The Girl Scouts are awful aren't they? They've been giving young girls the chance to learn skills, make friends, achieve goals, and feel better about themselves for over a century. How dare they? Then one troupe goes and does something progressive to help a youngster experience a sense of belonging: They let a transgender child in. In response, a California teen is calling for a total cookie boycott. more ›

If you’ve ever hiked in the Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village/Agoura Hills area, chances are it was on a trail managed by the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency. While these trails are most accessible to the residents of the Thousand Oaks area, they are also fairly close to the San Fernando Valley and Ventura. more ›

Hold on to your hats, Los Angeles! The National Weather Service has issued a red-flag warning for this afternoon due to the return of gusty offshore wind conditions in L.A. and Ventura mountain areas. The Santa Ana winds are back, and with them come wildfire conditions. more ›

An argument between neighbors ended with a woman arrested on suspicion of child endangerment and assault with a caustic chemical after she sprayed kids playing outside their Ventura home with roach killer. 52-year-old Jeanette Rohde allegedly got into a fight with another neighbor as Maria Elena Pacheco's five children played in a nearby yard. more ›

A 49-year-old Hummer driver was arrested yesterday evening and charged with vehicular manslaughter for his role in a series of three hit-and-run accidents he perpetrated while under the influence, according to the Ventura County Star. Satnam Singh of Ventura struck and injured a pair of bicyclists, a family in a pickup truck, and, in the last collision, killed a 20-year-old man. more ›

Persistent heavy rain has overloaded Southern California sewage systems causing it to barf sewage in three locations around the region. Long Beach closed its beaches on Monday after 250,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the Los Angeles River near Studio City, an overflow that occurred on Sunday, says the Los Angeles County Bureau of Sanitation, notes the Long Beach Press-Telegram. more ›

Rising ocean levels and increased erosion are forcing officials in Ventura to move facilities inland, in an effort that may serve as an example for many of California's coastal communities. "As the coastline creeps inland, scouring sand from beaches or eating away at coastal bluffs, landowners will increasingly be forced to decide whether to spend vast sums of money fortifying the shore or give up and step back," reports the L.A. TImes. more ›

Traci Salmon, a 31-year-old, female Ventura County sheriff's deputy was violently attacked while responding to a Friday morning 911 hang-up call. According to authorities, the deputy was ambushed by 32-year-old Steven Atkinson when she approached the front door of a residence. more ›

As expected, the North American West Coast is seeing some tsunami activity following this morning's deadly 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Chile. At around midday those in beach communities in Southern California began to see a change in the Pacific as a series of surges hit the shoreline. The activity is hard to uniformly predict, however we're largely looking to experience 2-4 foot surges for a period of about two hours. more ›

Disneyland might earn that title if people actually lived in the castle, but a recent happiness study, based on the "life evaluation" of cities--job opportunities, personal finances, physical health, moods, emotions, and communities--has concluded that the West is the best. No major big cities like Los Angeles made the top ten list, but four California ones did: Oxnard-Ventura (#10), San Jose-Sunnyvale (#7), Santa Barbara-Santa Maria (#6) and Santa Rosa-Petaluma (#5). Honolulu came in third and Boulder, where in Stephen King's The Stand the good people were told to go, came in first. more ›

As rain and snow continue to drop on the Southern California region, old power outages get fixed and new ones occur. The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power reported some 700 outages after 3 p.m. and as of 4 p.m., Southern California Edison had 15,342 customers without power. The hardest hit areas serviced by Edison are Yucaipa (3,150 customers), Blythe (2,174), Shaver Lake (935), Forest Falls (925), Idyllwild, (498) and Ventura (467). more ›

The worst of the storms have passed, but rain continues to put a damper on utility service. Between the L.A. Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison, over 16,000 are without power. In Los Angeles, the LADWP is reporting 2,600 without power. For Edison, 13,835 customers are without service. more ›

As the the Department of Water and Power faces a second water main break of the week--this latest one sucked in a fire truck--the first one from Saturday night continues to leave Coldwater Canyon Boulevard closed to rush hour commuters as they return from the holiday weekend. The popular over-the-hill cut through to Beverly Hills is closed between Ventura Boulevard and Halkirk Street and between Moorpark and Ventura Boulevard (see a map below). more ›

A brush fire that broke out this afternoon in Bell Canyon [map] is located within Ventura County, but is being tended to by Los Angeles City Fire Department due to its inaccessibility from and proximity to Ventura County Fire stations. As of now, and according to an LAFD email alert, the fire "has burned 8 acres; still no homes threatened; no injuries reported." more ›

On Sunday May 31st, 5am would become the new rush hour for the 2,150 riders and 500 volunteer-roadies as they filtered into San Francisco's Cow Palace, waiting with anticipation and excitement for the kickoff of the 2009 AIDS/LifeCycle. more ›

