Ventura County Public Health Provides Advice - First Flu-Related Death of the 2013-2014 Flu Season

Dr. Robert Levin, Ventura County Health Officer, announced today that Ventura County’s first flu-related death has occurred. A resident, under 65 years of age, died after having been hospitalized with the complications related to the H1N1 virus. The victim had other underlying conditions which may have put him at risk for severe H1N1 illness.

 “Flu, including the H1N1 strain, is on the rise throughout the state and, over the past week, influenza-related deaths have increased by 50 in California,” said Dr. Robert Levin, VCPH Health Officer. So far this season, the California Dept. of Public Health (CDPH) has confirmed 95 flu-related deaths statewide.

In Ventura County, there have been 23 flu-related hospitalizations so far this season with six patients requiring treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). With the exception of the one death, all other ICU patients have been released from the hospital. During the 2012 – 2013 flu season, Ventura County had three flu-related deaths.

“The peak of the flu season usually occurs in late January through February, so there is still time to benefit from a flu vaccine,” said Levin. According to the CDPH, influenza vaccine remains available and there is no widespread shortage of anti-virals for treatment of the flu.

An annual flu vaccine is the first and most important step in protecting against the flu. It is also important to practice the three “C’s” of illness prevention in an effort to prevent the spread of germs:

• Cover your cough
• Clean your hands
• Confine sick people at home

If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, please call your healthcare provider:

• A fever higher than 100 degrees and a cough and/or sore throat
• Shortness of breath
• Have had contacts with a confirmed influenza case
• Are in a high-risk setting for transmission (e.g. school, prison, camp or other residential institution)
• Are a part of a cluster of influenza-like illness or symptoms

People experiencing flu-like symptoms should stay home from work or school and limit contact with others.

For a list of Ventura County flu-shot clinics, visit the Ventura County Public Health’s website clinics page: bit.ly/1avFeAS. For more information about where to get a flu shot, call VCPH Clinics at: (805) 981-5221.

Greater Conejo Valley Chamber Announces Director of Government and Economic Affairs

Assembly Legislative Aide Adam Haverstock Joins The Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce as Director of Government and Economic Affairs

The Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce announces the hiring of Adam Haverstock, former aide to California State Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, as Director of Government and Economic Affairs.  Haverstock will oversee relations with local, state and federal government officials and assist in managing the Conejo Valley Tourism Improvement District.

Adam Haverstock is a graduate of California State University, Northridge with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Master’s Degree in Recreation and Tourism Management.  He graduated with Leadership Honors and served as Associated Students President, traveling to Sacramento many times to advocate for higher education policies on behalf of CSUN.

Haverstock worked on the campaign for State Senator Tony Strickland and served as Campaign Manager to for Assemblyman Jeff Gorell during both of his campaigns for State Assembly.  He served on Assemblyman Gorell’s staff as a Field Representative from 2010 to 2013.  A resident of Moorpark, he also serves as a Commissioner on the Moorpark Parks and Recreation Commission.

The Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce is one of the largest chambers in the state of California with approximately 1100 business members, serving the cities of Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village and Agoura Hills.  It is one of only five 5-Star Chambers in  California, as rated by the accreditation arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, placing the Chamber in the top 1% of chambers of commerce nationwide.

For more information, please visit www.ConejoChamber.org or call 805-370-0035.

Ventura County Public Health Encourages Residents to Get Flu Shots

Ventura County Public Health keeps watchful eye on influenza activity, encourages public to get flu shots

In response to Kern County Public Health reports confirming that eight Kern County residents have been diagnosed with severe 2009 influenza A (H1N1) influenza that required hospitalization, Ventura County Public Health (VCPH) officials have been keeping close tabs on flu activity in Ventura County. Several Kern County flu patients have been placed in the intensive care unit and, in some cases, have required support on a ventilator. Kern County borders Ventura County to the east.

So far, flu activity has been relatively low in Ventura County with only two patients hospitalized with confirmed cases of H1N1 and one patient hospitalized with a suspected H1N1 case. Because flu season generally does not peak until January or February, VCPH officials are encouraging anyone who has not yet received an annual flu shot to do so immediately. Most years, flu shots are especially important for the most vulnerable - the very young, very old and those with chronic illness. Because the H1N1 influenza is different from the average flu virus and tends to hit young, healthy people through middle-aged adults harder, it is very important that everyone be vaccinated this year.

