The Gazette will be closed Tuesday, December 24th at 3pm and Christmas Day. Deadlines for our December 27th issue is Friday, December 21, 3pm for display advertising and Classifieds. January 3rd New Year’s edition, all advertising in by Friday, Dec. 28th, closed 3pm Monday, all day Tuesday. Happy Holidays!

The “before” picture of the rock planter at the corner of 126 & Central.
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The stucco planters along Central Avenue have begun to get a fresh “look” with the planting of new roses and Mystic Spires salvia. Members of the Civic Pride Committee, Cindy Klittich, Mark Ortega, Linda Nunes, and helpers James Nunes, Timmy Klittich, Steve McKeown, and daughter, Paige removed invasive seedlings, pruned the existing Cape Cod roses, and planted a red shrub rose named, Thrive and a ground cover rose named, White Meidiland along with Mystic Spires salvia, and Star jasmine in the planters at the corner of Sespe & Central Avenue. We will be continuing to replant the remaining stucco planters at a future date.

The rock planter at the corner of Highway 126 and Central Avenue was also replanted with an improved water delivery system. White Iceberg roses, red Thrive shrub roses, blue Mystic Spires salvia and white trailing lantana were added.

Vision 2020, Civic Pride Committee appreciates each volunteer that joined in to help make our community more attractive and Otto & Sons Nursery for assisting with plants and Warren & Marci Thompson for donating bags of topsoil.

Civic Pride Committee invites all who are interested in participating with ideas or help, to our next meeting, January 16, 2013 at 1:30 pm in City Hall, upstairs.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office has kicked off the 27th annual “Share-iff’s Toy Drive” to help local families during this holiday season.

Every year, thousands of children experience a Christmas morning with no gifts to open. With the hope of making this year's Christmas morning a little brighter for those in our community, the Sheriff’s Office will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for children ages 16 and younger.

All the toys collected will be distributed to the children within the cities of Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai and the unincorporated areas serviced by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff patrol stations will have boxes on hand where the public can leave their unwrapped toys Monday thru Friday from 8:00 am until 5:00 P.M. Donations will be accepted until December 20, 2012. Toys will be delivered on December 22, 2012, by Sheriff’s employees who will be volunteering their time.

Toy drop off locations:
Camarillo Police Department – 3701 Las Posas Road, Camarillo (805) 388-5100
Thousand Oaks Police Department – 2101 E. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks (805) 494-8200
Moorpark Police Department – 610 Spring Road, Moorpark (805) 532 2700
Fillmore Police Department – 524 Sespe Avenue, Fillmore (805) 524-2233
Ojai Police Department – 402 S. Ventura Street, Ojai (805) 646-1414
Ventura County Headquarters – 800 S. Victoria Avenue, Ventura (805) 654-2304

(l-r) Barbara Pops, Elise Kearney Erin Quinn, Bill Kearney, Rod Gilbert.
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(l-r) David Bayer, Karen Donovan, Suzan Cooper.
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Ventura, CA - Community Memorial Health System selected National Philanthropy Day on Nov. 15 to pay tribute to 31 community members for their outstanding philanthropic and volunteer efforts in support of CMHS.

National Philanthropy Day is a special day set aside to recognize the great contributions that philanthropy and those active in philanthropy have made to our lives, our communities and our world. In 2012 more than 125 communities and 50,000 people around the world were anticipated to participate in National Philanthropy Day events and celebrations. In Ventura, the Association of Fundraising Professionals/Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties Chapter sponsored a luncheon to celebrate and honor outstanding local philanthropists and volunteers at the Ventura Beach Marriott.

Those CMHS paid special recognition to at the luncheon were: Dave Bayer; Claudia and Dr. Neil Canby; Noelle Claeyssons-Burkey; Suzan Cooper; Karen Donovan; Duane Eells; Brenda and Gary Farr; Glen and Karen Farr; Carol and Rod Gilbert; John Hammer; Jim and Tish Harris; Sally and Walter Hartman; Bill and Elise Kearney; Carolyn and Harry Maynard; Jeff Paul; Allan Pinkerton; Barbara and Dr. Marty Pops; Ric Ruffinelli; John and Peggy Russell; and Caryn and Dr. Doug Woodburn.

“Your involvement, whether in volunteering at one of our events or supporting our efforts with a financial gift, makes philanthropy possible, and makes National Philanthropy Day so special and meaningful,” said Mary Schmitz, CMHS’s Director of Development.

