Local Buzz covers new businesses, restaurants, closures, local politics, goings on around town and other buzzworthy items in the Conejo Valley and Greater Ventura County. Have a lead? Contact us. Click here for an archive of Local Buzz postings.
Local Buzz covers new restaurants, closures, local politics, goings on around town and other buzzworthy items in the Conejo Valley and Greater Ventura County. Have a lead? Contact us. Click here for an archive of Local Buzz postings.
Post other items directly to the Community Announcements section of the site.
Ubatuba Acai opened a new location at the Camarillo Premium Outlets several months ago in the former Yogurtland location. Somehow I missed this.
Ubatuba offers acai bowls, empanadas (including one with Beyond Meat) and drinks. The Thousand Oaks Ubatuba has been open since spring 2015.
Otherwise at the Outlets, gone are Los Arroyos, Smashburger and PizzaRev.
The note on the door says “To Our Roma Customers: We are saddened to say Roma’s has closed its doors permanently. The economy / pandemic got the best of us. We would like to thank the community for over 30 years of support and love!”
Roma Italian Deli & Restaurant at 2247 Michael Drive in Newbury Park originally opened in 1979. Original owners up until a few years ago.
Roma Deli in September 2020
Upon assessment of the recent, unprecedented rate of rise in increase in COVID-19 cases across California, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is taking immediate actions to prevent the spread of the virus. These immediate actions will help reduce community spread, protect individuals at higher risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19, and prevent the state's health care delivery system from becoming overwhelmed. Reducing movement and mixing of individual Californians is critical to decreasing transmission, hospitalizations, and deaths.
Therefore, as the State Public Health Officer, I am issuing a Limited Stay at Home order, effective in counties under Tier One (Purple) of California's Blueprint for a Safer Economy, requiring that all gatherings with members of other households and all activities conducted outside the residence, lodging, or temporary accommodation with members of other households cease between 10:00pm PST and 5:00am PST, except for those activities associated with the operation, maintenance, or usage of critical infrastructure or required by law. This order does not apply to persons experiencing homelessness.
Nothing in this order prevents any number of persons from the same household from leaving their residence, lodging, or temporary accommodation, as long as they do not engage in any interaction with (or otherwise gather with) any number of persons from any other household, except as specifically permitted herein.
This Limited Stay at Home Order will reduce opportunities for disease transmission with the goal of decreasing the number of hours individuals are in the community and mixing with individuals outside of their household. Every intervention to decrease mixing of households is critical during this unparalleled increase in case rate rise of about 50 percent during the first week in November. In particular, activities conducted during 10:00pm to 5:00am are often non-essential and more likely related to social activities and gatherings that have a higher likelihood of leading to reduced inhibition and reduced likelihood to adhere to COVID-19 preventive measures (e.g., wearing face coverings and maintaining physical distance).
This order shall take effect on November 21, 2020, at 10:00pm PST.
For counties that move into Tier One (Purple) after the effective date of this Order, the terms of this Order shall apply at 10:00pm PST on day two after the county is assigned to Tier One (Purple). For the purpose of counting days, day one shall be the first full day following the date of the tier assignment.
This order remains in effect until 5:00am PST on December 21, 2020, and may be extended or revised as needed.
www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/limited-stay-at-home-order.aspx?
On Monday, the State of California announced new COVID-19 Tier assignments for counties. Due to increasing case rates, Ventura County and 40 other counties will move back to the more restrictive Tier 1 Purple. Businesses that are impacted by this are asked to make their operational modifications by midnight on November 17th.
In Purple Tier 1, the following sectors are permitted for OUTDOOR operations only until further notice. These sectors must still maintain mitigation measures (social distancing, face covering, and sanitization):
Card rooms, satellite wagering
Family entertainment centers (e.g. bowling alleys, miniature golf, batting cages, kart racing, and arcades)
Gyms and fitness centers
Movie theaters
Museums, zoos, aquariums
Places of worship
Playgrounds and recreational facilities
Restaurants
Wineries
Bars, pubs, brewpubs and breweries may operate outdoors if they are offering sit-down, outdoor meals. Outdoor operations may be conducted under a tent, canopy, or other shelter if no more than one side is closed.
