Ventura County Sheriff "Social Host" (Underage Drinking) Ordinance Message

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Community Safety Message from the Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Summer is almost upon us and schools will be closing their doors for a well-deserved vacation. Experience tells us that we will experience an increase in daytime residential burglaries, more unsightly graffiti and many “party disturbing” calls.

I want to take this opportunity to talk about those parties and the potentially lethal combination of teenagers and alcohol. There is nothing wrong with celebrating the end of the school year with an evening of fun with family and friends. However, too often these events end in tragedy. Alcohol consumption and binge drinking in combination with prescription drugs are the most common cause of overdose for teenagers in the community.

Some parents want to be “cool” by permitting their children and their friends to consume alcohol while throwing a party in the home. Other parents rationalize their behavior by arguing that teenagers will find alcohol elsewhere if they don’t allow it at home. Concerned parents do not abandon their parental responsibility while placing their teens and the community at risk in this way.

Several years ago, Ventura County Ordinance 6113 was passed to combat this problem. Also known as the Social Host Ordinance, individuals responsible for the party can be held accountable, even if they didn’t personally buy the alcohol, for “hosting” the party. Should deputies be called to respond to an underage drinking incident on property you own, lease or otherwise control, you could be cited and required to pay a fine of $1000. If this is not incentive enough to discourage such conduct, imagine being the parent who permits underage drinking that leads to a tragic death when one of the partygoers crashes on the way home forfeiting their life of that of other innocents.

Sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers will be vigorously enforcing these laws throughout the summer. Remember, it is fun to celebrate the end of the school year, just do so legally and responsibly so your teenager can attend the first day of the next school year.

For more information on the subject, please visit www.venturacountylimits.org.

By Law, California 7th-12th Graders Must Receive Whooping Cough Vaccine by July 2011

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AB 354: The New 7th – 12th Grade California Immunization Law
California Department of Public Health, Immunization Branch

Whooping cough is a serious disease that causes coughing fits that can last for months. It can be deadly for infants. In recent years, whooping cough has been increasing in the United States. In 2010, whooping cough was widespread in California.

Starting July 2011, a new law (AB 354) changing California immunization requirements for all students entering 7th-12th grades goes into effect. The law requires:

  • This coming school year (2011-2012), all students entering into 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th or 12 th grades will need proof of an adolescent whooping cough booster shot (called “Tdap”) before starting school.
  • For the next school year (2012-13) and future school years, all students entering into 7th grade only will need proof of a Tdap shot to start school.

This law includes current students, new students and transfer students in both public and private schools.

Tdap is a booster vaccine for older children, adolescents, and

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Californians Help Eliminate All The Evasive Registration Scofflaws Program

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I thought this was a pretty clever acronym from the California Highway Patrol so why not share it here. Who knows, if we all participate in the Californians Help Eliminate All The Evasive Registration Scofflaws (CHEATERS) tattletale program, maybe we can eliminate our ongoing budget issues (ha ha)!

Report Vehicles with Out-of-State License Plates to the CHP

Did you know that the State of California loses millions of dollars a year in revenue from California residents who unlawfully register their vehicles in other states or countries?

Did you know that vehicle registration fees are due immediately upon accepting employment or establishing residency in the State of California?

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California Vehicle Restraint Laws from the California Highway Patrol

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CALIFORNIA VEHICLE RESTRAINT LAWS - A REFRESHER

INFANTS AND SMALL CHILDREN

www.chp.ca.gov


V.C. 27360(a) Cite parent/guardian for each child who is not properly restrained in the rear seat unless the child is six years or older or weighs 60 pounds or more.

V.C. 27360(b) Cite driver only if parent is not present.

Exceptions:

  1. Court sanctioned exemption, medical condition, physical unfitness, or size.
  2. Life threatening emergency or transported in authorized emergency vehicle.
  3. Child over 40 pounds in rear seat of vehicle with lap belts only.

Each child is required to be properly restrained in the back seat unless child is six years or older or weighs 60 pounds or more.

Exceptions: V.C. 27360(c) a child or ward under the age of six years who weighs less than 60 pounds may ride in the front seat of a motor vehicle, if properly secured in a Child Passenger Restraint System (CPRS) that meets applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards, under the following circumstances:

  1. There is no rear seat.
  2. The rear seats are side-facing jump seats.
  3. The rear seats are rear-facing seats.
  4. The Child Passenger Restraint System cannot b
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Ventura County Watershed Protection District Website Provides Real-Time Rain Data

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The mission of the Ventura County Watershed Protection Districtis to protect life, property, watercourses, watersheds and public infrastructure from the dangers and damages associated with flood and stormwaters in Ventura County. VCWPD has jurisdiction over about 200 miles of channels throughout the County.