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.

WELCOME FARM WATCH READERS!

Detective Ray Dominguez had the following to report for this edition:

Farm Watch readers, as I review reports and statistics compiled from this year, It’s hard not to notice that crime rates as they relate to agricultural crimes have dropped significantly. I attribute much of this success to the hard work of deputies patrolling in the unincorporated areas of the county, and your strong interest and dedication to protecting yourselves and your property. I hope this trend continues in the new year as we work together to reduce crime in our area even further.

As we end this year, I do have a couple of cases of interest that I want to mention. First, a copper wire theft from multiple wind machines at a Somis farm. It’s unknown exactly when the theft occurred because the wind machines were not used for an extended period of time. There are no suspects identified in this case, and no viable evidence was located at the crime scene. A check of local scrap metal yards has been fruitless. If you have any wind machines or water pumps on your property, please check them regularly and take steps to protect the electrical boxes from attack. If you have battery operated equipment that is not being used regularly, remove the batteries and bring them in to a more secure location for storage during the off season.

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The 2012-13 civil Grand Jury will usher in the holiday season by holding its annual dinner on December 14 for current Grand Jurors and Presiding Judge Vincent J. O’Neill, Jr., whose term with the Grand Jury ends at the end of December. At this event, the Grand Jury is pleased to welcome the new Presiding Judge Brian J. Back, who will begin his Grand Jury service on January 1, 2013.

The civil Grand Jury is charged with the oversight of all aspects of the county and its ten city governments, special districts and agencies to ensure that the best interests of Ventura County citizens are being served. At this time of year, the Jury has received most of the responses to the reports issued by the 2011-2012 Grand Jury. The reports and responses can be viewed on the website noted below. Of special interest during this holiday season is the report on Ventura County Animal Services. The county animal shelters are now able to offer more animals for adoption, thus decreasing the need for euthanasia. There have also been improvements in communication with the public, staffing, and training, thus providing a healthier environment for animals and staff. In addition, Animal Services is now part of Ventura County Public Health. For more information about the work of Animal Services, see: www.vchca.org/animal –services.

To find out more about the mission of the Grand Jury, to download complaint forms, and to view previous years’ reports, please visit our website: http://grandjury.county of ventura.org. If you are interested in serving on the 2013-14 Grand Jury, please note that applications will be accepted starting January 1 and will run through April 15, 2013. The Grand Jury is available for speaking engagements throughout the County. If you would like to request a speaker for your organization, please contact: Judith Cohen at 805-477-1600.

Vision 2020, Civic Pride Committee presented a certificate of appreciation to Sandi Ward, owner of Sandi Ward’s Train Stop business for sponsoring one of the replanted pots along Central Avenue.

Sandi has lived in Fillmore for 32 years and has owned & operated her Train Stop business, which is located in one of the vintage train cars along side City Hall, for nearly 10 years. In fact, on July 4, 2013, she will celebrate her 10th year of operation.

Sarah Hansen had told Sandi about our committee’s effort to replant the Central Avenue pots with re, white & blue flowers, so Sandi agreed to become a sponsor. She is one citizen that gets involved in the betterment of her community, having also sponsored a peace pole brick & other projects.

Her vintage train shop has historical information on the freight car inside and antiques, collectibles and many things with “Fillmore” printed on them, toy trains & US made whistles, engineer hats, t-shirts, and wooden trains. It is an interesting place to take children & visiting family for photo opportunities also.

Her shop is open Friday, Saturday, & Sunday from 10:00 am until 4 pm. During the Christmas season, she is open extended hours when the trains are running.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris issued the following statement today on the U.S. Supreme Court’s announcement on Proposition 8:

“Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to consider marriage equality takes our nation one step closer to realizing the American ideal of equal protection under the law for all people,” said Attorney General Harris.

“For justice to prevail, Proposition 8 must be invalidated so that gay and lesbian families are finally treated with equality and dignity.”

The dogs, cats and rabbits of Santa Barbara County’s animal shelters will launch their 2012 “All I Want for the Holidays is a Home of My Own” campaign with a press conference on Wednesday December 12, 2012 at 3:30 pm, at Santa’s Workshop in La Cumbre Plaza. The public is welcome.

The animals intend to appeal to both the general public and directly to Santa Claus to find them homes this holiday season so they do not have to spend another lonely Christmas in cages, with no homes of their own.

