Sweet Escapes In and Around Ventura County

"Sweet Escape" by Chuck Trunks

Looking for something to do around Ventura County but also looking for money missing from your wallet? Not to worry, there are plenty of escapes that won't cost you an arm and a leg around town. In fact, our mission in life here is to ensure you have hundreds of inexpensive, fun options in Ventura County and surrounding areas!

Free upcoming local events

Free things to do

Free kids' activities

Kids eat free deals

Get free food and stuff at Ventura County area eateries

That should get you started...but here's some more:

Family events

Upcoming 5K/10K events

Send your kids to a local summer camp

Go on a bike ride

Swimming and water play around Ventura County

Visit a local farmers' market

Go bowling

Throw a birthday party for your kid

Visit a museum

Not enough choices? Continue exploring Conejo Valley Guide and I can guarantee you'll find something fun to do.

Key Dates Announced for June 7, 2016 Presidential Primary Election in Ventura County

Ventura County Clerk Recorder/Registrar of Voters Mark Lunn has announced key dates for the June 7, 2016 Presidential Primary Election regarding candidate filing, nomination documents and Vote By Mail Ballots.

Candidates may submit signatures of registered voters in lieu of the filing fee. Signatures in-lieu of the filing fee may be obtained from the Ventura County Elections Division beginning Monday, January 4, 2016, for the following offices (subject to change):

Voter-Nominated: President/Vice President, United States Senator, United States Representative in Congress: 24th, 25th, 26th, and 30th Congressional Districts, Member of the State Senate: 19th and 27th State Senate, and Member of the State Assembly: 37th, 38th, 44th, and 45th Assembly Districts.

Nonpartisan: Judge of the Superior Court and Ventura County Board of Supervisors: 1st, 3rd, and 5th Supervisorial Districts.

Signatures in-lieu of filing fee for all offices, with the exception of the office of Judge of the Superior Court, must be filed at the Ventura County Elections Division by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 25, 2016. Candidates for the office of Judge of the Superior Court must file their signatures by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 10, 2016.

Official nomination documents for candidates may be obtained beginning Tuesday, February 16, 2016, as February 15, 2016 falls on a holiday, at the Ventura County Elections Division, Lower Plaza, Hall of Administration, 800 South Victoria Avenue, Ventura. Official nomination documents must be filed with the Ventura County Elections Division by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 11, 2016.

Information regarding filing for these offices and the filing fee amounts may be obtained by calling the Ventura County Elections Division at (805) 654-2664, or by visiting the Ventura County Elections Division website: www.venturavote.org.

Vote By Mail Ballots for the June 7, 2016 Presidential Primary Election will be available beginning Monday, May 9, 2016 through May 31, 2016. Voter registration will close on Monday, May 23, 2016. Voter registration is available online at www.registertovote.ca.gov. Voters may also call the Elections Division to request a voter registration card be mailed to them.

Parakeets In Big Sycamore Canyon

A flock of black-hooded parakeets call Big Sycamore Canyon home.  As seen in the images provided by fine art photographer Greg Clure, more than four dozen of these birds live in the canyon. Twelve to fourteen inches in length with mostly green bodies with black heads and beaks, they are fairly large birds.  If you are fortunate enough to see one up close you will notice the pale blue wash on the breast and red thighs.

Mostly descendants of escaped or released cage birds, these parakeets now flourish in the temperate climate of Southern California.  You can typically find them roosting in the sycamore trees at dawn and dusk above the Big Sycamore Maintenance Station at the entrance to the campground across PCH from Sycamore Cove.  During the day they can commonly be found throughout Big Sycamore Canyon from the campground up to 5 or 6 miles inland as they forage for food.  They are easy to find; just listen...they are the loudest sounding birds in the canyon.

The southern entrance to Big Sycamore Canyon is in Point Mugu State Park, located a few miles south of Mugu Rock/Pt. Mugu on PCH. It is about a 15 mile drive from the Camarillo Premium Outlets and about 25 miles from the heart of Thousand Oaks taking either the 101/Lewis Road route or the slightly slower, curvy and interesting Potrero Road route.  Alternatively, you can access Big Sycamore Canyon from the northern end at several points along Potrero Road between Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa and Hidden Valley at the southern edge of Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks.  A great place to hike or mountain bike, the next time you are in the canyon keep an eye out for these brightly colored members of the parrot family.

See more of Greg Clure Photography's Fine Art Images of Nature at www.gregclurephotography.com.

Conejo Valley Guide Followers Resolve to Pay it Forward and Get Healthy in the New Year

In a random drawing today on the Conejo Valley Guide Facebook page, CVG Facebook fans were asked for a new year's resolution for the fast-approach year 2016.

