No Party Preference Voters May Still Participate in Presidential Primary for 3 of 6 Political Parties in 2020

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Postcard received by NPP registered voters.

A record number of California voters are registered as No Party Preference. As of October 1, 2019, 26.7% of all registered voters in California selected No Party Preference (NPP), up from 24% in January 2016 and 16% in 2003.

But in the Presidential Primary on March 3, 2020, if you are NPP, you have no one to vote for. You will receive a primary election ballot without any candidates listed.

However, three parties have notified the Secretary of State that they will allow for “crossover” voting in the primary. What this means is that NPP voters may request a ballot for one of the three parties and vote for a presidential candidate for that party.

The parties that allow NPPers to vote in their primary are the American Independent Party, Democratic Party and Libertarian Party.

The parties that do not allow crossover voting in the primary are the Green, Peace and Freedom and Republican parties.

The Green, Peace and Freedom, and Republican presidential primaries are open only to voters registered with their respective parties.

You can verify your voter registration at VoterStatus.sos.ca.gov. If you’d like to change your political party, you may re-register at RegisterToVote.ca.gov.

NPP voters who vote in person may simply request their desired crossover ballot when checking in at the polls. NPP voters who vote-by-mail will receive a postcard from their county elections official in advance that will allow them to select a crossover ballot. If they don’t respond to the postcard, they may still request a crossover ballot up until election day at their polling place.

As of October 1, 2019, 80.65% of the 25,205,690 eligible voters in California, or 20,328,636, were registered to vote. 44.1% are Democrat, 26.7% are NPP, 23.6% are Republican and 5.6% is the other parties. The number of registered voters in California has increased over 3 million, from 17.3 million in January 2016 to 20.3 million today. www.sos.ca.gov

The Number of Registered Voters in Ventura County Has Increased Nearly 10% Over the Last Seven Years

The Ventura County Registrar of Voters website has up to date counts of the number of registered voters in Ventura County. We like to track the totals from time to time to see the trends.

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

Approximately seven years later, in May 2019, there are 445,217 registered voters, a 9.5% increase, including:

• 176,712 Democrats, a 12% increase

• 130,228 Republicans, a 14% decrease

• 110,225 Nonpartisans, a whopping 41% increase

• 28,052 Other, also a large 39% increase

Update as of 12/8/19: Total registered voters 454,872, up 2.2% in six months, including 183,994 Democrats (up 4.1%), 132,142 Republicans (up 1.5%), 108,208 Nonpartisan (down 1.8%) and 30,528 Other (up 8.8%).

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.

Dedication of 3.4 Mile Stretch of Highway 101 in Memory of Sergeant Ron Helus in Thousand Oaks

On November 6th, a 3.4 mile stretch of Highway 101, between Hampshire Road and Lynn Road, was dedicated to the memory of Ventura County Sheriff’s Sergeant Ronald Lee Helus.

The prominently placed signs will serve as a reminder of the man he was and the sacrifice he made in order to protect those he did not know. at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks on Wednesday, November 7, 2018.

Live broadcast of the sign dedication on November 6, 2019.

The "Maria" Fire Near Santa Paula Burns Over 9,400 Acres Beginning Halloween Night

I was in Newbury Park on Halloween night when I looked up and saw orange flames in the distance. First I mentally freaked out because they looked pretty close by. But after checking out the Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) “Pulsepoint” page (a web page that shows active and recent incidents in Ventura County), I learned this was most likely a fire on South Mountain, just south of Santa Paula.

Fires definitely can look closer than they actually are at night. Unfortunately, based on a number of recent experiences, I’m getting used to that.

In this case, the fire on South Mountain was clearly seen from the Conejo Valley as the mountain is over 2,300 feet in elevation (which is about 500 feet shorter than Boney Peak here in the Santa Monica Mountains). Although unnerving to see, the flames were easily 10 to 12 miles away from the Conejo Valley, measured point to point.

Randy Latimer shared this of his plane at #SantaPaula airport last night #MariaFire pic.twitter.com/gQNJlTmctU

— TRACY L. LEHR (@KEYTNC3Tracy) November 1, 2019

The fire was called the “Maria” Fire. I’m assuming it was named after something near the scene of the incident. There is a Santa Maria Street in Santa Paula that parallels the north side of South Mountain, so I’m going to assume that was what this wildfire was named after.

