The Heritage Valley Girl Scouts from Piru to Santa Paula celebrated 100 years of Girl Scouting, Friday night February 10, 2012 at Wesley Hall at the Presbyterian Church on Mill St., Santa Paula. This celebration coincided with the annual World Thinking Day which occurs every February 22 around the world in which Girl Scouts participate in activities with global themes to honor their sister Girl Scouts and Guides in other countries.

This year’s event was attended by over 200 people as they watched 14 local troops adopt a state, set up a booth with their state’s history, facts and favorite foods which were available for tasting. The girls entertained everyone with a performance centered around their adopted states.

This event was hosted by Senior troop, 60933 with Suzi Ortiz as their leader. They also gave a wonderful history of the 100 years of Girl Scouting dating back to its founder, Juliette Gordon Low, who started the first U. S. troop in Savannah, Georgia back in 1912. Low worked with Lord Baden Powell in England back in 1911 when Boy Scouts was founded there.

The troops that participated in this event with their adopted states include: Santa Paula troops: 60040, Cadettes, Leader-Erin Valenzuela, Alaska, 60321, Cadettes, Leader-Cathy Fernandez, California, 60287, Seniors, Leader-Marilyn Appleby, Virginia, 60624, Daisys, Leaders- Glenda Learn and Karen Reeder, New York, 60625, Brownies, Leader-Susan Reese, Texas, 60638, Juniors, Leader Karen Reeder, Louisiana, 60776, Brownies, Leader-Cathy Fernandez, Kansas.

The Fillmore troop participants were: 60420, Brownies, Leaders-Casey Beckett and Kelli Couse, Illinois, 60697, Juniors, Leader-Andrea Rodriguez, Hawaii, 60631,Cadettes, Leader- Autumn Ramirez, Oregon, 60558, Juniors, Leader Kelli Couse, Wisconsin, 60101, Brownies, Leader-Lena Perez, Washington, 60120, Daisies, Leader-Alyssa Cruz, Georgia.

Last night the Alumni Board had their first Board meeting of the year. Many subjects were discussed from Class Pictures being framed to our 100th Alumni Anniversary in June 2013. The Financial reserves were discussed and approved. The Flashbacks (Newsletter) Editor gave us information on the upcoming issue, and should be ready to mail out before the end of the month. Speaking of Flashbacks, please send us any fun stories of your years growing up in Fillmore, or attending Fillmore Schools. We can publish them in the upcoming issues of Flashbacks.

The 2012 Scholarship Applications were sent to the High School in January, and we already have 37 apps returned for review. The Deadline for the High School Seniors to get their application in to the Alumni office is February 24th.

Another discussion being brought up was having an Alumni Booth at the Fillmore May Festival this May. Information will be collected and then the Board will decide whether to go with this project or not. One of the concerns is getting enough Alumni in the area to work the booth. If you ever have thought about helping the Alumni out in some way or another, please contact the Alumni Office at 805-524-0416, and discuss this with Mark Ortega. It could be anything. Maybe setting up chairs at the Memorial Building for the Alumni Dinner, or sitting at the May Festival Booth to hand out information. We love our organization and we know you do to, so any help, in anyway is appreciated. The Next Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 21st, 2012. F.H.S. Alumni., Onword, and upword.

Livingston Visiting Nurse Association will hold Diabetes Classes to introduce basic information regarding diet, medication, exercise, blood sugar monitoring, new developments and common problems. Open to the public and free of charge, the classes are held the first Tuesday of the month, 1:00 – 2:30 pm @Livingston VNA, 1996 Eastman Ave, #101, Ventura. C all Linda Hampson, RN, MSN @ 805-642-0239,ext 723.

Ventura, CA – The Ventura County Health Care Agency announces the opening at 7:00 a.m. this morning of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in Ventura County Medical Center (VCMC), located at 3291 Loma Vista Road, Ventura. The newly opened unit will care for gravely ill children, and is the only PICU in the county.

Dr. Robert Gonzalez, the Health Care Agency Director, says the opening of the new PICU on the VCMC campus has been a goal for the hospital for some time now. “This unit, under the medical leadership of Dr. John Marcum, will allow very sick children the opportunity to be cared for close to home. This is a wonderful advantage for families who are already undergoing a stressful time.”