In alignment with Purple Tier 1, the following sectors are open for INDOOR operations. These sectors must still maintain mitigation measures (social distancing, face covering, and sanitization) and specific modifications in parentheses below:
All retail (maximum 25% capacity)
Critical infrastructure
Hair salons and barbershops
Libraries (maximum 25% capacity)
Nail salons and electrolysis operations
Personal care services (e.g. body waxing, estheticians, tattoo, massage)
Professional sports (without live audiences)
Shopping centers (e.g. malls, destination centers, swap meets, excluding food courts and common areas) (maximum 25% capacity)
Schools
In alignment with California Department of Health requirements, schools (all grade levels) that have reopened for in-person instruction, either under a waiver or while Ventura County was in Red Tier 2, are permitted to continue to conduct in-person instruction. Schools that have not reopened must wait until they are eligible again, either by acquiring a waiver from Ventura County Public Health (grades TK-6 only) or by waiting until Ventura County returns to Red Tier 2 for at least two weeks.
If a school was implementing a phased re-opening (e.g., only opened grades K-2 for in-person instruction with set plans to phase in grades 3-6) while Ventura County was in Red Tier 2, the school site may continue their phased re-opening. This is only applicable to individual school sites. If a district has a phased reopening of their schools, the schools in that district that did not open for in person instruction may not reopen until Ventura County has returned to Red Tier 2 for two weeks.
Schools that wish to begin providing in-person instruction for select students in grades 7-12 must follow the CDPH Cohort Guidance; this guidance is not meant to bring all students back for in-person instruction, but those that meet the Cohort Guidance criteria.
Schools conducting in-person instruction must maintain mitigation measures, including social distancing, face coverings, and sanitization, in compliance with schools guidance from CDPH and Ventura County Public Health. Waiver information can be found at www.venturacountyrecovers.org/school-information/.
Tier Advancement
Counties are required to remain in an assigned tier for a minimum of three weeks and must meet the criteria for the next tier for two consecutive weeks before being able to advance to the next tier.
Delicious looking Fatburgers
Fatburger & Buffalo’s Express recently opened a 2nd Ventura County location; this one at the Camarillo Premium Outlets, 740 E. Ventura Blvd, #220 in Camarillo. locations.fatburger.com/united-states/ca/camarillo
Fatburger was founded by Lovie Yancey in the neighborhood of Exposition Park in Los Angeles in 1947. It was originally named "Mr. Fatburger" (on behalf of Yancey's boyfriend), until the "Mr." was removed by Yancey in 1952. At that time, she bought out her start-up partners and retained sole ownership of the Fatburger brand until 1990, keeping and operating the original store on Western Avenue along with the La Cienega Boulevard store (La Cienega/San Vicente).
At select Fatburger locations (including both of our Ventura County locations), you’ll find authentic buffalo-style wings from Buffalo’s Cafe, called Buffalo’s Express
Buffalo Wings are offered either bone-in or boneless, in quantities of 6, 10, 16 or 24. Wings are served with celery, carrots & your choice of bleu cheese, ranch or honey mustard.
Fatburgers come in four sizes: Medium (Original) (1/3 lb), Large (Kingburger) (1/2 lb), XXL (Double Kingburger) (1 lb) and XXXL (Triple Kingburger) (1.5 lbs).
More information at fatburger.com.
The Thousand Oaks Fatburger on Moorpark Road opened in June 2018.
Chef Danny's Naru Bento at Janss Marketplace is now open in "soft opening" mode. Their bento boxes offer a choice of rice with 2 items, including cajun beef steak w/mushrooms, sushi, chicken, Philly steak, file mignon bites, steamed boneless beef ribs, vegetable chicken, shrimp, etc. rice bowls and other delicious sound items. Learn more at narubento.com.
Leone’s Original Italian Ices at 1696 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks (south side, opposite endpoint of Erbes Road) opened for business this past week.
According to their website, Greg Leone is THE Italian Ice King of California. He grew up in New York City and brought his family recipes with his family to California.
