Fillmore Unified School District

Board meeting highlights for the Fillmore Unified School District

45 Day Budget Update
The Governing Board received a presentation on the 45 Day Budget Update. Presentation was delivered by Assistant Superintendent, Andrea McNeill and Director of Fiscal Services, Martha Corona.

Approve Adoption of Core/Basic Materials
The Governing Board approved the adoption of the following textbook, teacher's edition and instructional materials for Spanish III. The textbook, iAvancemos! 3, is the companion textbook for the series of iAvancemos! 1 and iAvancemos! 2, Fillmore Unified School District's current adoption, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Approve Transportation Advisory Committee
The Governing Board approved the career technical education advisory committee. The purpose of this committee is to develop recommendations on the pathway program and to provide liaison between the district and potential employers.

Approve Resolution No. 19-20-02 Assignments of Teachers Who Are Teaching Outside of Their Credential Authorization Or On An Emergency Permit
The Governing Board adopted Resolution No. 19-20-02 approving the teacher assignments as listed on the attached report for teachers working outside of their credential authorization.

Personnel Recommendations
The Board approved all personnel recommendations including new hires, promotions, resignations, and leaves.

Trinity Episcopal Church at 2nd and Saratoga is happy to be the site of the newest Little Free Library in Fillmore. Built by Jack Stethem at the request of Lynn Edmonds, it honors the memory of Harvey and Doris Guthrie, long time members of the Trinity family.

Marie Wren started the Fillmore Little Free Library initiative in Fillmore with a model of Fillmore’s depot, also built by Jack Stethem. Little Free Library is an international nonprofit organization that inspires a love of reading, builds community, and sparks creativity by fostering neighborhood book exchanges around the world.

Stop by and “take a book, leave a book.” More information on Little Free Libraries can be found at http://littlefreelibrary.org/

Bob Crum

As I parked my truck, two other SUVs parked alongside. Uh oh, are they going to go where I'm going? I waited. And waited! Alas, they're going on the other trail. The countryside is getting crowded these days. There are times when I have to patiently wait to make the photo I want because of 'tourist' intruders. Consideration for photographers seems to have gone the way of extinct white rhinos.

Landscape photography is a favorite, ranking right up there with my specialty: Mermaid boudoir photography. I scour maps and the Internet in search of photogenic gems. Without photography, I probably would not have traveled far afield to shoot the southwest's magnificent landscape. Places like Montaña de Oro State Park, Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve replete with spectacular "tufa towers." Tufas are calcium-carbonate spires and knobs formed by the interaction of freshwater springs and alkaline lake water.

Other interesting locations visited: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Lake Tahoe, Big Sur, the Mojave Desert, Mt. Whitney, Alabama Hills outside of Lone Pine, where many western films were made. Another fascinating sight is the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest high up in the White Mountains. Some of these living trees exceed 4000 years of age. And there's Avila Beach at Port St. Luis Harbor and the Harford Pier, home of Mr. Fishbreath, the resident chubby sea lion. I made an exciting whale photo in St. Luis Bay as it broached twenty feet from the pier with a mouthful of small fish. Woohoo!

So I ask: How many readers have hopped in their vehicle and made a day trip to observe some awesome landscape? Or wildflowers? Or wildlife? See what I mean? This creative itch and my passion for photography are what motivates me to continue to seek landscape eye candy to photograph. Why go to see such grand vistas and not make a photo for posterity? Just a thought.

OK, time to get technical. Landscape photography lends itself wonderfully to... wait for it... Av (aperture priority) mode! Av, a semi-automatic mode, is my most used mode when I'm lazy. OK, actually best for landscapes. In landscape photos, I prefer to maintain a large depth-of-field. Meaning, I prefer everything from near to far to be in focus. On rare occasions I may choose to isolate a particular subject by opening the aperture to blur the background. This is the joy of photographic creativity?