Dr. John Marcum, the VCMC Pediatric Intensive Care Director, comes to VCMC with 10 years of experience. He was formerly Director of Pediatric Intensive Care at North Central Baptist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Marcum graduated from medical school at the University of Southern California, and following his residency in pediatrics, completed a fellowship in Critical Care at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Marcum is Board Certified in general pediatrics and pediatric critical care medicine. “So many people have worked for many months to see this realized and this opening today is the culmination of the dedicated team here at VCMC and the tremendous amount of heart and soul they put into the services they provide to this community.”

The VCMC PICU has received generous support from the community, including the Harriet H. Samulesson Foundation and the Ventura County Medical Resource Foundation.

A grand opening celebration for the new PICU at VCMC, which will be announced shortly.

Applications for the Miss Fillmore/Miss Teen Fillmore Pageant are available. The Mother/Daughter Tea will take place at the Memorial Building on Wednesday, February 22nd beginning at 6:30PM. Points will begin that evening. Refreshments will be provided. Questions and answers will also be addressed at that time. The first practice begins Wednesday, February 29th. Miss Contestants must be a Junior or Senior girl in good standing. Teen Contestants must be a girl between the ages of 13 (by January 1st) and 17 in good standing, but not a Junior or Senior. All contestants must reside within the Fillmore Unified School District boundaries. Applications are available at Fillmore High School, Fillmore Middle School and at Fillmore Chamber of Commerce or by contacting Pageant Director Lori McLain at #524-4432.

The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County (SJF) is accepting entries from teens, ages 14 to 18, for its Second Annual Social Justice Fund Teen Multimedia Contest.

Ventura County teens are asked to express what social justice means to them through essay, song lyrics, poem, poster, or video. Original work should address a social justice issue by identifying the problem and imagining a positive change the artist or author would like to see.

First-place winners in each of three categories – written word, poster and video - will win $250 and be invited to present their work May 6, as part of “Social Justice Center Stage,” SJF’s annual community event, at The Four Friends Gallery in Thousand Oaks. Winning entries will be on display at this event, and the winner in each category will be invited to attend and to show his or her work.

“Social Justice is more relevant in today’s world than ever before,” said Yvonne Tang, chair of the contest committee and a member of the Social Justice Fund Giving Circle. “From the Arab Spring to the Dream Act to college tuition increases to peer prejudice and bullying, social justice issues are shaping our lives and will greatly impact our future.”

The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County is a social change grant making and educational organization created and guided by Ventura County donors, hosted by the Ventura County Community Foundation. SJF has been established to advance equality and opportunity for all. It brings together the resources of a “Giving Circle” – a place where SJF donors come together and have a say in the grants given – and the organizing power of grassroots groups. Together, we are working to advance solutions to poverty and inequality.

The contest entry deadline is Monday, April 2. Full contest rules are available on SJF’s website: SocialJusticeFundVC.org.

Ventura, CA - The Breast Center located at Community Memorial Hospital has become the first medical facility in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties to be designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the by the American College of Radiology.

By awarding facilities the status of a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence, the ACR recognizes breast imaging centers that have earned accreditation in mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy, and breast ultrasound (including ultrasound-guided breast biopsy).

Peer-review evaluations, conducted in each breast imaging modality by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field, have determined that The Breast Center has achieved high practice standards in image quality, personnel qualifications, facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs.

The ACR is a national professional organization serving more than 34,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.

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.

Scentry Biologicals Inc. has a glueboard in a local citrus tree, on the lookout for negative bug infestations like Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), an invasive, aphid-like insect pest. Although the psyllid is not a serious problem by itself, it can transmit a devastating bacterial disease to citrus trees. Known as Huanglongbing (HLB), the disease ruins the taste and appearance of citrus fruit, and eventually kills infected trees. There is no treatment or cure for Huanglongbing, and all commercially valuable varieties of citrus are vulnerable. If ACP and HLB reach Ventura County, and cannot be eradicated or contained, it is likely that the county will cease to be a significant producer of citrus fruit within a decade. But the potential threat posed by ACP and the disease it transmits goes well beyond commercial citrus production and the jobs, income and tax dollars it generates. Tens of thousands of trees in residential yards also are at risk. They, too, will die if infected with HLB, meaning that this iconic element of the suburban Southern California landscape — the backyard orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit or tangerine tree — also might disappear from Ventura County. Courtesy Farm Bureau of Ventura County.

A Street Self Storage is selling items that have been repossessed
Everything will be sold for $1.00 per item 9:00 to 3:00 2/12/12 Saturday

There will also be FREE items

Directions: Go down A street over the railroad tracks take a left on Sespe pass the fire station you will see a self torage signe take a right into the driveway.