“The 2013 – 2014 flu vaccine is a good match for the viruses that are currently making people sick,” said Dr. Robert Levin, Ventura County Health Officer. “This year’s shot includes the 2009 H1N1 strain, which is responsible for 97.7% of all flu illnesses so far this season.” According to the CDC, influenza and related complications are the eighth leading cause of death in the United States and influenza was associated with an estimated 381,000 hospitalizations in the U.S. last year. The CDC recommends an annual flu vaccine for everyone six months of age and older, including pregnant women.

Although the flu typically causes the most severe cases in children, the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions, during the 2009 worldwide pandemic, young, healthy people were impacted in greater numbers by the H1N1 virus. That year, the flu caused more illness in children and young and middle-aged adults than in older adults.

“Being vaccinated will reduce your chances of catching H1N1,” said Levin. “In addition, if you do get H1N1, the vaccine will help lessen the severity of your illness.”

For a list of Ventura County flu shot clinics, go to: http://www.vchca.org/public-health/publichealth- clinics and click on the red “Get Your Flu Shot” button for the January and February schedules.

For more information on the 2013 – 2014 flu season, visit www.cdc.gov/flu.

Wendy Drive/101 Overpass Widening Project in Newbury Park Will Take 18 Months

Update 12/11/13: the NP 101 onramp at Wendy Drive now is expected to open tomorrow, December 12th, after Caltrans programs the traffic controller sometime tomorrow morning!

Update 11/26/13: According to the City of Thousand Oaks, the northbound 101 onramp at Wendy Drive now is anticipated to open on Monday, December 16th due to other requirements from Caltrans and the completion date for the entire project is by the end of December.

Update 9/19/13: In May 2013, the City entered into a reimbursement agreement with the Seventh Day Adventist Church to construct intersection improvements at Academy Drive and the 101 Freeway. These improvements are being added to the existing project and will elongate the project period. Doing the improvements now as part of the existing project will take advantage of the equipment and contractor that is already mobilized and will reduce further inconvenience to motorists in the future.

The project is now 70% complete and is anticipated to be done by November to mid-December. 90% of the bridge's pavement is complete. Remaining items to be completed include traffic signal installations/modifications (estimated completion date 10/20/13), drainage improvements on the NB 101 onramp, asphalt overlays for the offramps, as well as street lights, fencing and landscaping to be finished at the end of the project.

Total cost with the additional improvements is $15.8M, including $10.8M in Federal Highway Grants, $2.1M in gas taxes and $2.9M in developer fees (including $1.4M from the Seventh Day Adventist Church, as approved by City Council on May 28, 2013). the $1.4M will be paid once the site, once considered by Costco as a site, is developed.

We are in the home stretch!

Update 2/5/12 from the City of T.O. Website: Construction period Feb 2012 to Aug 2013. Total cost $14.3 million ($10.9 million Federal funds, $2.1 million gas tax, $1.3 million developer fees. Construction crews begin mobilization February 13th.

"The City plans to improve the Wendy Drive/101 Freeway overcrossing by adding a travel lane in each direction, widening the northbound on-ramp and southbound off-ramp, and adding bike lanes and signal modifications for enhanced public safety. Periodic night-time full freeway closures will occur. During these closures, motorists will be directed towards the on/off ramps to exit and re-enter the freeway. In addition, the freeway on/off ramps will be intermittently shut-down between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM, and re-opened between 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM daily."

Update 1/31/12: Initial work is slated to start now in the mid-February range but will not have a significant impact on traffic according to the City. The City is awaiting detailed plan updates. Click here to see updates on the City of T.O. website and to sign up for email updates directly from the City.

Originally posted 12/30/11:

Beginning in January the City of Thousand Oaks is widening the Wendy Drive/101 Freeway overcrossing by adding a travel lane in each direction, northbound on-ramp and southbound off-ramp, and adding bike lanes and signal modifications. The goal of the project is to mitigate traffic congestion in the area (I can vouch for that problem...).

The project starts sometime next month. The project plan on the city website indicates January 30th but I thought I saw a sign showing mid-month closure. Whatever the actual start date is, expect delays and detours over the next 18 (ugghh!!) months! Final striping of the new lanes are currently anticipated for the week of July 15, 2013. But of course actual dates may vary.

This area already gets mighty congested during the morning/evening rush hours, so be prepared. Try getting on/off the 101 at Borchard/Rancho Conejo. There are detour maps on the city website at www.toaks.org/wendy101 but frankly I'm having a hard time deciphering them. Regardless, I certainly will be avoiding that area as much as possible during construction.

California Lutheran University to Launch Veterans Entrepreneurship Institute

CLU starts vets entrepreneurship program

University increases emphasis on job-creating skills

California Lutheran University is launching a Veterans Entrepreneurship Institute in January as part of an increased emphasis on preparing people to create their own business opportunities.

