On Sunday, October 20th at 9:05pm on Highway 126 in Fillmore, near Ventura and C Street, a Ventura County Sherriff’s Deputy was struck by a pickup truck which is said to have run a red light. Damages to the Sherriff’s vehicle were significant, but the deputy and driver both appeared to be ok. California Highway Patrol is taking over the investigation.

Gustavo Diaz, of Oxnard

District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that Judge Anthony Sabo sentenced Gustavo Diaz (DOB 01/31/1988), of Oxnard, to 23 years to life in prison for crimes committed against his spouse including premeditated attempted murder and kidnapping. Diaz faced a maximum possible sentence of 28 years to life.

On December 10, 2015, Diaz forced the victim into her car at knifepoint. Diaz drove erratically throughout the county while threatening to kill the victim. The victim attempted to jump out of the car and yell for help while stopped at a red light in the city of Fillmore, but Diaz forcibly pulled the victim back into the car and sped away. While driving east on Highway 126, Diaz stabbed the victim multiple times in the chest, arm and back while continuing to threaten her life. The victim eventually jumped out of the moving vehicle in an effort to save her own life. The victim’s injuries required surgery to repair. Diaz disposed of the knife and the victim’s car in a remote canyon in Los Angeles County.

On August 22, 2019, a jury convicted Diaz of premeditated attempted murder, kidnapping, inflicting corporal injury on a spouse, assault with a deadly weapon and criminal threats. The jury also found that Diaz had personally inflicted great bodily injury upon the victim and personally used a deadly weapon.

The case was investigated by the Oxnard Police Department, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The case was prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Sexual Assault and Family Protection Unit.

The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office is the public prosecutor for the county’s 850,000 residents. The office employs approximately 280 employees including attorneys, investigators, victim advocates, and other professional support staff who strive to seek justice, ensure public safety, and protect the rights of crime victims.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Residents of Ventura County have been the constant victims of scams ranging from fraudulent phone callers falsely demanding money to in person lottery scams. In order to prevent further victimization, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office has created a Scam Hotline. Scams not only vary from County to County, they also vary from city to city so we created Scam Hotlines for every patrol station.

When you call the hotline, a recorded message will detail the most current and prevalent scams in your area. At the conclusion of the message, you can let us know about any other scams you are aware of. The line is frequently monitored and we will update the current scams based on the information you provide us as well as well as information from our investigative units. Here are the phone numbers along with a link to our website with the Scam Hotline numbers:

Camarillo: (805) 388-5175
Headquarters (Ventura unincorporated area): (805) 654-2145
Fillmore: (805) 477-7020
Moorpark: (805) 299-1566
Ojai: (805) 477-7050
Thousand Oaks: (805) 371-8327
https://www.venturasheriff.org/public-resources/fraud-hotline-phone-list...

Please be vigilant and report any scams to us so we can share the information.

Prepared by: Commander John Reilly

Bob Crum

Film-specifically 35mm-was as comfortable as a fleece throw. All I had to do was shoot and hand over the exposed film to a processor. Remember 1-Hour photos? Once made, the prints laid quietly in a dark, sealed envelope. Grasping the envelope, my shaky hands anxiously opened the package. Alas, with prints in hand... some oohs and ahs but oh my, also lots of over-or-under-exposed failures, a.k.a, crap! C'est la vie!

As I pursued film photography with a vengeance, digital photography was well entrenched with gear improving by the month. Mattered little! I would rather wrestle a beluga whale than convert to digital. One year at the Ventura County Fair, I shot eight rolls of 36-exposure film. Yes, eight rolls! It was necessary because focus and exposure were of the utmost importance, and it's not possible to 'chimp' film. (chimping is checking the photo just made on the digital camera's LCD screen). For publication, focus and exposure were of the utmost importance.

But think about this: 36 x 8 = 288 frames of film. While eight rolls of film may seem like a lot for one day of shooting, it was one-third of a typical day of shooting digital. The significant difference is bad film photos were costly. Ma'am, there are 17 lousy photos in this pack, so I deserve a processing refund. But sir, we didn't screw up, you did. These days, bad digital photos (yes, I occasionally pressed the shutter button too soon or too late) are deleted and marched to the pixel graveyard.

