Amgen Tour of California 2012 Host Cities Announced...Ventura County Not On the List

The Amgen Tour of California 2012 host cities were announced yesterday, and as expected, Thousand Oaks, home to title sponsor Amgen, is not on the list. In fact, the closest next year's tour gets to Ventura County is Los Angeles and Palmdale.

This is no surprise as after two years hosting a stage of the race, including the final stage in May 2011, the city annonced a few month ago that it was taking a breather this year.

The 13 Host Cities for the 2012 Amgen Tour of California include:

• Stage 1: Sunday, May 13 – Santa Rosa
• Stage 2: Monday, May 14 – San Francisco to Santa Cruz County
• Stage 3: Tuesday, May 15 – San Jose to Livermore
• Stage 4: Wednesday, May 16 – Sonora (new for 2012) to Clovis
• Stage 5: Thursday, May 17 – Bakersfield (Individual Time Trial)
• Stage 6: Friday, May 18 – Palmdale to Big Bear Lake
• Stage 7: Saturday, May 19 – Ontario (new for 2012) to Mt. Baldy
• Stage 8: Sunday, May 20 – Los Angeles/L.A. LIVE

Maybe next year the tour will be back to Ventura County...we shall see. For more information, visit www.amgentourofcalifornia.com.

Conejo Valley Resident, Plant Based Dietitian and Author to Appear on Dr. Oz Show

Julieanna Hever is a well known Plant Based Dietitian and author of recently published book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition. She's about to become even more well known as she makes an appearance on the Dr. Oz Show on Friday, October 28th at 3pm PST on ABC.

She will appear in two segments; one segment providing her experta advice regarding a whole food, plant-based diet; the other segment she makes and tastes three of the recipes from her book.

Julieanna is a plant-based dynamo. If you see her, you may well give up meat, sugar and other non plant-based foods in your diet...and feel great!  In fact she's appeared before here on CVG.

Learn more about Julieanna at www.toyourhealthnutrition.com.

Miller Family YMCA to Host Indoor Cycle-A-Thon and Thanksgiving Food Basket Drive on Saturday, November 12th

Miller YMCA To Host Indoor Cycle-A-Thon and Thanksgiving Food Basket Drive

The Miller Family YMCA of Newbury Park will be holding its first indoor Cycle-A-Thon, Saturday, November 12 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Y (320 Via Las Brisas, Newbury Park). The event will raise money for the Y's Healthy Living Program. During the cycle-a-thon, 150 Thanksgiving Day food baskets will be assembled for distribution to residents in the community.

Teams of riders will be cycling nonstop on stationary bikes during the cycle-a-thon. The cyclists will be entertained throughout the day with music and live entertainment. Everyone who participates will receive a continental breakfast and lunch and goody bag. Prizes will be awarded in categories including the team raising the most money, the rider who pedaled the longest and the team with the most spirit.

"We're asking teams to collect donations of at least $200 per team," says Katie Beck, the Miller Y executive director. "We're hoping to raise $5,000 that day--through the cycle-a-thon, a raffle, a silent auction and direct donations."

Volunteers are also needed to assemble the food baskets during the cycle-a-thon. "Many of our neighbors need a little extra help this holiday season. As part of the Y's ongoing Healthy Living Program, we want to make sure these families have everything they need for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner," says Beck.

Community members can donate nonperishable items to the food basket drive from November 1 through November 10 or donate $35, which provides a Thanksgiving dinner for a family of four.

Only 15 cycling teams can participate in the cycle-a-thon. For more information including how to form a team, join an existing team or to volunteer, contact Katie Beck at kbeck@millerymca.org or call the Y at 805-480-0309.

Paraiso Town Center in Newbury Park to Be Renamed The Village at Dos Vientos Ranch

Paraiso Town Center to Be Renamed The Village at Dos Vientos Ranch

Paraiso Town Center in the Thousand Oaks master planned community of Dos Vientos Ranch will be renamed The Village at Dos Vientos Ranch, announced Peter Cohen, president of Paradise Capital Group, which acquired the 50,000 square-foot mixed-used retail and office complex in June 2010.

A new name was very important in our efforts to rebrand and market the property, said Cohen.   We wanted to give the center a fresh start with a new name that was easy to pronounce and remember. While Paraiso (Spanish for "Paradise") was a beautiful and obviously very distinctive name, four out of five people would pronounce it incorrectly, and that is not good from a marketing perspective.

