Board cuts five days from school year

By Eric Ingemunson | 11/07/09

The Pleasant Valley School District board decided to cut five days from the school year Thursday night in an attempt to alleviate the ongoing budget problems facing schools around the state. The shortened calendar will save the district, which encompasses Camarillo, approximately $970,000 in salary expenditures, a reduction of about 2.5 percent. The district spends about 86 percent of its budget on employee salaries and benefits, a figure that... read more »

Seeing Red: conservatives "sharpening the long blades" over NY-23

By Eric Ingemunson | 11/01/09

As if conservatives weren't empowered enough after claiming liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava's scalp in the NY-23 special congressional election, they've been given another reason to revolt against the GOP establishment. Dede Scozzafava has endorsed her Democratic opponent over the conservative candidate Doug Hoffman, and now the party has a big "I told you so" coming.   Prior to her endorsement, Red... read more »

Scozzafava episode a warning for GOP

By Eric Ingemunson | 11/01/09

Now that Dede Scozzafava is out of the race in New York’s 23rd special congressional election and thrown her support behind her Democrat opponent, it’s become obvious that the Republican Party has a real problem on its hands. Prior to last week’s developments, the party establishment could ignore conservatives and continue to push for big government in an attempt to out-liberal liberals. The NY-23 revolt now serves as an... read more »

Local Democrats not happy with paper's city council endorsements

By Eric Ingemunson | 11/01/09

Ventura County Democrats aren’t too happy with the Ventura County Star’s endorsement of Republicans in the race for Ventura City Council. “We desperately need you to participate by making phone calls to keep the Republicans and Star newspaper publishers from thwarting the will of the people,” the party wrote in an e-mail to supporters. God forbid a media outlet endorses a Republican. Is it not enough that CBS, NBC, ABC,... read more »

Fillmore’s Measure F would establish rent control

By Eric Ingemunson | 11/01/09

On Tuesday, Fillmore voters will decide on Measure F, which would free the developer of a mobile home park to subdivide it for individual sale while imposing rent control on the remaining units. Not surprisingly, the developer that owns the park is the chief supporter of Measure F, which is not endorsed by the Ventura County Star. But the concept of rent control, introduced in Measure F as a sweetener to make it more palatable for residents, is... read more »

RAW DATA: Transcript of Chip Hanlon's Newt Gingrich interview

By Eric Ingemunson | 10/31/09

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City council supports a sales-tax increase, except for one

By Eric Ingemunson | 10/31/09

On Tuesday, voters in Ventura will decide whether they should raise their own sales tax. The city council says the city needs the money, but they don't necessarily want their fingerprints on any tax or fee increases. The council is sort of wondering out loud how they will pay their bills without asking the voters directly for the money. It's the equivalent of walking down a Ventura street and asking out loud, “How are we going to pay for... read more »

Religious groups protest marijuana legalization bill

By Eric Ingemunson | 10/29/09

Groups opposed to AB 390, Tom Ammiano's bill that would legalize marijuana in California, gathered on the steps of the capitol today for a press conference in which they called potential marijuana tax revenue "blood money." "Encouraging the public, particular young people, to smoke marijuana in order to increase state revenue is reprehensible," said State Senator George Runner. Additionally, they said that the social costs... read more »

Local Democrats censure one of their own

By Eric Ingemunson | 10/28/09

The Ventura County Democratic Central Committee censured one of their members last night for misusing the official email list to send messages critical of its leadership, in a meeting described as “rather nasty”. The censured individual accused the Central Committee leadership of “financial mismanagement and chicanery” according to the Ventura County Star, but he said he used his own email list which contained many of... read more »

Boxer Rushes Cap-and-Trade to Meet U.N. Deadline

By Eric Ingemunson | 10/27/09

Senator Barbara Boxer is hastily cramming cap-and-trade legislation through the Environment and Public Works Committee, which she chairs, earning the ire of Republicans by her attempt to make progress on the bill to satisfy an unofficial “deadline” imposed by the United Nations. John Kerry, the bill's sponsor ever since Harry Reid bumped the divisive Boxer down to co-sponsor, downplayed any... read more »