The Old "Agoura" Sign on Agoura Road

I was running (literally running) around Agoura Hills, in the vicinity of Agoura Road west of Chesebro Road, when I looked up and saw this distinctly vintage "Agoura" sign displayed at the corner of Agoura and Lewis Roads. While I've driven that stretch of Agoura Road hundreds of times over the years, for whatever reason I never really noticed this interesting sign.

I wondered how long this sign has been there. City of Agoura Historian Cim Castellon was able to help put some of the puzzle together by contacting Brian Rooney of R7 Media, who provided the image below.

This photo shows two women posing for the camera with the Agoura sign and Agoura Market and Gas Station, owned by Harold Neale, in the background.

Photo Credit: R7 Media (www.r7media.com)

On the east side of Lewis Road road is the old Agoura Post Office at 28249 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills. Brian thinks the Agoura sign was put up about the time the post office opened.

The sign is located adjacent to what used to be Center Stage Music, in a building that originally was Fitzgerald's Market in the 1920s and later Agoura Market in the 1940s.

For more local history, be sure to stop by the Reyes Adobe Historical Site, the first home built in Agoura Hills back in 1850.

Street Number Painting on Your Curb in Thousand Oaks

Did you ever wonder about those notices taped to your mailbox asking for $20 to paint a new curb address at your house? I think I paid $10 one time years ago and they did do a good job (and it saved me the time and effort of attempting to do it myself).

But these notices never seem to have a name or phone number on them. Just mysteriously taped to my mailbox.

According to the Thousand Oaks Public Works Department at 805.449.2400, this practice requires an encroachment permit and to date no one has filed for one.  The permit costs $320 (in 2022 - it was $126 in 2017) for an entrepreneur, or no cost for non-profit organizations and fundraisers (booster clubs, etc.).  The permit is good for a year.

Public Works requires that the provider's name and number be indicated on the notice.

More information at www.toaks.org/home/showdocument?id=692.

Anyone can paint their own curb address.  The numbers must be at least 3 inches high (preferably 4 inches), stenciled in black on white background.  It must cover up the previous numbers but if there weren't any, they must be within 3 feet of the driveway on the same side as the house.

The recent notice offered an American flag in full color painted along with the address for an extra $5.  This is very patriotic and if everyone did it would be quite cool, but technically the City only allows numbers on the curb, no images.  So fly the flag high but don't be painting it on the curb.

You are now educated on the topic of curb address painting in Thousand Oaks.

Originally posted in January 2009. Updated August 2017. and 2022.

The Largest Mega Millions Jackpots to Date and Other Mega Millions Information

Tomorrow (July 29, 2022) night’s Mega Millions drawing is estimated at $1.1 billion (update: $1.28 billion), making it the 2nd largest Mega Millions jackpot of all time. The Top 10 Mega Millions jackpots to date are as follows:

• $1.537 billion - 10/23/18 - Winning ticket in South Carolina. (5, 28, 62, 65, 70 and 05)

• $1.28 billion - 7/29/22 - And if no one wins it, it will be even higher on 8/2/22.

• $1.050 billion - 1/22/21 - Winning ticket in Michigan (4, 26, 42, 50, 60 and 24)

• $656 million - 3/30/12 - Winning tickets in Illinois, Kansas, Maryland (2, 4, 23, 38, 46 and 23)

• $648 million - 12/17/13 - Winning tickets in California, Georgia (8, 14, 17, 20, 39 and 7)

• $543 million - 7/24/18 - Winning ticket in California (1, 2, 4, 19, 29 and 20)

• $536 million - 7/8/16 - Winning ticket in Indiana (8, 19, 20, 55, 73 and 5)

• $533 million - 3/30/18 - Winning ticket in New Jersey (11, 28, 31, 46, 59 and 1)

• $522 million - 6/7/19 - Winning ticket in California (17, 19, 27, 40, 68 and 2)

• $516 million - 5/21/21 - Winning ticket in Pennsylvania (6, 9, 17, 18, 48 and 8)

Mega Millions is sold in 45 states, Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The five states that do not participate are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.

Locally, Kristine Wellerstein won a $426 million ($292.9 million cash) Mega Millions drawing with a ticket purchased in Woodland Hills on 1/28/22.

On 7/16/10, Zahra Vasseghi of Agoura Hills split a $64 million Mega Millions jackpot with a co-worker. Read about her story at nspyr.com/thevasseghifamilystory/index.html (you won’t regret it).

In Mega Millions, you pick five different numbers ranging from 1 to 70 and one number (the gold Mega Ball) from 1 to 25. The jackpot is hitting all 6 numbers, which is a 1 in 302,575,350 chance. You have a 1 in 37 chance of hitting just the Mega Ball, worth a $2 return of your money.

If you win the Mega Millions jackpot, you can either take one up-front payment that is equal to all the cash in the jackpot price pool (which in tomorrow’s case is $648.2 million vs the estimated $1.1 billion full jackpot) or you can take the annuity option.

