Fillmore High to host “Vaping Presentation: What Parents Need to Know”, October 22, 2019 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., in the Fillmore Unified School District auditorium, 627 Sespe Avenue, Fillmore, CA 93015. For more information call Alma Ixta at (805) 981-8475. Courtesy Fillmore High School website.

Bob Crum

'Tis the autumn season and reminiscing often leads to waxing whimsical. I grew up in a small New Jersey farming community. To the north of home, a raw unmolested forest of deciduous trees stood protected by thorny briars. On my hands and knees, my dog King and I would crawl through the briars to the secret path that led to our oasis along Shalk's creek. Every autumn, the landscape became the canvas upon which nature painted vivid scenes. Imagine an eyeful of colorful scarlet oak, vivid yellows from tulip poplars, and the golden leaves of black hickory. This potpourri of brilliant colors is much too majestic to be observed with a glance and dismissed. Enthralled with the essence of Mother Nature's creativity, my dog King and I would spend as much time as my mother would allow at a clearing in the forest along the creek. Occasionally a trout would break water leaping to catch an insect. Squirrels often joined us. Songbirds provided the melody, in G# of course. There is little that massages the feeling of awe better than such an experience.

Back at the house, mom's constant command: Bobby, rake the leaves! The unspoken reward: A leap into the giant pile I made. Giggles guaranteed! And I can still feel the cushioned landing. And smell the aroma of crushed leaves. Ah, sentimental and wistful affection for my childhood days. But I digress.

That was then and before I had a camera. Nevertheless, the memories remain as vivid as the colors. Green trees presently predominate here in Fillmore. Some leaves on the sycamore trees are beginning to turn, many dislodged by the recent Santa Ana breeze. But sycamore leaves don't turn a vibrant color. They simply go from green to blah. The only thing more depressing is not winning the Power Ball lottery.

Dazzling displays of autumn colors in Southern California are rare. However, the eastern Sierra is replete with color galore. Mono County woodlands provide some of the best golden-orange-crimson autumn colors in the western United States.

The Mono County website (monocounty.org) declares that the time to go is now. "Travel to Rock Creek, Mammoth Lakes, the June Lake Loop, Yosemite (Tioga Pass), Lundy Canyon, Bridgeport, Sonora Pass and beyond to see fall colors at their finest." Find hotspots at http://tinyurl.com/yyr5j5dv. Though my yearning to go is intense, previous commitments prevent it. Because the colors of autumn are a short season, not sure I can engage this year.

Tips for compelling photos of fall foliage. First, a dedicated camera is the tool of choice. A polarizing filter on your lens will enhance the vibrant colors. If you're at a creek, wet leaves on the bank shot with a polarizing filter make killer photos.

Light and weather are significant factors. Don't let overcast skies discourage you. Such conditions provide saturated colors. Overcast light will reduce harsh shadows and highlights bringing forth lovely colors that bright sun often dampens. Wait! If you prefer super shadows and highlights, direct sunlight will increase the tonal range with a touch of drama. And don't quit shooting too early. The blue hour, right after sunset or just before sunrise, often adds a delectable blue/purple hue to fall foliage. The golden hour - the hour after sunrise and before sunset - often adds a luscious touch of gold to the leaves.

Blue hour, golden hour, high noon, or any tick-of-the-tock: If there's light, I take delight in shooting what I behold. Go and make photos of fall foliage and send me your best photo!

The photo of the week is of John, made during the recent downtown photo walk.

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

(above) Bruce Johnson, tenant of Fillmore's Packinghouse Creative, voicing his frustrations at City Council regarding the red tagging of the building (the packing house at Sespe and A Street across from the fire station) back in August of this year. See Johnson’s Letter to the Editor in the "Letters" section.

A half-dozen Fillmore business owners complained to the Council about the red-tagging of businesses located in the packinghouse at Sespe/Landeros and A Street. The City maintains warnings have been sent to each business in the structure concerning violations of state and local safety issues. The building owner contends that these citations cannot reasonably be satisfied financially in the 100-year old building and is causing businesses to abandon their places in the historic structure.

8.A 1) PUBLIC HEARING: CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCE 19-920, ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT 19-04, AMENDING THE FILLMORE MUNICIPAL CODE TO REMOVE THE TEMPORARY USE PERMIT REQUIREMENT FOR SPECIAL EVENTS AND FINDING OF EXEMPTION FROM CEQA; AND 2) CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCE 19-919, AMENDING THE FILLMORE MUNICIPAL CODE TO ESTABLISH A SPECIAL EVENT PERMIT REQUIREMENT
FOR EVENTS ON PUBLIC PROPERTY AND FINDING OF EXEMPTION FROM CEQA, was unanimously approved.

PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT
23 Staff recommends moving forward with this item. Civic Rec Staff is recommending the purchase of a new online recreation software from Civic Rec. Staff likes the way this software operates behind the scenes for staff and for the general public. Civic Rec will be able to manage all of the following: •Online facility / park rentals• League registration for basketball/baseball•Recreation class registration• Ticket sales for special events• Point of Sale operations for the aquatics center – this would replace the square system oDaily entry transactions Scheduling of swim lessons The software interfaces with a company called Sky Logix. Sky Logix makes a wireless controller for field lighting systems. When an end user completes a reservation for one of our fields, the lights will automatically turn on and off based on the reservation in the system. This would prevent facilities staff from having to travel to the park to turn on/off the lights. The wireless lighting controller would be an additional cost above and beyond the cost to Civic Rec for software as detailed below. The time savings generated would pay for the wireless controller. The first-year cost is $10,500. That includes a $6,000 setup/implementation charge for CivicRec and a $4,500 annual subscription fee. The recurring cost is then $4,500/year. Staff tabulated the rental revenues from FY17/18 for the Memorial Building, Active Adult Center, Parks & Pool and determined the cost of our annual revenue to be $129,746 for rentals. Based on those figures, staff estimates being able to offset the annual subscription fee of the software by charging a 3.5% online booking fee. The booking fee would need to be adopted formally.

28 FISCAL IMPACT: Fiscal impact for recommended items – $206,428.93 No funds were budgeted for these items and would need to come from the reserve funds. RECOMMENDATION 1. Discuss and comment on items proposed by city staff. It was determined that the city's parks are in need of additional maintenance. Delores Day Park, the swimming pool, and other park areas were discussed and commented on by City Manager David Rowlands.

DISCUSSION: Over the past several months, City staff has been putting together a list of projects and repair estimates for various City facilities for City Council consideration. None of these projects are included in the adopted 2019-20 Budget. FINANCE DEPARTMENT: Data Ticket Inc. is used by a number of cities in Ventura County to process citations and issue permits including the Cities of Ventura, Port Hueneme, and Camarillo and the Ventura Community College District. Working with Data Ticket would allow the City to put RV and driveway parking permits, garage sale permits, and citation payments all online in one system.

Staff recommendations were unanimously approved.

The Fillmore Unified School District received $776,119 in state funding to tackle the illegal sale of cigarettes and tobacco products to minors as part of the California Department of Justice’s Tobacco Grant Program. The grants were awarded to 76 local entities throughout the state to support the enforcement of state and local laws related to the illegal sales and marketing of tobacco products to minors. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the recipients on October 1, 2019.

Fillmore Unified School District Superintendent, Dr. Adrian Palazuelos, shared “Fillmore Unified is committed to ensuring that our actions will enable the youth of our community to better understand the risks associated with tobacco and nicotine use.”

“Tobacco is a serious threat to public health, especially to California’s youth,” said Attorney General Becerra. “These grants will support local communities in enforcing the law and educating kids about the harms of tobacco products. My office is dedicated to ensuring the state has the resources necessary to curb the dangers of tobacco and protect the public’s well-being. Preventing or reducing illegal sales of tobacco to minors will pave the way to a healthier California—we’re committed to tackling this public health crisis head on.”

The Fillmore Unified School District will use the funding to address underage tobacco and nicotine use, as well as provide training and outreach to parents and students regarding the dangers of tobacco and nicotine use.

The Department of Justice’s Tobacco Grant Program is funded by Proposition 56 (Prop. 56), the California Healthcare, Research and Prevention Tobacco Tax Act of 2016. Beginning April 2017, Prop. 56 raised the cigarette tax by $2.00 per pack, with an equivalent increase on all other tobacco products. Prop. 56 also allocates millions of dollars annually to the California Department of Justice for distribution to local law enforcement agencies for the support and hiring of peace officers for various activities. These activities include investigations and compliance checks to reduce the illegal sale of tobacco products to minors.

Possible PSPS for Fillmore due to high winds. When there are potentially dangerous weather conditions in fire prone areas, we (Edison) may need to call a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) event. During these events, we will proactively turn off power in high fire risk areas to reduce the threat of wildfires. Turning off our customers’ power is not something we take lightly, but PSPS events are one of the ways we can better ensure the safety of the public, our customers, and our employees. Including: Ventura County (approximately 1,589 customers) Fillmore and unincorporated areas. Maps available at www.sce.com/safety/wildfire/psps

On Saturday, October 5th at around 4:40 p.m., shots were fired to warn a group of hikers on private property near a remote canyon Piru. At about the same time a car crash and an injured woman were reported near the Holser Canyon Fire Road location.

An 89-year old woman, who lives in the area, saw a group of trespassers walk onto her property. Feeling alarmed she armed herself with a rifle and gave warning shots away from the group of nine. The hikers were part of a survival training group from a nearby shooting range.

The group, including an off-duty CHP officer, began to leave her property. She proceeded to follow them down the road in her truck, and leveled her rifle at them.