Whether manual or Av mode, I usually lock aperture at f/11 which insures a large depth-of-field. In Av mode, the aperture remains constant so the camera will have to adjust shutter speed and/or ISO for proper exposure. However, in normal daylight, I often also peg ISO at 100, the lowest setting. Av mode is absolutely necessary for HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography to maintain a constant depth-of-field through multiple exposures.

Of course, there are exceptions: Golden hour and blue hour. In Av mode during those times, I first imbibe a strawberry margarita and while I float I'll let ISO float in auto mode to account for the lower light levels. Works every time! Tv (Shutter priority mode) is the other semi-automatic mode to be discussed another day.

No one found the intentional mistake in last week's column. I was sure several readers would have caught it.

It's dishonorable to ignore a beautiful flower. On assignment downtown, I noticed a beautiful bird-of-paradise flower. As I approached, I heard: "Hi there, I'm posing just for you." Well thank you, I said, and made this delightful photo of the week. As I left I heard it whisper: "Thank you!"

Send comments, questions or suggestions to: focusonphotography@earthlink.net

The Plaque is honoring over 62 years of service to the citizens of Fillmore by the Fillmore Police Department Officers and Dispatchers from 1925-1987.

Up until the late 1970’s the majority of employees came from the citizens of Fillmore and surrounding areas, such as the City of Santa Paula and Piru community.

We hope the Plaque will keep the spirit of community law enforcement alive. The families of these brave and dedicated individuals can now visit City Hall and see their loved ones honored for decades to come.

The City of Fillmore decided to contract police services through the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office in 1987; staffing issues and budget concerns were the stated reasons. Since then the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office has provided outstanding service, which continues to make Fillmore a very safe city.

Currently, Captain Eric Tennessen is Police Chief of Fillmore. His help with the planning of the dedication ceremony and Master of Ceremonies duties has been invaluable. The support from the Fillmore City Council and City Manager David Rowlands has been greatly appreciated.

The Fillmore Police Brotherhood started in 2014. And since then retired Fillmore PD Sgt. Max Pina has been the President up until a few weeks ago. Max has decided to spend more quality time with his family and especially all the grandchildren. We will miss Max’s leadership, but fully support his decision.

We welcome retired Fillmore Police LT. Mark Dominguez in taking the leadership role as the new president.

The Fillmore City Council Chamber was approved by the City for the ceremony. It was packed with approximately 140, former Police Department Employees and family members.

A special presentation honoring two former Fillmore officers, Hank Carrillo and Larry Carpenter, who left to continue their law enforcement careers with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. Both men continued to live in Fillmore.

Hank Carrillo retired at the rank of Lieutenant and Larry Carpenter served as the Ventura County Sheriff for several years. Hank was very active in the community and school sporting events, also known as “The Voice of Fillmore“ for announcing football games, beauty pageants, and 18 years of parades, among many other civic duties. Larry was always there when the community needed him. He provided Quality staffing of intern “Chiefs of Police” when Fillmore needed them. Hank was one those selected to the assignment.

We know of five officers from the Fillmore Police Department who received “The Medal of Valor” the highest honor awarded to officers for heroism and bravery in saving a human Life:
Senior Officer Max S. Pina
Officer Hess Zavala
Res. Officer Robert Butler
Senior Officer Robert Arnold
Res. Sergeant Duke Bradbury

Former Fillmore City Budget Consultant John Wooner.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (Courtesy KGET) — An SUV recovered from the Kern River has been identified as the missing Dodge Durango registered to the city of McFarland which had been driven by John Wooner, the city manager who disappeared in May 2019.

The body of a man was found inside the Durango after it was pulled from the river Sunday, but has not been identified.
The SUV was discovered Saturday afternoon about three miles into the canyon.

A sergeant on scene reported the vehicle has been in the water for a while and only became visible because water levels dropped about three feet in the last week.

In May, Wooner went missing in the Durango after he was last seen visiting his father’s grave at Hillcrest Memorial Park.
That cemetery is 11.1 miles from where the submerged vehicle was removed.

Wooner was hired as a consultant by the City of Fillmore to advice on the City’s 2009-2010 budget in July of 2009.