Why did I resist converting to digital? Because I'm not any different than most. We often resist learning curves when they are inconvenient, don't we? Learning how to operate a new camera is a daunting task. So many dials. So many options. The menu as pickled as a jar of pigs' feet. And, if RAW photos (equivalent to film) are made, it's also essential to learn photo editing programs on a computer — more anguish. I didn't want any part of any of that. NONE! NADA! My Canon A-1 was working just fine. And I knew it forward and backward. Compose in the viewfinder, adjust exposure, focus and press the shutter button — no reason in the world to change cameras.

Then one day, I needed to go to Home Depot in Oxnard. In the same shopping center, I visited a Circuit City store as the company was going out of business. One digital camera remained in the glass enclosure: A Canon Xsi and two kit lenses. It screamed: BUY ME! OK... OK! I gingerly, and nervously handed the clerk a credit card. I bought the camera and both lenses. Ready or not, it was D-(Digital) Day. That little Canon camera ignited a new photographic world that, to this day, I enjoy immensely.

Fast forward to now. Phonetographers profusely and loudly proclaim that photography with a dSLR camera is dead, so get over it! Get the Apple iPhone 11 pro with the triple-camera system-ultra wide, wide and telephoto lenses they say. Much easier to whip out the cell phone and take the snapshot they insist. Bidda-bing, bidda-boom, the photo goes viral on the Net. Ha! It's just another snapshot on social media that's forgotten about in three minutes or less. In spite of rumors, as long as creativity is a paramount force of photography, cameras rule! Touché phonetographers!

Sunset on Main Street is the photo of the week, another in a series of photos made during the recent PhotoWalk. Proof that we have plenty of photo ops right here in town. Grab your camera and shoot!

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

At the September 24 and October 8, 2019 City Council meetings, several tenants of the Citrus Packing House (CPH) complained about the treatment and the limited hours of operation imposed by the City of Fillmore’s yellow tag on the building. A “yellow tag” limits entry into a building until corrections needed for safety are made. Once the safety corrections are made, the yellow tag will be removed. The list of safety corrections was agreed upon months ago, after the City was allowed to inspect the entire building.

The building’s owner, David Storrs, is aware of the fire and safety conditions needing to be rectified and never applied for a business license or the other permits necessary to operate the CPH. For more than two years the City has been talking with Mr. Storrs about the code violations at the CPH and, although promises were made, no code violations were remedied until the City issued a red tag on the building. Then, within a week, the two most significant safety concerns were corrected, and the City was able to reduce the red tag to a yellow tag.

It is unfortunate that the tenants have been placed in this situation by Mr. Storrs, but the City has an obligation to enforce local and State building codes. As an example, at one point City staff discovered that two businesses with combustible materials were located dangerously close to one another within the CPH. It is the City’s responsibility to prevent this from happening, but City staff can only do so when landlords and tenants communicate with the City and apply for required permits and licenses.

Despite all of the delays and even though Mr. Storrs still does not have the permits required to operate the CPH and the plans he promised the City to address the fire and safety issues were due more than one month ago have not been submitted, the City is allowing him to keep the CPH open, for the benefit of the tenants. The increased hours for the occupancy of the CPH while the yellow tag remains were set at 7 AM to 7 PM Monday – Saturday per Mr. Storrs’s request. As he has made no further progress the City is unable, at this time, to further extend the hours.

The City has and continues to do what it can to work with the landlord to resolve the fire and safety issues at the CPH. The City has a responsibility to the CPH tenants and the citizens of Fillmore. Although it may not be a popular stance at this time, protecting the tenants and adjacent property owners is the right thing to do.

Nelson Davila Cruz, 63, Los Angeles CA.

A lottery scam investigation in Fillmore on Thursday, October 10th, led to the arrest of a Los Angeles man for felony conspiracy to commit a crime, obtaining money by false pretenses, elder abuse, and an out-of-county felony warrant.