“We sit up and beg the animal loving people of Santa Barbara County to open their hearts and homes to us, in the spirit of the holidays,” says Animal Services’ spokesdog Ruby, who has been living at the Santa Barbara shelter since October 2010. “It’s a lonely life, living in a kennel day after day, month after month, year after year.”
Spokescat Morbius who lives at A.S.A.P. at the Santa Barbara County shelter, concurred with Ruby, albeit from a safe distance. “It’s warm and dry at A.S.A.P., and they give us food and good care. But even a comfortable cage is still a cage.”

Spokesrabbit Wiley noted, CONTINUED »

Fillmore HIgh School Athletic Booster Club would like to thank the following businesses, people and organizations for their generous donations which enabled our first drive-thru BBQ fundraiser to be a success: Estrella Market, El Pescador, Ay Chihuahua, Tlaquepaque, Fresh & Easy, Nelson Somers (Somers Ranches), Don Palmer, Fillmore Fire Department, Fillmore Rentals, and Fillmore Search & Rescue. We would also like to thank the high school coaches and staff for their support, the cheerleaders and students for their help, Steve Hope, Joe Magana, Dave Wright and to everyone who supported us by purchasing a ticket which enabled our success! Please know that every dollar goes back into our athletic programs at FHS. It is a great cause! We look forward to our next fundraiser, an Irish Casino Night in March.

In observance of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, the employees of Santa Clara Valley Disposal will be taking the days off. As a result, Fillmore residential customers will have their trash and green waste collected on Saturday, Dec. 29 and their trash and collectables on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, one day later than usual.

The regular Friday trash collection schedule in Fillmore will return on Jan. 11, 2013.

As a special holiday feature, residents may put out twice the amount of trash at no extra charge during the two weeks following Christmas. Please make sure the trash is in bags. We will also collect extra recyclables, but please make sure to flatten all boxes.

Also, Harrison is making it easy for their customers to recycle their Christmas trees. All customers need to do is remove the ornaments, hooks, lights, tinsel, bows, nails and tree stand, then cut the tree into sections no more than 4 feet long and place in the yard waste barrel on their scheduled pickup day.

Please note, however: Flocked trees cannot be recycled.

For more information, call 647-1414.

Ventura, CA - Community Memorial Hospital has been recognized as one of the nation’s top hospitals by National Research Corporation. The 2012/2013 Consumer Choice Award identifies hospitals that healthcare consumers have chosen as having the highest quality and image in over 300 markets throughout the U.S. This is the seventeenth year National Research has presented the award.

Winners are determined by consumer perceptions on multiple quality and image ratings collected in the company’s Market Insights/Ticker survey. This study surveys over 250,000 households representing over 450,000 consumers in the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia. From the households surveyed, 3200 hospitals named by consumers are analyzed and ranked based on their Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, with the winning facilities being ranked the highest.

For more than 30 years, National Corporation (NASDAQ: NRCI) has been at the forefront of patient-centered care. Today the company’s focus on empowering customer-centric healthcare across the continuum extends patient-centered care to incorporate families, communities, employees, senior housing residents, and other stakeholders.

Currently recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the largest patient satisfaction firms in the U.S., National Research is dedicated to representing the true voice of patients and other healthcare stakeholders. This integration of cross-continuum metrics and analytics uncovers insights for effective performance improvement, quality measurement, care transitions, and many other factors that impact population health management.
Community Memorial Hospital is a member of Community Memorial Health System, 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 Chamber is proud to announce the recipient for October Business of the Month Award. Business of the Month for October 2012 went to Fillmore and Western Railway.