Nelson Pizarro, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship in CLU’s School of Management, will lead 10 three-hour Saturday workshops for military veterans. Each of the 20 participants in the pilot program will receive a full scholarship, with partial funding coming from a Ventura Country Community Foundation grant.

Pizarro, who founded six companies and has conducted business in 46 countries, will help veterans to build on the discipline, commitment and leadership they developed through military service. New skills such as entrepreneurial thinking will help participants to either start their own businesses or improve their prospects in the job market. Each participant will create a product or service during the course.

The program is part of a new emphasis on entrepreneurship at CLU driven by School of Management Dean Gerhard Apfelthaler. It has resulted in the addition of faculty, curricula and programs.

Under Pizarro’s guidance, a student entrepreneurship club has formed and started organizing events. The School of Management revived its free Entrepreneur Roundtable lecture series for the public this summer, and Pizarro has started a new professional mentor program. Apfelthaler is starting a seed fund for students and alumni to test their concepts and an accelerator fund to help launch tested ideas. The university plans to launch an incubation facility in Westlake Village in 2014.

Pizarro has developed three new courses for the entrepreneurship track in the MBA program. One of the classes, which covers entrepreneurial thinking, will also be offered for undergraduate students in all disciplines.

Bill Gartner, a new faculty member and one of the most-cited scholars on entrepreneurship, will begin teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in new-venture development in January. He also plans to teach an entrepreneurship course in summer that would be the university’s first massive open online course (MOOC). Gartner will work with faculty to integrate entrepreneurial thinking across all disciplines, particularly in the arts and humanities, and organize a summer speaker series. He was formerly the Henry W. Simonsen Chair in Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California and the director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Georgetown University.

The deadline to apply for the Veterans Entrepreneurship Institute is Jan. 6. To complete an application, visit callutheran.edu/veterans. For more information, contact Pizarro at 805-493-3371 or npizarro@callutheran.edu.

Additional Information About Proposed Westlake Village In-N-Out Restaurant

Proposed In-N-Out at The Shoppes at Westlake Village (Image courtesy of City of Westlake Villlage)

The City of Westlake Village has published a video highlighting information about the proposed In-N-Out Burger that will be covered at a December 21 Public Hearing. Featured in a Q&A session are City Manager Ray Taylor and City Planning Director Scott Wolfe. The video is embedded below but here is a summary of points covered:

• Construction of The Shoppes at Westlake Village is moving along, with infrastructure (water/sewer) and paving in place and building foundations and initial framing underway. The target date for opening of the Target store is July 27, 2014 (updated July 2014).

• The proposed In-N-Out Burger is planned for the west end of The Shoppes development up against the existing Bank of America building.

• The proposed In-N-Out lies on about a one acre plot, with the restaurant itself occupying about 3,700 sq ft., which is a typical size for an In-N-Out.

• The architecture of the In-N-Out will match that of the rest of The Shoppes, including stonework, natural tile and other "Older European" treatments. It will thus have a different look than a typical In-N-Out.

• In-N-Out originally proposed one bronze colored In-N-Out sign facing the 101 Freeway, with two others in the standard In-N-Out corporate color scheme. Working with the City, the plan has been changed such that all three signs are proposed to be bronze to match the coloring of other stores at The Shoppes.

• The City wanted to make sure there was adequate queuing space for drive-thru traffic. Wolfe indicates typical fast food restaurants have space for 7 to 9 cars and typical In-N-Outs accommodate 15 cars. The City worked with In-N-Out to accommodate in excess of 20 cars for this particular In-N-Out Burger!

• The City is satisfied that In-N-Out and The Shoppes have adequate walls and landscaping planned to ensure car headlights in the parking and queuing areas do not impact drivers on the 101 Freeway.

• In-N-Out has proposed store hours of 10:30 am 7 days a week, closing at 1am Sunday through Thursday and 1:30 am Friday/Saturday. Wolfe indicates this is subject to City Council review.

For more information about the proposed In-N-Out restaurant in Westlake Village, visit www.wlv.org/index.aspx?NID=351.

Proposed Westlake Village In-N-Out Burger Topic of Public Hearing on December 11th

PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED ON PROPOSED IN-N-OUT RESTAURANT IN WESTLAKE VILLAGE

After several months of discussions and a number of plan revisions, In-N-Out Burger has filed an application to construct and operate a drive-thru restaurant on Russell Ranch Road along the 101 Freeway (within the Shoppes at Westlake Village retail center).

This application is scheduled to be discussed at a public hearing at the regular City Council meeting on December 11, 2013, 6:30PM.