South Mountain overlooks the Santa Paula Airport and has the initials “SP” emblazoned on it. There are also oil fields clearly seen on the mountain as well as communications equipment at the top.

What a way to spend Halloween night. Within an hour of its identification, VCFD issued evacuation orders to homes in the perimeter south of the 126, north of Los Angeles Ave, east of Vineyard and west of Balcom Canyon Road.. About 1,800 homes were threatened as the fire crews strategically went into structure protection mode.

The wind driven fire was spreading quickly westbound, while moving slowly in the Santa Paula direction. Somis was also in the path of the fire.

One great thing about social media is that we have much more timely information about local disasters. The VCFD Public Information Officer Twitter account posts frequent updates, available to anyone via web browser at twitter.com/VCFD_PIO. (You don’t need to be a Twitter user to view the Tweets.) I’ve been impressed by the frequency and quality of communications from this VCFD account.

Of course, there are other sources for information, including the vcemergency.com website, which posts incident information, evacuations, emergency shelters and road closures.

As of Saturday, November 2nd at 7 p.m.., the Maria Fire stands at 9,412 acres and is 30% contained. Two structures were destroyed in the fire but at this time, no other structures are threatened. Evacuations orders were lifted at 2 p.m. today. A total of 1,579 total personnel are assigned to the fire, including 262 engines, 7 water tenders, 6 helicopters, 35 hand crews and 10 dozers.

Anticipated full containment is November 8th.

Sick With the Flu? Know What To Do!

Influenza (or flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by flu viruses. Most people with flu have mild illness and do not need medical care or antiviral drugs. If you get flu symptoms, in most cases, you should stay home and avoid contact with others except to get medical care.

Know the symptoms of Flu

Flu viruses can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. The flu is different from a cold. The flu usually comes on suddenly. People who have flu often feel some or all of these symptoms: Fever* or feeling feverish/chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue (tiredness). Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea. This is more common in children.

* It’s important to note that not everyone with flu will have a fever.

Take Antiviral Drugs if your doctor prescribes them!

Antiviral drugs can be used to treat flu illness. Antiviral drugs can make illness milder and shorten the time you are sick. They also can prevent serious flu complications.

CDC recommends that antiviral drugs be used early to treat people who are very sick with the flu and people who get flu symptoms who are at high risk of serious flu complications, either because of their age or because they have a high risk medical condition.

Stay Home When Sick

When you are sick, limit contact with others as much as possible. Remember to cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, and throw tissues in the trash after you use them. Stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities.

*Your fever should be gone for 24 hours without the use of a fever-reducing medicine before resuming normal activities.

Treating the flu: www.cdc.gov/flu/treatment/index.html

No Sales Tax on Diapers and Menstrual Hygiene Products in California in 2020-2021

Sleep tight! No sales tax on your diaper in 2020 and 2021, babeeee!

Here’s something to factor into your budgets beginning January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021. California Senate Bill 92 signed by Governor Newsom eliminates sales and use taxes on diapers for infants, toddler and children, as well as on menstrual hygiene products, including tampons, specified sanitary napkins, menstrual sponges and menstrual cups.

But the taxes only go away for two years, unless the law is extended.

This is good news, or at least temporarily good news, for women and families of diaper-wearing kids.

I didn’t keep tabs on how many diapers we went through when the kids were of diaper-wearing age, but It seems to me every few hours was about par for the course. Perhaps 8 diapers a day. At an average of say 25 cents per diaper, that could add up to over $700/year in diapers.

As of today, one would pay $54.25 in sales taxes on $700 worth of diapers in Ventura County (7.75%). That creeps up to $66.50 in Los Angeles County (9.5%).

Why was this put into place? SB 92, published June 28, 2019, indicates “the specific goals, purposes and objectives of this act are to promote public health by increasing the affordability of, and expanding access to, diaper and menstrual hygiene products.”

Logical questions I have no answers for:

1. Why did they not eliminate the sales taxes on adult diapers? (Asking for a friend.)

2. Why did they eliminate the sales taxes for only two years?

3. Was there not a men’s product to apply the sales tax break to? How about a tax break on beer for a couple years!? That would be cool!