One feature on the VCWPD website is the ALERT (Automated Local Evaluation in Real Time) map that shows rainfall totals at over 100 locations throughout Ventura County. If you look at the 2-day rainfall totals as of today, March 21, 2011, you will see some very dramatic rainfall totals, confirming the massive drenching we experienced in the Conejo Valley yesterday, leaving downed trees all around town. Here are some 2-day rainfall totals (note that this is provisional data and VCWPD does not warrant the accuracy of the data):

  • Newbury Park: 5.5 inches (measured at the NP Fire Station)

  • Thousand Oaks Civic Center: 5.4 inches

  • Camarillo Airport: 4.0 inches

  • Ventura County Government Center: 3.8 inches

  • Simi Valley: 3.7 inches

  • Moorpark: 3.1 inches

  • Agoura Hills: 4.1 inches

www.vcwatershed.net/fws/rain-map

That's a lot of rain in such a short period! Need sandbags? Here's a list courtesy of the Ventura County Fire Department.

Over 3.2 Million Californians Seek Food Assistance in the CalFresh Program

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Guest post by formerly homeless Conejo Valley resident, Lon V.

According to the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), at the end of 2010, more than 3,200,000 Californians participated in the federally funded California CalFresh program.  The Calfresh program, formerly known as Food Stamps and federally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), can add healthy and nutritious food to your table.

The food stamp benefits are given to you in the form on an ATM type debit card that the state CalFresh program funds, typically once per month.  You then utilize the card and associated PIN number to pay for your groceries at your favorite grocery stores.  You may only purchase unprepared food products; no paper products, pet products, certainly no alcohol or tobacco products.  You also cannot purchase deli products that are already prepared or products that you may open and eat immediately.

If you think about it, that does somewhat limit your possible food choices, especially if you’re homeless and you don’t have the means to cook anything.  Moreover, the homeless population cannot store many foods; therefore, you will often only buy what you plan to prepare and eat immediately.  Fresh foods will not last outdoors without spoiling, and you certainly cannot store any refrigerated products, so those are rarely purchased unless you intend to consume them right away.

The food stamp program, which dates back to the early 1960′s, does have a number of inherent shortcomings.  The first is the restriction on buying healthy, ready-to-ea

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Living As One of The Invisible Homeless in Ventura County

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Guest post by (now) formerly homeless Conejo Valley resident, Lon V.

The Invisible Homeless

I frequently post about my own personal experiences while living as one of the invisible homeless in America.  My blog posts on the subject of homelessness are therapeutic for me and allow me to share my day to day experiences and insight on what’s sadly a growing trend in America.  As I’ve written before, the stress on living homeless can be deafening at times, and sometimes overwhelming both physically or emotionally.  I also believe often my stress level is reflected in my writings with posts specific to my day to day activities.  However sometimes, my posts are simply more level headed, offering my insight on today’s social issues that may effect myself and many Americans.  Ultimately, I concluded that that whatever topic I write about, as long as I am true to the subject and my writing; that’s the best I could really hope to do.

When I finally become comfortable and settle into a unique style of my own, I will decide on what my blog is really going to be consistently about.  Clearly my name in on the blogs header and my life as an invisible homeless man in America has caught the interest of many people. I thought to myself, perhaps I’m not so invisible anymore.  It’s amazing, I’ve received so many positive and encouraging emails from absolute, complete strangers.  Furthermore, I’ve forged several new wonderful and inspiring relationships with local leaders, and re-discovered family members who are now following my blog more closely.

The most remarkable relationships that I’ve been blessed with so far while being homeless  have come from two people, that I’ve been so fortunate to re-discover.  One is my older sister, Debbie, who lives in Florida.  The second is my brothers ex-fiancee’ Tina, and my nephew, Ben, who both reside in South Carolina.  Why are these two relationships, perhaps more remarkable to me than the others at this time in my life?  Well first, because they’re family members, and it’s truly heart warming to me that these two are so interested in me, and understanding of the  obvious challenges that are ahead of me.  Second, like the good lord above, these two wonderful people don’t judge me or have any preconceptions about my circumstances.  They’re both keeping an eye on my well being as best they can, and they offer friendly, common sense guidance, whenever I ask for it.  They don’t push their opinions on me, they listen and ultimately offer constructive criticism if needed.  It

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