On October 10th, at approximately 2:40 p.m., an elderly female entered Bank of the Sierra in the city of Fillmore and proceeded to withdraw a large sum of money from her account. Cruz entered the bank as the elderly female was conducting the transaction. Cruz appeared to have an unusual interest in the elderly female and her transaction which prompted bank employees to notify the Sheriff’s Office. Patrol deputies and detectives responded to the bank and Cruz was contacted scurrying out of the bank. Patrol deputies interviewed the elderly female who told them she was contacted by two suspects, a male and female, asking for her help cashing a winning lottery ticket. They convinced the elderly female to obtain “good faith” money from her account that was needed to cash the winning ticket. The two suspects handed the elderly female one of their cellphones and a male on the other line impersonated himself as a lawyer corroborating what she had been told by the two suspects reference the winning lottery ticket.

Detectives determined Cruz was working in concert with the unidentified male and female suspects and he was booked at the Main Jail for PC 532(a) / Obtaining Money, Labor or Property by False Pretenses, PC 182(a)(1) / Conspiracy to Commit a Crime, and PC 368(b)(1) / Elder/Dependent Adult Abuse. During the booking process, it was discovered Cruz had an out-of-county felony warrant for PC 487(a) / Grand Theft by Embezzlement and was a suspect in Long Beach case for a lottery scam.

The common methods for carrying out these crimes include targeting the elderly, suspects alleging he/she cannot cash the winning lottery ticket due to their nationality, suspects working in pairs of two or three, and the request to wire, transfer, or obtain money or goods in exchange for winnings from a fictitious lottery ticket. The Sheriff’s Office encourages anyone who believes they are possibly being scammed in a similar matter to contact local law enforcement.

Nature of Incident: Lottery Scam
Report Number: RB# 19-159713
Location: City of Fillmore
Date & Time: 10/10/19 @ 2:40 PM
Unit(s) Responsible: Fillmore Patrol Services and Detectives
(S)uspects, (V)ictims, (P)arty, (D)ecedent City of Residence Age
(S) Nelson Davila Cruz, 63, of Los Angeles, Ca
Prepared by: Detective Shawn Pewsey #3867
Approved by: Captain Eric Tennessen

On October 9, 2019, at 7:30 AM, Santa Paula Police officers responded to an armed carjacking report at 6th and Santa Paula St. The officers contacted the victims and learned their 2000 Chevy Silverado truck was stolen at gunpoint by a male and female juvenile. SPPD notified surrounding agencies of the incident, including details of the stolen vehicle.

At approximately 3 PM, SPPD received information from the Ventura Police Department that the stolen vehicle was spotted fleeing from a shopping center in Ventura after a female juvenile was arrested for shoplifting. The female subject was later identified as one of the two suspects involved in the carjacking incident that occurred earlier in the day in Santa Paula.

At about 3:30 PM, SPPD received additional information that the stolen truck was involved in a traffic accident on Highway 126 at Pyle Road, Fillmore. Four male juveniles and a female juvenile were arrested by Ventura County Sheriff's deputies after the suspects fled the accident on foot. One of the male subjects was later identified as the second suspect involved in the carjacking incident that occurred earlier in Santa Paula. The Santa Paula Police K-9 Unit searched the area where the suspects were arrested and discovered a loaded firearm fitting the description of the gun used during the carjacking incident.

Subsequent investigation revealed the subjects are known gang members and was involved in a countywide crime spree that spanned Santa Paula, Oxnard, and Ventura. The crimes included multiple armed robberies, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a loaded firearm, and attempted theft.

“This effort is a perfect example of local law enforcement agencies working together to share intelligence in order to solve a variety of crimes while remove dangerous gang members from the community,” said Chief Steve Mclean. “Thank you to the Santa Paula Police Department, Ventura Police Department, Ventura County Sheriff's Department, and California Highway Patrol for working closely to end this crime spree within eight hours of the first incident.”

The investigation is on-going.

Officer Preparing Press Release:
Assistant Chief of Police
Approved by: Chief of Police Steven McLean #1001

Socks are one of the most needed items for the needy! This year we are once again holding a sock drive for Fillmore kids. Our goal is 1,000 pairs of new socks! Drop off box will be available Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at Diamond Realty, 460 Santa Clara St., Fillmore. We will be accepting sock donations until December 1, 2019. New children’s socks only—toddler and up—no infant socks. There are donation boxes around the community. Questions? Contact Lorraine at 805.298.5318

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.