The annuity option is not the entire amount divided by 30 years. It starts out at about 1.5% of the total jackpot and increases each year by 5%. So for example, if you win the $1.1 billion jackpot, in the annuity option, you would receive about $16.5 million immediately, followed by $17.3 million in year 2, $18.2 million in year 3, $19.1 million in year 4, and so on.

Good luck! www.megamillions.com

VCTC Intercity Provides Bus Service Throughout Ventura County and Adjacent Areas

The Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) operates VCTC Intercity (formerly called VISTA) bus service throughout Ventura County as well as to Santa Barbara and Warner Center.

Routes and links to associated schedules:

• Highway 101/Conejo (Routes 50-52) - Covers Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks.

• Highway 126 (Routes 60-62) - Covers Fillmore, Santa Paula, Saticoy, Ventura.

• East County (Routes 70-73) - Covers Simi Valley, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks.

• Cross County Limited (Route 77 - Mon-Fri Only) - Covers Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Somis, Moorpark, Simi Valley

• Coastal Express (Routes 80-89) - Covers Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, Goleta and UCSB.

• Channel Islands (Routes 90-99) - Covers Oxnard, CSU Channel Islands, Camarillo

Service hours vary by route, but overall VCTC Intercity operates between 4:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. on weekdays, 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Saturdays/Sundays, depending on the route. VCTC Intercity does not operate on the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

As of July 2022 one way fares are as follows:

• Zone 1 - In Ventura County (Highway 101, Highway 126, East County, Channel Islands, Cross County Limited Routes) - $1.75 per fare

• Zone 2 - Out of Ventura County (Coastal Express Route) - $4 per fare.

• Children under 5 are free with a paying customer.

More fare information at www.goventura.org/vctc-transit/fares-passes.

Visit www.goventura.org to learn more and to map out your route.

Fourteen Percent Increase in Registered Voters in Ventura County Since May 2019

The Ventura County Registrar of Voters website has up to date counts showing the number of registered voters in Ventura County. From time to time we like to take a look at that data and compare it to prior years.

On May 11, 2022, there were 506,028 registered voters in Ventura County, a 14% increase in three years. Here is the breakdown by affiliation:

• 219,956 Democrats (a 24% increase since 2019) (43% of all registered voters)

• 143,227 Republicans (a 10% increase) (28% of all registered voters)

• 105,961 Nonpartisans (a 4% decrease) (21% of all registered voters)

• 36,884 Other (a 31% increase) (8% of all registered voters)

In May 2019, there were 445,217 registered voters, including:

• 176,712 Democrats

• 130,228 Republicans

• 110,225 Nonpartisans

• 28,052 Other

On May 12, 2012, there were 406,644 registered voters in Ventura County, consisting of:

• 157,539 Democrats

• 150,919 Republicans

• 77,994 Nonpartisans

• 20,192 Other

Can’t remember if you are eligible to vote? Look it up at THIS LINK. What I’ve found with this Voter Eligibility Search function is that, unlike a search engine, your search terms have to be precise. If you are registered as Richard King, if you type Rich King into the search, it will not find you.

Register to vote online at registertovote.ca.gov.

A Drive Down the Historic Norwegian Grade in Thousand Oaks

The Historic Norwegian Grade was originally built by hand and $60 worth of dynamite in the early 1900s by the founding Norwegian families, Olsen, Pedersen and others. The top of the grade to Santa Rosa Road is about a mile and a half. The two lane road was improved in 2010 to make it slightly wider and improve the guard rail and signage. More history at THIS LINK.

California Minimum Wages Increased by $1 Per Hour on January 1, 2022

If you are a minimum wage earner in California, on January 1, 2022 you received a pay increase of either 7.7% or 7.1%.

It depends on if your employer has 25 or fewer employees or 26 or more employees. If you work for a smaller employer, the California minimum wage increased from $13 to $14 per hour. If you work for a larger employer, your wage increased from $14 to $15 per hour.

California minimum wage rates have increased from $10/hour (small employers) and $10.50/hour (larger employers) in 2017 to the current day rates by law to $15 over 5 (large employers) to 6 (small employers) years. Large employers are now at the $15 target rate. Small employers are planned to escalate one more dollar to $15/hour on January 1, 2023.

The federal minimum wage for 2022 is still $7.25, a rate unchanged since it became effective on July 24, 2009.

California minimum wage rates apply to Ventura County residents. But City of Los Angeles and County of Los Angeles minimum wage rates are currently also $15/hour for all employers.

Looking for a higher minimum wage? Move to San Francisco, where the rate is currently $16.32 per hour and will be adjusted for inflation on July 1, 2022.

Looking for states with minimum wages set at the federal rate of $7.25/hour? That would be Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

California’s minimum wage rate in 2022 is 2nd only to Washington D.C., which is at $15.20. Next closest is Washington at $14.49 and Massachusetts at $14.25