Tied for first place in the drawing, far ahead of the other responses, was to get healthy and to "pay it forward." 

Giving back, or paying it forward, was a popular choice, with responses like "give back to the community and volunteer," "perform at least one pay it forward moment each month," "look for an opportunity each day to help someone," "put a smile on someone's face every day" and "do more random acts of kindness."  I like that!

After getting healthy/healthier and paying it forward were the following resolutions (in order of number of mentions): Exercise/Play Sports,  Be Happy, Explore New Places, More Family Time, Get Positive, Bet a Better Job and Be a Better Me.

Some other motivational responses:

"Spread the happiness, peace and love this world so dearly needs"

"Be grateful every day for what I have and spend more time with loved ones"

"Smile more and have a more positive attitude"

"Be happy, less stressed and live in the moment"

"Live each day as if it's the last, with much happiness"

"Let the little stuff go and handle the big stuff with grace and deep thought"

"Eat healthier, purge negativity and see the library"

and last but not least, "Stop spending so much time on Facebook."

Neat Residential Holiday Light Display on Pathfinder Avenue in Westlake Village

Scenes from the pathfinder avenue holiday light show in 2014

The awesome holiday light display at 4903 Pathfinder in Westlake Village is back this 2015 holiday season! Starting December 4th through Christmas from 6-9PM every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, weather permitting, stop by to see "snow" falling and a light show synchronized to music, with shows running every 15 minutes.

Monday through Thursday the lights will be on. Bring your food donations for the local Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank too!

Also, on December 24 bring your family, friends and kids; there will be Elves and other holiday characters handing out candy!

Ventura County Area Schools in Newsweek 2015 Ranking of Nation's Top High Schools

In August, Newsweek published its 2015 ranking of the nation's "top public high schools." The rankings were based on data from 16,285 public high schools from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Researchers determined the ranking by selecting schools at perform in the 70th percentile or higher in standardized state testing. From there, the ranking was done using the following criteria:

• 10% of ranking based on "Holding Power" or the proportion of 9th graders that stay enrolled through 12th grade.
• 10% based on the ratio of school counselors to students.
• 17.5% based on SAT/ACT test score performance.
• 17.5% based on AP/IB dual enrollment composite.
• 20% based on graduation rate
• 25% based on college enrollment rate.

Based on the above methodology, four local area schools made the top 500:

Oak Park High School ranked 120th overall and 18th in California

Westlake High School ranked 210th overall and 26th in California

Thousand Oaks High School was 215th overall and 27th in California

Calabasas High School was 339th overall and 43rd in California.

See more at www.newsweek.com/high-schools/americas-top-high-schools-2015.

Ventura County Top Ten Secured Property Tax Bills for Fiscal Year 2015-2016

Last month the County of Ventura Treasurer-Tax Collector published a list of the top 10 secured property tax payers in the county for fiscal year 2015-2016 as a matter of public record. Personally I thought for sure I would be on this list but, whew, I was not!  

Here they are:

#1 biggest taxpayer is Southern California Edison, with taxes of $13.4 million on $933 million of property valuation.

#2 is Thousand Oaks biotech giant Amgen Inc., with taxes of $13.1 million on $1.24 billion of assessed value.

#3 is Aera Energy LLC, with $7.1 million taxes on $679 million of assessed value.

#4 is Vintage Petroleum LLC, with $3.8 million taxes on assessed value of $356 million.

#5 is Proctor-Gamble Paper Products, which pays $3.7 million taxes on $307 million of assessed value.

#6 Macerich Oaks LLC pays $3.1 million in taxes on assessed value of $293 million.

#7 Southern California Gas Co. pays $2.8 million on assessed value of $198 million.

#8 Baxter Healthcare Corp (which I suspect is now called Baxalta) pays $2.8 million on assessed value of $262 million.

#9 Vintage Production CA LLC pays $2.4 million on $205 million assessed value.

#10 Los Robles Hospital pays $2.2 million on $206 million in assessed value.

Now what are you going to use this information for? Maybe a trivia game?

Property taxes are collected by the Treasurer-Tax Collector of Ventura County on behalf of the county, most of the city's 10 incorporated cities, 20 school districts and other local taxing agencies. As a resident of Thousand Oaks you will see a variety of taxes in addition to the base property tax of 1% of the assessed value of your property, such as school bonds, service agencies and special assessments.

Personally, perhaps my least favorite moment of the year is seeing the annual Secured Tax Statement in the mail. But heck, that's part of the price of living here in paradise I guess.

The general tax levy is limited to 1% of assessed value. Assessed value can increase no more than 2% per year based on Proposition 13. 

Learn more about Ventura County property taxes at www.ventura.org/ttc.