Some Great Residential Holiday Light Displays Around Ventura County

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One of our favorite winter holiday activities is driving around and looking at the light displays around town. There are colorful lights all over the place but these four really stand out! If you are aware of other neat residential Christmas light displays around Ventura County, please let us know!

The holiday light display by the Higgins family at 1566 El Dorado Drive in Thousand Oaks is a 20 minute display synchronized with music and over 150,000 lights. We're talking Disneyland in the Conejo Valley here. Spectacular!

The Fuchs residence on Via Patricia (near Via Ricardo intersection) in the Dos Vientos section of Newbury Park is back again this year wiith another 50,000+ light display synchronized with music. Outstanding!

A great destination each year is the neighborhood in the vicinity of Gemini Street and Waverly Avenue south of Dunnigan Street in Camarillo each year. Numerous homes are lit up and decorated with cartoon characters, trains, Santas, snowmen, and plenty of lights and othe

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Top Hiring Employers In and Around Ventura County as 2013 Approaches

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As we wind down another year, now is a great time to start looking for a job, or perhaps a new job. This popular list of over 275 employers in Ventura County and surrounding areas provides local job seekers with some great resources for discovering local opportunities.

Let's take a closer look at that list and highlight some of the companies that have the largest number of posted job openings as we enter 2013.

Conejo Valley (Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills, Calabasas) Top Hiring Employers

  • Bank of America has dozens and dozens of jobs posted in various local locations, including Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills, Calabasas and surrounding areas. careers.bankofamerica.com/jobsearch.aspx
  • Medical products and bioscience powerhouse Baxter International has nearly 40 posted positions at its Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks locations and another 60 jobs in Los Angeles.  www.baxter.com
  • Located in the heart of Thousand Oaks, California Lutheran University currently is looking to fill nearly 30 faculty, administrative and support positions available. www.callutheran.edu/hr
  • Westlake Village based Guitar Center has several dozen listed local positions. www.guitarcenter.com
  • Network and application testing provider, Calabasas based Ixia, has nearly 20 local job opportunities posted. www.ixiacom.com
  • Los Robles Medical Center in Thousand Oaks currently has 3
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December 2012 Thousand Oaks Police Department City Watch Update

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Here is the latest "City Watch" alert from Senior Deputy Tim Lohman of the Thousand Oaks Police Department. If you would like these updates directly from via email, click here for more information.

December has started off with complete madness as we rush out to get those gifts and attend holiday parties. This is also the month where we set our plans and goals for the upcoming New Year and prepare our New Year resolutions.

Lets make 2013, a year where we decrease crime in our communities by sending thieves a message that we will no longer be victims or allow them to profit from our losses. Be vigilant in locking doors, setting alarms, being watchful for suspicious vehicles or persons.  By working together, we can decrease crime.

With the holiday season in full swing, many of us will be attending holiday celebrations. Family, work and school parties, in addition to other social events will be attended as we celebrate the holidays with friends and loved ones.

At many of these holiday traditions, alcohol is added to the celebration. Every year members of law enforcement have come to expect the consequences associated when people drink and drive.  Driving while under the influence (DUI) of alcohol, certain prescription medications, and illegal drugs has ruined many lives and destroyed families.  Nationally, thousands of people die or are severely injured every year as a result of someone who has decided to drive while intoxicated. 

Along with the natural consequence of having to live with the pain of having brought catastrophe on the life of another, there are other legal consequences that the dr

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There Are 35 Post-Season NCAA Football Bowl Games: Here is the 2012-13 Lineup

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Here in Southern California we are home to the very first college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 1902. The Rose Bowl was still the only major college football bowl in 1930, but that quickly changed. By 1940, there were 5 bowls, the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl. I loved the simplicity of the names back then, before the corporate sponsorships took over.

The number of bowls grew to 8 in 1950, 11 in 1970, 15 in 1980, 19 in 1990, 25 in 2000 and today, 2012, we have 35 of them. And amazingly, only a few of the games overlap, so even without recording the games, avid football fans could almost watch every single one of these 35 bowls live on TV.

Here is the current college football bowl schedule for 2012-2013, including game times in PST (be sure to check channel listings for changes/errors):

Gildan New Mexico Bowl 12/15/12 10am (Nevada vs Arizona)

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl 12/15/12 1:30pm (Toledo vs Utah State)

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl 12/20/12 5pm (BYU vs San Diego State)

Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg 12/21/12 4:30pm (Ball State vs Central Florida)

R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl 12/22/12 9am (East Carolina vs Louisiana-Lafayette)

Maaco Bowl Las Vegas 12/22/12 12:30pm (Boise St vs Washington)

Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl 12/24/12 5pm (Southern Methodist vs Fresno State)

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl 12/26/12 4:30pm (Western Kentucky vs Central Michigan)

Military Bowl pres. by Northrop Grumman 12/27/12 Noon (San Jose St vs Bowling Green)

Belk Bowl 12/27/12 3:30pm (Duke vs Cincinnati)

Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl 12/27/12 6:45pm (Baylor vs UCLA)

Advocare V100 Independence Bowl 12/28/12 11am (Ohio vs Louisiana-Monroe)

Russell Athletic Bowl 12/28/12 2:30pm (Virginia Tech vs Rutgers)

Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas 12/28/12 6pm (Minnesota vs Texas Tech)

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl 12/29/12 8:45am (Rice vs Air Force)

New Era Pinstripe Bowl 12/29/12 12:15pm (Syracuse vs West Virginia)

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl 12/29/12 1pm (Arizona State vs Navy

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Tonight, Tuesday, December 4, 2012 is Quite a Foggy Night in the Conejo Valley

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Darts Promoter L. David Irete provided this neat shot of the Conejo Valley engulfed in fog tonight. There's no fog indoors tonight, which makes it an optimal night for darts, so check out the Ventura County Darts Association website at www.vcda.org. Or how about some of these other unique and interesting local clubs in Ventura County you may not be aware of.

Payroll Taxes For U.S. Employees Set to Increase Beginning January 1, 2013

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The last few years, we have enjoyed (for lack of a better word) a 2 percentage point reduction in our 6.2% Social Security (FICA) tax rate, to 4.2% of wages earned during 2011, temporarily extended through 2012 by the aptly named Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011.

Unless the tax rate is extended again, in 2013 we will once again be paying into Social Security at the rate of 6.2%. That means $1,000 less to spend next year if you make, say, $50,000 per year.

Social Security is also referred to as Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI). Social Security has a nicer ring to it I suppose.

The 6.2% OASDI withholding rate has been in place since 1990. The statutory OASDI rate started out at 1% on employee wages from 1937 to 1949 and increased about 20 times through the years until it reached its current 6.2%.

Though the Social Security tax rate itself hasn't increased over the last 22 years, actual taxes paid have indeed grown as the annual maximum wage base has increased.

In 2013, the FICA wage base increases from $110,100 to $113,700. Th

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Just in Time For the Holidays! Gingersnap Streusel Pumpkin Pie Recipe

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Originally posted November 2010. Here's the latest recipe from chef Jill Fisher! Jill, a licensed Personal Chef, teaches cooking classes at Conejo Valley Adult School and Williams Sonoma in Thousand Oaks and has written articles for local food magazines such as 805 Living. 

CLICK HERE for Jill's other recipes published in Conejo Valley Guide!

Gingersnap Streusel Pumpkin Pie

1 flaky pie crust, unbaked

2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies (about 40)

1 cup chopped pecans

½ cup powdered sugar

¼ cup melted butter

1 15 oz can pumpkin

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

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