Remembering the Thomas Fire Vol. 3,12, No. No. 11 5 Published Every Other Published Wednesday Every Other Established Wednesday 2007 December 5 – December March 10 18, - 201823, 2010 There is no place like home! Al Borkowski, Resident Ocean & Mountain Views • Over 12 Lushly Landscaped Acres Spacious Standard & Remodeled Apartments and Villas No wonder we call Al the • Anytime Dining in our Sun-Drenched/Full Service Dining Room Full Kitchens “Mayor” around here! Delicious Home Cooking by Pro Chefs & 5-Star Pastry Chef • Live Music & Events Weekly Excursions • All Day Transportation • Pets Welcomed Call Now for a Visit! 805.642.3263 www.venturatownehouse.com • 4900 Telegraph Road, Ventura, CA 93003 Get More Fun & Amenities for your Money! CA LIC# 565801810 2 December 5 – December 18, 2018 Ventura BREEZE Expand Your Backyard We invite you to visit our campus and learn about our rich heritage, meet our welcoming community, and witness the impact of a Villanova education. Villanova Preparatory School is the only boarding school in California that offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, part of the strong foundation that provides acceptance to selective colleges and universities, contributing to each student's future successes. Contact the Admission Office to schedule your visit. VILLANOVA PREPARATORY SCHOOL A CATHOLIC DAY AND BOARDING SCHOOL SINCE 1924 12096 N. Ventura Ave. | Ojai, CA 93023 | 805.646.1464 | villanovaprep.org Ventura BREEZE December 5 – December 18, 2018 3 More than a Meat Market! Mouthwatering Holiday Meats! Beef is Prime 30-day Aged Beef Prime Rib Roasts $17.95/lb cut/tied and seasoned 3049 East Main Street New York Roasts $17.95/lb Porterhouse – cut to order $19.95/lb (805) 643-0318 T-bones – cut to order $16.95/lb MainStreetMeatsVentura.com Beef Tenderloin (Fillet Mignon) Sunday 10am - 5pm $26.95/lb Monday - holiday hours Pork Prime Rib $9.95/lb Tuesday thru Saturday 9am - 6pm Veal Loin Chops $16.95/lb Call or stop in now! Osco Bucco Veal $16.95/lb Be sure to ask about our Pre-order by December 16th side dishes and specialty desserts! and save 15% REMEMBERING 45 minute Facial & 30 close to the one that had been damaged. minute Massage with The goal was to offer the local hawks a Aromatherapy new place to nest before breeding season kicks into full swing. Only $85! “Red-tailed Hawks generally mate (normally $105) for life and return year after year to the same nest or area to lay their eggs and raise their young,” said Kate Furlong, Waxing Now Available! VLT Stewardship Director. “VLT is committed to wildlife habitat preser- Military & First Responder vation and the goal of this project is to Discount: $10 off protect a wild place where the hawks can breed, hunt, and thrive year-round.” full price service The Ventura Land Trust, a nonprofit land trust operating in the Ventura region since 2003, currently manages Call or text (805) 643−0100 90 acres of permanently protected open 35 S. Oak Street in Downtown Ventura space in the Ventura River watershed, TwinPalmsHealthandBeauty.com and is in the process of purchasing VLT rented a crane and lifted Dan into a tree. another 2,100 acres of prime hillside Photo by Adrienne Stephens. property in Ventura. The mission of Ana winds through the City of Ventura. VLT is to permanently protect the land, The fire burned for more than a month REMEMBERING water, wildlife, and scenic beauty of the and scorched more than 281,000 acres. PSYCHIC Ventura region for current and future The impact of the fire in the City of CONSULTANTS Ventura Land generations. Ventura was severe, with 524 houses and 100 apartments destroyed citywide. Even as the Thomas Fire blazed FREE REMEMBERING Trust replaces through the city, the City Council began approving measures to help fire with hawk nest Thomas Fire victims. City staff was directed to create Holiday Specials the Thomas Fire Rebuild Permit Office felled during at City Hall dedicated to help property $20 recovery – 1 owners reconstruct destroyed homes Past • Present • Future Thomas Fire and structures. The office, staffed by a Palm • Tarot • Crystal Ball year later combination of City staff and contract See what the New Year has Ventura Land Trust (VLT) recently services, has provided personalized by Jeffrey Lambert in store for you!! replaced a Red-tailed Hawk nest that was service and one-on-one meetings for AICP, Community Development Director, knocked out of a eucalyptus tree after more than 475 homeowners and their AVA ILABLE FOR EVENTS City of Ventura the Thomas Fire. Knowing that Red- design professionals. psychicconsultants.net tailed Hawks have nested in the same It was only a year ago that a fast-mov- The rebuild effort is a two-step 107 Figueroa St., Downtown Ventura tree for decades, VLT Stewardship staff ing brush fire started