Immediately after acquiring the center, Paradise Capital Group conducted an informal poll and learned that the community was largely in favor of a name change.   There has been a lot of negative stigma associated with the center for some time and getting a new owner and new name for this beautiful center is great for Dos Vientos Ranch and all of Thousand Oaks, said Dan Bonfiglio, a local resident and president of the Dos Vientos Ranch Community Association.  It's exciting to see the positive changes taking place and it's obviously working  as we are seeing leasing activity for the first time in years.
Since acquiring the center, approximately 7,500 square feet of retail and office leases have been signed nearly doubling the existing occupancy.

There has been a lot of interest in the center since the ownership change, said CB Richard Ellis Vice President Lawrence Tanji, who leads the retail marketing on behalf of Paradise Capital Group. The new name is yet another example of the positive changes taking place there and local retailers and business are taking notice.

Built in 2008, The Village at Dos Vientos Ranch includes 40,000 square feet of ground level retail and restaurant space with outdoor dining, and 10,000 square feet of office space.  The Mediterranean style complex also features a children's playground and landscaped common areas with fountains.  The centerpiece is an outdoor amphitheater with a performance stage and movie screen.

Retail tenants include La Cucina di Venti, Boney Mountain Coffee, Red Coral Sushi Restaurant, Fitness Together, The Art Box and Paraiso Cleaners.  Office tenants include ETF Portfolio Management, Paraiso Family Dental and Orthodontics, Team Resources, McQueen & Associates and Worldwide Supply.

Hooters Administrative Public Hearing in Thousand Oaks on Thursday, September 15th

Update from VC Star on 9/20/11: Thousand Oaks resident Don Hunn, 77, has paid $1,130 to file an appeal of the decision to allow a full bar at the new Hooters. This is outstanding news for local newspapers as it provides continued comedy material.

Update from the VC Star on 9/16/11: Operators granted full bar. The decision can be appealed to the City Planning Commission within 10 calendar days and a fee of $1100. Over 60 people attended the meeting and it lasted 3 hours. 39 people spoke against the application, 12 spoke in favor of it. Ah yes, no doubt this is not the last we've heard of this "issue."

Today, the City of Thousand Oaks Community Development Department mailed a Notice of Admininstrative Public Hearing to all property owners located within 500 feet of the proposed Hooters in the Janss Marketplace parking lot, 401 N. Moorpark Road (corner of Moorpark Road and Brazil Street).

The persistently vacant ex-Sizzlers, ex-Fuddruckers location proposed for Hooters. The hearing will be held on Thursday, September 15th at 3 p.m. at City Council Chambers, 2nd Floor, 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard. Anyone is allowed to attend and be heard on the following matter:

Applicant: Thousand Oaks Wings, LLC

Sign on Potential Future Hooters Location Door. TOW Stands for Thousand Oaks Wings

Request: To modify the existing special use perrmit condition limiting on-site sale and consumption of beer and wine only to allow sale and consumption of all alcoholic beverages in conjunction with the operation of a restaurant.

This should be interesting, based on the concerns voiced by some local residents. If you're looking for some excitement on September 15th, this could be the place to be (in close competition with the 65 cent funnel cake sticks offered up by Hot Dog on a Stick on September 15th!!).

The sole purpose of the hearing is to address whether the applicant shall be allowed to have a full bar and if that is allowable under City code. The purpose of the meeting is NOT to address whether or not a Hooters should be "allowed" there in the first place. It may be entertaining watching how the the City manages to keep the scope of the meeting within its stated purpose.

Expect plenty of news coverage. For further information about the request, contact the City of Thousand Oaks.

The majority of Hooters restaurants have full bars, including the following locations that are closest to Thousand Oaks: Santa Monica, Hollywood, Burbank, Downtown Los Angeles, Anaheim, Oceanside and West Covina.

If for whatever reason we don't get our Hooters in Thousand Oaks, I'd be o.k. if they bring back Sizzler.

Conejo Valley Guide is a Finalist in CBS Most Valuable Blogger 2011 Competition!

Vote Daily! Click This Link!Conejo Valley Guide has been nominated for the CBS Los Angeles Most Valuable Blogger Award 2011. There are 6 categories of blogs...Dining/Entertainment, Local Affairs, Sports, Health/Fitness/Medical, Lifestyle and Everything Else. CVG was nominated to the Lifestyle category and is competing with 3 dozen other blogs.

Vote for CVG by CLICKING HERE every day until September 9th. No signups needed. Takes literally 1 second. CVG is the other Ventura County based website on the list from what I can tell. Thanks for your votes! Forward to your friends!

Winners will receive $50 Amazon gift cards. I certainly will be giving this card away via a Facebook contest. So help me win by VOTING EVERY DAY!

I did notice there is one more local nominee, in the Local Affairs category. Vote for Westlake Revelations in that category. In fact, his chance at winning are 3X better than mine because that category has only 11 entrants! Nice!