A message from the President:
We are happy to honor this business, they do so much for the community and many have no idea. In Fillmore you hear the train whistle and wonder what's going on? Is it another movie shoot? I hope so, it brings business to Fillmore and that's what we like to see. When you see the school buses parked by the train depot, that would be students that get to ride the train at a discounted fare. Some of them would not have the chance to ride a train but taking a school field trip gives them that opportunity. When you see cars all in the parking area by the depot, you may wonder, what's going on? well, there's just too much to mention however, if you go to the website at: www.fwry.com you can view each event, dinner, festival, holiday and train rides they provide. The Company has been a Member for the past decade and has been a sponsor for the Chamber's annual May Festival. At monthly mixer you will find that they donate gift certificates for the drawings. They also provided the community for several years by directing and hosting the annual Sespe Creek Car Show. If you go by the depot on the weekend, you will find it to be decorated with Holiday cheer. December they host the train rides: North Polar Express, Dinner with Santa, and you can go to the Christmas tree farm and cut your tree and bring it back on the train. If locals want to celebrate New Years Eve but don't want the hassle of driving out of town, take the New Years Eve train! Your ticket includes dinner and dancing on the train with a DJ playing a variety of favorite tunes. As you can see, they do a lot of fun events and they bring a lot of people to the Community. You will find their passengers walk around town as they shop before or after their train ride. This helps our local economy and we all appreciate that. So for October, we recognize this Company as Business of the Month. Congratulations Fillmore and Western Railway!

Short Line Enterprises Fillmore & Western Railway Co. “brief” bio
Short Line Enterprises was founded in 1967. Between 1967 and 1972, the company bought, sold and traded locomotives, passenger cars and freight cars, mostly of 19th century origin. The majority of the equipment was acquired from the property departments of three major movie studios: MGM, Paramount and 20th Century Fox. This activity, combined with Short Line’s experience in buying, selling and evaluating railroad equipment led to the company’s emergence as one of the foremost appraisers in America of rolling stock and other railroad-related items. It also focused the company on its long-term path of providing movie trains for the film industry.

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Persons interested in serving on the City of Fillmore Film Commission or Planning Commission are invited to submit an application to the City by Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 4 p.m.

The Film Commission markets Fillmore to the film industry and also assists with the development of the City’s film policies. The members shall have an interest in promoting, encouraging and assisting with film activities within the City. Film Commissioners may participate in annual film location expositions which serve to highlight what Fillmore has to offer to the film industry. The Film Commission generally meets the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. Monthly meetings last approximately one hour. Three seats on the commission will be appointed to a four-year terms ending in January 2017. At that time, the commissioners could re-apply to continue service on the commission. There is no residency requirement.

The Planning Commission, CONTINUED »

In September 2010, the City of Fillmore increased the length of time customers had to pay their utility bills to 31 calendar days. This time increase, coupled with four existing billing cycles, created an increase in outstanding accounts receivables, as customers could not be billed until time had passed for payment of the current account and their delinquent balance. This system also decreased the amount of cash the Water and Sewer Funds have available to pay expenditures. It has also increased the number of delinquent accounts by increasing the length of time for billing and delaying when bills are mailed, making it more difficult to collect past due balances. To remedy this billing issue, the City Council has changed the length of time a customer has to pay their utility bill from 31 calendar days to 19 calendar days.

In the event an account becomes delinquent, the City will mail a notice five days prior to the water being shut off, giving the customer notice that water will be shut off if the account is not paid by the date specified. A door hanger will be used only when the water is shut off.

In summary:
• Payments will be due 19 days from the utility billing date

• The delinquent notice is now a Five Day Final Notice, and if payment is not received by the 5th day at 4 p.m., service will be disconnected on the next business day

• There will no longer be a yellow door hanger prior to disconnection

Please contact the City of Fillmore at 805-524-3701 if you have any questions about these new procedures.

In a season unlike any other, NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” takes on child obesity by featuring kid participants for the first time ever on the show, joining 15 fiercely determined adults eager to lose weight and change their lives forever in a must-see, two-night premiere event on Sunday, January 6 (9-11 p.m. ET) and Monday, January 7 (8-10 p.m. ET). And joining “The Biggest Loser” team to help the kids get healthy in season 14 will be childhood obesity expert and pediatrician Dr. Joanna Dolgoff.

One of the three kid participants this season is Lindsay Bravo (eighth grade), 13, of Fillmore.

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Rancho Camulos National Historic Landmark Museum has expanded its docent led tour schedule and will have public tours Saturdays at 1, 2, and 3 in December and January. Tours can be arranged at other times by reservation. Entrance to the non-profit museum which is on private property is only allowed with a docent escort. . You should check the website, www.ranchocamulos.org, before going in case of closures due to weather or special activities.

Rancho Camulos…Where the history, myth, and romance of old California still lingers… is a unique place to bring the family and out of town guests. If you belong to a club or other group, you can make a reservation for a special group tour that will fit in with your schedule and special interests. Teachers and others working with youth groups are encouraged to schedule an interactive tour to learn about California history.

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