north of Santa process: first a zoning compliance (805) 628-3333 rented a crane and lifted it into a tree Paula and was pushed by strong Santa Continued on page 22 4 December 5 – December 18, 2018 Ventura BREEZE Opinion/Editorial n It is hard to believe “You are wearing pajamas and slippers.” with a mountain lion, face the animal, that it has been a year Which neither of us were aware of make noise and attempt to look bigger Member, Ventura Chamber of Commerce since the fire raged the entire night. He of course quickly by waving your arms to scare it away. You through Ventura. From changed clothes. And to think that he was can’t outrun it. a previous news article; stomping out fires wearing his slippers. Reminds me of the old joke. Two The Ventura Breeze is your free local community “On December 4, 2017 I spent the next several days going friends encounter a mountain lion and newspaper published every other Wednesday Sheldon (Governor) Brown a fast-moving active from fire to fire watching as helpless fire- one says, “Run like hell.” The other says, and circulated throughout Ventura and to many Publisher-Editor locations in Ojai and the Channel Islands Harbor brush fire that started fighters had to stand by as homes burned “We can’t out run a lion.” And his friend located in Oxnard. North of Santa Paula along Highway 150 to the ground because there was inade- says, “I just need to outrun you.” and Bridge Road was pushed by strong quate water. Why there wasn’t water n You might not be able to fit it on east winds through the City of Ventura. is still a mystery. The Breeze has not been your wrist, but physicists have created PUBLISHER-EDITOR The Thomas Fire burned 281,893 acres able to get adequate answers about the two clocks that are so accurate they Sheldon (Governor) Brown and was 100% contained on January 12, water problem and has been told that the won’t lose time in the next 15 billion [email protected] 2018. 1,063 structures were destroyed and city cannot comment because of pending years. Obviously, the atomic clock uses PUBLISHER EMERITUS 280 structures were damaged. In the City lawsuits. Hopefully this will be resolved an optical lattice composed of laser beams Staci Brown of Ventura, more than 100 structures before the next fire occurs. trapping ytterbium atoms. Big deal, will Assistant to the PUBLISHER have been identified as damaged and I think one of the other reasons it tell you how far you have walked? Ana Baker more than 500 structures have been iden- that there were no casualties is because n In a sweeping interview recently CONTRIBUTING WRITERS tified as being destroyed.” we have an adequate street system. So, published in the Washington Post, Rebecca Wicks • Richard Lieberman In this issue we tried to capture the although there were challenges in certain President Donald Trump asserted that Sheli Ellsworth • Veronica Johnson feelings and hopes of those directly, and areas, evacuees were able to exit without he had “very high levels of intelligence,” Shirley Lorraine • Victoria Usher indirectly, affected by the Thomas Fire. being overrun by the fire. and as such, did not believe in the sci- Jill Forman • Pam Baumgardner It is amazing to me that there were no This, of course, was not the case in entific consensus surrounding climate Elizabeth Rodeno • Mira Reverente deaths in Ventura as a result of the fire. the recent Paradise fire that claimed change. “One of the problems that a lot James Francis Gray • Karen Leslie A tribute to our fire and police depart- an unknown number of lives. Perhaps of people like myself, we have very high Maryann Ridini Spencer ments and to Venturan’s who listened areas like Paradise - without adequate levels of intelligence but we’re not neces- CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS and acted in a proper manner when told streets and ways to exit – shouldn’t sarily such believers,” said Trump. Hmm, Bernie Goldstein to evacuate. be allowed to rebuild until they have what an articulate assessment. Richard Lieberman • Michael Gordon I remember the midnight call from proper ways to evacuate. Trump ripped into French President DISTRIBUTION my daughter-in-law who said, “We have I believe that our planning depart- Emmanuel Macron in a series of tweets Jaime Baker • Mary Thompson evacuated and need to stay with you.” ment and building & safety division have -- hitting him on everything from his Alfred J. Lewis • Richard Lieberman When I asked “where are you” she told done a great job of handling hundreds of low approval ratings, to the French Chris Lopez me “we are in front of your house. We building plans that have been submitted. surrender to the Nazis in World War II, AccOUNT EXECUTIVES didn’t think about calling you until we More plans then they would typically see and also suggesting U.S.