The Fillmore High School Sports Hall of Fame is having their first Annual Golf Tournament on Friday, February 24, 2012. It will be held at Elkins Ranch Golf Course. Registration time starts at 9:30 a.m. First tee time will be at 11:00 a.m. Entry fee is $100.00 per player. This includes: Greens fees with cart, a raffle ticket, awards ceremony, with a tri-tip Bar-B-Q.

We will have Closest-to-the-pin, Longest drive contest. You willable be able to shoot for a hole-in-one contest with the player that hits a hole-in-one will drive of in a car donated but Wm. L. Morris in Fillmore. This Tournament is a four person Texas Scramble. So all golfer's good or bad come out and have a great time and help out a great cause, The Fillmore High School Sports Hall of Fame.

We also offer sponsorship options for the tournament from $4000.00 to $100.00 tee sponsor's. For registration and or Sponsorship opportunities please contact Lynn Cole at 805-524-8491, F.H.S. Hall of Fame, P.O. Box 697, Fillmore Ca. 93015. Lynn's e-mail is lcole@fillmore.k12.ca.us. Fillmore come out and play some Golf and have a great time with some Hall of Famers!

In a deal consummated February 1st, 2012, Sunkist Growers and Ventura Coastal have joined forces, uniting their long-time juice processing operations in order to provide more extensive service to their customers.

The newly formed company, Ventura Coastal LLC, a 50%/50% joint venture, will be headed by William (Bill) Borgers, CEO of Ventura Coastal. It will operate both the current Ventura Coastal plant in Visalia and the Sunkist plant in Tipton.

“The two processing facilities are extremely complimentary,” said Borgers. “Both Sunkist and Ventura Coastal bring a steady supply of products grade fruit, a skilled group of employees, state-of-the-art processing equipment and high quality products into the new company.”

“We believe the efficiencies achieved will better serve both our customers and growers,” added Sunkist President & CEO Russ Hanlin. ”

During 2012, Borgers expects the new joint venture will transition to a single set of processes and systems. “Our goal,” Borgers said “is to grow the joint venture and provide our employees with opportunities and a high quality work experience. Additionally our customers and the growers who provide the joint venture fruit will see additional value created as we blend the capabilities of the two operations.”

Yes Fillmore it is that time again. The Fillmore High School Sports Hall of Fame is hard at work for this years Induction Ceremony. This will be the third class to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame, 98 players, 8 coaches, and 24 teams have been inducted in the past two years.

Fillmore we need your help. If you would like to have somebody nominated into the Hall of Fame, this is what we the committee of The Hall of Fame will nee name of the player, coach, or team, along with their full address, the year of the team or player when he or she went to Fillmore High School. We will then send that person a form to fill out. With that information the Committee will go over everybody on the list from the past three years, and the new one's we get this year.

We ask that you send your information to Fillmore High School Sports Hall of Fame, P.O. Box 697, Fillmore Ca. 93015. We need the nominations and the information as soon as you can please. All nominations will be cut off on June 1st. The faster we receive the information, the faster we can send out forms to the nominee's. The Committee Members are Dick Mosbarger class of 1947, John Scoles class of 1959, Mike Marostica class of 1965, Debby Basolo Curnett class of 1969, Joe Woods class of 1979, Lynn Hasty Cole class of 1985, and Jamie Arundell Latshaw class of 1993.

Come enjoy a night of Donkey Basketball, a showdown between the Fillmore Fire Department and the Fillmore Sheriff Department. Family fun, entertainment, thrills & spills, lots of laughs—you’ll have it all. The match takes place on Saturday, February 25, 6pm, Fillmore High School gymnasium. Advanced tickets are adults $8, children & students (k-12) $6; Gate tickets are adults $10, children & students (k-12) $8. Presented by Donkey Sports, Inc. of Entiat, Washington. May the best Donkey win!!

OXNARD, CA - Agromin, the organics recovery company for more than 50 communities in Ventura, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Orange counties, recycled 386,680 tons of organic material from residents and businesses in 2011, up from 379,792 in 2010. The increase comes despite the continued sluggish economy and reduction in new construction, which affect the amount of organic materials generated by households and businesses.

"It's Agromin's mission to divert green waste from landfills and transform it into quality compost and mulch for growers, landscapers and consumers," says Bill Camarillo, Agromin CEO. "The conversion process is completely natural. We use similar methods as homeowners who maintain compost piles in their backyards."