Their menu includes water ices, creme ices, organic soft serve ice cream and a variety of drinks. This sounds like a place that will be dear to my heart!
Learn more at leonesices.com. Their initial hours are 11 am to 7 pm daily.
VENTURA COUNTY WAS MOVED BACK TO THE “PURPLE TIER” EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 18TH, EFFECTIVELY ELIMINATING OPERATION OF INDOOR MOVIES
Local area theaters that are reopening soon (current Red Tier guideline is the lesser of 25% capacity or 100 people per theater screening) include AMC Thousand Oaks this Friday, 10/9 (thanks Dawn for the heads up via the CVG Instagram page), Cinepolis Westlake Village 10/12, Regency Paseo Camarillo 10/9, Century Riverpark in Oxnard 10/9 and Roxy Stadium 11 in Camarillo 10/16.
Studio Movie Grill Simi Valley is back open.
Regal theaters announced the opposite the other day...that all theaters are "suspending" operations as of 10/9. Regal theaters in the local area include Janss Marketplace, Simi Valley Civic Center, Edwards Camarillo and Edwards Calabasas. Regal indicates this is temporary. "Any rewards and credits that expire while Regal theatres are closed will be extended when we reopen."
Links to various local Ventura County area movie theater websites at THIS LINK.
The California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees has appointed Erika D. Beck, Ph.D., to serve as president of California State University, Northridge (CSUN). Beck currently serves as president of California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI).
“From the robust academic programs to inspirational athletic competition to the expansive opportunities for arts and culture, I am inspired by the impact that CSUN has in shaping the face of the San Fernando Valley and beyond,” said Beck. “While it is bittersweet to leave CSU Channel Islands where working together with faculty, staff, students and community we have made significant progress, I am thankful for this opportunity to join the talented CSUN faculty, staff and students to ensure that all Matadors rise.”
While president of CSUCI, Beck championed the campus’ vision to become a national leader in providing equitable, affordable and transformative education. CSUCI placed at the top of many recent national rankings including those issued by U.S. News & World Report, Money and Washington Monthly. The campus’ four-year graduation rate for first-year students has also reached an all-time high and last year was recognized as one of nine institutions in the nation with the prestigious Seal of Excelencia for its accomplishments in facilitating LatinX student success. Beck was appointed to the CSUCI presidency in 2016.
“In a short period of time, Dr. Beck has quickly steered CSUCI to unprecedented heights,” said CSU Trustee Debra Farar, chair of the CSUN search committee. “Her extensive knowledge of the CSU and California ensures that she will build on the successful work of outgoing CSUN President Dianne Harrison.”
Prior to her time at CSUCI, Beck served as the provost and executive vice president of Nevada State College (NSC) in Henderson, Nevada. Before her tenure as provost and executive vice president, she served as the dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, a faculty member in the psychology department, and chair of the Faculty Senate. Prior to her service at NSC, she served as a faculty fellow at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and a research associate at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
Beck earned a bachelor’s in psychology and a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of California, San Diego. She is also “made in the CSU,” having earned her master’s in psychology from San Diego State University.
Beck will assume her new role at CSUN on January 11, 2021.
Following consultation with stakeholders at CSUCI and with board chair Lillian Kimbell, CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White will soon announce an interim appointment who will serve as campus president beginning early next year. The Board of Trustees anticipates launching a national search in the new year for Beck's successor at CSUCI.
Beck has served as president of CSUCI since March 2016.
About the California State University
The California State University is the largest system of four-year higher education in the country, with 23 campuses, 53,000 faculty and staff and 486,000 students. Half of the CSU's students transfer from California community colleges. Created in 1960, the mission of the CSU is to provide high-quality, affordable education to meet the ever-changing needs of California. With its commitment to quality, opportunity, and student success, the CSU is renowned for superb teaching, innovative research and for producing job-ready graduates. Each year, the CSU awards nearly than 129,000 degrees. One in every 20 Americans holding a college degree is a graduate of the CSU and our alumni are 3.8 million strong. Connect with and learn more about the CSU in the CSU NewsCenter.
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