Thanks to the dogged efforts of Raymond S Brown Sr., Fillmore will soon have a traffic light on Highway 126 and Mountain View.

On Monday of this week the construction of the new light will begin with a survey team plotting the location. The Gazette will follow this story until construction is completed because it is an urgently needed safety feature. Many children cross fast-moving streams of traffic to and from school each day near Mountain View.

Mr. Brown is the true hero of this story. In a determined, single-handed effort, begun March of 2012, Brown has preached and prodded city and state organizations to take action. He worked closely with Caltrans and spoke-out at several city council meetings prompting action on the project, for four years and eight months.

The city owes a debt of gratitude to Mr. Brown for his support for this life-saving project.

A 33-year-old Camarillo man was found by Ventura County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team following a 26-hour hike into Los Padres National Forest. The man set off from Dough Flat and planned to bike east to Piru. The experienced set off on a mountain bike thinking that the trail would be more open than it was. He had few supplies except for water and a “space blanket”. When he recognized that his trip would take longer than he anticipated, he hunkered-down through the night. Helicopter attempts to find him after 8 p.m., resumed early the next day with a search-and-rescue volunteers. Rescue crews flew the route that night, using night-vision goggles and, later, infrared technology. Because he was located in a steep canyon there was no heat signature to see. At 2:00 p.m., 26 hours after leaving Dough Flat, above Fillmore, his tire tracks were which led to his rescue.

American Red Cross of Ventura County

The American Red Cross of Ventura County is hosting the Second Annual Operation: Ride for the Red cycling event on November 12, 2016, at the Red Cross office located at 836 Calle Plano, Camarillo, CA 93012. The event, which will benefit the local Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) Program, begins with the first riders leaving at 6:30 a.m.

This event has received a proclamation from the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in support of the ride and its cause. Support has also poured in from local companies who have joined the ride as sponsors including California Resources Corporation, Wells Fargo and Aviara Real Estate in Thousand Oaks among others.

There are four ride routes to choose from which vary in length between 5, 30, 50 and 100 miles, traversing Port Hueneme, Naval Air Station Point Mugu, and Channel Islands Air National Guard Station. All routes will start and end at the Red Cross office. Registration fees start at $50. Participants are asked to fundraise additional money for the cause and will receive a free t-shirt for participating. Anyone who does not wish to ride but would like to donate to the program, can do so online through the event’s Crowdrise page.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Red Cross SAF program which aims to provide humanitarian support to military members, veterans and their families around the clock and around the globe, under a trusted symbol. These support services include 24/7 global emergency communication services and support to military and veteran health care facilities across the country and overseas. The Red Cross helps families cope with deployments and support returning combat veterans as they reintegrate into the community.

Last year the Red Cross provided nearly 36,000 emergency communication services to more than 115,000 military members and their families, distributed more than 136,000 care, comfort and therapy items at military hospitals and medical facilities, and served nearly 23,000 individuals through rehabilitation and morale programs.

The SAF goal for the Central California region is to continue providing exceptional support to our military members and their families while expanding our direct support services to veterans. With increased support from this event, the Red Cross would be able to provide increased comfort and morale items and events, reintegration training and education, as well as improved support and partnership with other Veteran Service Organizations.

Learn more by visiting RedCross.org/OperationRide.

About the American Red Cross Central California Region
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. The American Red Cross Central California Region provides services to the ten counties across Central California that is home to more than 4 million people. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org.

The Share-iff’s Toy Drive has been a tradition in Ventura County for 31 years. Many families do not have the resources to provide their children with a traditional Christmas celebration. Each year, thousands of children experience a Christmas morning with no gifts to open.

Members of the Sheriff’s Office respond to calls throughout the county and encounter families without the means to exchange gifts during the holiday season. Fortunately, some of these families will be the recipients of gifts this holiday season, thanks to volunteers who participate in the Share-iff’s Toy Drive.

The Sheriff’s Office will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for children ages 13 and younger. All of the toys will be distributed to children within the cities of Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Fillmore, Ojai, and the unincorporated areas served by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.

All of our patrol stations will have boxes where staff members and the public can leave their unwrapped toys Monday through Friday from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm between November 01th and December 15th.

On December 17th, members of the Sheriff’s Office will open Santa’s workshop and provide some Christmas magic to those who need it most.

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

Sheriff's Headquarters - 800 S. Victoria Avenue, Ventura (805) 654-2304

For more information about how you can help, please contact:

Corina Lozano at corina.lozano@ventura.org
Victor Flores at victor.flores@ventura.org
Tim Lohman at tim.lohman@ventura.org
Jennifer Sezzi at jennifer.sezzi@ventura.org

Caltrans is proposing to build four roundabouts on Highway 126 to slow traffic. This plan is opposed by the Fillmore City Council. The Council also hopes that Santa Paula and county transportation agencies will join in this opposition.

By constructing these large traffic circles on the highway between Santa Paula and Fillmore Caltrans believes this measure will slow traffic and reduce the number of fatal accidents.

The council voted against this plan 5-0 and hopes to show that it would slow traffic and interfere with emergency response vehicles. The Council also sees no safety benefit to this construction and worries about the probable need to take farmland as well.

The Fillmore Council has drawn a resolution opposing the project and has asked the City of Santa Paula and the Ventura County Transportation Commission to join in this opposition. Councilman Doug Tucker has called for additional collaborative efforts to stop this plan.

Concerns about the roundabouts safety has become public following the death of Ryan Osler who was riding in a water truck, through a roundabout on Highway 246, when it overturned after hitting a curb. The event occurred near Lompoc.

Councilman Manuel Minjares expressed concern about the construction slowing ambulance traffic to the hospital in Santa Paula or Ventura. In February a Caltrans official told the Council that the roundabouts would probably slow traffic by up to three minutes between Fillmore and Santa Paula.