Residents who put their organic waste in their green recycling bin are doing their part to help the planet. "Organic material that ends up in landfills produces greenhouse gas emissions that have been proven to heat up the atmosphere," says Camarillo. "We're finding that more and more residents and businesses are making a conscious effort to do their part to reduce the amount of these emissions."

Agromin's potting mix and Compost 100 are listed by the non-profit Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) so they can be used to produce certified organic products in accordance to the USDA National Organic Program standards.

Agromin soil products are sold in bulk and in bags at locations in Ventura, Santa Barbara, Orange and Los Angeles counties. For a list of locations, go to www.agromin.com.

WASHINGTON - William H. Nurick, 76, of Camarillo, was sentenced to 60 months in prison and ordered to pay $286,443 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer in Los Angeles, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. On Sept. 14, 2011, Nurick was convicted of evading the payment of more than $150,000 in taxes following a five-day jury trial.

Nurick’s conviction arises from his involvement with the Genesis Fund. According to evidence presented at trial and summarized in the government’s sentencing memorandum, the Genesis Fund was an investment fund that operated from approximately 1994 through 2002. Genesis Fund literature described foreign currency trading as the principal activity of the fund. The evidence at trial proved that Nurick received approximately $1.1 million in distributions from the Genesis Fund between 1995 and 2002. During this time, he used eight different entities to conceal his control over bank accounts, vehicles and real property.

The evidence at trial further demonstrated that in May 2000, Nurick filed an amended 1995 individual income tax return admitting he owed $106,542 related to his investment in the Genesis Fund. Thereafter, Nurick deliberately and systematically attempted to conceal assets between May 2000 and April 2001 in order to evade payment of the balance owed to the IRS for his 1995 income taxes. Following a notice of balance due from the IRS, Nurick transferred approximately $133,000 from an offshore bank account that he controlled to a witness’s offshore bank account. Nurick also submitted a false “Offer in Compromise” to the IRS, offering to pay less than one tenth of his outstanding debt. Nurick’s Offer in Compromise, signed under penalties of perjury, falsely understated his net worth and income, and failed to indicate a bank account in Costa Rica with a balance in excess of $200,000, which consisted primarily of distributions he had received from the Genesis Fund. Nurick also falsely claimed on this document that he would receive no further distributions from the Genesis Fund, when in fact, he received over $350,000 from it through distributions to multiple entities that he controlled.

Of the nine defendants originally charged in this case, eight pleaded guilty to charges including tax fraud, obstruction of justice and securities violations. Judge Fischer sentenced many of the defendants to significant prison terms and ordered restitution payments totaling millions of dollars. The last of the eight guilty pleas was entered in court on Dec. 12, 2011, by defendant Marlyn D. Hinders. Hinders was a fugitive until June 2011 when he was deported from Mexico and arrested by the United States Marshal’s Service. After a detention hearing in July 2011, Judge Fischer ordered Hinders held without bond pending trial. Hinders, formerly a resident of Colorado, pleaded guilty to tax fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 2, 2012.
This complex fraud case was investigated by special agents of the IRS - Criminal Investigation in Laguna Niguel, Calif., and prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Lori A. Hendrickson, Matthew J. Kluge, Ellen M. Quattrucci and Danny N. Roetzel of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

Ventura, CA - The Ventura County Fair is having a poster contest for the 2012 Ventura County Fair. The contest is open to young artists in grades 5 - 12 who reside in Ventura County.

The theme of the 2012 Fair is "Rides, Ribbons & Rodeos" and will serve as the only guideline to the imagery. Artwork may be created in any style and medium, but may not be 3 dimensional or include glitter.

Winning images will be used for the official 2012 Ventura County Fair collectable art poster and for the 2012 Ventura County Fair marketing poster as well as in other marketing materials.

Prizes in the amount of $500 (1st Prize), $250 (2nd Prize), and $100 (3rd
Prize) will be awarded. Two Fair admission tickets will be awarded for every valid entry. All contest participants will be invited to ride on the Junior Fair Board float in the Ventura County Fair Parade on Saturday, August 4.

Deadline for entry submission is Saturday, March 31. Entries should be delivered to the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

"Rides, Ribbons & Rodeos", the Ventura County Fair begins on Wednesday August 1. The Fair continues through Sunday, August 12.

For more information about the poster contest, please call the Ventura County Fairgrounds at 648-3376 or visit www.venturacountyfair.org. For regular updates, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.