A visit to Channel Islands National Park means an hour or longer boat ride across the Santa Barbara Channel. Your travel takes you over the National Marine Sanctuary where without a doubt--unless the weather is treacherous--you're bound to see some amazing ocean wonders. In two recent trips, we've seen hundreds of dolphins, seals, birds, a whale, a sun fish and last weekend, something very unusual, a feeding frenzy. more ›

The California Department of Transportation has told local officials how many miles they've covered and at what cost in 2008, according to abc7.com. Here's a look at some of the numbers: more ›

KGRL -- mentioned previously here -- is a local "...non-profit non-commercial internet radio station that plays the freshest and the best ALL QUALITY female artist / fronted acts in a wide variety of genres." Their "Top 10 Artists To Watch Out For In 2007" included local singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles (MySpace), who in 2008 experienced mainstream recognition due to "Love Song", which garnered Grammy nominations for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Song of The Year. more ›

A minor earthquake was recorded this morning at 7:39. It was centered in the ocean, 13 miles east of Santa Cruz Island, and measured 3.5 in magnitude; the quake was closest to the mainland cities of Ventura, Oxnard, and Port Hueneme, although abc7.com is reporting it as taking place near Malibu and Anacapa island. Just a couple of days ago many here in the greater Los Angeles area felt the 5.1 jolt from the desert, centered in a town with a population of 10. Did you feel this one? See the "shake map" here. more ›

An "urgent weather message" from the National Weather Service at 2:45 a.m. warns of a dense fog advisory throughout portions of the Los Angeles region including downtown, coastal areas in LA County, San Gabriel Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, Ventura and Santa Barbara. It could reduce freeway and roadway visibility to "one quarter mile or less through mid morning," the service says. The advisory officially will end at 9 a.m., so enjoy it while it lasts. more ›

On Saturday night, The Parson Redheads (MySpace) -- previously mentioned here -- headlined a local Aquarium Drunkard (MySpace) showcase at Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake, supported by openers The Sweet Hurt (MySpace) and Willougby (MySpace) as well as the Ventura-based The Spires (MySpace). more ›

A 50 ft. by 50 ft. brush fire broke out in Ventura this afternoon that quickly spread uphill to a size of five acres, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. The blaze was first reported at 4:31 p.m. at 167 East McFarlane St. and as of 5:45 p.m., fire officials believe that a knockdown may be called soon. more ›

In a crash site outside Ventura on the 126 Highway (described as looking like a bomb went off by one KNX reporter), one person is dead and four others are injured. more ›

A dead body found in the on-board restroom of Delta flight 950 shortly before landing Wednesday morning in Atlanta was identified as a 61-year-old woman from Ventura. Michaele O'Neil Carnahan succumbed to complications from a pre-existing heart condition, an autopsy found. She had been undergoing evaluation by her personal physician for suspected heart problems, according to medical examiners. Carnahan was on her way from her Ventura home to a wedding in Florida via the LAX-ATL flight. more ›

The Los Angeles Times conducted a survey of all 58 counties in California asking about policies relating to same-sex marriage. 35 stated that employees were not allowed to opt out of officiating over marriages for any reason; or, at least, no reservations were expressed by clerks in those counties. more ›

Last Friday, local band The Movies (MySpace) at Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake as part of The Parson Redheads' (MySpace) EP release show. more ›

The Mexican/Spanish restaurant-lounge Senor Fred has cemented its reputation as a Ventura Blvd. hot spot for drinks, but it's also a nice lunch destination for those of you trawling the Sherman Oaks area. The place fulfills at least two requirements of a good Mexican restaurant: spicy salsa that tastes homemade (their version has a nice smoky flavor to it), and strong, simple margaritas. The food is far superior to Mexicali's questionable menu, but about on par with Casa Vega's more traditional interpretations. The ceviche is spicy and tender, if a bit heavy with avocado. For an entree, the cochinita pibil (achoite-marinated, slow-cooked pork) is a winner, while the chile rellanos are a little over-stuffed with cheese. more ›

The city of Ventura has been taken off the map. Specifically, the Greyhound Bus Line service map. This week the company shut down the station in Ventura, and wiped it off their route, to the surprise of many who had been hoping to hop a bus out of town. So is busing it a relic of a bygone era? more ›

When you have a huge music collection and you listen almost all the time, there tends to be a few artists that you come back to over and over. In our house, full of CD's, concert DVD's, and iPods a few artists reign supreme: The Beatles, Elvis Costello, and Loudon Wainwright III. Loudon's music can make you feel, make you smile, and make you think-- he is a master storyteller. Often listed with the... more ›