In-N-Out Burger is proposing to occupy a freestanding building at the west end of the Shoppes at Westlake Village, which is to be anchored by Target. The Shoppes is anticipated to open in Summer 2014. The City Council’s Planning Area C Ad-hoc Committee and staff have carefully reviewed building and design plans and requested a number of changes to ensure that the building reflects the same architectural detail and standards as the rest of the Shoppes center including stonework, roofing tile, and window treatments. Additionally, at the Committee’s request, signs facing the freeway will be halo-lit and bronze colored, rather than the traditional In-N-Out corporate colors, to match the freeway oriented signage for the rest of the center.

In-N-Out Burger currently has 292 locations in five states, including 218 in California as well as locations in Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Utah. You'd think that with all the excitement about In-N-Out Burger that they'd have more locations by now! But this family chain, opened originally in Baldwin Park in 1948, is taking its sweet time!

Other local Ventura County area In-N-Out locations in Newbury Park (only about 8 miles away from this new proposed Westlake Village location), Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Woodland Hills and Goleta. In May 2011 an Agoura Hills In-N-Out Burger location was under consideration but the plans were withdrawn.

Learn more at www.in-n-out.com. For updates, stay tuned here or visit the City of Westlake Village website at www.wlv.org.

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Planned Closures of 101 Freeway at Lindero Canyon Road October 28 to November 8

Reconstruction of the Lindero Canyon Road/101 freeway overpass will force several nighttime and early morning closures of the 101 freeway in both directions. These closures will begin at 11:00 pm on Monday, October 28 and last until 5:00 am the following morning.

Closures will occur Monday through Friday for a two-week period. The final closure will take place Thursday, November 7 at 11:00 pm through Friday, November 8 at 5:00 am.

Motorists will be detoured off the freeway at Lindero Canyon Road in each direction. Northbound motorists will be routed to Thousand Oaks Boulevard and will return to the 101 freeway at Westlake Boulevard. Southbound motorists will be routed to the Reyes Adobe on-ramp via Agoura Road. In addition, both the northbound and southbound on-ramp loops to the 101 freeway will be closed during these late evening and early morning construction periods (11:00 pm to 5 am). However, one lane of traffic on Lindero Canyon Road in each direction over the bridge will remain open.

On the first two successive nights and early mornings of the closure starting on October 28, construction crews will be using jackhammers to demolish portions of the overpass as part of the reconstruction project beginning around 11:30 pm. to 5:00 am. Unfortunately, noise generated by this construction activity may be heard in residential areas adjacent to the work.

While the City is mindful of this temporary inconvenience, unfortunately the schedule of the work is dictated by Caltrans and the need to undertake this phase of the construction work in the late evening and early morning hours to coincide with the temporary closure of the freeway. Nonetheless, the City wishes to thank the community and effected residents in advance for their patience and understanding associated with this aspect of the project.

To sign up for email and text message updates on the Lindero Canyon/101 freeway overpass reconstruction project, please visit www.wlv.org and click on the blue project update icon on the left side of the homepage.

When this project is completed, the Lindero Canyon Road/101 bridge will have an additional lane in each direction of traffic, aesthetic improvements, an 11 foot wide lit pedestrian walkway on the east side and a 300 foot long sculpture on both sides of the bridge that will feaure iconic scenes of the City of Westlake Village by artist Joe Werthheimer.

Long-Time Newbury Park Resident John Mulhall's Debut Novel "Geddy's Moon"

Long-time Newbury Park resident John Mulhall’s debut novel is called Geddy's Moon.

"Tyler is an amnesiac, drifting aimlessly across the country, struggling to regain his lost memories. When he arrives in Geddy’s Moon, a sleepy town in the middle of the Kansas wheat fields, fragments of his past begin to resurface. But as he establishes new relationships in town, and spends time with the local librarian and her son, he finds himself tormented by nightmares that grow more unsettling each night. What horrific events took place before Tyler arrived in Geddy’s Moon? And could he have brought a terrifying – and possibly supernatural – danger along with him? As the pieces of his fractured memory begin to fall into place, he fears that it may already be too late to keep himself, and those he’s begun to care about, safe from a vicious evil."

In addition to being an award-winning video and event producer, John is also the author of several short stories, plays and a collection of poetry. He began developing Geddy’s Moon more than twenty years ago at age nineteen. In fact, Mulhall indicated that "Geddy's Moon" is actually set in a fictional version of Newbury Park circa 1983.

There will be a Geddy's Moon reading and book signing at the E.P. Foster Library in Ventura at 7pm on October 11th. Your chance to meet the author and learn a little more about his debut horror novel! Visit www.johnmulhall.com to learn more.