A member of the group opened the woman’s truck door and tried to wrestle the gun away from her. Her foot came off the brake, she fell from the truck, the truck ran over her ankle, and proceeded to roll off a cliff.

Airlift units were called and the woman was transported to the hospital for her minor injuries. No other injuries were reported. Neither the woman nor group pursued charges.

Enlarge Photo

On Saturday, September 28th, from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM, the Fillmore Police Citizen Patrol and Ventura County Sheriff’s Office teamed up with local organizations to present a bicycle rodeo to more than one hundred Piru children.

The Bicycle Rodeo was held at the San Salvador Mission in Piru and included a bicycle safety course, free helmets and fitting assistance for every child who attended, bicycle tune-ups and raffle prizes. The Sheriff’s Office also had displays from the Sheriff’s Bomb Squad, SWAT, K9 and Mounted Volunteer Units. The Ventura County Fire Department also participated in the event.

More than 125 Piru children attended and participated in the safety course designed by BikeVentura. The safety of our children is a top priority, and the children who attended the event learned the basics in rules of the road for bicyclists and in bicycle safety.

Sponsors of the event included the San Salvador Mission, BikeVentura, Piru Pizza, California Resource Corporation, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Foundation and the Ventura County Deputy Sheriff’s Association.

Nature of Incident: Piru Bicycle Safety Rodeo a Success
Location: San Salvador Mission
4041 Center Street, Piru
Date & Time: Saturday, September 28th, 2019 – 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM
Unit(s) Responsible: Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and Fillmore Police Citizen Patrol
Prepared by: Sergeant Dave Sparks #2409
Approved by: Captain Eric Tennessen

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

On 10/01/19, at about 1:44 PM, Sheriff’s Dispatch received a report of two overdue hikers. The two hikers, (P) Debbie Murphy and (P) Myrto Karamitsou, were due to return on 09/30/19. While initiating an investigation, the hikers activated their personal locator beacon (PLB). A Ventura County Aviation Unit helicopter (Air Squad 8) was dispatched and located the hikers. The hikers were flown out of the mountains to a predetermined location in Fillmore.

On 09/27/19, at about 3:00 PM, Karamitsou and Murphy started hiking from Middle Lyons Camp Ground, north of Ojai. Their plan was to hike from Middle Lyons Camp Ground, traverse the Sespe River, and emerge in Fillmore. They estimated they would arrive in Fillmore on 09/30/19.

Karamitsou and Murphy packed accordingly for their hike; they brought enough food, proper clothing, and a water filtration system to sustain them for the duration of their trek. Additionally, they carried a PLB in case of an emergency.

When Karamitsou and Murphy did not return on the planned date, Karamitsou’s husband notified Sheriff’s Dispatch. From him, we were able to obtain information about Karamitsou’s and Murphy’s planned route, provisions, and hiking experience. The Ventura County Aviation Unit was notified about the circumstances and began preparing to launch Air Squad 8 for a search of the hikers. Just prior to the launch of Air Squad 8, Karamitsou and Murphy activated their PLB.

Activation provided responders with accurate latitude and longitude coordinates to assist in locating the overdue hikers Air Squad 8 took off from the Camarillo Airport and located Karamitsou and Murphy in the Sespe River, near Tar Creek Falls. Air Squad 8 performed a hover load to allow for a Crew Chief and Search and Rescue Paramedic to depart the aircraft.

The crew members were hover loaded onto a large boulder in the river bottom and made contact with the hikers. They learned Karamitsou and Murphy were not injured and did not require any medical attention. Karamitsou and Murphy activated their PLB because the terrain prevented them from progressing further down the Sespe River towards the city of Fillmore. Karamitsou and Murphy were secured onto Air Squad 8, via a hover load, and flown to a predetermined location in Fillmore.

Karamitsou and Murphy were prepared with the appropriate level of food, water, and personal survival gear. Karamitsou and Murphy notified someone outside of their hiking group about their trip. This included departure and arrival locations, planned route, and an arrival date.

Additionally, Karamitsou and Murphy were carrying a PLB with them.
The Ventura County Aviation Unit would like to remind all individuals who enter the backcountry to register your trip with someone who is or will be able to keep track of your progress. Additionally, it is important to recognize your limitations when traversing difficult terrain. Karamitsou’s and Murphy’s use of their PLB enabled rescuers to pin point their exact location without conducting a lengthy search.

Nature of Incident: Rescue of Two Hikers
Report Number: 19-154450
Location: Los Padres National Forest, Sespe River near Tar Creek Falls
Date & Time: 10/01/19 @ 3:15 PM
Unit(s) Responsible: Special Services / Aviation Unit – Search & Rescue
(S)uspects, (V)ictims, (P)arty, (D)ecedent City of Residence Age
(P) Myrto Karamitsou Ojai 50
(P) Debbie Murphy Ojai 58
Prepared by: Deputy Kristopher Doepking
Approved by: Captain Paris