunity to speak and the ACCS will then make a non-binding recommendation to the SBE. As part of the appeal process, the California Department of Education is recommending that the ACCS recommend conditional approval of the PCS Charter, only after specified modifications are made to the Charter. The State Board of Education will not make its decision regarding denial or approval of the PCS Charter until the SBE’s meeting on May 5-7, 2010.

To: Chairman Pearcy
From: Senator George Runner

RE: Piru Charter School

Dear Chairman Pearcy:

A group of petitioners from an elementary school in my Senate district, Piru Elementary School, will appear before your Board of Directors in the near future advocating for approval to become a Charter school.

The Piru Charter School committee has done due diligence to complete the petition to conform to the legal, education and fiscal requirements for acceptance, I am confident that the school will indeed offer a high quality education to the families in the Fillmore Unified School District Piru community. I join with the School Development & Outreach Southern California office in urging your Board to approve this petition.

Fillmore is reaching an epidemic of loose dogs that are injuring people and property. Due to the recent dog attack at Shiells Park and reports from many citizens of loose dogs the city ordinance will be enforced, with an order of zero tolerance on dogs off leash. Fillmore citizens are not able to walk freely by themselves or with leashed dogs legitimately on our sidewalks without fear of attack.

Behind the Scenes: Today we’d like to thank the Sheriff’s Special Services Crime Analyst Unit. Karen Brown supplies Farm Watch with all our crime data. Karen and others in the Unit work hard to keep our rural community safe. The Unit has included some new farm maps and charts in this email that include the entire county.

Farm Worker Alert: This just happen last week: A group of four criminals stole money from Ventura County farm workers and Spanish speaking residents in a California lottery scam. Theses criminals single out Ventura County residents who use Spanish as their strongest language. They prefer female victims of adult or elderly age, but on occasion will prey on males.

They are excellent actors and you will never know that all four are connected. When you read the story, remember they change it up once a while mixing in fictitious IRS Agents, Fictitious Notaries and Fictitious Attorneys.
Here is the scene: They hit while your farm workers are in a shopping center, parking lot, picking up kids from school or public building, they are approached by a Spanish-speaking female.

On occasion they use a male. The male or females are actors, and will tell the farm worker that he or she just found a State Lottery ticket and that they think it was the winning number.

Next, a passerby will approach as a random person and unknown to your farm worker. Usually the passerby will be well dressed as a businessman or woman. They will speak in Spanish to make the victim comfortable.

The two actor-criminals will CONTINUED »

Piru 4-H has been busy with service projects this year: In September, Piru 4-H spent 2 weekends doing Community Service activities. First, we participated in Statewide Coastal clean-up. We went to Emma Wood state beach and gathered all trash and recyclables. In our group we filled up about a dozen bags. Second, we helped at the Fillmore/Piru Relay-for-Life event. We volunteered by putting the candle bags together for the Luminarias.

On October 24: Piru 4-H participated in Trick-or-treat-so-others-can-eat. The members went door-to-door and collected 335 pounds of canned foods. All canned goods were donated to the Food share. Some of our members went
down to the Hollywood Forever cemetery to celebrate “Dia de los Muertos” and to observe the altar creations on the grounds of the historic cemetery. It was a day of spiritual celebrations, face painting and a great way to learn new cultures.

In November, our members went to the Harbor Community Church in Ventura and helped serve Thanksgiving dinner to about 80 people. We had been to this homeless shelter in June to help sort donated items, organize the pantry, fold clothes and help in the kitchen. We went back again in January and February to help with the monthly BBQ. The members served hamburgers, hot dogs, salads and desserts to over 100 people. We plan to go back every month.

In December several 4-H members hopped for toys and donated the presents to the Ventura County Sheriff Department. We hope to donate many more hours of service this year.

The Unsung Heroes Music Festival Committee would like to cordially invite you to our inaugural event. Join us on April 17th, 2010 from 11am-5pm at the Fillmore Towne Theater for a day of music. All proceeds from this event will benefit the Fillmore High School music program, the AVID program and the One Step Teen Center. Performers include local favorites 8Stops7, the Last Dog and Pony Show and Ventura County’s most requested group, The House Arrest Band. Also performing are local rockers End Transmission, Panik Attack, Dead of Night and Awesome Otter along with Hip Hop artist Nostaljik. Additionally, acoustic performances will feature No Requests, Tempting Fate and Sea Glass Zander. The show will kick off at 11am with a performance from our very own Fillmore High School marching band. Tickets are $10 and are available from Central Music (on the highway across from Burger King) or at the door. We hope to see you there!

VENTURA, CA. — Microsoft is making free training vouchers available for its online Microsoft E-Learning courses and certification classes. Offered through the Workforce Investment Board of Ventura County (WIB), vouchers are available on a first-come, first-served basis at local Ventura County Job & Career Centers.

Courses range from basic skills development in Microsoft Windows Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) to advanced training for IT Professional to Microsoft certification exams.

"Microsoft's generosity gives Ventura County’s workforce a valuable opportunity to learn or brush up on skills that are often essential in the workplace," says Cheryl Moore, WIB executive director. "The courses are self-paced making them ideal for both job seekers who want to fast track their learning and those in the workforce who must budget their time."

The Ventura County voucher distribution is part of Microsoft's Elevate America program. The software company is donating 1 million Microsoft E-Learning vouchers nationwide in an effort to strengthen the workforce skills necessary for 21st Century jobs.

"Elevate America is an excellent example CONTINUED »

Fillmore artist Wana Klasen (pictured above right), donated her painting entitled “Lullaby” to the fundraising efforts of Angels Over Africa Mission. Wana is pictured with Ferdae Garami, Founder and Director of the Mission. The cultural evening included live music, a slide presentation and art auction. Proceeds from the auction of art are being used to provide biodegradable diapers to the children of Haiti following the disastrous earthquake there. The event, held at the Clarion Hotel in Bakersfield, was organized through the combined efforts of the Angels Over Africa Mission and the African Association of Kern County.